Stocks of Local Interest
April 28, 2010"Lisa Sings Lee" (New Orleans)
April 30, 2010GAME CHANGE By John Heilemann & Mark Halperin HarperCollins, $27.99
Like flies on the wall, the authors, through well placed informants, expose the tangled state of affairs in the backrooms, boardrooms and bedrooms of the Clintons, Obamas, Edwards, McCains and Palins, revealing all the warts you missed in that long, drawn out race.
The 2008 campaign was “defined by big events, startling revelations,” according to Heilemann and Halperin, including the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Bill Clinton’s outbursts in South Carolina, “allegations about troubles in the McCain marriage” and the “mesmerizing, confounding, deeply polarizing emergency of Sarah Palin.”
And, of course, there was Hilary Clinton’s characterizations of Obama: “Instead of waiting his turn, he was now trying to jump the line” … and he was “naïve, callow and insubstantial.”
There’s so much more that will both startle and entertain in this non-fiction Book of the Year.
HORNS By Joe Hill William Morrow, $25.99
Ig Perrish is a fine, decent boy who is captivated by Merrin, a beautiful new girl in town and soon they are a pair, deeply in love. Then one night, Ig awakes from a drunken stupor to find Merrin raped and murdered, strangled with his necktie.
Ig violently protests his innocence but only the influence of his wealthy father keeps him from trial and certain prison, yet everyone in town is convinced of his guilt. Then, one year later, Ig (short for Ignatius) awakes from a night of boozing to find he had grown horns. Now, his life is more miserable than ever but as strange as he looks with his horns, they give him the amazing power to compel people to reveal their innermost secrets.
Ig determines to use this power to avenge Merrin’s death and expose the real killer.
31 BOND STREET By Lee Child Delacorte Press, $28
Jack Reacher, West Point grad and former Army MP, hitches a ride on a tourist bus filled with white-haired seniors on tour when the bus skids off the snow- and ice-covered road and crashes into a ditch. Passengers are transferred to Boulton, S.D., a small town with a big problem; protecting a widow who witnessed a drug deal and is targeted to be eliminated by a Mexican drug lord.
Local police have her well guarded until a siren signals a prison break and the entire police force leaves her alone with only Reacher to protect her while he attempts to solve the mystery of an abandoned building believed to be the meth lab supplying the Mexican.
Tension is heavy as the novel moves toward a typically explosive Reacher conclusion. Better bundle up for this one cause baby, it’s cold out there.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH MY PLANT? By David Deardorff and Kathryn Wadsworth
Timber Press, $24.95
Spring finally arrived this year and perhaps you’ve already planted flowers and vegetables. Now come the problems; plants fail to flower or flower poorly or have dropped buds.
What happened?
Insects send signals to their buddies to come and dine in your garden. You need help and you’ll find plenty in this fully illustrated book with specific remedies for virtually any of your plants. Included is “What’s Wrong With My Lawn?”
THE GREAT GATSBY By F. Scott Fitzgerald Scribner, $14.95 (or Free in the Big Read)
For the second consecutive year, the Big Read, a program to encourage the reading of classic novels, features another of America’s perennial favorites. “The Great Gatsby” concerns the wasteful lives of four wealthy characters whose affairs are narrated by their neighbor, Nick.
It’s an excellent choice for those who’ve never read it as well as for readers who come back to it often.
To join in the Big Read for the free book, Reader’s Guide, and CD, contact the Houma Regional Arts Council at (985) 873-6367.
