Lamb, or the Gospel According to Biff

Staff Review

Lamb
by Christopher Moore

I’m an older guy, and sophomoric, antiestablishment humor like National Lampoon or Saturday Night Live is just plain boring. Been there, done that in the 60’s. So, when I picked up Lamb, an attempt to recreate the first 30 years of Christ’s life (about which little is known) and saw the subtitle, “the Gospel according to Biff, Christ’s childhood pal,” I almost put it back.

I’m glad that I didn’t. While Jesus (Joshua), Biff, and Mary Magdalene are interesting, loving Jewish children who outwit the occupying Romans, they do a lot of funny, laugh out loud antics. Imagine that you are twelve years old and were told that you were the Messiah. The novel is about Joshua’s efforts - with Biff's help - to grow into the job. They head for the Orient (some biblical scholars believe that Jesus was in the Orient during the time that there is no record of his whereabouts) to get information from the Three Wise Men. They have interesting, hilarious adventures. Lamb is special because the author has written humor without sacrilege or snark. Lamb is a nicely written, funny, and heart-warming read.

- Lou Miller

Have a Little Faith

Staff Review

Have a Little Faith
by Mitch Albom

No, I'm not trying to give you advice or be sarcastic... Have a Little Faith is a wonderful new book just out by Mitch Albom. Albom's book begins with with an unusual request: an eighty two year old rabbi from his old hometown asks Albom to write his eulogy. This is the begining of an eight year realationship between the two men. I'm in love with this book because it really made me think about my own spirituality and what faith means to me. Albom asks the question "What if faith wasn't what divided us, but what brought us together?"This book is truly about Albom's journey, questions of life's purpose and a story that really is everyman's story. This seems like a perfect book for the holidays as we head into a season that reminds us of our own feelings about faith.

- Kate

NaNoWriMo... What?

November is recognized, by a few, as National Novel Writing Month. Abbreviated NaNoWriMo. Nano, sounds like something a lot smaller than it really is, eh? What started more than 10 years ago as a handful of folks trying to take a crash-course in creative writing has turned into an international phenomenon of novel-out-churning! The goal is simple, but hardly easy: 30 days, 50,000 words. And a heckuvalotta coffee. I have 30 days, I have a lot of coffee... Why not me?

The odd thing about working in a bookstore... Is that I'm always on the reading end of a novel! Hundreds of them! Where do these books REALLY come from? How much time out of the day does a writer spend.. writing? I wanted to find out some of these answers for myself, to experience what it is like to write almost 200 pages in a month. What if my life DID depend on my next big hit? Can I focus on ANYTHING for that long? How do these serial novelists pump out one after another, and not go nuts? ARE they all nuts?

I have always enjoyed writing, though, motivation and inspiration are ever-elusive. I've started so many stories, and abandoned them, that my computer desktop is littered with 'new story this' and 'new story that.' Inspiration might be heaven-sent, but that doesn't mean you sit around waiting for it. That's no way to become a writer... So, puttering around one October day, I stumbled across NaNoWriMo. I discovered that dozens, then hundreds, then thousands, then HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people, just like me, had been attempting to bring their efforts together in a concerted attempt at creativity!

I took out pencil and paper and did a little math. 50,000 words in 30 days comes out to be... 1,667 words every day. That's quite a bit. About two or three single-spaced pages on your typical word processor. I stepped back and looked at it. It's not a contest, so there was nothing to win... Or was there? If I spent 30 days (and probably 30 nights too...) writing 1,667 words a day, what better practice could there be? A little kick in the seat of the pants might actually be enough to get a ball rolling from somewhere to elsewhere, so why not take the plunge? I signed myself up. Worth a try, at the least.

You know what else I found out? Sara Gruen does NaNoWriMo... and I heard that she wrote Water for Elephants in a month. Google is failing me now, but isn't that incredible? Apparently the jump from 'novella' to 'novel' is to go from 40K to 50K words... But, novel or not, this sure is fun.

As of today, I need to crest the 10,000 word mark and go beyond (I'm somewhere around 9,000, so I need to play catch-up!!). I only had a matter of days before November 1st to imagine where I'd begin, and then where I'd take it all... And boy, does my mind feel stretched! Now, I don't think anything I'll churn out could be anything all that amazing. There's even a disclaimer on the NaNoWriMo website, warning you not to be disappointed if you look back at your 'book' in December and feel mildly ill. It is quantity over quality, and no one should pretend otherwise. Not that one excludes the other. December happens to be National Novel Editing Month.

So, off I go, and if I look a little bleary-eyed in the store, now you'll know why! Maybe some day, I'll sell my OWN books at Kennebooks... Wouldn't it be nice to come full circle!

- Jack

Reasons to Buy Locally!

Hey everyone!

We found this blurb in our holiday newsletter from NEIBA, the New England Independent Bookseller Association. We thought it was put pretty well, and wanted to share it with you!

Five Reasons to Support Locally-Owned Businesses

Community Well-being - as a percentage of revenue, locally-owned businesses make significantly larger charitable contributions to local causes than do national chain stores and formula restaurants.

Competition - A marketplace of small businesses is the best way to ensure retail innovation and stable low prices in the long run. It is a myth that well-run local businesses cannot be price-competitive with the major chains.

Product Diversity - Local businesses select products and services based on what their customers want and need, not on an arbitrary national sales plan.

Local Decision-Making - Local ownership ensures that important business decisions are made by people who live in the community and who will feel the impact of those decisions along with their neighbors.

Keeping Dollars in the Local Economy - A recent New England Study revealed that $45 of every $100 spent at a locally-owned business stayed in the local economy. Only $14 of that same $100 spent at a chain store stayed in the community.

Please consider Kennebooks when you choose your next book!

Jane's Musings

It is pretty well-known that Richard Bachman is actually Stephen King. Many Mystery readers know that Edith Pargeter wrote as Ellis Peters. A little digging around leads you to Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb. It takes a true literary sleuth, however, to discover that Shannon Hale writes as... Shannon Hale.

I am the store manager of Kennebooks, and I like to think that I am reasonably good at my job. But, there are days when I wonder why Trish even allows me on the sales floor... Trish, Ann, and I recently traveled to Hartford for the NEIBA trade show. The show offers educational sessions, dinners with featured authors,book signings, and the exhibit floor. There the publishers have sample copies of current titles, plus stacks and stacks of promotional copies, some finished and some advanced readers copies. Shannon Hale, of Princess Academy fame, was one of the featured authors. My daughter had an advance copy of hew new title, Forest Born, and absolutely loved it. So, when I saw our wonderful Macmillan sales rep, Ellen Pyle, we chatted a moment about Shannon, my daughter, and her love for the book. From there I walked around to the other side of the booth where there was a stack of The Actor and the Housewife. I was very excited because I loved this author's earlier book, Austenland, and was thrilled to see that she has a new book out. Ellen looked at me as though I were from another planet. I had no idea why.

It was not until a day or two after we returned from the show that the 'eureka' moment hit. I had been up until 2 a.m. finishing The Actor and the Housewife (which is a great read - the dialogue is very well done, and the characters are so likeable). I came into the living room where my daughter's copy of Forest Born was on the table. Now, at any point had I been asked the author of this book, I would have said "Shannon Hale." Had I been asked the author of Austenland or The Actor and the Housewife, I would have said... "Shannon Hale," but at no time did I put together that this is the same person. I don't know why. It is not as if it is uncommon for writers to write for a diverse audience. Annie Barrows with the Ivy and Bean series as well as the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society comes to mind, as well as Judy Blume, John Connolly, and many others. I think a bit of a twist on the mother-daughter book club concept is possible with parallel reading of a single author's works. I'm not sure any bonding would happen that way, but it's a thought.

So, Shannon Hale, thank you for writing books that we love to read, but know that I have figured out your cryptic pseudonym.

- Jane