Jessilynn's Picks
I was that weird kid who always had her face buried in a book - walking around the house, in the car, at the park, in the lunchroom. Other children were alright, but I'd rather be reading. (All of the early warning signs of an English major.) My mom used to force me to "go out and play." I would pout about it, then hide a book under my shirt and sprint into the backyard thinking she was a real sucker. Some things never change. The leaning towers of unread books in my house are a sure indication of my addiction, but I've learned to live with it, and I now know I am not alone.
I heard Auslander’s short story “Waiting for Joe” on NPR’s This American Life, and I was hooked. I needed to read more. What I found were some unexpected philosophical takes on religion, and an enourmous amount of irreverent wit. I still can’t decide if I liked the book because it was thought-provoking, or if I liked it because it made me laugh out loud. Either way, it’s edgy and fantastic.
Simon & Schuster Trade
Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, illustrated by Brett Helquist
Are you good at noticing what goes on around you? Sometimes things seem to be unrelated and then suddenly, they make sense when you put them all together. Petra and Calder are those kinds of kids too. Imagine if you started putting things together and ended up in an internatonal art scandal! "Theft at the Crooked Tree!" you might yell. Now imagine the FBI gets involved. Yikes! This is a great book about how observing the world around you can be very, very important.
Scholastic, Inc.
Petra and Calder are brought together again. This time they are on a mission to save a house in their Chicago neighborhood that was built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Things start getting strange when they learn about how the house was built. I was worried when voices are heard in the empty house and moving shadows are seen behind the art-glass windows. All of my questions were eventually answered: Is the house haunted? Is it true that there is hidden treasure there? Who will risk his/her life to save the house?
Scholastic, Inc.
The Stolen Child by Keith Donahue
Henry Day is kidnapped at the age of seven by a group of changelings that live in the forest surrounding his family's farm. A changeling takes Henry's place, and suddenly he goes from being a rather unhappy child to a musical prodigy overnight and no one can explain why; not even the new Henry. Meanwhile, the old Henry is renamed Aniday by his changeling companions. He never ages, and his memories of his old life are swept away by the demands of his new one. Think Sliding Doors (the movie) told as a Grimm's Fairy Tale for adults.
Knopf Publishing Group
The Turtle Warrior by Mary Relindes Ellis
I read this book in 2004, and I have not read a contemporary novel that I feel so strongly about since. When I got to the ending, I wanted to start over with page 1. The narrative style is reminiscent of Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, and there is a sense of place that only Jim Harrison can match. There are some books that capture your heart and you fall in love. This is one of them.
Penguin Group
The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich
The imagery in this novel is fantastic. I re-read several passages. Learning the history of the drum is a story within the story. It was like reading an old legend, and it was my favorite part of the book. Interesting how some horrific experiences can be so softly explained.
HarperCollins
For those who can appreciate good literature, this is a tenderly written story, spanning three generations of a Greek American family. I especially enjoyed the rich storytelling about the history of Detroit.
Picador
Meet Marley. From socks to jewelry - if he shouldn't eat it, then he will. Marley and his family move through heartwarming, hilarious, and even tearful years together. I loved Marley, and I loved the author's narrative. This memoir was a gift to read, and it makes a perfect gift for anyone who has every loved or ever lost a dog.
HarperCollins
Only read this book if you are prepared for dramatic writing and poetic content. It is an easy novel to get caught up in. The Ice Queen makes horrible wishes come true. Her first wish is the last thing she says to her mother: "I wished I would never see her again. I told her straight to her face. I wished she would disappear right there, right then", and she does. Her second wish is to be struck by lightning - and she is. As a little girl, she turns herself into the Ice Queen by shutting herself off from the world, and blaming herself for her mother's death. Everything changes after she is struck by lightning - which, quite frankly, she may have needed. The best thing about this book is Hoffman's refreshing lean style of writing.
Little, Brown and Company
Do not read the jacket description about this book! (It makes it sound sappy and goofy. Well, maybe it is a little bit sappy, but it is too well written to be described that way.) It is a story about decisions that change lives, but it is also heartbreakingly romantic in places. Hoffman’s novels almost always have a supernatural element to them, and this one did too, but it surprised me this time. She remains a favorite.
Little, Brown & Co.
The Air Between Us by Deborah Johnson
HarperCollins Publishers
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
Seventy years ago in Poland, Leo Gursky fell in love, and wrote a book. Now he lives in New York, and taps on the radiator to let his neighbors know he's alive. Across the wide city, a widow is asked to translate a Chilean novel from Spanish to English for an exorbitant sum. The widow's 14-year-old daughter shares the name of Alma with the main character in the novel. Alma decides to find out more about her namesake, and in the process comes across a wonderful octogenarian named, Leo Gursky. The Washington Post said, "In the final pages, the fractured stories of The History of Love fall together like a desparate embrace." I couldn't have said it better . . . so I won't.
W. W. Norton & Co.
Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die by Michael Largo
Every time I opened Final Exits, I learned something new and I wanted others to share in the "fun." I became particularly fond of annoying those around me by blurting out things like "Did you know that bees and wasps cause 6,000 deaths a year?" or "Look, here's a guy who specialized in killing landladies!" and "Ewww! Listen to what it says about cockroaches!" Am I the only one who finds these things fascinating?
HarperCollins
Don't Get Too Comfortable: The Indignities of Coach Class, the Torments of Low Thread Count, the Never-Ending Quest for Artisinal Olive Oil, and Other First World Problems by David Rakoff
If you don't know David Rakoff from appearances on NPR's This American Life, I'm sorry. You've been missing a brilliantly sarcastic storyteller. It's not too late though! David's book, Don't Get Too Comfortable, takes stabs at everything from "fasting for enlightenment" to the Log Cabin Republicans. Witty, hilarious, and politically poignant - I think he's a genius!
Doubleday
I read it because Laurie King used a pen name and I had to have it. Then *gasp* I liked it! Set in the not so distant future; a man-killing virus has swept across the globe. Men only make up 1/3 of the population and must be protected at all costs. Marriage is a luxury, reserved primarily for women who can afford it. In the midst of such global change, a woman named Dian sets off on a journey to change the course of a new world's history. (Think The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, without the graphic abuse scenes toward the end.)
Bantam Books
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Enzo is the charismatic narrator of The Art of Racing in the Rain. He has struggled since his puppyhood with the fact that monkeys got opposable thumbs and dogs did not. It just isn't fair. Why does the canine have a wonderful, imaginative, innovative mind, and not have the physical means to open a refridgerator door? He stays home and watches television while his owner (a down-on-his-luck racecar driver) and family are away. The Weather Channel, we learn, is not about the weather, but about the world. Unfortunately, things get very rough for the family and Enzo is there through the pains of that real world. Just the way a good dog ought to be. The best ending I've read in quite some time.
HarperCollins Publishers
An Alphabetical Life: Living It Up in the World of Books by Wendy Werris
Meeting Hunter S. Thompson and taking a wild car ride with Fran Leibowitz are just two of the many highlights from Wendy Werris's long book career. Her book is a fast paced, engaging glimpse into not only how the book industry has changed in the past 10-20 years, but the subtle ways life has changed as well. I loved it - and I'm not big on memoirs.
Da Capo Press
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is a completely engrossing novel set on the plains of Northern Wisconsin. Edgar Sawtelle is a little boy who comes into the world without a voice. But he doesn't need a voice to communicate with his dogs. The Sawtelles raise dogs, not for their withers height or by any other AKC point system. The Sawtelles are looking for something else; character, heart, and a compatibility with people. They find all of this and more in Almondine, Edgar's dog. It is epic. It is heartbreaking. It is wonderful.
HarperCollins Publishers