by Jerome Mark Antil ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
Winsome stories of love and unbreakable bonds, notwithstanding tragedy or years of separation.
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Antil’s (The Book of Charlie, 2016, etc.) autobiographical short story collection features tales of family Christmases from his youth and a romance that stands the test of time.
In the opening of the titular love story, Jerry, rather appropriately, is enamored. It’s 1966, and the 20-something is a groomsman for a friend’s Long Island wedding. He catches a glimpse of one of the bridesmaids—Pamela, as it turns out—and is immediately smitten. The nearly 7-foot-tall groomsman is coupled with Pamela, the tallest of the women, for the ceremony, and they even get caught in a photo together with a passing Robert F. Kennedy. But after the wedding, Pamela heads back to Paris, where she works as a model. Ten years pass, and Jerry has the opportunity to spend an evening with Pamela, an unforgettable encounter before the two reunite decades later. Antil’s tale grows more endearing as the couple’s romance becomes more familiar. Jerry, for example, initially idolizes Pamela, whose modeling days were spent mingling with celebrities, but as he gets to know her (favorite movies and books), it’s an unquestionably strong connection between real people. The remaining trio of tales in the collection delves further back into Antil’s history, each revolving around Christmas with his family. The hilarious “Richard Leaves the Choir Breathless” spotlights 6-year-old Jerry’s older brother, Dick, who’s in trouble so often at Roman Catholic school he’s mastered the art of sleeping while standing in the corner. His performance for the school’s Christmas pageant is, not surprisingly, a showstopper. “Postwar Shortages and Shortfalls” is likewise amusing when a holiday gift for the children’s mother leads to a mishap at a bank that may traumatize the family with embarrassment. The book ends with “A Cazenovia Christmas Past,” the gloomiest of the bunch. In it, preteen Jerry and his siblings are shocked when their father is diagnosed with tuberculosis and leaves the family to stay at a sanatorium. Not sure when his dad will return, if at all, Jerry may miss out on the joy of the childhood he’s experiencing, including a summer job and young love with the new girl at school, Judy.
Winsome stories of love and unbreakable bonds, notwithstanding tragedy or years of separation.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 62
Publisher: Little York Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Max Brooks ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 16, 2020
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
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New York Times Bestseller
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
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BOOK TO SCREEN
by Colleen Hoover ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 2, 2016
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
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New York Times Bestseller
IndieBound Bestseller
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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