Debut Summer Reads
Tuesday, May 18, 2010 So one thing I'm a big believer in - obvs, if you've been reading this blog for any length of time - is helping out the new guy. It's the reason that I now only blurb debut authors: at one point or another, we're ALL the new guys, and there is nothing more terrifying than being the new kid on the block. So, to that end, I wanted to highlight a few debut summer reads that I'm looking forward to and that I hope you will to.
DIAMOND RUBY by Joseph Wallace
What It's About: New York City in the 1920s was like a vast ocean swirling with treacherous currents: It was far easier to drown than to stay afloat. But young Ruby Thomas, newly responsible for her two nieces after a devastating tragedy, is determined to keep her family safe. She’s got street smarts, boundless determination, and one great skill: the ability to throw a ball as hard as the greatest pitchers in baseball-mad city.
Vividly portraying everything from Coney Island sideshows to the brand-new Yankee Stadium, Diamond Ruby chronicles the life and times of a girl who rises from utter poverty to the kind of renown only the Roaring Twenties can bring. But fame comes with a price, and Ruby must protect her family from Prohibition rum-runners, the Ku Klux Klan, and the gangster underworld. A sweeping epic whose breathtaking climax features a showdown with the great Babe Ruth, Diamond Ruby is filled with adventure, suspense, and characters you will never forget.
Where You Can Find Him: His website or on twitter: @joe_wallace
What It's About: Savannah "Van" Leone has been in love with Peter Clarke ever since she literally fell head over heels in front of him on the first day of college. Now, six years later, instead of standing across from him at the altar, Van's standing behind her best friend Janie as maid of honor, trying to mask her heartache and guilt as Janie marries the only man Van's ever loved. Before, Van's mother died, she told Van never to let Peter go, but as the couple exchanges vows, Van wonders if her fairy tale ending will ever come true.
After the wedding, Van drowns her sorrows in Kool-Aid-vodka cocktails and reruns of Rin Tin Tin, and does what any heartbroken woman in her situation would do: She impulsively buys a German Shepherd over the Internet. The pocket-size puppy Van is expecting turns out to be a clumsy, hundred-pound beast who only responds to commands in Slovak, and Van is at the end of her rope... until she realizes that this quirky giant may be the only living being who will always be loyal to her, no matter what.
Van affectionately names her dog Joe, and together, they work to mend the pieces of Van's shattered heart. And it certainly doesn't hurt that Joe's vet is a rugged sweetheart with floppy blond hair and a winning smile. But when the newlyweds return from their honeymoon, Van is forced to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice in order to have everything she ever wanted, proving that sometimes life needs to get more complicated before it can get better.
Where You Can Find Her: Her website or on twitter:@alliesanswers
Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelley Rowley
What It's About: LAY is the story of Quinn—born Prudence Quinn O’Malley—a confused young Manhattan attorney who loses her father on that tragic September morning that changed everything. Now, at an existential crossroads in her life, Quinn must confront impossible questions about commitment and career, love and loss. Her idealistic beau desperately wants a wedding, and whisks her away to Paris just to propose. But then Quinn has a dream— featuring judges and handcuffs and Nietzsche and Britney . . . and far too many grooms. Suddenly, her future isn’t so clear. Quinn’s world has become a minefield of men—some living, some gone, and traversing it safely is going to take a lot more than numerous glasses of pinot grigio.
Where You Can Find Her: Ivy League Insecurities or on twitter: @adonnrowley
Simply From Scratch by Alicia Bessette
What It's About:
Rose-Ellen “Zell” Carmichael Roy wears her late husband Nick’s camouflage apron even when she’s not in the kitchen. She can’t remember the last time she wore a bra, and she speaks to her dog in the voice of a pirate. That’s her widow style.
It’s been over a year since Nick died tragically during a post-Katrina relief mission in New Orleans. Long enough, according to the grief pamphlets, to have begun moving on with her life. But Zell is still unable to enter her attic, which is full of Nick memories. She hasn’t even turned on her oven because cooking was Nick’s chore. That is, until she decides to enter celebrity chef Polly Pinch’s first annual Desserts that Warm the Soul baking contest, hoping to win the $20,000 grand prize to donate to Katrina survivors in Nick’s honor.
Meanwhile, in the adjacent apartment of Zell’s two-family house, nine-year-old Ingrid Knox is learning to cope with the loneliness of growing up without a mother. With an imagination as big as her heart, Ingrid treasures her doting father but begins to plot how she will meet her mother, whom she fiercely believes is Polly Pinch.
When an embarrassing baking mishap brings Zell and Ingrid together, they form an unlikely friendship that will alter both of their lives forever. Together, and with the help of a lively and loveable cast of friends and family, they embark on winning the Desserts that Warm the Soul contest – and learn that through the many sorrows and joys of life, with a little bit of flour and a pinch of love, anything is possible.
Where You Can Find Her: Her website or on Twitter: @aliciabessette
Reader Comments (16)
Love this post. And love that you haven't forgotten what it's like to be the newbie. Thanks for recommending these reads and good luck to you all!
I didn't realize you only blurbed debut authors, that's really cool! I have a copy of Joe's book and I'm very excited for it, especially with all of the buzz it has been getting on Twitter. I'm also dying to read Alicia's book and have been ever since first reading the synopsis on The Debutante Ball.
Jen-Thanks! It's something that I've only decided this past year. It seems like a good way to lend support, and also, I don't know, seems fairer. I remember being the debut guy too. :)
Alicia's book is terrific! I haven't read the others, but I think it's wonderful you are supporting debut authors.
I put Simply from Scratch in my annual "best reads" piece - good stuff.
Jen-I read that when you posted it, and it made me super-excited to read it!
STAY is totally refreshing and SIMPLY FROM SCRATCH has Alicia Bessette as it's author!
"I now only blurb debut authors"
I don't think I realized that, but that's AWESOME. :)
Thanks for the reccos (because, you know, I needed more books to buy/not have time to read. J/k j/k! :P) Btw, if anyone's interested in winning a copy of LIFE AFTER YES, my friend Rebecca had a great interview with the author and is giving away a copy: http://virginnovelist.blogspot.com/2009/05/give-away-and-author-interview-with.html
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC copy of "Life After Yes." Loved it and love Aidan. Will have to check some of these others out as well.
Allison! I LOVE that you are doing this and all these books sound GREAT! I wanna get my hands on all of them and start reading right now! How cool of you to wanna help these debut authors out! Sounds great to me!
Kudos to you for supporting debut authors. . .I'll have to remember that when I get my deal. ;) And many of those books look wonderful -- can't wait to get my greedy eyes on 'em!
Wonderful recommendations...thanks, Allison! :)
Having waited politely for everyone else to go first, I'll now weigh in with a THANK YOU, ALLISON! for including my Diamond Ruby on your list. It means the world to this debut novelist.
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