Tuesday, June 5, 2012

My crème de la crème ~ so far ~ in 2012

When I saw "Crem Della Crem" in the title of today's Armchair BEA topic post, I wanted to ask, "Della who?"  What a hoot!  The sound-alike crème de la crème is from the French and means "the best of the best."
Today’s suggested posting topic is Best of 2012:  Share some of your favorite books so far this year, and/or the books being promoted at BEA that you hope will end up among your favorites for the year!
These two are the most memorable books I've read this year:
Zeitoun ~ by Dave Eggers, 2009, history (Louisiana), 10/10

The Breath of God ~ by Jeffrey Small, 2011, fiction (Bhutan, India, Georgia, Connecticut), 9.5/10

As for books being promoted, I listened to Barbara Kingsolver's talk streamed from the BEA breakfast this morning.  She talked about the changes in book production from papyrus to paper to digital.
"Durable things still endure. ... The nature of story has not changed in thousands of years. ... Nothing else out there puts you on the inside of another human mind ... That's our domain, we writers and readers and sellers of fiction.  This is the magical thing we do that cannot be replaced. ... What endures is the book."
Barbara Kingsolver's new book, to be published later this year, is Flight Behavior.
In the opening scene in the rural community of Feathertown, Tennessee, 29-year-old Dellarobia Turnbow is headed for a secluded mountain cabin to meet a man and initiate what she expects will be a self-destructive affair.  But the tryst never happens.  Instead, she walks into something on the mountainside she cannot explain or understand:  a forested valley filled with silent red fire that appears to her a miracle.  After years lived entirely in the confines of one small house, Dellarobia finds her path suddenly opening out, chapter by chapter, into blunt and confrontational engagement with her family, her church, her town, her continent, and finally the world at large.
I love Kingsolver's books, which include The Poisonwood Bible, High Tide in Tucson, and Prodigal Summer.

6 comments:

Lisa (Lisa's World of Books) said...

I have not heard of these before! Thanks for sharing!

Sarah Reads Too Much said...

I really feel like I need to read Zietoun. I keep hesitating though, and I am not sure why.

Helen's Book Blog said...

I really like Barbara Kingsolver, but find that I've enjoyed her earlier books more than her more recent ones

West Virginia Red said...

I adore Barbara Kingsolver. One of my very favorite authors. Off to add this one to my TBR pile.

melissa @ 1lbr said...

I haven't read either of those books or even any Kingsolver, but I would really like too. Good picks!

AmburHostyn said...

I haven't heard of those two. I'm going to have to check them out. :)

Thanks for sharing! :)
Ambur
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