the lowercase

Here’s some new books authors and publishers are giving away on Goodreads. Some of these end soon, so be sure and move quick:

• Parallelogram: Book 1: Into the Parallel (Volume 1) 
  by Robin Brande
  A giveaway for science fiction fans who want some adventure and romance to go with their quantum physics. Win signed copies of the first two installm…more
• Dragon Academy 
  by Diane Nelson 
  With high school finished for the summer, Nick looks forward to visiting his aunt and uncle in New Jersey. What awaits him is a heat wave like no othe…more
• Necropolis 
  by Michael Dempsey
  In a future where death is a thing of the past, how far would you go to solve your own murder? Paul Donner is a NYPD detective strugglin…more
• The Elf Girl 
  by Markelle Grabo
  Enter to win a signed copy of The Elf Girl! With her pale skin, emerald eyes, and pointy ears, Ramsey’s life has never been normal. When sh…more

Looking for something to read? Here’s five books I’ve read recently and really liked — would love to know what you think —Scott

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern - really liked it.  Story about a long standing battle/exhibition between two magicians.

The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To, D.C. Pierson - pretty good.  About two high school nerdy types who become friends.  One of them never has to sleep.  Story takes a strange scifi/supernatural twist towards the end which is weird, but interesting.

Warm Bodies: A Novel, Isaac Marion - reading now, but REALLY like it.  Like a Romeo and Juliet set post apocalyptically where Romeo is a zombie.

Under the Dome, Stephen King - good.  Book about a dome that suddenly entraps all the residents of a small town.  Mostly about the power struggles that ensue within the citizens but with a bit of a sci fi bent.  Took a while for the story to get really good though.

Freedom, Jonathan Franzen - Loved it.  Story of a really dysfunctional couple/family.  Spans the couple’s relationship.  Hard to summarize.

The Magician King, Lev Grossman - really lliked it.  Sequel to the Magicians.  Continues to follow several modern day magicians both in our world and in Fillory. 

The Leftovers, Tom Perotta - Liked it.  About the people left over after the rapture and how they cope with the loss of family/friends.

Rebecca Gale, author of Trying to Hard in Red (Boxfire Press), has some favorite books she thinks you should check out:

Roots by Alex Haley: Seeing the mini-series doesn’t cut it. This anthology of history, based on the author’s own biographical research, illuminates the pain of American slavery in such personal, harrowing detail. Even more fascinating is that Haley conducted all of this research before the Internet. 

Anya by Susan Fromberg Schaeffer: After reading this coming-of-age story set in Poland before and during WW2, I couldn’t believe this amazing book isn’t more well known. I was lucky to come across it on an obscure Amazon recommendation, and highly recommend it for anyone interested in Holocaust literature. 

American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld: I gained more insight into the Bush Administration from this book of fiction about George and Laura Bush than in all my years working on Capitol Hill. 

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: This classic is always worth a re-read at any age, particularly as the obstacles in the book (poverty, alcoholism, class distinctions) still ring true over 100 years after the novel was set. 

Exodus by Leon Uris: To understand the struggle of Israel, Uris paints different portraits of the WW2 refugees and Israeli-born sabras in the fight for independence. This is one of the best books to understand Israel’s current struggles in the context of how the state came to be.