Walter novel earns No. 2 spot on Time’s list of best fiction
Spokane author Jess Walter’s latest novel, “The Financial Lives of the Poets,” holds a prominent position on Time magazine’s just-released “Top 10 Everything of 2009” list.
It nailed down the No. 2 spot in the Top 10 Fiction Book list, behind only “Wolf Hall” by Hilary Mantel, the winner of this year’s Booker Prize.
Time calls Walter’s novel a “small masterpiece, a Wodehouse-level comic performance.” Check out the entire list on Time.com.
Walter and Sherman Alexie, by the way, had a crowd of 300-plus roaring with laughter (and occasionally moved to pin-drop silence) at their joint reading Dec. 5 at Auntie’s Bookstore.
‘A Woman Alone’
Here’s a newly released book of regional interest: “A Woman Alone: Mona Bell, Sam Hill and the Mansion on Bonneville Rock,” by John A. Harrison (Frank Amato Publications, $19.95).
This is a biography of Bell, the mistress of railroad magnate Hill (the man who gave his name to Hillyard). He built a mansion for her above the Columbia River 40 miles east of Portland.
She was a colorful, controversial character, who later became an eccentric recluse.
Harrison is a former reporter for the Vancouver Columbian, and now the information officer for the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.
Get an author autograph
A book makes an especially nice gift if it’s autographed by the author. Here are a few signings at various bookstores this week:
• Greg Rowley, “Golf Naked,” today, 1 to 4 p.m., Hastings, 101 E. Appleway Ave., Coeur d’Alene.
• Rich Leon, reading and signing “Nature Exploring in Eastern Washington and North Idaho,” Tuesday, 7 p.m., Auntie’s Bookstore, 402 W. Main Ave.
• Gene Hyde, Art Randall, Jerry Dolph, Dorothy Dahlgren and Simone Kincaid, authors of various Museum of North Idaho publications, Friday, 4 to 7 p.m., Hastings in Coeur d’Alene.
• Sharon Cramer, “Cougar Club Tales,” Saturday, 10 a.m. to noon, Forza Coffee Co., 2829 E. 29th Ave.
• Dawn Nelson, “A Cowgirl Remembers When” and “A Cowgirl’s Justice,” Saturday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Big R Store, 15228 N. Newport Highway.
• Patrick F. McManus, “The Double-Jack Murders” and numerous bestsellers, and Cheryl-Anne Millsap, “Home Planet: A Life in Four Seasons,” Saturday, 12:30 to 2 p.m., Auntie’s.
• Steve Samsel, “The Adventures of Jonny Law,” Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m., Hastings in Coeur d’Alene.
• Jean Flanigen, “The Zhombie Conspiracy” and “The Zhombie Connection,” and Bob Manion, “The Treehouse” and “Santa’s Heroes,” Saturday, 1 to 4 p.m., Hastings, 15213 E. Sprague Ave.
• Sherry Jones, “The Sword of Medina” and “The Jewel of Medina,” Saturday, 2:15 to 4 p.m., Auntie’s.
Local author notes
Some notes on local authors:
• Spokane author Susanne Marie Knight is a finalist for the 2010 EPIC Awards (Electronically Published Internet Connection) for her historical romance, “Paging Miss Galloway.” It’s her seventh such nomination.
• Hayden Lake’s Randall R. Adams has published two new novels, “The Squire and the King” and “The Squire and the Blacksmith,” from OakTara Books, a publisher of inspirational fiction.