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A new book by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout is cause for celebration. Her bestselling novels, including Olive Kitteridge and The Burgess Boys, have illuminated our most tender relationships. Now, in My Name Is Lucy Barton, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of all—the one between mother and daughter. {Release Date: January 5, 2016}
A “brilliantly done” (Sunday Times, London) comedy of manners that explores the unease behind the manicured lawns of suburban America from the Orange Prize–winning author of A Crime in the Neighborhood. Littlefield, Massachusetts, named one of the Ten Best Places to Live in America, full of psychologists and college professors, is proud of its fine schools, its girls’ soccer teams, its leafy streets, and charming village center. Yet no sooner has sociologist Dr. Clarice Watkins arrived to study the elements of “good quality of life” than someone begins poisoning the town’s dogs. Filled wtih suspense and social commentary, readers will love Suzanne Berne’s The Dogs of Littlefield. {Release Date: January 12, 2016}
Reclusive literary legend M. M. “Mimi” Banning has been holed up in her Bel Air mansion for years. But after falling prey to a Bernie Madoff–style Ponzi scheme, she’s flat broke. Now Mimi must write a new book for the first time in decades, and to ensure the timely delivery of her manuscript, her New York publisher sends an assistant to monitor her progress. Julia Claiborne Johnson. {Release Date: February 2, 2016}
Aidan Donnelley Rowley’s second novel, The Ramblers, will take your breath away. It focuses on three very different people who are struggling to find themselves in New York City in the week leading up to Thanksgiving. They must face their pasts in order to understand where they are going. Fans of J. Courtney Sullivan, Meg Wolitzer, Claire Messud, and Emma Straub, will devour this gorgeous and absorbing novel. Rowley writes regularly on her blog, Ivy League Insecurities, and is the founder of the Happier Hours Literary Salon. {Release Date: February 9, 2016}
A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this bittersweet, witty novel from Joshilyn Jackson, the nationally bestselling author of Someone Else’s Love Story and gods in Alabama. The Opposite of Everyone isan emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives. {Release Date: February 16, 2016}
0 Comments on Books to Read in 2016 as of 1/7/2016 2:22:00 PM
I missed this Pulitzer Prize winning novel the first time around and after watching the first 15 minutes of the new HBO mini-series I know I had to read the book. Reading a book whilst simultaneously watching the television show has its own challenges but for the most part I managed to read behind watching […]
Here is your first glimpse of the HBO miniseries Olive Kitteridge based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Elizabeth Strout. It looks stark, it looks honest, it looks raw and it looks beautiful. I love the tag line at the end of the trailer, “There’s no such thing as a simple life.” I think that just evokes such a heartfelt and honest sentiment. Isn’t that what we learn from superb novels? Isn’t that what we hope to see in great literature? I can’t wait to watch this miniseries (which airs on November 2nd and 3rd). I think I am going to read the book in anticipation for the movie.
SUMMARY:
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life–sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty. Olive Kitteridge offers profound insights into the human condition–its conflicts, its tragedies and joys, and the endurance it requires.
0 Comments on Olive Kitteridge Coming to TV as of 10/8/2014 7:47:00 AM
The Burgess Boys is a story about family — what it is, what it isn't, and what it can become. For their entire lives, a childhood tragedy hangs over Bob, Jim, and Susan Burgess. It takes another tragedy (of sorts) to shake apart the tedium that has flattened their lives. Strout's three siblings each undergo major character [...]
0 Comments on The Burgess Boys as of 6/5/2014 10:03:00 PM
At Powell's, our book buyers select all the new books in our vast inventory. If we need a book recommendation, we turn to our team of resident experts. Need a gift idea for a fan of vampire novels? Looking for a guide that will best demonstrate how to knit argyle socks? Need a book for [...]
0 Comments on Ask a Book Buyer: Picky Parents, Science Lovers, Lizzie Borden as of 5/30/2014 4:31:00 PM
I suppose I was half correct with my Pulitzer guess on Friday.... Updike didn't win but one of the outsiders did.
Elizabeth Strout's collection of 13 tales about a retired schoolteacher named Olive Kitteridge has taken top spot as the Pulitzer Prize winner in the fiction category.
Elizabeth Strout in person is just as interesting, complex, and ultimately original as her own Olive Kitteridge. I liked her at once, and very much.
She read from "Security." She spoke of the ways that writing involves one's whole heart, also one's liver. She said that every sentence counts, and also: There is no room for sogginess. You put down your coffee cup when you write, she said. You step past and through.
Oh, Libby, I said to my friend afterward. She makes me want to write an entirely different kind of book. Makes me want to write. Again.
I should have had my fill of books by now. I should have. I have not.
9 Comments on Brief Lessons from Elizabeth Strout, last added: 4/6/2009
I do most fervently hope, Beth, that you have not had your fill of books, nor will you ever tire of putting your lyrically magical words on the page. Especially as I'm enthralled and delighted and utterly riveted by 'Still Love in Strange Places'. It is a book that I know I will treasure forever - and I've only just begun.
There is no end to good books yet to read. My dad is 84 and we still share books. We just finished "The Kite Runner" Books are my way to travel and meet people. I live in Nebraska on a farm and dont see people other than my husband for days at a time. We are not travelers so books are my way of travelling
I was not prepared for the power of Elizabeth Strout's extraordinary novel-in-stories, Olive Kitteridge. I'd read Abide with Me in total and Amy and Isabelle in pieces, and while both of those earlier Strout books are well-made, they aren't nearly as inhabited as Kitteridge, which brings to forceful life a retired schoolteacher who has not made it her business to please. Olive Kitteridge has been herself—her hands the size of a man's, her height unnatural for a woman, her bulk an unapologetic presence. She is frequently disappointed in others. She's not in the habit of honest self reflection. Her husband, Henry, was the good one, the kind soul. She was the undeterred realist.
Novels in stories often don't work—can feel like grab-bag constructions, a publisher's label applied to loosely related themes. This one does. In stories that don't seem to be much about Olive (they are about neighbors, rather, about a piano player or illicit lovers or a young anorexic), she is revealed, and in this lies suspense (one feels her on the horizon, one awaits her knock on the door). In stories in which Olive claims every page, she is transfixing, appalling, somehow sympathetic. She is the shadow and light, wholly given up and over.
Strout's writing here is superb, by which I mean not just her style, but what she has to say about the messy gist of things. I share with you this:
... She knows that loneliness can kill people—in different ways can actually make you die. Olive's private view is that life depends on what she thinks of as "big bursts" and "little bursts." Big bursts are things like marriage or children, intimacies that keep you afloat, but these big bursts hold dangerous, unseen currents. Which is why you need the little bursts as well: a friendly clerk at Bradlee's, let's say, or the waitress at Dunkin' Donuts who knows how you like your coffee. Tricky business, really.
8 Comments on Olive Kitteridge: Shadow and Light, last added: 1/10/2009
Oh yes, I'm in complete agreement with you! I've read Strout's other novels, too, but I thought this was an amazing writing achievement. Olive is such a huge presence in these stories, whether she's actually in them or not. It's a wonderful character study, and one of the best examples of conjoined stories I've ever read.
Lilly — you were so right about the Francine Prose, and I hope you'll find that I'm right about Olive K. It's truly something. PJ, yes big and little bursts. My life is full of the latter. Jane, please read it. Do. Becca, when I agree with you I know I stand in good company!
Israel -the land of the Bible Tourism posters by Jean David (L) c1954 (r) 195? produced for the State of Israel Tourist Centre
My Knowledge of Jean David (Sometimes referred to as Jan David) is limited. However, what work I’ve seen from him has been nothing less that stellar. Just look at the posters above. I could easily see someone slanging these at a Flatstock poster convention. Dang, I totally nerd out when I see this stuff. Its just so good.
Looks like the whale is riding a boat of waves. Meanwhile, Jonah is relaxing after downing a keg of Vitamen C. Just look at all that orange!
Fun new developments in my world: STREP THROAT! Ergh.
So, because I'm all contagious until I've been on my meds for 24 hours, I'm at home today. La la la la bored. Dan suggested curling up on the couch this afternoon with the dog and some cocoa and watching a movie while the world falls apart outside (we're supposed to get some weather today) but... the main symptom of me being sick is me feeling very contrary and nothing we own or on TV sounds good to watch. Y'all are lucky I'm home alone today. CRANKY CRANKY CRANKY PANTS.
I just got mad at the refrigerator for failing to magically provide cranberry juice even though I know full well that I drank it all last night. WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY FRIDGE DOESN'T MAGICALLY MAKE THE FOOD I WANT? SINCE WHEN?
See, even in blog land, I'm all shouty. Maybe because I have strep, so I can't shout in real life.
Anyway, let's talk about some books, shall we? Today we feature a book written for grownups.
Interestingly, my copy is not subtitled fiction, but rather "a novel in stories" which is more descriptive. For Olive Kitteridge is indeed a collection of short stories, all revolving around the small town of Crosby, Maine or its dominating title character, Olive.
I don't think I've ever read a book before with the elderly as main characters.
Olive is loud and outspoken, moody and unexpectedly and quietly kind. We first meet her in a story largely about her husband and his relationship with an employee as juxtaposed with the his relationship with his wife. We then see her as she talks to one of her former students, a young man who has returned to main to kill himself. We see Olive briefly in a story about a troubled piano player. There are two stories that focus on her son and how Olive effects his relationships with women. There are two stories (one strongly featuring Olive, the other one only having her make a brief appearance) with two different takes on how a marriage changes in the empty nest years.
Throughout the book, Strout offers us a glimpse into the tangled and troubled lives of people in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else. She compassionately tells the stories of people caught in a changing world they don't always understand. She tackles grief and pain and the emotions of aging with a steady and clear hand.
Overall, she tells a wonderful story about a complicated woman--a week after reading the book, I still can't decide if I like Olive Kitteridge or not. Overall, a compelling and strong read.
Publication Date: April 2008
Full Disclosure: ARC provided by Random House through Library Thing's Early Reviewer Program.
We've been too busy shopping to take photos. We've been too busy shopping to do much sight-seeing. We've been too busy shopping to ... Well, you get the idea!
But we visited my alma mater, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The University has a beautiful and huge campus, with buildings in red brick, Georgian-style. The campus is very well-maintained, with the buildings relieved by large chunks of deep green lawns and large shade trees. Slant walk, which cuts across the main quad gives a small view of the balance of architecture with nature.
The town is also post-card beautiful. It's main drag, High Street, is a wide, clean street that is smoothly paved and clearly marked with cross-walks, with well-maintained traffic lights and easy-t0-read street signs, with open, inviting side-walks and nice-looking, frequently emptied trash cans at convenient locations. The storefronts are well-maintained and beautiful. The streets have potted plants in hanging baskets and small trees to add a bit of nature's beauty. The parking spots are angled for easy access and the meters are in working-order.
The shops have a nice variety of clothes, souvenirs, books, and other things to buy. There's a balance of eatieries and coffee shops. The prices weren't especially cheap, but the shopping was still fun and interesting.
There was a small park, with a flat place having a few sprinkler-style fountains that little kids could run through. There were park benches at several locations, around the park and also along the sidewalks lining the main street. The gas station is at the end of the strip and was clean.
If shopping, walking, enjoying the park, drinking coffee and chatting were not enough, there was an outdoor garden show, a drum ensemble playing, and an art exhibit with juried flower show inside an old building that housed the community art center. All for free (donations requested).
And the whole town seemed to be hopping, with a comfortable amount of people out and about.
Saipan would do well to learn from this small Ohio burg, to see what is inviting to tourists and keeps bringing people back, spending money, investing. A good learning institution, a beautiful environment, a well-regulated and maintained attention to order, cleanliness, and access. We could do this.
0 Comments on 100. Too Busy Shopping as of 6/16/2007 9:54:00 AM
I am glad that you have not yet had your fill of books.
How Do authors do that?
(Yay!)
If you ever get your fill of books, I will feel very sorry for you, indeed. I hope you keep writing and growing through books.
And then there are my selfish motives, like how I want to read more of your books. But you can ignore those, if you like.
It's wonderful to be invigorated like that!
I do most fervently hope, Beth, that you have not had your fill of books, nor will you ever tire of putting your lyrically magical words on the page. Especially as I'm enthralled and delighted and utterly riveted by 'Still Love in Strange Places'. It is a book that I know I will treasure forever - and I've only just begun.
Thank you.
I feel free as a bird imagining books not yet written. Then I remember how hard it all is—not just the story making, but the story selling, afterward.
Beth -- you make me want to write. You inspire me in so many ways, every day, with every post.
There is no end to good books yet to read. My dad is 84 and we still share books. We just finished "The Kite Runner" Books are my way to travel and meet people. I live in Nebraska on a farm and dont see people other than my husband for days at a time. We are not travelers so books are my way of travelling
Oh Ho, I sure haven't had my fill of your books. ;-)