 MostlyFiction.com
Newsletter Update
Posted
to subscriber list on 10-06-03.
Hello MostlyFiction.com
readers!
There are
ten new reviews posted at MostlyFiction.com
and October raffles are now officially up. A little late, granted, but
nevertheless they are up.
After all
of the hullabaloo last month with finding a new home for the site, things
have finally settled down. Carl is monitoring the site for me with some
software and he reports no outages since we moved to this server. Now
if I could just stop making errors on the site, I'd be all set!
I never
really know how an update will turn out, nor even the tone of the monthly
raffle prizes until I start pulling all the material together. For this
update, it surely looks a lot like a history lesson - some are straight
out historical novels and others have period settings with history as
a byproduct. But don't worry, not all of these books are dead serous
- I threw in a couple "girlish" novels for the fun of it (and
to offset the tone).
__________
TRAIN by Pete Dexter
Reviewed by Mary Whipple
Mary
Whipple will be the first to warn you that you might not want to win
this as a raffle prize. The book is bleak. But if you are a fan (like
me), and you've been waiting eight years for another book, well here
it is. No matter how dark the subject matter, Dexter weaves superbly
rendered characters getting every detail just right. Besides that, aren't
you curious about a noir tale that centers on the game of golf? This
book is set in 1953 in L.A.
__________
MIRROR, MIRROR by Gregory Maguire
Reviewed by Jenny Dressel
Maguire
has found a niche in writing novels. He doesn't rewrite fairytales,
but instead fills in the background detail so that we really get to
understand the motivations, even behind the most evil ones. In this
one, he tells the story of Bianca De Nevada or Snow White. This one
is set in 16th century Italy.
__________
HAVANA by Stephen Hunter
Reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
Here's
another one set in 1953 - but this time we are in Cuba - before Castro
gains control. In fact the Russia's have sent a special agent to keep
him alive, while the U.S. puts Earl Swagger on special assignment -
at the outset it looks like he's just protecting a political figure,
but he'll learn that his job is to kill Castro.
__________
FOUR SPIRITS by Sena Jeter Naslund
Reviewed by Shannon Bloomstran
Naslund,
the author of AHAB'S WIFE (which was one of the first raffle prizes
I might add) now turns her pen to writing about her hometown. But before
you groan, realize that she grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, right smack
during the middle of the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. This
multi-narrator novel gets at the horror and heroism of the times.
__________
HARVARD YARD by William Martin
Reviewed by Mary Whipple
HARVARD
YARD is exactly the kind of book one thinks about when historical fiction
is mentioned. The author of BACK BAY, brings back antiquarian Peter
Fallon, and covers over 350 years of Harvard history beginning with
Shakespeare granting a script to the newly married Harvard's upon the
birth of their first son. The same son who came over to found the college.
If you want to know if this is something you'll like or not, check out
the excerpt. It totally sucked me in while I was working on it - certainly
being familiar with Harvard is not a prerequisite.
__________
SHARPE'S HAVOC by Bernard Cornwell
Reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
This is
the 19th entry in this very popular series which features Lieutenant
Sharpe and his heroic exploits. For those following the series, this
one takes place back at the beginning of the series and is nestled between
SHARPE'S RIFLE and SHARPE'S EAGLE. Cindy is a huge fan of this series
and obviously urges newbies to try it out. The nice thing is, idf you
get hooked, there's 18 more to read.
_________
SOMETHING MIGHT HAPPEN by Julie Myerson
Reviewed by Judi Clark
Enough
of the history. This one is set in England, in a safe out of the way
seacoast town -- except that the security of the place is forever gone
when our narrator's best friend is murdered. This is a different kind
of murder mystery though, one in which the perspective is from the best
friend and not from a detective. Anyhow, I liked it for its change of
pace-for its atmospheric venue (try domestic noir?); not at all a whodunit.
__________
POLITICS by Adam Thirlwell
Reviewed by Kam Aures
This is
not about political politics; it's a comedy about everything else. It
explores domestic problems of sexual etiquette between a boy, a girl
and another girl. It also tells the story of a father and a daughter.
It's also about everything else. Thirlwell is the youngest writer to
be chosen by Granta for this year's list of 20 best British novelists
- and that was before he published a book. Makes you curious, no?
__________
HOW TO MEET CUTE BOYS by Deanna Kizis
Reviewed by Kam Aures
Any woman
who has ever dated a man that wasn't quite ready for a commitment (i.e.
Peter Pan syndrome) will enjoy this novel, in which a 27-year-old magazine
writer tries to follow her own advice on how to meet cute boys. If you
recall in the last newsletter Kam panned TRADING UP by Candace Bushnell.
This one she likes.
__________
A BODY TO DIE FOR by Kate White
Reviewed by Cindy Lynn Speer
If you
like your chick-lit mystery style, then you have to try this series.
Kate White is editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, so she knows
the world she's put her protagonist, Bailey Weggins in. Baily is a freelance
writer but mostly focuses on true crime stories. This time she runs
into a dead body the first evening at spa in the Berkshires.
__________
SEPTEMBER RAFFLE WINNERS:
Will be notified in a few days. I'm concerned with all that with all
the virus protection and spam screeners that raffle notices are not
getting through. Check here and see if you've won a book that you've
not yet received notification on and let me know. All
Previous Raffle Winners
Have a great week and thanks for visiting!
Regards,
Judi Clark
MostlyFiction.com
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