kirkus: 'moving, eloquent…joyously idiosyncratic'
IWAS STARTLED AT JUST HOW PRECISELY “Kirkus Reviews” got my upcoming book in all its many layers, and especially delighted that the sum of the parts proved pleasing. The punchline: The first review of my upcoming memoir is a really positive one—a “starred” review, in fact, and to quote the “Kirkus” explanation: “A star is assigned to books of remarkable merit, determined by the editors.”
Kirkus, founded in 1933, publishes more than 500 pre-publication book reviews each month, with more than 300,000 titles now in its database. It prints them two to three months ahead of each book’s publication date because Kirkus serves the trade: libraries, bookstores, publishers and such.
“And I Shall Have Some Peace There was called, “a moving, eloquent and joyously idiosyncratic memoir,” and I hope you will read the entire assessment for yourselves, and pass it on. Time to start a rumor, right? Shall we start by jumping up and down together right this minute?
My copy is already ordered. Need to chat with you about the possibility of speaking for a Midwest Master Gardeners conference in Fall 2012. Might you contact me??
Bravo, Margaret. You’re an inspiration.
Congratulations, Margaret.
I can’t wait to get my pre-ordered copy in February! Stumbling upon your blog several months ago may be the best thing I ever found on the Web.
Best wishes for your continued happiness, peace and prosperity.
Speaking as a retired librarian, I should gently suggest that “Kirkus Reviews” may have been the one to give you a gold star but the reader who gave such a fabulous review was actually the one who “got” your book… :)
Life is all about how we leave our impression upon people… and this happy reviewer is just the public first of what I am sure, me included, are many many many more… so happy for you, so well deserved…
Congrats from all of us at Berkshire Botanical Garden!
Ta-da! Way to go girl!
Welcome, Gerry; I loved writing that now-very-old garden book, and it is sweet to hear you have it. Someday there will be a new version. :) Thanks for your continuing enthusiasm…having this support is part of what makes me stay on the hamster wheel over here. :)
Welcome, Ilene. That is a very good piece of news indeed — not having ever been in that end of the business, I am just learning about Kirkus and the decision-making process on how books get sold (or don’t!) in all the many ways. Nervous over here, to say the least. Fingers crossed, breathing deeply.
I have the first garden book you wrote, and I look forward to buying the one that will be out next year–I enjoy your blog also.
Congratulations on your rave review in Kirkus! We use Kirkus as a source for deciding which books to order in quantity for public libraries across America. I wish you great success with this very personal memoir.
That’s wonderful Margaret, I’m looking forward to reading your new book too, I was able to get a copy of “Away to Garden” and enjoyed it so much. When I can’t be out in my garden, it gives me great joy to curl up with a good book,
Thank you friends all for your kindness. What a funny time this pre-publication :gestation” phase is. Oh, my.
@Laura: Eek! How exciting…a real reader already! It has been a little secret between me and my editor for so long, it’s odd and wonderful to start to hear that people have read it. :)
Hi Margaret ! Woot! Congratulations ! I am going to get a copy and read. Since I have gotten sucked into reading everything on the Web, my book reading has dropped to almost nil for a while. Perhaps I will start with yours as an icebreaker to reading books ~ Egads !
You writing has always struck such a deep chord, I remember reading your New York Newsday articles way back when, in the days before radio and finding myself sobbing with both tears of laughter and sadness. :)
You know who…
:)
Margaret, I have a confession to make. A friend of mine was sent an ARC of your book a couple of weeks ago and I read it in less than twenty-four hours (okay, so I let out a small shriek and maybe jumped up and down when my friend mentioned they had received a copy). It is absolutely wonderful! I don’t want to say too much about it, except to say, buy it, buy it, buy it and give it to your friends. You won’t be sorry.
Margaret, you did a magnificent job. You should be very proud of how brave you were in chronicling your journey. My only regret as a faithful reader of your blog is that we didn’t know all that you were going through at the time. It is none of our business, of course, but several times I thought “Oh, if only she had told us!” It is to your immense credit that the intimate world you have structured on your blog makes a complete stranger feel this way.
Congratulations on your life, your book and your review.
Your book is my Christmas gift to myself. So nice to know that I have such great taste in books! Congratulations for the outstanding review. Good for you. Happy Holidays!
and why am I not surprised?
Reading your thoughts on AWTG are a glimpse of your book’s style and heart. I believe it’s the first gold star in a constellation. Only a curmudgeon would not be moved by you.
You deserve to bask.
So, so happy for you. I am sure it is the first of many wonderful reviews to come your way!
A perfect review! And I know you know that shiny gold star is No Small Thing. Congratulations, Margaret. Now, bask. You make the lazy writer in me want to get busy. I can’t wait to read your book!
Congradulations! I can just see Jack watching you with one eye open and an annoyed cat look (we cat folks know they don’t like to be disturbed when snoozing) as you jump in celebration
Jumping up and down… whilst grinning madly …and clapping, too!
How Wonderful! Wonderful news! I can only imagine how it feels to receive such a review!
I am so looking forward to reading your book.
Wonderful, Margaret. I have always wanted to read a book like yours, for women like us. I myself have found that life is much more magical now that belief in romantic happily afters has been replaced by belief in the wonders and beauties of nature. These include the intimacy of relationships with the animals with whom we live. Thank you for writing this book, which seems as tender and gripping as any love story.
It’s certainly a sign of greater things to come to have gotten a starred Kirkus review.
Margaret, stellar review! I’ve been gifting and recommending Away to Garden for years. I look forward to the new book.
I suggest that you consider putting a link to the “Reading group guide online. New York City area events. Agent: Kris Dahl/ICM” info listed at the very end of the review. Well, probably not the agent! Congratulations!
This sounds like a must read to me. I too sometimes long for peace of mind but it can be hard to find riding that fast lane… Please do not hesitate to share a link to where the book can be (pre)ordered! Love from Holland.
Welcome, Francesca, all the way from Holland. All the booksellers like Amazon and so on have it now (for pre-order, delivering in February); the links are on the top left of every page of this site, under the book cover photo where it says Buy Book, or you can go directly here. Thank you for your kind words from afar!
“joyously idiosyncratic” is a wonderful description! Congratulations, Margaret! Can’t wait to get my hands on a copy (tick tock tick tock!).