The Probable Future

I'm a fan of Alice Hoffman's books. And while she didn't lose me with "The Probable Future" (Ballantine, 2003, 352 pp. $13.95 paperback), I didn't love it.

True to the author's form, the book draws you in with intricate interweaving plotlines and mystical goings-on.

"The Probable Future" revolves around 13 generations of women in the Sparrow family who have special powers and are native to a small Massachusetts hamlet called Unity. Each of the women bears just one female child who is given her unique gift on her 13th birthday.

The powers range from not being able to feel pain - a "gift" that gets Rebecca Sparrow killed on suspicion of being a witch in the 17th century - to being able to discern a lie, to being able to look at a person and see how they die.

(SPOILER ALERT:) The latter gift is that of one of this novel's main characters, the predictable and annoying teenager Stella Sparrow.

The rebellious Stella's gift gets her in trouble pretty quickly. Or, rather, it gets her philandering father in trouble. During a dinner out to celebrate her 13th birthday, Stella spies the death of a woman seated across the room and begs her father to do something to stop her murder. Relating this tale to the police turns out to be not such a good idea when the women does die in the way his daughter described and now Will is the main suspect.

Stella's mother, estranged from her father and whom she can't hide her hate for, is drawn back to the childhood home she abhors to try to protect Stella, who is forced to move there after her father leaks the story to the big bad press. Every Sparrow woman seems to hate her mother, and Jenny Sparrow (whose gift is being able to dream other peoples' dreams) now must make peace with her own ailing mother, Elinor (who can see peoples' lies).

And so everybody gets drawn back to Unity to figure it all out, and past and present are interwoven - or unraveled as it may be. Sparrows start nearly liking Sparrows again, or re-discovering a tolerance bordering on love. The story of the present and of the past Sparrow women continues until we get to the climax of the story, where it seems every loose end is tidied up in a bow - a little too neatly.

What drags the novel down is that you can see the ending coming from a mile away. You can see the unrequited loves about to become requited and the killers about to get their due.

It was just kinda boring. I wanted to finish the novel just to get it over with rather than to stay with the characters to see what happened to them.

Was it worth reading? Yes.

Was it a great read? No.

Maybe I simply need to stop reading every single book by a favorite author. Beattie, Hoffman, Atwood, Kingsolver, Tartt, for example. They are bound to disappoint sometime.

Cheaper books now at major retailers' Web sites

They are piled high on my desk at work, on my nightstand and bookshelves at home, and they keep multiplying.

I have too many books, and still I want more. When not satisfying my book addiction at local stores such as Gently Used Books in Douglassville or Wellington Square Bookshop in Exton, I can now get some of the latest novels online for pretty cheap, thanks to some good old fashioned price wars.

Three major retailers are offering new bestsellers at UNDER $10, according to a report today from The Associated Press:

Target joins in price war on expected best sellers

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

AP Retail Writer
NEW YORK — Target Corp. has thrown itself into a heated price war on books expected to be top sellers.

The Minneapolis-based discounter said Monday that it will offer some of this season's most anticipated book titles at $8.99, in line with recent moves by Walmart.com and Amazon.com.
Target says the price applies to pre-orders on Target.com of such books as "Breathless" by Dean Koontz, "Ford Country" by James Patterson and "Under the Dome" by Stephen King.

The book battle started Thursday, Oct. 15, when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its Web site, walmart.com, would charge just $10, with free shipping, for such upcoming hardcover releases as Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" and John Grisham's "Ford County,"60 percent or more off the regular cost.

Amazon.com, the largest online book seller, then matched the prices. The fight became even fiercer when the two competitors lowered the prices even further to $9 by Friday, Oct. 16.

A check online Monday afternoon of several of the titles revealed that Target.com, Amazon and Walmart.com have similar prices. Walmart.com and Target.com are selling "Under the Dome" and "Breathless" at $8.99, a penny less than Amazon.com.

The price war, occurring as the critical holiday shopping season gets under way, is bad news for independent bookstores, as well as the large chain bookstores Borders Group Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. These chains have seen their sales and profits squeezed by discounting and a decline in their music business.

Wal-Mart has said that the steep book discounts won't be available in stores.

Act quickly to win a DVD of The Botany of Desire movie

The Boyertown Farmers Market Newsletter informs me that you could win a DVD of a movie based on a bestselling book just by writing down how you feel about plants.

The contest centers around Michael Pollan's bestseller, "The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World," (Random House, $24.95, 271 pp.).

This is a book that Mercury Reporter Evan Brandt has been raving about. But I didn't run to the library to check it out as Evan is into, let's say, whole genres of books that might not ever make the leap onto my bookshelf -- Historical non-fiction and science-y type books, for instance. Our ideas of escapism, which the exception of a tall Bluecoat Gin and Tonic, are quite different.

But, I'll give credit to Evan, this book does sound intriguing and educational.

To borrow from the New York Times Book Review (they can borrow from me anytime),

'' 'The Botany of Desire'' is divided into four parts, each focused on a different facet of human desire and its exploitation of and by domesticated plants: sweetness and apples; beauty and tulips; intoxication and cannabis; control and potatoes."

The Times sums the book up in this sentence: "The author explains how flowering plants have prospered by exploiting human desires."

You could win a DVD of the movie based on Pollan's book from LocalHarvest.org, according to our friends at the Boyertown Farmers Market, if you act by Sunday, Oct. 18:

The Botany of Desire will be airing on PBS on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 8 to 10 p.m. Called an "eye-opening exploration of the human relationship with the plant world - seen from the plant's point of view," and narrated by Frances McDormand, this is sure to be good.

For those who haven't read the book, the idea is that we think that we control the plant world. But what if, in fact, they have been shaping us? Local Harvest has a director-signed copy of the movie, so they are introducing a new contest giveaway playing with the theme of the book.

To enter, send them your story of a time you were obsessed with something in the plant kingdom - such as, going to great lengths to protect your tomatoes from frost, watching and waiting for your seedlings to come up, praying for rain, or spending a summer growing flowers for your wedding, etc.

Submit your story by Oct. 18 (that's this Sunday), and they will announce the winner of
The Botany of Desire DVD (click to view trailer) and publish the stories at www.localharvest.org.
To learn more about the film, visit www.pbs.org.

To learn more about the well-publicized Boyertown Farmers Market, visit their Web site (where you can also sign up for their e-newsletter).

They are bravely starting an outdoor winter farmers market on Nov. 21 at their regular location in the parking lot of the Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles at 100 South Walnut Street, two blocks south of the intersection of Routes 562 and 73.

And they're giving away a free cup of coffee to everyone who visits the the rain or shine Winter Market (open from 10 to 11:30 a.m.) during the chilly months on the following dates: Nov. 21, Dec. 19, Jan. 23, Feb. 20, March 20, April 17 and May 22.

Who had time to read this week?

Apparently, not me.

Well, I read a few pages of "The Probable Future" by Alice Hoffman, my pleasure reading of the moment. But my to-be-reviewed business books are languishing on my desk under piles of yesterday's and the day before's page proofs, papers, handouts from Wegmans, phone messages and an overripe Bosc pear.

Thankfully, The Associated Press was up to the task. Below is their weekly Bookshelf Roundup of the latest finance-related reading:

Bookshelf: Millionaires and football philosophy

By The Associated Press

You can learn how the rich really live, how one renowned football coach approached leadership and some new strategies to put to use when searching for a job with three new books that explore these diverse themes.
Researcher Thomas Stanley walks readers through his findings uncovering the surprising spending habits of the wealthy. The late coach Bill Walsh dishes on his philosophies about professionalism and other aspects of leadership that helped him transform the San Francisco 49ers into a football dynasty. And career coaches Richard and Terri Deems help job hunters turn their experience into ammunition for finding their dream jobs.
Here's a look at the new titles:
_____________________
TITLE: Stop Acting Rich and Start Living Like a Millionaire
AUTHOR: Thomas J. Stanley
PRICE: $26.95
SUMMARY: Being a millionaire is not about fancy cars, expensive watches, fine dining or top-shelf liquor, Thomas Stanley argues.
Building on the sort of research results he previously reported in the "The Millionaire Next Door" and its follow-up books, Stanley explores the behaviors of millionaires and extrapolates how people who aspire to be wealthy ought to act.
Using findings from surveys of wealthy people, Stanley explains, for instance, that most millionaires don't drive BMWs, wear Rolex watches or live in million-dollar homes. He also explores the cultural impact of what he calls "the glittering rich," the celebrities whose extravagant lifestyles many people try to emulate.
In trying to live like those who have enormous wealth, he argues, ordinary people actually set themselves back and make true financial security more elusive. And since financial security is what his research shows provides for happiness, he concludes that a more frugal lifestyle that enables people to build wealth will make them happier than any Mercedes or bottle of Grey Goose vodka.
The book can be repetitive in spots but it contains some surprising data that makes for a convincing argument supporting a simple lifestyle as a path to security.
QUOTE: "I don't mean to suggest that one live like a miser; the occasional guilty pleasure is perfectly acceptable. If you work hard and save accordingly, you should enjoy a treat from time to time. The problem is that people have come to enjoy the guilty pleasure every day to the exclusion of working for a financially independent future."
PUBLISHER: Wiley
—Eileen AJ Connelly
_____________________
TITLE: The Score Takes Care of Itself
AUTHOR: Bill Walsh, with Steven Jamison and Craig Walsh
PRICE: $25.95
SUMMARY: Before his death, legendary NFL coach Bill Walsh discussed his philosophy on leadership in a series of interviews. Now those interviews have been turned into a book, written from Walsh's perspective, and drawing on his experience as a transformative figure for the San Francisco 49ers and football strategy.
In discussing the importance of professionalism, for instance, Walsh recounts how he didn't allow players to showboat or taunt the other team on the field. At the 49ers headquarters, phones had to be answered promptly and courteously. Walsh says the rules, big and small, eventually helped infuse the entire organization with an atmosphere of professionalism.
Interspersed throughout the book are insights from former colleagues, including assistant coaches Bill McPherson and Mike White.
QUOTE: "There is no guarantee, no ultimate formula for success. However, a resolute and resourceful leader understands that there are a multitude of means to increase the probability of success. And that's what it all comes down to, namely, intelligently and relentlessly seeking solutions that will increase your chance of prevailing in a competitive environment. When you do that, the score will take care of itself."
PUBLISHER: Portfolio
—Candice Choi
_____________________
TITLE: Make Job Loss Work for You
AUTHOR: Richard S. Deems and Terri A. Deems
PRICE: $12.95 (paperback)
SUMMARY: Using their experience working people making career changes, some pop psychology and some traditional advice, the authors put together a helpful book for those who find themselves looking for work.
The book aims to help unemployed readers focus on their accomplishments at work in order to better define what they want to do. Readers are prompted to answer numerous questions and to come up with specific achievements in measurable terms — information that can later be translated into lines on a resume or cover letter.
The couple offers both traditional wisdom about organizing a job search and some unconventional advice, including the suggestion that resume writers add positive quotes from co-workers or clients to their resumes. And there's a section that reviews the sorts of questions a job seeker may have to answer during an interview.
QUOTE: "If you've not been happy or satisfied doing what you've been doing, now's the time to think through your options and design your future."
PUBLISHER: Jist
—Eileen AJ Connelly