Review: Empty the Sun

Read 10/14/10 - 10/20/10

4 Stars - Strongly Recommended

Pgs:166

Either I am getting better and better at knowing what I like, or everyone is writing really amazing books lately. (or I am getting softer and easier to please as I age, but we won't go there!)

Empty the Sun was a book I stumbled across accidently, and it looked interesting so I reached out to Tyson Cornell of Rarebirdlit.com for a review copy. No, I am not ashamed to put myself out there like that. Yes, he was an absolute peach to agree to ship it out. So Tyson, I'm blowin' a little kiss your way as my way of saying thanks!

Joseph Mattson does an outstanding job of infusing reality with an alter-reality, creating a protagonist like none that I have read before. A guitar fiend with a penchant for whiskey and a strong dislike for God - our main man finds himself backed between a rock and a hard place time and time again.

Playing gigs with a guy known as Sweet Julio gets him in a heap of trouble when some not-so-straight cops chuck him in the back of a K-9 van to question him in the presence of a caged and agitated German Shepard. Unable to give the cops the information they want, they feed his left index finger - the most important finger, the fret finger - to the dog and throw him out onto the street.

In shock and bleeding heavily, traveling down the center lane of the highway, he is rescued by Hal and Little Pam, and the threesome become fast friends.

6 nights ago, he dreams of God. God tells him the world will end in 6 days. God tells him he might as well end it now.

Upon waking, he goes to see Hal to discuss the dream, and finds his friend dead. Rather than call for help, he wraps Hal up in a blanket, tosses him in the trunk of his car, and heads out of Los Angeles on a mission. A mission that involves drugs, drinking, elephant seals, knuckle bones, music, a blind Blues guitarist, and a long lost love who lies dying, and God.

Once I started reading this novel, it was easy to see why it has garnered such great reviews.

Joseph deals with things like addiction, religion, and love in very real terms. He impregnates his characters with these failings, allowing them to wallow in their inadequacies. Heck, they even see themselves as failures, as lost souls, hopeless and unfixable.

Hal, who we come to know through a series of memories (or flashbacks), punished himself his entire life for a mistake he made 40 years ago. He prefers the dark of night, cursing the sun, sleeping in late and staying up all night, filling his veins with the mind-numbing power of heroin.

Our main guy loses his ambition and focus when he loses his fret finger, living the drunk life of one who will never see better days, pining for the old days and listening to Hal's twisted words of wisdom. Though he has no respect for God, he seems to find him in everything he does, feels God watching him, believes God is taunting him on his runaway mission. He hallucinates meetings with God, who challenges him during these final 6 days.

Mattson's writing is thick and chunky - he produces paragraphs that almost need to be chewed, before they can be swallowed. He is another very quote worthy writer. He are some beautiful lines from the story (that I just couldn't help tweeting):

"I did not look up because if there was a heaven I did not want any part of it".

"The heart is a wonderful and stubborn beast".

"Have you ever been in love? The kind of love that feels so good and bad at the same time that you just want to punch yourself in the face forever?"

Empty the Sun is packaged with a music CD by the band Six Organs of Admittance. I had never heard of the band before reading this book, and I had a hard time listening to the music AND reading the book, because my brain wasn't sure which thing it should be focusing on, so it attempted to focus on both at the same time. #readingfail.

I read a good chunk of the book first, then familiarized myself with the band's music, and happily married the two together for the final stretch. The instrumental guitar sounds of Six Organs of Admittance was a nice compliment to Mattson's book.

Which, of course, then led me to searching the internet for more instrumental music that would compliment all of the other novels that are patiently waiting to be read. And that search, well, it led me to creating this post about music to read to.

So I thanked Tyson at the beginning of the review, but I also owe a thank you to Joseph Mattson (1) for writing such an amazing novel and (2) for rekindling an old old old obsession of mine, music to read to.

Check out these links that support the novel, author, and band.

Music To Read To

If you are like me, you can read a book almost anywhere, under almost any circumstance. I can read in the car, in the bath, in the living room with the tv on in the background, in a noisy sweaty gym while my kids are rolling around practicing Jiu Jitsu, even at a Yankees game in NYC (yup, that was me!).

But the one thing I cannot read around is music. I usually end up listening to the words and have to reread the same sentence over and over again before it sticks. I am not sure why my brain treats music differently than any other background noise, but there you have it.

I do find that certain types of instrumental music works, if I pair the pace and mood of the music to the pace and mood of the novel:

Zoe Keating - Contemporary instrumental cello music. Haunting, subtly powerful, unlike anything I have ever heard before. Her new self-released album Into the Trees is amazing. Click here to listen. Zoe creates every sound you hear herself, with the help of her trusty laptop.

Six Organs of Admittance - I just found out about these guys. Their music is part of the novel the I am currently reviewing for A Barnacle Book. The novel is "Empty the Sun" by Joseph Mattson, and the book came with a CD of instrumental guitar music from this band. It fits the mood of the novel very well, and caused me to seek out similar music (hence the inspiration for my post on music to read to!). You can sample their stuff here.


Jeff Ball - Contemporary Native American Flute music. I love this stuff. I always have. Many years ago I bought a CD from a group that was playing at a local fair, and was just blown away by the sound. Jeff's music incorporates other instruments, but the flute is the spotlight. It's soft, sexy, and smooth. Take a listen to it.

Beyond Six Strings - Instrumental Harp guitar music. Slow or upbeat, there is a mixture of both in this collection of different musicians. It gives you a sample of what is out there.

So there's a little taste of what is available out there for those of you who are like me... requiring some good music to read to -minus the vocals. Music that fades easily into the background yet also enhances your reading experience.

What do you listen to when you are reading? Classical? Contemporary? Danny Elfman movie soundtracks? Post links to them so we can all give them a shot!

Author Interview: Les Plesko

Les Plesko, author of The Last Bongo Sunset, Slow Lie Detector, and the upcoming release Who I Was, has held quite the variety of jobs -"DJ, pool cleaner, cotton shoveler, cropduster flagman, furniture refinisher, messenger, phone sales and other stuff he's forgot. Now he's editor of a medical journal and teaches at UCLA." (job information lifted from IndieReader.com)

He is a down-to-earth kind of guy, who lets his characters inspire him, rather than trying to inspire his characters. He teaches his students to write with an emotion in mind, rather than a plot. His writing is like no other.

I want to thank him for allowing me the opportunity to get to know him better by participating in this interview!

When did you first become aware of your love for the written word?

Always. I was a big reader from the time I learned to read.

Who are some of your greatest influences?

The earliest I can recall are Lawrence Durrell, who wrote The Alexandria Quartet; Jean Genet, Our Lady of the Flowers, but by now there are too many to mention. On the reading list I keep for students at UCLA, there are three hundred books I’ve read and loved and that have all been an influence at one time or another.

Right now, I’ve rediscovered Richard Brautigan, who’s most famous for “Trout Fishing in America.” I also read a lot of philosophy, Slavoj Zizek-type stuff. Also, art has been a big influence.

Right now I’m really digging the painter R.B. Kitaj. And music: used to listen to jazz but now I like punky stuff again. For movies, I really like Wim Wenders old stuff, and the experimental filmmaker Jonas Mekas.

How would you describe your writing style?

Others have said it’s like jazz, or like the beats. It used to be poetical with lots of imagery and metaphor -- what could be called “flowery.” But now it’s a pretty stripped-down style, taking out all the extra words. It seems like, today, everybody has seen and heard and read and said everything; there’s an oversaturation of sensory input. So I like to leave out all the stuff everybody has already seen and heard and said.

When researching your history as a writer and an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, I came across this quote:"Writing is not about having "ideas," about plot, structure, or narrative. It is the creation of a feeling, a nuance, a brief picture recalled, and establishing it, letting one scene suggest the next, allowing the work to create itself.” How does this apply to the way you create your stories, and how do you teach your students to do the same?

I try to see a picture, or rather, to picture a mood, the mood of an emotion, and to discover characters who embody that mood, then set them in motion and see what they might want to do. That’s where my plots now grow from. I want to let the characters find their own answers, without me getting in the way or pushing them around. I’ve never had a “great idea” for a book that’s worked out. As far as how I apply this to teaching, I try simply to aim the students toward what seems to be the most emotionally resonant in their work, and I urge them to keep writing in that direction, toward what’s working best. Typically, those are the parts of their work that have the strongest voice. At the same time, I do pay a lot of attention to the basics like sentence construction, because writing is also a craft.

When I read your novel SLOW LIE DETECTOR, I noticed it was published without a jacket blurb. What was the reasoning behind the lack of summary?

Well, I think we simply didn’t think of it. While I like jacket blurbs that give me a sense of the style of the novel, I don’t care for descriptions of the plot. That doesn’t interest me. Someone once asked Martin Amis, “What’s your novel about,” and he said, “it’s about 440 pages, you’ll have to read it to find out.” I really hate the emphasis that’s put on synopses and summaries. They don’t really tell you anything about a book. But I always know after reading a page from anywhere in a novel whether it’s going to interest me.


What can you tell us about your latest novel WHO I WAS?

It’s the unmediated thoughts of a college girl during her love affair with a college guy. I tried to write it completely from her head, without any authorial intrusion. Corny as it sounds, I channeled her.


As a writer, I am sure you get your fair share of feedback. What is the best compliment you have ever been given? What was the hardest constructive criticism you were ever given?

I gave a 16 year old kid “Who I Was” and he said, “this is really about me.” That was awesome. I knew I’d got it right. The most constructive crit has always been, “what’s going on here? Where are we?” To generalize, the best criticism (positive or negative) lets me know how the novel is being perceived. For example, if a reader thinks my main character is 19 but I’ve intended her to be 35, that lets me know I can do one of two things: try to make the character seem more 19-ish, or: I guess she’s 35 after all! And then I take it from there.


What books are you currently reading?

A short story collection, “Daddy’s” by Lindsay Hunter, published by Featherproof Books. Also, rereading The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Roberto Callasso, a retelling of the Greek myths. He is a genius.


As an author and a reader, what is your take on eBooks and eReaders?

They’re not for me. They give me a giant headache. The paper book still does the best job of presenting fiction.


What authors/novels/websites would you like to share with our audience?

Richard Brautigan, who I first read in college, really knocked my socks off all over again, if I wore ‘em -- particularly “A Confederate General from Big Sur,” “The Abortion – a Historical Romance” and the short stories, “Revenge of the Lawn.” They’ve all been recently reissued in nice paperbacks. A couple of really cool websites are squareamerica.com, which has thousands of vintage photos, and Overheard in New York, which has great quotes right from the streets of New York and all over.


What was the best question that an interviewer asked you? What was the worst? How did you reply to them?

The best was, if you were to meet your 12 your self, what would you tell him? My answer was, don’t be a wuss, do what you want to do. The worst was, “what’s the difference between men and women,” in the sense that I’ve been trying to figure that out in my books my whole life.


What is one thing that no one knows about you?

Come on. Why would I tell? Everything anyone wants to know is in the books.

What I Want to Know

Welcome to TNBBC's "What I Want To Know" - a mini series of sorts that will hopefully answer some of the questions and quiet some of the concerns I know fellow bloggers, authors, and publishers have regarding how to choose a reviewer or book to review, review etiquette, how to pitch and be pitched.. among other things.

Last week, we heard from the publishers and authors on what they are looking for in a reviewer. Today, I am turning the tables and asking book bloggers:

What do you look for in a review pitch? What catches your attention?

What turns you off?

Here's what the bloggers had to say:

"I have all of my authors or publishers fill out the same information when requesting a review, so it's not necessarily about how they approach it, it's more the content they supply. I will immediately disqualify a book if the synopsis is sloppy (ie: full of grammatical errors or basic spelling errors.) My thought is... If they are unable to write a proper synopsis, chances are their novel is just as sloppy. I also have them submit their cover art, which is an instant attention getter or turn off. (I hate to say that we judge a book by its cover, but that's life.) I do not disqualify because of bad presentation, but I will mention it in my review." - Misty Baker, KindleObsessed.com

"A big turnoff would be if it was a genre that I don't read. My review policy is pretty accessible on my blog, so I'd be a little annoyed if they didn't bother to check. If I'm a big enough deal to warrant a pitch, check the review policy. I'd definitely notice if it were by an author I like (or had been mentioned/given a blurb by an author I like). I'm definitely one of those people who will try something new if an author I read said the book is good. A synopsis would be important, obviously, and if the book were by a new author, probably a comparison to similar authors." - Kelly Hager, Kellyvision.wordpress.com

"I prefer something that is clearly thoughtful and at least somewhat personalized demonstrating WHY I might like this book or why this book would be a good fit for my blog and the readers of my blog. I work in marketing, and I'm not an idiot, so I know when you have just copy and pasted the same message to everyone. Having a template for a review request is fine but at least know my name and what our blog is about. A picture of the cover will catch my attention as well as a succinct summary of the book including the genre, the reading level and the page number. I like when you tell me what authors or books it might be similar to so that I can get a feel for it and that shows thoughtfulness to the fact that you've seen what types of books I enjoy. One thing that turned me off was an author sending me a long summary and then a half page worth of quotes from other people telling me how AWESOME the book is. I do not care what other people think. Maybe one or two but a half page? Particularly when it could be made-up quotes that you and your family sat around at a table and constructed. No thanks, tacky authors." - Jamie Bennett, PerpetualPageTurner.blogspot.com

Bloggers LOVE getting pitched for books. We enjoy knowing that our blog is catching someone's attention, that the reviews we are writing are being read, and that authors and publishers out there are paying attention.

And when a publisher or author matches their book to our taste, it's a win/win for everyone!

I especially love to get pitches from authors who are friends with, or have read with, other authors that I have previously reviewed on my blog. I find some of my favorite indie literature that way.

I prefer seeing my name at the top of the email pitch, instead of the generic "Dear ," and if they mention my blog in there somewhere, I at least know they took a minute to check it out and learn who I am and what I read. That bumps you up on the consideration scale!

If you link me to the book, I will definitely check it out, so don't feel you have to summarize it or copy and paste the blurb into the pitch. I'd rather get an idea of what you are like, what you are looking for from me, and what I can do to assist getting the word out. I may not choose to read the book myself, so it helps me to know if you are willing to free up a few copies for a giveaway on the blog to try to generate interest for you.

There are so many things that publishers and authors do right when they pitch bloggers. And we all so grateful for making these books available for us to review, and for taking us seriously.

Keep our suggestions in mind the next time you pitch a blogger, and we look forward to working more closely with you in the future.

So what did you think?

Did Misty, Kelly, and Jamie do a fair job letting the authors and publishers know what bloggers are looking for in a review pitch? Was there something you didn't see that you want to share? Is there something that the publishers and authors are doing well that you want to commend them on? Comment here to get the discussion going. I look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Now that we've discussed what authors and publishers look for in a reviewer, and we've seen what bloggers look for in a pitch, next week we will take a look at how authors and publishers decide who they will pitch for a review.

I've Been Tagged!!!

Ashley at Books From Bleh to Basically Amazing tagged me yesterday!

The Rules:

(1) Accept the tag and link to the tagger at the beginning of your post.
(2) Answer the questions honestly in your post by listing four things.
(3) Pass on the love by picking four other people to tag and listing them at the bottom of your post. Notify them that you tagged them.

Four Things In My Handbag:

• Cell phone
• Chapstick
• Wallet
• Gum

Four Favorite Things In My Bedroom:

• Book on the nightstand
• Wall hanging of my oldest sons handprints when he was a baby
• My king sized bed
• Black and white photos of my hubby that I took for my college photography class

Four Things on My Desk (kitchen table - I have no desk):

• My laptop
• My current read (when it's not on my nightstand)
• Lots of pens/pencils
• candles

Four Things I've Always Wanted to Do (But Haven't Yet):

• Work for a publishing company, in some capacity
• Travel to Ireland and Italy
• Kiss Johnny Depp (what?!?!)
• Visit famous authors gravestones (traveling throughout the US)

Four Things I Enjoy Very Much At The Moment:

• Curling up with a good book
• Blogging and Tweeting
• Attending book festivals and author readings
• Watching my kids when they get along (it's rare, so I enjoy it when it happens)

Four Songs I Can't Get Out Of My Head:

• Like a G 6- Far East Movement
• Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
• Orange Crush - REM
• Can't Get You Outta My Head - (hahaha.. just kidding!)

Four Things You Don't Know About Me:

• I am addicted to chapstick. I carry about 3 of them in my purse, and have countless tubes all over the house and in the car.
• I'm terrified of spiders. Like, to point where I get nauseous when I see one. I'm too scared to kill one because I am afraid I will miss, and it will get away, and then I will have to worry about where the heck it is until I find it again.
• I hate shopping for shoes. I am picky as all hell when it comes to shoes, and I can never find what I want. So I wait until my shoes are literally falling apart before buying new ones.
• I have a truckers mouth. I drop the F-Bomb so often I don't even hear it half the time. If I go a whole day without cursing, It's a god-damned miracle.

Four Bloggers I'm Tagging:

• Boof at The Book Whisperer
• Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner
• Mandy at The Bookworm's Blog
• Rachel at A Home Between the Pages

Thanks again Ashley, that was so much fun! And be sure to check these ladies out - They work hard at reviewing and creating great blog posts!

Scary Story Retro Review: Pet Cemetery

The deeper into October we go, the cooler the nights become. The heat is turned on to keep us toasty warm inside our homes, fireplaces fill the night air with the smokey smell of burning wood, the leaves - once a vibrant display of yellows and reds - now turn to brown and crunch beneath our footsteps.

When I think of October, I think of Halloween. Halloween, of course, brings to mind ghosts and goblins, zombies and cemeteries. And of course, when I'm thinking of cemeteries, I think of Stephen King's Pet Cemetery.

****************************************************************

Read (??)

3 Stars - Recommended to readers familiar with author

Pgs:576

Typical of most of the books Stephen King writes, Pet Cemetery ran a few pages longer than necessary. Good ole wordy King, right?

I read this novel back in middle school, during my 8th grade year. I remember living in Carmel, NY. At the top of my street sat a small cemetery. Which never really bothered me until I began this book. Only Steven King could get me to break into a near run when walking past the cemetery every day on my way to and from the bus stop. And keep me from sneaking out at night, for fear of what was waiting for me at the top of the block behind those black gates.

The death of an innocent young boy, the heartache a parent feels, the guilt, the pain of losing a child... If there was a way to bring them back, would you take it?

That is exactly the situation King creates for his characters here. An ancient burial ground, sacred, not to be abused. Legend says if you bury someone there, they will be returned to you. But will they be the same?

Prepare for chills, and for the unexpected (unless you've seen the movie, of course). And I promise you will never look at a cemetery the same again!

Review: Slow Lie Detector

Read 10/13/10

4 Stars - Strongly Recommended

Pgs:148

I wasn't always sure where this book was headed, what the characters were doing, or even what their purpose was... But I loved the ebb and flow, and the amazing sentence structure. Les Plesko's chapters were a short page and a half each, the words woven together so fluidly that I had finished reading the novel before I had even really begun.

The cover caught a lot of attention. I was reading it at the gym while my kids were practicing their Jiu Jitsu, and though I read there every night and no one usually says a word, on this particular night everyone was asking what the book was about. They wanted to see the cover, feel it, they were interested to hear what it was about. They saw me jotting down notes and asked to read them. I was slightly embarrassed and secretly thrilled that a book could draw so much attention - at a GYM no less!

Les Plesko's novel doesn't need a summary, heck - it doesn't even have a cover blurb, it really doesn't matter what the story is about. But I can't look at someone and say "I just read the words and let them take me where they will".

So if I had to sum it up, here is what I would say:

It's about this guy, Max, who wants to make a film. A film about real things. A film that catches every moment of everyone's lives. A documentary of life. And while he is driving and filming out the window of the car, he stops and picks up this chick, Winn, who he falls for, but she is married to a sailor. Somehow her sailor husband tracks her down, and finds her with Max. And then there's this weird love triangle between Max, Winn, and her husband. Then Max knocks up Winn, and her husband accepts this, until Winn has the baby, and tells her husband that the baby looks like him, which pisses him off and he leaves.

The story then follows the roller coaster of a relationship between Max, and Winn, and their very many additional 'partners'. It deals with infidelity in such a real yet abstract way.

Don't let that be the selling point though. Take a look at the writing:

"The best understanding that he had of himself was always second hand".

"Bad thoughts were alright, only what you did counted, not what you thought, how you felt".

"Did you drink because you felt bad, or did the drinking become the badness"?

"He did ordinary things that were made extraordinary from it".

The novel takes each character's personal emotions and exposes them for everyone to see. The author cracks open each person's chest, and allows the reader to pull back the skin and crawl inside. To live in the moment with them. To know what they think, and what they feel, and why they act the way they do. His characters are vulnerable, and honest, and as real as his words can make them. They are ugly, damaged, ruined people - these characters - and they are unapologetic. They are human, and make mistakes, and accept each others faults.

And that is what makes this novel such an amazing read.

Review: Termite Parade

Read 10/11/10 - 10/13/10

5 Stars - Highly Recommended/The Next Best Book

Pgs:180

Do not let the book cover of Termite Parade turn you off. Seriously.

If you are like me, and hate anything that creeps and crawls, this book cover will make your stomach turn. You will take one look at that wide open mouth with termites climbing out of it, and want to gag. Your hands might shake, and your knees might get weak, and your upper lip and forehead might bead with sweat, but do yourself a favor and GET OVER IT.

Grab a copy of this book.

Here's why:

Have you ever been in a crappy relationship, one that was just too much work, one where your girlfriend/boyfriend was crazy jealous and never trusted you, wanting to know who you were on the phone with, who you were texting, who you were going out with, how long you were going to be gone...?

Have you ever been mortified by this girlfriend/boyfriend, embarrassed to the point where you wish you could just rip open a hole in the universe and be sucked into it, when they would make off the wall comments and false accusations in front of people, people whose jaws would drop and hit the floor, people who would feel sorry for you because of the scene your other half was creating?

Have you ever gotten to the point where, knowing the relationship isn't working, knowing the effort you are putting in will never equal the effort coming back out, knowing that you will never leave them, you decide you have finally had enough, you decide to do something you ordinarily wouldn't ever do, something you know you shouldn't but you just can't help yourself, you tell yourself they deserve what they have coming, and then you just do it, without thinking about it?

Have you ever done that thing that you knew you shouldn't have done, and then lied about what it was that you did, and the person believed you, right from the start, and never questioned you about it, and you thought, phew! That was too easy, but then the longer you went living and supporting the lie, the worse and worse you felt, the guilt over the thing you did and the lie you told to cover it up begins to eat you up, from the inside out, gnawing and chewing at you, day after day, until you couldn't even look at her/him without the guilt causing you physical discomfort, until you finally decide you have tell them the truth, not because you want them to know, but because you are convinced that telling the truth is the only way to get the lie to stop eating you up inside?

If you were shaking your head as you read all of that, nodding in agreement, laughing because yes! I have done that, I have felt that, I have been on the receiving end of that, I was lied to, I told a lie, I was in a shit relationship - if you felt anything at all while reading all of that, then you NEED TO READ THIS BOOK.

This is the twisted, terrible story of Mired and Derek, and their awful relationship - a relationship they both want so badly that they are willing to attend couples therapy for. It's the story of the thing that Mired does to push Derek over the edge. It's the story of the thing that Derek does to Mired. It's the story of the lie Derek tells Mired to cover up the thing he did. It's the story of the guilt that eats Derek up from the inside out like termites.... chewing his bones to splinters.

Oh, and how awesome was it of the author, Joshua Mohr, to name his leading lady Mired - which means "entangled, hindered, to involve in difficulties"? Our damsel in distress, named for the hell that her life has become. Is that not poetic? Not to mention this guy can write! He gets it. He knows what a shitty relationship feels like. He knows what it's like to want something to work so badly you are willing to put up with all kinds of nonsense for it. And he's throws it all out there in black and white for you to experience.

Need more before you commit? Check out the book trailer:

Huge hugs and kisses go out to Two Dollar Radio for sending me this review copy. Watch these guys, they know good literature and are not afraid to publish it!

The Naked Gardener Giveaway

Author Laura B Gschwandtner and I are very excited to announce a great giveaway opportunity!

Laura has offered up 10 copies of her new novel The Naked Gardener, which was released by CreateSpace this past August, to be read and discussed as part of a sidebar group read for TNBBC in the month of November.

Here is the book description as found on Goodreads:

In a remote forest of northern Vermont, Katelyn Cross takes five women on a wilderness canoe trip where they hope to come up with ideas for saving their dying town. Although the river is not always what it seems and the women have not left their problems behind, a painting ritual creates a new way to look at the world - and themselves.

Artist Katelyn Cross loves Greg Mazur and he loves her. He wants to be married but a previous relationship that went sour has made Katelyn overly cautious about any permanent commitment. And what about Greg's first wife? He lost her to cancer and Katelyn worries that he's only looking for a replacement. What's a girl to do? Canoe down a river with five gal pals, camp out, catch fish, talk about life and men. The problem is, a river can be as unpredictable as any relationship and just as hard to manage. On their last day, when the river turns wild, the women face the challenge of a lifetime and find that staying alive means saving themselves first while being open to help from a most unlikely source. As Katelyn navigates the raging water, she learns how to overcome her fear of change in a world where nothing stays the same. When Katelyn returns to her garden, she'll face one more obstacle and the naked gardener will meet the real Greg Mazur.

What readers are saying about The Naked Gardener: Lyrical ... Scandalous ... Empowering ... Exhilarating ... Honest ... Sensual ... Fun ... Gentle ... Pleasurable ... Transporting ... Timeless

In her first novel, award winning writer L B Gschwandtner explores the push and pull of love, a woman's need to maintain her individuality within marriage, and the bonds that can make women stronger even when the world feels as if it's breaking apart.

Laura has agreed to ship 2 of the 10 copies of The Naked Gardener internationally.

In order to win a copy of this novel:

1- You must post a comment to this thread including a way for us to contact you if you win, and what country you live in.

2- You must agree to participate in a group read book discussion that will run during the month of November over at TNBBC on Goodreads. Laura has agreed to participate in the discussion and will be available to answer any questions you may have for her.

3 - You must be one of the first 2 people internationally to comment in order to qualify for the international copies. You must be one of the first 8 people in the US or Canada to qualify for those copies. Yup! It's first come, first serve!

Remember to put your country in the comment! If you do not tell me which country you live in, you will not qualify for a copy.

By commenting, you are agreeing to read the book and join the group discussion at TNBBC on Goodreads (the thread for the discussion will be emailed to you at the first of the month).

This giveaway will remain open until the 10th copy has been claimed. I will confirm the copies that have been claimed in the comment section here so you can see how many copies are left to claim.

Upon it's close, I will email all the winners and announce them here on my blog. Good Luck!!

In the meantime, check out these links: The Novelette.com and Laura's Twitter page.

What I Want To Know

Welcome to TNBBC's "What I Want To Know" - a mini series of sorts that will hopefully answer some of the questions and quiet some of the concerns I know fellow bloggers, authors, and publishers have regarding how to choose a reviewer or book to review, review etiquette, how to pitch and be pitched.. among other things.

I sent out a request via Twitter a few weeks ago, soliciting feedback from various publishers, authors, and bloggers to get their take on 5 specific questions. Those that expressed interest were emailed the same 5 questions and asked to answer them openly and honestly.

My hope is that this series opens up some discussion - Share your thoughts and feelings on the questions and topics we cover here, recommend other topics or questions to help the series grow and evolve!

Let's get started!

The first question I wanted to tackle was this:

What do you look for in a reviewer? What catches your attention? What turns you off?

This question was sent out to the authors and publishers, and I thought it was a great place to start because, really truly, as bloggers, how can we ever stand a chance at building a relationship with them if we don't even know what they want from us? What is it about us that makes them agree to ship out review copies? What can we do to keep them coming back?

Here is what they had to say:

"At Graywolf, we really try to be selective about only approaching bloggers to pitch our books if we think the book is a good fit for the publication/blog and that publication’s audience. We don’t want to waste a reviewer’s time by sending a poetry collection to a reviewer/blogger that only reviews mystery novels, for example. So we try to pay attention to what the publication seems to focus on.

Enthusiastic blogs really catch our attention. Certainly we love getting coverage in a publication with a huge circulation rate or a huge audience, but you don’t always have to have the biggest circulation to have the most passionate readers. Even if a blog has only ten followers, if those ten followers are all voracious literature lovers that are going to read your book, get behind it, and tell everyone they know about it, then you have an extremely valuable readership. Word of mouth goes a long, long way in selling books." - Marisa, Graywolf Press

"Traffic numbers, word-of-mouth recognition, a vibrant community, and a destination site." - Lucinda, Book Marketer

"I like reviewers who are succinct and can sum up their thoughts in 2-3 paragraphs, because when I'm reading reviews I like to read quite a few to get an idea of the range of emotions and ideas that a book can inspire. I understand that there is a market out there for longer, critical reviews, but I wonder if blogs or GoodReads etc. are the appropriate place for such analysis--I personally don't have the time to read multiple reviews that are 1000 words or longer. I would rather devote that time to reading the book in question." - Andrew Shaffer, HuffPost columnist and author of GREAT PHILOSOPHERS WHO FAILED AT LOVE (Harper Perennial, Jan '11)

"I want someone who is going to read the entire book, not just skim it. It's easy to tell when a reviewer has only read part of the book and relied on other reviews, jacket copy and publicity material to flesh out the piece. I HATE reviews that move into personal attack, rather than offering critique of the work. It seems lately that many reviews have become more entertainment writing than actual critique." - Collin Kelley, Poet, journalist, social media consultant, author of Conquering Venus

"Comments and interaction from and with readers, Interest and familiarity with our genre, and Google Page Rank.

We look to see if the blogger has lots of visitors and interactions with their readers. The more readers, the more likely we will want to pitch them. So, lots of comments catch our interest. We look and see what kinds of books they review and if they review the kind of work we publish. We check their google page rank, which is the number that indicates their traffic and how likely they are to come up in the top for listings on search engines." - Vagabondagepress, Arts/Lit Online 'Zine The Battered Suitcase

"Obviously a certain amount of erudition is something I look for. If the reviewer writes well, doesn't make spelling errors (for self-edited blogs) and can describe why they liked or disliked the book without at the same time revealing too much of the plot, that's a rare and good thing. Turnoffs would be if the reviewer has basically the same thing to say about each book." - Gene Doucette, author of Immortal

I was amazed by the similarities, and the differences, in what publishers and authors look for.

Sometimes bloggers get hung up on their blog stats - # of comment, # of unique hits, # of returning hits, # of sites that get traffic through them - and while these comments give some weight to stats, it appears that publishers and authors are more interested in YOU and how you blog. They understand the power of a review, and pay attention to what you are reading, and what you like.

When I first started blogging, I pitched publishers and authors for novels to review more often than they were pitching me. Even though I had been running TNBBC on goodreads for 3 years, I was still fairly unknown in the publishing community - at least concerning my status as a 'reviewer'. I had no stats to speak of, so I had to sell myself, my confidence in what I liked, and my ability to give them the word of mouth their novels deserved.

Don't sell yourself short, and assume that if you aren't raking in 100+ hits a day, and have less than 500 followers, that publishers and authors won't take you seriously. Work hard at developing your writing and identifying a unique style, create a niche to market yourself through or an easy way for authors and publishers to know what you types of books you like to review, and those review pitches should come pouring in!

What did you think?

Was this post helpful and insightful? Was there anything here that shocked you? What interactions have you had with publishers or authors that support or negate what you read here?

Next week, we turn the tables, and ask the bloggers what they look for in a review pitch. So authors and publishers, be sure to check back and see what they have say!

Review: The People Who Watched Her Pass By

Read 10/9/10 - 10/11/10

4 Stars: Strongly Recommended

Pgs:146

God, I love indie publishers. They put out some of the most interesting books I have ever read.

The People Who Watched Her Pass By is author Scott Bradfield's fifth novel, though it is the first book I have read by him.

And it's a horrifying concept - a 3 year old girl kidnapped from her home by the hot water heater fixer. Not only does this guy kidnap her, he deserts her too. And it's the story of this 3 year old girl wandering from house to house, being taken in, and then being let go, over and over and over again. Until she takes matters into her own hands and chooses when she will be taken in, and when she will walk away.... Until the world finally catches up to her.

So, although it's every mother's worst nightmare - to have her child stolen from her, and not being able to find her, or know what has happened to her - and not a very easy novel to digest, it has some of the most amazing and quotable lines I have read in a very long time.

Bradfield twists and manipulates the english language so beautifully that you actually forgive him for writing a book about such a terrible and unspeakable crime. He takes the life of 3 year old Salome and turns it into poetry.

Seriously. Read this line:

"Life is a sweet mistake that happened when the world wasn't looking."

I love this line so much that I almost want to take it to a tattoo parlor and have it etched into my skin so I can keep it with me forever.

And this one, that describes a major turning point of sorts between Salome's previous life (of living in a laundromat) and her next life:

"We can only have one home at a time. But if we are not ready to appreciate it, or we forget the keys, then we can't have any home at all."

One more, I promise:

"When we die... All the things we ever loved become furniture. The hollowness we feel turns into a house. There aren't any other people in it, and that's one of it's blessings. It's just filled with the ghosts of objects we used to own, things we used to feel, memories of patience and heat... In the afterlife, everything is already over. We don't have anything to regret or anything to look forward to."

The entire novel is peppered with these gorgeous moments that simultaneously grab you by your heart and break it in two.

It is this strange, surreal account of a little girl who wanders almost aimlessly through backyards, and down dirt roads, into and out of peoples lives, people who for some reason don't call Child Services, who don't question this little blonde haired angel they have suddenly crossed paths with, who seem hell-bent on bestowing words of wisdom and advice on her, on telling her their sad soul-crushing stories, on giving her a temporary place to stay...

It is not a book for everyone. It will stir some strong emotions. It will piss some people off. It is a book to be experienced, at the very least.

It is the type of book that only an indie publisher would take a risk on, and bravo, Two Dollar Radio... for the opportunity to review it!

Will the Real TNBBC Please Stand Up

So, I admit it. I google myself from time to time, just to see what other people see when they search for me. Imagine my surprise when I see this pop up out of almost nowhere:

TNBBC.blogspot.com

Needless to say, this isn't me. Nor are they trying to be. Anyone who is looking for me will most certainly discover that fact once they take one look at it. It's some japanese dude who uses this blogspot account to support some other facet of his life. But man - it's kinda freaky to see my acronym being used for something that is not mine. I mean, how does he even get TNBBC out of those words? I don't it!

The really strange thing, though, is that this blog account opened in Sept 2007, the same month and year that I created The Next Best Book Club on Goodreads. Tell me that isn't some weird shit!! And it has never appeared in any of my google searches before...

Heed this, followers and fellow bloggers - always google yourself and your sites to see what other nefarious, poser-like things may be lurking out there, tricking curious web searchers into their dark and scary webs.

The real TNBBC has spoken!

Review: Marvellous Hairy

Read 10/5/10 - 10/9/10

3.5 Stars - Strongly recommended to readers familiar with genre

Pgs:263

Mark A. Rayner is an author with a fantastical sense of humor and a dangerous imagination. Part big corporation take-down, part scientific bizarro experimentation, this novel is perfect for fans of the strange and unlikely!

Full of mayhem, madness, and monkey-business, Marvellous Hairy takes the reader on a roller coaster of a ride through the many layered friendships of Nick, a man who is willing to sell his body to science for a couple of bucks; Max, a doctor who takes recreational drug use to the next level; Hot Helena, who works as a VP for Gargantuan Enterprises and it's slightly insane head honcho Ted; and our narrator Rob, BFF to Nick, our monkey man in the making.

Mix in some unauthorized highly secretive genetic manipulation, a ghost haunting, two kidnappings, and a pair of unstable drug dealers, and you now have a recipe for disaster.

While reading the proof for the novel, which was signed and sent to me by the author upon my request for review, I found myself overlooking the editing issues (hence the reason I noted it was a proof copy) and thoroughly enjoying the storyline.

The back cover blurb leads the reader to believe the novels sole plot is to follow Nick Motbot through his transformation from man into monkey, however there really is soooo much more to it than that.

Rob worked as a temp on a super secret scientific project involving a weather satellite at Gargantuan Enterprises, when he discovers his best friend Nick has signed on with the same company for some experimental testing. Concerned for his friends well-being, and increasingly strange behavior, Rob enlists the help of the company's VP of Marketing, and his old college buddy Helena, to root around and dig up information on the classified test.

The group of friends stumble upon some pretty unethical and downright scary stuff, and decide to take matters into their hands - Kidnap the CEO, publicize what they know to bring the company crashing down around his knees, and hopefully save their banana-loving, bow-legged, devolving buddy at the same time.

How can you NOT want to read this??

I want to just take a moment to clarify something:

The novel is marketed as "Literary Fiction" under the subcategory "Fabulist Satire" (as found on the back of the book), and I think it's for good reason. Readers who like straight up, no nonsense fiction may find themselves confused and frustrated with the crazy capers and high-jinx that populate this novel. Those readers who love to indulge in a good old medical mystery novel might find themselves tsk-ing and tut-ing over the numerous other story lines that flow throughout the book.

That being said, Rayner's novel is romping good fun, and begs you to pay more attention to your inner monkey and lizard - the normal animalistic parts of the human psyche that we force into submission! Everyone... It's time to "Release the Monkey's"!!!

Review: The Report

Read 9/29/10 - 10/5/10

4 Stars: Strongly Recommended

Pgs:235

Many thanks goes out to Graywolf Press for allowing me a copy of this book for review. I have mentioned in a past review that I tend to steer clear of books that deal in and around war, however @totesmarisa swore by Jessica Francis Kane's novel and talked me into giving it a shot. And I am so thankful that I did.

While The Report does partially take place during World War II, it's focus is solely on the Bethnal Green London Tube Disaster, in which 173 civilians died in a horrific accident on the steps of an air raid shelter.

Jessica does a brilliant job of creating a fictional version of the events that took place on that terrible night in March 1943.

She draws us in using sparse, specific prose to guide us through the panicked London streets as that fateful air siren went off, ushering the townspeople towards the shelter, and onto the crowded staircase... enabling us to visualize the slip and crush of bodies on the steps of the tube entrance, the suffocating death of those unfortunate souls who were unable to escape the twisted mess of bodies that piled one on top of the other in an effort to get under cover from the bombs they thought were coming.

She allowed us to listen to the interviews that were conducted, the survivors and shelter volunteers recounting what they remembered of that night, where they were, what they thought was going on, how they attempted to help, or walk away alive. We understood the frustration that Magistrate Laurence Dunne felt when each testimony seemed to contradict the one that came before.

She introduces us to the cover-up, the true details of the event that took place on those steps in the stairwell, the real story spoken to him by an innocent eight year old girl, a truth that Dunne knew should never be revealed to the public.

She plagues her characters with guilt, and shame, crippling loss, and a fierce determination to make things right.

To think that people once had to live in a state of blackout - heavy curtains drawn over windows, no lights allowed after dark - and struggle with food and flower bans, to live every moment in fear of the enemy dropping bombs on their town, rushing to the nearest shelter when the air raid sirens went off, scurrying and cramming into underground tube stations until given the all clear... To think that this was once a normal way to live.

I could not imagine living a life like that, let alone raising a child through it all. My generation is so far removed from that type of fear. We have been spoiled by free wi-fi, and gourmet coffee, and designer sunglasses. We cry and pout if we can't have what we want the moment we want it.

Jessica's novel helped me to gain a greater appreciation of the life I am living today, and opened my eyes to the way the world used to be. Her book encouraged me to research a moment in time that, up until I began reading The Report, I never even knew existed.

For more information on The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster, follow these google links and videos .

Scary Story Retro Review: Come Closer

The leaves are lying on the lawn; the air is brisker, cooler; the days are getting shorter; the smell of burning logs escapes our neighbors chimney... There is no denying that Fall is officially here.

And with Fall comes every child's favorite dress-up holiday: Halloween. Which, of course, gets me thinking about some of the creepy, crawly, twisted, terrifying reads I have ever read.

I usually take time during the month of October to indulge in a seasonal book reading binge - where books containing Vampires, Werewolves, Ghosts, Monsters, Witches, or Magic get bumped to the top of the TBR pile. This year will be first year, due to my review priorities, that I won't be able to read October Themed novels. So, instead, throughout the month of October, I plan to showcase the best of the best scary stories I have read over the years...

Starting with this one:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Read Dec'2007)

4 Stars - Strongly Recommended

Pgs:224

Looking for a scary book you can read in one sitting? Try out Come Closer by Sara Gran.

It's quite short, barely 200 pages.. and a terrifyingly quick read. I think I worked myself up about it a bit too much, based on the reviews I had read.... afraid to start it until I was sitting in full daylight, fearful that it would be way too creepy and have me sleeping in bed with my kids....too chicken to risk a nite in bed alone...

Chilling and creepy, sometimes leaving me with that tingle-up-my-spine feeling...

A very cleverly, conversationally written book about a woman who slowly and knowingly gets posessed by a demon, slowly sinking into its clutches...

I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick, kinda-creepy read that is unlike much of anything you've read before.