Authors Making Their Debut
And ‘no’, I don’t mean that they are being presented to society. They have published their first book! That is very special for them and for us because the books listed below have been reviewed by many readers who overwhelmingly enjoyed them. Here they are:
Welcome to the Hynam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum
This book has caused a real sensation in Korea. It has already sold 150,000 copies. Some people describe it as a ‘feel good’ book. And I say “So what?” Don’t we all want to feel good? The main character divorces her husband, quits her job and moves to a small town to open a book shop. In the transition, guess what? She finds herself. But it isn’t that simple. The reader learns a lot about how a book shop operates and what the people who work there and shop there are dealing with in their lives. We come to actually exist in the book shop and feel the tranquility and acceptance that the characters feel. As the owner says, “All of you should find something that you enjoy doing, something that makes you excited. If you can find it, you’ll not waver easily, no matter what others think. Be brave.”
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon is an unlikely good read set during the Peloponnesian War. That’s right– a LONG time ago. It seems that a group of Greek prinsoners of war have been left to rot in a rock quarry in Syracuse. Luckily for them, two hapless potters wander upon the scene and decide to feed them in exchange for their recitations from Euripides’ plays. Remember him? The group really gets into the drama in more ways than one, and –you guessed it–they actually stage a play. This is when the fun begins!
Women’s Hotel, by Daniel L. Lavery, is categorized as ‘historical fiction.’ That seems a bit harsh to me because it is set in the 1960’s, hardly a ‘historical’ time in my experience. Regardless, the time period was certainly one of great transition. The book takes place in a New York that is not longer, in a women’s hotel, a type of residence that is no longer. In many humorous and poignant scenarios, we get to know the womem who live there and the crazy situations they get themselves into. As the New York Times reviewer noted, “Women’s Hotel is undertaken with such gusto–and, frequently such skill–that the reader has no choice but to surrender.”
