The Foreign Correspondent by Alan S. Cowell

This story begins as the narrator, Ed Clancy, tells about the Nonstop News Desk, NND, in Paris with his old friend and abettor, Joe Shelby, to post the Internet news in the wee hours of the morning, before New Yorks papers were up and running. Joe Shelby's job was to call the bureaus in foreign cities and verify the stories coming in over the wires, and then to write the copy and Ed is to post it on the Internet. Early in the story Shelby makes a mistake and covers it up and this comes to haunt them in the end. The beginning of the book lays down the character of Joe Shelby, a foreign correspondent, filling in the details of his past loves and past secrets. He is avoiding the women from his past, but they too are in Paris now. Ed Clancy has settled down in Paris with the love of his life, Marie-Claire Risen, and he doesn't want Shelbys interference. It is the story of the demise of print, "that great, gorgeous, messy alchemy of ink and hot type and whirring reels of paper and working stiffs in stained coveralls." This is an action adventure story, with the drama of love spicing things up a bit. It's a story of revenge, and justice, told with a literary bent. A good read if you hang in there through the set-up. "Alan S. Cowell is a senior correspondent for the New York Times based in Paris."

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Plainsong by Kent Haruf
This was such an excellent book. Amazed that it took me so long to find it. Literary, character driven, with a real sense of place. I savored the book as the prose was beautiful. I see that it was recommended for YA, but I would say the upper grades of high school would be better. Some serious issues were addressed. Basically it is the story of a father, his two sons, a teacher, a pregnant student, and two older bachelors whose lives intersect to create an extended family. They all grow up in the novel as they face new challenges and become much deeper for it. I especially liked the story of Victoria Roubideaux, the pregnant teenager dealing with the rejection of her mother. She has to sort out how she really feels about the father of her child and how she is going to care for this child that she anticipates with joy and fear. She is wise beyond her years. Tender is the adjective that I would use to describe the author's attitude toward his characters. A good story, with further stories in his later books about Holt, Colorado..

Here is a link to the greatest mysteries that need to be read:

Goodreads 2016

On Goodreads I posted that I want to read fifty books in 2016. Just what I did in 2015, but I am going to read from the Adult Reading Round Table suggestions in various genres in my study of Readers Advisory in the library setting. NovelistPlus ( a database found on most library websites) had a list in the Readers Advisory Toolbox called ARRT Popular Fiction List under especially for Readers Advisory that I am going to read from, to familiarize myself with new authors.  I think I will read a different genre pick from their list and then a book from my own bookshelf. I really do need to read the books that I own. From my shelf I am going to read "The Paris Correspondent: a novel of newspapers, then and now" by Alan S. Cowell. Sound like a literary novel of which I usually enjoy the most. I read that to help a reader interested in literary fiction go to the awards websites and their lists should satisfy most readers of literary fiction. I am going to post a few websites here:
The Man Booker Prize "The Man Booker Prize promotes the finest in fiction by rewarding the very best book of the year. The prize is the world's most important literary award and has the power to transform the fortunes of authors and publishers."
National Book Awards "The mission of the National Book Foundation and the National Book Awards is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America."
Pulitzer Prize "Established in 1917 and endowed by Joseph Pulitzer, the noted Hungarian immigrant newspaper publisher, the Pulitzer Prize categories included here recognize distinguished works of fiction and nonfiction published in book form by an American author, preferably dealing with American life."

The Christie Caper by Carolyn Hart

The Christie Caper was a Death on Demand mystery featuring Annie and Max Darling. They have planned a conference to honor the 100th birthday of Agatha Christie, with a treasure hunt, a ball, and Christie trivia all through the story. The book was written in 1991 and is the seventh in the Death on Demand series. The conference attendees did not anticipate a murder to take place, but it did, getting Annie and Max and their friends in the sleuthing. A light-hearted cozy mystery that promises to keep you guessing till the end. I am always reading a Christie mystery and this only wanted me to read more of Agatha Christie. It helps to be a Christie fan when reading this novel.

The Plot Against America by Philip Roth

Philip Roth wrote " The Plot Against America: a Novel in 2004. The narrator is himself at the young age of seven, living in Newark, New Jersey, Roth's own childhood home. Many of Roth's books take place in Newark, but this is a novel of alternative history. Charles A. Lindbergh has been elected as the Republican President of the United States instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt for his third term in October 1940. His platform is American First, promising to keep America out of the European War that started in 1939. Roth's premise is that Lindberg is Anti-Semitic and fears that the Jews that are in power in government and the media are pressuring the nation into World War II. Philip's family include his father, an insurance salesman, his mother, homemaker involved in the PTA, and his older brother Sandy, who has a talent for drawing. Young Philip is seen absorbing all the fears and terrors that result in the Jewish population of Newark becoming weakened by the displacement of their numbers. I liked the rich detail of the Jewish family in the 1940's located in a Jewish community in Newark, New Jersey. Rich characterization of Philip and his family add much to the story. I recommend this novel to those who like historical novels. In the back of the book Roth lists books that provided him with the history of the times, and also an accurate account of the real characters mentioned in the book such as Fiorello H. La Guardia and Walter Winchel, gossip columnist.