The City of Falling Angels

Our next featured book is The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt. I just picked this up at B&N today, thinking that it would be a great read for TBW.

The City of Falling Angels opens on the evening of January 29, 1996, when a dramatic fire destroys the historic Fenice opera house. The loss of the Fenice, where five of Verdi's operas premiered, is a catastrophe for Venetians. Arriving in Venice three days after the fire, Berendt becomes a kind of detective-inquiring into the nature of life in this remarkable museum-city-while gradually revealing the truth about the fire. In the course of his investigations, Berendt introduces us to a rich cast of characters: a prominent Venetian poet whose shocking "suicide" prompts his skeptical friends to pursue a murder suspect on their own; the first family of American expatriates that loses possession of the family palace after four generations of ownership; an organization of high-society, partygoing Americans who raise money to preserve the art and architecture of Venice, while quarreling in public among themselves, questioning one another's motives and drawing startled Venetians into the fray; a contemporary Venetian surrealist painter and outrageous provocateur; the master glassblower of Venice; and numerous others-stool pigeons, scapegoats, hustlers, sleepwalkers, believers in Martians, the Plant Man, the Rat Man, and Henry James.
The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley

The book was published in 2005, so it could most likely be found at your favorite local library, bookstore, or online distributor.

Happy Reading!

Random Topic: Books to Movies

Obviously, books are made into movies all the time. Of course, sometimes the books and movies greatly differ from the other--characters are added and taken away, the plot is altered, sometimes even the outcome is changed. For the most part, the book is usually better than the movie. Sometimes though, it's the other way around. What's your stand is on books to movies? Let us know!

Keep reading The Shadow Club!!!

Lit Tricks

The Shadow Club is really built upon elements of suspense and foreshadowing(which is why it's totally not as good the second time you read it). There are tons of other author's tricks to look for while reading--direct address to the reader, similes and metaphors. . .you get the idea. So while you're reading, pay close attention to detail--it's those tiny things that come up in the beginning that play huge roles at the end!

The Shadow Club

Our third featured book is The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman.


For Jared and Cheryl, nothing is worse than coming in second. Their idea to form a club of second-best kids seems harmless at first. But when the Shadow Club members start playing anonymous practical jokes on each other's rivals, things quickly spiral out of control, and innocent people get hurt. (From Barnes and Noble)

The Shadow Club is very thrilling, and a fairly easy read. It's very thrilling, full of secrets, and gets really suspenseful at the end!

Happy Reading!

Oops Update

I just realized that I counted the days until our next featured book would be up--I accidentally counted to 31 instead 0f 24, so our next bookwill be up on Monday!

Did Chris do the right thing?? (SPOILERS)

******SPOILER ALERT******

So did Chris do the right thing by doing what Emily asked him to do? Or was he totally out of line by helping her kill herself? Do you think that the jury was right in saying that he wasn't guilty? Talk about what you think the right thing was here!

Order in the Court

No, not Judge Judy's courtroom, but Jodi Picoult's courtroom. Most of her books have to do with the law system, and in The Pact we see this through Chris's murder trial. The last hundred and fifty pages(at least) were all part of the trial(minus the flashbacks). This may be one of the reasons Picoult's books are so popular--the law system entices readers and takes them on a wild ride through court. (We even see this in shows like CSI, Law and Order, and those two new TV shows that are on Monday nights--Canterbury's Law and New Amsterdam--both of which rock, by the way.)

So what is it that makes us so drawn to the drama of law? Is it the was Picoult's describes it all, or is it just the concept of the courtroom itself?? Share your opinion on our forum!

Keep Reading!!! :)

Who's side are you on?

So how's the reading going??

So Chris is going to go on trial for Emily's murder. . .do you think he did it? Do you sympathize more with Melanie or Gus--both have lost their children in different ways, but who's loss is worse? Share your thoughts on this topic, predictions of the ending, and other stuff about the book here, even if you haven't finished yet! :)

Next Featured Book

Our second featured book is going to be Jodi Picoult's The Pact.








Until the phone calls came at three o'clock on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily is dead—shot with a gun her beloved and devoted Chris pilfered from his father's cabinet as part of an apparent suicide pact—leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.(From Barnes & Noble)

The Pact is very suspenseful, one of Picoult's best novels. Enjoy your reading and head over to the forum to discuss The Pact and Picoult's other novels as well!

Just an Update

As you may know, tomorrow is the last day for The Book Thief to be our featured novel. Of course, don't stop reading it if you've already started--it's a great book!

So check back sometime late tomorrow or early Tuesday to find out what our next book is! :)