April 2012 book: The Weird Sisters

Cindy has selected our April 2012 book: "The Weird Sisters" by Eleanor Brown.

ABOUT THE WEIRD SISTERS
http://www.eleanor-brown.com/the-weird-sisters

A major new talent tackles the complicated terrain of sisters. A winsome novel that explores sibling rivalry, the power of books, and the places we decide to call home.

"See, we love each other. We just don't like each other very much."

The Andreas sisters were raised on books - their family motto might as well be, 'There's no problem a library card can't solve.'

Their father, a renowned, eccentric professor of Shakespearean studies, named them after three of the Bard's most famous characters: Rose (Rosalind - As You Like It), Bean (Bianca - The Taming of the Shrew), and Cordy (Cordelia - King Lear), but they have inherited those characters' failures along with their strengths.

Now the sisters have returned home to the small college town where they grew up - partly because their mother is ill, but mostly because their lives are falling apart and they don't know where to go next.
Rose, a staid mathematics professor, has the chance to break away from her quiet life and join her devoted fiance in England, if she could only summon up the courage to do more than she's thought she could. Bean left home as soon as she could, running to the glamour of New York City, only to come back ashamed of the person she has become. And Cordy, who has been wandering the country for years, has been brought back to earth with a resounding thud, realizing it's finally time for her to grow up.

The sisters never thought they would find the answers to their problems in each other, but over the course of one long summer, they find that everything they’ve been running from – each other, their histories, and their small hometown – might offer more than they ever expected.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Eleanor Brown is the New York Times and national-bestselling author of The Weird Sisters, hailed by People magazine as “a delightful debut” and “creative and original” by Library Journal.

Eleanor's writing has appeared in anthologies, journals, magazines, and newspapers. The Weird Sisters, her first novel, hit the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and national Indie best seller lists, and is available now from Amy Einhorn Books in the US, and from multiple international publishers.

Born and raised in the Washington, D.C. area, Eleanor has lived in St. Paul, San Francisco, Philadelphia, South Florida, and Oxford, London, and Brighton, England.  She lives in Colorado with her partner, writer and transmedia superstar, J.C. Hutchins.

March 2012 book: The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux

Have you ever wanted to rewrite your past?

Three best friends, all with the same birthday, are about to turn forty. Celebrating at a summerhouse in Maine, Leslie Headrick, Madison Appleby, and Ellie Abbott are taking stock of their lives and loves, their wishes and choices. But none of them expect the gift that awaits them at the summerhouse: the chance for each of them to turn their "what-might-have-beens" into reality...

Leslie, a suburban wife and mother, follows the career of a boy who pursued her in college wonders: what if she had chosen differently? Madison dropped a modeling career to help her high school boyfriend recover from an accident, even though he'd jilted her. But what if she had said "no" when her old boyfriend had called? Ellie became a famous novelist, but a bitter divorce wiped out her earnings -- and shattered her belief in herself. Why had the "justice" system failed her? And could she prevent its happening the second time around?

Now, a mysterious "Madame Zoya," offers each of them a chance to relive any three weeks from the past. Will the road not taken prove a better path? Each woman will have to decide for herself as she follows the dream that got away...and each must choose the life that will truly satisfy the heart's deepest longings. 

Lovely meeting Ben Obler

Janis picked up some IRN-BRU from the Scottish store for us all to try. It tastes like bubble gum!

A toast - to books!

Ben signed autographs for us all.

It was lovely chatting with Ben Obler, the author of Javascotia, during our February 2012 meeting. He talked about his experiences in Scotland. He studied there both as an undergraduate and graduate student, living there for a total of two years. He earned his masters in letters from the University of Glasgow. As someone who picks up dialect easily, he also incorporated it in Javascotia to be part of a long Scottish writing tradition. Many of the characters in his book are based off people he has known. Margaret is part his first wife, part his high school girlfriend. Klang is based off someone he knew while in Scotland, as are Nicole and her roommate Sophie.

Does he love coffee?
Yes. And, much like Melvin when he first visited Scotland, he didn't find any chain coffee shops or strong, American-style coffee. That changed by the end of his second stint there when Starbucks have arrived.

Who is his audience?
Ben wrote to both an American and a Scottish audience.

Who inspires him?
Reading John Updike as an impressionable teenager greatly influenced his writing style and what he tries to accomplish. He doesn't find anything in common with Ernest Hemmingway. Rather, when writing Javascotia, he worked for some time to find a character that inspired him, and finally found one when he stopped trying to write a Hero Male into his novel and instead centered the story around a Nerd. In fact, he choose Melvin's name because of Happy Days. Whenever Fonzie didn't like what someone had done, he said, "Way to go, Melvin."

What would he do differently?
Ben said he would make the book shorter, and also take out the word definitions throughout the text, at least those farther within the book. He's currently writing his second novel and aiming for 80,000 words. His next book will take a look at pornography addiction.

Did he know what was going to happen to Margaret when he started writing Javascotia?
No, that evolved as he wrote the story. His process with Javascotia was merely to sit down and write, without working off an outline. This time around, he's doing a little of both.

BEN'S BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
The Name of the World, by Dennis Johnson
Goodnight Mr. and Mrs. America and All the Ships at Sea, by Richard Borsch

BEN'S FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP
J & S Bean Factory, St. Paul