Tuesday, July 31, 2012

May We Suggest...Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith has written more than 60 books. He is best known for his internationally acclaimed No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, which rapidly rose to the top of the bestseller lists throughout the world. The series has now been translated into 45 languages and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide. McCall Smith's serial novel, 44 Scotland Street, was published in book form to great acclaim in 2005, followed by Espresso Tales and Love Over Scotland, and then by The World According to Bertie (Fall 2008) and also The Unbearable Lightness of Scones (Fall 2009). In late 2008, the serial novel, Corduroy Mansions, depicting the lives of the inhabitants of a large Pimlico house, began to be published with its hardcover release in 2009. Alexander McCall Smith published a solo novel, La's Orchestra Saves the World, in December 2009.

In addition, McCall Smith's delightful German professor series, Portuguese Irregular Verbs, The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs, and At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances were published in the US in January 2005. He is also the author of several children's books.  Pantheon has published Alexander McCall Smith's collection of African folktales, The Girl Who Married a Lion. McCall Smith is also the author of Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams, a contemporary reworking of a beloved Celtic myth and Heavenly Date and Other Flirtations, a collection of short stories examining the mysteries of dating and courtship.

McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe.  He was educated there and in Scotland. He became a law professor in Scotland.  It 

was in this role that he first returned to Africa to work in Botswana, where he helped to set up a new law school at the University of Botswana. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and has been a visiting professor at a number of other universities elsewhere, including ones in Italy and the United States. He is now a Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Crime Writers' Association's Dagger in the Library Award, the United Kingdom's Author of The Year Award in 2004 and Sweden's Martin Beck Award. In 2007 he was made a CBE for his services to literature in the Queen's New Year's Honor List. He holds honorary doctorates from 10 universities, most recently from Southern Methodist University, Dallas.







READ-A-LIKES


Rita Mae Brown offers commentary on human nature that is perceptive without being ponderous. Though her works are sometimes spicier, her quirky, gently humorous characters will remind readers of McCall Smith’s books. She captures the cadences and rhythms of close-knit communities in the stand-alone novel Southern Discomfort, featuring a small community, richly drawn characters, and vivid personal politics

Clyde Edgerton is a master at creating the sort of close-knit communities that characterize McCall Smith's novels. Normal (if quirky) people with normal problems form the heart of Edgerton's books, which study human nature with humor and compassion. Edgerton, like McCall Smith, writes books that are gentle but not spineless, warm but not bland.. Edgerton shares McCall Smith's ear for dialect, though his books are set in the American South, rather than Europe or Africa. Try starting with Lunch at the Piccadilly.

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

May We Suggest...Danielle Steel

From an education in New York and Europe to a professional background in public relations and advertising, and teaching, Ms. Danielle Steel moved on quickly to her literary career and has been hard at work writing ever since. She wrote her first book at nineteen. Often, she works on five books at a time — researching one storyline, writing another, and editing the third. Still, she often spends two to three years researching and developing a single project. In the heat of a first draft, it is not uncommon for her to spend eighteen to twenty hours a day glued to her 1946 Olympia manual typewriter.

There are more than 590 million copies of her books in print, and every one of her books is a bestseller. In short, Danielle Steel is the most popular author writing today. She is read by women, men, young people, old people in 47 countries and 28 languages. Ms. Steel’s 84th best-selling novel, Betrayal debuted in hardcover in March 2012. Other 

recent bestsellers include Hotel Vendome, Happy Birthday, 44 Charles Street, Legacy, Family Ties, Big Girl, Southern Lights, Matters of the Heart, One Day at a Time, A Good Woman, Rogue, Honor Thyself, Amazing Grace, Bungalow 2, Sisters, H.R.H., Coming Out, The House, Toxic Bachelors, Miracle, Impossible, Echoes, Second Chance, Ransom, Safe Harbour, Johnny Angel, Dating Game, and Answered Prayers, all of which have leapt to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, the Wall Street Journal list and comparable bestseller lists around the world.

Since 1981, Ms. Steel has been a permanent fixture on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestseller lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having at least one of her books on the Times bestseller list for 381 consecutive weeks. Twenty-one of Ms. Steel’s novels have been adapted for television. In addition, Ms. Steel is the author of the “Max and Martha” series of books for young readers. She has also written the “Freddie” books, four of them, about real-life situations in children’s lives, like a visit to the doctor and the first night away from home. Ms. Steel has also written nonfiction, His Bright Light, about the life and death of her son Nicholas Traina, released by Delacorte Press in September 1998, which immediately jumped to the New York Times Non-Fiction bestseller list.” She has also written a book of poetry entitled Love: Poems by Danielle Steel.

In 2002, Ms. Steel was decorated by the French government as an “Officier” of the distinguished Order of Arts and Letters, for her lifetime contribution to world culture. She was awarded the second highest rank of the Order.
Ms. Steel also has a passionate interest in emerging contemporary artists. She had an art gallery for several years, and guest curates now for an art gallery in San Francisco. In addition to her writing, Ms. Steel has varied philanthropic interests. She founded and runs two foundations, one named in honor of her late son, The Nick Traina Foundation, which funds organizations involved in mental illness and child abuse. The second was established to assist the homeless. She has won numerous awards for her personal work with mentally ill adolescents and children. Ms. Steel maintains a passionate interest in the welfare and well-being of children, particularly those in jeopardy.

She has raised nine children of her own. And they continue to keep her busy, as she juggles writing and family. Her family is her first priority, despite her many interests. Despite her varied interests and activities, Ms. Steel leads an extremely private family-centered life. She lives in San Francisco and Paris.