Beginning Again

Now here's a first to our book club: An eShort story called Beginning Againby Sarah Pekkanen, who happens to be one of our all-time favorite authors.  This selection is a special treat since it also contains an excerpt from her next book, The Best of Us,due to release on April 9, 2013.

Meanwhile, let's check out a few reviews before diving in:

“Sarah Pekkanen will never let you down. I absolutely loved Beginning Again, especially how she's tying in characters from her novels into this short story. The ONLY thing I don't like.. is in fact that it's so short! This was actually longer than her other short stories, but I loved this character and wanted to hear more and I really wish it was a novel! If you haven't read any of Sarah Pekkanen's short stories your missing out and I HIGHLY recommend them!!!! "
~ 5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing!, December 13, 2012 by Amanda

“I enjoyed this next short story in the series; especially hearing a little bit more about Becca from These Girls!"
~ 5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps me wanting more!, November 29, 2012 by Loves those books

I'm already reading... are you?

A Winter Dream

Ah what the heck, let's go ahead and read A Winter Dreamby Richard Paul Evans too while we're in the holiday spirit. So here's a little bit of background from the author himself:

Total page turner, right? Boom, let's read.

The Tiger's Wife

Taking another about face, our next book selection is called The Tiger's Wife by Téa Obreht. To be honest, the paperback's book cover design is what initially attracted me to the book, but then the exotic setting described on the back cover led me to actually make the final purchase. So what are reviewers saying about it?  Here goes:

“[A] spectacular debut novel…[Téa] Obreht spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerizing reader wants her never to stop…Obreht will make headlines as one of the most exciting new writers of her generations, a young artist with the maturity and grace that comes of knowing where one is from, and of honoring those who came before." – Entertainment Weekly, Grade: A

"[A] brilliant debut…[Téa] Obreht is an expert at depicting history through aftermath, people through the love they inspire, and place through the stories that endure; the reflected world she creates is both immediately recognizable and a legend in its own right. Obreht is talented far beyond her years, and her unsentimental faith in language, dream, and memory is a pleasure." – Publishers Weekly, starred review

Ready, set, GO.

The Christmas List

With the holidays flying by at breakneck speed, The Christmas Listby Richard Paul Evans is the perfect book selection for the occasion.  In fact, take a look at how readers reacted to the book and see why we took the leap in choosing it:

Did someone just say the book should be mandatory reading and that it would make a great movie?  Well, alrighty - let's get on it then.

Anyone But You

In an entirely new direction, let's read Anyone But Youby Jennifer Cruisie.  This book promises to be a witty, romantic novel that has absolutely nothing to do with apocalyptic dystopianism, thank goodness.  Straight from the source, take a peek at a synopsis of our book:

“For Nina Askew, turing forty means freedom—from the ex-husband whose career always came first, from their stuffy suburban home. Freedom to have her own apartment in the city, freedom to focus on what she wants for a change. And what she wants is something her ex always vetoed—a puppy. A bouncy puppy to cheer her up. Instead she gets…Fred.

Overweight, smelly and obviously suffering from some kind of doggy depression, Fred is light years from perky. But for all his faults, he does manage to put Nina face-to-face with Alex Moore, her gorgeous, younger downstairs neighbor.

Alex looks great on paper—a sexy, seemingly sane, surprisingly single E.R. doctor who shares Fred’s abiding love for Oreos—but a ten-year difference in age, despite his devastating smile, is too wide a gap for Nina to handle. Ignoring her insistent best friend, some interfering do-gooders and the ubiquitous Fred—not to mention her suddenly raging hormones—Nina thinks anyone but Alex would be a better bet for a relationship. But with every silver-haired stiff she dates, the more she suspects it’s the young dog-loving doctor she wants to sit and stay!" [more]

– Jennifer Cruisie, Anyone But You

OMG, people.  Where has this book been hiding?!

The Age of Miracles

On with our next selection called The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker, a debut novel by an author who is new to the Chicken Lit Bookclub.  Alrighty then, so let's take a look at a few reviews to get an idea about what we are getting into:

“Karen Thompson Walker’s harrowing and graceful first novel, The Age of Miracles, would be fascinating to read at any time. But in the summer of 2012, when the country is being wracked by record-high temperatures, freak storms, devastating droughts, wildfires and floods, it is almost disturbingly well timed… The Age of Miracles is as thrilling as any fantastic mystery, and in its echoes of reality magnified, impossible to forget. ”
– Buffalo News

"Written in a voice that’s as familiar as your own junior-high diaries, Walker’s debut is a classic coming-of-age story, one that’s made all the more heartbreaking by the realization that Julia may never get the chance to come of age. It perfectly captures what it’s like to be a teenager: always feeling like the world is going to end, waiting for the day when life goes back to normal, until you grow up and discover that it never really does.”
– Entertainment Weekly

How exactly can we NOT read this one?