nomadreader

The basics: Wherever You Go  follows three Americans in Jerusalem. Yona is there to make amends with her estranged sister, Mark is an scholar, and Aaron is a wandering college dropout. My thoughts: Joan Leegant's prose is exquisite. As a reader equally drawn to writing and characters, I found myself drawn more to the writing in Wherever You Go . It is both a compliment and burden that I found myself thinking about her beautiful sentence construction more than I did about the novel's events.   The novel began with Yona's story, and I was quite drawn to her. I was struck by Yona's ability to be both guarded and open. She was mysterious, intriguing and honest all at the same time. When the narrative first shifted to Mark, I was initially less intrigued. As is so often the case, I want to stay with characters I enjoy. When the narrative shifted to Aaron, I found myself following the writing and construction of the story more than the story itself. I'm not sure why m...

When I first started book blogging, I admit, I didn't pay too much attention to who published books. From my days as an independent bookseller, I was more aware of which vendor it came from because then I knew what days  they delivered. There some go-to genre publishers I was familiar with (TOR), but mostly, I just didn't pay attention. Looking back, I'm struck by how odd that now seems. I was aware of movie distribution. In the late 1990's and early 2000's, I would see every Miramax movie. I paid attention to the kinds of movies they made, and I liked most of them. I didn't need to know the plot, the stars, or the director. If it was Miramax, I'd be there opening weekend. Now I'm more loyal to directors and screenwriters, but it's interesting to look back. I'm a loyal tv network viewer too. I'll try out most of the new shows on HBO, TNT, USA and AMC. They consistently air quality, scripted drama. I may not keep watching, but the networ...

Although I missed out on getting a galley of the new Nicole Krauss novel, Great House , at both BEA and ALA, the good folks at Norton were kind enough to send me a copy. With it, I also received their beautiful, glossy, Fall 2010-Winter 2011 catalog. I couldn't resist highlighting a few of their other titles I am now eagerly anticipating this fall. All Is Forgotten, Nothing is Lost is the newest novel by Lan Samantha Chang, who is the director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop. It seems her experience there ties into the novel too: "At the renowned writing school in Bonneville, every student is simultaneously terrified of and attracted to the charismatic and mysterious poet and professor Miranda Sturgis, whose high standards for art are both intimidating and inspiring. As two students, Roman and Bernard, strive to win her admiration, the lines between mentorship, friendship, and love are blurred." It will be published in September. Trespass  is the newest novel by O...