Be A Johnny Appleread

Flyleaf Books is recruiting "givers" for World Book Night.  You must sign up to be a giver before THE NEW DEADLINE IS MIDNIGHT 6 FEBRUARY.  The actual day for giving away 20 paperback copies of a book isn't until 23 April.

The organizers are encouraging people to spread their love of reading and books to nonreaders and those who don't have easy access to books.  Suggested places to give books are coffee shops, hospitals, churches, community centers, shelters, shopping mall parking lots, movie theaters, town halls, the DMV, grocery stores, barber shops, salons and anywhere else people gather who may need a good book to read.

If you are approved as a giver, you will pick up 20 copies of your selected book at Flyleaf Books on Monday, 16 April.  We will host a meet and greet party for all givers of books.  

Click to see the list of books you can choose from to give away. 

It's quick and easy to register to be a giver.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page for the link to the application. 

Join in the fun.  Ask you friends and family to participate.  Share your joy of reading and books.

Book Club Night - Monday 1/23 6:00 - 8:00

Bring your friends, book club members and anyone else interested in hearing about recommended reading. Flyleaf staff and representatives from Random House will be on hand to talk about some good reads for book clubs.  It should be a lot of fun.

Shakespeare and Sisters

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown is a story about how childhood connections haunt us into adulthood.  Three sisters return to their Andreas family home to care for their ailing mother.  Cordelia discovers their mother is ill through a veiled letter from her father, a Shakespeare scholar at the local college, who communicates through quotes from Shakespeare's plays.  The note arrives with this message - Come, let us go; and pray to all the gods/For our beloved mother in her pains.


The sisters, Cordelia (Cordy), Rosemund (Rose) and Bianca (Bean), know each other as well as they know The Bard's plays and sonnets. At least they know the childhood siblings that they grew up with. The adult sisters don't see one another often and have tried to escape the college town they grew up in.


Brown allows the sisters to tell the story by varying the point of view.  The misunderstandings are funny and poignant.  The sisters develop adult relationships while revisiting their childhood and taking care of their mother.  In the meantime, they gain a bit of insight into themselves.


My favorite passage in the book is an homage to the life of a true reader, one who will find time for books no matter what else is happening.  Sound like anyone you know?


Eleanor Brown will be at Flyleaf Books for a reading Thursday evening 16 February at 7:00.

My Favorite Book Event of the Year

The 2012 version of the The Morning News Tournament of Books begins 7 March.  If you are unfamiliar with this event, check out the website at the link above.  Flyleaf Books will have a special display of all of the books in the tournament.  Get your copies of these great reads now.  The judges will start discussing the books on 7 March.  Reading the judges opinions of the books is fun and enlightening. 


Nathacha Appanah, The Last Brother
Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
Teju Cole, Open City
Helen DeWitt, Lightning Rods
Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers
Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot
Chad Harbach, The Art of Fielding
Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger’s Child
Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
Haruki Murakami, IQ84
Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife
Michael Ondaatje, The Cat’s Table
Ann Patchett, State of Wonder
Donald Ray Pollock, The Devil All the Time
Karen Russell, Swamplandia
Kate Zambreno, Green Girl

The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright

I enjoy Anne Enright’s sparse prose.  She leaves space for the reader to fill in the blanks without leaving one wondering where she is taking her characters.  That was as true in her book The Gathering as it is in her new book The Forgotten Waltz.  The story of the dissolution of two marriages set against the demise of the Irish economy is wrenching.  Enright’s characters are not naturally endearing, however she imbues them with all of the foibles and flaws of real human beings.  You may not like Gina and Sean or their decisions,  but you might recognize them in people you might know.

A Few Books to Watch for in 2012

The Great 2012 Book Preview from The Millions –

 http://www.themillions.com/2012/01/most-anticipated-the-great-2012-book-preview.html

Flavorwire's Most Anticipated Books of 2012

http://flavorwire.com/245506/flavorpills-most-anticipated-books-of-2012

The Daily Beast's 2012 Book Preview

http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/01/01/book-preview-2012.html