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Archive for November, 2009

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Nov 17

Posted by The Valet in Fiction | 2 Comments

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

Coincidence, or not? A recent episode of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm centered on a swan. Albeit, it was a black one but regardless of that it was a swan. Here in this book we again have a swan being centered on. Ahh, how bizarre is this world we live in, trust me I know. Granted of course this book and that episode have nothing whatsoever in common.

Let me backtrack a little bit. The swan wasn’t actually that central to this story. It was, but it wasn’t. Yeah, I’m being a bit elusive,  it was that kind of book.

For those of you eagerly awaiting the release of Kostova’s latest book, following the much heralded and incredibly intriguing The Historian, I am afraid you may be slightly disappointed. I guess it really all depends on what you’re hoping or looking for. I read The Historian some time ago and when I heard Ms. Kostova had a new book being released I petitioned pretty hard to get an advanced reading copy of it, which I clearly did. You see, I really liked The Historian and figured I’d like this book as well. What I had hoped for was more of the same I guess. I wanted more castles, more Vlad the Impaler, more strong characters, more complex story lines more mystery and thrill. Alas, The Swan Thieves was very much not so most of these things. It did have a strong character or two and it did have a couple of complex story lines but it lacked the elements I was pretty excited about.

I was certainly a bit disappointed that this story was not about a historical adventure. Instead it was more about art, love, obsession and madness. Again, not what I expected. Let me make something clear though, this book was still pretty good. I guess I just wanted everyone to know that should they expect something fantastical like The Historian they will not get it in The Swan Thieves.

Stop looking at me swan, just keep reading

This Weeks Book Events, LA (week of 11/19)

Nov 16

Posted by The Valet in Events | No Comments

Los Angeles, I’m not feeling that well. So, thank you for not making me write about a whole ton of literary events in your region today. I’m guessing it’s just exhaustion but either way I’d be pretty tempted to finish this post later if you had more going on. You know, I just don’t get it, how come you’re events are so limited? I know, I sound like a broken record cause i say it every week but I find it bizarre. And I mean for instance this week you’ve got a former drug addict professional tennis player, a porn “god” and a mystery writer you may not have ever heard of. I know there is more going on and why don’t I know about it? Ok, you can probably sense my illness at this point given my deteriorating writing skills.

Wednesday, November 18th
@ 7pm
- Adam Glasser aka Seymore Butts will be signing and presenting his book Rock Her World: The Sex Guide for the Modern Man at Book Soup. If you’re a man and are going to try and pretend that you don’t know who this guy is, take it somewhere else. Next to Ron Jeremy, this guy is pretty much second in charge of the porn world. Look, I don’t know any of his work personally, but I and my peers are expected to know things like that. I’m not going to go into details regarding his book, I’ll leave it up to you as to whether or not you want to research this signing any further.

Thursday, November 19th
@ 12pm
- Andre Agassi, former pro tennis player and now author, will be signing his book Open: An Autobiography at Vromans. At one time in my life I was a pretty avid tennis player and I have to admit that Agassi was certainly one of my favorite players. There has been a lot of publicity regarding this book of late as it is very detailed and Agassi admits to his use of crystal meth. Unfortunately I think this has drawn quite a bit of attention for him and the book despite the fact that the book reveals much more than just that about this one time incredible tennis player.

Saturday, November 21st
@ 5pm
- Michelle Gagnon, author, will be signing and discussing her latest thriller Gatekeeper at The Mystery Bookstore. Because I wanted to have a few more events this week to provide readers with I chose this one as it features a San Francisco writer. And secretly I kind of think Michelle is pretty hot, despite the fact that she has a family. I think it’s ok for me to admit that. She is also an established mystery writer and I would expect that her new book will be pretty good.

This Weeks Book Events, SF (week of 11/16)

Nov 16

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Somehow someway I’m still trapped in September. Bizarre, I know. Given the oddities of last week a part of me wishes that it is actually September and not midway through November. It pretty much felt like I was in Bizarro World, (which believe it or not is a fictional place in comic books, and yes I wikied that to figure that out) everything that happened was pretty much surreal. I did watch my first ever episode of gossip girl which was, to say the least, enlightening (after all, a Hillary Duff threesome can pretty much make anything enlightening). I ran into old friends, read a few books, did some laundry with disastrous results and had some other transcendent experiences. With any luck this week will be err, more straightforward.

Wednesday, November 18th
@ 7pm
- Mark Coggins & Michelle Gagnon, authors, will be signing and discussing their latest thrillers The Big Wake-Up and Gatekeeper, respectively, at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Because I wanted to have a few more events this week to provide my local readers with I chose this one as it features two San Francisco writers. And secretly I kind of think Michelle is pretty hot, despite the fact that she has a family. I think it’s ok for me to admit that. Both of these authors though are established mystery writers and I would expect that both of their new books will be pretty good. Ms. Gagnon will also be appearing at a Great Good Place for Books in Oakland on Thursday, November 19th @ 7pm.

Thursday November 19th
@ 730pm
- Andre Agassi, former pro tennis player and now author, will be signing his book Open: An Autobiography at Book Passage in Corte Madera. Just so you know you’ll need to purchase a book at the store to get a ticket for the signing. At one time in my life I was a pretty avid tennis player and I have to admit that Agassi was certainly one of my favorite players. There has been a lot of publicity regarding this book of late as it is very detailed and Agassi admits to his use of crystal meth. Unfortunately I think this has drawn quite a bit of attention for him and the book despite the fact that the book reveals much more than just that about this one time incredible tennis player. Mr. Agassi will also be signing copies of his book at Books, Inc. in San Francisco on Friday, November 20th @ 6pm.

Friday, November 20th
@ 630pm
- The Booksmith is hosting a book swap in their store. For $25 (kind of dear if you ask me) you can indulge in wine and appetizers while discussing your favorite recent books. The theme for this particular event is books you’ve read more than once and at the end of the evening, as the name implies, you swap books! If you’re excited about books, have some money for food and beverage and want to talk, check it out.

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

Nov 12

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A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn

Being the honest person and book blogger I am, I will say outright that I read this book last Spring before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye. So why then or how can I accurately review it? Well, that’s a great question, thanks for asking. Let me explain.

While researching this week’s book events I came across an interesting event. Interesting, well, I’ll let you be the judge. Anyhow, David Fuller, author of Sweetsmoke is/was signing copies of his book at Book Passage. Of course this has nothing at all to do with A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn, the book I’m reviewing here, but somehow I started thinking about Nunn’s book. I know super weird that a book taking place during the civil war, Sweetsmoke, would make me think of A Beautiful Place to Die which pretty much takes place as far from the US and the Civil War as you can get. I began to remember this book and realized that even though it’s been a long time since I’ve read it I believe I can still write a fairly decent review of it. In essence, this is kind of like an experiment for me. I’ve never thought of myself as having a particular good memory so the very fact that I can remember anything about this book is startling. And thus, you have my explanation.

I think one of the major reasons this book has remained with me is the fact that it’s set in South Africa at a time, in the 50′s, when apartheid was a large part of life in that country. I guess it struck a chord cause honestly you don’t see much written about that time period. I’m sure you could if you searched and if I had to take a gander most of it would probably be non-fiction. I liked the fact that this was fiction and in a way I felt like it accurately portrayed the attitutdes and the way of life for people during that time.

I like making people click links…

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Nov 10

Posted by The Valet in Fiction | 6 Comments

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Wow. I think the first thing I need to do is apologize to my mother. At some point in time my siblings and I gave this book to our beloved mom as a gift. What a crappy gift it turned out to be.

I knew my luck had to run out sooner later. Every book I’ve read recently I’ve thoroughly enjoyed, until now. For the first time in ages I seriously and heavily considered putting a book down and not finishing it. Luckily for me while dining on some fairly decent sashimi at a local sushi joint by my lonesome I managed to get through the book. I secretly wished I had spilled soy sauce all over it so I would have an excuse to just stop reading it.

Alright, so I think I’ve covered that the fact that I really didn’t like this book. Now I’ll tell you why. Let’s start with the most obvious thing. It was so disjointed, convoluted and broken that it was impossible to actually ever get into or believe the story. Ok, of course you’re not supposed to believe the story seeing as it’s about a herd of sheep solving a murder but it was so jumpy that I actually despised it. I know I’m being really harsh but I’m not going to be shy.

Each of the sheep in the story has their own personality. Ok, I can go with that. Each sheep has their own knack/talent, I can go with that too. But what I can’t go with is the way they were shoddily meshed together. Ms. Swann does provide the reader with a short description/introduction of each of the sheep at the beginning of the book but really, I didn’t find it that helpful. All in all there were probably about 4 sheep in the story that had any relevance. The others were really just there to confuse you, make you feel dumber and be boring.

Ok, now lets get onto the story. Frankly, it stunk. I don’t really feel like I ever figured exactly what happened. I’ve already told you the premise, sheep and murder, that about sums that up. The final chapter clears things up a bit but not to the point where I can understand each characters, sheep or human, role in the story development.

Now I’m trying to find something halfway decent to say so I’ll start with the fact that it was slightly amusing the way Swann depicted the way the sheep see our world. For example, not understanding what a priest is they think he is actually God. I mean not exactly hysterical, but cute I suppose.

The only other thing that I thought was somewhat cute about this book was the jumping sheep you could see by fanning the pages. You know, like those little books you got as a cracker jack prize where you flip the pages to see a story. Yeah, well Ms. Swann did us all a favor and put in a sheep jumping which you can see on the right hand pages.

My opinion, go ahead and skip this one. Valet out.

This Weeks Book Events, LA (week of 11/9)

Nov 9

Posted by The Valet in Events | No Comments

Los Angeles, this post is dedicated to Layne only because I know she probably won’t read this and even if she did she certainly wouldn’t be going to any of these events. I’m not saying she isn’t into books, she just doesn’t have the time. Yep, first dedication, sorry suckas maybe you’ll be next. Oh, and there really is no reason for this dedication what so ever, I just like to try and be silly sometimes. I’m guessing the sun is shining and it doesn’t feel like Fall at all in LA other than the fact that it now gets dark earlier (which I really don’t like), and the traffic probably gets worse since a lot of people in Southern California can’t drive. So, be good drivers, be safe and be careful and drive yourself to some of these events!

Monday, November 9th
@ 7pm
- John Hodgman, not really an author (although some would argue with me on that one) but worth noting here, will be appearing and talking at Book Soup about his book More Information Than You Require. I guess this book is some sort of trivia compilation, and that’s really all I can tell you about it. You all know Hodgman, this much I am sure of, whether it be from the Daily Show or his role as “PC” in those Apple commercials, you know he is a funny man. If you’ve got the time and want to see the funny guy yourself get to Book Soup.

Thursday, November 12th
@ 730pm
- Al Gore, former vice-president and 2007 co-nobel peace prize winner for his environmental work will talk about and sign copies of his latest book Our Choice at The Saban Theater, presented by Book Soup. Seeing as Mr. Gore is such the high profile celebrity the event will cost you $40 and for that you will receive a copy of the book, have it personally signed by Mr. Gore and have the pleasure of watching him speak. Chew on that. From what I understand Our Choice basically takes off from where Mr. Gore’s first book An Inconvenient Truth
 left off, in which he describes the solutions to solve the problem of global warming. It’d be a cool event to go to, but, to spend that kind of money to watch and listen to Mr. Gore seems like a bit much to me.

Holy Moly, my apologies, maybe you should just stay outside and enjoy the weather. Why does LA have so few book events, I don’t get it. Someone please explain!

This Weeks Book Events, SF (week of 11/9)

Nov 9

Posted by The Valet in Events | No Comments

As the rain gently falls on the concrete jungle outside my window I want to reflect on the past. Ha, ok I don’t. I just felt like being somewhat poetic, if you can call that sentence that. Anyways, Fall is officially upon us. I step outside and there’s this kinda creepy feeling but aside from that the air is crisp, the ladies are bundled (ie no longer wearing short anything), the umbrellas are prepped and all I want to do is get cozy and read. That is, until Winter hits and I can get out on my shred stick and shred the gnar. But don’t be silly you may say, the snow is here. Well… in SF one has to drive considerable lengths to touch the pure white so for the time being I’m settling for snowboard videos. What can a boy do? Oh, I almost forgot what this post is all about. Fall brings book events, book events are good, go get some.

Monday, November 9th
@ 7pm
- Al Gore, former vice-president and 2007 co-nobel peace prize winner for his environmental work will talk about and sign copies of his latest book Our Choice at Dominican University, presented by Book Passage. Seeing as Mr. Gore is such the high profile celebrity the event will cost you $32 and for that you will receive a copy of the book, have it personally signed by Mr. Gore and have the pleasure of watching him speak via telecast since seating in the main auditorium is now sold out. Chew on that. From what I understand Our Choice basically takes off from where Mr. Gore’s first book An Inconvenient Truth
 left off, in which he describes the solutions to solve the problem of global warming. It’d be a cool event to go to, but, to spend that kind of money to watch a telecast seems a little absurd.

Tuesday, November 10th
@ 8pm
- Michael Chabon, author, will discussing his latest book Manhood for Amateurs with Adam Gopnik as part of the City Arts & Lectures series at the Herbst Theater. Being a pretty big fan of Mr. Chabon I would highly recommend you pick up some of his books if you have not read him before. The Yiddish Policmen’s Union and Gentleman of the Road were both very entertaining but The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is by far his greatest work to date and put simply its awesome! The new book is actually a series of essays showing reflections of the way we live. Mr. Gopnik, has been a long time writer for The New Yorker, has won various awards for his journalistic skills, written a children’s book and most recently put out a book of his essays and historical meditations.

Wednesday, November 11th
@ 7pm
- Garth Stein, author, will be signing copies of his incredibly good book The Art of Racing in the Rain at The Book Passage in Corte Madera. Although this event is in Corte Madera, I may actually try to get there to see him. I truly enjoyed this book and would really like to hear Mr. Stein speak about the book in person. I’d really like to know where the inspiration and the idea of writing the book from the perspective which he did came from. With any luck you’ll have an event review of this next week. No promises though, I’m just not that kind of guy.

Thursday, November 12th
@ 4pm
- They Might be Giants, band and now authors will be be putting on a mini-concert and signing copies of their new sing-along book Kids Go! at the Booksmith in the Haight. I thought this would be a fun event to go to until I realized that it’s early in the day and therefore really is targeted for kids and their parents. So… Kids Go! is, believe it or not, a follow up to their first children’s book Bed, Bed, Bed. Who knew? Anyways, the book is about two children and their adventures in… having fun! Which is pretty much what I’m always trying to do. If I had a child, I’d be pretty prone to check out this book.

Friday, November 13th
@ 10am
- David Fuller, author, will be signing copies and discussing his book Sweetsmoke at The Book Passage in Corte Madera. I’m not going to lie, 10am is an awkward time for an author signing. I read an advanced reading copy of Sweetsmoke some time ago and liked it enough. I didn’t think it was anything spectacular but it was an enjoyable read. I’m always interested in civil war stories and this was that along with a murder mystery. If those two topics interest and, well, you’re not working or sleeping at 10am on Friday morning go to meet Mr. Fuller and hear more about his book.

Forever by Pete Hamill

Nov 5

Posted by The Valet in Fiction | 1 Comment

Forever by Pete Hamill

Forever by Pete Hamill

Familiar with the 1986 movie Highlander? Come on boys and girls, don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about. The movie starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery, both of whom are immortal, that has spawned numerous sequels/prequels and a tv show. Ok, glad we covered that.

You’re probably asking yourself “why is the Valet making allusions to a rad cult film (in his eyes) when he’s supposed to be writing about a book?” Well give me a second and I’ll explain.

You see, when I finally started to get into Pete Hamill’s Forever I was immediately struck by the similarities between it and Highlander. I am completely aware and confident that Mr. Hamill did not directly intend to do this but the similarities are uncanny. We have a lad growing up in Ireland (ok, Highlander was born in Scotland, but the countries are close), immortals, special swords forged by a blacksmith, banishment (in a sense), beheading, love, passage of time and lastly New York. Naturally, someone out there I’m sure can think of other books or movies that have the same elements, but come on go with me on this one.

Ok, enough crap. I know you’re getting tired of it. So Forever, what can I say, it was a fantastic read. I’m sure it’s not for everyone but it truly has every element for nearly all types of people. As I mentioned above it’s got love, it’s got violence, it’s got mystery, it’s got history and it’s got guts. Somehow I really didn’t see the end coming and then POW it hits ya. Seriously, I was surprised. Then again I didn’t really bother to see when the book was published (yes, that is a hint, so I would avoid looking if you can).

The juicy stuff is through here!

Post Mortem Book Store Review: The Yellow Book Road

Nov 4

Posted by The Valet in Other | 6 Comments

yellow logo

80's logo, can you tell?

So, the Yellow Book Road isn’t actually dead. There is still a children’s book store that goes by this name but I can tell you it is most definitely not the Yellow Book Road that I have fond memories of.

Yes, it is bizarre that I’m reviewing a store that in my mind no longer exists but there is a perfectly good reason for my doing so. Mostly for the memories and secondly for my mother and Susie. You see, my mother and one of her best friends, Susie, first opened the store in La Mesa, California in 1986. The first location was above a pediatricians office (obviously ideal for a children’s bookstore), next door to a Mexican restaurant and very close to Aquarius Roller Rink (that place was rad). I have fond memories of that upstairs location but the bulk of my memories are of the store when it moved to it’s much much larger location on La Mesa Blvd. in downtown La Mesa.

Being owned by my mom, and still being rather young, you can probably imagine the amount of time I spent there. Looking back on it now I would like to remember it as being similar to a giant playground full of the written word. Unfortunately, at the time, I wasn’t so interested in that. Regardless, it was always cool to be there (although my mom will probably tell you I wasn’t always so pleased).

The store was constantly having authors in the store, whole classes of students and who knows what else. I mean there was always something going on. Back in the day I can remember a 10, possibly more, page newsletter, I mean seriously, this was for a children’s book store. My mom and Susie worked with school districts all over the country helping to make sure that schools got just the books they needed and wanted. It’s really quite amazing to look back and reflect on that. They worked incredibly hard and ran a very successful, well known and very well respected business.

But of course there’s more, and pictures too!

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Nov 3

Posted by The Valet in Fiction | 6 Comments

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Growing up I never really had any desire to have a dog, of course that is no longer the case. Back then though I think I felt that way because few of my friends had one and the only dog nearby was my neighbors (don’t worry Josh, I won’t tell the Tippy story). I know my dad always wanted one, or so I think, but due to his busy schedule and there not really being anyone to look after a dog we never got one, instead we settled for a cat and reptiles. These days though it seems as though dog’s are the rather “in” thing. I go to the park and see a plethora of 20 somethings being pulled around by pugs, bulldogs, retrievers and every other breed imaginable. I kind of wonder though what happens when they are no longer puppies.

Now, my brother has a dog and I think my sister is in the process of getting one. Charlie, my brother and sister-in-laws dog, (pictures below) is a real charmer. When my brother first adopted him I kindly chided him for getting such a small dog but over the years I’ve actually come to quite enjoy the little guy. I have no doubt that my sisters future dog will be much the same.

It comes as no big surprise to me that my brother and dad both recommended The Art of Racing in the Rain to me given that the story is written from the perspective of a dog. If you don’t already know that and didn’t want to know that I’m sorry if that spoiled anything for you (it doesn’t spoil anything though). I actually had no idea of this until I picked it up and started to read. What I really didn’t anticipate was a heart wrenching story that could almost bring a man to tears. Don’t take that the wrong way, I’m still tough as nails, I mean it could also just as easily bring a woman to the same.

“D’ya like dags?” (cute pictures of Charlie the dog this way)

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