LemuriaBooks

This summer I am going to compile a list of the books that I am reading and suggest that you read for “Summer Reading”. I think that all books are “Beach Books” so there will something on the list for everyone. These are the books that I read in May…I will update the list at least twice a month from now on.

Oh, these books are in no particular order….

A Dangerous Age--Ellen Gilchrist
“The winner of the National Book Award returns with a moving story of a family of women drawn together by the terrors and trials of the times.”

American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White The Birth of the “It” Girl and the Crime of the Century--Paula Uruburu
“Paula Uruburu serves up an intriguing and meticulously researched slice of American history. Evelyn Nesbit typifies the glorious excesses of the Gilded Age, and this story has everything: sex, deception, drama, and a lurid love triangle, all culminating in the crime of the century.”
--Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second City

The Resurrectionist--Jack O’Connell
“The Resurrectionist-a brilliantly turned, mesmerizing labyrinth of a quasi-real world as only as master artist could draw it--will jazz you, floor you, grab you, shake you, and leave you hung out to dry. A brilliant breakthrough novel.”
---James Ellroy

The Billionaire’s Vinegar: The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine--Benjamin Wallace
“It is the fine details--the bouquet, the body, the notes, the finish--that make this book such a lasting pleasure, to be savored and remembered long after the last page is turned. Ben Wallace has told a splendid story just wonderfully, his touch light and deft, his instinct pitch perfect. Of all the marvelous legends of the wine trade, this curiously unforgettable saga most amply deserves the appellation: a classic.”--Simon Winchester

The Somnambulist--Jonathan Barnes
“A comic extravaganza, deftly plotted, fiendishly clever, and wonderfully funny. Jonathan Barnes combines a love of Victorian absurdity worth of Edward Gorey with the surrealistic invention of a London-obsessed Garcia Marquez. This parody penny dreadful is one of the classiest entertainments I’ve read in a long, long time.”--Christopher Bram, author of Exiles in America

Child 44--Tom Rob Smith
“This is a truly remarkable debut novel. Child 44 is a rare blend of great insight, excellent writing, and a refreshingly original story. Favorable comparisons to Gorky Park are inevitable, but Child 44 is in a class of its own.” --Nelson DeMille

Ok, as I was compiling my list I realized that I might have read one or two of these in April but I want you all to know about them anyway!! So come on in and see me because we have a long hot summer ahead and there are lots of good books coming out.

I’m reading as fast as I can!!!!

Today is May 10th, the day everyone has been waiting for, National Train Day! Are you looking for a way to "get your choo choo on?" If so, come by the store and get a copy of Howard Bahr's new novel, hot off the presses, Pelican Road. Howard's fourth novel chronicles the lives of characters working on the rail road in the early forties and has been a hit with all those who have read it so far. I haven't had a chance to read it myself yet, but truly enjoyed the segments he read on Thursday night at the kick off signing on his tour.

Well things are really coming along at Miss Eudora Welty's house. The staff members have moved their offices to the Education and Visitors Center next door to the Welty House. The Visitors Center will be used to show the orientation film (which is currently being showed in the garage) and many interpretive exhibits are being planned also. Miss Welty was always a great friend to Lemuria and we hope that after you tour the house that you will come on up the highway and visit us! We have a great selection of Miss Welty's work along with some very nice signed first editions. Of course, when Miss Welty stopped by one could always find her perusing the Mystery section which I hope that she would still find up to her specifications!

If you are interested in making reservations to tour The Welty House, call 601.353.7762 and follow this link for a virtual tour.

The Mississippi Historical Society gives the McLemore Prize every year to the best book on a subject related to Mississippi History. The 2007 McLemore Prize was awarded to Joseph Crespino for his book, In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution. The book examines how American politics has been shaped by white Mississippians' reaction to modern liberalism.

The prize, which carries a cash award, was established to honor and memorialize Richard A. McLemore, former president of the society and former director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and his wife, Nannie Pitts McLemore, who was also president of the society and together wrote many books and scholarly articles.

Everyone here at Lemuria wants to congratulate Joey on receiving this honor!!!

Many of you may know Philip Shirley as the CEO of the GodwinGroup, but he has recently published his first book, Oh Don't You Cry for Me. Shirley will be debuting his short story collection at Lemuria on April 1, where he will be signing at 5:30 and reading at 6:00. Below is Kirk Curnutt's review of Oh Don't You Cry for Me for the Alabama Writers' Forum. 

John Grisham's new book, Playing for Pizza, is out! The novels are for sale now but if you want a signed copy call us and let us reserve one (or 10!) for you... They will make great gifts. Check out Grisham on Colbert!

POINTS OF ORIGIN just received the Bronze in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards Regional Competition.

Congratulations to John Grisham for winning the British Book Award for Lifetime Achievment.

For all fans of Gayden Metcalfe - here she is with Lemuria's favorite mascot Harper.

It's hard to say what Larry Brown means to Mississippians and Southern Literature. I'll never forget that day - the day before Thanksgiving 2004 when Richard Howarth told me that Larry was gone. I haven't read the new book yet. I felt like I needed to go back and re-read some vintage Larry and remember why he stands so large in Southern Lit.

Yesterday I mentioned that I spent the day preparing for a sales call. Well, this is part of the book business that most people probably don't think about, but is probably one of the most crucial elements of an independent bookstore. The point is, we actually pick each book that goes on the shelf in Lemuria - we go through catalogs, meet with salespeople, and go over each sale. We personally decide which books go in our store, rather than someone in New York, or L.A. buying books for one section, or from one publisher. Anyway, today we met with our salesperson from Little Brown, the parent company of Miramax, the publisher of the phenomena BEING DEAD IS NO EXCUSE - a humorous book about hosting the perfect Southern funeral. So, our salesperson from Little Brown, David Leftwich, helped us prepare for the upcoming book from Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays, this one is about Southern Weddings - SOMEBODY IS GOING TO DIE IF LILLY BETH DOESN'T CATCH THAT BOUQUET. Check it out.

It's finally here- Ken Murphy's MISSISSIPPI. I was off for the weekend, but I knew the books were supposed to come in - let's just say, a lot of books. Anyway, John called me in to help unload/get a bunch of books signed. It took a couple of hours on my day off, but it's well worth it for a great book. Ken nearly lost these photos in Katrina. These and the photos from his first book, MY SOUTH COAST HOME, were the only personal belongings he was able to save. I personally believe that this is the best comprehensive photo book ever done of Mississippi.