June 2010

Liz liked...


Mary liked...

For Adults
  • Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo by Vanessa Woods
    Woods, a native Australian, moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2005. She and her husband study Bonobos, animals who - along with chimpanzees - are humanity's closest living relatives. In the Congo they learned something about what makes these primates get along so well together, and a lot about what makes us human. Funny, harrowing and a real education, Bonobo Handshake: A Memoir of Love and Adventure in the Congo will make you think.
  • Bite Me: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
    Very funny (and pretty raunchy), this third installment in Christopher Moore's comic vampire series is sure to leave you laughing. Good for fans of Charlaine Harris (author of the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries) or Moore's other work (Lamb, Fluke).
A few Fathers' Day suggestions
  • The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel remains one of our favorites - the story of ordinary men who saved priceless artworks from the Nazis. If you haven't gotten it for your dad already, pick it up for Fathers' Day. Sure to be a hit with any history buff.
  • History of the Ravenna Arsenal by Ralph Pfingsten
    This comprehensive history of the Ravenna Arsenal is perfect for anyone with a yen for local history or just a lingering curiosity about what's behind that fence in Ravenna. Nature and wartime industry, along with some rail and air disasters, pepper the pages of this exhaustive survey.
  • I'll Mature When I'm Dead: Dave Barry's Amazing Tales of Adulthood by Dave Barry
    It's Dave Barry: You can't not laugh.
  • The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran by Dirk Hayhurst
    Pitcher Dirk Hayhurst of the Toronto Bluejays tells us the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to working as a professional ball player. By turns funny and poignant, this will give Dad a glimpse of what it's really like inside the game. And we still have a few signed copies!
  • Jock: A Coach's Story by Stuart Warner
    Jock Sutherland coached college basketball in Alabama and was a groundbreaker in the integration of college sports. When he came home to Kentucky to coach a recently integrated high school basketball team to victory, he found himself struggling to motivate his team. But Jock persevered, making some friends that would last a lifetime. A story of grit and determination, with a few laughs along the way. (We've got signed copies of this one on hand, too.)
For Children
  • Please Take Me for a Walk by Susan Gal
    Adorable and clever - no one will be able to resist the appeal of this happy little dog!
  • Emma's Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty by Linda Glaser
    This sophisticated and beautifully illustrated children's book tells the story of Emma Lazarus and her poem. It reminds us that the greatness of a nation is most accurately measured by the compassion of its people.
  • How the World Works: A Hands-on Guide to Our Amazing Planet by Christiane Dorion
    Makes a great teacher gift - perfect for the classroom. Full of flaps and fold-outs and pull-tabs, this action-packed kids' book explains how weather, earthquakes and tides happen, demystifies carbon footprints, and generally fills you in on all things nature. Not just for little ones, this book will entertain 4th grade and up.
  • Moon Bear by Brenda Guiberson
    Learn about Moon Bears (a.k.a. Asiatic Black Bears) in this engaging storybook with soulful illustrations. You'll follow a bear as she roams the forest, looks for food, makes her "nest", and emerges from hibernation in the Spring.
  • Mama, Is It Summer Yet? by Nikki McClure
    The book that asks the question on all our minds lately: "Is it Summer yet?" This reassuring tale follows the seasons with a young boy and his mother until finally, it is the long-awaited, strawberry-filled summer. Great for very young children.
  • Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy
    It took us a long time to get this back in stock after all the publicity it's gotten. With smart, quirky rhymes and an unusual adventure, I can see why it was so sought-after. Recommended for toddlers through 2nd grade.
  • Magic Tree House: Games & Puzzles from the Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne
    Packed with puzzling challenges, and great for a long car ride or summer-time rainy days.


Past Favorites


March 2010


More January, 2010


January, 2010


December, 2009

A LizPick even before publication... Liz says: WELCOME to MY world, baby girl" (to paraphrase Fannie Flagg's title) is what came to my mind when meeting CeeCee, the narrator of Beth Hoffman's delightful debut, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. Twelve-year-old CeeCee is a survivor, like Patricia Cunningham Devoto's eight-year-old John MacMillan (Out of the Night that Covers Me) and Jim Lynch's young Miles O'Malley (Highest Tide). Alone too much, and with too much responsibility because of her psychotic mother, CeeCee is old beyond her years. When CeeCee's mother dies, her mostly-absent father sends her south to Savannah under the care of never-seen-before Great Aunt Tootie. The reader is introduced to a wide, and sometimes wild, assortment of Southern women, who each play a role in CeeCee's healing and coming to terms with her much-changed life. Each character also helps paint a wonderful picture of the dichotomy of the "old South" with its decaying gentry, and the changing South where black and white are more than servant/mistress and white gloves are being exchanged for jeans and flip-flops. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt has earned the status of "LizPick" even before it's published!

She will be at the Hudson Library on Wednesday, January 13 at 7 PM - the day the book is published. Ask Liz if you would like to preview the book - or you can read an excerpt on the author's site.

November, 2009 (Mary recommends)


July, 2009:


June, 2009:


April, 2009:


Light, fun, and easy (January 2009):

Liz's Pick of 2008:
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
(by David Wroblewski) is the best book I've read since The Highest Tide! A GRAND saga about family, a boy, dogs, and growing up that will keep you reading all night and make you wish that it hadn't ended.

Liz, this is David Wroblewski, author of EDGAR SAWTELLE.

I want to thank you for your support of this book. As I'm sure you know, this is my first novel. It was written very slowly, and from the heart, with a constant desire to draw deeply on my midwestern roots, and an equally constant desire to treat the ancient relationship between humans and dogs with the dramatic gravity I feel that subject deserves.

I hope to write other novels -- two more are in the works right now -- but no matter how many more the writing gods hand me, Edgar's going to be the special one, I know this already. So it's a great thrill to hear that his story meant something to you as well. Thanks so much for your endorsement.

With all best wishes,

David

Here's what other folks are saying...

Sales rep Kate McCune says: "I'LL SAY IT AGAIN - THE BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR! I know I went on and on about this in an April newsletter. So I'll try not to cover previous ground. Since last time I wrote, Edgar has been chosen as the #1 Book Sense pick for July. My book club has just finished it and I'm even more blown-away by my second reading of this remarkable, beautiful story. I'm consistently surprised by how engaged readers become - time and time again folks have emailed me in the middle of the book to say how much they love it.

All the advance reviews were starred reviews and Elle magazine's review is the first to hit the stands, stating, "The Great American Novel is something like a unicorn - rare and wonderful, and maybe no more than just a notion. Yet every few years or so, we trip across some semblance of one." Other reviews are set for USA Today, NYTRB, Entertainment Weekly, O Magazine and Washington Post Book World. Diane Rehm will do an hour-long interview with author David Wroblewski, and NPR is doing a story with Leif Enger and David Wroblewski about themes from Hamlet in their novels.

In our bookselling world, Micheal Fraser's "Galley Talk" appeared in PW last week, making it three times they covered this book (including the starred review and then an interview). If you missed Michael's piece, you can catch it here.

I'll close with something that Karen Tallant at Davis-Kidd in Memphis wrote me: "This book isn't simply magic. It's literary alchemy. I've been looking for a way to tell folks about it, and something one of my fellow booksellers said about another work of classic fiction seems to be the only way I can communicate the beauty of this book. When I asked her,'Why should I read this book?' she answered, 'Because it has a shape.' I immediately understood what she was saying. All great literary works evoke dimension with the intersection of emotion, experience and image. They don't paint in two or even three dimensions, but declare themselves in all areas of reading experience. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle has a shape. It conjures up land, sky, human and animal with a skill and surety that's as rare as black diamonds. I have no better way to describe it."

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