10 Books to Give This Christmas

My family and I have made a deal: we've set a $15 limit on Christmas gifts for the adults.

When I mentioned this to a friend, she marveled, "What can you get for $15?" Books, of course! Maybe even a book and a candy bar.

Of the four adults on my side, stepfather, mom, sister, brother-in-law, two read on electronic devices. Amazon allows gifting of e-books, but "opening" a gifted e-book on Christmas sounds even less satisfying than opening a gift card. (Don't get me wrong, I love gift cards. But you have to admit they're rather ho-hum under the tree.) Christmas is the time to receive a real, old-fashioned paper book with a nice cover and thrilling topic. And, as I've mentioned here many a time, if you run by any of the University Book Stores, they gift wrap and ship for free! Works for me. I may have missed Small Business Saturday but I still plan to drop by the revamped Bellevue store this week to knock a bunch of items off my list.

Books may not be one-size-fits-all, but they're certainly something-for-everyone. Consider the following quirky folks on your list:

1. For the CSI Fan: The Killer of Little Shepherds by Douglas Starr. This non-fiction book follows a serial killer in 1890s France and the developing science of forensics. Grisly, stomach-turning, horrifying, and completely fascinating. 

2. For the Social Activist: Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn. Around-the-world guided tour of women's oppression, from neglect to infanticide to sex trafficking to female genital mutilation. Not for the faint of heart, but a moving and surprisingly hopeful discussion.

3. For the Jane Austen Lover: Yeah, you could buy more Austen "sequels" and knock-offs, but why not introduce your fan to similar authors? I recommend Anthony Trollope's Chronicles of Barset series (The Warden, Barchester Towers, Doctor Thorne, Framley Parsonage, The Small House at Allington, and The Last Chronicle of Barset). A contemporary of Dickens, Trollope shares Austen's eye for social interaction and absurdity, with the added zest of small-town clerical strivings. 

4. For the Children's Graphic Novel Devourer: how about some of the originals? If your kids have already gone through the likes of Happy Happy Clover, Baby Mouse, and the collected Marvel comics at the library, introduce them to TinTin. The new movie has mixed reviews, but the books are delightful.

5. For the Historical Fiction Buff: The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace. Inspired by a true story, this beautifully-written fantasy follows a woman's descent into darkness and the man who tried to help her see her way out. Despite the title, the typewriter doesn't have a heck of a lot to do with it.

6. For the WWII-Obsessed: Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Actually, this is one of my favorite books of the past ten years, and I've recommended it before. Adventure, peril, survival, the human spirit, redemption. What more do you need?

7. For the Mad Scientist: The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. Surprisingly thrilling anecodotal history of the Periodic Table. This is the book that will have you spewing factoids at holiday cocktail parties.

8. For the Environmentalist: Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food by Paul Greenberg. Salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna. Farming, overfishing, gloom-and-doom, baby!

9. For the Foodie or Wannabe-Foodie: The Kitchen-Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn. Part cooking lesson, part cookbook, part voyeur's delight, Flinn picks a dozen random women, audits their kitchens, and teaches them how to cook for themselves. Both newbies and seasoned cooks will get a lot from this book!

10. For New Friends & Family Acquired in the Past Year: what else? My books! Grab a beach read for a teacher or Mia and the Magic Cupcakes for a new child in your life. If someone you love is getting a Kindle or Nook for Christmas, my novels are available for cheap, and you can now gift books for future delivery.

Happy hunting!

Blanking Out

(This scene of emptiness courtesy K. Cadigan)

Some writers' nightmare might be the empty computer screen--that expanse of white, without form and void as the pre-Creation deep, nothing to be seen but the cursor blinking, blinking, blinking. Other writers most dread human interaction; they would prefer to hole up out of sight, spitting the occasional bestseller through the mail slot without having to open the door.

In my case, I dread the empty chair.

Last night was another bookstore event, and I could feel the anxiety building. Honestly, who would come to the thing besides the couple long-suffering friends I begged, one of whom already had the stinking book and even hosted a launch party for me? The other I called up at 25 minutes till, to discover her stir-frying away because she thought the thing began later than it did. To make matters worse, a reader had asked me earlier in the day where I got my inspiration for Everliving's setting (the California redwoods). I stared at her. "I--I don't know." Only when I was driving home did I remember that, yes, in fact, there had been a source of inspiration and I could now recall what it was. Then I had to actually pick up the book to review the first chapter, since I hadn't looked at it in several months, and lo--! I realized the thing was possibly the worst novel ever written in the English language.

You might file all these anecdotes under "Crisis of Confidence."

There's a happy ending to this. Faithful readers did show, and not just the stir-fry friend who blew out of her house after I lit a fire under her. Faithful readers did show and were gracious enough to buy the Worst Novel Ever Written in the English Language (maybe as a collector's item), only one person dozed during the reading (my next book better have explosions in the first chapter, to keep everyone on their toes), and no one threw up (as per my last reading at University Book Store Bellevue). Goodness all around.

Do I look relieved? (K. Cadigan)

Speaking of "all around," the Bellevue store is undergoing a high-speed remodel. Right next to the event area stood stacked trash bins and orange cones, and the lights directly overhead no one could find the switch to. I was relieved there was an event space, since the week before all was dust and chaos. Once complete, however, the store should rival the Jewel in the Crown, a.k.a. Mill Creek. If you bemoaned Borders going out of business and the general demise of bookstores, pay our friends at UBS Bellevue a visit. As always, free gift-wrapping, free shipping and flavored Altoids. Thank you, Carolyn, Kim, Kiki, and the rest of the staff. You are awesome.

God bless you, every one! (K. Cadigan)

 
And thank you, once again, friends and reading public, for coming out to support me and share the love of story.

Now I can enjoy one day of peace before the anxiety kicks in again and I get back on the roller-coaster. Come put me out of my misery?

University Book Store Mill Creek

7:00 p.m.

Mill Creek Town Center
15311 Main Street
Mill Creek, WA 98012
425.385.3530
(plenty of time to finish stir-frying before you hit the road)

Some Fireworks and a Few Duds

My patented pen-grip

Many thanks to those who turned out for my first-ever book launch party in Eastern Washington, and to my extremely loveable in-laws for hosting. Very interesting to see the ratio of physical-book to Kindle readers over there. On our side of the mountains we are somewhere between 25-40% ownership of e-readers, but only one of the 16 attendees in Richland had one. Small sample size, yes, but clearly I need to continue offering future works as physical books for the near future.

It's been a while since I posted on the fate of Everliving. My shift from quasi-Christian-fiction to paranormal romance threw a few people. Two readers told me they had difficulty suspending belief when it came to a ghost; another reported that she was reading the book only because I had written it, but it really wasn't her cup of tea. (She recommended I try whipping out a frothy book set in the Scottish Highlands. I don't currently have one in the works, but never say never.)

For those who don't mind a few things that go bump in the night, however, the response has been positive. The UW Bookstore recently selected Everliving as a Staff Favorite! For your delectation, I include the full review:

Can a ghost story be both spooky and romantic? When that ghost story is written by Bellevue author Christina Dudley, it certainly can be. With her remarkable talent in evoking a sense of place and creating atmosphere, Dudley spins an absorbing tale of lost love, mystery, and paranormal longing set amongst the towering giants of the forest and populated by a rich cast of characters, both living and dead. Her informative descriptions of trees, forests, and redwood canopies are entertaining and never dull or pedantic, and prompt even an acrophobe like me to consider roping up and viewing the world from above. I know that the next time I’m hiking through the forest, Everliving will certainly have me appreciating the trees… and also peering into the mist. -A.M.

 And in the you-learn-something-new-every-day category, it's come to my attention that people yet exist who have never ever ordered a single thing on Amazon. Yes, blog reader, I speak truth. How do I know? Because at least three people have told me they wanted to leave an Amazon review, but that meant first they'd have to buy something (i.e., have an Amazon account). If it's 2011 and they have not yet done so, I'm not holding my breath. Too bad, though, because they had great reviews:

• "A page-turner--perfect summer reading." - R. W.
• "Absolutely fantastic! I was hooked right away, and I loved how all of your characters were so real." - D. B.
• "LOVED it! The perfect amount of suspense and eerie to keep you glued up front (without scaring you to death...but enough teeth that I couldn't read it at night), and then you're so hooked on the relationship between Ben and Daphne that you just can't stop reading..." - K. F.

As always, you can find my books at the UW bookstore, from which they'll ship and gift wrap for free (1.888.335.7323) or on Amazon or the Barnes & Noble Nook.

In the Special Events department, catch me at Creative Mom Toys at the Landing in Renton on Wednesday, July 20, 10:30a for a Mia and the Magic Cupcakes reading. Very cool store with unique, quality toys and books. Despite being a Mia event, I'll have my other books with me, as always, which I'll be happy to sell like crack out of the back of my van.

Thanks for checking in!