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The Natural Selection by Ona Russell .
In The Natural Selection, the second in a series of Sarah Kaufman historical mysteries, Ona Russell deftly weaves a fictitious tale of murder and intrigue with the factual Scopes “Monkey” trial, called the Trial of the Century. Set authentically in Tennessee in the 1920’s, the plot follows Sarah, a believable and appealing protagonist, as she interacts seamlessly with the story’s characters as well as real participants from the trial, notably celebrated journalist H.L. Mencken.
Russell crafts a vinegar divide between science and fundamentalism, reason and racism, change and convention, and intelligence and insecurity. The fast flowing, elegant writing will hook readers; but the book is all the more fascinating, if not distressing, because it strikes close to today’s social and political climate. The controversy and relevance of The Natural Selection will draw them into the time period and keep them turning pages until the end.
www.onarussell.com
- Christina Weaver
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What You Lose on the Roundabout You Gain on the Swings by Christina G. Weaver .
What You Lose on the Roundabout is Christina Weaver’s compelling memoir detailing her diagnosis of Parkinson’s and her fight to keep a sense of normalcy while her body begins to shut down. At turns funny and painful, Weaver tells her story with a no-holds bar honesty and a clear and engaging narrative voice. Combining photographs, poetry, and lucid scenes of struggle and redemption, Ms Weaver’s story is one that illuminates the difficulty of overcoming illness while still maintaining a buoyant spirit of hopefulness. http://www.cgweaver.com/books.html
(Infinity Publishing, 2007)
- aimee labrie
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Drown by Junot Diaz.
This debut collection
of short stories by the recent
Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Junot
Diaz (The Brief Wondrous Life of
Oscar Wao) is a sharp yet lush collection
of loosely connected stories.
Tracing the adolescent evolution of a
young boy in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic to a young man
in New Jersy, Diaz weaves his many
stories into a single, multi-faceted narrative.
Using occasional Spanglish to
deepen his tales’ texture, Diaz never
leans on his cross-cultural references
as a literary crutch. His portraits are
funny, moving, and painfully human.
(Riverhead Books, 1996) - Ryan Romine
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Quite Ugly One Morning by Christopher Brookmyre.
Quite Ugly One Morning proves
(if proof were needed) that
Christopher Brookmyre is the king of
deranged Scots crime fiction. Think
of a literary version of the film Shoot
‘Em Up and you’re almost there.
Perhaps with a good dose of
Trainspotting thrown in. He’s been
compared to Carl Hiaasen, and
indeed Brookmyre’s threshold of the
grotesque hovers somewhere around
mad killers and weed whackers, but
with a side of haggis. If you like
Hiaasen and Westlake, you will not
be disappointed by anything Mr.
Brookmyre pens. (Abacus Books-Time
Warner 1996, reprinted 2004) - Gregory Frost
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Red Shifting by Aleksandr Skidan.
Though Aleksandr Skidan has been publishing for years in Russia, "Red Shifting" is his first collection of poetry to be translated into English. Skidan has become fluent in American culture, and has carefully splayed it out in his poems. He deals with the subjects of censorship, displacement, and language with an unsettling ease, digs into himself and into his reader with abandon and uncovers things most of us would rather keep buried. Skidan's vocabulary of allusions requires many visits before it yields to the reader; his pieces alternate between a stark clarity and a calm aloofness that have few equals in their level of challenge. (Red Shifting, Ugly Duckling Press). - Blythe Boyer
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The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly.
Taking a break from the usual mystery and suspense writing, John Connolly presents his readers with a different kind of book called, The Book of Lost Things. The book opens with a frightfully realistic way in which a child will view the way in which a terminal illness takes a life. Although David's mother dies from cancer, he finds comfort in her books because, as she always told him, books are alive and just waiting for someone to talk with them. David finds himself obsessed with this book in his stepmother's house. This book then takes him on an adventure of a lifetime in which he battles gnomes, werewolves, and finally the Crooked Man. - Michelle Wittle
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The Tea House by Paul Elwork.
In The Tea House, Paul Elwork achieves several literary feats. He creates a unique ghost story while depicting the struggles endured by teenagers as they prepare to leave behind the innocence of childhood. He reminds the reader of the difficulties that accompany coming of age, and the temptation to cling to the childish notion of imagination. Finally, he returns to the adult reader the hope of something beyond what is seen and understood, and the desire to once again believe.
The story follows Michael and Emily Stewart, 13-year-old twins, as they spend a summer exploring their world and finding ways to entertain themselves. The year is 1925, and the community continues to reel from the effects of a war. The twins feel these effects in their home, as their father, a soldier, has died and their mother suffers from depression. To escape these realities, the twins discover a game in which they pretend to make contact with the souls of the dead. As news of this new game, or of the special powers of the twins, spreads around the neighborhood, more children begin coming to participate. Eventually, the news moves beyond the twins’ friends and adults appear to witness what is happening.
Elwerk’s careful attention to detail, draws the reader into the story from the beginning. The story is entertaining, with its elements of mystery and suspense, but also proves to be memorable and thought provoking. - Elizabeth Tabasko
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