Best of 2012: Day 3

Hey there, we're more than halfway there!  Remember, we aren't ranking these titles, just picking our favorites all willy-nilly.

Gianna:

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards by Jan Reid

Author Jan Reid

Well this little book is just selling and selling. To be honest, I completely underestimated this title when we were talking about our marketing plan. I thought that it would sell in Texas, but outside our state no one would really know or remember her. Wrong!

I’ve written about this book at least two other times on the blog so all I will say is that this is a full biography of the coolest ass person to ever work in politics.

For fans of politics, history, and Texas.

Dear Life: Stories by Alice Munro

If you consider yourself a book lover, or even the slightest of serious readers, yet you haven’t read Alice Munro, you’re kidding yourself. Munro is probably definitely the best living short story writer on the planet.  She is the master of pulling you along an intentionally plain story, giving you little indication that in just a few pages she will take your breath away.  Dear Life is special in that the final four pieces come under a sub-section entitled “Finale,” and Munro has noted that these four stories may be the closest she has ever come to writing about her own life. Munro is in her early 80’s and perhaps this is a sign of retirement. I hope not.

For fans of Ian McEwan, Louise Erdrich,  Richard Russo, and even Barbara Kingsolver. 

Alice Munro, literary genius

Liz:

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

Dear Leader Kim Jong Il:
nut job

Way back in January I declared The Orphan Master's Son the best book of the year, and so I'd be (more of) a liar if I didn't include it in our best of the year list.  Even after the death of Kim Jong Il, North Korea remains the most interesting and disturbing and delusional nation in the world.  Did you know they found a unicorn lair there recently?  It's a country that The Onion couldn't make up.  So it's pretty much a guarantee that a novel set in the mysterious realm would be a wild ride.

Here's the story of a man, Jun Do, who begins life as the son of an orphan master (hence, you know, the title), and then variously is a soldier, a kidnapper, a prisoner, a general, and the husband of a movie star.  North Korea is a country where the emperor has no clothes and the masses rave about his wardrobe, where the Dear Leader Kim Jong Il's perceptions are the mass delusion that serves as law.  It's crazy, it's strange, it's the joke that could lead to another global war.  I love this novel.  It was my first "Holy Crap!" book of the year (and I mean that in a good way).

The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

When Will Schwalbe's mother was diagnosed with cancer, Will found himself accompanying his mother to endless doctors' visits, chemo treatments, and hospital stays.  They knew what they were facing--her prognosis was originally six months, though she lived two years.  Taking the time they had left together, Will and Mary Anne Schwalbe spent that time reading books together.  They were lifelong readers, and this was the natural way for them to face life's moments.

Will Schwalbe

I wrote about this book a couple of months ago, and it is a book that is special for me.  I am a sucker for books about books and reading anyway, so there's that.  I also love memoirs, even if they don't involve crazy people and/or prisons (my usual weaknesses).  Mary Anne and Will, though, are human in the best sense; they are people who believe in making the world a better place and believe in kindness, compassion, knowledge, and love.  These are the type of people you want to be around in the hope that their humanity rubs off.  I think this book should be required reading for every book group, every cancer patient, every child facing the loss of a parent.  It's a book full of dignity and, of course, other books.

Books We Want for the Holidays: Old Time Politics

You know what people can’t get enough of this time of year? Politics. That’s right, politics. Okay maybe not today’s politics, or more precisely, the fiscal cliff dysfunction, but old timey politics. Here I will give you two examples of how you can make a history and politic loving son of a gun on your list very happy.

Thomas Jefferson

 Practically in love!

Jon Meacham’s Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. Meacham presents Jefferson as very possibly the most successful leader in history. He had talents beyond most leaders. Not only was he strategically inclined but also a deep thinker. We are of course knee deep in Abe right now, and that’s fine (if you like tall people),but you will not read a more timely biography. From cultural wars to extreme partisanship, the comparisons are uncanny.   

Let the People In

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards by Jan Reid. This is just a really fantastic memoir about our beloved (and oh so missed) Ann Richards. She kicked ass and took names, and she was a progressive who could actually work with the other side. Richards paved a road that not only women in politics benefit from, but also gay and lesbian politicians. She truly believed that the government was meant to include all. She believed government should be transparent, that politicians should let the people in.

Let the People In

“I'm not afraid to shake up the system, and government needs more shaking up than any other system I know.”

Gianna

I knew very little about Texas before I moved to Austin. I had no connection and no real affinity for this state. Now, over a decade later, I can't imagine leaving. I moved here mid-October of 2000, Gore vs Bush, and it was a crash course in Texas politics. And I know, I know, I should be ashamed that the only thing I really knew about Ann Richards was a famous quote or two (“Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth”), and of course I knew what she looked like...that gorgeous iconic hair. What I didn’t know until now was what she meant to Texas (and still means to Texas) and in a larger sense, to the country.

Jan Reid’s biography gives us some real depth into Ann’s life; her childhood, marriage, children, and of course her rise to the governor's office. The details are in here too; her alcoholism, her failed marriage, where some thought her politics went astray. What you walk away with after reading Let the People In is a true sense of how very real Ann Richards was.


“I have a real soft spot in my heart for librarians and people who care about books.”

Ann and Dolly

Several months ago when I began talking to librarians, booksellers and sales reps around the country about this book, most everyone had an Ann Richards story they wanted to share--a memory, a favorite quote, something to be thankful for. I spoke to people from California, Illinois, Utah, DC, and of course here at home where many folks had stories about actually meeting Ann. I’ve worked on many books and it’s a rare thing for one to elicit such personal and profound feelings. I can tell you there is nothing, absolutely nothing better, than when a book you’ve watched so many people work incredibly hard on totally hits the mark; Let the People In is that book. It’s a perfect book for right now.

Cecile Richards

For me, the book was a wake up call; so many things that she fought for all those years ago are once again on the chopping block. And for those of you who wonder, where is our next Ann Richards? Who will be brave enough to not mince words, to take on the establishment? Well, my vote goes to the president of Planned Parenthood. I mean, this woman took on Komen when they wanted to abandon women in need of health care. She took on Komen and won. That takes balls. What the heck is her name? Oh yeah, Cecile Richards. Apples and trees.

“Poor George, he can't help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.”





“I have always had the feeling I could do anything and my dad told me I could. I was in college before I found out he might be wrong.”

Liz

Unlike Gianna, I grew up in Texas and Texas politics have been on the periphery of my entire life. That includes Ann Richards, who became governor around the time that I was in high school and becoming more conscious of how elections, people, and policies influence actual people's lives. I wasn't old enough to vote yet, but I remember the heated gubernatorial race between Republican Clayton Williams and Richards, and how the more he talked, the bigger grave he dug. Richards would be called a drunk, and she wouldn't back down.

"I did not want my tombstone to read, 'She kept a really clean house.' I think I'd like them to remember me by saying, 'She opened government to everyone.”

Ann's cameo on
King of the Hill

Some other impressions of Ann Richards--there was the guest spot on King of the Hill (which is the best show ever created about Texas), and there was the retired governor who lived across the parking lot from BookPeople. She would storm into the storm on a weekend wearing workout clothes--usually a t-shirt and spandex tights--and buy a newspaper, and woe to the bookseller who made her wait in line just to buy a newspaper. And then there was Ann Richards the parade marshal during my high school years. She visited Woodville during the Tyler County Dogwood Festival, and served as parade marshal, riding in a horse-drawn carriage down the highway. My high school marching band followed just behind, and I am honored to say that I marched through Ann Richards's horse's poo. Ann's tailor lived in Woodville, the woman who crafted those brightly colored power dresses.

"If you give us the chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels."

Of Ann the Governor, I remember a woman who wasn't afraid to call a spade a spade, and who fought for changes in policies like education funding. Remember all of those accomplishments that George W. Bush claimed as reasons to elect him President, back when he first ran for office and Texas was a leader in education and business? Those were policies that Ann Richards put in place. Mostly, though, as another election approaches and I found myself yelling at the TV during the first Presidential debate, I wondered what had happened to politicians who weren't afraid to call bullshit. Attacks on the rights of women? Bullshit. Attacks on gays and lesbians? Bullshit. Xenophobia? Bullshit. Ann Richards was that type of Governor, a woman who fought for what she fought was right, even if it wasn't ladylike or genteel. She was a revolutionary and the last great governor of the Lone Star State.

Asked once what she might have done differently had she known she was going to be a one-term governor, Richards grinned. "Oh, I would probably have raised more hell."

Liz and Gianna's Bad Ass Book Fall Preview! Part 1

It's September, so it's time for the publishers to whip out the big books in our industry's version of Oscar season.  Big awards (National Book Award, Man Booker Prize) and big sales (Ho Ho Ho) make the fall the make it or break it season of the publishing year.  I, Liz, suggested to Gianna that we highlight our top picks for the fall.  Gianna replied that I should send her another copy of Fifty Shades of Grey.  "No," I said, "Our reader(s) know about that book.  The other books".  Gianna said, "Like Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed?"  And then I contemplated self-immolation.  Before I whipped out my Zippo, though, Gianna sent me part one for our preview of big fall titles.  First up, the books from Gianna's publisher, The University of Texas Press.

Let the People In: The Life and Times of Ann Richards by Jan Reid (October). This biography is the most anticipated book on our list this fall. Richards was a liberal democrat elected to office in a conservative Republican state…not done since, by the way. She was one of a kind, and she is so missed. And as we prepare for Ann’s daughter Cecile Richards (President of Planned Parenthood Action Fund) speech at the DNC this week, let's all repeat Ann’s 1980 DNC quote: “Poor George, he can’t help it. He was born with a silver foot in his mouth.” Now that was a moment. In fact, give yourself a treat and watch her speech here.


All American Boy by Lazer Ziff (October)
A little something for all the nerdy book lovers, an exploration of the history of the American boy as told through literature. They are all here; Little Lord Fauntleroy, Penrod, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and of course, Holden Caulfield. A literary ride through American history.

Founding Finance by William Hogeland (October) The Tea Party will more often than not invoke the founding fathers in its calls for limited government and fiscal responsibility. Hogeland (author of the acclaimed book Whiskey Rebellion) offers a new perspective on America’s economic infancy…and can it be that the Tea Party has it wrong?

A Book on the Making of Lonesome Dove by Bill Wittliff and John Spong (October). This is the book on our list that Liz is most looking forward to. [True!] A really cool follow-up to The Making of Lonesome Dove, it includes interviews with about forty key people, including Larry McMurtry, Robert Duvall, Chris Cooper, and Tommy Lee Jones. Also included are photographs of iconic props, set designs costumes, shooting scripts. My favorite part of the book are the candid polaroids that Wittliff took behind the scenes during the film shoot. [Liz: In college, I took horseback riding as a PE elective, and halfway through the semester I discovered that my horse, named Lonesome, played the Hell Bitch in the mini-series.]


The Plain in Flames by Juan Rulfo (September) I am very late to the Rulfo game, but I have to say these stories are the best I have read in years. This collection restores two stories that were left out of the previous translation and have not in fact been published in English prior to this edition ("The Legacy of Matilde Arcangel" and "The Day of the Collapse"). Populated with characters living on the fringes of society, these stories are haunting, beautiful, and darkly funny.


DKR: The Royal Scrapbook by Jenna Hays McEachern with Edith Royal (September). This is an extraordinary collection of never before published photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, and football ephemera, perfect for any Texan or football fan. I think of this book as a new look at the private man behind the iconic football coach.