Indiespensable #53 from Powell's Books

I am so excited to finally get my second shipment from the Indiespensable book club!  Indiespensable used to ship about every six weeks but this box arrived 3 months after the last shipment back in April.  I'm not sure if this means they are going to switch to quarterly shipment or not.  I never received an email or other notification explaining why they delayed shipping this installment but I'm happy it's here.  Here is a look at what was included in this installment:

Featured Book:  A Diver's Clothes Lie Empty by Vendela Vida

Synopsis from Amazon: 

From the acclaimed author of Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name and The Lovers comes a taut, spellbinding literary thriller that probes the essence and malleability of identity.

In Vendela Vida’s taut and mesmerizing novel of ideas, a woman travels to Casablanca, Morocco, on mysterious business. While checking into her hotel, the woman is robbed of her wallet and passport—all of her money and identification. Though the police investigate, the woman senses an undercurrent of complicity between the hotel staff and the authorities—she knows she’ll never recover her possessions. Stripped of her identity, she feels burdened by the crime yet strangely liberated by her sudden freedom to be anyone she chooses.

A chance encounter with a movie producer leads to a job posing as a stand-in for a well-known film star. The star reels her in deeper, though, and soon she’s inhabiting the actress’s skin off set, too—going deeper into the Casablancan night and further from herself. And so continues a strange and breathtaking journey full of unexpected turns, an adventure in which the woman finds herself moving further and further away from the person she once was.

Told with vibrant, lush detail and a wicked sense of humor, The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty is part literary mystery, part psychological thriller—an unforgettable novel that explores free will, power, and a woman’s right to choose not her past, perhaps not her present, but certainly her future. This is Vendela Vida’s most assured and ambitious novel yet.

Advance Reader Copy:  Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash

Synopsis from Amazon:

In this poetic and haunting tale set in contemporary Appalachia, New York Times bestselling author Ron Rash illuminates lives shaped by violence and a powerful connection to the land

Les, a long-time sheriff just three-weeks from retirement, contends with the ravages of crystal meth and his own duplicity in his small Appalachian town.  Becky, a park ranger with a harrowing past, finds solace amid the lyrical beauty of this patch of North Carolina.

Enduring the mistakes and tragedies that have indelibly marked them, they are drawn together by a reverence for the natural world. When an irascible elderly local is accused of poisoning a trout stream, Les and Becky are plunged into deep and dangerous waters, forced to navigate currents of disillusionment and betrayal that will force them to question themselves and test their tentative bond—and threaten to carry them over the edge.

Extras:  Fuller Serious Cheesy Puffs in Siracha and Cheddar

Each box also includes a booklet with information about the book selections and a special interview with the featured author.

Cost of Box:  $39.95 (shipping included)
Impressions:   I have not read anything from either of the authors included in this box but I am looking forward to reading both books.  The plots of both books sound interesting and The Diver's Clothes Lie Empty has good ratings on Amazon.  I really like that Indiespensable brought back the special slipcase covers for the featured book too!  I have several bookshelves to display my books and I really like the look of old looking matte fabric covers more than shiny dust-jackets.   It's nice that the featured book is signed by the author as well.  And I think it's great that Indiespensable offers advance reader copies like Above the Waterfall which will be released on September 8, 2015.   The siracha and cheedar cheesepuffs are very good.  They are a little spicy but I like spicy snacks.  I had to restrain myself from eating them all in one sitting!  I like that they are baked (not fried) and include simple, natural ingredients so I don't feel so guilty about inhaling them!  :)

It's hard to place a value on a box like Indiespensable because it includes exclusively designed and printed or advanced reader copy books.  But here is some information to give you an idea of pricing to get similar versions of the box items:

• A Diver's Clothes Lie Empty, $17.76 (Amazon.com, hardcover)
• Above the Waterfall, $14.13 (Amazon.com pre-order, hardcover)
• Fuller Serious Cheese Puffs - Siracha and Cheddar flavor, 3 oz, $5

As a book lover, the appeal and "value" of Indiespensable is in the autographed book, the exclusively designed book covers, the interview with the featured author, advance reader copies and the special box curation by fellow book lovers.  And you have to take in to consideration that the subscription price includes the cost of shipping the weight of these books to you.  I'm very happy with this installment because I plan to read both books and I liked the tasty snack they included.  I'm looking forward to the next installment!

Indiespensable #52 from Powell's Books

I am so excited I finally got a subscription to the Indiespensable book club!  Indiespensable ships every six weeks and is run by Powell's Books bookstore in Portland, Oregon.  Each installment includes a signed featured book, sometimes an unsigned secondary book, and extra gifts and treats.

Featured Book:  Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

Synopsis from Amazon: 

Peggy Hillcoat is eight years old when her survivalist father, James, takes her from their home in London to a remote hut in the woods and tells her that the rest of the world has been destroyed. Deep in the wilderness, Peggy and James make a life for themselves. They repair the hut, bathe in water from the river, hunt and gather food in the summers and almost starve in the harsh winters. They mark their days only by the sun and the seasons.

When Peggy finds a pair of boots in the forest and begins a search for their owner, she unwittingly unravels the series of events that brought her to the woods and, in doing so, discovers the strength she needs to go back to the home and mother she thought she’d lost.

After Peggy's return to civilization, her mother begins to learn the truth of her escape, of what happened to James on the last night out in the woods, and of the secret that Peggy has carried with her ever since.

Advance Reader Copy:  The New and Improved Romie Futch by Julia Elliott

Synopsis from Amazon:

Down on his luck and still pining for his ex-wife, South Carolina taxidermist Romie Futch spends his evenings drunkenly surfing the Internet before passing out on his couch. In a last-ditch attempt to pay his mortgage, he replies to an ad and becomes a research subject in an experiment conducted by the Center for Cybernetic Neuroscience in Atlanta, Georgia. After “scientists” download hifalutin humanities disciplines into their brains, Romie and his fellow guinea pigs start debating the works of Foucault and hashing out the intricacies of postmodern subjectivity. The enhanced taxidermist, who once aspired to be an artist, returns to his hometown ready to revolutionize his work and revive his failed marriage. As Romie tracks down specimens for his elaborate animatronic taxidermy dioramas, he develops an Ahab-caliber obsession with bagging “Hogzilla,” a thousand-pound feral hog that has been terrorizing Hampton County. Cruising hog-hunting websites, he learns that this lab-spawned monster possesses peculiar traits. Pulled into an absurd and murky underworld of biotech operatives, FDA agents, and environmental activists, Romie becomes entangled in the enigma of Hogzilla’s origins.

Exploring the interplay between nature and culture, biology and technology, reality and art, The New and Improved Romie Futch probes the mysteries of memory and consciousness, offering a darkly comic yet heartfelt take on the contemporary human predicament.

Extras:  Ceramic Powell's Bookstore Coaster

Each box also includes a booklet with information about the book selections and a special interview with the featured author.

Cost of Box:  $39.95 (shipping included, ships every 6 weeks)
Impressions:   I'm really looking forward to reading Our Numbered Endless Days.  I love the pretty cover design and the autographed signature page that are special and only in this Indiespensable copy of the book.  The New and Improved Romie Futch doesn't really appeal to me.  I rarely read books of this type of genre but I get that the purpose of this book club subscription is to occasionally get you out of your reading comfort zone and expose you to new genres and authors.  I do like that this book is an advance reader copy so it's pretty cool that I get to read it before most people will get to buy it in October 2015.  Although the Hogzilla storyline isn't something that particularly interests me, I will try to keep an open mind and read it someday but it will not be at the top of my reading list.  There was a card included with the book that you can mail in and submit feedback as one of the advance readers.  I normally like the extras that Indiespensable includes in their box but the coaster didn't really excite me.  I will use it for holding my hot cups of coffee and tea but I think I would like it a lot more if were a prettier image than the Powell's sign. 

What I find really cool about Indiespensable is that the featured book of each installment is signed by the author and has a cover custom designed especially for Indiespensable!  So if you shop around for the featured book online or at your local bookstore, you will not be able to find a copy with this cover.  It is hard to place a value on this box because it includes exclusively designed and printed or advanced reader copy books.  Here is some information to give you an idea of pricing to get similar versions of the box items:

• Our Endless Numbered Days, $13.50 (Amazon.com, paperback)
• A New and Improved Romie Futch, $15.95 (Amazon.com pre-order, paperback)
• Powell's Coaster, $5 (Powells.com, price of similar coasters)

As a book lover, the appeal and extra "value" of Indiespensable is in the autographed book, the exclusively designed book covers, the interview with the featured author, advance reader copies and the special box curation by fellow book lovers who introduce you to new authors and books you may not normally reach for.  Plus, you have to take in to consideration that the price includes the cost of shipping the weight of these books to you.  I like that the installments are shipped every 6 weeks rather than monthly, because it allows you to feel less rushed to finish one book before the next one arrives.  And the regular shipment means I will always have something to read!  I'm definitely looking forward to future installments!

A note on getting an Indiespensable subscription:  I want to note that it took about two months for me to grab one of the few coveted new subscriber slots that open for each installment.  But I will not complain because I would much rather wait to join a quality club than quickly be put on the mailing roster of a box service that starts to fail to meet the standard of their previous boxes.  I've seen it before where small subscription box services start to take on more members than they can adequately meet the demands of and the quality of their boxes starts to suffer for it, sometimes even causing them to go out of business.  So if you are interested in subscribing to Indiespensable, you may have to be patient in acquiring a slot but it looks to be worth the wait if you're a book lover!  Unfortunately, there currently is not a waitlist to sign up for notification of new slots opening so you just have to be diligent about checking the Indiespensable page.  I think about two weeks after the last installment shipped (or one month before the next installment ships) is the best time to start checking.  This installment shipped April 8th (which means the next installment will probably ship around May 20th) so new slots may open up around April 22nd.  When new member slots open they sell out very quickly!

A note on shipping:  This box ships Economy Mail via UPS Mail Innovations and is transferred to USPS for final delivery.  It took 7 days to ship from Washington to me in South Carolina.  

What I'm Reading - Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback

I love to read but lately I've noticed myself slipping into watching a lot more television than I used to watch.  Not sure why, I find most of television to be mindless "reality" show dribble that I forget about as soon as I turn off the TV.  There are not too many shows or movies with an actual story line anymore.  So back to books I go!  I bought a Kindle about a year ago for the purpose of reading more on the go and to save a little money by purchasing the kindle version versus the hard-copy of books but ended up not using it very much.  I found that I actually missed the feel of a paper book in my hand.  And reading a book digitally somehow made the story seem less tangible or real.  I guess I'm an old school book lover but I'm not ashamed of it! 

What I'm currently reading:  Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekback
Amazon pricing: $19.71 for hardcover, $9.10 for Kindle version.  I was able to purchase and ship a hard-copy on eBay for $11.  I discovered this book through the Indiespensable subscription book club, which I recently joined.  It was featured in their #51 installment but my membership starts with the #52 installment (currently sold out).

Synopsis from Amazon:

‘Wolf winter,’ she said, her voice small. ‘I wanted to ask about it. You know, what it is.’  He was silent for a long time. ‘It’s the kind of winter that will remind us we are mortal,’ he said. ‘Mortal and alone.’

Swedish Lapland, 1717. Maija, her husband Paavo and her daughters Frederika and Dorotea arrive from their native Finland, hoping to forget the traumas of their past and put down new roots in this harsh but beautiful land. Above them looms Blackåsen, a mountain whose foreboding presence looms over the valley and whose dark history seems to haunt the lives of those who live in its shadow.

While herding the family’s goats on the mountain, Frederika happens upon the mutilated body of one of their neighbors, Eriksson. The death is dismissed as a wolf attack, but Maija feels certain that the wounds could only have been inflicted by another man. Compelled to investigate despite her neighbors’ strange disinterest in the death and the fate of Eriksson’s widow, Maija is drawn into the dark history of tragedies and betrayals that have taken place on Blackåsen. Young Frederika finds herself pulled towards the mountain as well, feeling something none of the adults around her seem to notice.

As the seasons change, and the “wolf winter,” the harshest winter in memory, descends upon the settlers, Paavo travels to find work, and Maija finds herself struggling for her family’s survival in this land of winter-long darkness. As the snow gathers, the settlers’ secrets are increasingly laid bare. Scarce resources and the never-ending darkness force them to come together, but Maija, not knowing who to trust and who may betray her, is determined to find the answers for herself. Soon, Maija discovers the true cost of survival under the mountain, and what it will take to make it to spring.

Started:  March 18, 2015
Finished:  April 14, 2015
Thoughts:  The first third of the book is a little slow and somewhat confusing getting all the characters organized in your mind.  It took me a long time to figure out who Jutta was and whether or not Maija and Frederika were talking to an actual living person, a ghost or spirit, or just their memory of Jutta.  I didn't like how choppy the sentences read; like random incomplete thoughts that the writer expected you to piece together and make sense of.  Often times, it's difficult to differentiate who was speaking.  Don't get me wrong, I like when a writer makes the reader more engaged with the story by allowing them to figure some things out on their own but in this book, the amount of random, incomplete thoughts/sentences is a bit much at times.  Overall, I like the story Ekback is trying to tell, just not the choppy and confusing writing style.  
I rarely read mysteries but I liked the storyline and the "who done it" twist at the end of this book.  But the sometimes difficult to follow writing style prevents me from highly recommending this book.  I'm doubtful I'll read any future works Ekback.