Well-Read: Great Books to Give This Year
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
No matter which holiday you’re shopping for, books always top my gift-giving list. I checked in with the experts for their take on the best books to give this season.
First up is mystery writer Jan Brogan, who recommends Julia Spencer Fleming’s One Was a Soldier. Brogan says she was lucky to read it in manuscript form last year in order to prepare for a panel she was moderating for the New England Crime Bake. “The book has since gone on to the New York Times Bestseller list,” she says. “Fleming’s popular protagonist, Clare Ferguson, both an Episcopal and a National Guard helicopter pilot, returns from Iraq and is dealing with emotional re-entry issues and a pill addiction, when a member of her military support group, Tally McNabb, is found shot to death.” Jan goes on to say that the book is as full of insight as it is suspense and romance.
When asked about her own work, she says she is “happy to announce that Final Copy, which is the back story to Hallie Ahern’s move to Providence, has just been made available as an e-book on sale at Amazon and Barnes and Noble this week. GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Dovekeepers’ Alice Hoffman recommends The Little Bride by (local author) Anna Solomon, which she calls “ a charming historical novel about a Jewish mail order bride who finds herself in the Midwest—not at all the America she expected and who continues to believe in love despite all odds.” I, too, am a fan of this book and was thrilled when Alice emailed that it was her pick for a holiday gift.
Adriana Trigiani, unable to choose just one, includes these titles as her favorites: Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, The Beauty and the Sorrow by Peter Englund, The Trail of the Lonesome Pine by John Fox Jr. and How to Dress for Success by Edith Head with Joe Hyams. Trigiani shares on her Facebook page a special contest where you can win autographed copies of her books in time for the holidays! “All you have to do is comment (on her page) with your favorite holiday moment from any of my books and you will be entered to win signed hardcover editions of Very Valentine and Brava Valentine!” Good luck!
“It’s a toss up!” says Robin O’Bryant of Laurie Notaro’s It Looked Different on the Model “which is the funniest book she’s ever written.” Stories about chocolate starts and telescopes that “literally made me cry I was laughing so hard.” O’Bryant tells me that her husband finally made her read it out loud because he was dying to know what was so hysterical. I love funny—sign me up for that one! She also adds in Celia Rivenbark’s You Don’t Sweat Much for a Fat Girl. “Celia has a way of including pop culture references and Southern sass in a way that makes me laugh until my sides are aching,” says O’Bryant, clearly with her eye on the humor. She says that Notaro and Rivenbark are two of her favorite writers “ever!” Speaking of funny, O’Bryant’s Ketchup is a Vegetable and Other Lies Moms Tell Themselves is a great read for anyone has had a hand in raising children. Robin says it’s “really easy to laugh about the difficulties of parenting…when you’re not the one cleaning the poop out of the tub.”
And for the fashionista or fashion-impaired, Hillary Kerr and Katherine Power’s What To Wear, Where lays out every possible occasion for dressing that you could ever encounter. Emily Homonoff from www.thehappening.co says this is like having “a personal stylist in a book that explains all of the various elements in each outfit.” From what works and what doesn’t to a girls’ night out and tail gaiting parties, you’ll never be at a loss for your best look!
Reading enthusiast and all around "book-pusher" Robin Kall can be heard live Saturday mornings from 7-8am on Reading With Robin WHJJ 920AM. Also streaming live at www.920whjj.com. Follow on Twitter @robinkall, and Facebook - Reading With Robin. All new Web site! www.readingwithrobin.com
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