Book Releases and News – October 20, 2008

There are lots of great books that have just been released or are coming up. Here’s a short list of what I’m looking forward to:

Victora Osteen, wife of the “smiling preacher” Joel Osteen, just released a book last week called Love Your Life. The description (From Borders.com) is: Victoria Osteen offers advice for how to recognize your own true strengths and be a positive influence on your family, friends, and co-workers. If you’ve never seen Joel preach or read any of his books, I highly recommend them. I just finished listening to the Audio version of Become a Better You. Great tips, great stories, and an all around great book.

John Groghan, the author of Marley & Me is coming out with a new book called The Longest Trip Home. Barnes and Noble supplies this description: Grogan follows up Marley & Me with a hilarious and touching memoir of his childhood in suburban Detroit. “To say my parents were devout Catholics is like saying the sun runs a little hot,” he writes. “It defined who they were.” Grogan and his three siblings grew up in a house full of saints’ effigies, attended a school run by ruler-wielding nuns and even spent family vacations at religious shrines, chapels and monasteries. Grogan defied his upbringing through each coming-of-age milestone: his first impure thoughts, which he couldn’t bare to divulge at his First Confession (the priest was a family friend); his first buzz from the communion wine he chugged with his fellow altar boys; and his coming to know women in the biblical sense. As Grogan matured, his unease with Church doctrine grew, and he realized he’d never share his parents’ religious zeal. Telling them he’s joined the ranks of the nonpracticing Catholics, however, is much easier said than done, even in adulthood. At 30, he fell in love with a Protestant, moved in with her and then married her-a sequence of events that crushed his parents. In this tenderly told story, Grogan considers the rift between the family he’s made and the family that made him-and how to bridge the two. The book will be released tomorrow, October 21st.

When I stopped into a Borders over the weekend, I saw that Gregory Maguire’s new book is also on the shelves. Maguire is the author of the unbelievably popular Wicked. His new book, A Lion Among Men is all about the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz.

While I was there, I picked up two new books (imagine that) that I’m very excited about reading. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has a new book out called The Free Range Knitter. I adore Stephanie’s writings – she is completley hilarious and any crafter (knitter or other) will identify with the themes that run through each of her books. I also bought The Lover’s Knot which is a Someday Quilters Mystery. This book is Clare O’Donohue’s first book. I’m a big fan of crafting-based books, so I’ll be sure to let you know what I think!

Without further ado, here is this week’s NY Times Bestseller List (fiction).

1. THE LUCKY ONE, by Nicholas Sparks. A marine returning home sets out to track down the woman whose photo he found in Iraq.
2. THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE, by David Wroblewski. A mute takes refuge with three dogs in the Wisconsin woods after his father’s death.
3. THE PIRATE KING, by R. A. Salvatore. In Book 2 of the Transitions fantasy series, Drizzt returns to Luskan, a city dominated by dangerous pirates.
4. A MOST WANTED MAN, by John le Carré. Intelligence agencies involved in the war on terror converge in Hamburg when a young Muslim man with mysterious connections shows up.
5. ONE FIFTH AVENUE, by Candace Bushnell. The worlds of gossip, theater and hedge funds have one address in common.
6. HEAT LIGHTNING, by John Sandford. Virgil Flowers investigates murder cases linked by a lemon in the mouth of each victim.
7. THE OTHER QUEEN, by Philippa Gregory. The captivity of Mary, Queen of Scots at the hands of Queen Elizabeth I.
8. GRACE, by Richard Paul Evans. A runaway girl and the two boys who try to save her, from the author of “The Christmas Box” and “The Gift.”
9. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer. Aliens have taken control of the minds and bodies of most humans, but one woman won’t surrender.
10. THE GIVEN DAY, by Dennis Lehane. A policeman, a fugitive and their families persevere in a turbulent Boston at the end of World War I.

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