Friday Top 5: Must-Read New Novels

When it came time to go in search of this week's Friday Top 5, we knew immediately that we must seek out Kathryn & Kerry in order to discover which of the endless number of new novels are actually good.

Here, then, are the five new novels you really ought to read as soon as possible.

1. The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton

...fans of Morton's earlier novel, The House at Riverton or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale will love The Forgotten Garden

Kate Morton is a young Australian author who writes so beautifully that we've been known to fight over who gets to choose her books on our monthly employee picks lists.

In The Forgotten Garden, a woman discovers that her beloved grandmother had a secret past—as a child, she was found abandoned on a ship from England to Australia, with no memory of her past and only a suitcase and a book of illustrated fairy tales to hint at her origins.

We won't spoil the book by telling you more, but we will say that fans of Morton's earlier novel, The House at Riverton or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale will love The Forgotten Garden.

2. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is a book about a book, which we always like.

In 1969 Mississippi, a young white woman decides to write—anonymously—about the world of maids & other house help. She collects true stories about the unfair treatment and complicated lives of seventeen black maids, and becomes convinced to become a social activist.

3. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

A wonderful saga!

In Ethiopia, a nun dies giving birth to twins, and their alleged father disappears. The orphaned boys are left to be raised by doctors at the hospital where their mother worked and died.

"A wonderful saga!" says Kerry, who also told us the novel contains plenty of intrigue and scandal.

4. Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

From the author of Shadow of the Wind, this is another novel that takes place in Barcelona against the backdrop of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Also available on compact disc.

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

We had to put this charming book at the bottom of this list simply because we recommend it so often—we do try to be fair.

In the interest of not going on for pages and pages about the merits of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, we will just tell you it's new in paperback, we hope you'll read it as soon as possible.

Friday Top 5: Young Adult Fiction

Our children's department (located in what used to be the shop next door to Chaucer's) has its own dedicated staff: Lana, Blanca, Rose, and sometimes Jordan and Summers.

When you spend so much time around books for young people, you can't help but become a bit of an expert...

This week, Lana, our teen & young adult literature expert, has listed the very best of the new teen fiction for us.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group
by Catherine Jinks

Think vampires are romantic, sexy, and powerful? Vampires are dead. And unless they want to end up staked, they must stop fanging people, admit their addiction, and join a support group.

A refreshing, funny antidote to the guilty pleasure of intense, doomed romance-y, vampire-themed bestsellers.

If I Stay,
by Gayle Forman

A poignant story about a girl who, after an accident puts her into a coma, spends the down-time reliving the past few days in light of her difficult relationships with her parents and little brother. Soon, the important question becomes clear: will she stay and fight to recover her will to live, or should she let go and slip away?
"Pulls your heart-strings," says Lana.

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

We get a lot of people asking us what they should read when they're finished with the Twilight Saga... The Hunger Games is absolutely the right book

Suzanne Collins says the idea for this book is based on the Greek myth of the Minotaur, and the children who were shut inside the labyrinth to feed the monster each year.

Katniss Everdeen is forced to compete against a group of teenagers in a nationally-televised reality show with a twist. In the Hunger Games, contestants aren't voted off the show—they have to fight to win, and only one of them will survive the competition.

Stephenie Meyer (author of Twilight) couldn't put this book down, and neither could we. We get a lot of people asking us what they should read when they've finished the Twilight Saga—they want another addictive, compelling novel to get lost in. Well, if that sounds like you, then The Hunger Games is absolutely the right book for you.

Suzanne Collins hasn't written for teens before The Hunger Games, but her Underland Series is a favorite of the chapter-book set. First book in that series: Gregor the Overlander.

We should also mention—possibly because we've been taking turns staying up far too late to finish the advance reader copy, but we'll deny it if asked—that the sequel to The Hunger Games is due out in September. It's called Catching Fire, and it's every bit as good as the first book.

Hero
by Perry Moore

Life as a superhero is not always easy, especially when you're gay, your father's a has-been, and you haven't even found out what your super-strength is yet.
Lana chose this book, in part, because of its focus on father-son issues.

Killer Pizza,
by Greg Taylor

Mystic Pizza + Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Maybe, but Lana says this is a great book for teen boys (and we know it can be difficult to find just the right book for young men, especially if they're neither Lord of the Rings types nor into gritty modern novels), so we're ignoring the amusing title.

Friday Update: Mark Arax, & What Kathryn's Reading

Two things to mention today...

First, Mark Arax will be at Chaucer's this weekend to sign & discuss his new book West of the West: Dreamers, Believers, Builders, and Killers in the Golden State.

That's at 4pm on Sunday (June 14th).

Second, another staff recommendation, this time from Kathryn (whose good taste is well known by our customers): The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

Next week: Guest blogger G., our returns guy (and long-time clerk).