As I mentioned earlier, I was excited about the Sisters Grim series by Michael Buckley. Having enjoyed the first book, I quickly picked up the next, The Unusual Suspects, and began reading.

It didn’t disappoint. The Unusual Suspects continues the madcap fun and adventure while ratcheting up the suspense and bringing in a darker element to the characters and stories. Here is a basic plot description:

In Book Two, the Sisters Grimm start school at Ferryport Landing Elementary. Daphne’s lucky enough to get Snow White for a teacher—she loves little people—but poor Sabrina’s stuck with Mr. Grumpner and a class of mildly psychotic sixth graders. When Mr. Grumpner is murdered in a particularly unusual way, it is up to the Grimms to find the Everafter who did it. If only Sabrina can get over her distrust of all Everafters. But how can she trust folks who just might be responsible for the disappearance of her parents?

This summary gets at the developments in the story. As always seems to be the case with characters who are experiencing puberty, while facing some pretty challenging circumstances at the same time, Sabrina begins to come off as an angry and rather unstable young girl. Hard to blame her seeing how she is trapped in a bizarre world, her parents have been kidnapped, and her teachers are dying around her. You can see how her emotions and loyalties are being pulled in a million different directions and it is driving her mad. Throw in the normal, but not always easy, challenges of growing up, and who wouldn’t be a little testy?

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A few links worth a gander:

- John Barlow’s Intoxicated: A Novel of Money, Madness, and the Invention of the World’s Favorite Soft Drink is being released in paperback today. And to whet your whistle so to speak, he has posted a Monty Python-esq teaser video. Please, check out the video and the book that the Washington Post said was a “gastronomical story that’s as surprising, funny and satisfying as a good belch.”

- Stephen Policoff, author of Beautiful Somewhere Else, alerts us to his essay, In Dreams Begin, in Review Americana on using dreams to teach writing. Could be useful to those of you actually trying to improve your writing (I am comfortable in my hackdom).

David Garland has followed-up his wonderful first book, Saratoga, with Valley Forge – which continues the exploits of British Captain Jamie Skoyles during the American Revolution. It is as well written as Saratoga.

Rather than having me explain the premise of the book, here is an excerpt from Publishers Weekly:

Garland picks up where Saratoga (2005) left off, with his British Revolutionary War soldier heroes, Capt. Jamie Skoyles and Sgt. Tom Caffrey, imprisoned after being captured at the British defeat at Saratoga in 1777. They quickly escape and, with girlfriends in tow, head toward the British stronghold in New York City, but split up along the way. Once back with the British Army, Skoyles is ordered to infiltrate Gen. George Washington’s headquarters at Valley Forge. Skoyles may be loyal to the king, but he also sympathizes with men who fight for freedom. Tormented by his conflicting feelings, he misleads both sides to protect a friend and American spy from discovery. Adding to Skoyles’s dilemma is an old enemy, Maj. Harry Featherstone, who, furious that Skoyles has stolen his fiancée, is out for revenge.

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In case you haven’t noticed, Dinesh D’Souza’s book, The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left and Its Responsibility for 9/11, is generating a lot of discussion (I am sure the publisher is happy). I for one, find the discussion fascinating and important. To that end to more links:

- Rod Dreher, who hasn’t finished reading the book yet, has some interesting comments on his blog. Here is basic summary of his point (which I think is a very valid one) but read the whole post:

The point I wish to make, though, is that D’Souza’s notion that American cultural conservatives have anything more than a superficial commonality with traditional Muslims strikes me as wrong. That doesn’t mean we should be fighting — I would hope for peaceful coexistence — but we shouldn’t pretend that all we US cultural conservatives need to do is to repudiate Michael Moore and Paris Hilton, and all will be well. The problem, from a pious Muslim point of view, is not Blue America. The problem is America itself, the nation-state personification of modernity. That may not be politically useful to the Right or the Left, but I believe it’s true.

- Rod links yet another interview with D’Souza this one with David Kuo.

- Also, be sure to check out last night’s debate between D’Souza and Jihad Watch’s Robert Spencer.

One of the perks of being a book blogger is the free books. The drawback is the guilt one sometimes feels at not being able to read and review all the books that find their way to you. There is often, for me at least, a sneaking suspicion that some gems are in that stack of books, but you only have so much time. The joy comes from the surprises; the books you are sent that allow you to find a book or author that you really enjoy but wouldn’t likely have found without the publicist.

I had this experience recently. The good folks at St. Martin’s sent me Keith Dixon’s soon to be released The Art of Losing. I will post a review here soon, but the jacket copy certainly piqued my interest:

Michael Jacobs, a talented but obscure New York City filmmaker, has just watched his third film flop at the box office. With few options available, Jacobs is tempted by the prospect of easy cash when Sebby Laslo, his producer, makes a one-time offer. With the help of a corrupt jockey, Laslo plans to fix a horse race, but his gambling debts have left him untouchable and he needs someone he can trust to be the public face of the operation. Though Laslo is known for taking risks, Jacobs, hoping to repay an old favor to his friend, agrees to help.

Jacobs soon meets two Atlantic City bookmakers: Nikos Popolosikc, a quietly menacing restaurateur known for breaking hands; and Lad Keegan, a soft-spoken bar owner whose superstitions are bad for his clients’ health. When Laslo’s plan fails, Jacobs, heavily in debt, is ensnared by a violent underworld he neither knows nor understands. In the inevitable reckoning, Jacobs and Laslo become hunted men—and only one of them will escape.

Keith Dixon’s second novel is a morality tale of stunning resonance and breathtaking symmetry. Hard-boiled yet deeply contemplative, allegorical yet starkly realistic, The Art of Losing divines the corrosive nature of greed, the terrible power of recklessness, and the consequences that erupt when those forces meet.

“Hard-boiled yet deeply contemplative, allegorical yet starkly realistic” sounded like my kind of book so I moved it up the TBR pile and read it. It turned out to be one of those gems I noted above, an enjoyable and entertaining read that also makes you think; an author that leaves you wanting to read more.

Seemed like an excellent candidate for a Collected Miscellany Q&A. Luckily, Keith was gracious enough to agree to answer a few questions. The interview that follows was conducted via email.

One side note: the book jacket describes the author thus:

Keith Dixon is an editor for The New York Times. His first novel, Ghostfires, was named one of the five best first novels of 2004 by Poets & Writers magazine. He lives in New York City with his wife, Jessica.

As you will see below, I was under the impression that “editor at the New York Times” meant editing text. That turns out not to be the case. I could have edited the questions and answers to avoid looking slightly silly, but I don’t think it unduly marred the proceedings so I left it in. After all blogs are supposed to be more immediate and honest, right?

The questions and answers are below.

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Yesterday I was noting my enjoyment of well designed and written children’s/young adult books. With the success of Harry Potter and Lemony Snicket this genre has really taken off. As with most publishing phenomena, however, there is a wide range of quality involved. I recently started reading a series that is at the high end of the quality spectrum: The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley.

I noticed the series some time ago while wandering the children’s section with my wife and daughter, but I put off buying them. (I often feel a little sheepish about buying and reading children’s/young adult books. I feel like the kid who always chose the smallest possible books for reports in school. I rationalize it by giving them to my friend’s kids or telling myself my daughter can read them when she gets older. This is all rather silly. The fact is, I find these books, and the whole genre, enjoyable and interesting. Plus, it is a service to my readers, right?) Anyway, when I came upon a discounted copy recently, I went ahead and bought the first book in the series: The Fairy-Tale Detectives. I am glad I did as it turned out to be a highly enjoyable and imaginative story with a great sense of humor.

As noted in the title, the story centers around sisters Daphne and Sabrina Grimm. When their parents disappear in mysterious fashion the two are sent to an orphanage and then to a variety of bad foster homes. Given their experience, the sisters are confused and cynical when they are told that their grandmother has called to claim them. Their father had always said that their grandparents were dead.

Upon meeting Relda Grimm, the older and more suspicious Sabrina is convinced they have been left in the care of the mentally unstable. Granny Relda lives in a large strange house where the front door has half-a-dozen locks, the windows are nailed shut, weird books are strewn all over the house, and her cooking consists of green meatballs and purple pasta. Sabrina is soon plotting their escape.

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Regular readers of this site know that I enjoy well designed and well written fiction for children or young adults. And like most fiction aficionados, I enjoy a good series as well. So when the latest Landon Snow adventure by R.K. Mortenson was featured by the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance I made a mental note to read it. I recently managed to do just that.

Landon Snow and the Island of Arcanum is the third book (following Landon Snow And the Auctor’s Riddle and Landon Snow and the Shadows of Malus Quidam) in this Christian fantasy series for younger readers.

Like the other books in the series, this one finds Landon in Minneapolis anticipating a trip to his grandparents in Button Up, Minnesota. This time Landon is playing football. But things get a little weird when, as he tries to avoid the tackle of a large classmate, he starts seeing weird animals instead of fellow football players. Given his past adventures, Landon wonders how this vision ties into his pending trip up north and whether he will once again visit Wonderwood and see his friends from that magical world.

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Sarah has the details on the 2007 Edgar Award Nominees. I wanted to point out that one of my favorite authors (and bloggers), Olen Steinhauer, is on the list. I am glad to see a book, Liberation Movements, that was probably my favorite fiction book of the year get some formal recognition. This may come as a shock, but a favorable review in this blog won’t get you a whole lot in the real world. A recognition like this goes a bit further.

Congrats to Olen, and to everyone else on the list, on the nomination.

Long time readers of this site will know that I have rather eclectic reading habits. I read everything from literary novels and classics to mystery and thrillers (from crime to spy to supernatural) and even young adult fiction. On the non-fiction side I jump around just as much: theology, history, politics, sports, pop cultural, and inspirational/devotional to name a few. I just seem unable to focus my attention on one subject or theme for any significant period of time.

Well, another subject that is important to me and has been added to the list is parenting. As the father of a nearly two-year-old daughter, I find parenting to be the most frightening and fulfilling thing I have ever done in my life. As an avid reader, I of course often look to books for insight and help. I thought I would mention a couple of books that have crossed my desk in this area in case any readers are interested in the subject.

Tricia Goyer’s Generation NeXt Parenting: A Savvy Parent’s Guide to Getting it Right brings a unique perspective to the challenge of parenting. It is aimed primarily aimed at “Generation Xers” (born between 1961-81) and those relatively young parents faced with the challenge of raising children in today’s hectic world.

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The Litblog Co-op has announced the Read This! Winter selection: Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong’o. I am afraid the odds are very much against me reading a 766 plus page novel. I just know my limits and can’t see that happening (I read and enjoyed the Autumn 2006 selection Firmin which was a slim 162 pages).

My guess is I will have to learn about this interesting work via the comments and content over at LBC.