Things I Love, Things I Hate, Things in Between, V3

Thing I Love: The Random House Telephone Sales Department. Sure, they are my colleagues, but that's no guarantee that I'll like you. Heck, Gianna was once one of my colleagues. This group, though, makes me happy. First, they are professionals who do a great job of selling books to hundreds (thousands?) of stores. Second, they are team players who regularly chip in to help out toward the bigger picture.  If you're in a bookstore and there's a signed copy of, say, My Beloved World by Justice Sonia Sotomayor or the soon to be released Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell, there's a good chance that the phones sales team set up that warehouse signing with the author. Most importantly, though, they are HUGE Baltimore Ravens fans, and they've had a great week. Also, they are 1,200 miles away, so I can take this picture:

The Random House telephone sales department, Ravens fans

And re-post it on Facebook as this picture:

I could used Photoshop, but cutting and pasting really points to my dedication
to a prank. They love me. (They threatened me. On a public forum.)

I'm pretty sure that the telephone sales department loves me too.

Marisha Pessl

Thing I Love: Fall books. Yeah, it's barely February, but we're beginning to hear about the upcoming fall books. There's a new novel coming from Marisha Pessl, the author who wrote Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which I loved. The new one is called Night Film, and holy hoo-hahs is it creepy. A disgraced reporter is fairly obsessed with the Oscar winning director Stanislas Cordova, a recluse who specializing in movies that combine Hitchcock-esque suspense and slasher films. They are freaky, and because of the content, they've become cult pictures only screened at secret gatherings. Then Cordova's daughter Ashley dies. Suicide? Foul play? What's going on at Cordova's mansion? What's up with the occult-like clues surrounding the case? And where is Cordova? Marisha Pessl's book has rep buzz already along the lines of what I heard for Justin Cronin's The Passage a few years ago. I flew through it, even at 700 pages. Seriously, 700 pages, three days. Mark it down on your list (and get comfy; it doesn't come out for quite awhile). This book is crazy fun and just creepy enough to keep you reading.

Thing in Between: The Super Bowl. Consider this: people watch the Super Bowl for the commercials, yet this is supposed to be the pinnacle of the NFL season. And those commercials? About 75% of them are less entertaining than an episode of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Some--looking at you Go Daddy--are incredibly offensive. And the most memorable part of this year's Super Bowl was the power going out. So let's think about this: the game is so dull that a power failure was more entertaining than the "sport." Can we finally agree that baseball is a superior sport? Good. Spring training starts in a week and my team is set to lose 120 games! Go Astros!

More Tina! More Amy!
These two are invited to our
dinner party.

Thing I Hate: Seth McFarlane is hosting the Academy Awards. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are not. Televisions need selective mute controls. If you haven't heard, by the way, Amy Poehler signed a book deal. If it's even half as good as Tina's, it should be terrific. (Thing I Hate: Amy's book isn't from Random House.)

Thing in Between: I know that I have hoarding instincts when it comes to books, but seriously, how is it that I live in a cruel circle of buying books, buying bookshelves to hold new books, then seeing that I have shelf space and thinking I need more books? I think that I've been hexed or something.

Who doesn't love a list? (Gianna)

Thing I Love: Book lists. Make a list and I'll read it. What did you read last week? I want to know. Also, I love that Gianna hates making lists. Torturing Gianna is a pleasure unlike any other. She whines quite a bit. I haven't suggested we tackle the Modern Library List, yet. She has it so good.

School Reading

(Liz) Rarely do I have trouble getting into a book.  I'm the opposite of ADD with my reading; I don't drift off, and I devour almost everything I begin.  But then occasionally there's the book that doesn't click and I end up pushing it to the back of the pile for another day.  One such book is The Secret History by Donna Tartt.  EVERYONE loves this novel.  My closest friends.  My colleagues.  Go into a bookstore and ask.  They will tell you it's great.  So what the hell's wrong with me?

Last weekend I gave a book presentation to a parents group at St. Thomas High School in Houston.  It's an all boys Catholic school, and I was the special guest for the meeting that coincided with Homecoming and the school's annual book fair.  Had I known it was Homecoming I would have worn a corsage.  I've given presentations at several private schools and find myself impressed by the differences between my high school (fall carnival involves mazes of cardboard boxes taped together) and these schools (fall festival involves mechanical bulls).  Their school: future Hall of Famer Craig Biggio is the baseball coach.  My school: my basketball coach taught my biology class, but we had the seventh period class and the school could only afford six class sets of dissection materials, so I never had to hack into critters.

You're sending your kid to
an elite private school! Congrats!
Either he's going to break down or
die! Bring on Harvard!

After my presentation, I started thinking about school themes in books and movies.  I'm a sucker for a Dead Poets Society and School Ties.  Somehow poetry and Latin are far less tedious in film form.  And so I decided to give The Secret History another try.  This time, finally, after years of abortive attempts, the book clicked for me.  It's great.  So here's a quick list, by no means complete, of some of my favorite novels set in the fascinating, disturbing world of the elite education institutions.  Some common trends: the new kid/new teacher is always the focal point, never join the exclusive organization because you'll end up involved in scandal (and possibly murder), language classes are torturous, and the charismatic artists and geniuses are always trouble.  In short, should you find yourself in private school, find the Gianna and stick close to her.  She'll moon you, but you won't end up pregnant, plotting to kill anyone, or reciting poetry in the woods.


The Secret History.  Let's start with the book it took me so long to discover.  Richard, the average guy from California, transfers to a small, liberal arts college in Vermont. Once there, he ingratiates himself with the elitist group of five students and their teacher who are obsessed with the study of Greek.  The idyllic life turns Greek tragedy, though, as a night of bacchanalian frolicking starts them down the slippery slope to murder.  It's smart, dark, and worth all of the bookseller love.  I haven't finished it yet, so don't tell me what happens, 'kay?

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl.  Like your books too smart and clever for their own good?  Most of the time, aggressively clever stylizing in books irritates me, but this one is the exception.  The protagonist, Blue Van Meer, is a wise-cracking master of all things literary and cultural, and Pessl's first novel uses parenthetical asides masterfully (and in almost every sentence).  Blue enrolls in the elite St. Gallway School and connects to the popular kids (the "Bluebloods") and their favorite teacher.  A murder or two later, though, and Blue is in the midst of her own nightmare.  Special Topics was one of those books I couldn't quit talking about when it came out.  Lots of fun.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles.  It's pretty much required reading, right?  But I admit that I haven't read it since I was in high school and don't remember much beyond the charismatic Phineas (is that right?) and the quiet intellectual Gene.  They are attending the ubiquitous all boys prep school in New England, it's World War II, and everything changes after one summer.  Sure, your kids will get into the Ivy League if they attend these prep schools, but there's also the chance that they'll end up suffering or dying.  Is it worth it?

Cracks by Sheila Kohler.  New girl?  Check.  Private school?  Check.  Popular teacher/exclusive club?  Check.  Dark side of adolescence?  You betcha.  Cracks deals with the adult members of a girls' school swim team returning to their alma mater for a weekend when the school attempts to raise some money by rekindling their school girl nostalgia.  They instead are confronted with the kids they were, from cliques to swim meets to betrayal and darkness.  This is a great read and probably off most radars.

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.  Dead Poets Society owes quite a bit to Miss Jean Brodie.  Welcome to the private girls school in Scotland, and meet Miss Brodie.  She's the woman with the unorthodox teaching methods who takes the best students under her wing.  She's a woman who isn't afraid to live (she has her romantic liaisons) and isn't afraid to bring out the best in "her" girls, but one of them will betray her.  Great book, and it's Muriel Spark, who's a great writer.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.  Last year's Booker Prize Winner was on our best of the year lists and quickly found its place among my favorite books.  It's also a book about school chums, the philosophical genius kid who's new, and the dark secrets that shake their world years later.  Required reading, and at about 150 pages, it's required reading that doubles as a nice way to spend an evening or weekend.

Others?  What am I missing?  It just occurred to me that these books would make a great series for reading groups.

30 More Days Book Challenge: Day 5

Apologies for the hiatus--my life got a bit crazy this week.  It's time to get back on track, though.  Without a public outlet Gianna might send me nudey pictures or something.  I don't want to have to jab an icepick in my eye.

Day 5: Favorite First Novel

The first novel holds a special place in the book world.  It stands as a declaration of talents and potential to come, and many a master writer began with an audacious debut. 

Gianna:

Two words. The Notebook. I think it stacks right up there with other first works: Gone With the Wind, Dr. Zhivago, and The Bell Jar.

Before I unveil my second choice I wanted to mention a few first novels that I have loved that have come out just this year. What these 3 books have in common are there relatively young authors. Little shits.

Bright’s Passage by Josh Ritter is such a wonderful book – its not perfect – but it’s a loaded first novel, he clearly has a gift for language and storytelling. I highly recommend this book and I just learned that Ritter is coming to BookPeople in Austin for a signing on October 5th.

Vaclav & Lena by Haley Tanner. If you read a more romantic or charming book this year let me know. This is an old fashion love story from beginning to end. Liz said this book made her believe in love again…well Russian love. [I'm not sure what "Russian love" is.  I do think Cossacks are hot, though.]

The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht. This author is the youngest recipient of the Orange Prize, which she won for this insanely good novel. This book will be on year-end best lists to be sure. Obreht writes well beyond her years; she is an amazing talent.

My favorite debut novel is a book that just blew me away in 2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. I was absolutely engrossed in every page of this book and when I had to put it down I was miserable. If you love books you know that is a good feeling. This won the National Book Critics Circle Award and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (just like The Notebook!).

Liz:

A couple of honorable mentions before naming a favorite--

Special Topics in Calamity Physics was one of those audacious debut novels which received front page New York Times Book Review coverage, and additional press because the author, Marisha Pessl, is attractive.  Yes, beautiful people can write engrossing fiction too.  I read this book and loved it before I ever saw a picture of the author, for the record.  It's a coming of age novel about a new girl with a mysterious past trying to fit in at a new school and finding a special teacher who helps her.  More importantly, though, Blue (the main character) is a whip-smart, precocious, pop culture encyclopedia who loves a parenthetical aside, and the book--written in her voice--snaps with witty banter and trivial minutiae.  Some people hate her voice; I love it.

Moondogs by Alexander Yates--one of the best debuts this year.  Set in the Philippines, an American plans to travel to the islands to reunite with his businessman father and do some scuba diving.  Before he arrives in the Philippines, though, his father is kidnapped by cab drivers (and part time cockfighters) who want to kidnap an American in order to sell him to Islamic fundamentalists.  They are inept kidnappers and having no luck in the cockfighting ring since their rooster, Kelog (named after the corn flakes box rooster), is blind.  The Manila police charge their squad of super-cops to find the businessman, and among their ranks are a shape-shifter and a man who can shoot anything from any distance.  If he focuses on a dog on a neighboring island which he can't even see, he can hit it with a bullet.  Moondogs is a fun, well-written, gangster novel about immorality in the Philippines and a declaration of great books to come from author Alexander Yates.

My favorite first novel should not come as much of a surprise.  I once suggested that the author should marry me, after all.  The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead is a brilliant novel.  Period.  The story explores the historical conflict between faith and science through rival methods in the field of elevator inspection.  How Whitehead came up with this story, I have no idea, but one shouldn't ignore an author who can make elevator inspectors so fascinating.  Around the same time that this book was published, film maker Darren Aronofsky released his incredible movie Pi, and in my mind these two works stand as companion pieces to one another.  Spending time with either will challenge you, intrigue you, make you smarter, and allow you to believe in, if not higher powers, the incredible talents of two geniuses.