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Picks of the Week

  • Adam Thirlwell: Politics: A Novel (P.S.)

    Adam Thirlwell: Politics: A Novel (P.S.)
    One would think this book is about sex, And while it is, since the characters have so much about it, some of it is kinky, and threesomes play a big role in the narrative. mostly POLITICS is about everything else: the mechanics, the logistics, the emotional minefields, the awkward questions, the moral dilemmas, and, well, the politics of what it is to be with someone you love or someone you don't, and how an act that should be simple is anything but. Thirlwell was disgustingly young when he wrote this but he absolutely understands that to make this book work, there must be an underlying sweetness and sincerity to the entire story. Now I want to see what he's up to more recently. Amazon | Indiebound | B & N | Borders | Powell’s

  • Jennifer Mascia: Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir

    Jennifer Mascia: Never Tell Our Business to Strangers: A Memoir
    Years ago I was blown away by Mascia's Modern Love piece describing her parents' secret past: her father was a mobbed-up convicted murderer, and her mother not only knew all about it, but aided and abetted her husband when life required being a fugitive, selling drugs, and living at great highs and crushing lows. Mascia's book tells a more whole story about her peripatetic life, and even with every new shocking revelation what remained consistent was how much she loved her parents, no matter how deep those lows went, and how much she misses them now that they are gone. Unconditional love never goes away, no matter if those who receive it deserve it. Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | B & N | Powell’s

  • Juli Zeh: In Free Fall

    Juli Zeh: In Free Fall
    Give me a novel of ideas and if the story is good and the characters are believable and entertain me, I am there. Give me a crime novel of ideas, where two physics professors, friends and rivals, opposites but startlingly similar, do emotional battle on an intellectual canvas, raise the stakes through betrayal, the possible kidnapping of a child, and embroil a romantic-leaning police detective in the complicated machinations of quantum theory, and holy hell, I think I have myself one of my favorite books of the year. Powell’s | Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | B & N

  • Simon Lelic: A Thousand Cuts

    Simon Lelic: A Thousand Cuts
    It appears to be a crime with an easy solution: a disgruntled schoolteacher shoots up his place of employment and kills several students in the process. But really, Lelic's novel is about the catastrophic consequences of bullying, and how this act is hardly limited to kids turning on other kids, but burrows deeply into adult relationships as well. He evokes empathy for the killer and sympathy for Lucia, the investigating officer who has to fight for every scrap of dignity as she pieces together the far more complex truth of what really happened at the school. Powell’s | Amazon | Borders | Indiebound | B & N

  • William Lindsay Gresham: Nightmare Alley

    William Lindsay Gresham: Nightmare Alley
    I cannot stop raving about this book to people. The circular narrative structure, the demented feel of a traveling carny troupe, and the extraordinary rise and precipitous fall of Stan Carlisle give off the persistent, raging feeling that hell is always with us, and success is basically a sucker's game. No matter what the biographical evidence on Gresham's state of mind leading up to and after the book's bestseller (and movie basis) status in 1946, I don't think we can really know what demons plagued him to produce this marvelous noir gem. B & N | Indiebound | Amazon | Borders | Powell’s

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July 26, 2007

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Comments

Bryon Quertermous

Hmmmm, seems like Louise might be shaping up to have a Julia Spencer-Fleming type year for her first book.

Julia

Hell, I'm hoping to have a Louise Penny type year for my fifth book.

Sharon J.

Congratulations to Cornelia Read on the nomination for Best First--much deserved. I hope to hear good news from Anchorage.

Charles Ardai

What a treat to be nominated in this category! "Special Services" means more to me in many ways than a nomination for a book or story could. And I have to say, while I'd of course be tickled to win (who doesn't like winning things?), I'd be just as happy if any of the other folks nominated got the award, or if all of them did. These are the people who make our community a community, and I'm just thrilled to see them recognized for all the sweat and tears (and fictitious blood) they spill every day on our collective behalf.

Christa Miller

Charles - the blood-spilling is supposed to be fictitious? Damn. Now I find out.

Congratulations, all!

Otis

Great lists... Cornelia...again... My friend from the Daggers, Louise...again... and for good measure, the man who owes me lunch, Sean Doolittle. Congrats to all and to all the best.

Anthony

Congratulations to all.

Anthony

Cara

Congrats to Everyone - especially Simon, Cornelia, Sean, Naomi, Jon and Ruth, Megan, Victor and Denise! Best Novel= Prix des Femmes and about time.

Victor Gischler

Whoa! What a cool surprise!

And thnaks, Cara.

Victor

David J. Montgomery

Very pleased to see 2 Gumshoe Award winners from this year nominated.

A hearty congrats to all!

Ross from Maine

What a terrific not-so-short-list for PBO!
Having read pretty much all of them, the electorate has its job cut out. But I DID want to note that 2 books, BABY SHARK and 47 RULES OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE BANK ROBBERS, are from small, independent presses. My lovely and talented wife and I literally quarrelled over who got BABY SHARK first (I got to win cuz my TBR stack was MUCH smaller and way too dominated by Jared Diamond....)and she RAVED about 47 Rules at Malice Domestic. But my point is simply that these two belong with the others, and I hope that those going North to Alaska will make every effort to read them, as well as the more easily located books from larger houses. Now, on you huskies!
Ross from Maine

David Terrenoire

I see so many names of friends that it's all good. Congratulations.

SD

Aw thanks Cara. I'm with Victor, it's a cool suprise. Congrats all around. Ross, not only indie presses, but the SAME indie press--great to see Troy in there and good on Capital Crime. Also great to see Busted Flush representing in the short stories, and I bet we see some Bleak House titles next year. Otis, how's your schedule next week?

Anonymous

Doesn't Troy Cook own Capital Crime Press? I'm surprised the book was eligible.

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