That Kim, she be like that!! Is this similar to the old royal families having a taste tester before the meal was served? I do so appreciate all you do for us, Kim!!!
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That’s actually not a bad analogy, @NanK, although it’s really other BookBrowse staff that do the “tasting” for the most part. We have other folks that you haven’t met that scour lists of upcoming books and industry publications to come up with a longlist. Another person whittles that down to a shortlist. Reviewers like myself then choose a selection from the shortlist - so that’s at least three levels of review before a book is featured (and about 10% get dumped by the reviewer after they’ve read the book). I’ve been doing this long enough that I’ve got a little more latitude to pick a book if I see something trending that didn’t make it to one of the lists, but generally that’s the process we use.
… probably more than you wanted to know!
Plus, y’all have excellent taste on your own, and there are certainly times when you select something we bypassed that we feature after-the-fact. The Correspondent is one example, Isola is another.
I think you will like Heartwood, Stephanie, for the wilderness and the characters. Amity Gaige did such a great job of bringing the different mother characters out throughout the story, a very heartfelt as well as exciting and suspenseful story.
I just also finished Sea Wife by the same author. This story is told primarily from the separate points of view of the husband and the wife who are sailing multiple seas (tho there is really only one) with their two small children while their marriage is somewhat adrift itself. I am such a fan of Amity Gaige - how she develops characters and unfolds her stories in unique ways.
Very interesting process. Of course my curiosity leads to a question - what criteria is considered when whittling to a shortlist? I appreciate the screening done by BB knowing how many books are published every year!
Thanks – I’ll add that to my list!
And yes, I noticed London Falling isn’t even out yet and it already has a ton of holds on it on my library’s Libby.
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@NanK to get to the longlist, a book has to be pretty well-regarded in the first place, so we’re not starting from scratch. We look at many different outlets that cover upcoming books, like Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Booklist, Library Journal… there are a bunch.
Once that list is compiled, the process becomes more subjective. We do tend to weed out books that might have a more limited appeal, or books that won’t be relevant a few years from now. I do think that we end up leaning more toward literary fiction and historical fiction as a result, but I also feel that those genres are where most of the quality writing is at the moment.
Does that help?
Just finished The List of Suspicious Things, a coming of age mystery set in Yorkshire with two girls trying to catch a serial killer. Deals with grief and family dynamics.
Also just read Ashland by Dan Simon. Written in an interesting narrative style, it follows a girl and her family as they deal with loss and family connections.
Last week I read Jeanette McCurdy’s new novel, Half His Age- a sex charged novel about a young teenager who aggressively pursues her older and married teacher . The graphic sex was not the problem here- it’s just not a good story.
I’m excited to be reading Sujata Massey’s new novel about the continued exploits of Bombay’s first female lawyer who gets in and out of trouble trying to unravel new mysterious cases. The book, The Star of Calcutta, is the newest pleasure in the Perveen Mistry series.
That’s helpful. I’m aware of the reviewing journals you mentioned as they are the mainstay for libraries and more. BB has an interesting process. Thanks for the response.
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I am nearly a completist on Brooks fiction. My favorites were People of the Book-the first I read, Caleb’s Crossing and The Year of Wonders. What a remarkable writer!
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@Harriet_T I’ve been really interested in Ashland. Is there any more you can say about why you liked it?
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@Barbara_B1 we are of many tastes which is the flavor that makes book discussions interesting. People of the Book was my least favorite and a real test of my endurance.
It is written in several voices and slips around in time, both devices of which I am not a huge fan, but somehow I didn’t even notice them in this book. The main character is a very bright and mature person even from childhood. You find yourself rooting for her although the family is going through a lot of challenges. There are several interesting lesser characters too: the couple who live in the nearest cabin, the writing teacher, her father’s mother. Just some very good writing!
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Very good. I’m not a big fan of moving around in time but I’ll take your word that it doesn’t bother. Thanks so much for the extra report.