Life's a Beach by Claire Cook

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Tartisilacak Kitap: Life's a Beach by Claire Cook

Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
By the bestselling author of Must Love Dogs, the story of two grown-up sisters who fight like cats andd dogs ��” but call each other at least twice a day.
When Must Love Dogs was published, the Chicago Tribune called it "pitch-perfect" and the Washington Post declared, "Readers will hope that Claire Cook will be telling breezy summer stories from the South Shore of Massachusetts for seasons to come." Luckily for her legions of fans, Cook returns with another sparkling romantic comedy that's reminiscent of Must Love Dogs in all the right ways, but very much its own animal — about a relationship-challenged single woman, her quirky-to-put-it-mildly extended family, and the summer the shark movie came to town.
Life's a bit of a beach these days for Ginger Walsh, who's single at forty-one and living back home in the family FROG (Finished Room Over Garage). She's hoping for a more fulfilling life as a sea glass artist, but instead is babysitting her sister's kids and sharing overnights with Noah, her sexy artist boyfriend with commitment issues and a dog Ginger's cat isn't too crazy about. Geri, her BlackBerry-obsessed sister, is also nearly over the deep end about her pending fiftieth birthday (and might just drag Ginger with her). Toss in a dumpster-picking father, a Kama Sutra T-shirt-wearing mother, a movie crew come to town with a very cute gaffer, an on-again-off-again glassblower boyfriend, plus a couple of Red Hat realtors, and hilarity ensues. The perfect summer read, Life's a Beach is a warm, witty, and wise look at what it takes to move forward at any stage in life.
Review:
"Must Love Dogs author Cook returns with Ginger Walsh, 41, who has ditched her job in sales and moved above her parent's garage with a cat she calls Boyfriend — despite (or because of) her casual relationship with alluring glassblower Noah. As big sister Geri gets anxious about her impending 50th, their parents decide to sell the house, and Geri's second-grader Riley lands a small role in a horror movie being filmed in their quaint New England town. Ginger babysits Riley on the set and meets a gaffer who may be charming enough to make her forget all about Noah. Cook's wit and unflagging heart save this moderately paced beach read from its anticlimactic ending. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"'Must Love Dogs author Cook returns with Ginger Walsh, 41, who has ditched her job in sales and moved above her parent's garage with a cat she calls Boyfriend — despite (or because of) her casual relationship with alluring glassblower Noah. As big sister Geri gets anxious about her impending 50th, their parents decide to sell the house, and Geri's second-grader Riley lands a small role in a horror movie being filmed in their quaint New England town. Ginger babysits Riley on the set and meets a gaffer who may be charming enough to make her forget all about Noah. Cook's wit and unflagging heart save this moderately paced beach read from its anticlimactic ending. (June)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"Cook...ably catalogues the issues facing 40-something women, but the generic settings and tepid romances prevent this book from taking off." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"In this lighthearted, breezy read, Cook...displays a wry sense of humor and knows how to write realistic characters." Library Journal
Review:
"[F]illed with hilarity, sister love and sister hate, juicy arguments and hard-won reconciliations, but most of all, heart." Adriana Trigiani, author of Return to Big Stone Gap
Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of "Must Love Dogs" comes the story of two grown-up sisters who fight like cats and dogs--but call each other at least twice a day.
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About the Author
Claire Cook is the author of Must Love Dogs, Multiple Choice, and Ready to Fall. She lives in Scituate, Massachusetts, with her husband, where they are occasionally visited by their borderline adult children and their laundry.(http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9781401303242-2)

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

ABOUT THE BOOK
Macon Leary hates travelling and writes guide books for these businessmen who feel the same. The ‘Accidental Tourist’ series tells them how to travel in such a way that they will feel that they have never left home. Macon however, finds himself unable to provide a guidebook for his soul – he fails to save his marriage and cannot come to terms with the random, senseless death of his son. His answer is to retreat into a downward spiral of complex rituals and habits that threaten to take over his life. Two random incidents that leave Macon with a broken leg and a need to get his dog trained become a potential turning point in his life, but the question is whether Macon’s retreat into the comfortable and habit and conformity has gone to far to allow him to grab the moment and take his life down another unknown route.
‘My favourite writer, and the best line-and-length novelist in the world, is Anne Tyler, the Americna author of The Accidental Tourist and Saint Maybe… Brilliant, funny, sad and senstive’ Nick Hornby, Author of High Fidelity and How To Be Good
‘Anne Tyler gets better with every book, and this one is a triumph – funny, profound, sad and ultimately reassuring.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Now poignant, now funny… Anne Tyler is brilliant’ New York Times Book Review
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but grew up in North Carolina, as the daughter of an industrial chemist and a social worker. The family lived among various Quaker communities in the rural south before settling in Raleigh, North Carolina. These years formed background for her Southern literary flavour, which is seen in the settings of her fiction.
At the age of 19 Tyler graduated from Duke University, North Carolina, where she twice won the Anne Flexner Award for creative writing She did post-graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University before settling in Baltimore, where she has lived for much of her adult life, If Morning Ever Comes in 1964 and became a full-time writer in 1967. She is the author of 14 novels of which The Accidental Tourist won a National Book Critics Circle Award in 1986 and was made into a film starring William Hurt and Kathleen Turner in 1988, and Breathing Lessons was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1989. The Amateur Marriage was published in 2004.
Anne Tyler was nominated by Roddy Doyle and Nick Hornby in The Sunday Times survey in 1994 as ‘the greatest living novelists writing in English.
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
www.realsimple.com
When your children were young, did you ever worry that being a mother and a writer were mutually exclusive?
I learned early that I cared much, much more about my family than my writing. If a novel wasn't going well, I could still enjoy my children, but if one of my children was sick, I couldn't even remember what the novel was about. In that way, I've been lucky. I didn't have to deal with any serious inner conflicts.
What kind of writing schedule, if any, do you follow?
I try to write every weekday, starting fairly early in the morning and stopping in the afternoon, because my mind always seems to "click off" later in the day. I believe in the importance of routine - going into the same room every morning, sitting in the same place on the couch, hearing the same birds in the tree outside my window.
Do you keep any kind of journal when writing a novel?
No, no journal. It seems to me that writing about writing would weaken any impetus to undertake the writing itself. I do have a cardboard box filled with three-by-five index cards on which I've very briefly - telegraphically - jotted down random daydreams, or phrases that intrigue me, or thoughts about "what if." What if such-and-such a type of character had to deal with such-and-such a situation? That sort of thing.
I write with a Parker 75 fountain pen, a No. 62 nib (I live in fear they'll be discontinued), and black ink on unlined paper. I rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, and then put what I've written into a computer. But I rewrite it all over again in longhand at the end because the slow pace of longhand and the silence (no clicking of keys) make it easier for me to catch false notes.
How does Baltimore nourish you as a writer?
Baltimore is so much its very own self, with its own language and style and way of looking at things, that a novel set there just seems automatically to develop extra layers. It's a wonderful gift for a writer. I can't imagine living anywhere else.
Which of your novels was the most difficult to write? Which experience was the most pleasurable? Is there an early work you still feel especially proud of?
I always think the most recent book was the most difficult. Certainly the most pleasurable was Searching for Caleb. Writing that was like attending a long party. And the book I'm proudest of is Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, because it's the one that most closely resembles my original vision of it.
What happens after you finish a novel? Is it difficult to let go of certain stories or characters?
After I send a manuscript off to my agent, I always picture my central characters riding the train alone to New York City, looking hopeful and a little scared, and I feel very protective of them. If my agent calls later to say he likes the book, I think, Well, bless their hearts, they made it after all! And then I more or less forget them (more information http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/offthepage/guide.htm?command=Search&db=/catalog/main.txt&eqisbndata=0099480018)

Mutluluk-Bliss by Zulfu Livaneli

Mutluluk-Bliss by Zulfu Livaneli

Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Meryem, a fifteen-year-old girl, lives in a rural village on the shores of Lake Van in Eastern Turkey. Her simple life changes dramatically after her uncle, a sheikh in a dervish order, rapes her. She is considered an outcast for shaming her family. When she is locked in a shed and left alone for days, she comes to the painful realization that her family expects her to hang herself with a length of rope left on the dirt floor. But she is defiant.
As tradition still has it, a judgment must be made in the name of honor. She is told she is to be taken to Istanbul, a shining city she envisions being just over the nearest mountain. Many girls from her village have "gone to Istanbul," and she assumes it must be a wonderful place since not one has returned. In fact, those girls have been the victims of "honor-killings."
Cemal, Meryem's cousin, a commando in the army, has been fighting in the mountains against the rebels. On his return home, he is welcomed as a hero though he has been severely traumatized by his war experiences. His father, who had violated Meryem, charges Cemal with the task of executing his cousin's punishment. As he and Mereym begin their journey, they proceed through the marketplace where the townspeople have gathered, some weeping and others mocking her.
In Istanbul, a Harvard-educated professor named Irfan lives an elite existence. He has published many books, hosts a radio show, and seems to enjoy success and jet-set freedom. He revolts against the routine of his soulless life, deciding to leave his wealthy wife and Istanbul. He charters a boat to sail the Aegean. By coincidence, his path crosses with that of Meryem and Cemal. They embark on a journey togetherthat fills their hearts with hope and sets them free.
Already an international bestseller, this lyrical and moving tale juxtaposes the traditional and modern and draws attention to human rights violations against women in the Middle East.
Review:
"The paths of three characters converge to illustrate, perhaps too patly, the conflicts of contemporary Turkey. Raped by her uncle, the sheikh, 15-year-old villager Meryem has shamed her family. To save the family name, Cemal, the sheikh's son, a soldier home from his tour fighting Kurds in the Gabar Mountains, is ordered by his father to take Meryem to Istanbul and to murder her. When Cemal and Meryem reach Istanbul, they are shocked by the cosmopolitan city, full of women wearing low-cut blouses and children who disobey their parents. Cemal falters at the moment of decision and, instead of murdering Meryem, travels with her to the seaside, where they encounter Irfan, a successful Istanbul professor who, plagued by insomnia and anxiety, has fled his cushy life to set sail in the Aegean Sea. Irfan offers them jobs on his boat and forges a tenuous mentorship with Meryem, but Cemal, whose psychological torment is richly captured early in the book, is soon reduced to a glowering presence. Livaneli, a former exile who was elected to Turkey's Parliament in 2002, takes great pains to reveal his country's complex culture, but the result often reads like a cautionary fable. Readers should prepare themselves for heavy-handed allegory." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"A writer, composer, and elected member of the Turkish parliament, Livaneli offers readers a fascinating look at the diversity of Turkey today in his American debut." Library Journal
Review:
"Eye-opening and deeply moving — essential for anyone looking for decency in the world today." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"[T]his novel by an eminent Turkish writer and member of Parliament tells a gripping contemporary story that gets behind stereotypes of exotic Islam to reveal the diversity in individual people and the secrets and lies, cruelty and love, in family, friendship, and public life." Booklist
Review:
"Livaneli is an essential force in Turkey's musical, cultural and political scene." Orhan Pamuk, author of the national bestseller, Snow
Synopsis:
Already an international bestseller, this lyrical story ripped from the headlines embodies the sweep and contradictions of modern Turkey and shows that lovely things can happen in the space between wounded people.
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About the Author
O.Z. Livaneli is one of Turkey's most prominent and popular authors as well as an accomplished musician and composer, whose works have been recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. He was held under military detention during the coup of March 12, 1971 and lived in exile for eight years. He studied music in Stockholm, then lived in Paris and Athens, returning to Turkey in 1984. He was one of the founders of the Turkish-Kurdish Peace Movement and the initiator of the Campaign Against Violence in Turkey, and he has made significant contributions to the Greek-Turkish Frienship Committee. He was elected a Member of Parliament in 2002.
(http://www.powells.com/biblio/97803123605350