Sure enough, that book is on next week’s New York Times bestseller list!
I am so excited for the author. This book is the second in a series. I’ve edited the first three (the third will be released early next year) and they just keep getting better. She’s over the moon about this, and who can blame her?
YAY!
I just finished reading this book, and it was wonderful. The author, Marina Lewycka, is of Ukrainian heritage, and she has done a fabulous job of capturing not only the mindset, but the hybrid language (and insults!) of her characters.
This is the story of a Ukrainian family living in England. The father, an eightysomething widower, is in love with a voluptuous young Ukrainian woman. Very voluptuous, and very young. Needless to say, his two adult daughters are skeptical of her motives. The book is by turns hysterically funny and heartbreaking. It deals with the issues of ageing parents, East/West, war and peace, and historical truth vs. perception. The last page is pure genius: it left me with a smile on my face that stayed there for hours.
This is a wonderful book, and I highly recommend it.
The new USA Today bestsellers list is out, and two books I edited are on it. One has been for six weeks now, and the other just made the list this week. There’s a very good chance that the second book will make the NY Times bestseller list next week, which would make me ridiculously happy.
(Please to repeat the familiar refrain: I am low man on the totem pole, I did not have all that much to do with these books, but I’m still very excited and thrilled for the authors.)
Almost twenty years ago, I spent a week in a hospital in Czechoslovakia. I was in pain and groggy, not entirely sure what was going on. A friend came in every afternoon and read to me. Ulysses, by James Joyce. It was magical. The words soared, they dipped and they ran together and they sang. I’m sure the drugs had something to do with it, not to mention the euphoria of hearing English for more than five minutes at a time, but I’ll never forget the sheer joy I felt at Joyce’s use of language.
By definition, language is an important element in literature. But sometimes, sometimes, through careful use of language an author is able to add an extra dimension to the story being told.
This weekend, I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It is the best book I’ve read in quite some time. The setting is the Southeastern United States, after some sort of apocalyptic event. The primary characters are a man and his son, who are walking along the road. Where they’re going, why they’re going, is never fully explained: it could just be the basic human need to keep moving, to not give up.
Part of the reason I liked it so much was the author’s use of language. The book itself is not that long, and there’s a lot of white space on the page. Easily readable in a day or two. But I didn’t want to do that. I rationed the pages, wanting to think. To reflect. To make sure I wasn’t missing anything.
Every word was chosen carefully and precisely. The prose is as stark and bare as the landscape it’s describing. The dialogue between father and son is laconic and unvarying–which is as it should be. The father is really the only company the boy has ever known, and speech is learned. Contractions sometimes appear without apostrophes, and words and phrases are used in a way that’s not quite right. But how better to mirror a society that is breaking down, where the old rules are mostly gone but new ones haven’t yet taken their place?
And yet, as much as I liked the book, I can’t say that I enjoyed it. It was dark, and it was difficult, and it scared me. But it also dealt with issues like faith, and hope in the face of overwhelming destruction. It’s not an easy read, but it’s worth it. The best book I’ve read in years.
The Independent Publisher’s Awards have been announced – this year instead of a winner, a finalist and honorable mentions they have awarded Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. A total of 2,690 national entries came from all 50 U.S. states, 8 Canadian provinces, and 17 countries overseas.
The complete listing can be found here.
Romance
Gold: Mistress in Training, by Edwina Columbia (Dorian Press)
Silver: Turn Back Time, by Radclyffe (Bold Strokes Books)
Bronze: The Devil’s Bastard, by Charlsie Russell (Loblolly Writers House); The Vengeance Trap, by A.L. Hansen (Ophir Publishing); The Crossroads Cafe, by Deborah Smith (BelleBooks)
Erotica
Gold: Best Women’s Erotica 07, edited by Violet Blue (Cleis Press)
Silver: Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions, edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman (Bold Strokes Books)
Bronze: Room with a View, by Lucy Fur (Feral House); The Smart Girl’s Guide to Porn, edited by Violet Blue (Cleis Press); Gay Art: A Historic Collection, by Felix Lance Falkon with Thomas Waugh (Arsenal Pulp Press)
The Erotic Interludes books are so much fun to work on. So many amazing women, so many amazing stories. Thanks to everyone who contributed (authors, beta readers, proofreaders, our amazing cover designer) and to everyone who reads the books! YAY!
Earlier this week I mentioned a book in the USA Today top 150 list. This week’s list is out, and the book has moved up 60 spots! Always exciting.
First, from Radclyffe, came this announcement:
The Independent Publisher Book Awards were conceived as a broad-based, unaffiliated awards program open to all members of the independent publishing industry. The awards are intended to bring increased recognition to the thousands of exemplary independent, university, and self-published titles produced each year, and reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing. This year there were 65 categories with several thousand entries. I am very pleased to announce that Bold Stokes Books has two semifinalists in the Romance and Erotica categories (these are not specifically LGBTcategories):
Romance
Turn Back Time, by Radclyffe (Bold Strokes Books); The Devil’s Bastard, by Charlsie Russell (Loblolly Writers House); The Vengeance Trap, by A.L. Hansen (Ophir Publishing); Mistress in Training, by Edwina Columbia (Dorian Press); The Crossroads Cafe, by Deborah Smith (BelleBooks)
Erotica
Erotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions, edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman (Bold Strokes Books); Room with a View, by Lucy Fur (Feral House); The Smart Girl’s Guide to Porn, edited by Violet Blue (Cleis Press); Gay Art: A Historic Collection, by Felix Lance Falkon with Thomas Waugh (Arsenal Pulp Press); Best Women’s Erotica 07, edited by Violet Blue (Cleis Press)
Then I got the news that a book I edited is on the USA Today Top 150 list.
I’m still feeling a bit battered, but I’m much happier now than I was a few hours ago.
The same romance novel I mentioned earlier has picked up another nomination, and also won another award – a big one (Romantic Times). I’m really happy for this author; it’s a great book, it’s a great series, and I hope she continues to do well!
::dances around room::
My BFF and I send each other Christmas and birthday gifts throughout the year. Instead of saving them up for a particular occasion, we send each other things as we come across them. It’s a wonderful tradition, as these things almost always show up when we least expect them and they don’t get lost in a heap of other gifts.
Today, I received a copy of Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog, subtitled “The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences.”
I am SO looking forward to reading this!
Why yes, I am somewhat odd. Does that really surprise you?
The awards season is in full swing, and one of the romances I worked on last year has already picked up an award. She’s a new author, so it’s especially exciting. Yay!