Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Contest news...
 We've finished the drawing for our Summer Beach Reading Giveaway, and e-mails will go out to the winners this afternoon. If you entered this drawing, PLEASE check your e-mail! Thanks to everyone who entered, and please keep an eye out for our next giveaway. Labels: Beach Reading Contest
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal, by Sean Dixon
 Beach Reading Contest Book #9Sean Dixon's debut novel The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal is a sprawling, gorgeous mess of a book: a Canadian take on Latin American magical realism with a bunch of high-minded (and not so high-minded*) literary references woven in. The members of the Lacuna Cabal Montreal Young Women's Book Club approach their group reading choices in a rather unusual way. Rather than just discussing the texts, they reenact them, regardless of the book's contents. When one of the club members suggests they tackle The Epic of Gilgamesh (she happens to own a copy written on ancient cuneiform tablets that her engineer father found while remodeling a cathedral basement into a shopping mall) the book club gamely embarks on a complete re-creation—one that kicks off with a voyeuristic sex scene in an abandoned building and ends up taking them all the way to Iraq, circa May 2003. For all the surreal elements to this story, the most astounding thing about Dixon's novel is how readable it is. Setting aside all the life-imitating-art stuff about Gilgamesh and the hyper-stylized prose, this is a story about a group of genuinely appealing characters whose real lives add weight to the fantastical story they've immersed themselves in. I'll be curious to see if Mr. Dixon's future books (which I find almost impossible to picture) offer similar charms to The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal, but in the meanwhile I'm pleased to state that it's been quite a while since I've come across such a nicely-judged blend of style and storytelling. *In a move that might have been calculated to win Wordcandy Bonus Points, Mr. Dixon name-drops J. K. Rowling, Philip Pullman, William Gibson, A.S. Byatt, and (best of all) E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Go, Mr. Dixon! Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Castration Celebration, by Jake Wizner
 Beach Reading Contest Book #8The cover of Jake Wizner’s new book looks like the promotional posters for Disney’s High School Musical. It features about 10,000 hokey musical numbers*, just like High School Musical. Its “boy meets girl, hijinks ensue, boy ends up with girl” plotline even plays out like High School Musical—but, as you may have picked up from the title, that’s pretty much all Castration Celebration has in common with the mega-successful Disney franchise. When Olivia and Max meet cute on the first day of Yale University's summer arts camp, Olivia is quick to shoot down Max’s obvious interest. Max might make Olivia laugh, but she’s still too angry with her philandering father (and too suspicious of Max’s playboy vibe) to even consider dating anyone. She decides to spend the summer working on her musical instead—the gleefully X-rated Castration Celebration, a high school love story full of awkwardly-rhyming songs about sex. But as the program goes on, Olivia and Max discover they are, like, totally perfect for each other (shocker!), and decide that their respective plans for the summer might require a little rearranging.... For a book featuring a song about the kinkier possibilities of Edward Cullen and Bella Swann’s sex life, Castration Celebration is surprisingly conventional. This is a standard (hell, generic) teen romance about a girl who catches the eye of a popular boy, and whose pretty face and sharp tongue convince him to give up his manwhore ways. The only thing that separates Castration Celebration from a Sweet Valley High subplot is its relentlessly raunchy dialogue—which is actually the novel’s weakest element. Much like the protagonist of Wizner’s novel Spanking Shakespeare (who has a tiny cameo in this book), nearly all of the dialogue in Castration Celebration consists of American Pie-by-way-of-Woody Allen witticisms. It’s all cute and eyebrow-raising at first, but wading through nearly 300 pages of implausibly articulate banter about sex gets old faster than you’d think. *Okay, it’s more like twelve, but it felt like 10,000. Man, I hate musicals. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews
Killer Summer, by Ridley Pearson
 Beach Reading Contest Book #7Ridley Pearson's Killer Summer is his third book featuring Walt Fleming, the sheriff of Sun Valley, a small Idaho resort town. I'm always hesitant about starting a series partway in, but I found Killer Summer both totally comprehensible and tremendously entertaining. When the rich and famous start pouring into Sun Valley to attend its annual wine auction, Walt learns that the star of this year's event is a set of wine bottles allegedly given by Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, and therefore worth millions— if they're authentic. Walt, who has taken his nephew on a fly-fishing trip, is praying everything will go off without a hitch, but those hopes are dashed when a bomb goes off just before the auction kicks into gear, and his peaceful day on the water turns into a blur of fake identities, kidnappings, and elaborate heists. Killer Summer is much more of a suspense novel than a mystery, but the violence is surprisingly minimal. Instead, Pearson fills his pages with at least three storylines, which meet halfway through the novel in a fun (but somewhat far-fetched) flurry of coincidences. There are aspects of the novel that I probably would have enjoyed more if I'd read the previous books in the series—the emotional impact of Walt's romantic life fell particularly flat, seeing as I barely knew the candidate for his affections—but the lion's share of this novel works beautifully as a standalone thriller. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
By Invitation Only, by Jodi Della Femina and Sheri McInnis
 Beach Reading Contest Book #5By Invitation Only is a breezy romantic comedy co-written by Jodi Della Femina and Sheri McInnis, two authors with solid beach-reading street cred: Femina is the author of the bestselling Hamptons guidebook Jodi's Shortcuts, while McInnis is the author of a romance novel that appears to feature Satan* as its male protagonist. After a series of romantic and financial setbacks in Manhattan, chef Toni Fratelli decides to move back home and start her own catering company. Luckily for her, “back home” means the Hamptons, one of the most popular vacation spots in the country—but it also means moving back in with her dad, taking over the food planning for her best friend's wedding, and dealing with a nasty, competitive local caterer with a mile-long client list and a coop full of exotic poultry. When Toni meets Chris, a mellow surfer type with a vintage car, he seems like the perfect distraction from her massive To-Do list... but even Chris has a secret, and Toni is about to discover that her life in picture-perfect East Hampton might end up being an even bigger mess than her life in the big city. While Toni and Chris's romance gets top billing in By Invitation Only, the book's supporting characters are far more fun. There's Toni's best friend Layla, a free-spirited Hamptons townie, and Layla's unenthusiastic prospective mother-in-law, a New York socialite with a Botox addiction and money coming out of her ears. Best of all, there's Toni's catering nemesis, a sinister figure who seems to be modeled on Ina Garten (well, if Ina Garten was evil). Toni and Chris are likable enough, sure, but their romantic drama is merely a pleasant, fluffy distraction from the real meat of this story: the minor characters' sexual, financial, and familial hijinks. *No, we haven't read it, but you can bet we're going to. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews
Friday, August 07, 2009
Alyzon Whitestarr, by Isobelle Carmody
 Beach Reading Contest Book #4The title of Isobelle Carmody's book Alyzon Whitestarr sounds like an eighties hair band, the cover model looks like Gossip Girl's Little J in a bad Goth wig, and the official plot description reads like that of any other teen paranormal romance, but we are happy to report that none of the three come close to doing this sprawling, ambitious YA fantasy novel justice. Sixteen-year-old Alyzon has always felt like the odd man out amongst her talented, bohemian family. But when she's injured protecting her baby brother, she spends a month in a coma and wakes up with a unique new ability: her senses have sharpened to the point that she can see auras, smell changes in people's emotions, and the gorgeous complexity of a cello piece leaves her with a bloody nose. As Alyzon struggles to understand and control her powers, she discovers that several of the people around her are harboring a horrible secret, and she may be the only person capable of preventing their plans from coming to fruition. At 501 pages, Alyzon Whitestarr is so long and complex that it might lose readers with shorter attention spans. (If you like your supernatural romances snappy and quip-filled, try Meg Cabot's books.) Instead, Carmody's novel is idealistic and sincere, with flashes of genuine creepiness and a charmingly low-key romantic subplot. This is the rare YA novel that takes itself quite seriously—and for once, we mean that in a good way. Sure, you have to get past the Vegas-friendly cover art and the, er, "artistic" spelling of the heroine's name, but fantasy fans willing to overlook such trifles are in for an extremely pleasant surprise. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews, Isobelle Carmody
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
The Unit, by Ninni Holmqvist
 Beach Reading Contest Book #3The Unit, the debut novel by Swedish author Ninni Holmqvist, is neither fish nor fowl nor good Swedish surströmming. It's half dystopian horror story and half mid-life coming-of-age novel, and it might have worked better if the author had settled on one or the other. Holmqvist's novel is set in a near-future Europe where "dispensable" adults (unmarried, childless, middle-aged, and engaged in nonessential professions) are shipped off to the Unit, a facility that surrounds its residents with luxury and comfort, but requires them to serve as human guinea pigs for the medical industry and donate a series of increasingly vital organs. When lonely, impoverished Dorrit Weger is admitted to the Unit, she finds new friends and an unexpected love—both of which make the impossible choice she is forced to make all the more terrible. Many of the passages in Holmqvist's novel are gorgeously descriptive, and her heroine's love for her fellow residents is moving, but the undeniable strength of her writing is obscured by the gaping holes in her plot. The major plot twist in this novel is distractingly implausible, and its sci-fi/horror setting raises more questions than it answers. (For one thing, why is there such hot demand for organs? I mean, if every single, childless, under-employed middle-aged person in the U.S. was required to give up several organs, I'm pretty sure the organ waiting lists would be non-existent. And if you eliminate very young recipients, who probably wouldn't have much use for middle-aged organs, you're talking about an even smaller group.) Holmqvist's novel was clearly aiming for "thought-provoking", and her delicate, haunting writing style puts her several marks above the majority of the sci-fi/horror crowd, but her plot-development skills will require considerably more work before she starts challenging the status of top-shelf writers like Margaret Atwood or Shirley Jackson. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews
Monday, August 03, 2009
The Sweet Life of Stella Madison, by Lara M. Zeises
 Beach Reading Contest Book #2Stella Madison, the 17-year-old heroine of Lara M. Zeises's The Sweet Life of Stella Madison, has her hands full: her boyfriend has just professed his love, her long-separated parents have finally begun dating other people, and she's carrying a small (but seriously inconvenient) torch for one of the interns at her mother's restaurant. Worst of all, Stella has been shanghaied into a food-writing job for the local paper, despite the fact that she'd not-so-secretly rather eat a fast-food hamburger than the gourmet fare served in her mother's restaurant or prepared by her French chef father. Stella sincerely wants to be a good girlfriend, daughter, and employee, but she's got a horrible suspicion she might be failing on all fronts. I love reading about food, and it's obvious from page one that Zeises will handle her heroine's rocky relationships with her parents and male admirers with intelligence and sensitivity, so I expected The Sweet Life of Stella Madison to be a sure bet. Unfortunately, the book is a little too short (228 pages) to give its coming-of-age story weight, the food descriptions were few and far between, and the lack of romantic resolution felt half-finished rather than tantalizingly open-ended. In short, there just wasn't enough of this book, although what little there was was very nicely done. I'll be interested to see what Ms. Zeises produces next... but here's hoping she delivers more pages, more plot resolution, and—cross my fingers!—maybe even some actual recipes, because I'd like to know more of the "Blueberry Shortcake Surprise" mentioned at the start of chapter two. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Dial Emmy for Murder, by Eileen Davidson
 Beach Reading Contest Book #1Dial Emmy for Murder might not have the genre-hopping appeal of, say, a Janet Evanovich novel, but it's a perfectly respectable mystery with an amusing hook and an appealing heroine. This is the second book in a series, the first being 2008's Death in Daytime. Both books were written by real soap opera star Eileen Davidson, and feature fictional soap opera star Alexis Peterson. As Dial Emmy for Murder opens, Alexis's turn as a presenter at the Daytime Emmy Awards goes horribly wrong when one of her co-workers is found hanging from the stage rafters. This time around Alexis isn't suspected of committing the murder, but she's no less determined to get to the bottom of it. While 95% of Dial Emmy for Murder works as a standalone mystery, readers would be well-advised to pick up the first book in this series as well. The love triangle in particular suffers; Alexis's old boyfriend barely shows up in this book, so it's difficult to buy him as a romantic rival to her other suitor, the handsome Detective Franks. Several other characters are also short-charged in the development department, including Alexis's daughter Sarah (a walking, talking “adorable moppet” cliché) and her hairstylist best friend. Sadly, the biggest problem with Ms. Davidson's book is that, for a book about a soap opera star, it's nowhere near trashy enough. With the exception of the occasional grisly murder, Alexis's life and job seem incredibly humdrum. The series might improve if the author either abandoned reality altogether—the lives of soap opera stars are like a permanent, booze-soaked orgy!—or if she portrayed a bit more of the work-a-day life of her star. (We're supposed to believe Alexis never goes to the gym? Really?) Dial Emmy for Murder is plenty of fun as-is, but it could use a little Hollywood glamor—or at least a peek at the blood, sweat, and tears it takes to fake Hollywood glamor. Labels: Beach Reading Contest, Book Reviews, mysteries
Monday, July 27, 2009
Beach Reading Giveaway
 The Wordcandy staff is happy to announce that we are embarking on another contest (our most extensive to date!) and we're posting it here on the blog a full day early, giving our blog readers a 24-hour head start on the competition. From now until Friday, August 14th, we'll be running our Summer Beach Reading Giveaway, and the rules are simple: over the next two weeks we will be posting reviews both here and on the main site of the nine recently-released books featured above, and all you have to do to win one of 'em is send us an e-mail at info[at]wordcandy[dot]net with the subject "Beach" telling us which title you'd like to receive. You can trust our judgment and wait for the reviews, or (if this is the kind of thing that might slip your mind until, say, August 15th) base your selection on anything from the publishers' book summaries to the prettiest cover art and shoot us an e-mail straight away. Either way, best of luck! To enter: Send us an e-mail with the title you would like to receive. One winner per title will be chosen at random. If you win, we will contact you to request a shipping address. As always, we will not sell, trade, or distribute your contact information in any way. All entries must be received by 5:00 PM (Pacific) on Friday, August 14th. Please note: The book you receive may be either a published edition or an advance reader copy. The rules (such as they are): One entry per e-mail address, and no more than three entries per real, live person, please. Labels: Beach Reading Contest
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We've finished the drawing for our Summer Beach Reading Giveaway, and e-mails will go out to the winners this afternoon. If you entered this drawing, PLEASE check your e-mail!
