Life on the Front Lines: "I just don't have the time!"

Hi Readers,
This post is a hodgepodge of anecdotes, new paperback releases, and a few not-to-be-missed picture books.  My next post may be more cohesive.

Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway (my favorite author) hits the shelves on March 20th.  Watch the trailer for it here.  And that is all I will say about it for now (a feat of remarkable self-control).

Anecdotes
My favorite story of the month comes from an interaction I had with an 8 year old.  When he comes into the store, he beelines for the Geronimo Stilton (mouse detective!) books with the hope that there's one he doesn't own.  One time his mom stopped by for suggestions of other series he might enjoy.  I handed her the first book in the Rangers Apprentice series knowing he had devoured all of the Percy Jackson books.  Last time he visited, I asked if he had started it.  When he said no, I asked him why.  He said, "I just don't have the time."  !!!!!!  He's too devoted to Gernoimo Stilton to stray; he'd rather re-read books from that series than start a new one.  I admire him for knowing what he wants to read and sticking to it.

Another favorite is when book club members see the book they're supposed to read next and quickly decide to skip the meeting instead of having to read said book.  This most often happens when another member slips a fat history book, a hardcover with a distant paperback release date, or a novel with a bad cover into the rotation.

New Paperback Releases
I have been looking forward to the paperback release of two books that I think were far too underappreciated when they came out in hardcover.  Please, read them and be impressed.

In the Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier, suddenly, pain causes light to shoot from bodies.  Physical suffering is visible to everyone.  Different folks deal with this sudden change with a range of emotions.  And yet, somehow, life carries on, days pass and it becomes a non-phenomenon.  Brockmeier's ability to describe the twists and turns of humanity left me impressed.  He's one of those authors who suprises with the truth of this sentences.  In paperback on February 21st.

The Beauty of Humanity Movement by Camilla Gibb will be a good book club book.  There's plenty to discuss.  Cultures change a lot with regime change.  Pho, a delicious Vietnamese noodle soup, brings different generations together in Hanoi.  I started loving the stubborness of the characters and ended up loving them for their tenacity and care for each other.  Have your own staycation while you read this.

Picture Books
And now... some picture books.  What better way to beat the winter blues than to read a charming story out loud to yourself, your kids, or your significant lover?!

Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson is full of timeless illustrations.  Otto lives in a book.  When his book is abandoned in an empty house, he's forced to go out into the world to find a new home.  Turn the pages to see where he ends up and how he gets there.  Otto the Book Bear is worth reading and re-reading.

You put the words to the illustrations-only story in The Tree House by Marije and Ronald Tolman.  Whenever I read this book about two bears who find a treehouse in the middle of the ocean, I'm filled with a sense of wonder and my imagination wakes up.

Until next time may winter bring you more time for reading,
Hannah