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A smart (and shoe-tastic) friend recently recommended that I take a look at Yxta Maya Murray's 'The Queen Jade:' "It's been called a sort of female Da Vinci Code," she said. "Check it out and tell me if it's worth that kind of hype."

I'm not sure where they hype came from for this early February release (from HarperCollins' Rayo imprint), and it may well be worth it -- I haven't really read the book yet (although the mother and daughter introduced in its first few pages are vibrant characters). The phrase "the next Da Vinci Code" caught me. What will be "the next Da Vinci Code?" What precisely defines that blockbuster book?

I'll ponder those and other questions for a bit and see what I come up with this afternoon. In the meantime, I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts...

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• #2 Comment from majbeck 
  2/28/05 4:01 PM | Permalink

  AHHHH yes, the next DaVinci Code, the next Denzel, the next Hepburn and Tracy, the next Clapton., the new black...Maybe this is just  the first Queen Jade. maybe, as my favorite bogger has put it just above...it's just fiction. Fiction that keeps us entertained on the beach, on a plane, at bedtime, and on a snowy german day when it it too cold for stopping by the woods.  I am a huge fan of this genre. I will buy this book ( hardback, full price) but the hype that is coming with this genre is now getting ridiculous.
  I look forward to reading this, and I hope to God that I can read this and discuss this without getting into an argument about philosophy and religion, the elgin marbles, MAC versus Bobbie Brown, MacArthur v. Montgomery, kitten v. louis heel, Mary Magdelen v. mary Stuart Masterson....etc.
• #1 Comment from sistercdr 
  2/25/05 9:31 AM | Permalink

  For me, the next DaVinci Code is going to have include a decent bit of intellectual and academic thought balanced by quantifiable facts and known theories, some fluffy adventure, likeable characters, accessible language and enough spirituality to make me think.