Review of Purge

Purge
by Sofi Oksanen
Adult fiction/historical fiction
Pub date April 2010

I'm always a little nervous when I pick up a translated novel, because I've read a lot of bad translations in my day. Thanks to authors like Henning Mankell, Steig Larsson, and Ninni Holmqvist, there are more and more great translations coming from previously overlooked parts of the world. This is one of them. Oksanen is a new Finnish-Estonian novelist, and this is not the last you'll hear of her. Purge tells the story of two women: Aliide Truu, who lives alone in the Estonian countryside, and Zara, a girl whom Aliide finds in her backyard one morning. Through their cryptic conversations and heartbreaking memories, Oksanen slowly spins a tale of a changing Estonia, and the women who have lived there. On the jacket copy it says, "Purge is a fiercely compelling and damning novel about the corrosive effects of shame, and life in a time and place where to survive is to be implicated." It is also a beautifully written story of redemption, which I highly recommend to book groups everywhere.

review of Thief Eyes

Thief Eyes
by Janni Lee Simner
Young Adult Fantasy
Pub date 4/27/2010

I loved this book so much that I read it in one day. I'm always impressed when a book inspires a burning desire to read another book...in this case, it's the Icelandic saga Njal's Saga. Thief Eyes is about a sixteen-year-old girl, Haley, who follows her father to Iceland so she can see the place where her mother disappeared a year previously. There she finds a strange coin that brings her nothing but trouble. Soon she discovers that her mother was caught in an ancient magic--and, by picking up the coin, so is she. Thus begins her journey through Iceland's myths and history.

Haley is accompanied by Ari, an Icelandic boy whose mother works with Haley's father. Together they must navigate a world that they thought was only a legend.

The thing I liked most about this book was the way that Simner made Haley a real person. So many adventure stories show a character transforming instantly into a (sometimes bumbling) hero, but not Haley. She was a completely believable human being from beginning to end, with all the hesitation and confusion that comes with being human. The writing was great, too--and, like I said, it made me want to pick up an Icelandic saga for casual reading. Bravo, Janni Lee Simner.

Review by Sydney

Something Like Fate
by Susane Colasanti
Young adult fiction
Due May 4, 2010
Review by Sydney McGillis

Something like fate, by Susane Colasanti, is about a teenage girl who meets a guy she finally connects with... yet is dating her best friend Erin. Lani finds herself torn between the guy of her dreams, and her best friend that also saved her life. When Erin figures out about Lani and Jason's romance will their friendship be over? Read to find out if Lani chooses friendship or romance, in this novel by Colasanti.

Macmillan vs. Amazon

Everyone and their mother, at least in the book community, has weighed in on the Amazon vs. Macmillan debacle this week. (For what I deem to be the best recap, go here: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=2138) Everyone seems to be on the same side: Amazon is the bad guy, Macmillan is the brave little toaster. I completely agree. Amazon makes decisions based on the pockets of its employees, with no regard for the authors, booksellers, publicists, editors, and reps that they are systematically putting out of business. Soon its own model is going to kill it, at least as far as books go. Macmillan has done a courageous thing by putting their collective foot down, even though they must be losing a crazy amount of money.

I want to thank the brave souls at Macmillan who made the decision to face down the giant. Even though Amazon has allegedly conceded, Macmillan books still aren't available on Amazon after several days. As a former indie bookseller, I greatly appreciate the stand that Macmillan has taken on my behalf.

So, thank you, Macmillan. And thank you to our Macmillan reps, Kevin and Gigi, who are awesome.