Bringing Book Lovers and Book Professionals Together
WNBA-Charlotte’s new March 2013 Newsletter “Chapter Notes” is just published. Don’t miss our feature articles by and about our members and programs. Click here for the PDF of the newsletter.
Many thanks to Jessica Daitch, who wrote the newsletter, and to Susan Vitale, who formatted it for us!
Our next book is
Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani
Scribner, trade paperback, $17
[Additional info]
Discussion is on April 2, 7:00 PM, at the Panera at 5940 Fairview, right near SouthPark Mall. If you need more info, please contact Kristen Knox at whitreidsmama@yahoo.com .
Legendary women—from Anne Boleyn to Queen Elizabeth I to Mary, Queen of Scots—changed the course of history in the royal courts of sixteenth-century England. They are celebrated in history books and novels, but few people know of the powerful women in the Muslim world, who formed alliances, served as key advisers to rulers, lobbied for power on behalf of their sons, and ruled in their own right. In Equal of the Sun, Anita Amirrezvani’s gorgeously crafted tale of power, loyalty, and love in the royal court of Iran, she brings one such woman to life, Princess Pari Khan Khanoom Safavi.
Iran in 1576 is a place of wealth and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah’s daughter and protégé, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess’s maneuvers to instill order after her father’s sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her closest adviser, Javaher, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry of secrets and information that reveals a power struggle of epic proportions.
Based loosely on the life of Princess Pari Khan Khanoom, Equal of the Sun is a riveting story of political intrigue and a moving portrait of the unlikely bond between a princess and a eunuch. Anita Amirrezvani is a master storyteller, and in her lustrous prose this rich and labyrinthine world comes to vivid life with a stunning cast of characters, passionate and brave men and women who defy or embrace their destiny in a Machiavellian game played by those who lust for power and will do anything to attain it.
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Our meetings take place on the first Tuesday of each month, 7 PM at the Panera on Fairview near SouthPark. We have chosen books to take us through to next October when there will be a new Great Group Reads list released. Here’s what we’ve read and will be reading:
December 4: I Married You For Happiness by Lily Tuck [click here for more info about our discussion]
January 8: The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin [click here for more info about our discussion]
February 5: Blue Asylum by Kathy Hepinstall
March 5: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach
April 2: Equal of the Sun by Anita Amirrezvani
May 7: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal by Jeannette Winterson
June 4: An Age of Madness by David Maine
July 2: The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman
August 6: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
September 3: Boleto by Alison Hagy
October 1: In the Shadow of the Banyan by Vaddey Ratner
This week, the Women’s National Book Association Charlotte is giving away an UNCORRECTED PROOF of THE OTHER TYPIST by Suzanne Rindell.
From Penguin.com:
Suzanne Rindell – Author
For fans of The Talented Mr. Ripley and The Great Gatsby comes one of the most memorable unreliable narrators in years.
Rose Baker seals men’s fates. With a few strokes of the keys that sit before her, she can send a person away for life in prison. A typist in a New York City Police Department precinct, Rose is like a high priestess. Confessions are her job. It is 1923, and while she may hear every detail about shootings, knifings, and murders, as soon as she leaves the interrogation room she is once again the weaker sex, best suited for filing and making coffee.
This is a new era for women, and New York is a confusing place for Rose. Gone are the Victorian standards of what is acceptable. All around her women bob their hair, they smoke, they go to speakeasies. Yet prudish Rose is stuck in the fading light of yesteryear, searching for the nurturing companionship that eluded her childhood. When glamorous Odalie, a new girl, joins the typing pool, despite her best intentions Rose falls under Odalie’s spell. As the two women navigate between the sparkling underworld of speakeasies by night and their work at the station by day, Rose is drawn fully into Odalie’s high-stakes world. And soon her fascination with Odalie turns into an obsession from which she may never recover.
Advanced Reader Copies are pre-release copies, of no commercial value, and NOT FOR RESALE. Thank you to Park Road Books for providing this copy.
Our March 11 MEET THE AUTHORS evening was a great success. Close to 40 people attended to meet our five featured authors and to hear them speak about their novels. All five were eloquent in describing their books and how they came to write them. We were definitely convinced that we must read all these books immediately, and book sales at Park Road Books were brisk.
Many thanks to our guest authors and to all of our members and prospective members who attended this event! We’ll host more book and author events in the future, including our 2013 Bibliofeast in October.
Our authors included……
Kim
Boykin, THE WISDOM OF HAIR (Berkley / Penguin USA) www.kimboykin.com
Gina Holmes, WINGS OF GLASS (Tyndale House) www.ginaholmes.com
Holly Goddard Jones, THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME (Touchstone / S&S) www.hollygoddardjones.com
Megan Miranda, HYSTERIA (Walker Books for Young Readers / Macmillan) www.meganmiranda.com
Margaret Wrinkle, WASH (Atlantic Monthly Press / Grove/Atlantic) http://washthenovel.com/
The photos here are, top to bottom: 
– attendees at the event
– WNBA Charlotte board members Jessica Daitch and Carin Siegfried
– author Kim Boykin
– author Gina Holmes
– author Megan Miranda on the far right in this photo
– author Holly Goddard Jones
– author Margaret Wrinkle
This week, the Women’s National Book Association Charlotte is giving away an UNCORRECTED PROOF of TOPSY by Michael Daly.From Grove Atlantic:
The circus, performing elephants, Thomas Edison, and Coney Island all come together in this captivating popular history of Topsy, the famous elephant who met an unusual end.
Topsy
Spring MEET THE AUTHORS Evening
with Five Guest Authors
Monday, March 11, 7 – 9 PM /
Park Road Books, Park Road Shopping Center /
4139 Park Road, Charlotte 28209 /
Our March meeting will feature a number of authors from the Carolinas (and beyond), including……
Kim Boykin, THE WISDOM OF HAIR
(Berkley / Penguin USA) www.kimboykin.com
Gina Holmes, WINGS OF GLASS 
(Tyndale House) www.ginaholmes.com
Holly Goddard Jones,
THE NEXT TIME YOU SEE ME
(Touchstone / S&S) www.hollygoddardjones.com
Megan Miranda, HYSTERIA
(Walker Books for Young Readers / Macmillan) www.meganmiranda.com
Margaret Wrinkle, WASH
(Atlantic Monthly Press / Grove/Atlantic) more information
Our special guests will join us for an evening of conversation and refreshments.
Each author will speak briefly about her book, and there will be plenty of opportunity for one-on-one questions and discussions. Park Road Books will sell books.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet these authors and get signed copies of their new books!
In addition — we’ll announce the winners of our Literary Services Raffle at this March 11 meeting. (Click here for more raffle info.) We’ll have some door prizes to give out to WNBA members who attend the meeting, too.
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