Friday Finds: September 5, 2008

We were away for the long weekend over Labor Day, so I didn’t post my Friday Finds last week; here’s a quick peek at what I Should Be Reading over the next few weeks:

Ronna Wineberg sent me a copy of her short story collection Second Language.  This was published a few years ago, and I’m happy to be given the chance to review it, as I’ve been enjoying short fiction lately.  The synopsis says that the book is “home to a charmingly eclectic collection of characters who share one thing in common: choices … These characters face life-altering decisions, and when confronted with such adversity, they choose varying directions, ranging from forgiveness to revenge.”

Gayle at Everyday I Write the Book Blog is hosting an online book discussion later this month.  The book she has chosen is Run by Ann Patchett.  I’m so looking forward to reading this!  Not only does it take place in my favorite city, Boston, but I have high expectations for Run, since Patchett’s Bel Canto is one of my favorite books (reminds me, I should “unborrow” it from the neighbor I lent it to!)

Last month I snagged Reputation: Portraits in Power from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.  The publisher’s synopsis is short and to the point: “A wry, incisive group portrait of America’s ruling class.”  I have a love a history and enjoy biography/memoir, so this should appeal to me; it will be available for sale October 6.

I also received the Young Adult novel Nation by Terry Pratchett; my kids haven’t pulled this one off the desk yet, but I have a feeling it will be among the missing this weekend!  Here’s a summary from the publisher:

The sea has taken everything.

Internationally revered storyteller Terry Pratchett presents a breathtaking adventure of survival and discovery, and of the courage required to forge new beliefs.

Mau is the only one left after a giant wave sweeps his island village away. But when much is taken, something is returned, and somewhere in the jungle Daphne—a girl from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a ship destroyed by the same wave.

Together the two confront the aftermath of catastrophe. Drawn by the smoke of Mau and Daphne’s sheltering fire, other refugees slowly arrive: children without parents, mothers without babies, husbands without wives—all of them hungry and all of them frightened. As Mau and Daphne struggle to keep the small band safe and fed, they defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down. . . .

My first two “finds” are already out and on bookstore shelves – have you read either of them?  Anyone else taking a sneak peek at or Reputation or Nation?  Which one should I open first? (I don’t juggle; one book at a time!)