Lots o’ Goodness

• The Rapunzel Roundup was awesome; two out of three Hales, plus one Zarr, agree! Pictures to come soon.
• Powell’s likes Carol Wiley Cassella as much as I do.
• Joyce Hinnefeld, who you will soon be hearing about if you haven’t already since her debut novel In Hovering Flight is the number one IndieNext List pick for September (a reward richly deserved for a great read), is psyched about indies.

New Author to Love

One of the greatest feelings in bookselling is discovering a brand new author to obsess over read, and Carol Wiley Cassella is one of my most recent finds! Her debut novel Oxygen was a completely unexpected pleasure to read. Fans of Grey’s Anatomy, House, and ER MUST pick this one up — it’s an operating room drama that does not disappoint.  Cassella manages humanity’s heights and flaws exquisitely; there are no ‘tragically flawed’ characters or heroics, only people at their best and worst. Main character and doctor Marie’s struggles to understand what happened in the operating room and her doubts about her personal life are poignant and heartfelt, and will be immediately recognizable to other women who have put their careers first. As a reader, I’ll be following Cassella’s career with interest; as a bookseller, I can’t wait to introduce her to others!

Shelf Awareness ran an entertaining interview with Cassella today as well; how can you not love an author whose favorite sentence comes out of Lolita?