5 Books That Should Be On Your Radar: November 2014

Every month, the Writer’s Bone crew reviews or previews books we've read or want to read. This series may or may not also serve as a confessional for guilty pleasures and hipster novels only the brave would attempt. Feel free to share your own suggestions in the comments section or tweet us @WritersBone.

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

Stephanie Schaefer: Equal parts humor and inspiration with a sprinkle of Boston sass? Yes, please! In Amy Poehler's autobiography, the funny lady touches upon everything from her childhood antics to her Hilary Clinton impersonation. Her memoir goes as deep as her post-divorce trip to Haiti and as light as the pranks she and her former "Saturday Night Live" castmates played on each other. Expect anecdotes about Poehler's famous friends, including Tina Fey and Seth Meyers throughout. All and all it's a quick, fun read that aspiring writers, fellow sassy Bostonians, and fans of Leslie Knope will definitely appreciate. Plus, Writer's Bone contributor Lisa Carroll once acted alongside Poehler in a Boston College production of Brigadoon, which is pretty badass.

The Secret History of Wonder Woman by Jill Lepore

Daniel Ford: I am an unabashed history fan boy for anything Harvard’s Jill Lepore writes. Two of her previous works, The Name of War: King Philip's War and the Origins of American Identity and New York Burning: Liberty, Slavery, and Conspiracy in Eighteenth-Century Manhattan completely changed the way I read and think about historical works. I was intrigued that she chose Wonder Woman as a topic for her latest work, but I can tell from what I’ve read so far she employs her insightful and colorful prose to wonderful effect in telling the story of the greatest female comic book hero of all time. This book contains an extraordinary amount of black and white and color illustrations, which makes the hardcover edition even more of a collector’s item/coffee table book. Just read the words because Lepore makes all of hers count whenever she sets them to the page. I’m secretly hoping she has plans for a Superman biography, or a novel featuring Superman going back in time to prevent the Salem witch trials. All I know is that whatever she writes next, I’ll be the first in line to buy it (or the first to email her agent for a copy to review).

We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas

Daniel: Here’s the first line of Matthew Thomas’ incredible debut novel, We Are Not Ourselves:

“Instead of going to the priest, the men who gathered at Doherty’s Bar after work went to Eileen Tumulty’s father.”

Even if the novel wasn’t set in Queens, N.Y., I would have jumped into this novel as fast as a skateboarder in Astoria Park. The novel follows Eileen, born to Irish immigrants, as she struggles to establish her own life in New York City while taking care of an ailing husband. You’ll be hard pressed to find a novel featuring more honest and compelling characters than the ones that inhabit this work. Joshua Ferris, an author who knows a thing or two about inspired writing, calls We Are Not Ourselves “a masterwork,” and I couldn’t agree more. The novel may seem a little intimidating at first because of its length, but you’ll be 300 pages in before you know it and start fervently hoping it never ends.  

If I Knew You Were Going To Be This Beautiful, I Never Would Have Let You Go by Judy Chicurel

Daniel: I love literary debuts almost as much as I love short stories. Judy Chicurel combines the two in If I Knew…!

The short stories found in If I Knew… contain a coming-of-age story set during the “summer of 1972 in a down-on-its-heels Long Island beach town.” Chicurel said in our interview on Wednesday that it’s an “interesting challenge to make the characters as compelling as possible within the confines of the format,” and you can tell from the first page that the author met that challenge and then some. Her characters act and speak exactly how you imagine they should, which isn’t always the easiest thing to pull off. I’m just getting into the meat of the book, but I can’t wait to finish it and then see how Chicurel develops her obvious talent in the future.

Epilogue by Will Boast

Daniel: Some of us have self-induced angst and drama, and others have actual pain and misery heaped on them by outside forces. Do me a favor. Read this excerpt from Will Boast’s memoir and come back. I’ll wait.

Pain, by Will Boast

Yeah, whatever you’re dealing with as a writer, it might not be as bad as that. And odds are if it is, let’s hope that you became half the person and writer that Boast has.

I’ve been holding off on reading this memoir because I just wrote an intense short story and if I added any more darkness to my world, Stephanie Schaefer would have left me. But I think the winter months are the perfect time to visit works like these because the weather allows you to stare off into the cold distance, or into a raging fire, and contemplate what every word and moment means to the author and to yourself. It’s never easy to read about someone else’s suffering, but the resilience the England-born Boast shows throughout his book makes the tears you’ll shed into your hot chocolate worth it. 

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5 Crime Novels That Will Keep You Warm This Winter

By Sean Tuohy

Okay folks, we need to admit that winter is finally upon us. For us Northerners, that means piles of snow and fending off polar bear attacks while trying to get to work. Despite all that, we can sit down and enjoy a good crime novel with devilish men and fatal dames that fill the page with greed and murder.

Below are the top five thrillers to keep you warm during this season:

A Tree Born Crooked by Steph Post

Tired of the snow? Well, Steph Post’s noir A Tree Born Crooked will bring you to the sunny state of Florida. Now, she doesn’t feature the sun-soaked beaches of South Florida where you can get a rum runner. No. This is the intense back roads of Northern Florida, a land were blood and money run thick and both will get you killed. Post’s crooked characters will surely help you ward off the winter freeze.

Third Rail by Rory Flynn

Boston is a tough city where the wrong look or turn can end with you six feet under. Roey Flynn captures Beantown using the city’s love of baseball to set in motion a thrilling crime story that takes you on a wild ride involving cops, criminals, and, gasp, sports fans.

A Killer in the Wind by Andrew Klavan

The pages of this book ooze tough guy. Klavan tells the deadly and dark tale of a former New York City cop turned small town detective being pulled back in to a living nightmare. The author can write tough in his sleep and throws plot twists like a Super Bowl quarterback.

L.A. Rex by William Beall

James Elroy is the ruling king of hardcore Los Angeles crime fiction, but Beall, a former LAPD officer, is slowly taking his place with his no-holds-barred debut novel. Beall dives in to the wild days of the 1990s LAPD, a police department riddled with scandal and going through changes. A rockie cop with a secret is paired with a hot temper old school gunslinger and tries to keep the city safe.

A Walk Among The Tombstones by Lawrence Block

Block is master of his craft.  How does this guy do it? Every book is as thrilling as the last. His most well-known novels feature Matt Scudder, a NYPD detective turned private eye. Block uses his characters and stories as a way to explore the ever-changing New York City. In this twisted tale, Scudder must help a drug lord find the people behind the death of his wife before they strike again.

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10 Literary Treasures We Found at the 2014 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair

By Daniel Ford

One minute essayist Dave Pezza and I are enjoying a few Pabst Blue Ribbon pints at a local Boston pub, and the next we’re walking into the erudite, high-class world of the 2014 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair.

What we found were a group of people that loved books just as much as we did, but with checkbooks attached to bank accounts larger than the state of California. Many of the owners we talked to were amiable, passionate, and eager to share insights into their industry.

Here are the 10 treasures we discovered, several of which made us contemplate taking out a mortgage to pay for them:

10. Lincoln Campaign Songster—Savoy Books

It’s tough to put Lincoln at the bottom of any list, but that just goes to show you how truly special everything else in this compilation is. I love that the condition is “a little dusty, about fine.” It’s from 1864! It’s also worth noting that the President’s campaigners decided to depict a younger, clean-shaved Lincoln for the cover. His reelection was no sure thing, so they really did pull out all the stops to defeat the more popular General George McClellan (who would still be amassing an army to send nowhere had Lincoln not fired his ass).

9. Inscribed Copy of The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen—Between the Covers Rare Books

I’m actually surprised that this copy isn’t currently resting in a bookcase at Writer’s Bone’s headquarters. Dave gave this third printing of Franzen’s The Corrections a long look before deciding that his $150 would be better spent on beer and cigars later in the weekend.

8. All Quiet on the Western Front—Brattle Book Shop

Everyone at this bookshop hates me because I kept referring to the book as All Along the Western Front. Hey, I was confusing it with the Jimi Hendrix cover…wait, that’s not right either…

7. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn—Second Life Books

This is a first edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn bound in rare blue cloth (most of the other first editions of this printing were bound in red). It was in slightly rough shape only because the book had been “rescued.”

6. Men Without Women—B & B Rare Books

First edition, first issue in the original gray trial dust jacket…I can’t go on. It’s too magical. It is also $12,500.

5. The Lord of the Rings—Adrian Harrington Rare Books

We knew this was going to be a good stop when we found the store’s owners kicking back with a couple of beers. We sheepishly asked them if we could take a photo of this beautiful set and they pulled it out of the case as if it wasn’t worth more than Dave and I put together. We held our breath the whole time. I have no memory of taking this picture.

4. East of Eden—Adrian Harrington Rare Books

One of the most elegant, simple, and beautiful book covers I’ve ever seen in my life. This book is also in my top five favorite novels of all time, so I’m glad I came across this. I don't have the several thousand dollars it's worth, but I’m glad it exists.

3. The Sun Also Rises—Peter L. Stern & Co.

I had to tell Dave I’d buy him an ice cream cone after the fair so he would walk up to the owner and ask if we could take a picture of this $85,000 edition of Ernest Hemingway’s first novel. To put it in perspective, a copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby was also going for $85,000. The Sun Also Rises is not Hemingway’s most popular novel. We’ll let you do the rest of the math.  

2. Declaration of Independence—Seth Kaller, Inc.

This broadside of the Declaration of Independence was read throughout New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts in July 1776. Interestingly enough, this document is not considered the “official” version of the Declaration. This one was only signed by Continental Congress President John Hancock and Secretary Charles Thomson (spelled “Thompson”). The delegates signed the official version on Aug. 2, 1776.

While Dave and I were digesting all this information, one of the seller’s employees leaned over and said, “This is usually our main attraction, but this year, it’s not.” He then pointed to our left, prompting us to weep immediately.

1. George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation—Seth Kaller, Inc.

Only two (two!) copies of Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation exist. One is held by the Library of Congress (because it is technically a law) and the other was two thin panes of glass away from my stupefied expression. Washington signed this as President in 1789 in the then-capital city of New York. Only three other Presidents would sign a document like this: John Adams, James Madison, and Abraham Lincoln (who made Thanksgiving a national holiday during the Civil War). There was a heavy set gentleman in front of us who spent a considerable amount of time staring at the more than 200-year-old piece of paper. He walked away with a tear in his eye. No one could blame him, because we did the same.

Oh, it’s $8.4 million and change if you’re interested in adding it to your collection. 

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5 Books To Read On Veteran’s Day

By Daniel Ford

Veteran’s Day is always been important to me because many of the men in my family have worn a military uniform. More than anything else, my grandfather’s World War II stories and my uncles’ service inspired me to become a student of history and truly appreciate the sacrifices made by military personnel and their families. As a humble writer, I could think of no better way of honoring all veterans than by recommending some of my favorite military-related titles from the past several years.

I read a line in a publication recently that said this country is really good at sending its men and women to war, but really crappy at bringing soldiers back home. I couldn’t agree more, which is way I strongly suggest supporting  organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project or Ron Capp’s Veteran Writing Project.    

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain

During one of my frequent trips to the nearby Barnes & Noble early this year, I picked up this novel and read the first couple of lines.

“The men of Bravo are not cold. It’s a chilly and windwhipped Thanksgiving Day with sleet and freezing rain forecast for late afternoon, but Bravo is nicely blazed on Jack and Cokes thanks to the epic crawl of game-day traffic and the limo’s minibar. Five drinks in forty minutes is probably pushing it, but Billy needs some refreshment after the hotel lobby, where overcaffeinated tag teams of grateful citizens trampolined right down the middle of his hangover.”

Hello!

A finalist for the National Book Award, Fountain’s novel follows an Army squad following its heroic performance against Iraqi insurgents. America has thrown them a party that culminates in a halftime spectacle at the former the Dallas Cowboys' stadium. The main character, Specialist Billy Lynn, tries to make sense of the war and his country’s reaction to his team during the football game while interacting with the wealthy owner of the Dallas Cowboys, a movie producer, and a beautiful cheerleader. It’s visceral, as any book about war is, but it also has just the right amount of hope. I thought about Billy Lynn long after I finished the novel and will likely make this an annual read.

An Army At Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson

Atkinson’s The Guns at Last Light was featured in last Friday’s Bruce, Bourbon, and Books, but I still think my favorite entry in his Liberation Trilogy is the Pulitzer Prize-winning An Army At Dawn. The book essentially depicts the birth of the modern U.S. military. While the other two books in the series contain plenty of military fuck ups, An Army at Dawn features some that will leave a lasting impression. Our troops were so green and so under-trained during the early stages of the invasion of Africa that Hitler’s Desert Fox, Irwin Rommel, didn’t even break a sweat while routing Allied Forces. Atkinson’s portrayal of the heartbreaking retreat at the Kasserine Pass will make you wonder how we turned things around, won the war, and became one of the world’s only superpowers.

War is never simple, but it is made all the more difficult when shaping an army on the fly in the face of an truly menacing enemy. The men who eventually liberated Africa and Europe and forced the Japanese to surrender earned every mile and this generation’s enduring respect.   

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes

I’m ashamed to say I’ve started Matterhorn several times, but haven’t finished it. It’s not that it doesn’t immediately grab you, it does, but it’s so powerful you have to read it in small doses. Fiction allows a writer to play with emotions and Marlantes—who served in Vietnam—does a beautiful job of making you ache during the story of Bravo Company. When people are putting you in the same class as Norman Mailer and James Jones, you know you’ve done something right. Not a lot was handled correctly during the Vietnam War, but there are valor and sacrifices during that conflict that need to be acknowledged and celebrated. Marlantes precisely frames that war  and war in general in an accurate light.

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

Powers, a veteran of the Iraq War, spins quite the tale about two soldiers attempting to stay safe in the heat of battle.

This is the opening line of the book: "The war tried to kill us in the spring."

As poetic as Powers’ style is, the reading doesn’t get easier after that. You turn the pages unsure if you want to continue, but you do because the soldiers you’re reading about do that same thing while carrying out their objectives. I’ve read numerous war-related non-fiction and fiction tomes, but this one made me tear up. There’s always another front back home that some of us forget, and this book sheds light on that battle while servicing the story of the in-country troops. You may never return to this book ever again, but it’s worth getting through once. You won’t be sorry you did.

WAR by Sebastian Junger

It’s really hard to read things about Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The fighting was hard and the men who were doing it were living on the extreme edge of their profession. Junger, who also authored The Perfect Storm, captures it all in heart-stopping, on-the-ground detail in this book that will cause you to sweat, swear, and cheer along with the soldiers in the platoon he’s embedded with.  

Here’s what the author had to say about war in an interview with Amazon.com:

“War is hell, as the saying goes--but it isn't only that. It's a lot of other things, too—most of them delivered in forms that are way more pure and intense than what is available back home. The undeniable hellishness of war forces men to bond in ways that aren't necessary—or even possible—in civilian society.”

Indeed.

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