Perfect read for JLC5!

She's back! Banana Yoshimoto's latest work, The Lake is out now! In her new book, she creates "a hypnotic, delicate, and suspenseful tale about a young painter named Chihiro and her relationship with a brilliant but troubled young man named Nakajima who has a mysterious trauma in his past."  Talk about a must-read book! I can't wait to get my hands on a copy and dive into Yoshimoto's words - I am positive it will be an excellent read!  And of course it will be the perfect book to read for the upcoming JLC5 hosted by Bellezza.  Can't wait to read everyone's thoughts on this one and post some of my own ideas about the book.

Don't you just love it when a book makes you excited about reading? Bliss.

And just so you know, a portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to helping those affected by the devastation in Japan.

Indie Lit Awards 2011

The Indie Lit Awards are back this year - YAY!  And this time round, I get to participate in all the fun as a voting judge in the Biography/Memoir category.  I've already compiled a list of the memoirs I want to read - luckily, there are some great ones out this year, so I'm excited to start reading. And yes, Bossypants is one of those memoirs - love Tina Fey! 

And just in case you hadn't heard of the Indie Lit Awards, here is some info:

The Independent Literary Awards are book awards given by literary bloggers. Lit bloggers write about books and literary related items. They are the fastest growing form of publicity in the literary world, though most are still independently run and do not receive compensation for their reviews or recommendations.

The Independent Literary Awards is currently in its second year and will be presenting the winners for the 2011 calendar year in March of 2012. The genres that will be represented and receiving awards for 2011 are:

Biography/Memoir

GLBTQ
Literary Fiction
Mystery
Non-Fiction
Poetry
Speculative Fiction

And before I forget, this just in:

Are you a blogger who is willing to review books in your favorite genre that are newly released in 2011? Are you a publisher, publicist, or author who is looking to get your newly released (in 2011) book read and reviewed on blogs? Great (on both accounts)! We’ve added Mr. Linky lists to each genre page to enable book bloggers to add their blogs to the list of bloggers who are willing to accept books published in 2011 and review them. Publishers, publicists, and authors: we’ve tried to make it easier for you to find bloggers who review books in your specific categories. Our goals are the same as yours — get books published in 2011 seen by readers! We want as many nominations this year as we can get, and the only way to do that is if readers know which books are out. Sometimes that can be difficult, especially if a blogger is new or if they just don’t have established relationships with literary industry people. So, let’s rectify that and get great books into blogging hands! Please visit our genre pages today to either add your blog, or visit blogs in particular genres.

And, also:

All readers not just book bloggers, will be eligible to nominate books for this year’s Indie Lit Awards! So, start writing down your favorite titles of 2011 for each genre that you read. We’re looking forward to your nominations in September.

If you need any more info about the Indie Lit Awards or have any questions contact Wallace, she's the brains behind the ILA (Indie Lit Awards), and can be found here (her book blog, unputdownables) and here (ILA website).

One Book, Two Book, Three Book...

I've seen this meme on a number of blogs (last seen at Books and Chocolate; and it originated from Stuck in a Book ) and couldn't help but join in on the fun. So, here goes:

1.  The Book I'm currently reading:

Nerds! I love Tina fey! 30 Rock is one of my favorite shows and well, I couldn't resist reading a book written by and about the creator of Liz Lemon.  Plus, I need to read more biographies/memoirs this year, so I figured this would be the perfect choice.  So far, its a mixed bag.  There are parts where I find myself laughing out loud and getting shushed by my sister (we're at the Bucks imbibing copious amounts of coffee to wake us up this morning) and others where I'm speed reading just to get past it. Hmmm. I still have pages to go, so I'll see how it turns out.

2. The last book I finished:

I literally finished this one last night, so I'm still digesting it.  Suffice it to say that I was very impressed by Egan's book - the writing was excellent and the characters were interesting and diverse.  I can definitely see why she won the Pulitzer - this book is not only intelligent, but also teeming over with themes and issues ripe for discussion (and that are quite relevant in today's culture).  Definitely a book I would recommend.

3.  The next book I want to read:

I can't wait to dive into this one. I've loved all of Lopez' other books, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this one, too.  She just has this way of creating characters that you can't help but fall in love with for so many reasons and her writing is just top notch.  And the strange thing is that I'm not a huge fan of short stories, but for some reason, I'm always willing to read them by Lopez.  I suppose when a writer knows how to write well, it doesn't matter if they've written a short story or epic novel, its just good writing - and Lopez is that good. Or at least I think so.

4.  The last book I bought:

I saw this book being praised by quite a few book bloggers and just had to find out for myself if its really that good - so, I finally bought it.  Plus, its a book about a bookstore that only carries 'good' books (the owners determine what is good) - who hasn't wished that they could open a bookstore and sell the books that they consider to be worth reading? I know I've considered it.  A friend and I even discussed it in college - she would manage the bakery, whilst I handled the bookshop.  What a fun dream.  Anyhow, this book definitely made it onto my radar and I'm looking forward to it.

5.  The last book that was given to me:

My mom bought me this book after I'd mentioned it to her.  I read a review of it and just found myself completely engaged in the post.  I figured if the post is that effusive about this book, its definitely one I should read.  And so, its sitting on my TBR pile waiting to be read.   For some reason, I kept thinking the book's title was Lost in Translation - like that Bill Murray movie (which I loved). Maybe, my confusion is a sign that I should dig out that dvd and watch it again. Hmmm.

Anyhow, I'm off to finish Bossypants and start a new read. Hope everyone's having a book-tastic day!

Husband and Wife: A Novel by Leah Stewart

From back of book:

Sarah Price has never regretted trading her MFA for a steady job so that her husband, Nathan, could write fiction.  But at age thirty-five, her world is turned upside-down by a shocking revelation: Nathan's upcoming novel, Infidelity, is based on fact.  Reeling from his betrayal, Sarah is plagued by dark questions.  How well does she really know her husband?  More important, how well does she know herself?

For answers, Sarah looks back to her artistic twentysomething self to try and understand what exactly happened to her dreams.  And so begins her quest to discover which version of herself is the essential one - the artist, wife, mother, or someone else entirely - an eye-opening journey that leads Sarah's hundreds of miles away from her marriage and back to herself.

My Thoughts:

Marriage is complicated.  Extramarital affairs just add to the complication.  And the past, well that can be a complication all on its own.  In Leah Stewart's novel, Husband and Wife, we find ourselves introduced to Sarah and Nathan, a married couple with two children.  She brings home the bacon, while he stays home to fry it - well, he also writes books and takes care of their kids.  In fact, his latest book is set to be a best seller, which should be good news.  Except that this book is about infidelity (that's the title of the book) and according to Nathan its based on his own extramarital affair.  He tells his wife this fact on the night of their best friends' wedding, where they are set to give a toast all about marital bliss.  Stunned at this revelation, all Sarah can think of is that they have a wedding to attend.  From this point on we are witness to the topsy-turvy whirl of emotions that Sarah undergoes as she struggles to understand what happened to Nathan, their marriage and her sense of self.

This is a novel that explores what happens when you find out that your spouse has cheated on you.  How do you react to such news?  Who do you blame?  Why did this happen?  What are your options - separation, divorce, stay married?  All of these questions run through Sarah's head as she decides to pretend it never happened, then decides to throw her husband out of the house, and finally decides to take a road trip with her kids.  We are privy to all of Sarah's thoughts and actions, whether they be bad or good.  We read about Sarah feeling guilty for leaving her children alone so that she can take long drives in the middle of the night.  We read about Sarah kissing her husband's best friend.  We read about Sarah learning that her husband's mistress will be in town the exact same weekend he suggested that she should take the kids and get away for a few days.  We learn about Sarah's life as a grad student in Austin, Texas where she smoked pot and planned on becoming  a poet.  We learn about the fact that Nathan resents the changes Sarah has made - such as, maintaining a nine to five job instead of writing poetry, no longer reading books or discussing art house films and instead choosing Spider Man 2 as her favorite movie.  We also learn about Rajiv and the fact that he has always been a little in love with Sarah and continues to keep in contact with her.

In fact, being that this book is from Sarah's perspective, we learn quite a few things about Sarah's life and are able to gain a better understanding as to why this betrayal has allowed her to take a closer look at the choices she made throughout her life.   Recognizing how much of herself she has sacrificed in order to provide for her family has not only affected her marital life, but also her sense of self (her identity).  Once passionate about poetry, Sarah realizes that she has not written a poem in years and begins to question why exactly that is.  What has prevented her from creating poems? Why has she allowed herself to stop indulging in a passion that was once a huge part of her life?  Why did she choose to let Nathan continue to pursue his love of writing, whilst she gave up hers?

By the end of the book, you may or may not agree with some of the choices that Sarah has made along the way, but you do understand how she got to where she is.  You find yourself wondering what will happen next for this couple and their kids - will they ever be happy again?  Will they allow their past mistakes to remain in the past?  Will Sarah write poetry again?

I don't want to reveal everything that happens in the book, because I don't want to spoil the story for you.  Suffice it to say that the ending was what I expected.  Overall, this is definitely a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading contemporary fiction, specifically women's fiction.  Its a book about betrayal and the ways in which one struggles to deal with its aftermath.  The writing is solid and emotive and allows you to easily connect with Sarah.  The story is filled with details from the past and present that hold your attention throughout.  And the characters, whether they be peripheral or center stage, are engaging and memorable.  This is a book that has left me wondering so many things about marriage and the concept of identity and self.  Such an intriguing read - hope you check it out!

Thanks so much to TLC Book Tours for asking me to participate in this tour of Leah Stewart's, Husband and Wife.