I have decided to try something new with my Friday Finds to spice it up a little bit.Instead of just posting random books that I have saved in my Google Reader, I will pick a theme or blog and pull finds from them (that I have already marked in the GReader). To kick this off I have decided to spotlight J. Kaye's Book Blog. J. Kaye host numerous book challenges but also post great book reviews. I have a number of books from her site just waiting for a chance to be put on the TBR pile. Since, I have some many saved books from this site, I used a Random Number Generator to decided how many to pick this week. The total 6 books.
This week's books are:
What would you do if the one person you hated most Died? If the person who stole The love of your life Would never see another day? How would you feel? Would you laugh? Would you cry? This is the issue that Rob Jackson faces. This is the dilemma that Like Glass begins with. A phone call from his brother's widow begins his turmoil. A phone call from a voice he tried to forget launches the avalanche. How would you feel?
The hidden history of a haunted and beloved city told through the intersecting lives of nine remarkable characters.
After Hurricane Katrina, Dan Baum moved to New Orleans to write about the city’s response to the disaster for The New Yorker. He quickly realized that Katrina was not the most interesting thing about New Orleans, not by a long shot. The most interesting question, which struck him as he watched residents struggling to return, was this: Why are New Orleanians—along with people from all over the world who continue to flock there—so devoted to a place that was, even before the storm, the most corrupt, impoverished, and violent corner of America?
Here’s the answer. Nine Lives is a multivoiced biography of this dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city through the lives of nine characters over forty years and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed the city in the 1960’s, and Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. These nine lives are windows into every strata of one of the most complex and fascinating cities in the world. From outsider artists and Mardi Gras Kings to jazz-playing coroners and transsexual barkeeps, these lives are possible only in New Orleans, but the city that nurtures them is also, from the beginning, a city haunted by the possibility of disaster. All their stories converge in the storm, where some characters rise to acts of heroism and others sink to the bottom. But it is New Orleans herself—perpetually whistling past the grave yard—that is the story’s real heroine.
Nine Lives is narrated from the points of view of some of New Orleans’s most charismatic characters, but underpinning the voices of the city is an extraordinary feat of reporting that allows Baum to bring this kaleidoscopic portrait to life with brilliant color and crystalline detail. Readers will find themselves wrapped up in each of these individual dramas and delightfully immersed in the life of one of this country’s last unique places, even as its ultimate devastation looms ever closer. By resurrecting this beautiful and tragic place and portraying the extraordinary lives that could have taken root only there, Nine Lives shows us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.
Two decades ago, at a private women’s college in upstate New York, a student was brutally attacked in her dorm room. Her assailant was never found…
They Disappear…
Sue Barlow arrives at Wilbourne College twenty years later. When a classmate disappears, Sue thinks it’s an isolated incident. But then two other girls vanish…
And Die…
As fear grows on campus, Sue begins to sense she’s being watched. And as the body count rises, she soon realizes that a twisted psychopath is summoning her to play a wicked game—a game that only will end when she dies…
ONE BY ONE . . .Two decades ago, at a private women's college in upstate New York, a student was brutally attacked in her dorm room. Her assailant was never found . . .THEY DISAPPEAR . . .Sue Barlow arrives at Wilbourne College twenty years later. When a classmate disappears, Sue thinks it's an isolated incident. But then two other girls vanish . . .AND DIE . . .As fear grows on campus, Sue begins to sense she's being watched. And as the body count rises, she soon realizes that a twisted psychopath is summoning her to play a wicked game-a game that only will end when she dies . . .
Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa
Set in the slums of New Orleans, among clusters of crack houses and abandoned buildings, Dirty Little Angels is the story of sixteen year old Hailey Trosclair. When the Trosclair family suffers a string of financial hardships and a miscarriage, Hailey finds herself looking to God to save her family. When her prayers go unanswered, Hailey puts her faith in Moses Watkins, a failed preacher and ex-con. Fascinated by Moses's lopsided view of religion, Hailey, and her brother Cyrus, begin spending time down at an abandoned bank that Moses plans to convert into a drive-through church. Gradually, though, Moses's twisted religious beliefs become increasingly more violent, and Hailey and Cyrus soon find themselves trapped in a world of danger and fear from which there may be no escape.
Josh Mendel has a secret. Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.
Five years ago, Josh’s life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town—seems like the world—thinks they understand. But they don’t—they can’t. And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there’s Rachel, the girl he thought he’d lost years ago. She’s back, and she’s determined to be part of his life, whether he wants her there or not.Then there are college decisions to make, and the toughest baseball game of his life coming up, and a coach who won’t stop pushing Josh all the way to the brink. And then there’s Eve. Her return brings with it all the memories of Josh’s past. It’s time for Josh to face the truth about what happened.
If only he knew what the truth was . . .
I have seen some of these over at J. Kaye's. That's a very original way to pick books for your post!
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