Winner - Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny

And the lucky winner of a copy of Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny, courtesy of The Miami Book Fair International is:

Amber Y

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing address. Thanks to all who entered. Check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways.

Review AND Giveaway - Bury Your Dead - Louise Penny

Oh my goodness! Why have I not read Louise Penny before now?! I loved this book and literally could not put it down! (To be entered to win a copy courtesy of The Miami Book Fair International, leave a comment on this review)

Bury Your Dead is the 6th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series.

Detective Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté du Québec is hoping to recover from his horrific last case that left him both physically and mentally wounded. He has come to Québec City to stay with his mentor Émile Comeau and heal. It is winter in Québec and Carnaval  is on, but Gamache instead seeks out solitude in the library of the Literary and Historical Society - an English bastion in a French dominated city and  province. The Lit and His tries to maintain a low profile, but that is shattered when a well known local archaeologist, bent on finding the lost body of Quebec's founding father, is found murdered in the basement of the library. Inspector Gamache reluctantly agrees to consult.

The hidden village of Three Pines is a setting for many of the previous books in this series. Gamache has sent Olivier, a local bistro owner, to prison for the murder of a local hermit, but receives letters every day from the man's partner proclaiming that a mistake has been made. Gamache, already second guessing himself,  decides to send his deputy Jean-Guy Beauvoir, also on leave from the tragic last case, to unofficially re investigate the case.

This was my first introduction to this marvelously fascinating lead character. Gamache is wise, introspective and human. In addition to nearly losing his own life in his last investigation, he did lose members of his team. The one who lives in his head every day is Paul Morin.

Je me souviens, thought Gamache. The motto of Québec. The motto of the Québécois. I remember. That was the problem. Always the problem. I remember. Everything."

As Gamache works his way through the murder at the Lit and His, Morin's voice is always in his head. Snippets are revealed and more as Gamache moves forward, a little bit at a time.

Every school age child in Canada has studied Samuel de Champlain, known as the founding father of New France - Québec.  But, Champlain's final resting place and some details about his life have never been firmly established. Penny has brought the mystery of Champlain into the mystery of Bury Your Dead, weaving intriguing historical detail into her fictional tale. The political atmosphere of Québec is captured with much discussion surrounding the Separatist movement for Sovereignty. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of Québec City very much, as I have visited many of the places described.

Penny has written an incredibly detailed, thoroughly engrossing mystery that successfully includes historical and political subplots. The odd little village of Three Pines is filled with quirky characters that I look forward to knowing better. But it is the characters, their thoughts, feelings and emotions that made the book for me. Just superb.

Bury Your Dead is a fitting title on so many levels. Gamache must put the past to rest before he can move, as do many of the characters in the book.

Louise Penny has joined the list of my favourite mystery authors. Fans of Peter Robinson would enjoy this author.

Louise Penny will be appearing at The Miami Book Fair International
on Sunday November 21, 2010. I wish I could be there to see her!

"The books are coming.

And the readers and writers will follow, as they do by the hundreds of thousands every year for the Miami Book Fair International, an eight-day literary party in November.
Among the noted authors who have already confirmed are Margaret Atwood, Al Gore, Barbara Kingsolver and Ralph Nader.

The Fair, in its 26th year, will open Sunday November 8th with the popular Evenings With… series, featuring six nights of readings and discussions with noted authors from the United States and around the world.


On Friday, the Street Fair gets under way. The highlight of the Street Fair is the Festival of Authors, with more than 350 authors reading and discussing their work, including the Latin American and Spanish authors who participate in the IberoAmerican Authors Program. Thousands of South Florida schoolchildren will help kick off the Street Fair, making the trip downtown Friday to hear authors and participate in Children’s Alley activities, including theater, arts-and-crafts, storytelling and readings by children’s book authors. Comix Galaxy is back this year, with a school of comics on Friday and a new section just for kids and teens, as well as presentations over the weekend by renowned graphic novelists and illustrators.


During Street Fair weekend, more than 250 publishers and booksellers exhibit and sell books, with special features like the antiquarians, who showcase of signed first editions, original manuscripts and other collectibles.

The first Miami Book Fair International, founded by Miami Dade College and community partners, took place in 1984. Since then it has been recognized as the nation’s finest literary festival. In 2001, the Fair became part of the Florida Center for the Literary Arts at Miami Dade College, a cultural and academic initiative that promotes the advancement and appreciation of literature throughout the year."

And it is with thanks to The Miami Book Fair, that I have a copy of Bury Your Dead to giveaway. Open to US and Canada, no po boxes please. Ends Sat. Nov 13 at 6 pm EST. Simply comment to be entered.

Miami Book Fair International

Look at all those book booths! Sigh - it's a little too far for me, but not too far way. Mark the date on your calendar for the Miami Book Fair International celebrating its 27th anniversary Nov. 14-21, 2010.  Any bloggers in the area planning to attend? Chcck out some of the authors attending!

"The 27th edition of the nation’s finest and largest literary gathering, Miami Book Fair International, presented by the Florida Center for the Literary Arts (FCLA) at Miami Dade College (MDC), will tke place at the college’s Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., in downtown Miami. The always-popular Street Fair runs Friday, November 19 through Sunday, November 21, with more than 200 exhibitors from around the country selling books in a festive atmosphere. This year, the Fair will celebrate the literature and culture of Mexico.

Each year, the Fair raises the bar of excellence by offering a fine roster of prize-winning authors, and this year will be no exception.

Confirmed authors include tennis superstar Venus Williams, Harvard biologist and naturalist Edward O. Wilson, MacArthur Fellow and Haitian-American author Edwidge Danticat, screenwriter and author Nora Ephron, musician Patti Smith, novelist and memoirist Pat Conroy, local South Florida favorite Dave Barry, novelist Michael Cunningham, filmmaker John Waters, biographer and novelist Susan Cheever, humorist Ian Frazier, fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco, comics creator Charles Burns, NPR’s All Things Considered host Michele Norris, as well as Ann Beattie, Kate DiCamillo, Emilio Estefan, Jonathan Franzen and many others.

The Fair will again treat book lovers to more than a week of cultural and educational activities, including the beloved Evenings With… series, the IberoAmerican Authors program, Student Literary Encounters, the Weekend Festival of Authors, the popular Street Fair Nov. 19 – 21 on the closed streets surrounding the campus, Comix Galaxy with Kids Comic Con and School of Comics, Children’s Alley, and much more.

Special Topic Panels will discuss current issues of the day, including the environment, immigration, and the financial crisis. In addition, the Fair maintains a strong commitment to literary voices of the international community, and always welcomes writers from Africa, Latin America, Europe, and the Caribbean.

This year’s program includes Sir Michael Caine (England), Salman Rushdie (India), Darren Shan (Ireland), Susan Abulhawa (Palestine), Zakes Mda (South Africa), Binyavanga Wainana (Kenya), Okey Ndibe (Nigeria), Chenjerai Hove (Zimbabwe), EC Osandu (Nigeria), Aappiah Anthony Kwame (Ghana/UK), and others.

The IberoAmerican program will present Paquito D´Rivera (Cuba-USA), Eduardo Sacheri (Argentina), Alberto Fuguet (Chile), Luis Leante (España), Claudia Piñeiro (Argentina), Pablo Simonetti (Chile), and more.

Caribbean writers featured include Earl Lovelace, Raoul Pantin, Gideon Hanoomansingh, Merle Hodge, Winston Maynard-Moderator, Lasana Kwesi, Diana McCaulay, and Geoffrey Philp. Confirmed Haitian writers are Miriam Chancy, Michele Voltaire Marcelin and Edwidge Danticat.

An exciting dimension to this year’s Book Fair includes a celebration of Mexico, commemorating the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence and the centennial of the Mexican revolution. The FCLA has partnered with the Mexican government, the Consulate General of Mexico in Miami and the Mexican Cultural Institute in Miami to honor these momentous occasions. Fairgoers will enjoy a grand pavilion dedicated to Mexican culture, and gallery exhibits by Mexican artists. The diversity of Mexican literature will be represented by authors such as Laura Esquivel, Mario Bellatín, Gonzalo Celorio, Jorge Volpi, Estela Leñero, Natalia Toledo and others.

The celebration of Mexico will also include a local project with a focus on community involvement. During the Fair, the Miami Book Fair and the Mexican Cultural Institute will collect new or gently used books and build a colossal spiral of books located on the fairgrounds in downtown Miami, and after the Fair, these books will be donated to local jails. The goal is to have more books than prisoners inside jails.

Keep up with the latest on Twitter or Facebook. Check out last year's Fair on YouTube.

Giveaway Winner - Sesame Street: A Celebration

Thanks to the sponsorship of The Miami Book Fair, the lucky winner (chosen by random.org) of a copy of Sesame Street: A Celebration by Louise Gikow is:

Cody

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing address. Please respond within 48 hours. Thanks to all who entered. Check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways and make sure you mark the 2010 dates for the Miami Book Fair on your calendar - Nov 7-14/2010.

Giveaway Winner - Intent to Kill - James Grippando

Thanks to the sponsorship of The Miami Book Fair, the lucky winner (chosen by random.org) of a copy of Intent to Kill by James Grippando is:

Bacallsmom

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing address. Please respond within 48 hours. Thanks to all who entered. Check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways and make sure you mark the 2010 dates for the Miami Book Fair on your calendar - Nov 7-14/2010.

Intent to Kill - James Grippando - Review and Giveaway

Today is the opening day of the 2009 Miami Book Fair International. There are so many fantastic authors appearing (over 300!) and James Grippando is one of them.

Grippando has long been a favourite suspense author of mine. I really enjoy his recurring series featuring lawyer Jack Swyteck. As a lawyer himself, Grippando infuses his novels with a ring of authenticity. But his 16th novel, Intent to Kill, is a stand alone.

Ryan James was an up and coming baseball player. On the night that the Red Sox scout comes to watch him play, he is yanked from the game. His wife Chelsea has been killed on the way to the game, seemingly by a drunk driver. No one was ever caught or charged. His young daughter Ainsley survived. Three years later, he's hosting a sports talk radio show and keeping it together for the sake of Ainsley. But he's thrown for a loop when he receives a cryptic note " I know who did it" on the third anniversary of Chelsea's death. And Chelsea's autistic brother Babes may know more than he's letting on......

I hate giving away the plots in reviews, so am going to stop there. But it's a page turner for sure. Ryan is likeable, believable and sympathetic. Babes is based, in fact, on a persona from Grippando's past and again, very well drawn. His fascination with anagrams is addicting. There are lots of characters to pick from for the 'whodunit', but it takes a quick left turn at the end exposing someone I hadn't considered. The settings and dialogue ring true, showing Grippando's dedication to research - " The research for this novel was great fun - much of it done simply by observing, drinking beer, and root-root-rooting for the home team." He's got a great sense of humour too I think!

If you've enjoyed Harlan Coben or Linwood Barclay, you would enjoy anything by James Grippando.

Watch for his latest, Money to Burn, coming in February 2010.

Sound good? Want a copy of your own to read? Sponsored by the Miami Book Fair, I have a copy to give away to one lucky reader. Open to US and Canada. You've got until Sunday November 29 at 6pm EST to enter. Simply leave a comment. BUT!! Make sure you check back later this week or beginning of next week - The Miami Book Fair has sponsored another giveaway as well!

WHAT: 26th Miami Book Fair International
WHEN: Sun. November 8 through Sun. November 15, 2009
WHERE: Miami Dade College, Wolfson Campus, 300 NE 2nd Ave., downtown Miami
ADMISSION:
“Evenings With…” lectures: Sun., Nov. 8- Fri., Nov. 13:
General Admission: $10, free for Miami Book Fair members
Please visit miamibookfair.com to order tickets.
Street Fair: Fri, Sat & Sun., Nov. 14 – 16:
Friday, Nov. 14: Free
Saturday & Sunday, Nov. 15 & 16: $8, $5 for those 62 and older, and free for those 18 years of age and younger, Miami Dade College students & employees with ID and Book Fair Friends, volunteers, exhibitors and guests with credentials.
INFORMATION: (305) 237-3258 (305) 237-3258 and http://www.miamibookfair.com/

Again, let us know about it if you're there!!