In today's Shelf Awareness, a daily email newsletter that goes out to folks in the book industry, there was a notice about Connecticut's great independent bookstores that ran in a local paper. The article began with a quotation from Jerry Seinfeld himself. And though I'm clearly biased, I couldn't agree more: "A bookstore is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking."
Short & sweet tonight, y'all.
~Emily C.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
It's a lovefest here in the bookworld.
I love my job. No, seriously, I do. I love books and what's more, I love booksellers. Two days ago I got to make a bookstore roadtrip with my colleagues Joan and Rebecca. Since Rebecca had already planned to be in Portland that weekend, Joan and I drove up after work on Sunday evening to meet Jon and Carrie Platt, the owners of Nonesuch Books. They greeted us like old friends and opened their home to us, despite the fact that they barely knew Joan and had no acquaintance with me whatsoever.
The next morning all of us from the Platt household met up with Rebecca at the South Portland location of Nonesuch Books and thus our adventures began. We spent quite a while exploring their terrific store from every angle, furiously taking notes and swapping bookseller survival stories. From there we moved en masse to the Saco location of Nonesuch, making friends along the way with a big, tumbly goofball of a mastiff puppy who charmed us all in the parking lot.
After parting ways with our new friends Jon & Carrie, the three of us made our way to RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH. After admiring the clean lines of the decor we chatted with owner Tom and events coordinator Michele about the current state of the book world and the importance of Buy Local programs and incentives.
From there we traveled south once more to Newburyport to visit Jabberwocky Books and the sister store Eureka, a child's delight filled with toys and educational products. Unfortunately the owner had gone home sick earlier that day, so we just poked around on our own.
The trip overall was quite educational. All four of these stores were very different from each other and from our own store, ranging from an intimate storefront in a vibrant downtown to a cavernous, rambling space in a renovated waterfront building. One serves primarily a working class clientele while another serves primarily a tourist one, and so on. But each had carved a niche for itself in its respective market and we came away from each store having learned something valuable to take back to our store. The best part, though, was chatting with the booksellers at each location, all of whom welcomed us warmly and paused to answer the dozens of questions we threw at them. They're a generous bunch and I couldn't be prouder to be a part of any other group.
~Emily C.
The next morning all of us from the Platt household met up with Rebecca at the South Portland location of Nonesuch Books and thus our adventures began. We spent quite a while exploring their terrific store from every angle, furiously taking notes and swapping bookseller survival stories. From there we moved en masse to the Saco location of Nonesuch, making friends along the way with a big, tumbly goofball of a mastiff puppy who charmed us all in the parking lot.
After parting ways with our new friends Jon & Carrie, the three of us made our way to RiverRun Bookstore in Portsmouth, NH. After admiring the clean lines of the decor we chatted with owner Tom and events coordinator Michele about the current state of the book world and the importance of Buy Local programs and incentives.
From there we traveled south once more to Newburyport to visit Jabberwocky Books and the sister store Eureka, a child's delight filled with toys and educational products. Unfortunately the owner had gone home sick earlier that day, so we just poked around on our own.
The trip overall was quite educational. All four of these stores were very different from each other and from our own store, ranging from an intimate storefront in a vibrant downtown to a cavernous, rambling space in a renovated waterfront building. One serves primarily a working class clientele while another serves primarily a tourist one, and so on. But each had carved a niche for itself in its respective market and we came away from each store having learned something valuable to take back to our store. The best part, though, was chatting with the booksellers at each location, all of whom welcomed us warmly and paused to answer the dozens of questions we threw at them. They're a generous bunch and I couldn't be prouder to be a part of any other group.
~Emily C.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Book Reviews: A Two-fer
MOLOKA’I by Alan Brennert. $13.95 in paperback
This compelling novel follows the life of Rachel Kalama from her girlhood on Oahu through her lifelong exile at the leper colony on Moloka’i, and consequently it follows the history of Hawai’i itself from the US’s unconstitutional overthrow of the monarchy through the attack on Pearl Harbor. The reader feels the same anguish, fear, and isolation as Rachel faces one hardship after another, with a heartwarming reunion with her lost family as a final reward for her hard-earned self-reliance.
HONOLULU by Alan Brennert $24.95 in hardcover
Like his previous book Moloka’i, Brennert’s new novel takes a sweeping and probing look at a little-known period of US history. Jin is a young Korean “picture bride” who, in 1915, risks everything to leave her homeland for Hawai’i in order to marry a man she has never met. When his bitterness and cruelty drive her to run away, she makes her way to Honolulu, finding support and friendship in the most unlikely sources. Brennert takes a hard look at the hardships of being a woman in the early 20th century and at the racism that almost destroyed what is now one of the most thriving multicultural metropolises in the world.
Both books are satisfying reads, but what sets them apart is Brennert’s ability to plumb the mysteries of the human heart, exploring the heights and the depths of our emotional spectrum. What I particularly love is the fine balance he creates between hope and despair without seeming melodramatic. Fans of The Secret Life of Bees, Ellen Foster, or The Kite Runner (or anybody who is drawn to stories of overcoming social, cultural, or religious constrictions) will find much to appreciate in his novels.
Emily Crowe
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
I Need to Learn How to Speed Read
It's currently my favorite time of year. The birds are chirping, the leaves are just starting to come out, the temperature is in the mid-70s (ok, today actually hit an uncomfortable 90), I can wear flip-flops again, and Fall catalogs have arrived.
Ah, Fall catalogs.
I had heard rumor that Fall 2009 is going to be a stellar season for books, but oh my lord, the line-up is simply astounding! The Random House Publishing Group alone has a list that will keep me reading well into late adulthood.
How on earth am I going to be able to read all these books? Most of my spare time is devoted to reading and yet I only average about 35 pages an hour. Oy. Double Oy.
Just to give you a sense of how wonderful it's going to be, here is a list, in no particular order:
Audrey Niffenegger -- HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY
Jon Krakauer -- WHERE MEN WIN GLORY: THE ODYSSEY OF PAT TILLMAN
Thomas Trofimuk -- WAITING FOR COLUMBUS (this is a debut, but supposedly masterful. I always trust Ann Kingman's, one of our Random House reps, recommendations.)
Jonathan Lethem -- CHRONIC CITY
Valerie Martin -- CONFESSIONS OF EDWARD DAY
Pat Conroy -- SOUTH OF BROAD
Margaret Atwood -- THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD
Peter Ackroyd -- THE CASEBOOK OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN
Stephen L. Carter -- JERICHO'S FALL
Kazuo Ishiguro -- NOCTURNES
Lorrie Moore -- A GATE AT THE STAIRS
A.S. Byatt -- THE CHILDREN'S BOOK
Peter Mayle -- THE VINTAGE CAPER
Chinua Achebe -- THE EDUCATION OF A BRITISH-PROTECTED CHILD: ESSAYS
Philip Caputo -- CROSSERS
Orhan Pamuk -- THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE
Richard Russo (a.k.a. "Papa Russo") -- THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC
Alice Munro -- TOO MUCH HAPPINESS
Ha Jin -- A GOOD FALL
David Liss -- THE DEVIL'S COMPANY
Sarah Dunant -- SACRED HEARTS
E.L. Doctrow -- HOMER AND LANGLEY
John Irving -- LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER
Dan Chaon -- AWAIT YOUR REPLY
Barbara Kingsolver -- THE LACUNA
Michael Chabon -- MANHOOD FOR AMATEURS: THE PLEASURES AND REGRETS OF A HUSBAND, FATHER AND SON
Mary Karr -- LIT: A MEMOIR
Jess Walter -- THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF POETS
Joyce Carol Oates -- LITTLE BIRD OF HEAVEN
Alright, now:
A)That's already nearly 30 books by authors I know and love.
B) Only two publishing houses have been fully covered here. I still haven't been through half of the catalogs!
C) I also have not included debut authors (save that recommendation from Ann Kingman), which I need to concentrate on for our Breakout Fiction Program.
I don't know how I'm going to do all of this, but I sure am going to have fun trying. Better start the caffeine injections now. Steve, honey, I apologize in advance.
Emily Russo Murtagh
Ah, Fall catalogs.
I had heard rumor that Fall 2009 is going to be a stellar season for books, but oh my lord, the line-up is simply astounding! The Random House Publishing Group alone has a list that will keep me reading well into late adulthood.
How on earth am I going to be able to read all these books? Most of my spare time is devoted to reading and yet I only average about 35 pages an hour. Oy. Double Oy.
Just to give you a sense of how wonderful it's going to be, here is a list, in no particular order:
Audrey Niffenegger -- HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY
Jon Krakauer -- WHERE MEN WIN GLORY: THE ODYSSEY OF PAT TILLMAN
Thomas Trofimuk -- WAITING FOR COLUMBUS (this is a debut, but supposedly masterful. I always trust Ann Kingman's, one of our Random House reps, recommendations.)
Jonathan Lethem -- CHRONIC CITY
Valerie Martin -- CONFESSIONS OF EDWARD DAY
Pat Conroy -- SOUTH OF BROAD
Margaret Atwood -- THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD
Peter Ackroyd -- THE CASEBOOK OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN
Stephen L. Carter -- JERICHO'S FALL
Kazuo Ishiguro -- NOCTURNES
Lorrie Moore -- A GATE AT THE STAIRS
A.S. Byatt -- THE CHILDREN'S BOOK
Peter Mayle -- THE VINTAGE CAPER
Chinua Achebe -- THE EDUCATION OF A BRITISH-PROTECTED CHILD: ESSAYS
Philip Caputo -- CROSSERS
Orhan Pamuk -- THE MUSEUM OF INNOCENCE
Richard Russo (a.k.a. "Papa Russo") -- THAT OLD CAPE MAGIC
Alice Munro -- TOO MUCH HAPPINESS
Ha Jin -- A GOOD FALL
David Liss -- THE DEVIL'S COMPANY
Sarah Dunant -- SACRED HEARTS
E.L. Doctrow -- HOMER AND LANGLEY
John Irving -- LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER
Dan Chaon -- AWAIT YOUR REPLY
Barbara Kingsolver -- THE LACUNA
Michael Chabon -- MANHOOD FOR AMATEURS: THE PLEASURES AND REGRETS OF A HUSBAND, FATHER AND SON
Mary Karr -- LIT: A MEMOIR
Jess Walter -- THE FINANCIAL LIVES OF POETS
Joyce Carol Oates -- LITTLE BIRD OF HEAVEN
Alright, now:
A)That's already nearly 30 books by authors I know and love.
B) Only two publishing houses have been fully covered here. I still haven't been through half of the catalogs!
C) I also have not included debut authors (save that recommendation from Ann Kingman), which I need to concentrate on for our Breakout Fiction Program.
I don't know how I'm going to do all of this, but I sure am going to have fun trying. Better start the caffeine injections now. Steve, honey, I apologize in advance.
Emily Russo Murtagh
Monday, April 27, 2009
Independent Bookstores in NYC
Let me start by saying this: I am a bit ashamed of myself.
Before moving to western Massachusetts to join the Odyssey as their events coordinator, I lived in Brooklyn and worked as an assistant literary agent for a small boutique agency in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan.
For those not looking closely (and I was one of those), New York City appears to be, on the surface, primarily a "Barnes and Noble" kind of town. There is one in just about every neighborhood of the five boroughs-- if not more -- and, from what I can remember, only a handful of Borders (which I've always disliked). The closest B&N to where I worked is the GIANT store in Union Square (14th and Park Avenue). It has four floors of books, an enormous, inviting cafe to read in during lunch breaks or after a long day at the office, and a fiction section to make just about anyone drool -- regardless of how you feel about the chains.
I've always tried to support as many locally-owned indie bookstores as possible. Every time I go home to Camden, ME, I make sure to stop into the Owl and Turtle Bookshop. On the few occasions my husband and I can make it to Martha's Vineyard for a few cherished days, I stop into both Edgartown Books and the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven. The Bunch of Grapes is, and will always be, near and dear to my heart. It is the bookstore that made me want to be a bookseller since I was ten, and when I first heard the news that it nearly burned down last year -- I was truly devastated. They are, however, reopening this summer and my husband and I are joining my parents for the re-opening celebration!
I apologize, I've gotten a tad off-track.
So, yes, I try and shop locally, but I don't think I really "got" why it was so important until I started working at the Odyssey because admittedly, I didn't exactly "seek out" indies in NYC. If I found one, terrific, but did I go out of my way? No. I walked past that same B&N everyday to and from work and I succumbed their convenience and four floors.
I could easily go on for several pages and extrapalate on why we should all shop locally, but it's been done by others more eloquent than I am, so instead, I will link to the IndieBound page for those interested, as I have another purpose for this particular post.
Since working at the Odyssey, I've joined many of the social networking sites to help promote the store and connect with other booksellers across the country. As I do so, I'm finding more and more thriving (and by thriving I mean keep their heads above water) and wonderful independent bookstores in Manhattan and Brooklyn that I am ashamed to say I never knew of or took advantage of. I only wish that my upcoming trip to BEA this May was a day or two longer so that I could spend some time wandering around what I am sure are some terrific stores.
These stores are (and are not limited to):
Word; Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
McNally-Jackson; Soho, Manhattan (actually, I've visited this store twice, but I love it, so I had to include it.)
BookCourt; Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (my first apartment in Brooklyn was no more than 8 blocks away from BookCourt. Did I visit it often? Stupidly, no.)
BookCulture; Morningside Heights, Manhattan
The Corner Bookstore; Upper East Side, Manhattan
So, to these indie bookstores in Manhattan and Brooklyn (and the many others I've missed), my sincere apologies for not being your patron often enough during my five years in NYC and I hope to visit you all soon --- probably not all at the same time, however, cause I tend to by 1 or 2 new books for each store I visit and my husband WILL NOT be happy with me if I blow $200 on books in New York when I could have ordered them from the Odyssey with my staff discount.
Does he have a point? Absolutely. Do I care? Not really. I'm supporting my local indies! (I swear, if we ever get divorced, it'll be over my book addiction.)
Emily Russo Murtagh
Before moving to western Massachusetts to join the Odyssey as their events coordinator, I lived in Brooklyn and worked as an assistant literary agent for a small boutique agency in the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan.
For those not looking closely (and I was one of those), New York City appears to be, on the surface, primarily a "Barnes and Noble" kind of town. There is one in just about every neighborhood of the five boroughs-- if not more -- and, from what I can remember, only a handful of Borders (which I've always disliked). The closest B&N to where I worked is the GIANT store in Union Square (14th and Park Avenue). It has four floors of books, an enormous, inviting cafe to read in during lunch breaks or after a long day at the office, and a fiction section to make just about anyone drool -- regardless of how you feel about the chains.
I've always tried to support as many locally-owned indie bookstores as possible. Every time I go home to Camden, ME, I make sure to stop into the Owl and Turtle Bookshop. On the few occasions my husband and I can make it to Martha's Vineyard for a few cherished days, I stop into both Edgartown Books and the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore in Vineyard Haven. The Bunch of Grapes is, and will always be, near and dear to my heart. It is the bookstore that made me want to be a bookseller since I was ten, and when I first heard the news that it nearly burned down last year -- I was truly devastated. They are, however, reopening this summer and my husband and I are joining my parents for the re-opening celebration!
I apologize, I've gotten a tad off-track.
So, yes, I try and shop locally, but I don't think I really "got" why it was so important until I started working at the Odyssey because admittedly, I didn't exactly "seek out" indies in NYC. If I found one, terrific, but did I go out of my way? No. I walked past that same B&N everyday to and from work and I succumbed their convenience and four floors.
I could easily go on for several pages and extrapalate on why we should all shop locally, but it's been done by others more eloquent than I am, so instead, I will link to the IndieBound page for those interested, as I have another purpose for this particular post.
Since working at the Odyssey, I've joined many of the social networking sites to help promote the store and connect with other booksellers across the country. As I do so, I'm finding more and more thriving (and by thriving I mean keep their heads above water) and wonderful independent bookstores in Manhattan and Brooklyn that I am ashamed to say I never knew of or took advantage of. I only wish that my upcoming trip to BEA this May was a day or two longer so that I could spend some time wandering around what I am sure are some terrific stores.
These stores are (and are not limited to):
Word; Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
McNally-Jackson; Soho, Manhattan (actually, I've visited this store twice, but I love it, so I had to include it.)
BookCourt; Cobble Hill, Brooklyn (my first apartment in Brooklyn was no more than 8 blocks away from BookCourt. Did I visit it often? Stupidly, no.)
BookCulture; Morningside Heights, Manhattan
The Corner Bookstore; Upper East Side, Manhattan
So, to these indie bookstores in Manhattan and Brooklyn (and the many others I've missed), my sincere apologies for not being your patron often enough during my five years in NYC and I hope to visit you all soon --- probably not all at the same time, however, cause I tend to by 1 or 2 new books for each store I visit and my husband WILL NOT be happy with me if I blow $200 on books in New York when I could have ordered them from the Odyssey with my staff discount.
Does he have a point? Absolutely. Do I care? Not really. I'm supporting my local indies! (I swear, if we ever get divorced, it'll be over my book addiction.)
Emily Russo Murtagh
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Procrastination Reviews #2: The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry
The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie BerryHardcover, 9781599903347, $16.99
The second book in the exciting "Procrastination Reviews" series, I picked this one up off the shelf when I was searching for an appropriate book to send to the 14/15 year-old girl in the Odyssey Bookshop's Gift of Reading Program. This is a program where people sign up a child in their life to receive a book that has been hand-picked for them. I do the hand picking. This is one of my favorite, and one of the most challenging, aspects of my job. I have 20 children each month whose reading history I review, personal preferences I review, and then I make an age-appropriate, genre-appropriate book choice for them. Occasionally, I throw something different into the mix; reading too much of the same thing isn't good for anyone. This book can be exhibit A in my case - it's hardly my usual "for myself" reading, but it was entertaining nonetheless. Sort of like a teenage version of a Harlequin romance novel, only without any of the sex or violence.
Lucinda Chapdelaine used to be the only child in a wealthy family that was close to the king. Orphaned by a carriage accident that killed her parents on their way home from a ball, Lucinda has grown up in her uncle's jewelry shop, hated and made to work as a servant by her step-aunt. Lucinda doesn't remember much of her life before the shop, though the grief of her parents' death is still with her. Then, in one day, a beautiful woman visits the shop, an enchanted stone makes its way into Lucinda's care, and Lucinda meets Prince Gregor for the first time since childhood. Soon Lucinda is off on an adventure involving a thief named Peter, an immortal woman named Beryl, the Amaranth Witch, and the truth behind her parents' death.
It turns out the enchanted stone holds Beryl's soul and someone is out to steal it in order to rule the world. Lucinda is drawn to the stone, and so tries to keep it safe, only to have it stolen by Peter, a street thief, who is unaware of its true value. Peter sells it to Prince Gregor, who is looking for the perfect betrothal gift for the Princess he has never met, but who is soon to be his bride. Lucinda makes a deal with Beryl - in return for getting back her soul, Beryl will restore her parents' lands to Lucinda, making her a woman of wealth and property again. On her quest for the stone, Luncinda is caught as a thief, meets her parents' murderer, is almost hanged but manages to escapes, dances several dances with Prince Gregor (is she falling in love?), gets saved more than once by her trusty goat sidekick she calls Dog, and unveils more than one person's true identity.
(See what I mean about the Harlequin romance novel plot-line? Throw some duels and hot sex in there and you've got yourself a whole different type of book contract.) It all works out in the end, and the right people marry their true loves without any awkwardness or bruised feelings. A quick read, the book is plot heavy with fairly little character development. Perfect breezy book for a teen summer read. - Rebecca
Procrastination Reviews #1: The Compound by S.A. Boden
The key to successful procrastination: do something that is halfway legitimate; extra points if you can turn that something halfway legitimate into more work because of its very pseudo-legitimacy. Case in point: in order to procrastinate the three papers I have hanging over my head, I've read two teen novels (for my job, not for school) in the last three days, thus creating the need to blog about them so that my reading will not have been for my pleasure only; the act of blogging my reviews puts these novels firmly in the "for work" category. So, review #1.
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
Hardcover: 9780312370152, $16.95
Paperback: 9780312578602, $8.99 - due out September 2009
I have my Macmillan rep, Bob, to thank for this book. He dropped off a box of ARCs (advanced reader copies, pre-published books), with this book in it because "the paperback is coming out soon." ARCs I can take or leave, to be honest. I find I don't read nearly as many of them as I should, and then whenever there's a new round of releases, I devour 10 books in 2 weeks to catch up on all the reading I should have done in ARC form 6 weeks earlier. Now, normally, I'm also not one for the inside flap, dust jacket description, whatever the little phrase is that's supposed to give you a taste of the book. I much prefer to read the first chapter. That said, I admit to being sucked in by the mini-blurb of this book. It reads: "Eli and his family have lived in the Compound for six years. The world they know is gone. Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. Now, they can't get out. He won't let them." Creepy, right? It's not boogy-man, jump in the dark sort of scary, but just twisted enough that it takes your mind a minute to put two and two together because it just doesn't want to see it.
So what's the basic story? Billionaire dad, mom, older son Eli, daughter Lexie, and daughter Terese all make it into the underground Compound, seconds before the world is blown apart by a nuclear war. Eli's twin brother Eddy and the grandmother (mom's mom) didn't make it. Or so Dad tells them... *cue creepy foreshadowing music here* Flash forward six years: Meat ran out. Fish ran out. Flour is low and going bad. Each family member is holding it together and slowly losing it in their own unique way. Lexie's the perfect Daddy's girl. Terese speaks only in a British accent. Eli refuses to let anyone touch him. Dad's gotten increasingly controlling. Mom's gotten increasingly suspicious. They're all beginning to suspect they're not going to make it the number of years they have left until it will be safe for them to try the world outside. Eli begins questioning what he knows, what he thinks he knows, and what he's been told - some things aren't adding up. When he begins searching the Compound for clues, Eli begins uncovering secrets that shouldn't exist. Like the internet - if there was nuclear war, how is there a wireless signal? Why has his dad written a note to his accountant, if he accountant should now be dead? Where is all the new music coming from that his dad keeps giving him? It seems not everyone on the outside was killed by that nuclear war, if there even was one. If Dad was lying about nuclear war, what else was he lying about? Why did he build the Compound? And why won't he let them out, now that things have started to go really wrong?
Now, I mean this complimentary (I know, not a promising beginning), but one of the things I liked best about this book was once I thought I knew where it was going, it went there. My guess about what the "Supplements" really were? Dead on. My hunch about where Eli's missing twin brother might be? Got it. I liked that. It's satisfying. There was enough twisted about the story in general, that it wasn't one of those, "Hell, I could have written this," sort of feelings. It was more of a relief that the author didn't suddenly throw some weird plot twist in for the hell of it, just to mess with your head. The twists in this story were logical, made sense to the plot, and though things wrap up well at the end, there's a suggestion of unease under the surface that leaves you satisfied nothing's ever quite as perfect as it seems. A solid read, with nothing too kinky that a 13 or 14-year-old couldn't handle. - Rebecca
The Compound by S.A. Bodeen
Hardcover: 9780312370152, $16.95
Paperback: 9780312578602, $8.99 - due out September 2009
I have my Macmillan rep, Bob, to thank for this book. He dropped off a box of ARCs (advanced reader copies, pre-published books), with this book in it because "the paperback is coming out soon." ARCs I can take or leave, to be honest. I find I don't read nearly as many of them as I should, and then whenever there's a new round of releases, I devour 10 books in 2 weeks to catch up on all the reading I should have done in ARC form 6 weeks earlier. Now, normally, I'm also not one for the inside flap, dust jacket description, whatever the little phrase is that's supposed to give you a taste of the book. I much prefer to read the first chapter. That said, I admit to being sucked in by the mini-blurb of this book. It reads: "Eli and his family have lived in the Compound for six years. The world they know is gone. Eli's father built the Compound to keep them safe. Now, they can't get out. He won't let them." Creepy, right? It's not boogy-man, jump in the dark sort of scary, but just twisted enough that it takes your mind a minute to put two and two together because it just doesn't want to see it.
So what's the basic story? Billionaire dad, mom, older son Eli, daughter Lexie, and daughter Terese all make it into the underground Compound, seconds before the world is blown apart by a nuclear war. Eli's twin brother Eddy and the grandmother (mom's mom) didn't make it. Or so Dad tells them... *cue creepy foreshadowing music here* Flash forward six years: Meat ran out. Fish ran out. Flour is low and going bad. Each family member is holding it together and slowly losing it in their own unique way. Lexie's the perfect Daddy's girl. Terese speaks only in a British accent. Eli refuses to let anyone touch him. Dad's gotten increasingly controlling. Mom's gotten increasingly suspicious. They're all beginning to suspect they're not going to make it the number of years they have left until it will be safe for them to try the world outside. Eli begins questioning what he knows, what he thinks he knows, and what he's been told - some things aren't adding up. When he begins searching the Compound for clues, Eli begins uncovering secrets that shouldn't exist. Like the internet - if there was nuclear war, how is there a wireless signal? Why has his dad written a note to his accountant, if he accountant should now be dead? Where is all the new music coming from that his dad keeps giving him? It seems not everyone on the outside was killed by that nuclear war, if there even was one. If Dad was lying about nuclear war, what else was he lying about? Why did he build the Compound? And why won't he let them out, now that things have started to go really wrong?
Now, I mean this complimentary (I know, not a promising beginning), but one of the things I liked best about this book was once I thought I knew where it was going, it went there. My guess about what the "Supplements" really were? Dead on. My hunch about where Eli's missing twin brother might be? Got it. I liked that. It's satisfying. There was enough twisted about the story in general, that it wasn't one of those, "Hell, I could have written this," sort of feelings. It was more of a relief that the author didn't suddenly throw some weird plot twist in for the hell of it, just to mess with your head. The twists in this story were logical, made sense to the plot, and though things wrap up well at the end, there's a suggestion of unease under the surface that leaves you satisfied nothing's ever quite as perfect as it seems. A solid read, with nothing too kinky that a 13 or 14-year-old couldn't handle. - Rebecca
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