What Are We Reading Right Now?

I love knowing what people are reading. It’s a different question than what book do you recommend.  What we are reading shows what books people are attracted to….for whatever reason (book cover, author you love, friend suggestion, all that was left in your book pile!). Whatever the reason….here is what we are reading right now at Titcomb’s Bookshop.  (One word of caution, we are often reading advance copies of books that aren’t released yet. Check to see if there is a release date at the bottom of the description.)

From Nancy O.: Why My Third Husband Will Be A Dog by Lisa Scottoline ($21.99). From Edye’s enthusiastic recommendation in last month’s newsletter! She raved about it, so I thought I would give it a try. This hilarious collection of stories from the “New York Times”-bestselling author of “Look Again” features the author’s take on being caught braless in the emergency room, Spanx as public enemy number one, and the pursuit of finding jeans that actually fit.

From Karen: The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard ($25.00, our price $20.00) One beautiful summer afternoon Jody Linder is unnerved to see her three uncles parking their pickups in front of her parents’ house–or what she calls her parents’ house, even though Jay and Laurie Jo Linder have been gone almost all of Jody’s life. They bring shocking news: The man convicted of murdering Jody’s father is being released from prison. It has been twenty-six years since that stormy night when, as baby Jody lay asleep in her crib, her father was shot and killed and her mother disappeared, presumed dead. Now Billy Crosby has been granted a new trial, thanks in large part to the efforts of his son, Collin, a lawyer who has spent most of his life trying to prove his father’s innocence. As Jody lives only a few doors down from the Crosbys, she knows that sooner or later she’ll come face-to-face with the man who she believes destroyed her family. What she doesn’t expect are the heated exchanges with Collin. Now Jody discovers that underneath their antagonism is a shared sense of loss that no one else could possibly understand. (NOTE: this book will be released on April 6th)

From Edye: Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline ($26.99, our price $21.59). Edye was such a huge fan of Lisa Scottoline’s book of essays that she had to move on to her fiction!  Bennie Rosato looks exactly like her identical twin, Alice Connolly, but the darkness in Alice’s soul makes them two very different women. Or at least that’s what Bennie believes, until she finds herself buried alive at the hands of her twin. Meanwhile, Alice takes over Bennie’s life,  in order to escape the deadly mess she has made of her own life. But Alice underestimates Bennie and the evil she has unleashed in her twin’s psyche, as well as Bennie’s determination to stay alive long enough to exact revenge. Bennie must face the twisted truth that she is more like her sister Alice than she could have ever imagined, and by the novel’s shocking conclusion, Bennie finds herself engaged in a war she cannot win–with herself. (NOTE: this book will be released on March 16th)

From Kathleen: Past Life Regression: A Guide For Practitioners by Mary Lee LaBay ($16.99). Central to the quest for self-awareness is the practice of past life regression. This comprehensive text provides case studies and detailed instructions on numerous techniques of regression for maximum effectiveness in healing, change, and personal growth.

From Ralph: The Shack by William Young ($14.99) A grieving father receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him to meet in the Oregon wilderness where his daughter has been abducted and murdered. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, “The Shack” wrestles with the timeless question, “Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?”

From Vicky: The Passage by Justin Cronin ($26.00 our price $20.80) This is a gripping sci-fi/vampire novel that Vicky heard a lot about at the Winter Institute.  But why read  a recommendation from Vicky when you can have one from Stephen King? “Every so often a novel-reader’s novel comes along: an enthralling, entertaining story wedded to simple, supple prose, both informed by tremendous imagination. Summer is the perfect time for such books, and this year readers can enjoy the gift of Justin Cronin’s  The Passage. Read fifteen pages and you will find yourself captivated; read thirty and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night. It has the vividness that only epic works of fantasy and imagination can achieve. What else can I say? This: read this book and the ordinary world disappears.”–Stephen King (NOTE: Release date June 8, 2010)

From Elizabeth: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson ($25, our price $20) The Major leads a quiet life valuing the proper things that Englishmen have lived by for generations: honor, duty, decorum, and a properly brewed cup of tea. But then his brother’s death sparks an unexpected friendship with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, the Major and Mrs. Ali soon find their friendship blossoming into something more. Can their relationship survive the risks one takes when pursuing happiness in the face of culture and tradition?