:bananadance:

My book is:

The Camel Club by David Baldacci



The Camel Club is made up of four middle-aged men: Stone (in homage to the director Oliver Stone), Milton, Reuben, and Caleb, whose lives have led them to be suspicious of the government and politicians in general. Their late-night excursions mainly consist of White House stakeouts, until the night they discover two men carrying another man while on Roosevelt Island and killing him while making it look like a suicide. The men believe a conspiracy is afoot, and this time, they're right on the money. Secret Service agent Alex Ford, who has a passing acquaintance with Stone, is called into to investigate the death of the man, who happens to be a Secret Service agent, Patrick Johnson. Johnson was supposedly living far above his means and may have had drug connections, but Ford isn't convinced Johnson took his own life. The Camel Club is conducting their own investigation, and before long they realize they've got a massive conspiracy on their hands, one that could affect the global political arena. Baldacci is a master at building suspense, and the conclusion of his latest novel will leave readers breathless

msjoanna's reveal:

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris



From Publishers Weekly
In his latest collection, Sedaris has found his heart. This is not to suggest that the author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and other bestselling books has lost his edge. The 27 essays here (many previously published in Esquire, G.Q. or the New Yorker, or broadcast on PRI's This American Life) include his best and funniest writing yet. Here is Sedaris's family in all its odd glory. Here is his father dragging his mortified son over to the home of one of the most popular boys in school, a boy possessed of "an uncanny ability to please people," demanding that the boy's parents pay for the root canal that Sedaris underwent after the boy hit him in the mouth with a rock. Here is his oldest sister, Lisa, imploring him to keep her beloved Amazon parrot out of a proposed movie based on his writing. ("'Will I have to be fat in the movie?' she asked.") Here is his mother, his muse, locking the kids out of the house after one snow day too many, playing the wry, brilliant commentator on his life until her untimely death from cancer. His mother emerges as one of the most poignant and original female characters in contemporary literature. She balances bitter and sweet, tart and rich—and so does Sedaris, because this is what life is like. "You should look at yourself," his mother says in one piece, as young Sedaris crams Halloween candy into his mouth rather than share it. He does what she says and then some, and what emerges is the deepest kind of humor, the human comedy.

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I really enjoyed this book. I listened to it on CD then reread my favorite essays. David Sedaris has an amazing ability to make the daily events of a regular life seem hilarious and meaningful at the same time. Definitely recommended.

Marlene's Reveal


Courtesans: Money, Sex and Fame in the Nineteenth Century by Katie Hickman



This is my cover:



Publisher's Note
During the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a small group of women rose from impoverished obscurity to positions of great power, independence and wealth. In doing so they took control of their lives -- and those of other people -- and made the world do their will.

Men went to great lengths in desperate attempts to gain and retain a courtesan's favors, but she was always courted for far more than sex. In an age in which women were generally not well educated she was often unusually literate and literary, and courted for her conversation as well as her physical company. Courtesans were extremely accomplished and exerted a powerful influence as leaders of fashion and society. They were not received at court, but inhabited their own parallel world -- the demimonde -- complete with its own hierarchies, etiquette and protocol. They were queens of fashion, linguists, musicians, accomplished at political intrigue and, of course, possessors of great erotic gifts. Even to be seen in public with one of the great courtesans was a much-envied achievement.

In this riveting social biography, Katie Hickman focuses on five outstanding women -- Sophia Baddeley, Elizabeth Armistead, Harriette Wilson, Cora Pearl and Catherine Walters -- each of whose lives exemplifies the dazzling existence of the courtesan.She reveals their extraordinary exploits -- including their stints in Paris, New York and California -- and offers insights into the glamorous history of courtesan life.

out of 10 reviews on amazon

Stellarv's reveal:



SIDDARTHA
Herman Hesse

In the novel, Siddartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplatie life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near despair, Siddartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of hhis life - the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace and, finally, wisdom.

This Christmas by Jane Green/ Jennifer Coburn/ Liz Ireland

FROM THE PUBLISHER
This Christmas, take some time out to indulge in these sweet, sexy stories from three of your favorite authors. Because while Santa may visit but once a year, romance is the gift that keeps on giving...
"Vacation" by Jane Green

If Sarah knew moving to the suburbs would mean losing everything about her relationship that was young, romantic, and fun, she would have planted her feet firmly in the city cement. Reigniting the spark she and her husband, Eddie, once had isn’t easy, especially with two kids added to the mix. And when Eddie’s job sends him to Chicago indefinitely, Sarah wonders if she might be better off alone. A lot can happen during a long break from marriage. But as Christmas approaches, will Sarah recognize the gift she’s been taking for granted?

"The Second Wife of Reilly" by Jennifer Coburn

Falling in love with Reilly was easy for Sarah, but marriage is proving to be a little more worrisome -- especially with Prudence, Reilly’s ex, still single. Since it’s the season of giving, Sarah decides to find Prudence a man of her own. But shopping for another’s woman’s prospective husband isn’t quite as easy as whipping out a credit card at Bloomie’s.

"Mistletoe and Holly "by Liz Ireland

For once, Holly is determined to fit into her family’s picturesque Norman Rockwell Christmas. Even with her wry best friend Isaac along for the ride, she’s got perfect boyfriend Jason to introduce and matching snowman sweaters all picked out. Unfortunately, the holiday spirit is on the fritz and no one is interested in perfection, including Holly. Because she’s beginning to realize that Isaac looks pretty darn good under the mistletoe.

Spike the eggnog, fire up the yule log, and partake in a little holiday cheer of your own with this irresistible collection. What better way to celebrate the season?

Lucie's reveal



Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson

Bizarre images and bawdy laughter galvanize this splendid English farce about a prodigious giantess and her explorer son in 17th-century London. Jordan fetches the first pineapple to the court of Charles II, while his mother, The Dog Woman, wreaks vengeance upon Puritans in a brothel. The plague; the flying princesses who defy laws of the courts and gravity; Jordan's travels to the floating city and the botanical wonders of the New World--the tale nips easily in and out of history and fantasy. The two characters eventually merge into the grievously polluted life of modern London. Metaphors abound with polemics on environmental concerns and politics of past and present.

Nursie's reveal


Cooking For Mr. Right by Susan Volland



Kate Linden is a sous-chef in a hot Seattle restaurant. One night, as she soaks her tired feet, she gets a phone call from her ex--boyfriend announcing that he is getting married. Kate is flabbergasted. Gaston had asked her to marry him several times; each time she refused him. But now that he is getting married to someone he just met, Kate decides she wants him back. With the devious help of his mother, they plan to sabotage his relationship. In the meantime, Kate has a major blowout with her boss and quits, which means she can now devote more time to Gaston. Kate's artist mother has misgivings about Kate's abrupt lifestyle change and tries to push her new assistant, Sam, in her path. As Kate struggles to achieve what she thinks she wants, she learns that what she wants from life, and who she wants to share it with, is beyond anything she has imagined. Volland has crafted a comical, moving, and terrifically satisfying tale

camis' reveal:

How To Be Good by Nick Hornby



According to her own complex moral calculations, Katie Carr has earned her affair. She's a doctor, after all, and doctors are decent people, and on top of that, her husband David is the self-styled Angriest Man in Holloway. But when David suddenly becomes good - properly, maddeningly, give-away-all-his-money good - Katie's sums no longer add up, and she is forced to ask herself some very hard questions. Nick Hornby's brilliant new novel, a No. 1 bestseller in the UK and Ireland, offers a painfully funny account of modern marriage and parenthood, and asks that most difficult of questions: what does it mean to be good?

Giz's reveal

Maggie's Tree by Julie Walters



Synopsis
Cissie is a stand-up comedienne and national darling. Helena is the toast of Broadway. Maggie is an extremely beautiful but troubled actress - and she's cracking up fast, in fact she's 'out of her tree'. When Cissie takes Maggie to see Helena in New York, it leads to trouble straight away: Maggie disappears into the freezing February night, no one knows where. As the search for their friend continues, alarming divisions occur in the lifelong friendships of Cissie, Helena and her stoic husband Luke. And then Cissie disappears too. So, two of the closest of friends are lost separately somewhere in snowbound Manhattan

About the Author
Born in Birmingham 54 years ago, Julie Walters became a nurse before joining a Liverpool theatre group. Since then she has been nominated for an Oscar for Educating Rita, having made the part her own on stage, and starred in Billy Elliot. She is Mrs Weasley in the Harry Potter films, and most recently co-starred with Helen Mirren in Calendar Girls. Versatile enough to appear both as Mrs Overall in her friend Victoria Wood's 'Acorn Antiques' as well as the sexy Wife of Bath in the BBC's adaptation of The Canterbury Tales, she is 'arguably the nation's best-loved actress' (Sunday Times).

KathyB's Reveal




Sister Salty, Sister Sweet by Shannon Kring Biro & Natalie Kring

2007 Advanced Readers Copy - paperback

Told in the alternating voices of two very different sisters, Sister Salty, Sister Sweet: A Memoir of Sibling Rivalry is a hilarious, unpredictable, and moving memoir that reveals the unexpected life lessons born of sisterhood.

At four, Shannon Kring spends her days stuffing anything she can get her hands on into her red leather suitcase, playing 60 Minutes with her Barbie dolls, and basking in the limelight cast on her by her over-attentive mother. Then her sister Natalie is born.

Everyone loves the well-behaved baby-grocery store clerks, bank tellers, and to Shannon's horror, her parents. Realizing she isn't the novelty she once was, Shannon reclaims her parents' attention by playing with matches, chewing her father's tobacco, and calling her cat a "cocksucky." Once placed in the background, Natalie is kept there though Shannon's playroom domination and dramatic schemes. Convinced her sister is the favored child-which she demonstrates through drawing a gift graph to document the injustice as evidenced through uneven gift counts-Natalie takes to her room, where she regularly holds pity parties: staring in the mirror in awe at the sad-clown contortions of her face, her nose growing pink and puffy, her upper lip morphing into a hideous frown.

When Shannon is confronted by dramas not of her own making-a sexual assault and her consequent anorexia-she is for the first time envious of her sister's anonymity. Natalie, who was sheltered from the truth of her sister's situation, sees only the attention and now craves it more than ever.

Sister Salty, Sister Sweet is a coming-of-age story with dark humor, straight-up characterizations, and bald honesty. It is supported by characters such as Grandpa Orv, who scratches or burns his name into all his possessions, and their grandmother Gabby, who dreams of evil nuns, keeps a Gerber jar of holy water on her microwave, and who the girls' father simply refers to as Nutcase. From puberty and neighborhood pranks to first loves and leaving home, the sisters jockey for standing within their family, struggle to establish common ground, and ultimately find their places in the world and with each other.

catsalive's reveal:



That Summer by Andrew Greig

Amazon.co.uk Review
Andrew Greig, prize-winning novelist and poet, dedicates his latest novel "to the vanishing generation"--all who lived through the Second World War and That Summer, the summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britain. It is a heartfelt and eloquent homage to them all, but there is no distant memorialising here. Instead, its chapters, narrated alternately in two voices, Len's and Stella's, speak with wonderful immediacy and tactility. The naive and eager, yet quietly thoughtful Len is a 22-year-old fighter pilot and Stella, a radio operator who, a year older, is marginally more worldly. As the battle in the air intensifies, Stella sits at her screen watching the little falling blips, and imagining the young Fraulein on the other side of the Channel who is "my twin, my sister, my mirror. My enemy who is not my enemy", and worries about the foolhardiness of loving in wartime.

But love they do, in spite of and because of the exhausting dread, the anticipation and waiting, the ordinariness and impermanence of those haunting, sun-filled months. Noisy, frenetic pubbing, dancing, creeping home through the blackout darkness fills the ragged time in between Len's almost daily sorties in his "Hurri": "I thought of my fierce excitement just before I killed, and my numbness once I had, and then like Stella I said out loud, "What are we becoming?" And death permeates their very air.

On the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, Andrew Greig has written a captivatingly memorable elegy; its language is alert and vivid and its emotional reach both rich and subtle.

DarkPunkAngel's reveal

Parallel Lies by Stella Duffy (TBR)





Celebrity, identity and sexuality—the three poles of our fame-obsessed society, each one a magnet for secrets and lies.

Despite her youth, Russian-born Yana Ivanova is already a Hollywood legend. She lives in a beautiful house in Beverly Hills with Jimmy, a sitcom star, and Penny, her British PA. Theirs is a strange and uneasy partnership, held together by sex, secrets and the fear of scandal.

Then Yana starts receiving threatening letters from an anonymous but very knowledgeable source. Suspicion turns to fear, and fear leads to murder. But who exactly is conning whom?

Stella Duffy has written crime novels and dark romantic comedies. Here she combines the two in a smart, sexy, suspenseful new novel. Poison pen letters, fake identities, misplaced affection, betrayal and murder... Still think a ménage à trois sounds fun?

candy's reveal:



Asked to interview India's greatest poet, Nur, Deven sees a way to escape the miseries of life as a small-town scholar. But the old man he finds deep in the bazaars of Old Delhi bears no resemblance to the idol of his youth. Deven is fooled, bullied and cheated, and drawn into a new captivity.

My reveal is .......

Body Double by Tess Gerritsen



From Publishers Weekly
Pregnant women play key roles in this bone-chilling fourth novel in Gerritsen's edgy, suspenseful series of thrillers featuring Boston Medical Examiner Maura Isles and Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli. Both of the usually gritty crime fighters are uncharacteristically vulnerable. Rizzoli is carrying her first child, and Isles—divorced and alone at age 40 and suddenly, unsettlingly aware of her biological clock—is experiencing decidedly unspiritual feelings for her priest. As the novel begins, Isles—an adopted child who never knew the identity of her birth parents—is confronted by the corpse of a murdered woman who is apparently her identical twin. Another detective, Rick Ballard, comes forward to say that he knew the victim and is certain her killer is a powerful pharmaceutical baron known to have stalked her. Isles falls for the handsome Ballard, but she isn't convinced by his theory, and she launches an investigation into her sister's past, following the trail to a state correctional facility and a schizophrenic inmate who may be her mother. This opens the cobwebbed pages of a nightmarish family album and leads Isles to a remote cabin in Maine where the long-dead body of a pregnant woman is discovered buried in the woods. The killer, Isles discovers, has been murdering pregnant women for decades, making periodic sweeps of the country. Meanwhile, brief scenes chronicle the diabolical kidnapping of an affluent pregnant housewife who is kept buried in a crude coffin. An electric series of startling twists, the revelation of ghoulishly practical motives and a nail-biting finale make this Gerritsen's best to date.

Blackteiwaz' Reveal:



Leanna: Possession of a Woman by Marie Kiraly

Book Description from B&N:
The life and death of Leanna de Noux was more than a mystery to Hailey Martin. It was the ultimate obsession. A writer from the Midwest, Hailey came to New Orleans to recover from a devastating personal loss. There, in the heart of the French Quarter, she found a room with a strange, macabre history. A room haunted by terrible secrets, forbidden longings -- and Leanna

Review by a customer from Amazon:
The author's best book, by her own admission., September 21, 1997
Here is a woman clearly in love with the city of New Orleans....an ideal blend of mystery, romance, eroticism and voodoo! Unfortunately the book has not been given the attention is deserves by anyone but Kiraly's cultish fans. Incidently, Marie Kiraly is the pesudonym of writer Elaine Bergstrom

rebeccaljames' reveal:

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

TBR

From Kirkus Reviews

An engaging time-travel romance, the second of a trilogy (after Outlander), that animates the people and politics of a pivotal period in history--while turning up the heat between an appealing modern heroine and a magnetic romantic hero. It's now 1968, and Claire Beauchamp Randall has returned to Inverness, Scotland, with her daughter, Brianna. This is Claire's first visit back since she and husband Frank visited 22 years before--when she walked through a Druid stone circle into the middle of the 18th century. Now, Frank is dead, and Claire hopes to learn what happened to the second great love of her life--gallant Jamie Fraser, laird of Lallybroch whom she married during her journey into the past. She's also looking for a way to tell Brianna who her real father is. Framed by these dilemmas, the bulk of the story consists of the second installment of Claire and Jamie's adventures. Escaping the English death sentence passed against Jamie, they flee to prerevolutionary Paris, where they secretly work at foiling Bonnie Prince Charlie's efforts to regain the Scottish throne. But this espionage is only the beginning...A most entertaining mix of history and fantasy whose author, like its heroine, exhibits a winning combination of vivid imagination and good common sense.

xeyra's REVEAL:

MULTIPLE CHOICE
a novel
BY CLAIRE COOK



March Monroe and her daughter Olivia are going to college. Not together at the same school, of course, just at the same time. March knows that Olivia is going, naturally, since she and her husband have just made their first exorbitant tuition payment. But Olivia doesn’t exactly know the arrangement . . . yet. It’s not as if March plans never
to tell her; she just figures she’ll wait a bit––until they’ve had a little time to miss each other. So imagine Olivia’s surprise when one day she shows up for training at a local radio station and finds out that one of the other interns is . . . her mother.

Sharing an internship with her royally ticked-off daughter is not March’s only new challenge. Among the multiple decisions on her mind are what to do about a slightly tired marriage, a fourteen-yearold son who probably won’t be speaking to her for much longer, and a midlife crush, not to mention Quantum Physics and You––the class that just might put her over the edge. Laugh-out-loud funny, Multiple Choice is an effervescent novel of family life that will strike a chord with women everywhere––whether they have kids in college or are just now choosing their own majors.

Grin's reveal



Second Thyme Around by Katie Fforde

For years, things have run quite smoothly for Perdita and her organic gardening business. So what if her hair needs a complete overhaul, her sweater has more holes than Swiss cheese, and there's no hope of a boyfriend on the horizon. The last thing Perdita wants is a meddlesome man in her life-but she's about to get one, in the form of her completely infuriating ex-husband, Lucas.

Lucas is disagreeable, curt, arrogant, and smolderingly gorgeous. He's also the new chef at Grantly House, Perdita's number one customer. Worse, Mr. Grantly has the insane idea of starting a television cooking show that will put Lucas and Perdita together as The Gourmet and the Gardener.

Now, things are heating up in the kitchen-and elsewhere. With the bright lights blazing and old feelings stirring up the pot, it could be a recipe for disaster...or absolute delight..