Now that it’s July, it’s time to take a vote for the book from my growing TBR pile that I should read this month! This feature has turned into one of my favorites to do because it’s so interactive — you choose my book, then ask me questions about it for me to use in my review.
I’ve got a mix of new and old books in the poll this month, but they’re all fiction titles. If you don’t know anything about the books, follow the jump or scroll after the poll to read a summary of each that I pulled from online.
You can vote in the poll and/or leave your vote in the comments, I’ll tally everything up at the end of the week and announce the winner!
[polldaddy poll=1748642]
P.S. I’ll be out of town and off line for the entire weekend, so if a comment gets eaten by spam I’ll get it when I’m back. Happy 4th of July!
Book Summaries:
The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster:
From Wikipedia: “Set in the late 1980s, the story is written from the perspective of David Zimmer, a university professor who, after losing his wife and children in a plane crash, falls into a routine of depression and isolation. After seeing one of the silent comedies of Hector Mann, an actor missing since the 1920s, he decides to occupy himself by watching all of Mann’s films and writing a book about them. The publishing of the book, however, triggers another series of events that draw Zimmer even deeper into the actor’s past.”
Tomato Rhapsody by Adam Schell:
From Random House: “A village in Tuscany is the setting for this joyous debut—a novel that defies all our expectations as it puts a fresh, clever, captivating spin on the age-old tale of forbidden love. Rich in literary delights, filled with spectacular wordplay, and rife with the bawdy humor of Shakespeare’s comedies, Tomato Rhapsody is the almost-true tale of how the tomato came to Italy—at once a brilliantly inventive fable of love, lust, and longing, and a dazzling feast for the imagination.”
Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos:
From Book List (via Amazon): “Cornelia is a single thirtysomething who lives her life like a series of movie moments. She’s a manager of a cafe because she hasn’t figured out anything better to do. Her ideal man is Cary Grant. And just when she thinks he’ll never show up, he does, in the form of Martin Grace. What she doesn’t know is that Martin, with his cool charm and debonair demeanor, has a daughter, Clare. And she never would have known that except that Martin, in a state of panic, shows up with the girl at the cafe after her mother had a breakdown and left Clare to fend for herself.”
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich:
From Wikipedia: “Erdrich explores sixty years of a small group of Chippewa (aka Ojibwa or Anishinaabe) living on a fictional reservation in North Dakota. Each chapter is narrated by a different character. These narratives are very conversational, as if the narrators were telling a story, often from the first-person perspective. The narratives follow a loose chronology aside from the first chapter (set in 1981). The tone of the novel is very conversational and indicative of the storytelling tradition in Native American culture.”
Comments on this entry are closed.
I haven’t read any of them, but I’ve heard great things about Louise Erdrich, so I voted for Love Medicine. Have a great weekend!
I voted for Paul Auster, because I have a few books by him that I haven’t actually read yet, and I’d love to know what you think of him!
Louise Erdich is quite cool so that’s who got my vote.
I was listening to the audiobook of A Plague of Doves from the library when my commuting stopped for the summer, and then it was due at the library, so I never finished it. I looked at it in a bookstore and saw I only have about 40 pages left, so I’m waiting for a library copy to come available again. In the meantime, I’d like to see what you think of Love Medicine!
I vote for Louise Erdich, i read the ‘Beet Queen’ this spring and loved it.
book of illusions is one of auster`s masterpieces.
I voted for Love Walked In, but if you read Paul Auster, I want to know why I keep seeing his name everywhere, but know nothing about him or his books.
I am cross with Paul Auster so I vote for Love Walked In. Have a happy 4th! (Ooo, the poll is going my way. Eeeexcellent.)
I voted for “Love walked in” although it was a tie with Paul Auster. I don’t know much about the other books though! 🙂
Tomato Rhapsody gets my vote. How can you do better than ‘joyous debut—a novel that defies all our expectations’? Besides, I read a non-fiction account of how the tomato got to Italy and found it fascinating.
And I’ve tagged you for a meme if you feel like doing one.
I’ve got Tomato Rhapsody on my summer TBR pile too, and I think it looks like it’s going to be fantastic, so that gets my vote.
Paul Auster because I love him! But I haven’t read The Book of Illusions, so I’m curious to hear what you think about it.
I haven’t read any of the others, but they sound good. You’ve picked some good ones. =)
I think you should read “Turbulenece at 67 Inches” the autobiography of Howard Camner. Why do I think that? First because I enjoy your reviews and secondly because I’m him. Here’s a press release:
http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200907/1247333891.html
It’s way off the beaten path, as the kids say. But you may just like it.
Be well,
H