Weekly Words about New Books in
Independent Bookstores
July 31, 2022
|
|
Paperback Summer Reads - A Rom Com That Speaks to Readers, and a Reporter on the Trail of a Killer Preying on Black Women |
|
Thank You For Listening by Julia Whelan. Fresh off a flattering profile in The New York Times that recounts her prowess as a professional audiobook performer, Whelan seems destined for further success with the publication this week of her new novel. As has happened before (and will again), I discovered the book through one of my bookseller colleagues, Carolyn Hutton, who wrote this blurb: "What a wonderful debut this is, written by an award-winning audiobook narrator about an audiobook narrator! Sewanee has found success in the sound booth after an accident derailed her hopes for acting. Solidly against narrating romance novels, she's given an offer she can't refuse and cautiously agrees to co-narrate one last love story with Brock, one of the audiobook world's most famous voices. Full of romance book tropes, this wonderful story has some deeper themes of grief, recovery and creating oneself anew. Really fun and lovely."
While this is a love story first and foremost, Thank You For Listening has more going for it. For one - not surprisingly, given Whelan's knowledge - it provides an up close and personal tour of audiobooks and the people who bring them to life in front of a microphone. And all is not flirty fun and witty repartee - Sewanee's back story reflects a life impacted by aspirations lost and regrets accumulated. Fortunately, there are second chances and opportunities for self-discovery as well. Expect heartstrings to be pulled, chemistry to be tangible, and love to conquer all.
|
|
As the Wicked Watch by Tamron Hall. This debut mystery follows a reporter as she investigates the disturbing deaths of young Black women, the work of a serial killer terrorizing Chicago. As with Julia Whelan above, award-winning talk show host Tamron Hall brings some personal knowledge to her story. Fans of television's Today show may remember her as a contributor, and while at NBC, she received an Edward R. Murrow Award for her report on domestic abuse. Here's a brief plot description:
When crime reporter Jordan Manning leaves her hometown in Texas to take a job at a television station in Chicago, she’s one step closer to her dream of anchor chair on a national network. Jordan is smart and aggressive, and often the only woman of color in the newsroom. She has proved to be that rare breed of a journalist who can navigate a crime scene as well as she can a newsroom—often noticing what others tend to miss. But the job also takes its toll, as she is called to cover the murders of Black women, many of them sexually assaulted, most brutalized, and all of them quickly forgotten. All until Masey James — a 15-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned lot. It's a killing that Jordan just can’t shake, and she does everything she can to give the story the coverage it desperately requires, and that a missing Black child would so rarely get.
As the Wicked Watch - the first of a planned three-book series - is a fast-moving thriller about tracking a serial killer, but Hall also introduces readers to the machinations of a TV newsroom, as well as media and police response to crimes against Black women. NPR's review underscores the richness and complexity of this first installment: “Tamron Hall's debut novel is a singular thriller that brings the vulnerability and systemic neglect of Black girls as victims of violent crime into vivid relief...The cohesiveness and sheer scope of the narrative Hall has woven together is impressive...Readers interested in the gritty details of crime reporting and investigation will be intrigued...Ultimately, As the Wicked Watch is an impressive debut — a moving take on familiar but urgent problems and society's indifference.”
|
|
Political Eye-Opener Details GOP Leaders' Transformation to Trump Sycophants |
Thank You For Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington And The Price Of Submission by Mark Leibovich. I know this looks like another Trump-bashing book, but it's actually a broader view of the transformation of the Republican party written by a top political reporter. Leibovich recently joined The Atlantic, after a 10-year stint as chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine. His 2014 This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral--Plus Plenty of Valet Parking!--in America's Gilded Capital was a keen look the political culture of 21st century Washington, D.C. and a bestseller.
With his new book, also a bestseller in its second week of publication, Leibovich gives readers his account of how the GOP collaborated with Donald Trump to transform a onetime party of rugged individualists into a sycophantic personality cult. He sees it as no less than the moral rout of a major American political party, as he tracks the transformation of the likes of Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Lindsay Graham from Trump critics to the administration’s chief enablers - or "supplicant fanboys," as Leibovich describes them.
In the author's view, buttressed by many "they said that?" interviews (Kevin McCarthy's is especially revealing), Trump’s savage bullying of everyone in his circle, along with his singular command of his political base, has created a dangerous culture of submission among top Republican leaders. And unlike Richard Nixon, whose party ultimately turned on him, Donald Trump thus far shows no signs of befalling a similar fate. Thank You For Your Servitude reveals why that's the case and what it might mean moving forward.
|
|
Alternatively, email me at hutlandon@gmail.com and request to be added to the list. Feedback and comments also welcomed!
And rest assured - your e-mail will never be shared!
|
WHY THE COLUMN?
Hi, I'm Hut Landon, and I'm a bookseller in an independent bookstore in BerkeIey, CA.
My goal here is to keep readers up to date about new books hitting the shelves, share what indie booksellers are recommending in their stores, and pass on occasional news about the book world.
I'm not into long, wordy reviews or literary criticism; HUT'S PLACE is meant to be a quick, fun read for book buyers. If you have any friends who you think might like receiving this column, simply click on "Forward this email" below and enter their email address. There is also a box to add a short message.
|
WHERE TO FIND AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE
Many of you already have a favorite local bookstore, but for those of you without such a relationship, you can click here to find the nearest indie bookstore by simply entering your postal code.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
