Friday Finds: March 20th

I love Friday Finds. It is one of the only times that I allow myself to add new books to my TBR pile. That means that I have a lot of book reviews stared in my Google Reader. The good thing about that is that I can go back and read the review again and see if I really want to add it to my TBR pile. I have selected four books from my Google Reader for this Friday's Finds.


Janeology by Karen Harrington was reviewed at Devourer of Books back on December 8, 2008. The review caught my attention when I first read it in 2008 and when I went back to read it again. I still was interested.

Synopsis (From Google Books):

Jane, a loving mother of two, has drowned her toddler son and is charged with his murder in this powerful examination of love, loss, and family legacy. When a prosecutor decides Jane's husband Tom is partially to blame for the death and charges him with "failure to protect," Tom's attorney proposes a radical defense. He plans to create reasonable doubt about his client's alleged guilt by showing that Jane's genealogy is the cause of her violence, and that she inherited her latent violence in the same way she might inherit a talent for music or a predisposition to disease. He argues that no one could predict or prevent the tragedy, and that Tom cannot be held responsible. With the help of a woman gifted with the power of retrocognition—the ability to see past events through objects once owned by the deceased—the defense theory of dark biology takes form. An unforgettable journey through the troubled minds and souls of Jane's ancestors, spanning decades and continents, this debut novel deftly illustrates the ways nature and nurture weave the fabric of one woman's life, and renders a portrait of one man left in its tragic wake.

I stumbled upon The Missing by Sarah Langan over at Bibliolatry on Januaray 8, 2009. The nail in the coffin for me on this books was not only the fact the premes of the book. But the blog owners excitment to read more books by this author.

Synposis (From Google Books):

A remote and affluent Maine community, Corpus Christi was untouched by the environmental catastrophe that destroyed the neighboring blue-collar town of Bedford. But all that will change in a heartbeat . . .

The nightmare is awakened when third-grade schoolteacher Lois Larkin takes the children on a field trip to Bedford. There in the abandoned woods, a small, cruel boy unearths an ancient horror—a contagious plague that transforms its victims into something violent, hungry . . . and inhuman.

The long, dark night is just beginning. And all hope must die as the contagion feeds—for the malevolence will not rest until it has devoured every living soul in Corpus Christi . . . and beyond.

From February 8, 2009 I found The Kayla Chronicles by Sherri Winston at TheHappyNappyBookseller. This book is geared to readers aged 10 and up but the concept and review were so nice that I was very interested in reading it.

Synopsis (From Google Books):

Kayla Dean, junior feminist and future journalist, is about the break the story of a lifetime. She is auditioning for the Lady Lions dance team to prove they discriminate against the not-so-well endowed. But when she makes the team, her best friend and fellow feminist, Rosalie, is not happy.

Now a Lady Lion, Kayla is transformed from bushy-haired fashion victim to glammed-up dance diva. But does looking good and having fun mean turning her back on the cause? Can you be a strong woman and still wear really cute shoes? Soon Kayla is forced to challenge her views, coming to terms with who she is and what girl power really means.

Narrated with sharp language and just the right amount of attitude, The Kayla Chronicles is the story of a girl's struggle for self-identity despite pressure from family, friends and her own conscience. Kayla's story is snappy, fun and inspiring, sure to appeal to anyone who's every questioned who they really are.

Apparently there was not a book review that caught my attention on March 8, 2009. So, Sag Harbor by Colson Whitehead is from March 6, 2009. This book was reveiwed at Sew Transformed. I think what really caught me on this book was the comparion between Sag Harbor and The Catcher in the Rye.

Synopsis (From Google Books):

The time is 1985. Benji, the son of a lawyer and a doctor, is one of the only black kids at an elite prep school in Manhattan. He spends his falls and winters going to roller-disco bar mitzvahs and trying desperately to find a social group that will accept him.

But every summer, Benji and his brother, Reggie, escape to the East End of Sag Harbor, where a small community of African American professionals has built a world of its own. Except Benji is just as confused about this all-black refuge as he is about the white world he negotiates during the school year. He's hopelessly one step behind on every new dance, and his fantasies of hooking up are no match for his own awkwardness, not to mention his braces, his horrid father-cut Afro, or his secret Lite FM addiction.

In this deeply affectionate and fiercely funny coming-of-age novel, Colson Whitehead--using the perpetual mortification of teenage existence and the desperate quest for reinvention--beautifully explores racial and class identity, illustrating the complex rhythms of the adult world.