C.W. Gortner's THE QUEEN'S VOW taking the world by storm

C.W. Gortner's THE QUEEN'S VOW, a novel about Isabella of Castile, the warrior-queen who united Spain and sent Columbus to America, has been receiving fabulous reviews since its release last week!  Published by Ballantine in the US, the book will also be published in the UK, Germany, and Norway...with more countries on the way.  The book has done incredibly well in the US so far, even reaching #2 on Amazon's Bestsellers in Biographical Fiction list!  Read some of the excellent reviews below:

"A beautifully crafted piece of historical fiction...The fear, joy, and anguish of the story all come together with a beauty and passion that can't be found anywhere in the pages of history books." --RT Book Reviews, 4 1/2 stars

"Isabella is most often remembered as the queen who financed Christopher Columbus's voyage to the Americas, but in this vivid novel, Gortner reveals that she is much more than this.  She is an inspiring young woman who bravely faced the turmoil that surrounded her and managed to hold on to her crown.  Her resolve and courage helped her face the numerous problems in her realm as she and Fernando began to unite Spain.  Gortner has again produced a richly detailed book that is hard to put down." --Historical Novels Review

"Gortner avoids romanticizing and sentimentalizing and presents a believable account of a woman determined to control her own fate and shape Spain into a great country." --Booklist

"Gortner's latest historical novel is set at the beginning of the extremely popular Tudor era, but it feels fresh owing to his choice of subject and the focus on events in Spain rather than England.  It should thus have strong appeal for historical fiction fans looking for a new perspective on a favorite time period." --Library Journal

"[Isabella] is a controversial figure in history, yet Gortner digs deep into her personality to reconcile some of her more difficult decisions with the person he believes she is, and he makes a very convincing case...Gortner is perhaps the best author currently writing historical fiction today.  He balances extensive research with smart, sympathetic characters.  He really gets inside Isabella's head, and it's clear he knows her inside and out.  If you're a fan of historical fiction, Gortner's books are absolutely not to be missed." --S. Krishna's Books Blog

"Gortner has done it again, creating a mesmerizing and unforgettable portrait of Isabella of Castile...What makes Gortner's Isabella so unique is that while she is brave and daring she is also conflicted...In her, we can see ourselves...THE QUEEN'S VOW reminds us that in the end, Isabella was human, a woman of conviction and strength in a time of upheaval, who forged her destiny despite every odd, to become Spain's most beloved queen." --Michelle Moran, internationally bestselling author of NEFERTITI

You can learn more about the book via the beautiful trailer below, or through Gortner's website here:

JVNLA's BEA experience...in slideshow form!

Each year BookExpo America (BEA) brings together publishers, authors, librarians, and booksellers to celebrate books and become more informed about the state of the publishing industry.

We at JVNLA attend the panels to learn more about everything from buzz books to Twitter to children's ebook trends, but we also scour the gigantic exhibition floors to find our books on display!  Each publisher has its own exhibition booth showcasing its important books for the season.  We were excited to spot many of our titles at these booths!  Check out the images we captured below.  You can also view these via Facebook at this link.

Of course one of the highlights of BEA is all the after-parties.  We hosted our very own after-party at the JVNLA office.  But we didn't only provide wine, hors d'oeuvres, and special M and M party favors.  We also showcased our recent and upcoming books, along with some of the wonderful reviews they've received over time.  Below is the complete slideshow, for your viewing pleasure:

Last, but not least, below are images from the party itself, including photos of all of us at JVNLA, our authors, and editors.  You can find a more complete showcase of the party images via Facebook at this link.

Excellent reviews pouring in for Elizabeth Crane's debut novel

Elizabeth Crane is the author of three phenomenal short story collections, but now she has come out with her first novel!  WE ONLY KNOW SO MUCH is the story of a multi-generational dysfunctional family, written with empathy, humor, and a razor sharp, unforgettable voice.

The book publishes on Tuesday the 12th, and the praise has been coming in thick and fast already!  View several early reviews below:

"After three scintillating short story collections, Crane delivers her first novel, a tragicomedy of epic familial malfunctions...As Crane illuminates each floundering character's thoughts and fears, she addresses the reader in the first-person plural, admitting at one point, 'We know a lot, but not everything.'  Not only doesn't the allegedly omniscient narrator know all, Crane avers, we barely understand ourselves, let alone our loved ones...This is an irresistible and winsome read.  A truly astute tale of love neglected and reclaimed, family resiliency, spiritual inquiries, and personal metamorphoses." --Booklist, starred review

"Crane's novel is filled with deliciously idiosyncratic characters, humorous and distinct narration, and a whole lot of personality.  Each character's emotional growth is just enough to satisfy, without being overbearing...Crane's summer novel has undeniable heart." --Publishers Weekly

Finally, we couldn't help but share the whole text of this wonderful review from Kirkus:

Crane delivers a unique and dizzying tale that delves into the emotional life of a family teetering on the brink of everything.  Best known for her three short story collections, Crane graduates to novels with a surprisingly centered and cohesive debut about a family that is, as their self-centered teenage daughter would phrase it, "losing their shit."  Our most promising and emotionally truthful character is Jean Copeland, seemingly dutiful wife to husband Gordon and equally devoted mother to teenage daughter Priscilla and nine-year-old romantic Otis.  But we soon learn that life in the Copeland family is not at all what it might seem on the surface.  In fact, Jean is having a joyful affair with James, a member of her book club who quietly suffers from disabling depression.  Gordon is dealing with his own challenges, as the self-professed expert in nearly everything is rapidly losing his memory.  Priscilla thinks her future lies in reality TV shows, but that's mostly beside the point--"First of all, Priscilla is a bitch," Crane candidly writes.  Otis's story is the sweetest as he pines away for a classmate, toiling away at heart-shaped crosswords to win her heart.  The beauty in Crane's novel is her sweep from acid commentary to heartfelt portrayal of real-life loves and losses.  "Review: difficult daughter, know-it-all dad, son sweet and okay if a little weird, mom delayed potential/having affair, great grandmother bitchy, granddad losing it.  So we know where we're starting," writes Crane.  But Crane's offhand style is woven seamlessly with heartbreaking arcs like the suicide of Jean's lover, Gordon's inappropriate Facebook stalking of a former classmate, and Jean's elegant dismissal of her daughter's drama.  "God didn't punk, you, daughter," adds Jean in an internal monologue.  "Life is what you make it.  Nobody knows this better than me."  Life in a snow globe made from dashed dreams and misunderstandings.

Crane's writing has previously been called "distinctive and eccentric...riveting" by The New York Times Book Review, "boldly original" by The Washington Post, "utterly refreshing" by The San Francisco Chronicle, "so damn clever" by Jane, and "hypnotic" by Newsday.

If you're craving more of her writing after reading the novel, don't miss her short story collections, WHEN THE MESSENGER IS HOT (Little Brown, 2003), ALL THIS HEAVENLY GLORY (Little Brown, 2005), and YOU MUST BE THIS HAPPY TO ENTER (Akashic Books, 2008).

Harper Perennial, June 2012

Nature review for THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN

The journal Nature has just released a wonderful review of Mark Anderson's THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN.  Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and the History of Science at Harvard University, reviewed the book as part of a two-page feature.  You can find the article on Nature's website here, but we've also included an excerpt below:

Journalist Mark Anderson's arresting THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN begins with the 1761 transit, but concentrates on the three most significant journeys of the 1769 event.  These were Captain James Cook's voyage to Tahiti; the Hungarian Jesuit Maximilian Hell's frigid journey to Vardo, above the Arctic Circle in Norway; and French astronomer Jean-Baptiste Chappe d'Auteroche's sweaty and insect-ridden expedition to San Jose del Cabo in Baja California, present-day Mexico. 

Anderson serves up a rich broth of details--such as that British sailors did not have soap in their rations until the 1780s, or that Cook's small ship Endeavour had more than 90 people on board, in part because it was expected that half the crew on a round-the-world trip would die of scurvy.  (In the event, Cook engaged in a medical experiment with a diet of sauerkraut for the crew, and not a single sailor was lost to the condition.) 

Both Wulf [author of CHASING VENUS] and Anderson give much attention to Chappe, the only observer to time the entrance and exit of Venus on both transits.  Chappe wrote vivid and extensive travel notes...His wide-ranging interests would have made him, thinks Anderson, the French Benjamin Franklin.

Anderson was also recently interviewed by the radio magazine Viewpoints.  You can listen to the full interview by following this link and navigating to the May 20th podcast entitled "The Transit of Venus: What It Is and Why It's Still Important."

Nature and Viewpoints both call attention to the intriguing details Anderson includes in his narrative, particularly the medical experiment Cook conducted on scurvy during his voyage.  However, Viewpoints goes a step further by highlighting how Cook's scurvy-and-sauerkraut experiment unwittingly spurred the invention of carbonated water and thus the $370 billion soft drink industry.

The diet Cook imposed upon his men, heavy in sauerkraut and vegetables, precluded scurvy from affecting a single sailor on board his ship.  A chemist named Joseph Priestly noticed that the diet also had the curious effect of causing Cook's men to belch far more often than normal.  Priestly postulated that, perhaps, it was the act of belching itself that cured scurvy.  He invented a way to carbonate water and thus compel the drinkers of his new beverage to belch. 

Unfortunately for Priestly, belching was not in fact the cure for scurvy; we know, today, that scurvy is caused by a vitamin deficiency that a diet of sauerkraut and fresh vegetables can help prevent.  Yet Priestly's invention did allow the soft drink industry to become "an unlikely distant cousin to the Venus transit missions," in the words of Anderson in THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN.

You can read more about Anderson and his book through previous posts on our blog here, through Anderson's Tumblr page here, and through his Facebook page here.

Da Capo Press, May 2012

IF JACK'S IN LOVE named Willie Morris Award winner

IF JACK'S IN LOVE by Stephen Wetta has just won the 2011 Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction! 

The award, given annually to a fiction novel set in the South (IF JACK'S IN LOVE is set in Virginia), was established in honor of award-winning author Willie Morris in 2007.  According to the award's website, the winning novel is selected for its embodiment of that which Willie Morris himself praised: "hope for belonging, for belief in a people's better nature, for steadfastness against all that is hollow or crass or rootless or destructive."  Furthermore, the novel is selected based on "the quality of its prose, its originality, its sense of place and period, and the appeal of its characters."

The award ceremony will take place in October at The New York Yacht Club, where Wetta will receive the award and speak about the book.

IF JACK'S IN LOVE has received glowing praise since its release in September 2011.  Just in case you've missed them before, a sampling of some of the book's excellent reviews are below.  To read more of our posts on Wetta and his debut book, follow this link. 

"A wonderfully written marvel of a book: a work both gripping and hilarious, joyous and heartbreakingly bittersweet." --The Wall Street Journal, named a top 10 title for 2011

"Populated with richly realistic characters, Wetta's first novel of 1960s backdrops and prejudices is propulsive...Jack is a charming narrator...and, with a lot of truth and even a little magic, his supporting cast sparks restrainedly." --Booklist

"Wetta has written a coming-of-age novel set in 1967 that is at once dark, witty, and charming." --Shelf Awareness

"Deftly, Wetta illuminates the gulf between the innocence of age 12 and the realizations that arise at 13...At turns unsparing, tender, and disturbing when it comes to rivalry and the nuances of love versus obligation, this is no typical bildungsroman...Intelligently, wonderfully conceived." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An auspicious debut...A moving portrait of a specific time, family, and town, but also a universal story of growing up and coming to terms with the people--and places--that raise us, told with all the humor, truth, and urgency of its teenage hero." --BookPage

"A debut novel not to miss...IF JACK'S IN LOVE has that spark of a writer who fully invests himself and writes with a startlingly bittersweet humor, infusing his first novel with a tinge of something special." --About.com, named a top 10 book of 2011

"The real emotion--the book's raw and complicated heart--is actually hidden inside the Witcher home...[Jack] is vulnerable and victimized by an identity he should be able to disavow but cannot.  Even so, Wetta allows us to see Jack's potential--the person he could and should become, if only he'd embrace it.  Whether he does is what keeps us gripped until the end." --The Daily Beast, listed as a Great Weekend Read

Amy Einhorn Books/Penguin, September 2011

THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN--"a scientific adventure tale"--out now

Mark Anderson's THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN has just been released!  Phenomenal reviews already abound for this book that chronicles the adventures of 18th century scientists traversing the globe to observe the Venus transit, or Venus's passage across the face of the sun.  (You can learn more details about the book from our previous blog posting here.)  THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN will be featured in the journal Nature, and it was recently featured in the magazine Discover.  Below is a sampling of the excellent reviews thus far:

"In this exciting tale--part detective story, part history of science--Anderson vividly recreates the torturous explorations and enthralling discovery of three peripatetic and insatiably curious explorers."  --Publishers Weekly

"A scientific adventure tale in which astronomers risk their lives, traveling the high seas in winter, trekking over ice-bound Siberia and facing deadly diseases...A lively, fitting tribute to 'mankind's first international "big science" project.'" --Kirkus

"Anderson has written an exciting chronicle...This is a fine combination of popular science and real-life adventure that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readers." --Booklist

"Read it...for an armchair travel adventure."  --The Roanoke Times

Anderson has given several interviews regarding the process of writing the book and the adventures of the scientists who made history.  Below is a video interview introducing the book:

Anderson was also interviewed for a podcast with IEEE Spectrum Magazine.  You can listen to the full podcast by following this link, but for a taste of what to look forward to, below is one of the questions Anderson was asked by the interviewer: 

This book...has more ups and downs than the Alps.  Besides ambitious astronomers and fortune-seeking horologists, it's got murderous banditos in New Spain, suspicious Russian villagers, Tahitian women trading views of their breasts for anything made of iron, and at least two actually mad, as in insane, European kings.  Did you know when you went into this research what a wild ride this story would be?

The last Venus transit of this century will occur on June 5, 2012.  Celebrate the event by reading the quintessential book for the moment, THE DAY THE WORLD DISCOVERED THE SUN!

Da Capo Press, May 2012