The Olive Reader

We’re only about three months away from the publication of one of my favorite books we have this winter: Keija Parssinen’s THE RUINS OF US. If you don’t want to believe me about how great it is, believe these people:

“THE RUINS OF US is a stunning debut novel—a love story that spans continents. Writing with kindness and longing about Saudi Arabia and Sugar Land, Texas, Parssinen teaches us that while cultural differences run deep, when it comes to matters of the heart, we are all the same. I was dazzled by this book.”
–Amanda Eyre Ward, author of Close Your Eyes

“THE RUINS OF US tells a gripping story about Saudi Arabian princes and bureaucrats, wives and extra-wives, sons and daughters, fanatics and exiles whose appetites and beliefs have been, until now, unavailable to readers of contemporary American fiction. Keija Parssinen uses her first-hand knowledge of the cross-roads where U.S. and Saudi Arabian interests intersect, and sometimes collide, and she directs the human and historical traffic with a maestro’s sense of pace, and a true storyteller’s sense of consequence.”
—Scott Spencer, author of Man in the Woods

“THE RUINS OF US is an arresting story of family and country. Parssinen’s characters are richly conceived and her evocative petrol universe of wealth, privilege, and intrigue is unforgettable. Powerful storytelling that is refreshing and entertaining.”
–Anthony Swofford, author of Jarhead

“A big, brave novel, Keija Parssinen’s THE RUINS OF US takes us behind the compound walls of Saudi Arabia and into the secret passions that threaten to tear one family apart. Step into Parssinen’s sensual prose and be transported.”
–Anna Solomon, author of The Little Bride

“In THE RUINS OF US Parssinen carries the reader from Texas into the Saudi Kingdom in the grip of a story that is both entertaining and wise. Through an expertly drawn cast of characters and a suspenseful and timely series of events, it poses the universal questions: how much do we really know about the ones we love and how far will that love carry us when the earth below our feet starts to shift? THE RUINS OF US marks the debut of an enormously talented writer who is unafraid to lead us on the greatest adventure of all—into the wilds of the human heart.”
—Lise Saffran, author of Juno’s Daughters

I am the worst read-along participant/organizer ever. I read Further Tales of the City, the third book in the series, almost two months ago and never posted about it. And I haven’t read the rest of them yet! The saddest part is that includes Mary Ann in Autumn, which went on sale October 4th. That’s the only Tales of the City book I haven’t read, and I definitely would have read it months ago if I hadn’t set the goal for myself of re-reading the entire series.

My failure at my goal should not in any way be attributed to the quality of the books. In fact, they’re some of the most fun ones I’ve read this year! I think I might have just aimed a bit too high. I need to face it—read-alongs of multiple books are not my strong suit. While I’ll certainly get to the rest of the series again someday, I think it’s time I skip ahead to Mary Ann and let myself enjoy it.

Have you ever set yourself a reading goal and then completely failed to meet it—even if you really wanted to read the books?

This week is a quiet one—we’ve got two paperback reprints. Enjoy!

Voice of America by E.C. Osondu
If you like African literature, this book of short stories from Nigerian writer Osondu is for you. Get in on the ground floor, because Harper hardcover will have a novel from him in spring 2013.

The Women Jefferson Loved by Virginia Scharff
We all know about Sally Hemmings—but what about the other women in Jefferson’s life? How did they influence him? Find out in Scharff’s fresh history.

My mom is not a big reader. So although she appreciated that I liked to read and understood its value, she wasn’t all that interested in it. She’d give whatever stack I got at the bookstore a cursory glance and that was that…which is how I read Flowers in the Attic in the fourth grade. And I know I’m not the only one who pored over this book of incest and attic imprisonment when I was barely old enough to walk home alone. But there were plenty of other books that I read as a kid that weren’t quite as inappropriate as FITA but still not the kind of thing you’d imagine a junior high schooler getting into.

Until last week, when I read Alafair Burke’s excellent thriller Long Gone, I had completely forgotten about my old obsession with Mary Higgins Clark. Looking back, I think she bridged the gap between young adult and adult literature for me perfectly for two reasons. First, though people very often got murdered in her books, they weren’t gory. Second, they were available in mass market at the local Pathmark drug store, which made them an easy jump price-wise for someone still living on a small allowance.

I still think about the plot of I’ll Be Seeing You every so often, but the others have completely faded from memory. Maybe I should get back into MHC? Have any of you ever returned to an old obsession and found that it held up?

Just one book on sale from us today—all the more reason to give it your full, undivided attention!

Anarchy Evolution: Faith, Science, and Bad Religion in a World Without God is a look at the collision between religion and science by Greg Graffin, who has lectured at UCLA and Cornell in paleontology but is better known as one of the founding members of Bad Religion. He’s also on twitter as DoctorGraffin with a very professorial photo. But the book isn’t just for Bad Religion fans and science geeks. As Popmatters said: ““Whether you’re a believer, an atheist, an agnostic, or anything in between, this is a necessary book.”

Salon asks: Can Harper Perennial reinvent publishing?

Moreso than this actual article, I’ve been pleasantly impressed and surprised by the largely positive feedback on twitter. You like us, you really like us! Or at least you don’t hate us. Though I do wonder if people will now think that we all sit around braiding each other’s hair and being best friends forever. It’s not always all fun and games! But sometimes it is.

So this is something awesome: a group of Canadian photographers read Practical Jean and decided to do a series of photographs inspired by the book! If you’re in Canada, they’ll be on view tonight during Hamilton’s monthly art crawl at the home of Studio 12. If you’re not in Canada, you can check out this video of the works in progress. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t like to know anything about books before you read them, you could consider this to be a bit spoiler-y. But if you know the book’s about a woman who kills her friends, then there’s nothing here that would ruin the story.

Practical Jean in Pictures from Trevor Cole on Vimeo.

By now, many of you have probably heard about Book Club Girl’s Ebook Bonanza—12 great low-priced ebooks! All are recommended for book clubs, and all have free podcasts featuring interviews with the author. While any of these books would be a great choice, I thought I’d do a little write-up of the ones I’ve read and loved. Make them the winners!

The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar
This book, about an American couple attempting to overcome the grief over the death of their child in India, blew me away. Thrity did an amazing job of exploring how two people living in the same house and experiencing the same thing can be so incredibly far apart. If you’re up for a good, cathartic, sobbing cry, this is the book.
Download my interview with Thrity on Book Club Girl on Air here.

Commuters by Emily Gray Tedrowe
This is the story of a family whose matriarch decides to remarry in her 70s. Chaos—mostly of the emotional variety—ensues. I fell in love with the characters in this book, and if you love stories about families coping with everyday issues of love, marriage, kids, illness, and everything in between, this is the book to read.
Download my interview with Emily on Book Club Girl on Air

In a Perfect World by Laura Kasischke
If you had told me I would read and love a book about a) a stewardess who marries her captain and then has to be a stepmom to his three kids and b) a book about a virus that decimates America, I would have told you that you were nuts. Neither of those topics are my cup of tea, and yet here they’re married so wonderfully, and written about so beautifully, that I couldn’t resist. Laura Kasischke is a poet, and it shows.
Download an interview (not done by me) with Laura on Book Club Girl on Air

The Blessings of the Animals by Katrina Kittle
I have made no secret of my love for this book (about a woman coping with the end of her marriage with the help of her family and her animal family) and for Katrina. In fact, just the other day, Katrina’s publicist and I were out to lunch with an ad rep from a magazine, and the subject of authors we love as people came up. We immediately started talking about Katrina, even though her book came out more than a year ago. Seriously, though, if you love animals you should absolutely read this.
Download my interview with Katrina on Book Club Girl on Air

Well, have I convinced you to check any of these out? Are there any other ones on the list that you want to convince me to check out?

We’ve got some really awesome books on sale this week: black comedy, Blake Butler, and an ebook of a fan favorite!

Nothing: A Portrait of Insomnia by Blake Butler
Another glimpse inside the dark, twisted mind of Blake Butler, author of There Is No Year—this time in the form of a memoir about his battle with insomnia. Also, the cover glows in the dark!

Practical Jean: A Novel by Trevor Cole
Practical Jean is the story of a woman who kills all of her friends. But it’s funny! If you liked Bad Marie, you’ll like this one—and Bad Marie author Marcy Dermansky did too! (“PRACTICAL JEAN practically blew my mind. Trevor Cole’s twisted novel about Jean Vale Horemash, a friend so devoted she will commit murder, is not only deliciously funny – it is also surprisingly, heartbreakingly poignant.”)

Eels: An Exploration, from New Zealand to the Sargasso, of the World’s Most Mysterious Fish by James Prosek
Over the weekend, I was at the house of a friend who has this book on his shelf. Another person there asked, “wait, is that book actually about eels?” Yes, yes it is, and it’s fascinating.

Hood: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
Dying for more Emma Donoghue after you’ve read Room? We have the cure with this novel, now back in print from us. It has one of my most favorite covers in a while.

On Hitler’s Mountain: Overcoming the Legacy of a Nazi Childhood by Irmgard A. Hunt
This book is a great backlist book for us, and now it’s available as an ebook! Maybe it’s finally time for me to find out what I’m missing . . .

Do any of these strike your fancy?