My entire concept behind writing The Scranton Page Turner is to expose you to books you probably wouldn’t have discovered on your own. Hence, I will NOT be looking at best selling authors and books. Oh yes, occasionally, there will be a bestseller or two, but it’s fairly easy to walk into a library and find the best selling authors.
Some friends of mine have light heartedly called me a book snob because I don’t necessarily read bestsellers. My retort to my friends is:
Just because something is popular doesn’t mean it will hold up over time.
When the concept for Scranton Page Turner formulated, I thought about the best way to present the material:
–All fiction during one post
–All non fiction for another.
–Breaking my posts down by genre
The ONLY concept I’ve decided to maintain is the Three Book Per Post approach. Generally I will adhere to All Fiction, and keep within a specific genre. Occasionally, however as with the following I WILL be mixing and matching fiction and non fiction.
The other point I will adhere to do the BEST of my ability is presenting books that you would most likely not discover otherwise. As I said at the beginning of this post today, I REALLY want you to find books you ordinarily wouldn’t be exposed to. The books I will discuss in ALL of my entries here are ones that have held up for me over time. And, yes I will be discussing Classics as well.
Not that the books I’m going to discuss in THIS blog post will stand the test of time. That’s not REALLY why I’m writing about them either. I simply want to uncover some of my favorite hidden gems:
Today’s three treasures follow:
Burning Marguerite
Elizabeth Inness-Brown:
This book, as I’ve pushed it since I read it, is most likely the most beautiful prose I’ve EVER come across. I know! I know! That’s high praise for the written word. Don’t take my word for it, however. Go to your local library and pick up the book. Leaf through the first chapter then decide for yourself. I’m willing to bet you’ll come away with a similar conclusion.
The story is about a young boy who comes to live with a “surrogate aunt” for what reason we are not told. James, the boy, now an adult, has come to check on his “aunt’ only to discover that she has passed and her body is lying outside her cabin dressed only in a nightgown. From there the story continues.
Two Coots in a Canoe
Dave Morine
Relying on the kindness of strangers.
Two old friends in their retirement decide to travel the ENTIRE length of the Connecticut River from its Source to the river’s mouth. On their journey south they travel as far as they can and each night pull over and find a place to stay, relying as they say on the kindness of strangers. The book has many laugh out loud moments. One of the things I REALLY took away from this book was the reconnecting of two old friends.
This is DEFINITELY one of my favorite hidden treasures. I discovered it via my friend, Billy T. Several years ago while hanging out for coffee one morning before heading into work, Bill had the book with him and was describing it. What he mentioned, drew me in and when I arrived at the library, I immediately sought the book out.
Two Coots… is a relatively short book and can most likely be read in one or two sittings.
Elixir
Gary Braver
Elixir was the first book I read by this author when it was published. I’ve read eveverything he has published since and there are several he has written previously that I haven’t gotten to yet but will eventually. Gary Braver is the pen name for a Northeastern English professor. I highly recommend tracking this author down and reading his literature.
Elixir tells the story of a boston research team sent to Papua New Guinea and when there, the team discovers a flower whose extract can prolong life. The question then becomes do you take it? Would you take it?
Ya gotta read this thrill a minute book. You’ll have a challenging time putting it down. I did.
Until next time…
Turn the page!
–
Chris
Feel free to comment here or jump on over to my blog:
Hidden Gems
Yup! This was an enjoyable ride. -- Chris