Jane – April Linder
Jane by April Lindner. Young Adult retelling of a classic Jane Eyre story.
Note: Meet Bailey, a Just the Right Book subscriber who has offered to review Young Adult books for us. We sent Jane to Bailey because we thought it would be Just Right for her. Here’s what she thought of it:
Jane by April Lindner
This is a great book for lovers of a classic romance story. Jane’s sense of being an outcast and not wanted or loved by her peers is easy to connect to everyday life. She struggles to find her purpose in life and her place in the world like many people today. Used to being overshadowed by her beautiful sister and popular older brother, she embodies the conflict of being different in a world where there are clear lines you must follow in order to fit in. Although Jane doesn’t have many friends, lots of money, or fantastic style, what she does have is confidence in her strengths and the will to make the best of every situation. She proves that beauty and popularity are not the keys to life and that when it comes to true love nothing can stand in the way.
Jane is an average, unremarkable girl who finds herself thrust unexpectedly into the world of fame and fortune. Although she would rather study and work on her art, she is forced to work as a nanny after her parents die in a car accident and money for college starts to run out. When she is sent to look after the daughter of the infamous rock star, Nico Rathburn, her immediate concerns are whether or not he is really over his wild ways. However, after getting to know Nico and his household she comes to have a new outlook on life and gets the chance to experience true love. Although the journey isn’t easy, she is able to define who she is and what she wants along the way. The seemingly simplistic plot line takes an unexpected dramatic twist in the second half of the novel as complications arise with her budding romance all leading to a satisfactory ending.
By: Bailey Shoenberger
About Bailey: 16 year old from Orange County, California. She loves being in the sun, on the beach, or swimming with her swim team. Oldest of four avid readers.
News from My Bookshelf
(Reprinted from Huffington Post April 25, 2012)
As the owner of an independent bookstore, RJ Julia , and the founder of the online book service Just the Right Book, my starting point for learning, being charmed or just distracted, is first and foremost books. Since there is an astonishing amount of information out there, I thought it might be fun to share with you items I have noticed, learned or was curious about in the past week. I hope you find the insights engaging and, in turn, learn something, are charmed or just happily distracted.
Quote of the Week
“The girls are vacant and beautiful and wild, their budding sexuality had a certain lack of control, like a toddler with a power tool,” Jonathan Tropper, This Is Where I Leave You.
(Guess where my brain is with the premiere of Lena Dunham’s Girls (HBO) and the runaway success of 50 Shades of Grey?)
Book of the Week
Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman. This incredible masterpiece is the story of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful and sensuous women. The story is set in Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert, during a siege by the Romans nearly two thousand years ago. I was utterly mesmerized by every aspect of the novel — the four women, the history, the landscape, ancient medicine and magic — brilliant.
Op-Ed of The Week
In his Op-Ed in the New York Times, Richard B. Primack discusses Thoreau’s Walden and gives us a lovely method to assess the ways in which particular plants in the Concord, Mass landscape have changed in the many years since Thoreau wrote his masterpiece. His musings intrigued me enough to want to go back and read Walden — (Shhhh… I’ve never read it all the way through!).
Blog of the Week
I subscribe to Six Pixels of Separation and always find Mitch Joel’s blog very useful. I especially love his “Six Links Worthy of your Attention” series. This week he blogs about “The World of Thumbonomics” and author Heather Lutze (Findability Formula; new book Thumbonomics — The Essential Business Roadmap to Social Media and Mobile Marketing). I suspect, like me, lots of folks are trying to figure this Social Media thing. At
Déjà vu of the Week
All the conversation about the Dept of Justice lawsuit against Apple and five publishers reminded me of a fascinating talk by Barry Lynn at an American Booksellers educational conference. He was discussing his new book Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction. My recollection is that he elaborated on the impact of Americans now determining their well-being through the filter of being a consumer rather than a citizen. I plan to go back and reread the book (after Walden of course!) because I’m curious to see if it provides insight into the one business question that has me riveted: What is the cost of the lowest price?
Book Club Selection of the Week
The book for the Big City Book Club this week is Time and Again by Jack Finney. For those of you who have never read this book — urge you to pick it up — not only is it a fascinating journey into NYC in the late 1800′s, it is also a wonderful love story and exploration of fate.
I also suggest Justice by Michael Sandel (he of Harvard fame). It was one of my favorite books of the last few years. A book I believe should be part of any Book Club selections and even worthy of starting a new book club for! His new book is What Money Can’t Buy — I imagine he again gets us thinking about what is important.
Serendipitous Moment of the Week
Sandi Kahn Shelton (a writer and journalist; her pen name is Maggie Dawson) was in my store this week and literally bumped into a friend — Matthew Dicks — another author — whom she introduced to me. There was something very charming about Matthew and his wife and it made me curious to read his new book which will be published in August. He graciously dropped off a galley of Memoir of an Imaginary Friend the very next day. The title intrigued me enough to bring it home (as opposed to the other dozens of books on my desk saying “pick me-pick me”) and started it on Thursday night — I finished it Saturday morning. This book is magical, uplifting and incredibly smart. Loved it — not only can’t I wait to tell you more and encourage you to read it when it comes out but I think it would be great fun if we invited kids and adults to write about their imaginary friend — and how that friend helped them or made a real-life difference.
Article of The Week
I keep reading about an article by Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and MIT professor and the author, most recently, of Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other. Her writing is generating tons of online comments and she raises an important issue for us all — are we somehow finding it easier and better to connect online? Are we over-wired and under-engaged? Very curious to read her book and understand the full expanse of her research and thoughts.
Question of the Week
What elements of 50 Shades of Grey are contributing to its incredible success? Romance? S & M Sex? Kate Roiphe’s theory about submission (as cited in her Newsweek article)? Or is it merely a distraction?
Happy Reading and Thinking and Commenting,
Roxanne J. Coady
Follow Roxanne Coady on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@ReaderRox
Special Treat from Blackstone Audio
Because the publishing world is such a wonderful, fraternal place, we’re happy to be able to share an audio clip from our friends at Blackstone Audio. With a subtle, understated delivery, Andre Dubus III reads from his wonderful memoir, Townie:
Click on the book cover to hear Andre Dubus III read from his memoir.
In Praise of the Spoken Word
Townie by Andre Dubus III
Fewer authors are touring these days, and fewer are reading from their work on the stage or on audio. The idea is that we should read books in the privacy of our own home and ask the author – when we have the pleasure of meeting him or her – about her writing habits, where he gets his ideas, and how she came up with this character or that. When we pop in an audio book, we more often than not hear the voice of a movie star or stage actor reciting the author’s prose.
But after stumbling this week across this wonderful 1959 recording of Flannery O’Connor reading from A Good Man is Hard to Find at Vanderbilt University, I’m reminded of how – like poetry – some writing is best read out loud in the author’s own voice.
Listening to O’Connor read dialogue especially (pausing for the audience laughter in some places) with her wonderful Southern drawl and her gift of perfect intonation and timing, I find myself eager to listen to more by-author recordings. I want to know how Patricia Highsmith sounded reading Strangers on a Train, or Carson McCullers reading from The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
While traveling to and from Florida for Summer visits to see our grandmother as a kid, I remember listening with my brothers and mother in the car to a recording of Jim Lovell and others reading from his book, Lost Moon. While the story needs no embellishment to be gripping, hearing it told in his own raspy, distinctive voice is what made the book stay with me for as long as it did.
Two books I’ve been meaning to read, and am told are excellent as audio, are Andre Dubus III’s reading of Townie and David Sedaris’ classic Me Talk Pretty One Day (I’ve heard Sedaris tell his Christmas stories enough times on NPR – doubling over laughing every time he recounts his threat to a mother waiting in line with her child to sit on Santa’s lap – that I’m shocked I haven’t yet taken in the latter).
Better yet – I hope to catch some authors when they next pass through my city later this year on book tour, authors like Michael Chabon (Telegraph Avenue) and Barbara Kingsolver (Flight Behavior). If those don’t suit you, find out when Jamaica Kincaid (See Now Then), Martin Amis (Lionel Asbo), Paul Auster (Winter Journal), Irvine Welsh (Skagg Boys) and Naomi Wolf (Vagina: A New Biography) will be in your area. Don’t miss the chance – if you love their writing – to hear your favorite authors read from their work, live and in-person.
Have you stumbled upon a clip from an author reading, or author-read audio book, that you love?
Books on Film
It’s awards season (for movies, this time)… but of course, the Oscars and the Golden Globes are about books, too. Among this year’s nominees are movies based on outstanding books including The Help, My Week with Marilyn, The Descendants, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Coming in the next year we are excited to see films/TV adaptions of The Hunger Games, The Hobbit, The Great Gatsby, Great Expectations, Life of Pi, The Borrowers, World War Z, and others.
A few of my all-time favorite movies-based-on-books are:
The Princess Bride, based on The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure by William Goldman. This is one of those movies that I’d seen several times and never even knew it was based on a book until I saw the book in a library one day.
Julie & Julia, based on Julie and Julia by Julie Powell and on the delicious, heartbreaking, and hilarious My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud’homme. What I knew about Julia Child was based mainly on occasionally watching re-runs of her cooking show, and reading her autobiography made me appreciate her for her wit, her kindness, her sass, and for lack of a better word, her awkwardness. Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci are utterly lovable in the movie as Julia and Paul.
The Sound of Music, based on Maria Augusta von Trapp’s memoir, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. It’s a classic.
I could go on… there’s also The Virgin Suicides; Girl, Interrupted; Water for Elephants; any number of movies based on comic books, The Wizard of Oz; etc., etc.
What are some of your favorite movies based on books? Which books do you think should be adapted for film? Which have been adapted but really shouldn’t have been? Which movies ended up being better than the book? (I have a strong vote for one of those: The Devil Wears Prada)
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This is my last post on the Just the Right Book blog – but our new blogger, Whitney, will be taking over soon. Welcome, Whitney!
WBN: Which Book to Choose, Part 2
Hey, you! Yes you, with your nose stuck in a book! The deadline to sign up for World Book Night has been extended to February 6th! So what are you waiting for? Sign up today to spread the joy of reading and help give away a total of 1 million books across the U.S.!
Here’s a little more guidance on which books to choose…
TO ENTERTAIN:
Just Kids by Patti Smith
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
TO CELEBRATE A DIVERSITY OF CULTURES:
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Absolutely True Diary of Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Go to www.worldbooknight.org for the full list of books and to sign up!
World Book Night: Which Book to Choose?
The deadline to sign up for World Book Night is rapidly approaching (February 1st!). Here’s a little help if you’re having trouble deciding which book you’d like to give out.
TO EDUCATE:
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Zeitoun by Dave Eggers
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
TO INSPIRE:
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
TO THRILL:
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Bloodwork by Michael Connelly
The Stand by Steven King
TO MOVE:
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
You know that feeling when you love a book so much that you just want everyone you know to read it, too?
Here’s a chance to give your favorite book* to 20 people – for free! World Book Night started last year in the UK, and this year the U.S. is involved, too. Here’s how it works: You sign up to be a volunteer book giver (sign up here by Feb. 1st). You choose a book from the approved list of 30 books, answer some questions, and, if you’re approved, the World Book Night people will ship you 20 copies of your chosen book (books will be shipped to bookstores and libraries throughout the country, so you’ll have to go pick up your books at one of your local establishments… but you were already going there anyway, weren’t you?) On April 23, 2012, you take your books to a public place and hand them out, spreading the joy of reading!
What for? From the WBN website: “It will see tens of thousands of people go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks. World Book Night, through social media and traditional publicity, will also promote the value of reading, of printed books, and of bookstores and libraries to everyone year-round.”
I can’t think of a much better way to encourage people to read and to remind them of the value of the printed book than to actually put a copy of a book in someone’s hand and say “Read this book. It will make you [laugh/cry/think, etc.]” While World Book Night is being actively promoted through social media, it in and of itself is almost the anti-social media–or perhaps the original form of social media: people going outside and talking, face to face, with other people.
Now the hard part is picking which book to give! Over the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite books from the World Book Night list. But for now, don’t forget to sign up by Feb. 1st!
*Choose your favorite book from the list – but it’s an extensive list, with something for nearly everyone, and there’s a good chance your favorite book might actually be on it! If not, maybe you’ll find your second-favorite book instead.
The Time in Between by Maria Duenas
Many of us here at Just the Right Book have recently enjoyed The Time in Between by Maria Duenas. This is the perfect kind of novel to sink your teeth into this time of year–it’s long (624 pages), has a strong, likable protagonist who you’ll root for, and an engaging, compelling story–set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War and then World War II. The sense of time and place is vivid–you’ll be transported to Spain, Morocco, and Tunisia in the 1930s and 40s and immersed in the culture, the landscape, and the fashions of the time. The Time in Between is the author’s debut novel, a bestseller in Spain, and was translated from Spanish.
Click here to view photos of locations featured in the book, with captions written by the author.
Learn more about the book in these two videos of the author discussing her book:
In a book club, or want to discuss this book with friends? Here are some questions to get you started.
How much do endings matter?
Lev Grossman (author of The Magicians and The Magician King) wrote in Time recently: “I often find that after a month or two I can’t remember the ends of novels at all, even novels I loved — even detective novels, where the whole (putative) point of the book is the big reveal at the end. Oddly, the meanings of books are defined for me much more by their beginnings and middles than they are by their endings.”
And here I’ve been thinking all these years that I’m the only one who can never seem to remember the endings of books (and movies, too). The beginnings and middles of novels are where the “meat” is – they’re where we readers are concentrating so hard on getting into the book, immersing ourselves, absorbing everything that happens and anticipating what might happen next. Perhaps one reason why beginnings and middles stick with us more easily, and for longer, than endings do is because we invest so much thought and focus into them. Also, they just take longer. I might be “in the middle of” a great novel for a week or two–but typically I’m only “at the end” for a short few hours, or perhaps the last 50 pages. Sometimes it’s the journey, not the destination, that sticks with us as readers.
Or, is it the writing itself that makes us forget or gloss over endings? Grossman writes, “Nowadays when I’m chatting about a novel with friends, I almost don’t bother to add, ‘it kind of fell apart towards the end,’ because I’m a bit surprised when a book doesn’t. Again: not a disaster. A novel with a bad middle is a bad book. A bad ending is something I’ve just gotten in the habit of forgiving.”
Is the ending any more or less important than the rest of a book? What do you think?
