PB Release + Giveaway: News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Good morning, readers! I'm taking a few days off from reviewing this week to focus on agenting stuff (#SFFPit!!!) and I thought this would be a great opportunity to clean off my shelves a bit and give some great books away!

Today marks the paperback release of Paulette Jiles's highly acclaimed and National Book Award nominated News of the World. If you haven't read the book, here's a little bit about it from Goodreads:

In the wake of the Civil War, Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd travels through northern Texas, giving live readings from newspapers to paying audiences hungry for news of the world. An elderly widower who has lived through three wars and fought in two of them, the captain enjoys his rootless, solitary existence.

In Wichita Falls, he is offered a $50 gold piece to deliver a young orphan to her relatives in San Antonio. Four years earlier, a band of Kiowa raiders killed Johanna’s parents and sister; sparing the little girl, they raised her as one of their own. Recently rescued by the U.S. army, the ten-year-old has once again been torn away from the only home she knows.

Their 400-mile journey south through unsettled territory and unforgiving terrain proves difficult and at times dangerous. Johanna has forgotten the English language, tries to escape at every opportunity, throws away her shoes, and refuses to act “civilized.” Yet as the miles pass, the two lonely survivors tentatively begin to trust each other, forming a bond that marks the difference between life and death in this treacherous land.

Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself.

You can also check out my review from last fall, here.

If you happen to be in the Denver area, now is a great time to grab a copy of this one. BookBar has chosen it as their monthly Book Social title! You can find out more about that event - and RSVP if you're interested - here.

And now for the giveaway! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, July 3. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

News of the World by Paulette Jiles + a Giveaway

Hi, everyone! I'm off at the Women Writing the West conference right now, which makes today's post pretty appropriate :)

Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Paulette Jiles's National Book Award nominated News of the World.

Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd spends his post war days traveling Texas's northern regions and sharing the news. It's a job he enjoys and takes pride in. One that is important to him. But his knowledge of the state, and his experience as a soldier, are exactly what's in need when Johanna Leonberger is rescued from Kiowa captives. The girl, orphaned and being transported to her only living relatives, doesn't remember her life before the Kiowa. Given the choice, she'd return to her adoptive family. But they no longer want her either. 

And so it's up to Captain Kidd to bring the girl from Wichita City all the way south to San Antonio. Their journey won't be an easy one, but hopefully, Kidd can protect the girl and succeed in his mission. 

News of the World is, if you're a fan of them, a western. If you're not a fan, though, trust me when I say that won't matter one bit! It's a story of survival and a story of friendship. The kind of story that, paired with Jiles's writing, defies genre and will appeal to a wide range of readers.

Set in post Civil War Texas, Kidd and Johanna travel the lands I've heard Paulette Jiles herself calls home and often travels by horseback. It's clear she shares a passion for the Lone Star State's history that Kidd himself would admire. In telling his tale, she has carefully researched the era and setting, drawing on real historical figures in her creation of Kidd and the tale. (Britt is real, for example, and, though fictionalized here, Kidd himself is real as well.)

I've not read all of Jiles's work. My own first time reading her was the quite different post apocalyptic Lighthouse Island. So I didn't know that Britt is a returning character. Fans of The Color of Lightning will no doubt be pleased to see him again, brief though it may be.

I loved the scenery painted by Jiles's prose. I am, somewhat, familiar with modern day Texas but admittedly haven't roamed the countryside that much. The land described here is the land my own great grandparents settled once upon a time. While I doubt they shared any adventures akin to that of Captain Kidd, I can imagine them there on their farm just outside of San Antonio, perhaps waving as Kidd and Johanna pass them on their journey.

And now for the giveaway: I have one hardcover copy to give away to one of you lucky readers today. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, October 24. Open US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here. And for more on Paulette Jiles and her work you can visit her website here.

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble