Friday Finds – October 11, 2013

Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can discuss books that you’ve discovered over the course of the week and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list. They can be books that are new or used.  They can be ones that you’ve borrowed (library or friend), found online, heard about from a friend, etc.

Here are my finds for the week.  Actually, they found me.  These are books that are coming my way from authors who have contacted me.  There is a great mix here, enjoy!

Synopsis:  Droll and dead-on in its sizing up of contemporary culture scary, man is author Jeffrey Hickey’s wry and singular story of one man, his wife, and their daughter. Together, they embrace a new normal at the turn of the twenty-first century in America, while trying their hardest in the land of the free, and the home of the afraid. As Griffin shuffles from one appearance to the next as a man working in the world of children, he becomes increasingly vulnerable to the fears and suspicions of others. He also has plenty of his own well-earned, obvious flaws that feed into the small-town gum-flapping. At the same time, his wife Samantha, who runs a home day care, is on the brink of her own existential malaise. This propels her to follow her calling as a teacher, going back to school to do so and creating some distance between herself and her family. To add further complexity to family life, their canny, candid daughter Clare is nursing her own identity crisis that’s just about ready to bubble to the surface.

scary, man is an absorbing work of literary fiction peppered with gay themes and social commentary, this humor-inflected take on small towns, small minds, rumor mills, and rampant paranoia will strike an all-too-familiar chord with readers trying to make their way through the shaky American landscape, while keeping marriage and morals intact, and mayhem at bay. It will leave readers nodding in queasy recognition, while at the same time scratching their heads at the plight of the protagonist who is plenty bright, but who just can’t seem to get it right.

Synopsis: Marcel Proust in Taos tells the story of Christopher and Marlene, two recent immigrants to Taos, New Mexico, who fall in love with their adopted city and eventually each other. Christopher, a retired nuclear physicist, works on his first novel, while Marlene, newly arrived from Germany, spends her days painting the landscape and people around her. The two team up to open a microbrewery, and their relationship is tested by the hurdles they deal with along the way: Christopher hits a rough patch in his book, and a powerful enemy of Marlene’s threatens to destroy everything.

Christopher and Marlene find themselves confronting terrorism of a new sort with the matriarch of the Taos community, Agnes Havelock Powers, who strongly opposes having a brewery in town. Agnes is rich, powerful, and influential. She has the city authorities tucked in her purse next to her checkbook. Follow the exciting and charming love story of Marlene and Christopher in historical Taos, as they experience the challenges of confronting abusive power.

 

Synopsis:  Julia Martin is the most incredible girl in school, and Mason Howell is hopelessly smitten by her. Julia is in charge of the local Charity Christmas party and she’s pleased with how everything is going…until her Santa Claus calls in sick. In a panic, she begs Mason to help her by wearing his grandfather’s heirloom Santa Claus suit. Mason agrees, just to impress the beautiful girl, but things don’t go as planned…as soon as he puts on the suit, he gets all the powers of Santa Claus!

Together with John Patton, Mason’s best friend, they learn his grandfather was a member of an ancient league of men and women dedicated to helping St. Nicholas use Christmas magic to save the world. The three of them could become the newest members of the Santa Claus League…if they can learn the secrets of Christmas magic!

Synopsis:  Macaroni and cheese, together and individually, have existed in various forms in various cultures for hundreds of years. A near-perfect blend of foods, with innumerable delicious combinations, the dish has become a favorite fare of people the world over. Yet, since its introduction, it hasn’t evolved expansively—until now.

 

Synopsis:  In When It Comes to Spooning, I’m a Fork, Prey takes readers on a journey from first awkward date through raising teenagers, all the while exposing moments that seemingly shift from the hilarious to the poignant in the beat of a heart. The book has been described as “laugh-out-loud funny, brutally honest and deeply touching” (5-Star Book Reviews).

With chapters such as “A World Viewed Through Man Eyes,” “Naked Twister” and the titular When It Comes to Spooning, I’m a Fork, the book is the result of a blog Prey used to write to record his foibles as a husband and father. An independent publisher discovered the blog and asked Prey to compile the best entries into a humor book. It joins in the tradition of such popular humor tomes as Sh*t My Dad Says and 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.