BOOKS AND MOVIES

Posted By CarrieK on February 8, 2010

Title: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
Author: Jamie Ford
Genre: Historical fiction
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Source: Audiobook from the public library; print copy from TLC Book Tours
First line: Old Henry Lee stood transfixed by all the commotion at the Panama Hotel.

Henry Lee is growing up in Seattle, the only son of his Chinese immigrant parents. His father is extremely proud of Henry’s scholarship to Rainier Elementary, the white school in town. There is one other non-white student in Rainier: Keiko, a Japanese-American girl the same age as Henry. The two strike up an unconventional friendship, quickly becoming best friends, something Henry’s parents would be horrified to discover. China is at war with Japan, and so is the US. When the United States government starts rounding up Japanese-Americans and putting them in internment camps, Henry and Keiko’s friendship is in jeopardy. Over the next few years, Henry will grow into a man and learn that sometimes doing what’s right is the hardest thing of all.

I chose to listen to The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet after Sandy reviewed the audio version and said it was good. And she was right. Not only is this a brilliant novel, but the narrator did a wonderful job of bringing Henry’s story to life.

The story is told with dual timelines – one timeline is the story of newly widowed Henry in 1986, the other is the story of 12 to 16-year-old Henry during the war years. It is a simple story, one without a lot of surprises, and yet it is so poignant and beautifully written that I loved listening to it. Henry and Keiko’s story is told with reverent tenderness amid the injustice and horror of the internment camps.

Ford chose to focus on the characters – Henry, a young man who wants to please his traditional Chinese father, but who also wants to be truly American; Keiko, a second-generation Japanese-American who doesn’t even speak Japanese and yet is seen as the enemy; Henry’s father, made bitter by hatred for his homeland’s enemies; Sheldon, an African-American saxophone player dealing with prejudice on a daily basis even though he has moved far from the Deep South. The result is an authentic, character-driven novel where the issues of racial prejudice and injustice are clearly demonstrated in the lives of those most effected.

Highly recommended.

(A review copy of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was provided to me by the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it for this blog tour. The above link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you click on it and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage.)

Category: historical fiction | 4 Comments »
Tags: historical fiction

Posted By CarrieK on February 8, 2010

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Printed Page. If you’re eager to tell the rest of the book blogging world about the wonderful books you’ve received this week, click over and share your link.

This Little Prayer of Mine by Anthony DeStefano – This is a review copy from the author.

Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School: We the Children by Andrew Clements – This an ARC from the publisher.

Okay, I am more than a little embarrassed about the rest of this post. A couple of these books came in the mail; the rest came through the door in a big, fat Barnes & Noble bag. I recently got an Amazon gift card from people clicking on my affiliate links and ordering books – enough to purchase three books. And then right before Kevin and I headed to Spokane for our over-nighter without the kids, I received payment for some paid links on my personal blog. So, I had A LOT of fun at B&N. Here’s the result:

Touch Magic: Fantasy, Faerie, and Folklore in the Literature of Children by Jane Yolen – This is for a buddy read in April with Kelly and Vasilly.

Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby

Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby

Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands by Michael Chabon

Nine Horses: Poems by Billy Collins

Hunger by Michael Grant

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To by D.C. Pierson

Category: memes | 30 Comments »
Tags: mailbox monday

Posted By CarrieK on February 5, 2010

Today, I would like to welcome Patrick Taylor to Books and Movies. Patrick is the author of An Irish Country Doctor and the sequels.

Dea duit. Cead mile fáilte. Hello and welcome to this blog. I’m Patrick Taylor, but my friends usually call me Pat. Being a dinosaur in the electronic universe, although I have a website at www.patricktaylor.ca, I’ve never blogged before. On the keyboard my best strokes are “backspace” and “delete.” Until the Canadian Authors’ Association recently asked me to give an address entitled, “One Traditional Author’s Experience with the Electronic World” I thought Face Book was a family photo album and a tweeter was, like a woofer, a kind of amplifier or a birdie with a sweet voice. But here goes. My first blog.

When I give readings the most common question is, “How did you get started as a writer?” I’d love to have a pat answer (no pun intended), but the best I can do is to tell you I’m like Topsy, “I ’spec’ I jest growed.”

An English teacher aunt instilled in me a love of books. When I was a boy our schools insisted on correct English usage in everything. A chemistry assignment with incorrect spelling or syntax was marked down even if the science was 100% accurate. Thus were the foundations laid. Then there was the building of the structure that came about after years of practice because I have always written.

And paramount over all was the question. There still is the question, and as long as I can write I hope there always will be the question which is, What if?

What—if ?

I first realised I was asking it in 1969. Belfast where I was working was in flames; sectarian warfare raged. What if, I wondered, an unemployed Catholic lad joins the British Army, his regiment is sent back to Belfast as peace-keepers and he must chose between his family and his oath of allegiance? The result was a short story called Gerry. It went on to become the first of 16 in a book of short fiction, Only Wounded: Ulster Stories, published by Key Porter Books of Toronto in 1997 almost 30 years later.

In those 28 years the question did not go away, but led me in a different direction. What if? is also the foundation of all research, in my case medical research, the logical outcome of which is an outpouring of papers. More writing. My colleagues soon were under the impression that my chosen genre was not science, but science fiction. Many laughed at my efforts. Take Infertility Treatment in the Lowland Gorilla, [Gorilla G. Gorilla] or The Positive Effects of a Fertility god in an Infertility Laboratory as examples. I have actually, on a bet, had my laundry list published in a reputable scientific journal. In 1989 I was invited to turn my pen to writing humour columns for medical and sailing magazines.

At the same time, because of my early schooling, although I could not split the atom, I could re-unite split infinitives, stabilise dangling participles, and had a passing acquaintance with gerunds I found I’d been appointed editor of a Canadian medical journal. Those ten years of strict adherence to the Oxford English Dictionary, the Chicago Manual of Style, and The Elements of Style taught me a great deal.

Finally after the publication of the short stories my friend the novelist, Jack Whyte encouraged me to try my hand at long fiction. What if an IRA bomb maker teamed up with a British Army bomb disposal expert working undercover? That produced two techno-thrillers, Pray for Us Sinners, and the sequel Now and in the Hour of Our Death.

By now I was feeling like Dumbo. “I can fly.” So I asked, what if I took the character I had developed over 10 years in monthly columns, the irascible, Irish, 1960s Doctor Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly, and gave him a young assistant, fresh from medical school, who was unsure of where his professional life was going? The first book, An Irish Country Doctor appeared in 2007. When Country Doctor made NY Times best-seller in both hard back and trade paper, teams of mental health workers were needed to help me deal with the shock, a symptom of which is that in 2007 I returned to Ireland for a three year sabbatical.

Since Doctor three more Irish Country books have appeared, one is being typeset as I write this, and I am working on number 6. The most recently published, (Jan 05 2010) An Irish Country Girl, is the back-story of Mrs. Maureen Kincaid and is set in County Cork in the 1920s. Mrs Kincaid is fey, possessed of the second sight, and so in Girl she has a series of close encounters with the Irish spirit world because when she first appeared in Country Doctor as the doctors’ housekeeper, she was a widow and a superb cook, but she needed some more defining character trait. The question was—you’ve got it, What if…?”
Slán leat. Bye for now.
Patrick Taylor. (Pat to his friends).

Thank you so much, Pat, for guest posting here at Books and Movies! I am looking forward to reading about Kinky’s encounters with the faerie world.

And, readers, don’t forget to enter to win a copy of An Irish Country Doctor and find out the details of the Ireland Reading Challenge.

Category: authors | 8 Comments »
Tags: authors, guest posts, ireland reading challenge, patrick taylor

Posted By CarrieK on February 4, 2010

Michelle at GalleySmith is hosting the Literary Road Trip:

The Literary Road Trip is a project in which bloggers are volunteering to showcase local authors. This showcase can be anything you want to make of it – book reviews, author interviews, giveaways – as long as you’re working with an author local to you.

Kirby Larson is the author of Hattie Big Sky, a YA novel based on her great-grandmother’s experiences homesteading alone as a young woman in Montana. Hattie Big Sky was a Newbery Honor Book in 2007. She lives in Kenmore, Washington.

Hattie Big Sky: Alone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle’s homesteading claim. For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie’s been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle’s homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubborn stick-to-itiveness, Hattie faces frost, drought and blizzards. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends–especially Charlie, fighting in France–through letters and articles for her hometown paper.

Her backbreaking quest for a home is lightened by her neighbors, the Muellers. But she feels threatened by pressure to be a “Loyal” American, forbidding friendships with folks of German descent. Despite everything, Hattie’s determined to stay until a tragedy causes her to discover the true meaning of home.

The Magic Kerchief: It’s no wonder everyone in the village avoids Griselda. Not even the Lord Mayor is spared the wrath of her sharp tongue. Although Griselda pretends she doesn’t care, she’s actually quite lonely.

Yet, despite her grumpy nature, Griselda has a kind heart. She even gives shelter for the night to a poor old woman. In the morning, when the grateful visitor offers a “magic” kerchief, Griselda accepts the gift. It’s lovely, even though she knows that it couldn’t possibly be enchanted – or could it?

For more information on her writing and an in-depth bio, visit Kirby Larson’s web site.

I was fortunate to be able to interview Ms. Larson via e-mail for this post.

Your web site talks a bit about the “aha” moment that led you to want to write. Could you tell us about it?

Kirby: I have always enjoyed writing, but the “aha” moment came when I was reading Ming Lo Moves the Mountain, a picture book written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel, to my kids when they were small. When I finished the book, I felt as if a switch had gone on inside me and I knew that I wanted to write stories that would touch other families the way this one touched us.

What was the inspiration for your Newbery Honor book, Hattie Big Sky?

Kirby: The trigger to write the story was learning that my own great-grandmother had homesteaded all by herself in eastern Montana, in 1914. She was in her early 20s at that point. We had very little information about her experience so I began to read homesteaders’ journals and diaries and I was hooked — I knew there was a terrific story to tell. Also, this book was a tribute to my maternal grandmother who, though not a homesteader, overcame great odds with grace, humor and stubbornness.

What was your reaction when you learned about the Newbery Honor?

Kirby: I stopped breathing! Honestly, my husband was ready to call 911. I still have no idea what I said to the committee (they were on speaker phone) but I’m pretty sure I said “thank you.” Then I hung up the phone and burst into tears. After a few minutes, it occurred to me that this could be a practical joke so I waited with bated breath for the announcements to make sure it was really true.

What do your kids think about their mom being an author?

Kirby: Well, my “kids” are 27 and 29! They have always been great supporters and encouragers, but, honestly, to them I’m “Mom,” not writer Kirby Larson.

How long have you lived in Washington State – and what do you like best about where you live?

Kirby: Except for one year in Alaska as a newborn, I have been a lifelong resident of Washington State. I know the rain wears on folks but without it we wouldn’t have the green. What I love best about this state is our little beach cabin, which we’ve named “Shangri-Lar.” It’s on Boundary Bay, near Blaine, and no matter what the weather, you can find me (and Winston the Wonder Dog) walking the beach, looking for treasures.

What writing projects are you working on now?

Kirby: I just last week turned in another historical novel manuscript to my Delacorte editor; I’m waiting for her comments. And there will be comments! I will have another historical novel coming out in Fall 2010 and I’m beginning to do some research for a Hattie Big Sky sequel. In addition, Mary Nethery and I have our eyes open for another narrative nonfiction picture book project (she and I have co-authored Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival, and Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle).

Which writers have had the biggest impact on your life and your writing?

Kirby: On my writing life? The members of my two critique groups: Bonny Becker, Kathryn Galbraith, Sylvie Hossack and Dave Patneaude (my Kent group) and my Write Sisters, Tricia Gardella, Helen Ketteman, Mary Nethery, Dian Curtis Regan, Vivian Sathre and Ann Whitford Paul. On my writing: Karen Cushman, Betsy Byars, Katherine Paterson, Karen Hesse, M.T. Anderson, Barbara O’Connor, Jennifer Holm, Cynthia Lord, Susan Patron, Laura Kvasnosky, Marie-Louise Gay, Brenda Guiberson. . .do you have another hour or so?! I learn from nearly every writer I read!

What is the best book you’ve read this year so far?

Kirby: I have been buried in writing and am way behind on my reading but I would recommend four: The Adventures of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O’Connor; The Almost True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick; Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman; and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows.

If you could recommend one book that everyone should read, what would it be?

Kirby: Nancy Pearl, bookworm extraordinaire, says there are 100 books everyone should read. . .but it’s not the same 100 books for everyone. I believe that with my whole heart. However, I think everyone would enjoy the picture book, How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen by Russell Hoban and ill. by Quentin Blake; the chapter book, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo; the middle grade novel How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O’Connor; and/or Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman; and the young adult novel Feed by M.T. Anderson.

To visit other blogs participating in the Literary Road Trip, click on over to GalleySmith.

Category: authors | 6 Comments »
Tags: author interviews, literary road trip

Posted By CarrieK on February 3, 2010

I know there have been some intermittent technical issues here at Books and Movies, and I apologize if you’ve clicked over only to find my blog is not working. We have had a bunch of problems with our host, and are looking for another option. We think we’ve found the place, but until the switch is completely made things may be a bit hinky. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and aggravation – believe me, I have been pulling my hair out the past few days. Things should get back to normal soon – I’m trying to have patience. Grrrrr…..

Category: blogging | 10 Comments »
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Posted By CarrieK on February 3, 2010

On my last Sunday Salon post, Trisha said that reading challenges are like crack to us book lovers – and I have to agree. Not only am I thoroughly addicted to joining them, but have decided to do my part to keep everyone else addicted, as well.

At the beginning of the year, I was clicking through my to-read shelf on Goodreads, and I noticed how many books I have on my shelves that are in one way or another connected to Ireland. I am Irish by heritage – my maiden name is Shannon, like the river – and so have a habit of picking up both fiction and nonfiction written by Irish authors, set in Ireland, or involving Irish characters. That gave me the idea for this challenge.

My husband had just finished designing that gorgeous button at the top of this post when I was contacted by Nicole Bruce, publicist for Patrick Taylor, Irish-Canadian author of the Irish Country series. We corresponded about my idea for the challenge, and the end result is a wonderful giveaway to kick off the challenge! (See the end of the post for giveaway details.)

Not only am I giving away two copies of the first book in Mr. Taylor’s series, but he will be gracing us with a guest post in the coming weeks, and I will be reviewing his new book, An Irish Country Girl, on March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day.

For those of you interested in the challenge, here are the details:

~ Join anytime. The challenge runs from February 1, 2010 to November 30, 2010.
~ Any books read for this challenge can also apply to other challenges you are working on.
~ Re-reads are allowed.
~ Any book written by an Irish author, set in Ireland, or involving Irish history or Irish characters, counts for the challenge – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, audiobooks, children’s books – all of these apply.
~ Choose your commitment level:

Shamrock level: 2 books
Luck o’ the Irish level: 4 books
Kiss the Blarney Stone level: 6 books

~ Write up a post indicating that you are participating (feel free to copy the lovely graphic at the top of this post), and then add your challenge post’s link to the Mr. Linky on the main challenge page.
~ You don’t have to list your books ahead of time – just have fun reading throughout the year.
~ I will put up a page for the challenge in my left sidebar, and add a Mr. Linky for sign-ups, reviews, and wrap-up posts as the year goes on.
~ Everyone who fulfills their challenge level and writes at least one review is eligible for the giveaway prize at the end of the challenge: a copy of Ireland: A Novel by Frank Delaney. Wrap-up post and giveaway details will go up at the beginning of December.

Click over to the Ireland Challenge 2010 page to join.

Now for the giveaway – there are two copies of Patrick Taylor’s first Irish Country novel up for grabs.

An Irish Country Doctor is one of my favorite books of all time. (my review from 2007)

~ The giveaway is open to all readers in the US and Canada – you don’t have to join the challenge to be entered.
~ To enter, leave a comment on this post. To make it fun, tell me where your ultimate vacation destination would be. (In case you haven’t figured it out, Ireland is mine.)
~ Extra entries: +1 for becoming – or already being – a follower (top left sidebar); +1 for tweeting this giveaway; +1 for linking this giveaway on Facebook; +1 for blogging about this giveaway. Please mention all of your entries in a comment, or I’ll forget to give them to you.
~ All entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. PST, Friday, February 12th. I will use Random.org to draw two winners on Saturday, the 13th.

Category: reading challenges | 17 Comments »
Tags: ireland reading challenge, reading challenges

Posted By CarrieK on February 3, 2010

Title: Spellbinder
Author: Helen Stringer
Genre: Middle grade fantasy
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: ARC through Shelf Awareness
First line: It was Wednesday.

Belladonna Johnson, the main character in Spellbinder, can see ghosts. And it’s not creepy, only inconvenient, because she often can’t tell the difference between a dead person and an alive one – and it doesn’t exactly make you fit in with your peers if you often appear to be talking to someone who’s not there. Her gift, which is hereditary, is particularly handy because her parents are dead. And although she still grieves the loss of being able to hug them, they are still waiting for her every day when she comes home from school. The school authorities believe she lives with her grandmother, who also has the sight.

Belladonna’s world is turned upside-down when suddenly the ghosts start to disappear – including her parents. Her father’s last words are, “The doors are closing.” Belladonna, with the help of Steve, a boy from school, and Elsie, one of the only remaining ghosts, goes on a quest to the Land of the Dead to discover why the ghosts are gone – and how to get them back.

I read Spellbinder aloud to my four kids, and although it took a little bit for us to get into it, once the story grabbed us, we were hooked. Belladonna, Steve, and Elsie make an odd team – and their interactions made for some humorous situations. The author has created an unique world with its own history and myths and symbols, and the last few chapters had my kids hanging on my every word, wanting to know how things were going to turn out.

When I said, “the end,” Noah’s first words were, “Is there going to be a sequel?” He was very happy when I checked the author’s web site and discovered that book two has been sent to the publisher and she is currently working on book three.

(I received an ARC of Spellbinder from the publisher for the purpose of review. The above link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you click on it and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage in commission.)

Category: children's fiction, fantasy, read-alouds | 12 Comments »
Tags: children's fiction, fantasy, middle grade fiction, read-alouds

Posted By CarrieK on February 1, 2010

Title: The Summer We Fell Apart
Author: Robin Antalek
Genre: Contemporary fiction
Publisher: Harper
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Source: TLC Book Tours
First line: The summer we took in a boarder my mother started wearing headscarves.

The four Haas children grew up in a home with little or no parental supervision. Their father was a playwright whose magnum opus came early in his career; from that point on, he created nothing but his children’s broken hearts and a wake of sexual affairs. Their mother, Marilyn, was an actress known best for her work in a cult horror flick.

Kate, the oldest, took on the responsibility of the physical care of her three younger siblings, but became completely closed emotionally. As a teenager, Finn disappears inside a bottle and spends his entire adolescence and young adulthood completely drunk. George and Amy lean on each other to survive: George tolerating cruel teasing from his father because of his sexual orientation; Amy worrying what will happen to her when George leaves for college and she’s the only one left.

The book is told in alternating points of view, with each sibling having a portion of the story to tell. The author does a good job of giving each character an individual voice, which is very important in a multiple-points-of-view novel. She can also write extremely well, and deftly shows us a family full of dysfunction. Because of that, I really wanted to love this book. But I didn’t – I liked it, but I didn’t love it – and that’s because I didn’t really care for any of the characters. Amy was probably my favorite, but her portion of the book came first, and so I didn’t enjoy the other three sections as much as I did the beginning.

Don’t take my word for it, however – there are other bloggers who did absolutely love it:

~ Regular Ruminations
~ Dolce Bellezza
~ Take Me Away
~ Booking Mama
~ Bermudaonion

(An Advance Reader Copy of The Summer We Fell Apart was provided to me by the publisher for the purpose of reviewing it for this blog tour. The above link is an Amazon affiliate link. If you click on it and subsequently purchase anything, I will receive a small percentage.)

Category: contemporary fiction | 12 Comments »
Tags: contemporary fiction