Book Bag
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The faces on the milk cartons, on the fliers that come in the mail, at the counter at the convenience store, are haunting. 
Baltimore novelist Laura Lippman takes the missing-kids story a step further in her latest non-series novel, “What the Dead Know” (376 pages, William Morrow, $24.95).
In 1975, the two Bethany sisters — Sunny, 15, and Heather, 11 — went missing from a Baltimore mall.  Thirty years later, after a car wreck outside Baltimore, one of the drivers claims to be Heather.  The police aren’t sure whether to believe her, but why would she be lying?
Lippman, a former reporter for The Baltimore Sun, transcends the mystery angle — although there are plenty of twists and a climactic surprise — to explore the fissures in family life.  “What the Dead Know” will take you on a ride as wild as the one that brought the Heather claimant to Baltimore. 

I haven’t blogged in a while since I last wrote about trying to tackle the New York Times “Best of American Lit”. 

I read “American Pastoral” by Philip Roth which was Runner-Up to Number One.  It was very well done, but somewhat repetitive.  By page 100, I got the point: the American dream is dead. Then there’s 300 more pages of the same deal.  I had to wonder, why is this the best of American Lit?  Why isn’t “Revolutionary Road” by Richard Yates on the list?  Why aren’t there more women on the list, like Lorrie Moore or Jane Smiley?

So instead of reading the myriad Rabbit novels by John Updike on the NYT list (one word: ugh), I decided to drop the list and read for pleasure, again (yay!).  Recently read:

O, Pionners by Willa Cather: Brilliant novel about the power of the American Midwest

Autobiography of a Fat Bride by Laurie Notaro: Laugh-out loud funny essays on getting married, moving into a ramshackle house and more.

Comics by Julie Doucet: Richly detailed, dark and nightmarish but absolutely wonderful.  I’ve been stocking up on Julie Doucet’s old comics from the ‘80s by ordering her collections from Drawn & Quarterly.  I can whole-heartedly recommend: My New York Diary; My Most Secret Desires and Lève Ta Jambe Mon, Poisson Est Mort! (Lift Your Leg, My Fish Is Dead!).  If you liked Charles Burns’ Black Hole, you’ll like Doucet’s striking work. 

Now I’m reading Richard McCann’s stirring collection Mother of Sorrows.  And it’s fantastic.  He used to live in Richmond and now heads up the creative writing department at American University.

Gone are the days of Lilian Jackson Braun’s seamless storytelling in her “Cat Who” series, not to mention a real mystery.
Sure, “The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskers” (190 pages, Putnam, $23.95) — the 29th novel in the series — has arson, theft and murder.  But all play 29th fiddle to Braun’s Moose County anecdotes.
And that’s OK.  After all, Braun turned 90 last year, the world she created is still charming, and readers will be eager to learn how their favorite denizens of Pickax and environs are faring.
Just don’t expect a brain-teaser. But expect a major development in Jim Qwilleran and Polly Duncan’s relationship. 

Resolved that you’ll begin your ascent of the corporate ladder in the new year?  Then check out Eve Tahmincioglu’s “From the Sandbox to the Corner Office” (225 pages, Wiley, $22.95).

Tahmincioglu, a regular contributor to The New York Times’ business section, interviewed more than 50 corporate leaders about what experience taught them on the road to success.

Among them is Linda Dillman, chief information officer for Wal-Mart Stores Inc., recalls instances of sexism in previous jobs.  She didn’t let it get to her and ended up at Wal-Mart.  “I could have been a victim and still be in that office today,” she said.

And here’s one of the most pleasant things about Tahmincioglu’s book:  It’s written in a conversational style, without a hint of corporate jargon.  For entertainment purposes or to help map a career, it’s good reading.

A liberal Democratic senator from California, on the eve of a confirmation vote, is given damaging information about a conservative Supreme Court nominee.

What to do?

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and her collaborator, Mary-Rose Hayes, fill in the blanks in a compelling novel, “A Time to Run” (368 pages, Chronicle Books, $14.95).  Naturally, the liberal heroes outwit the right-wing baddies, but this story is more about friendship and betrayal than standard political thriller. If you see the author’s name and expect a polemic, take a closer look. “A Time to Run” is political fare made palatable by a generous blend of humanity.

The football snatched away just before the kick.

The World War I flying ace in a dogfight with the Red Baron.

And, of course, the long wait in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin.

They’re my favorite scenes from the TV classic, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.”

And here, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the show’s first airing is a real treat: “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown: The Making of a Television Classic” (148 pages, Harper, $16.95).

Written by Lee Mendelson, executive producer of the show, this book includes memories, behind-the-scenes insights, new photos and the script illustrated with screen art from the show.

Many people call the ’30s and ’40s the “golden age of detective fiction” — and they’re not wrong.  But where many are misguided is in thinking only of the trinity of British greats:  Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Dorothy L. Sayers.

An American woman of the era, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, wrote 24 novels featuring the Sherlock Holmes of Cape Cod, Asey Mayo.  Many are out of print, but The Countryman Press of Woodstock, Vt., is reprinting a few.  The latest to be re-released is The Perennial Boarder (304 pages, The Countryman Press, $10.95), in which Asey and crew solve the case of the missing schoolmarm. 

Taylor’s mysteries are lots of fun, her characters are realistically drawn and her details about Cape Cod are fascinating.  If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there . . . well, you get the picture.  Now get the books.

Old times here are not forgotten, and Richmonder J.B. Stanley uses that in her second collectibles mystery, A Fatal Appraisal (210 pages, Berkley Prime Crime, $6.99).

The novel finds antiques report Molly Appleby in Richmond to cover a taping of the hit TV show “Hidden Treasures.” First one person connected to the show is murdered, and then a second is found slain —in a gruesome twist on Richmond’s history.  Molly sets out to catch the killer and, of course, correctly appraises the situation.

Stanley intentionally skews some Richmond geography, but you’ll find lots of things you know, even if some have different names and slightly different locations.  And although the solution to the murders should come as no surprise, “A Fatal Appraisal” is a fun romp through antiques, antiquers and the Holy City itself.

Beloved
Toni Morrison
(1987)

I tried to read Beloved when I was a freshman in college, but I must admit, I found it too difficult and gave up.  Also, in my defense, I tried to read it during the summer on vacation and Beloved isn’t “beach reading” by any stretch.

Beloved is a complex book about slavery, secrets, love and much more.  Sethe, the protagonist of the novel, was born a slave who has escaped to Ohio with her daughter.  But they are not alone.  They are haunted by a ghost who stomps on floors and sticks her fingers in cake icing.  When Sethe begins to fall in love with a man from her past, Sethe’s ghost comes to life in the terrifying form of Beloved. 

The first time around, I couldn’t get through this novel.  But this time, I couldn’t put it down.  I read Beloved in a two-day streak.  Powered by lush, gorgeous prose and an incisive exploration of slavery’s legacy, Beloved will stay with you.  It’s no wonder Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize and topped The New York Times “Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years” list. 

Have you read Beloved?  What did you think?  Or do you have another suggestion for Best Work of American Fiction?  Hop the Comment Box and let the world know what you think!

As old movie trailers used to say, “You’ll laugh.  You’ll cry.”
When naturalist Sy Montgomery and her husband adopted a sick, runty piglet in 1990, their lives changed immeasurably for the better — and those lives were already good.
But Christopher Hogwood, whose story Montgomery tells in The Good Good Pig (240 pages, Ballantine, $21.95) was a symphony of blessings:  a warm heart, a kind if mischievous nature, a great soul. Montgomery spins this touching tale with abundant tenderness but without excessive sentiment. 

In May 2006, The New York Times published an article called “What is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?”
I consider myself a pretty well-read person.  I write book reviews for The Richmond Times-Dispatch and especially enjoy interviewing visiting authors when they pass through town.  I have two degrees in English literature.  I published a novel last year with Vintage Books, a division of Random House.  I read a novel roughly every week.  But as I read through the results of the article, I realized that I had not read the majority of the 25 titles on the list.  Shocking!  At least to me, it was.
That’s why I’ve decided to set myself the challenge of the reading the “best books” mentioned on the list. 
I’ll blog tomorrow about the first book I read on the list, “Beloved.”
In the meantime, here are a few of the results from the article, in case you were wondering:

From The New York Times
“What Is the Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years?”
May 21, 2006

The Winner:
Beloved by Toni Morrison

The Runners-Up
Underworld by Don DeLillo

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Rabbit Angstrom: The Novels by John Updike

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

What do you think is the best work of American Fiction of the last 25 years?  Go ahead, you be the judge.  Post your suggestions to the Comment box.

Warning: This book has a high “eeuuuuwwww” quotient.
It doesn’t pass my breakfast-table test, which means I don’t think you’ll want to read about it in your morning newspaper while you’re eating your bowl of Cheerios.
But, still, Christa Weil’s “Fierce Food: The Intrepid Diner’s Guide to the Unusual, Exotic and Downright Bizarre,” (218 pages, Plume, $14) may appeal to you at other times of the day.
If you’re an adventurous eater who believes she’s eaten everything, this is the book for you.
Weil’s tried about 50 of the 75 “foods” she writes about in short essays that run alphabetically from armadillo to yuba, the skin formed on a just-set block of bean curd.
Dung beetle larvae, anyone?

An innocent man, condemned to die.  Corrupt cops.  And a healthy dose of Florida color.
That’s a winning combination for Ray Dix in his debut novel, Death Row Defender (240 pages, Hard Shell Word Factory, $12.95). Dix, a native of Virginia’s Eastern Shore who now lives on Gwynn’s Island, spent years as a public defender in capital cases in Florida.  His knowledge of the subject informs this page-turner, and the reader suspects that protagonist Woody Thomas is more than a bit like his creator.
Ever since John Grisham stormed onto the scene, legal thrillers have proliferated like, well, lawyers.  But “Death Row Defender” is a cut above the average.