Happy #BookBday to these fabulous new titles: LOCK IN by John Scalzi Scalzi’s near-future thriller landed on the August 2014 LibraryReads list and received three starred pre-publication reviews, like this one from Kirkus: “This SF thriller provides yet more evidence that Scalzi is a master at creating appealing commercial fiction.” FIVES AND TWENTY FIVES by […]
Tag: Charles Dickens
Books From Days of Yore
Hear ye, hear ye! Feast your eyes upon these books set in days long ago:
HILD by Nicola Griffith
Award-winning author Griffith's story of a girl named Hild who becomes St. Hilda’s of Whitby is "A book that deserves a place alongside T.H. White, to say nothing of Ellis Peters." — Kirkus Reviews. "Griffith expertly blends an exploration of seventh-century court life and a detailed character study of Hild as she balances a need for acceptance, love, and friendship and a desire to escape the strict gender roles of her time. In short, Griffith triumphs with this intelligent, beautifully written, and meticulously researched novel." — Booklist, starred review
Award-winning author Griffith's story of a girl named Hild who becomes St. Hilda’s of Whitby is "A book that deserves a place alongside T.H. White, to say nothing of Ellis Peters." — Kirkus Reviews. "Griffith expertly blends an exploration of seventh-century court life and a detailed character study of Hild as she balances a need for acceptance, love, and friendship and a desire to escape the strict gender roles of her time. In short, Griffith triumphs with this intelligent, beautifully written, and meticulously researched novel." — Booklist, starred review
WARLORD: A Novel of Robin Hood by Angus Donald
In the fourth installment in the Robin Hood series, King Richard I, the Lionheart, is engaged in a bloody war to drive the French out of Normandy. Aided in his struggle are the outlaw Robin Hood, and Sir Alan Dale, his loyal friend who is also attempting to discover the identity the man who ordered his father's death ten years earlier. "This book is a bloodcurdling tale of medieval greed, cruelty and honor. A fast-paced and exciting story unsuitable for the squeamish." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
HAVISHAM by Ronald Frame
Frame's prelude to Charles Dickens's classic GREAT EXPECTATIONS imagines the life of Catherine Havisham before she was cursed to a solitary life, roaming the halls of the mansion in the tatters of the dress she was never able to wear at her wedding. Everyone is simply mad for it—read more (and watch the book trailer) here.
Fare thee well, friends! [...]
Head over heels for HAVISHAM
Everyone loves Ronald Frame's HAVISHAM, and for good reason. The story is creative (it's a prelude to Charles Dickens's classic GREAT EXPECTATIONS), the package is gorgeous, and the reviews are glowing:
“Before she took to pacing about her cobwebbed London manse in a tattered wedding gown, literature’s most famous jilted bride, Miss Havisham, ran the family brewery. Expectations are great for this engaging ‘prequel’ to Dickens’ classic.” —Good Housekeeping, New Book Picks
“In HAVISHAM, his prequel to Great Expectations, Ronald Frame colorfully imagines the traumas that doomed the tortured Miss Havisham.” —Vanity Fair, Hot Type column
“If you love Great Expectations, you'll bask in the light of Frame's detailed and atmospheric prequel focusing on the dark and tragic Miss Havisham.” —Shelf Awareness
“An excellent example of a present-day writer taking on a classic, HAVISHAM gives the reader food for thought while reviving one of the great characters of Victorian literature.” —BookPage
"An intelligently imagined Dickens prequel." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review and Best Book of the Year selection
More reviews are still to come from USA Today and the New York Times Book Review. Film and TV rights have been acquired for adaptation by BBC producer Christopher Aird (Call the Midwife), but until then, you can watch the lovely book trailer.
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Banned Books Week 2013: Classics With Controversy
Banned Books Week continues! Today we bring you classics with controversy:
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS by Jonathan Swift
When Lemuel Gulliver sets off from London on a sea voyage, little does he know the many incredible and unbelievable misadventures awaiting him...
OLIVER TWIST by Charles Dickens
Who can forget Oliver Twist, the overworked and underfed penniless orphan boy lured into a gang of pint-sized pickpockets?
ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll
Many people remember the animated movie, but Lewis Carroll's masterful fantasy ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND is even more whimsical in print. Like Alice, we'll gladly follow the white rabbit in a coat and gloves down a hole to an imaginary wonderland.
COMMON SENSE AND RELATED WRITINGS by Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine's argument for the people in the original Thirteen Colonies to declare their independence from Great Britain started a revolution. LITERALLY!
Share your favorite Banned Books with us @MacmillanLib using the hashtag #BannedBooksWeek2013. And don't forget tomorrow's Twitter chat from Noon - 2 pm!
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