Boston Book Bums

Biblioholic Review: The Next Time You See Me

bostonbookbums — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:40:34 +0000

Holly Goddard Jones debut novel THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME was released last month to critical praise.

In small town Kentucky, three seemingly unrelated stories intertwine into a moving novel, more drama than mystery. Emily is a bullied thirteen year old who takes solace in long walks in the woods and the depths of her imagination. One of Emilys’ walks will set events into motion that will ripple through town. Meanwhile, Susanna, a local teacher will struggle with a strained marriage and a troublesome sister. And finally, a lonely factory worker experiences the best and worst moments of his life in a single night.

At is core, THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME is a mystery but it doesn’t provide a lot of twists. Jones is most successful in telling Emily’s story, writing scenes that will make you cringe at pre-teens’ capacity for cruelty. In fact, Jones writes the saddest figures in the story with great empathy and the reader can feel the despair. As a debut novel, the reader can glimpse the author’s depth of emotion. This reader will keep an eye for Holly Goddard Jone’s sophomore novel, and hopes that the story will play to her strong suite. In the meantime, check out the potential in THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME.

Review Tease: Damn Few

bostonbookbums — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:45:26 +0000

In the coming weeks we’ll be reviewing the new book Damn Few, written by former U.S. Navy SEAL Rorke Denver. A thinking warrior who talks more about books than weapons, Denver tackled his first book with energy. You’ll also notice that Rorke co-starred in the recent action film, Act of Valor. Here is the book trailer for Damn Few. Please stay tuned to Boston Book Bums for our thoughts on Damn Few.

Biblioholic Review: The Secret of the Nightingale Palace

bostonbookbums — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:00:03 +0000

THE SECRET OF THE NIGHTINGALE PALACE, a novel by Dana Sachs, is a road trip novel but more than that it explores a grandmother/granddaughter relationship. Anna, a thirty-five year old widow has trouble finding her footing after her husband illness and death. Goldie, Anna’s feisty twice-widowed grandmother, decides its time to bury a 5-year rift between the two of them and break Anna out of her rut. The plan is to drive Goldie’s Rolls Royce from New York to San Francisco to return a piece of art in Goldie’s care for 60 years.

The story alternates between Goldie and Anna’s progress across the country in and out Hampton Inns and Goldie’s past. The road trip portion has some highlights but the gem of this novel is Goldie’s story 60 years before. Goldie arrived in San Francisco as a young, naive poor Memphis girl on the eve of World War II. In between chapters of the road trip, the reader experiences Goldie as a young stylish woman, making friends, seeking a husband and finding her fortune. In 1941, this country Jewish girl was looking for a man to provide for her but she fell for a man that she could never be with. Despite that, Goldie is a survivor and manages to find her way in the world, despite plenty of troubles. Her story is enthralling and her character is stubborn and surprising.

Sach’s second novel of a grandmother and granddaughter is a good read with moments of greatness. The end is worth the whole read.

The Secret of the Nightingale Palace was received free for review.

A Bookish Menu: When Food and Reading Meet

bostonbookbums — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:00:06 +0000

We know we share a common love, the written word. We love fiction and non-fiction, fantasy to chick-lit and everything in between. But what about vittles? Think about those weekend days, sitting with warm food and a good book? Or retreating to a coffee shop, book in one hand and coffee in the other. Food, savory or sweet? Is there a type of food that embodies the bookish experience? Tea and biscuits for a Victorian tale? Red wine and a warm bowl of past while reading a steamy novel? Or perhaps a beer and wings over a rip roaring adventure tale?

If you are going to pair food and beverage with a book, what would your menu be?

Bookish Wardrobe

bostonbookbums — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:30:53 +0000

One of our Book Bums is an avid t-shirt collector. Whether they are hold overs from his childhood or plain old cool designs of today, he loves his t-shirts. Recently, we’ve come across a series of bookish themed t-shirts that might catch your bibliophilic eye. What do you think? BTW all theses shirts were found over at Shirt Woot.

E-Reader Collecting Dust or Still Alive?

bostonbookbums — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:57:01 +0000

OK, the dust is settling in the whirlwind of e-reader revolution. Sales are slowing and we’ve started noticing something on our subway rides each morning.

We’ve noticed in our daily commute that a year ago, if 10 people were reading on the commute, 8 of them were using a digital reader. Now, we notice that there is more of a mix of paper books and e-books. Did you use a digital reader and switch back to paper? Still use digital or never left your trusty paper book?

Genre Bending: YA becomes Mature

bostonbookbums — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:01:58 +0000

Young Adult books. Sweeping the nation. Earning accolades and loyal readers of all ages. But sometimes YA is a good idea but has to pull some punches due to its more PG-13 story telling.

This playing it safe got us thinking what Young Adult book would make a really good adult fiction work? You know there are plot points or crucial decisions to be made in a YA story and it takes a more gentile way out of the woods. What if the YA world was given a more mature peril and resolution?

And what about a favorite adult fiction work, could it do with some YA juice to give it a new life? Bend a genre and let us know what you think.

What say you?

Question of Genres: Horror

bostonbookbums — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:00:17 +0000

In the second installment of our Question of Genres series was pose the question: What is the attraction of horror fiction for you?

Horror has existed in literature for ages. Heck, some folks cite the Bible as having stellar horror imagery spread throughout the book, but especially Revelations.

Of course we have vampires, ghosts, zombies, demons and lycanthropes running about the horrific worlds conjured by classic writers like Robert Louis Stevenson, Machen, Shelley and Stoker. Transition to the modern era, when the age of pulp rose and made horror a broader genre. We have Lovecraft, King, Barker and Mattheson setting the modern standard for things horrific.

What drew you to horror? At what age did you take the plunge? Did it scare you straight only to return out of curiosity? Or was it an automatic fit? What’s the best book or series in the genre and who is your favorite horror scribe?

Let’s hear it.

Binding to Broadcast: Wish Your Favorite Book Was on the Tube?

bostonbookbums — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:00:39 +0000

We have a love/hate relationship with books turned movies. Yeah there have been good ones. Lots of bad ones too.

But beyond movies, have you read a book that you wanted to be a television show? A weekly embrace of the characters and universe that you love. Now that could open up a world of possibilities to explore the narrative of a book or series, couldn’t it? Today you got Boardwalk Empire, True Blood, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead (comic book) or M*A*S*H back in the day.

Non-fiction or genre fiction, matters not. What book or series have you read and wanted more of?

Question of Genres

bostonbookbums — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:00:57 +0000

Today we start a new series focusing on genre fiction. Each installment we’ll ask you, dear reader, about a specific genre that you love, hate, or just feel ‘meh’ about. We want to know what your favorite book in the genre is. Favorite author? And why the genre appeals to you? Is it the escapism, the hope, the mystery, the thrill? We’ll also wind our way through the subgenres that inhabit the wide creative plains.

So let’s hear your thoughts on genre fiction.

We’ll kick it off with: Fantasy.

We know the masters of the genre here, Howard, Lewis, Tolkien, Moorcock and Le Guin. We run the gamut from sword and sorcery to gritty urban magic living alongside us every day.

What is it about the flash of sword, the clank of armor, the breathless love of paupers and princes or the sizzle of a dragon’s breath that enthralls you so? What is it about the flash of a wand and dark secrets buried in an ancient land that keeps you coming back for more?

And is there a subgenre that bubbled to the reading surface for you? Are you into faerie tales? Or romantic fantasy?

What is it about fantasy that you love so much?