Kindle First

[GlenBarrington]

Dammit! a double post! Please ignore!

[Manabi]

This month's Kindle First selections are out, they are:

All the Little Children by Jo Furniss [Genre: Suspense]

When a family camping trip takes a dark turn, how far will one mother go to keep her family safe?

Struggling with working-mother guilt, Marlene Greene hopes a camping trip in the forest will provide quality time with her three young children—until they see fires in the distance, columns of smoke distorting the sweeping view. Overnight, all communication with the outside world is lost.

Knowing something terrible has happened, Marlene suspects that the isolation of the remote campsite is all that’s protecting her family. But the arrival of a lost boy reveals they are not alone in the woods, and as the unfolding disaster ravages the land, more youngsters seek refuge under her wing. The lives of her own children aren’t the only ones at stake.

When their sanctuary is threatened, Marlene faces the mother of all dilemmas: Should she save her own kids or try to save them all?

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

I’m a sucker for survival stories. So imagine my delight when this, the ultimate survival tale, landed on my desk. The book came to me in an unusual way. I was talking to a literary agent about my love for disaster novels. Which led me to ashamedly admit that despite my fondness for the theme, I’ve done almost nothing to prepare for any sort of emergency. I have a first-aid kit, some bottled water, and a few cans of beans—but that’s about it. As a mother, I know I should do better for my family. But taking the time to lay in more supplies means I’d have to seriously consider the potential for real catastrophe in this unpredictable world. And I just don’t want to. The guilt nags at me, but I prefer to carry on, tra-la-la, pretending that nothing terrible could ever happen.

This confession led us to imagine a novel in which an ill-prepared mother has to fight for her children’s lives in the aftermath of a disaster. Wouldn’t it be fascinating to see her fierce mama-bear instinct play out against taut suspense? That week the agent tweeted out the general idea with the hashtag #manuscriptwishlist. A day later she had Jo Furniss’s masterful manuscript in hand.

Jo had written All the Little Children in the months following the birth of her first child. She’d spent hours walking the woods around her remote home with her baby strapped to her chest. As she walked she let her imagination roam, wondering what it would feel like to be isolated, desperate to protect her child after disaster struck. How far would she go? What would she be willing to risk? From there sprang the idea for this adrenaline-fueled thriller. When I received the manuscript, I tore through the pages, completely absorbed, asking myself over and over, “What would I do in that situation? Could I be that brave?”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to stock up on a few more emergency provisions. This may not prevent disaster, but I do hope it will keep maternal guilt at bay. Thank you, Jo.

- Jodi Warshaw, Editor

P.S. from Paris (US edition) by Marc Levy [Genre: Romantic Comedy]

From Marc Levy, the most-read French author alive today, comes a modern-day love story between a famous actress hiding in Paris and a bestselling writer lying to himself. They knew their friendship was going to be complicated, but love—and the City of Lights—just might find a way.

On the big screen, Mia plays a woman in love. But in real life, she’s an actress in need of a break from her real-life philandering husband—the megastar who plays her romantic interest in the movies. So she heads across the English Channel to hide in Paris behind a new haircut, fake eyeglasses, and a waitressing job at her best friend’s restaurant.

Paul is an American author hoping to recapture the fame of his first novel. When his best friend surreptitiously sets him up with Mia through a dating website, Paul and Mia’s relationship status is “complicated.”

Even though everything about Paris seems to be nudging them together, the two lonely ex-pats resist, concocting increasingly far-fetched strategies to stay “just friends.” A feat easier said than done, as fate has other plans in store. Is true love waiting for them in a postscript?

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

I got my introduction to one of the world’s most popular authors, Marc Levy, through the first book of his translated into English, which was made into the whimsical film Just Like Heaven, starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. Levy’s own story is the stuff of legend. After a career in nonprofits and tech, Levy tried his hand at writing, and his debut novel was an instant blockbuster in his native France, with the international English and movie rights acquired in almost the same breath (the latter by no less a figure than Steven Spielberg), launching Levy’s global career—and bringing him to the notice of millions of delighted readers, including myself. In many countries, Levy is a celebrity author, drawing crowds of thousands to his book signings.

Levy’s current book, P.S. from Paris, is just as charming and quirky as his first novel. His reluctant lovers, Paul and Mia, come from different worlds but find themselves drawn to each other against their will in the fittingly romantic backdrop of Paris. Mia has fled her philandering movie star husband, and writer Paul is pining after his translator and wondering why his fame seems localized to South Korea. But even as the two pledge to be simply “friends,” the City of Light has other things in store for them.

Bienvenue to the uniquely captivating Paris of Marc Levy, where the food is delicious, the dialogue is snappy, and all hearts are fair game.

- Elizabeth DeNoma, Editor

When They Come for You (Harper McDaniel) by James W. hall [Genre: Thriller]

After her journalist husband and infant son are brutally executed in a fire in their Florida home, photographer Harper McDaniel has nothing left to live for—except settling the score. When the local police fail to take the arson seriously, Harper takes the reins and discovers her husband was investigating some mysterious deaths at a cacao plantation on the Ivory Coast. Now she’s convinced he was targeted in a corporate conspiracy to silence him.

Aided by her former mafioso grandfather and well-connected financier brother, Harper embarks on a global manhunt, flying first to Africa, then Zurich to expose a high-level cover-up inside a powerful chocolate conglomerate.

But Harper has a few secrets of her own—starting with her lethal martial arts skills—and she’s not afraid to take on any hired guns or guerrillas standing in her way. In trying to cover their tracks, the conspirators made one fatal miscalculation: they didn’t count on Harper McDaniel coming for them.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

For years, I’ve been devouring James W. Hall’s expertly crafted thrillers. A bestselling author of twenty novels, winner of the Shamus and Edgar Awards, and a writer named the “master of suspense” by the New York Times, he is an institution in the mystery genre. I hope you will be as dazzled as I was when I first read his explosive new series featuring the indomitable Harper McDaniel.

A talented celebrity photographer with a darling son and adoring husband, Harper has a life most would envy. Until it is shattered in a brutal act of aggression that permanently ends her journalist husband’s investigation into inhuman labor practices by a multinational corporation.

In the skillful hands of James W. Hall, Harper’s mission for justice is deftly portrayed. I felt as though I were riding shotgun as she tracks her prey from Miami Beach to the Ivory Coast and Zurich. It was a thrill ride that I won’t soon forget.

A force to be reckoned with, Harper succinctly answers the question “Whatchya gonna do when they come for you?” Find them and end them.

- Liz Pearsons, Editor

Song of Edmon (The Fracture Worlds Book 1) by Adam Burch [Genre: Science Fiction]

In Adam Burch’s thrilling series debut, a young man must choose between violence and peace in a distant world divided between those who thrive in endless sunlight and those who survive in eternal darkness.

The isolated planet of Tao is a house divided: the peaceful Daysiders live in harmony while the pale Nightsiders pursue power and racial purity through the violent ritual of the Combat.

Edmon Leontes, the gentle son of a ruthless warrior noble and a proud Daysider, embodies Tao’s split nature. The product of diametrically opposed races, Edmon hopes to live a quiet life pursuing the music of his mother’s people, but his Nightsider father cruelly forces him to continue in his bloody footsteps to ensure his legacy.

Edmon’s defiance will cost him everything…and spark a revolution that will shake the foundations of Tao. His choice—to embrace the light or surrender to the darkness—will shape his own fate and that of his divided world.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

Addicting. That’s how I describe Adam Burch’s debut science fiction epic adventure, Song of Edmon. I started reading the novel one morning, knowing from the very first pages that it would blossom like a rose in summer. But as I was further drawn in to the utterly unique world of fierce battle, burning love, monsters and men, I became hopelessly hooked. What starts out as curiosity about made-up people on a faraway planet evolves into a need to dive ever deeper—and ends in a book hangover.

Born into an island culture existing in perpetual sunlight, Edmon wants nothing more than to live a peaceful life among his mother’s people. But from an early age, his powerful father, from the planet’s Nightside, forces him into a brutal existence of competition and racial purity in which the nobles kill for political position, and strength is celebrated above all. From gene tampering and extraordinary weapons to gladiator training broadcast to distract the planet’s neglected underclass, as events unfolded I was on the edge of my seat, wondering just how much Edmon could endure before breaking apart into the violent warrior that his father wanted as an heir.

Edmon’s personal journey is at the center of this novel. But what Edmon and I came to realize is that it’s not just about him. The actions of one person can inspire many, whether that person is meant to be a leader or not. And when that happens, do you don the helmet and accept the responsibility, even if it drives you to become the very thing you’ve been trying to escape?

- Adrienne Procaccini, Editor

The Heart Echoes by Helena von Zweigbergk (Author), Tiina Nunnally (Translator) [Genre: Contemporary Fiction]

Swedish sisters Astrid, Lena, and Sandra have struggled to get along since childhood, but when Lena is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, they are each thrown into crisis together.

Astrid’s well-ordered, predictable world is shaken by the return of her ex-boyfriend Michael, an American who abandoned her—and their infant son—years earlier. While Astrid has remarried and had more children, she is suffocating under her husband’s kindness and cannot escape the pull of the past. Seeing Michael at their son’s high school graduation reawakens her grief and rage, along with more complicated and threatening emotions.

Envious of Astrid’s seemingly stable life, Sandra is married to an alcoholic and drowning in debt. She turns to Lena for help at the worst possible time. Lena, fighting to stay alive, must finally confront a devastating secret she’s kept from Astrid since the summer Michael left. As the walls they’ve built between them crumble, the three sisters must try to forgive and to rebuild their shattered bonds…while there’s still time.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

Nearly all of us carry at least a small torch for someone from our past, regardless of what brought that relationship to an end. When I’ve encountered my own old flames again, I’ve been transported back to my earlier selves, pleasantly and painfully. As Helena von Zweigbergk’s The Heart Echoes opens, Astrid is about to meet her first love again after more than seventeen years. Michael, the American man who left her and their infant son in mysterious circumstances that were never properly explained, is back in Sweden for their son’s graduation. Astrid has long suspected that someone in her family knows more about Michael’s hasty exit than they’ve confessed.

Watching this family come to grips with their own shortcomings, let go of past trauma, and embrace the future, regardless of the emotional cost, was a gripping journey—one that I’m wiser for having taken with them.

From the tense early chapters, I could feel the family secrets bubbling up toward the surface, even as I wanted to warn the characters not to act on their impulses, not to insist on opening up old wounds, and to be satisfied with the joy that they have in their current lives. But Astrid and her sisters, Lena and Sandra, have secrets whose time has come to be revealed—secrets from each other, from their partners, and from themselves. Ultimately these secrets come spilling out, and as uncomfortable as they are to witness, they are also beautiful and transformative.

- Elizabeth DeNoma, Editor

The Judgement of Richard Richter by Igor Štiks (Author), Ellen Elias-Bursac (Translator) [Genre: Literary Fiction]

In this gripping, war-torn epic novel, author Igor Štiks, a nominee for the IMPAC Dublin Award, tells the story of a celebrated writer who travels to Sarajevo to unearth devastating family secrets and the lies that have defined his life.

Author Richard Richter’s mother and father were always phantoms, both parents having died by the time he was four. His life, now at a crossroads, has been a jumble of invention, elusive memories, and handed-down stories. But when Richard finds his mother’s hidden notebook, written by her during World War II, he discovers a confession that was never meant to be read by anyone—least of all, her son.

Richard’s quest for the truth about his life leads him to an embattled Sarajevo. In the chaos of the besieged city, he discovers something more: a transformative romance and unexpected new friendships that will change the course of his search. But fate has been playing with all of them. And just as fate determines the lives of the characters in his novel, a betrayal reaching back half a century has yet to loosen its grip—on Richard, on everyone he has come to love, and on those he has no choice but to try to forgive.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

It isn’t often that I come across a contemporary novel that reads like a classic, but The Judgment of Richard Richter is one such book. Those of us who fell in love with books that left us thinking, from War and Peace to Ulysses, will find this a tale worth mining deeply.

Richard Richter is a renowned international writer, who discovers secrets in his family history while going through what seems to be a midlife, post-divorce crisis. He leaves Paris for Vienna and then travels to Sarajevo, where war is breaking out. Richter delves into the city’s secrets and his own, finding both love and horror and discovering that, in a city of multitudes and paradoxes, nothing is as simple as he thought it would be.

Author Igor Štiks deftly draws complex, believable characters who are not only at the mercy of history and the Yugoslav wars taking place around them, but often act against their own self-interest, at times seeming to be compelled by fate and destiny or trying to absolve themselves of personal responsibility.

After reading The Judgment of Richard Richter, I sought out some of the plays and novels this work is clearly in conversation with, like Oedipus Rex. But this book is not merely an intellectual delight—it’s an emotional one as well, ultimately leaving us with a reminder of our shared humanity, even in the most dire of circumstances.

- Elizabeth DeNoma, Editor

[Gotadimple]

I selected Song of Edmon. Easily grips the reader with the description of a different world and different society. A good read.

[Wearever]

I went with " All The Little Children " I read the reviews and decided to take a chance.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by Wearever

I went with " All The Little Children " I read the reviews and decided to take a chance.

I'm most of the way through this now. It is a debut novel (though a good one), and there are I think some areas where this shows. But overall I am enjoying it and happy with my choice.

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by Gotadimple

I selected Song of Edmon. Easily grips the reader with the description of a different world and different society. A good read.

I went with Song of Edmon as well. The world does sound interesting, but I'm not as keen on the society, especially not his father forcing him to participate in violent rituals against his will. Sounds a bit too close to child abuse for my tastes.

[Wearever]

Originally Posted by darryl

I'm most of the way through this now. It is a debut novel (though a good one), and there are I think some areas where this shows. But overall I am enjoying it and happy with my choice.

Thanks ! That's good to know. I haven't started it yet, only the sample. It did sound interesting. I also enjoyed Still House Lake.

[darryl]

Originally Posted by Wearever

Thanks ! That's good to know. I haven't started it yet, only the sample. It did sound interesting. I also enjoyed Still House Lake.

I also chose and enjoyed Stillhouse Lake.

[ATDrake]

Just a reminder that this will probably be the last day to pick up one of this month's selections, if you haven't already.

[Manabi]

This month's Kindle First selections are out, they are:

The Naturalist (The Naturalist Series Book 1) by Andrew Mayne [Genre: Thriller]

Professor Theo Cray is trained to see patterns where others see chaos. So when mutilated bodies found deep in the Montana woods leave the cops searching blindly for clues, Theo sees something they missed. Something unnatural. Something only he can stop.

As a computational biologist, Theo is more familiar with digital code and microbes than the dark arts of forensic sleuthing. But a field trip to Montana suddenly lands him in the middle of an investigation into the bloody killing of one of his former students. As more details, and bodies, come to light, the local cops determine that the killer is either a grizzly gone rogue…or Theo himself. Racing to stay one step ahead of the police, Theo must use his scientific acumen to uncover the killer. Will he be able to become as cunning as the predator he hunts—before he becomes its prey?

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

This thriller laced with cutting-edge science sucked me in from page one, making my adrenaline surge in the same way the works of Michael Crichton and Dan Brown do. Theo Cray, a computational biologist and professor, is a brilliant yet flawed hero. Much more comfortable in his lab than with people, he is thrown into the role of amateur detective/forensic investigator when one of his former students is found dead—and he is the prime suspect.

Forced to step outside of his academic mind-set and deal with humans, Theo relies upon his scientific expertise and some genetic profiling to uncover the truth and preserve his own life. His ability to see unusual patterns where others see only random brutality is when Theo is at his most dazzling. Almost magical. This is not entirely surprising when you take into consideration author Andrew Mayne’s side job as a professional illusionist and magician.

As a nonscientist and magic enthusiast, I was spellbound by every page. And now I wait with bated breath for Theo Cray’s next adventure in Looking Glass, the second book of the series.

- Liz Pearsons, Editor

Mad City: The True Story of the Campus Murders That America Forgot by Michael Arntfield [Genre: True Crime]

Mad City: The True Story of the Campus Murders That America Forgot is a chilling, unflinching exploration of American crimes of the twentieth century and how one serial killer managed to slip through the cracks—until now.

In fall 1967, friends Linda Tomaszewski and Christine Rothschild are freshmen at the University of Wisconsin. The students in the hippie college town of Madison are letting down their hair—and their guards. But amid the peace rallies lurks a killer.

When Christine’s body is found, her murder sends shockwaves across college campuses, and the Age of Aquarius gives way to a decade of terror.

Linda knows the killer, but when police ignore her pleas, he slips away. For the next forty years, Linda embarks on a cross-country quest to find him. When she discovers a book written by the murderer’s mother, she learns Christine was not his first victim—or his last. The slayings continue, and a single perpetrator emerges: the Capital City Killer. As police focus on this new lead, Linda receives a disturbing note from the madman himself. Can she stop him before he kills again?

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

When author Michael Arntfield first described this book to me as a love story, I was floored. How could a story about a serial killer who manages to slip through the cracks be described as such? But Mad City isn’t just about the gruesome string of deaths that the Capital City Killer leaves behind—it’s also about the deep friendship and love between Christine Rothschild, the victim, and Linda Tomaszewski, who would spend most of her life tracking down the murderer in a slow-burn game of cat and mouse.

The story begins in 1968, a time of peace rallies, hippies, and free love, and Linda and Christine are freshman roommates and best friends at the University of Wisconsin. When Christine’s bloody body is found in a gruesome tableau on campus one morning, her murder sends the entire school and sleepy neighborhood into shock. In the ensuing years, seven more women will be murdered and mutilated on or near the university—all unsolved cases.

While law enforcement is left bewildered, Linda knows better. For the next forty years, she follows a dark odyssey, dedicating her life to finding—and catching—Christine’s murderer. Mad City is an expertly crafted and harrowing true story of Linda’s diligent chase and the strides detectives and forensics have made in the years since the murder. It is a compelling narrative that I couldn’t put down.

- Vivian Lee, Editor

The Designer by Marius Gabriel [Genre: Historical Fiction]

In 1944, newly married Copper Reilly arrives in Paris soon after the liberation. While the city celebrates its freedom, she’s stuck in the prison of an unhappy marriage. When her husband commits one betrayal too many, Copper demands a separation.

Alone in Paris, she finds an unlikely new friend: an obscure, middle-aged designer from the back rooms of a decaying fashion house whose timid nature and reluctance for fame clash with the bold brilliance of his designs. His name is Christian Dior.

Realising his genius, Copper urges Dior to strike out on his own, helping to pull him away from his insecurities and towards stardom. With just a camera and a typewriter, she takes her own advice and ventures into the wild and colourful world of fashion journalism.

Soon Copper finds herself torn between two very different suitors, questioning who she is and what she truly wants. As the city rebuilds and opulence returns, can Copper make a new, love-filled life for herself?

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

In Paris during the closing days of World War II, American journalist Copper Reilly befriends a timid, unknown designer from the back rooms of a decaying fashion house. His name? Christian Dior.

I was swept away by Marius Gabriel’s vivid descriptions of the Parisian fashion world—I could practically hear the rustle of silks. The Designer’s evocation of Paris in the dying days of the war and the admirable spirit of the French people as they find their way again after years of occupation was simply enthralling.

In one memorable scene, the Paris fashion community is determined to make a stand, despite the country being in ruin. With limited resources, they’re unable to gather the material needed to create full-sized designs for real women. Undeterred, they use miniature mannequins to showcase their talents—decked out with all the intricate design details of jewelry, buttons, and cuff links. This scene was beautifully depicted, and I was delighted to learn that it was not an imaginative invention but a true event!

And that’s the beauty of the novel. Gabriel has seamlessly interwoven the fictional tale of Copper with the real events of the period and the rise of the genius that was Christian Dior. Meticulously researched, full of glamour and nostalgia, this is a book that, like Dior’s signature scent, will linger in the memory for a long time.

- Sammia Hamer, Editor

I Am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll [Genre: Suspense]

What would it take to make you intervene?

When Ella Longfield overhears two attractive young men flirting with teenage girls on a train, she thinks nothing of it—until she realises they are fresh out of prison and her maternal instinct is put on high alert. But just as she’s decided to call for help, something stops her. The next day, she wakes up to the news that one of the girls—beautiful, green-eyed Anna Ballard—has disappeared.

A year later, Anna is still missing. Ella is wracked with guilt over what she failed to do, and she’s not the only one who can’t forget. Someone is sending her threatening letters—letters that make her fear for her life.

Then an anniversary appeal reveals that Anna’s friends and family might have something to hide. Anna’s best friend, Sarah, hasn’t been telling the whole truth about what really happened that night—and her parents have been keeping secrets of their own.

Someone knows where Anna is—and they’re not telling. But they are watching Ella.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

A teenage girl has disappeared. What would I have done if I had seen her on a train, harassed by a group of strange men only the day before? Would I have intervened? And if not, how could I have forgiven myself when I learned what happened?

These are questions I had never asked myself—until I picked up I Am Watching You. Reading about the impact on an ordinary family when their beloved daughter Anna goes missing, I was chilled to the bone, but also conflicted. Especially when Ella, the witness, begins to receive ominous postcards every night bearing the message “WHY DIDN’T YOU HELP HER?”

Where should my sympathies lie? With the witness, who could have acted but didn’t and is tormented by guilt? With the remorseful friend who didn’t save Anna? With the victim’s parents, who just want to see their daughter alive and well? Or even with the mysterious watcher, who will do anything to “protect” those he loves? I have to be honest: there were times during this fast-paced roller coaster of a novel when I wasn’t certain. Now even the most benign interactions I see in the world seem to have a shadow lurking behind them.

I Am Watching You had me absolutely hooked from the first page and kept me guessing until the last. This multilayered, suspenseful novel will pull you in so many directions, and you just might find yourself asking the same question I did: Would I have intervened?

- Jack Butler, Editor

A Beautiful Work in Progress by Mirna Valerio [Genre: Memoir]

Runners’ vocabulary is full of acronyms like DNS for “Did Not Start” and DNF for “Did Not Finish,” but when Mirna Valerio stepped up to the starting line, she needed a new one: DNQ for “Did Not Quit.”

Valerio has tied on her running shoes all across the country, from the dusty back roads of central New Jersey to the busy Route 222 corridor in Pennsylvania to the sweltering deserts of Arizona. When you meet her on the trail, you might be surprised to see she doesn’t quite fit the typical image of a long-distance runner. She’s neither skinny nor white, and she’s here to show just how misguided these stereotypes can be.

In this prejudice-busting, body-positive memoir told with raw honesty, an adventurous spirit, and a sharp sense of humor, Valerio takes readers along on her journey from first-time racer to ultramarathoner and proves that anyone can become a successful athlete.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

Go for a run with Mirna; I promise you won’t regret it. From the sights, sounds, and smells of her youth on Hart Street in Brooklyn to a grueling 50K trail race in the forested hills of humid South Carolina, you can’t help but be held tight by her biting wit, humble appreciation, and stubborn determination to conquer each mile, each step of life. Underrepresented in the fitness world, Mirna lets you into her world as an overweight, black, working wife and mother, proving over and over again she will not give up.

Running has changed Mirna Valerio, but not because of significant weight loss. She’s been transformed into a warrior, a champion for those who understand that real reward is in the attempt of something you thought was impossible. A self-described “fat girl,” she’s persevered through injury, doubt, judgment and body-shaming, as well as racism and rejection by her peers—and not just on the racecourse.

The self-discovery and self-love that Mirna finds each time she laces up her running shoes is undeniably inspiring. I’ve found myself running more regularly since reading this memoir. Some runs are long, some are short, most of them hurt, and sometimes I don’t finish; on one run I even got lost for a bit—but Mirna is with me each and every time, and like her, I am unstoppable.

- Erin Calligan Mooney, Editor

Happy Dreams by Jia Pingwa (Author), Nicky Harman (Translator) [Genre: Literary Fiction]

From one of China’s foremost authors, Jia Pingwa’s Happy Dreams is a powerful depiction of life in industrializing contemporary China, in all its humor and pathos, as seen through the eyes of Happy Liu, a charming and clever rural laborer who leaves his home for the gritty, harsh streets of Xi’an in search of better life.

After a disastrous end to a relationship, Hawa “Happy” Liu embarks on a quest to find the recipient of his donated kidney and a life that lives up to his self-given moniker. Traveling from his rural home in Freshwind to the city of Xi’an, Happy brings only an eternally positive attitude, his devoted best friend Wufu, and a pair of high-heeled women’s shoes he hopes to fill with the love of his life.

In Xi’an, Happy and Wufu find jobs as trash pickers sorting through the city’s filth, but Happy refuses to be deterred by inauspicious beginnings. In his eyes, dusty birds become phoenixes, the streets become rivers, and life is what you make of it. When he meets the beautiful Yichun, he imagines she is the one to fill the shoes and his Cinderella-esque dream. But when the harsh city conditions and the crush of societal inequalities take the life of his friend and shake Happy to his soul, he’ll need more than just his unrelenting optimism to hold on to the belief that something better is possible.

From the Editor:

Spoiler:

Though I’ve never been to China, reading Happy Dreams brought home the vibrancy of a culture unknown to me—and the grittiness of life on the margins of a rapidly modernizing country—in a powerful, almost visceral, way. Happy and his friend Wufu leave their village for the large city of Xi’an in search of riches, but end up sorting through the trash to earn their living. They are helped along by a local kingpin, who had once been their rural neighbor but now instructs them in the subtleties of trash collection.

Happy and Wufu have a literary friendship that stands alongside that of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza from Cervantes’s Don Quixote or George Milton and Lennie Small from John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. They dream of the good life, of garbage transformed into gold, of providing for those they love—or of finding someone to love. It’s Happy’s great gift that he can see beauty in the world, even as he toils in the trash. Their immensely moving story is both comic and tragic, a sprawling tale of human life and aspiration.

Author Jia Pingwa is a towering figure in his native China. Incredibly popular and a critical sensation, he can count such literary giants as Mo Yan as his peers. For those not already familiar with his work, Happy Dreams is a great place to begin the journey into his world.

- Elizabeth DeNoma, Editor

[GlenBarrington]

I'm having a hard time 'getting into' this month's selections. They all sound like something I'd be interested in, but nothing stands out for me.

[Dngrsone]

I picked I Am Watching You, but unsure whether I will read it anytime soon.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

I picked I Am Watching You, but unsure whether I will read it anytime soon.

That's the one I'll probably go with too.

The Naturalist is a little bit tempting, but I've read a couple of other Andrew Mayne books, and while he seems to be a pretty decent writer, his stuff just isn't to my liking.

The true crime sounds vaguely interesting, but I'm leery of true crime books when I don't know the author. The others are a firm no.

[Wearever]

The Naturalist , and I'm Watching You, both look interesting. I went with The Naturalist.

[jscris]

Originally Posted by Wearever

The Naturalist , and I'm Watching You, both look interesting. I went with The Naturalist.

I did, too, and am enjoying it a lot at 25% read.