Kayt (who is a friend of mine, full disclosure, blah, blah) was good enough to send me an advanced copy of DIRTY MINDS a while ago.  I loved it.  I’ve been going on about this book on twitter and facebook for a while now, and I’m excited that the day has finally come that the rest of you are able to see what the fuss is about.   Here’s what I wrote on Goodreads:

“Kayt Sukel’s debut takes a long, hard look at human relationships from a unique perspective. With her background in neuroscience, Sukel examines what goes on inside our brains when we think about love, and sex, and all that good stuff. It’s a fascinating read. The brain is such a complex organ that much of the studies performed so far are not conclusive, but the book sheds a whole new light on some of the most enduring questions of mankind, which have hitherto primarily been the provence of artists, writers, and musicians. The collision of biology with the vaguer arenas of emotion and love is a compelling saga in itself. The author does a wonderful job of setting out the research in a way that makes it easy for non-scientists like me to understand. If this all sounds a little dry, though, don’t be fooled. It is an extremely funny book, and Sukel’s ultra-dry wit had me chuckling throughout. Informative, entertaining, relevant – who could ask for more?”

Highly, highly recommended.  Depending on your preference, and for your ease of shopping, might I recommend the following links?

• Indiebound
• Amazon
• Barnes  & Noble

In my earlier post about my trip to the Midwest Booksellers’ Association in Minneapolis, I mentioned that at the dinner hosted by Penguin on the Thursday night, there had been some spirited discussion between booksellers about what made for the best author events.  Certain booksellers felt that, as a general rule, authors should never read from their books at book signings.  It sounds counter-intuitive, but when you think about it, the idea makes a lot of sense.

For a start, listening to most writers (or indeed anyone) read out loud from a book is usually rather boring.  Secondly, people who make the effort to go out to an author event at a bookshop are looking for an experience that can’t be replicated (or bettered) simply by sitting at home on the sofa.  So instead of just reading what they’ve already written, writers need to provide insight, anecdotes, background… all these things can enhance a reader’s enjoyment of a book more than simply listening to the author declaim his or her own words.  Speaking for myself, I always enjoy answering questions during the Q & A session far more than the reading itself.

But don’t take it from me.  The most vocal proponent of this idea in Minneapolis was Geoffrey Jennings, who works at the wonderful Rainy Day Books in Kansas City.  In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, Geoffrey’s mother Vivien, founder of the store, weighed in, echoing his opinion.  Rainy Day are renowned in the industry for the quality of their author events, so they really do know what they’re talking about.

One of the best author events I’ve been to recently was by Eleanor Brown, whose best-selling novel, The Weird Sisters, I have raved about on this blog before.  Eleanor did read a small extract from her novel (actually “perform” would be a better description), but most of the evening was Eleanor chatting about the book, giving insights into her creative process, and answering a ton of questions from the audience.  It was both stimulating and highly entertaining.  Of course, when it comes to pulling something like this off, it helps if you’re, well, Eleanor Brown, who is one of the warmest and most engaging people on the planet.  And this is one of the key points here: writers these days need to be able to speak eloquently and entertainingly about their work.  We can’t hide behind the words on the page any more.

I’m going to be doing an author event for A GOOD AMERICAN at Rainy Day Books on Thursday, February 23 next year.  At least I have plenty of time to work out what I’m going to say!

I should note that not everyone at the dinner agreed with Geoffrey’s opinion.  And indeed, in the WSJ piece, some event-planners do like authors to read something. What do you think?  Do you like to hear an author read from their work at events, or do you prefer just to listen to them speak?

]]> http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/to-read-or-not-to-read/feed/ 6 http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/the-bird-sisters-by-rebecca-rasmussen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-bird-sisters-by-rebecca-rasmussen http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/the-bird-sisters-by-rebecca-rasmussen/#comments Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:06:31 +0000 Alex George http://alexgeorgebooks.com/?p=3888 Click here to continue...]]>

Rebecca Rasmussen came to Columbia to give a reading at PS Gallery at the start of May this year, just after her wonderful debut novel was published.  I had been speaking with Rebecca for some time on twitter and invited her to make the trip down I-70 from St. Louis to visit.  Her reading was exquisite – understated, funny, and full of charm.  I bought a book that evening but only got around to reading it some weeks later.

The novel tells the story of two aging sisters, Milly and Twiss, who live in the small town of Spring Green, Wisconsin, in the house they grew up in.  Much of the story is told in flashback, relating the story of an eventful summer decades previously when the girls’ cousin, Bett, comes to stay.  It is a summer that changes the girls’ lives for ever.

As a middle-aged male I was probably not the publisher’s imagined audience for this novel, and I will be honest – I wasn’t sure if the story would be entirely my kind of thing.  But how wrong I was.  I simply adored this book.

For a start, the prose is just exquisite.  The language glows.  Rich, honeyed phrases roll off the page, one after the other, a procession of beautiful sentences.  Rasmussen writes with unflashy brilliance, perfectly capturing the lilting rhythms of a just-bygone age.  It is the sort of book that constantly makes you want to tap the shoulder of your neighbor to share a particularly delicious morsel.

The two principal characters, Milly and Twiss, are drawn with brilliant clarity.  Twiss, the younger, more impulsive and flamboyant of the two, is a joyful whirlwind of youthful exuberance, but I liked Milly more, intrigued by those still waters, and wondering how deep they ran.  Both have stayed with me long after the final page.  The attendant cast of secondary characters are equally memorable, pitch-perfect and rendered with flawless economy – and often hilarious.  I particularly loved their mother, with her French pretentions, and their doomed, golf-pro father.

But, in the end, it’s the story the counts.  This one is a heart-breaker.  I won’t give anything away, save to say that Rasmussen reels the reader in almost imperceptibly, and then refuses to let go, relentlessly but ever-so-gently ramping up the tension, page after page.  The denouement is perfect.  It left me pondering the nature of love, loss, and sacrifice, and considering what might have been, and how tenuous are the threads that tie our lives together.  It did, in other words, what all good books should do: it made me feel, and it made me think.

So, highly, highly recommended.  My book of the year so far.  Go and a buy a copy.  If you live in Columbia, there are signed copies available at Get Lost Bookshop on 9th Street.

]]> http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/the-bird-sisters-by-rebecca-rasmussen/feed/ 0 http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/time-to-read/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=time-to-read http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/time-to-read/#comments Sat, 11 Jun 2011 12:49:49 +0000 Alex George http://alexgeorgebooks.com/?p=3746 Click here to continue...]]> Last week I received a direct message via Twitter from the lovely Camille Noe Pagan, whose debut novel, THE ART OF FORGETTING, was published this week by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin (US).  Camille was putting together a blog post for the “Author’s Desk” at Penguin.com about how and when authors find time to read.  This is a topic of considerable interest to me, as it should be for all writers.

Being asked to write about this couldn’t have come at a more apposite time.  Reading has become increasingly difficult for me lately.  I have moved into a new house which I am slowly trying to furnish, I am learning how to be a single dad, and I am still doing the day job… then there’s the small matter of ushering my book ever so slowly towards publication.  And oh, yes – I almost forgot the next one I’m supposed to be writing, too.

People have always asked me how I find time to read, and the answer used to be easy: I didn’t watch any television.  At all.  Ever.

Life was simple back then: I wrote in the mornings, and read in the evenings.  I still write in the mornings – my two hours from 5 o’clock to 7 remain sacrosanct – but these days my evenings are filled with other, more humdrum demands: making the children’s lunches, laundry, washing, completing unfinished work from my curtailed day in the office… and by the time all that’s done, it’s all I can do to drag myself upstairs and flop into bed.

But here’s the thing.  I’ve written before about how writers need to find a routine, and then stick to it.  I’m starting to think the same might apply to readers, too.  It’s not enough to blearily peer at the same three pages of a novel every night as I fall asleep with the light on.  I need to read.   That is what writers do.  Words are our tools; they’re also our oxygen.  We need them to survive.  We breathe in other people’s words in order to produce our own.  If you do not read, you cannot write.

So I’m thinking the time has come to get serious about carving out time to read.  It seems I can no longer take it for granted, the way I once could.  I’m still trying to work out exactly how I’m going to do  this.  In some way the idea of making a plan or a schedule to read sounds antithetical to the joy that reading gives me.  But needs must.  If anyone has any strategies that work for them, please feel free to share.  I’m getting on a plane next week, and all those hours of uninterrupted time should top me up nicely, but I need a long term plan.

For the record, right now I am reading The Bird Sisters, by the lovely Rebecca Rasmussen, who recently came to Columbia to give a reading.  It’s a stunning book, beautifully written.  It’s one of those novels that you wish you were reading with someone (very patient) sitting next to you, so you can lean over and read bits out to them.  The urge to do this happens on every page.  It’s wonderful stuff.  (I accept it is possible that I am reading this particular book slowly because I don’t want it to end.)

Anyway, here’s the link to Camille’s blog about writers reading.

A more recent friend – discovered on twitter, no less – is the lovely and talented Rebecca Rasmussen, whose novel, THE BIRD SISTERS, is published on April 12 by Crown.  Rebecca lives in St. Louis, and she will be coming to Columbia on May 1, just before her nationwide book tour.  I haven’t read Rebecca’s book yet but have heard some wonderful things, and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

Both of these events are taking place at the newly re-opened and wonderful Perlow-Stevens Gallery in its new location at 1025 East Walnut, in Columbia’s North Art Village.  Come along and enjoy the chance to hear these talented writers read from their books.  We are tremendously lucky to have a chance to welcome these brilliant authors to our town, and both evenings will be events not to be missed.

See you there?

Full disclosure here: Eleanor is an Amy Einhorn author, and although we haven’t met (yet) we have been carrying on a rather wonderful email correspondence over these past several months.  She is a wonderful and very funny person (if you don’t believe me, you should read her blog,) and I’m not going to pretend to be unbiased.  I am, and proud of it.  Amy Einhorn, our wonderful publisher and editor, sent me an advanced reading copy of the book, and – previous disclaimer notwithstanding – it’s fabulous.

I posted a review of the book on Goodreads, and will re-post that here on publication next month as a gentle reminder to you all that you should go out and buy it.  But don’t take my word for it.  Check out her book trailer below, and look at the frankly mouth-watering praise she has garnered from some very illustrious fellow authors.  The book has been selected as one of Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program, which means that it will be everywhere. Really, it couldn’t happen to a nicer book.

]]> http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/monday-morning-novelist/feed/ 0 http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/my-wifes-affair/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-wifes-affair http://www.alexgeorgebooks.com/my-wifes-affair/#comments Wed, 15 Sep 2010 12:43:33 +0000 Alex George http://alexgeorgebooks.com/?p=3038 Click here to continue...]]> This isn’t a book review, not really.  I just want to tell you about a novel I enjoyed a lot.

Besides, I think you’re supposed to be icily impartial when it comes to reviews, and I’m not, not this time.  The author, Nancy Woodruff, is a friend of mine.  We were in a writers’ group together in London, and I actually critiqued an earlier draft of this book seven or eight years ago. Also, the novel is published by Amy Einhorn, who is also publishing my book. So no, impartial I am not.

Anyway, with all that being duly said and understood – about this novel.  I read it in two days.  Two busy days, at that.  An awful lot of people have observed that this book is nigh impossible to put down once you begin reading, and I can confirm that this is indeed the case.  The author pulls you in to the story, and then simply doesn’t let go.  The narrative drags you along with quiet but inexorable tension.  It’s merciless, and quite brilliant.

The story revolves around an ex-pat American couple living in London, and (I don’t think I can be accused of spoiling anything, given the title) the affair that the wife, Georgie, has with the director of a play in which she is starring.  If that all sounds somewhat humdrum, don’t be deceived.  This is an all-too-human, and utterly gripping story.  Woodruff (I’m trying to look professional here) marshals her characters expertly and creates an almost intolerable sense of inevitability about the disintegration of their marriage.  Watching this self-absorbed woman’s fall from matrimonial grace was a little like watching a car crash in slow motion.  It’s brutal, but one can’t pull one’s eyes away for a moment.

One of the things that makes the book so memorable is that there is a secondary narrative deftly woven in with this very modern fable, the intriguing true story of Dora Jordan, a famous eighteenth century actress.  I knew nothing about Dora Jordan before reading the book and her own tragic story provided a telling counterpoint to Georgie’s own trials.  It also served to ramp up the tension deliciously.

And then there’s the ending.

I’ve read some very heated debates online about the merits of the ending.  I confess I am still in two minds myself.  It is awful, shocking.  When I finished the book I put it down, numb, and wandered about for a while, trying to make sense of it.  At first I felt angry about it.  Over time I slowly came to terms with it.  It’s difficult to discuss the ending in any meaningful way without giving away what happens, and I certainly don’t want to do that.  But it speaks to the power of the novel as a whole and to Nancy Woodruff’s ability as a writer that she was able to make me care so deeply about her characters.

Highly recommended.

A little while ago I dabbled with the idea of a slight name change, reducing myself to a pair of gnomic initials in the manner of Chesterton, G.K., Rowling, J. K., Byatt A.S., and Hartley, J.R.  (inside joke for my English readers with long memories.)  Anyway, that didn’t last too long, and here I am again, plain old Alex.  I’m pleased about this – it is my name, after all.

And then.

Imagine my surprise when I came across this:

Well, OK, I think.  Fair enough.  I’m not the only person called Alex George.  I know that.  I’m not even the only writer.  There’s an Australian botanist who has published several seminal works about Banksia.  So I didn’t think much about this new guy, until I read the blurb accompanying his book.  Here it is, in all its glory:

“Already frustrated with the socialism that is seeping into their lives, Adam and his wife Allie are forced to deal with a newly-established health care system that threatens to take from them what they cherish the most. In another part of the world, Roy, an army sergeant fed up with the corruption in Washington, is fighting for America’s freedom. At the same time, far away in his ivory tower, the president is fashioning socialist policies that threaten the American way of life. This is the world of Alex George’s “Revolt Rising.” Told in a style that is immediate and heart-wrenching, “Revolt Rising” follows the story of average citizens who are desperately trying to keep their eyes on the American dream. As it seems to pull further away from them, they find themselves raging against the leaders of the very nation they love so dearly. Rage eventually turns to revolt. After banding together with like-minded men, Adam and his army of freedom fighters find themselves in the heart of a battle that will determine America’s future. What will the outcome be? George will keep you guessing (and hoping) to the very last page.”

Perfect.  My namesake is Glen Beck on steroids, drunk, and out looking for a fight.

Those of you who know me will know that I am the living incarnation of namby-pamby liberalism, and proud of it.  But I just wanted to let the rest of you know that, well, just in case this crossed your radar, it wasn’t me.

Thanks to the excerpts that the author has made available on his website, I can report that he is no John Updike.  So at least we have that in common.