New Tana French Due in July

Academic publishing has put me a bit out of touch with the publishing world. BEA and the viewing of upcoming book covers are a thing of the past for me. So it was by chance conversation only that I found out Tana French is releasing her next book in the "series" this July! I rarely go on author watch (with the exception of Rowling, of course), but there's something about Ms. French that keeps me eagerly awaiting her next book - and snatching them up on the day of their release!

Her latest book is called Broken Harbour and it follows Mick "Scorcher" Kennedy, the brash cop from Faithful Place. I'm a little worried about this one - my one and only gripe with Tana (which is more a compliment than anything else) is her ability to unabashedly stay true to each of her characters. That's why In the Woods was so hard for me to read - Rob Ryan was a doucher and Tana French made no excuses for his character, whatsoever. From what I remember of Faithful Place, I wasn't too fond of Scorcher. That either means we'll see a side of him that isn't biased by Frank Mackey, or Scorcher will just be an arrogant prick from start to finish. Whatever - I'll still read it. And the next one. And the next one. And the next one. 

It's due out July 24th, so reserve your copy now! Broken Harbor: A Novel

New(er) Features

I made a few more adjustments to the blog - just some necessary items I thought you'd all enjoy. Here's the rundown:

Literary Quotes: Though I haven't stopped underlining meaningful quotes and passages in my books, I have stopped collecting them. Something about my old notebook containing quotes that I found incredibly profound at 19. I started a Tumblr to house all of these, for your enjoyment and mine. You can click that link, or just travel up to the menu bar.

Links: Includes my favorite reading, writing and publishing blogs from around the world of the interwebs. Saying 'interwebs' was probably only cool in 2010, but whatever. I'm bringing it back.

Bio: Just a little bit about me and my work. I've also included information on how to contact me for freelancing services - should you need them.

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World - Haruki Murakami

Rating: 4 stars

Both masterful and gorgeous. With scientific precision and a dreamlike quality, Murakami writes beautifully about the nature of the mind.

The narrator takes us through two parallel stories set in two parallel worlds. One is Tokyo, where the narrator works as a Calcutec who is able to put both sides of his brain to use in order to launder and shuffle information into unidentifiable code. The second is a world of the narrator's creation, a Town at the End of the World located deep within his subconscious. Because of the scientific tampering of the System and a man referred to as Grandfather, the narrator is doomed to spend eternity trapped within his own mind at the End of the World.

My first Murakami, it was amazing how quickly I fell into this book. At the start, I was sure it wasn't going to be for me. Smart and scientific - it seemed to hold the sort of pretentiousness that hides away grand symbolic themes and laughs at your idiocy when you don't understand. But it isn't that way at all. I found the bi-chapter structure pulling me through the narration quickly, with simple, yet profound understanding that contradicted the extremely complex themes - making this book a mind-blowing and incredibly enjoyable read.

Purchase Now from Amazon: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World: A Novel 

Oh, the Places You'll Go - Employee Spotlight

Our internal company newsletter decided to feature me and my climb up that turbine in Oklahoma this month. The author did a really incredibly job writing it up. Makes me feel all important and famous. Thought I'd share - hope you can read it!

Book Sleuth - The Psychopath Test

"Serial killers ruin families," shrugged Bob. "Corporate and political and religious psychopaths ruin economies. They ruin societies."  

                                                         - From The Psychopath Test

Purchase Now from Amazon: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry

Maurice Sendak - An Awesome Dude

Maurice Sendak - children's book author and fabulous curmudgeon - passed today from complications after a recent stroke. I'm sure I join hundreds of other bloggers, thousands of other readers whose lives were touched by Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen - just to name a couple of his fantastically illustrated and mind-bending stories.

Some tidbits for those of us who'd like to spend the day remembering:

The first book Mr. Sendak ever illustrated, courtesy of Collecting Children's Books.
Maurice's Interview with Stephen Colbert. 

Top 100 Children's Books

From Where the Wild Things Are to Joseph Had a Little Overcoat - Children's Books Guide.com has a thorough list of the best picture books of all time. Great for building a library.


I've added all 100 books, plus the ones that almost made it, to the bookstore. Every single one except I'll Love You Forever, a book which I reserve the right to hate unconditionally.

Book Sleuth - The Climb

I mentioned The Climb in yesterday's post. It is Anatoli Boukreev's, a guide for the Mountain Madness team, account of what happened on Everest in May 1996. Krakauer doesn't exactly paint Boukreev in the best way in Into Thin Air, though he does admit that the disconnect seems to be the Russian understanding of what a guide should be and do vs the American/English. Krakauer does also cover Boukreev's various journeys back into the fray (when it all began, Boukreev descended rather rapidly without stopping to help anyone and was back in his tent sipping tea while others faced death - his reasoning was, he needed to be back with the oxygen tanks to climb back for anyone needing help) to rescue other climbers. 

Now that I'm obsessed with this story - I'd love to read Boukreev's account. For everything I've read that painted Krakauer and Boukreev as near enemies - I thought Boukreev came out seeming rather brave and stoic, which must have meant Krakauer had some respect for him beyond whatever cultural differences they had. 

Purchase Now from Amazon: The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest