SHOPPING, SEDUCTION AND MR. SELFRIDGE (2007)

Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge by Lindy Woodhead
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After watching the first season of Mr. Selfridge on PBS, I decided to read Lindy Woodhead's wonderful exploration of the great man's life since the second season won't be shown until 2014.

I became fascinated with Harry Gordon Selfridge when I learned he had grown up in Jackson, Michigan and that his mother had been principal of Jackson High School. At one time a stock boy for the L.H.Field Company here, which closed its doors in the late 1980s, Harry headed to Chicago with a recommendation from L.H. Field, Marshall Field's cousin. Although he had a successful career at Marshall Field, he wanted his own store.

An extraordinary visionary, Harry eventually built Selfridge's in London changing how people shopped forever as he constantly found new ways of enticing them into his magnificent store. Add to that his love of family, his fascination with beautiful women, and his gambling and you have a great read.

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Bookstore Windows

Not on the list but here in Jackon, MI

Do you find bookstore windows enticing? Flavorwire has posted a collection of 30 Excellent Bookstore Windows From Around the World. The newly opened Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan is included.

Have you been to any of these bookstores? Do you have a favorite to share?

15 Banned Books to Contemplate

HAPPY BANNED BOOKS WEEK 22 - 28, 2013

Head over to Buzz Feed and see which of your favorite books have been banned and for some pretty unexpected reasons. Check out 15 Books Banned for the Most Absurd Reasons Ever.

MY ANTONIA (1918)

My Antonia by Willa Cather
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What is amazing is that it took me so long to discover Willa Cather's My Antonia, a complex and elegant remembrance that appears as a deceptively simple story.

I read this for my book group, In Good Company. We talk over dinner and can often veer off subject. There was more discussion about My Antonia than any of the other titles we have read over the year we have been meeting. And it was universally loved no matter how individual perceptions varied. We gossiped about the characters just as if they were friends and neighbors we cared about.

Discover this book for yourself. Forget the description that it's the tale of an immigrant girl named Antonia growing up in Nebraska. It's so much more.

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Banned Books Week 2013

Banned Books Week is just around the corner. What is your favorite challenged title?

Update on NIGHT FILM (2013)

I just barely finished reading Night Film by Marisha Pessl this past weekend, in one pretty huge gulp, and already it is being talked about for a movie! Check out this article from Casting Call.

If you've read the book, feel free to make your own casting decisions!

NIGHT FILM (2013)

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What did Ashley Cordova want to tell him before jumping to her death? Investigative reporter Scott McGrath decides to track down Ashley's father, the elusive director of dark and disturbing films, Stanislas Cordova, to find the truth behind the myths. Night Film is one incredible roller coaster ride.

Using made-up documents to help tell a story has been done before but never as well as Marisha Pessl's detailed and realistic newspaper clippings, photographs, magazine articles, and other documents scattered throughout the book.

Some of the print reviewers aren't as enthusiastic about this sophomore effort of Marisha Pessl, who won recognition for her debut novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics (2006). However, most readers (and that includes me) are totally enthusiastic.

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MURDER, SHE RODE (2013)

Murder, She Rode by Holly Menino
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this debut mystery by Holly Menino. The title is clever and unlike stories that add horses for color, this mystery has everything to do with the horses. Menino really knows her subject having been involved with horses all her life as well as having written three acclaimed nonfiction books on the topic according to the book jacket.

Right from the beginning I often found myself confused about details and characters having to re-read sections to be sure what was going on. It was hard for me to get into the story although by the end I really wanted to know what was going to happen.

Tink Elledge is a horse trainer and former champion rider, who's current goal is for her horse "Exit Laughing" to win the prestigious Brandywine Three-Day Event. A tragic accident and suspicious events threaten to mar not only the event but Tink's relationships with friends and family.

It may be that Murder She Rode will be appreciated by a very specific audience. Those who love horses or own horses may find this quite a delightful read. I am going to check this premise by asking a friend who owns horses and reads extensively to add this to her stack of books. More later!

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Does Anybody Still Browse for Books These Days?

Julie Crisp, Editorial Director for publisher Tor in the UK, has written a thoughtful piece called Book Browsing - A Lost Art?

I was immediately intrigued because she described the way I remember finding books to read as a child. My father took me to the public library whenever our books were due so we could choose more. I don't remember anyone ever influencing my choices. My father, a generalist, browsed the entire adult collection and in imitation I browsed the children's. Of course, I had sections I loved best but nothing was overlooked.

Now I have so many books waiting for my attention that the thought of browsing is terrifying. I would undoubtedly find more books to house that would never be read.

Several times recently I've culled books from my shelves. Collecting books has never been my goal. There are books I keep, but there are more that I release back into the world where others can read them.

What are your experiences with finding your next book? Do you ever 'browse'?

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN (2013)

Louise Penny's latest entry in her Chief Inspector Gamache series went on sale August 27, 2013. I was lucky enough to score an ARC (advanced reading copy) months ago but put off reviewing the book because I was afraid my words would not do it justice.

So instead I offer a link to a review written by librarian Judie Evans of How the Light Gets In via Shelf Awareness. You'll have to scroll down to find it on the webpage.

One caveat though. Do not start reading the series with this title. You are guaranteed to fall in love with the village of Three Pines and its residents. Begin your journey with the very first book Still Life.

A Gothic Tale for a Gloomy November Evening

It's not like I need another book to read, but I was still pleased this morning to be offered the chance to read British author Diane Setterfield's Bellman & Black, which will go on sale on November 5, 2013.

Do you like Gothic stories? This title is a follow-up to Setterfield's debut in 2006, The Thirteenth Tale, a New York Times #1bestseller, both mysterious and charming "with echoes of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Some early readers of Bellman & Black have written it surpasses her first effort.

Here's what is posted on goodreads (visit the site and win a chance for a free advanced reading copy):

As a boy, William Bellman commits one small, cruel act: killing a bird with his slingshot. Little does he know the unforeseen and terrible consequences of the deed, which is soon forgotten amidst the riot of boyhood games. By the time he is grown, with a wife and children of his own, William seems to be a man blessed by fortune—until tragedy strikes and the stranger in black comes. Then he starts to wonder if all his happiness is about to be eclipsed. Desperate to save the one precious thing he has left, William enters into a rather strange bargain, with an even stranger partner, to found a decidedly macabre business.

And Bellman & Black is born.

What Gothic authors are your favorites?