Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 364 pages, 2008

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: I love reading books set in India and Africa and this met the latter requirement.

Synopsis: In this collection of five short stories (though I’d make the argument that two of them approach novella length), each story focuses on children in a different African country. In one, two siblings might be sold into slavery by their uncle, in another a Muslim boy tries to fake Christianity in order to survive a dangerous bus ride across the border, in another a young boy watches his sister as she aims to turn prostitution into a way to capture the riches of white men. In all of the stories there’s a terrible but hopeful struggle for survival and even a quest for something better on a continent where life is often brutal and short.

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The Tease:

Everyone, especially the police, knew that Pat had taken out his arch rivals. And as luck would have it, nobody, including the police, cared. Billy Spot’s demise had been on the cards for a while, it was just a case of who would be responsible, as opposed to when it would happen. Pat Brodie had been a contender for a while and the sensible money had been on him.

Available: July 1, 2008

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 388 pages, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: I’ve read a few of Patterson’s books a number of years back but took a break when they seemed to be getting a little too fluffy for my tastes…but enough time has passed to try again.

Synopsis: Katherine Dunne is disappointed to leave her new husband on shore but hopes that taking a trip on a personal boat with her former brother-in-law and three kids will bring them together again, a feeling they haven’t had since her first husband passed away four years ago. A disaster strikes and they’re going to be forced to work together if they want to live, especially when it seems that all the disasters at sea aren’t so natural…

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Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 320 pages, 2008

Rating: 9/10

Reason for Reading: Remember that episode of Sex and the City where the women get a place in the Hamptons and craziness happens, especially with Charlotte pretending to be younger in order to date someone? I figured any place that brought that out in people was worth a revisit in book form (with different characters, of course).

Synopsis: Forty people, five-person bedrooms, more booze than a person should see in a lifetime, and a strange body in your bed: this must be a share-house in the Hamptons, where the rich and famous summer…or where 20-something New Yorkers with $2000 (and endless patience) can grab a handful of weekends in a party house that might not be quite on par with the celebrity lifestyle they’re trying to buy a piece of. Three friends with very different attitudes find themselves trying to navigate a share-house in an attempt to find love, random hookups, or just a hell of a party…

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Five lucky winners will each win a copy of all of the following fourteen books:

To Enter
Simply email bookbrothel@gmail.com with ‘Summer Giveaway’ in the subject heading line. (I can’t accept entries via the comments here, so please email!)
In the body of the email, please let me know:
1. Your name
2. Your location (town and province/state is fine)
3. The answer to the following question:

What is the name of the Anne Siddons novel coming out in August 2008?

The fine print
1. The contest is open from now until 11:59EST July 9, 2008. One entry per person, please!
2. The five winners will be selected at random and contacted by email requesting their full mailing address. If there is no response by July 13, 2008, alternate winner(s) will be selected. The winners will be announced on the website in a (Lisa Y. of Toronto, Ontario) format to protect privacy.
3. This contest is only open to residents of Canada and the United States - sorry!
4. Personal information will only be used by The Book Brothel for the purpose of this contest and will not be sold or given away.

Best of luck to all at winning a fantastic box of goodies!

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Trade, 295 pages, 2007

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: I like to load up on thrillers in the summer.

Synopsis: A note dropped on a table in a café right before it explodes saves the life of medical journalist Nat Idle - a note that he’s convinced features the handwriting of his dead girlfriend, a woman who was at the top of her career in Silicon Valley. Nat has a lot to piece together - a bomb that almost killed him, a dead girlfriend who may be alive, and enough corruption and deceit for him to question his sanity…

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The Tease:

‘Woman, leave this business to me,’ he said, rebuking her. ‘I’m not going to sit here and let any Honolulus run away with our daughter. They must marry her properly.’
‘You should talk,’ Mama said. ‘Did you come to my father’s house for my hand?’
‘Nobody pays for trouble,’ Baba said. ‘You’re trouble. If I just touch you, you get pregnant. If I even look at you - twins, just like that. Too, too ripe.’
‘Me am always the problem,’ Mama said, her voice rising.
‘All me am saying is we must to treat the tourist well.’

Available: June 9, 2008

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

E-book, 81 pages, 2008

Rating: 8/10

Reason for Reading: Sometimes a girl just needs a romance story. And let’s face it, that cover and any site named Book Brothel just belong together.

Synopsis: Meg is hunting through the jungles of South America looking for ancient runes and treasures when one of her guides shoots a jaguar. In tending to it, she realizes she may have found a different sort of gem - the jaguar can turn into a man. A gorgeous, highly muscled, incredibly sexy man that just might prove to be as wild as she is - if they can survive the jungle long enough to find out…

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I had to bring this up, since the The Booker Prize is my favourite literary award…to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the most prestigious literary prize in the English speaking world, a panel of judges have come up with a shortlist for the Best of the Booker - a prize that will be decided by the readers. There have actually been 41 winners since the award’s inception in 1969 owing to double winners in two years (1992 - Micael Ondaatje’s The English Patient and Barry Unsworth’s Sacred Hunger; and 1974 - Nadine Gordimer’s The Conservationist and Stanley Middleton’s Holiday), with the 2008 winner being decided in October. To vote, go to the website here and let them know which of the following six books was your favourite Booker Prize winner:

The Ghost Road by Pat Barker
Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey
Disgrace by JM Coetzee
The Siege of Krishnapur by J G Farrell
The Conservationist by Nadine Gordimer
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

Previously, Rushdie won the Booker of Bookers with Midnight’s Children to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Booker Prize.

The Chair of the committee, biographer, novelist and critic Victoria Glendinnig, said of the process and choices: It was a great experience, revisiting all the Booker and Man Booker Prize winners, and very tough arriving at the shortlist - but we really feel that the six novels we picked represent the best fiction-writing of the past 40 years and that each one of them will stand the test of time. As to which of the six is the most important, and the most enjoyable, the Best of Booker - that is up to the readers to decide.’

Voting is open from now until July 8. The winner will be announced on July 10, 2008.

Reviewed by L.D.Y.

Hardcover, 439 pages, 2008

Rating: 10/10

Reason for Reading: Always happy to try out a new thriller author - especially one who had a big-name director (Ridley Scott, American Gangster) attached to the movie adaptation a year before his debut novel was even in stores.

Synopsis: It’s hard for atrocities to stand out in Stalin’s brutal Russian regime during the 1950s - everyone is a potential enemy of the state, and men, women, and children are routinely rounded up and killed with no more than the fear-induced pointing of a finger. But staunch supporter of the regime, Leo Demidov, has found something that may stand out as horrific even amongst his own brutalities: the possibility of a serial killer who focuses only on children. The problem? According to the ideologies of Stalin, there is no crime, and all efforts to investigate the killings make Leo a rebel and betrayer of state policies. In order to pursue a criminal, he must become one, endangering his life and those of his family…

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