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Friday, August 26, 2011

In Malice, Quite Close and Hurricane Irene


Just published in early August,In Malice, Quite Close by Brandi Lynn Ryder arrived for me at Crandall this afternoon. I had to go to the college library today and then to Crandall to stock up on loads of children's picture books, as part of my preparation for the Children's Literature class I'm teaching, starting Thursday, September 8th. I've been putting in some long hours this week preparing.

But back to the subject of this post! Back to In Malice, Quite Close. This novel was a 2009 finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. It also earned high praise from Publisher's Weekly, which called it a "superbly crafted mystery....Lucid prose, snappy dialogue, and sharp characterization", etc.

Set in San Francisco and the Pacific coast of Washington State, this novel is immersed in the art world, particularly the world of art dealers, Impressionist art, and art auctions. I have been swept off my feet by the reviews that have been published by Kirkus Reviews, PW, and Bookpage, and the book has only been out three weeks.

So that will be my Hurricane Irene read. We're already worrying about the people up and down the East Coast, especially New York City. In the southern Adirondacks, we'll be getting inches upon inches of rain, but the forest, wetlands, and rivers can absorb it. The City can't. I'm worried about our friends on Long Island as well. On Sunday, I'll be tuned to the news while reading like crazy, since all our outdoor activities have been cancelled. Did you hear that, Sasha?

Up here we're lucky because we always have to be ready for a long-time loss of electric power. Like most people here, we have a gasoline generator to keep our well running, to make sure our refrigerator and freezer is running, and to give us a bit of light. We have a propane gas stove and oven, which is a godsend. No matter what happens, we can cook a meal. So actually, we're much better off in an emergency than when we lived in the Boston area.

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