Freebie Friday: 'Percival's Planet' by Michael Byers
Happy Friday, all! Lately, I've been doing my part to keep an open mind about a certain genre that I've never cared for: mystery novels. In fact, the only mystery I've really enjoyed is Josephine Tey's "The Daughter of Time" -- and it can be argued that it's more of a historical novel than a mystery.
So right now I'm reading "The Vanishing of Katharina Linden," by Helen Grant. It began with a woman combusting, and I'm enjoying the details of life in a small German town. The story is narrated by a young girl who's been ostrasized by her peers, and then begins to look into the disappearance of a classmate, suspecting something supernatural. Who knows, maybe this will be the turning point in my relationship with mysteries?
But onto our winner! Congratulations, Carol Wong, you've won "Villain." We hope you enjoy it.
Our next giveaway is a Depression-era novel by Michael Byers. "Percival's Planet," which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, was inspired by the true story of the discovery of Pluto. (And 2010 is the 80th anniversary of the discovery!) While Pluto may be too small to be a planet anymore, this novel's interpretation of discoverer Clyde Tombaugh is quite the epic.
So tell us what you're reading, and it could be yours!
Comments
I bet my husband would love this book. I'm reading The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
Posted by: bermudaonion (Kathy) | July 30, 2010 10:52 AM
Somehow this summer seems to be my year for reading things that cross over between YA and adult fiction. I just finished reading Red Glass by Laura Resau, which is a really great novel about girl who finds her own inner strength.
Posted by: Alecia | July 30, 2010 12:32 PM
I'm about to start Finny by Justin Kramon. Looking forward to it. And I'm another who thinks my husband would love Percival's Planet. Sounds like his kind of book.
Posted by: Sarah | July 30, 2010 12:58 PM
I'm currently reading "Angle of Repose" by Wallace Stegner and "The Art Student's War" by Brad Leithauser, both on paper.
Posted by: Kem White | July 30, 2010 3:34 PM
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. It is clever and fun, every thing that summer reading should be.
Posted by: Edward F. Whitfill | July 30, 2010 3:57 PM
Pluto is NOT too small to be a planet. Please do not blindly accept the controversial demotion of Pluto, which was done by only four percent of the International Astronomical Union, most of whom are not planetary scientists. Their decision was immediately opposed in a formal petition by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Stern and like-minded scientists favor a broader planet definition that includes any non-self-luminous spheroidal body in orbit around a star. The spherical part is important because objects become spherical when they attain a state known as hydrostatic equilibrium, meaning they are large enough for their own gravity to pull them into a round shape. This is a characteristic of planets and not of shapeless asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects. Pluto meets this criterion and is therefore a planet. Using this broader definition gives our solar system 13 planets and counting: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. At the very least, you should note that there is an ongoing debate rather than portraying one side as fact when it is only one interpretation of fact.
Posted by: Laurel Kornfeld | July 30, 2010 11:49 PM