Friday, July 27, 2018

Friday's Forgotten Books, July 27, 2018


DARE ME, Megan Abbott
Now that it is going to have a pilot, I decided to reread this from 2012.
Addy and Beth are best friends and head the cheerleading squad at their high school. When a new coach comes along, one with ambitions for the squad and herself, a chasm opens between the girls. This sounds like a YA book but it really isn't and lots of teens were probably puzzled by the deeper themes in the book. This book is about power, ambition, friendship, love. I thought it was an even richer book eight years later. This is partly because I have watched these themes play out in three substituent novels. I think YOU WILL KNOW ME is my favorite of Megan's novels, but this is right up there. Oh, let's face it. They are all my favorite.

The Works of Megan Abbott
The Street is Mine (non-fiction)

Die a Little (2006)
The Song is You (2008)
Queenpin (2008)
Bury Me Deep(2009)
The End of Everything (2011)
Dare Me (2012)
The Fever (2014)
You Will Know Me (2016)
Give Me Your Hand (2018)

Normandy Gold (with Alison Gaylin) a graphic novel (2018)

Yvette Banek, DEATH IN HIGH  PROVENCE, Geroge Bellairs
Brian Busby, BLENCARROW, Isabel MacKay
Martin Edwards, Elizabeth X, Vera Caspary
Curt Evans, DEATH'S OLD SWEET SONG, Jonathan Stagge
Richard Horton, THE HAWKS OF ARCTURUS, Cecil Snyder III
Jerry House, IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH?, Alan Dunn
George Kelley, THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES AND NOVELS, T.E. Dikty
Margot Kinberg, THE BOOK OF MEMORY, Patinah Gappah
Kate Laity, RIPLEY UNDER WATER, Patricia Highsmith
B.V. Lawson, THE SINGING SPIDER, Angus MacVicar
Evan Lewis, HANGROPE TOWN, Harry Whittington
Steve Lewis, DEATH NOTICE, M.S. Karl
Todd Mason,  SWORDS AND DEVILTRY by Fritz Leiber; NIGHTFALL AND OTHER STORIES, Isaac Asimov
J.F. Norris, THE LITTLE LIE, Jean Potts
Matt Paust, POLAR STAR, Martin Cruz Smith
James Reasoner, MIDSHIPMAN BOLITHO AND THE AVENGER, Alexander Kent
Richard Robinson, CRIME THROUGH TIME, Monfredo and Newman
Kevin Tipple/Barry Ergang, BRASS KNUCKLES, Stories by Frank Gruber
TomCat, THE OTHER BULLET, Nancy Barr Mavity
TracyK, DEATH OF A NATIONALIST. Rebecca Pawel

10 comments:

K. A. Laity said...

Heh, wrote a paper on The End of Everything. I’ll have to get it in print this fall. Also I did an FFB this week: https://grahamwynd.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/ffb-ripley-under-water-by-patricia-highsmith/

Jeff Meyerson said...

This was a good one, but I think I agree with you on YOU WILL KNOW ME.

I haven't started the new one yet, though.

Jerry House said...

I'm planning on an Abbott family read-a-thon for later this year.

My FFB is up now, Patti -- IS THERE INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH? by Alan Dunn. Thanks.

Yvette said...

Okay, mine is up now too, Patti. Thanks.

J F Norris said...

Mine's up now:

The Little Lie by Jean Potts

Mathew Paust said...

I don't have a TV, so I can't watch the series, but I guess it's high time I read Dare Me, the novel!

TracyK said...

I am glad I saw this right now, because I am between books, and I am going to read one of my two books by Megan next. My choice is between Queenpin or You Will Know Me.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I think YOU WILL KNOW ME is the more complex book. But QUEENPIN is quick and fun.

Mathew Paust said...

I haven't read Queenpin yet, Tracy, but here's the review I did of You Will Know Me, which I enjoyed immensely: https://mdpaust.blogspot.com/2016/07/you-will-know-me-megan-abbott.html

Anonymous said...

I decided to start with Queenpin, Patti, I know that both may be a bit of a challenge for me. But that is good. Thanks to Mathew for the link to his review of You Will Know Me.