Managed to make my way home from the ALA (American Library Association) conference in Chicago with bulging bags of swag without getting a hernia. I scored some great ARCs (advanced reading copies of books not yet in publication, but due out this year), including Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, the sequel to the uberpopular and Michigan Thumbs Up Best Teen book of 2008 award winner, Hunger Games. Anne Rice's Angel Time and Andrew McCall Smith's newest, due out in the US in December. Also discovered a new (to me) cozy mystery series, A Scumble River Mystery, Murder of a Royal Pain by Denise Swanson, featuring school psychologist Skye Dennison, and the battle of the PromFest Committee moms.
However, the book that has me totally blown away is Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon. He's not an author I'd read before..but I will be reading him from now on. If this book doesn't win awards or appear on NYT bestseller lists, there is no justice in this world.
Ryan, the recent Northwestern University drop-out, being rushed to a Michigan hospital.
Lucy, the 18 year old recent high school graduate, traveling cross-country with a new love, her former English teacher.
Miles, a 30 something magic store clerk, searching for his long-lost twin brother.
What could these three strangers possibility have in common?
Due out in August, this novel is a literary nautilus shell. Told in alternating chapters, Chaon swirls the lives of these three random people closer together as he explores the themes of personal identity and identity theft, with elements of a thriller to further keep you twisting along the paths of Ryan, Lucy, and Miles.
I'm having a difficult time finding books to compare it to. It has a high literary quality, an element of criminal mastermind, romance, slightly horrific thriller, teen appeal, with snippets of teachable moments regarding computer technology. Something to appeal to everyone I'd say!
I recommend this book for highschooler through adult, all genders.
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