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Nancy's Picks

Store owner Nancy Olson loves to get the right book into someone's hands.  You'll often hear Nancy as a guest on Tom Kearney's radio program or on NPR, suggesting great reading. 

All I Did Was Shoot My Man (Hardcover)

By Walter Mosley
$26.95
ISBN-13: 9781594488245
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Hardcover, 1/2012
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I grieved the ending of the Easy Rawlins series, set in L.A., but am enjoying his new series featuring another interesting protagonist, P.I. Leonid McGill, a NYC ex-con who wants to atone for his past criminal life. All I Did Was Shoot My Man is the latest in this series, about McGill's attempt to help a woman get her life back on track after being imprisoned unjustly, while his own family life comes unraveled. Publishers Weekly's starred review called the book "complex and satisfying." This series just gets better.

The Orphan Master's Son (Hardcover)

By Adam Johnson
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9780812992793
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House, 1/2012
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It is a tribute to Adam Johnson's writing skills to have created such sympathetic, humane, even sometimes humorous, characters in the bleak, dark environment of North Korea. I read this novel with wonder, and was inspired to learn more about the country. This is a rare accomplishment--a masterpiece--and our whole staff looks forward to getting it into the hands of our customers.

The author will be here  January 25.  Save the date - you don't want to miss this amazing story. 

You Deserve Nothing (Hardcover)

By Alexander Maksik
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781609450489
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Europa Editions, 8/2011

Another excellent book from Europa, (this) is largely a character study of a brilliant teacher at a prestigious private school in Paris. His students are devoted to him, though his teaching methods raise the eyebrows of his colleagues and superiors. Emotionally scarred by tragedy in his personal life and seduced by Paris's carnality and beauty, he succumbs to temptation, which changes the course of his life.

From the starred Booklist review: "... the novel advances its narrative through multiple perspectives, much as Faulkner does in As I Lay Dying . . . ..intelligent and intellectual, it is both a tribute to brilliant teachers and a cautionary tale of their imperfections.”

The Family Fang (Hardcover)

By Kevin Wilson
$23.99
ISBN-13: 9780061579035
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco, 8/2011
I can't rave enough about Kevin Wilson's THE FAMILY FANG (Ecco $23.99).  A full page review in Time Magazine this week called it "irresistible."  It is, and it is brilliant.  Caleb and Camille Fang are performing artists who use their unwilling children in their bizarre, outrageous acts, and this makes it very difficult for the children to live normal adult lives  When their worlds crash down, the kids are forced to move back in with their parents, who are planning one last grand performance.  "Filled with Kevin Wilson’s endless creativity, vibrant prose, sharp humor, and keen sense of the complex performances that unfold in the relationships of people who love one another, [it] is a masterfully executed tale that is as bizarre as it is touching." 

Nightwoods (Hardcover)

By Charles Frazier
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9781400067091
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House, 10/2011
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I just finished an advanced copy of Charles Frazier's NIGHTWOODS, and he hit another home run! Same great writing as in COLD MOUNTAIN, but a very different plot and time (late 1950's).

A reclusive young woman, caretaker of an isolated, now closed old lodge in the NC mountains, becomes another kind of caretaker--her traumatized nephew and niece are sent to her after witnessing the murder of their mother by their stepfather. The characters are rich--"mostly walking wounded, semi literate people, scarred with the memory of wasted opportunities.

Read this as a crime fiction or a love story. Read it as a journey of self discovery or a travel narrative, but always keep in mind redemption and resurrection."

Turn of Mind (Hardcover)

By Alice LaPlante
$24.00
ISBN-13: 9780802119773
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 7/2011
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This is an astounding achievement.  The main character, a brilliant surgeon now retired because of dementia, is suspected of killing her best friend (some of the victim's fingers are expertly amputated), but the doctor can't remember what happened.  The story, told in her fractured, eloquent, sometimes lucid voice (this is the amazing part of the book), is haunting and unforgettable.  This was the #1 Indie Pick for July.
 

The Last Werewolf (Hardcover)

By Glen Duncan
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9780307595089
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Knopf, 7/2011
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I never thought I'd be writing about a werewolf novel, but when I was at a book conference, I met Glen Duncan, British author of THE LAST WEREWOLF (Knopf $25.95). I thought I'd bring a signed copy back to the guys on our staff who would enjoy it, but, after being told that, as a woman, I probably wouldn't like it (challenge!), and then meeting and talking with the fascinating (and delightful) guy who wrote it, I started it and couldn't put it down. Yes, it's bloody (about a werewolf, after all), but it's also brilliant, and even playful. (The werewolf's name is Jacob Marlowe, an allusion to Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus.) Duncan challenges the genre and succeeds, but it's not for the faint hearted!

The Informationist: A Thriller (Hardcover)

By Taylor Stevens
$23.00
ISBN-13: 9780307717092
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Published: Crown, 3/2011
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I read a dynamite thriller that you'll like if you like the Stieg Larsson books. It's THE INFORMATIONIST, set in Africa, by Taylor Stevens, whose "blazingly brilliant debut introduces a great new action heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe, who doesn’t have to kick over a hornet’s nest to get attention, though her feral, take-no-prisoners attitude reflects the fire of Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander….Thriller fans will eagerly await the sequel to this high-octane page-turner.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Watery Part of the World (Hardcover)

By Michael Parker
$23.95
ISBN-13: 9781565126824
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 4/2011
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I enjoyed Michael Parker's A WATERY PART OF THE WORLD (Algonquin $24), which combines two stories, one in 1813 when the ship of Aaron Burr's daughter is attacked by pirates, leaving her stranded on Nags Head Island, and the other, set in 1970, of her descendants on the Island, only two of three inhabitants left because of numerous storms which have driven other residents away. "Parker's complex world is stocked with compelling characters brought to life by elegant prose." (Publishers Weekly)

The Hottest Dishes of the Tartar Cuisine (Paperback)

By Alina Bronsky, Tim Mohr
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781609450069
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Europa Editions, 4/2011
I couldn't put down THE HOTTEST DISHES OF THE TARTAR CUISINE by the Russian writer Alina Bronsky (Europa $15) Her frightening narrator is impossible to like, but her outrageousness is fascinating. She's a one-woman wrecking crew, brimming with bile, ever judgmental. When she fails to cause her daughter to abort an illegitimate child, the grandmother falls in love with the baby and tries everything in her power to wrest the child away. Her machinations grow increasingly devious until her daughter matures and comes to a crossroads of her own. From the *PW review: "Bronsky lands another hit with this hilarious, disturbing, and always irreverent blitz."

Rameau's Niece (Paperback)

By Cathleen Schine
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780547521886
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Mariner Books, 3/2011
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Another hat off to Mariner, who has brought back into print one of my old favorites: Cathleen Schine's witty RAMEAU'S NIECE ($14.95), in which a shy, scholarly bestselling author who is married to a rather dull, egotistical college professor grows infatuated with a lascivious 18th century novel and is inspired to liven up her own love life. It satirizes marriage, philosophy, intellectuals, sexuality, and the relentless search for self-knowledge. Thoroughly enjoyable (except maybe to stodgy, dull professors--not that I know any).
ACCIDENTAL BIRDS OF THE CAROLINAS

ACCIDENTAL BIRDS OF THE CAROLINAS

$17.95
Model: 9781935708308
I second (store manager) Sarah's recommendation of Marjorie Hudson's ACCIDENTAL BIRDS OF THE CAROLINAS. This NC resident is one talented writer. The characters in these beautiful, connected stories are desperate for a place to be safe and they land in North Carolina for healing and renewal. Doris Betts says: "Hudson’s prose is pure as birdsong." This is a fully satisfying book

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family's Century of Art and Loss (Hardcover)

By Edmund de Waal
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9780374105976
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 8/2010
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I'm into the fascinating and tragic history of the Ephrussis family as recounted by an ancestor and prominent potter, Edmund de Waal. Mainly set in Paris and Vienna, THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES (Farrar, Straus & Giroux $26) provides a window into the world of the wealthy, beginning in the mid-19th century when fortunes were being made by immigrant Jews. The title refers to a Japanese netsuke in the collection inherited by the author, which is the only remainder of the massive collection of art and other riches amassed by the family. The book "is beautiful to read -- lithe and precise, crisp and delicate. The result is a memoir of the very first rank, one full of grace, economy, and extraordinary emotion." (London Times)

Sleeping Arrangements (Paperback)

By Laura Shaine Cunningham
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781573228237
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Trade, 7/2000
I was given (this memoir), and thoroughly enjoyed it. The difference between the coming of age/sexual awareness of a fatherless Jewish child in the Bronx (Cunningham) and mine in the South is like living on two different planets. Cunningham's mother died when she was just five, and she was raised by two eccentric (but loving) uncles. Her 90-year-old senile maternal grandmother comes to live with them (and steals her granddaughter's possessions) and adds a touching dimension to the story, as does the child's lifelong yearning to know her father.

The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of His Friend Marilyn Monroe (Hardcover)

By Andrew O'Hagan
$24.00
ISBN-13: 9780151013722
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Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 12/2010
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I was amused and entertained by THE LIFE AND OPINIONS OF MAF THE DOG, AND OF HIS FRIEND MARILYN MONROE by Andrew O'Hagan.  Maf, a Maltese terrier given as a gift to Marilyn by Frank Sinatra, is a philosophical, literate, little socialist who adores his mistress.  We see her life and her acquaintances (e.g. Lillian Hellman, Allen Ginsberg, Edmund Wilson) through his eyes, and his narration is rich with intellect and humor.

One Day (Paperback)

By David Nicholls
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780307474711
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 6/2010
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I'm a sucker for the British novel, and I couldn't put this one down:  ONE DAY by David Nicholls, which was just voted Galaxy Book of the Year by the British reading public (not by the critics, though they loved it).  It reminded me of Nick Hornby at his best.  Two very different people are in and out of romance and friendship for twenty years.  "...[Nicholls] has drawn on all his comic and literary gifts to produce a novel that is not only roaringly funny but also memorable, moving and, in its own unassuming, unpretentious way, rather profound.” —The Guardian (London).

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey (Hardcover)

By Walter Mosley
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9781594487729
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Published: Riverhead Hardcover, 11/2010
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Walter Mosley has long been one of my favorite writers, beginning with DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS.   In this new one, THE LAST DAYS OF PTOLEMY GREY (Riverhead $25.95), he has created a real folk hero. Ninety-one-year-old Ptolemy Grey is physically and mentally fragile. He lives alone, unable to take care of himself or his run-down apartment. When his nephew is killed in a drive-by shooting, a young girl adopted by his family becomes his caretaker, genuinely cares for him, and with her help he is able to sweeten the lives of those he loves. This novel is described as a tour de force by the NY Times Book Review.

It is moving, sensitive and insightful as it deals with a 91-year-old's descent into dementia with no one to care for him, until a 17-year-old parentless girl overcomes his distrust of strangers and changes his life.

Great House (Hardcover)

By Nicole Krauss
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780393079982
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Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 10/2010
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GREAT HOUSE by Nicole Krauss is a beautifully written novel consisting of four stories of loss and recovery, connected by a massive writing desk. "Much like in Krauss's THE HISTORY OF LOVE, the sharply etched characters seem at first arbitrarily linked across time and space, but Krauss pulls together the disparate elements, settings, characters, and fragile connective tissue to form a formidable and haunting mosaic of loss and profound sorrow." (Publishers Weekly starred review)  From Norton ($24.95), GREAT HOUSE is a finalist for the National Book Award.

Nowhere Else on Earth (Paperback)

By Josephine Humphreys
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780141002064
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 10/2001
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This well researched book tells the story of the NC Lumbee Indians caught between sides in the Civil War and of their legendary, charismatic "outlaw" hero, Henry Berry Lowrie.  It's beautifully written, as are all of Josephine Humphrey's books.

Skylark (Paperback)

By Peter Esterhazy, Richard Aczel, Dezso Kosztolanyi
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781590173398
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 3/2010
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This is one of the perfect little gems reprinted by the New York Review of Books ($14.95).  Translated from the Hungarian by Richard Aczel, it depicts small town life relevant today--"the tension between the politics of the left and the right, atheism and Christianity, and parents and their children. Though written 80 years ago, this remains a deftly executed, thoughtful meditation on mortality and the passage of time." –Publishers Weekly

Beautiful Maria of My Soul: Or the True Story of Maria Garcia y Cifuentes, the Lady Behind a Famous Song (Hardcover)

By Oscar Hijuelos
$25.99
ISBN-13: 9781401323349
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Published: Hyperion, 6/2010
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BEAUTIFUL MARIA OF MY SOUL returns to the story of the heroine of Oscar Hijuelo's Pulitzer Prize-winning THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE.  The new novel brings back all the pleasures of MAMBO KINGS with its beautiful language, sensuousness, and, in this novel, vivid descriptions of Havana during Castro's rise to power and the massive exodus of Cubans to Miami. You don't need to have read MAMBO KINGS to enjoy this one. I loved them both.

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War (Hardcover)

By Karl Marlantes
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780802119285
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 3/2010
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This beautifully crafted novel about the Vietnam War is the best book I've read so far this year. It is stunning in its authenticity and its emotional power.

 

Heroism, brotherhood, racism, terror, love—it's all there. I'll never forget it.

The Color of Lightning (Paperback)

By Paulette Jiles
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780061690457
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 6/2010
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One of my favorite novels is out in paperback--THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING by Paulette Jiles (Perennial $14.99).  At the end of the Civil War, Britt Johnson, a free black man, moves his family to Texas for a better life.  His wife and children are separated from him after an attack by a Comanche and Kiowa war party, and Britt is determined to rescue his family.  "Jiles writes like she owns the frontier, and in this multifaceted, riveting and full of danger novel, she does." (Publishers Weekly)  This is extraordinary historical fiction, based on a real, heroic character.

Every Man Dies Alone (Paperback)

By Hans Fallada, Michael Hofmann
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9781935554042
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Melville House, 3/2010
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One of my favorite novels last year, EVERY MAN DIES ALONE by Hans Fallada, is now in paperback (Melville House $16.95).  It's about a courageous German couple who defy the Nazis by leaving anti-Hitler postcards around Berlin after their son was killed on the front.  It's based on a true story and was probably the first "fiction" to come out of the war.

The Spare Room (Paperback)

By Helen Garner
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780312428174
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador, 2/2010
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THE SPARE ROOM is a short but powerful novel about tested friendship  when a friend experiencing terminal cancer comes to stay with "Helen" to receive questionable treatment.  There's not a wasted word in this novella, which is described by Peter Cary as "perfect."  Disturbing and unforgettable.

With (Paperback)

By Donald Harington
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781592641505
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Toby Press, 9/2009
WITH is a sensual, irresistible tale, full of unexpected twists and turns. What starts out as a suspenseful recounting of child abduction evolves into the story of eight-year-old Robin Kerr growing up in the wilds of the Ozarks, left to fend for herself on a remote, inaccessible mountain-top. Without "human" company for a decade, forced to live off the land, Robin is never alone; her animal companions grow more numerous year by year, and the "live ghost" of a young boy who once lived on the mountain is her constant companion. Harington has given us a fascinating and triumphant story of survival—and one of the most original love stories I've ever read.

The Heights (Hardcover)

By Peter Hedges
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9780525951131
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Dutton Adult, 3/2010
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I highly recommend Peter Hedges's THE HEIGHTS (Dutton $26). Reading about domestic life in New York City is like being in a foreign country for me. I'm always fascinated and enlightened. (Visiting NYC as a tourist is a totally different experience.) Here's what a Pennsylvania bookseller says: "Peter Hedges's latest novel is set in Brooklyn Heights, and it tackles major issues: fidelity, parenthood, status and culture. Hedges handles them all with finesse, using a fantastically dry wit that is mixed with empathy and humanity, rendering all of his characters flawed, complex and, ultimately, lovable." I'm still on a high from this novel. (And I've fallen in love with Peter Hedges. I hope he'll let me adopt him.)

Invisible (Hardcover)

By Paul Auster
$25.00
ISBN-13: 9780805090802
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Picador, 10/2009
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This highly imaginative story, constructed in four interlocking parts, features a 20-year-old student who becomes involved in a triangle leading to sex and violence that alter the young man's life. Auster's prose is as alluring as ever, and the tension builds credibly, keeping the reader (me) obsessively reading. It's not for the prudish (you know who you are). Highly recommended.

The Infinities (Hardcover)

By John Banville
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9780307272799
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Knopf, 2/2010
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THE INFINITIES by John Banville (Knopf $25.95) goes to the top of my favorites this year (along with THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY). The Immortals are keeping an eye on the happenings at Arden House, where the patriarch is lying in a stroke-induced coma. The eccentric family members are joined by mysterious visitors, including Pan in the disguise of a humorous tubby perspirer (yes, I made up a word). "Blissfully inventive and playful, rich in psychological insight and sensual detail, THE INFINITIES is at once a gloriously earthy romp and a wise look at the terrible, wonderful plight of being human—a dazzling novel from one of the most widely admired and acclaimed writers at work today."

La's Orchestra Saves the World (Hardcover)

By Alexander Mccall Smith
$23.95
ISBN-13: 9780307378385
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Pantheon, 12/2009
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Another wonderful (and touching) book from Alexander McCall Smith:  LA'S ORCHESTRA SAVES THE WORLD (Pantheon $23.95).  This"'stand alone" story takes places in England during World War II, when a young widow living in the small village of Suffolk helps the war effort by taking care of a neighbor farmer's chickens (to feed the troops and villagers).  She also starts a community orchestra (including airmen from a close-by RAF base).  Sounds like Smith's own Really Terrible Orchestra.  The English who couldn't join the military contributed in numerous ways to raise the spirits of the people.

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire (Hardcover)

By Jack Weatherford
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9780307407153
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Published: Crown, 2/2010
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Because of my interest in China & Mongolia, I relished THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOL QUEENS by Jack Weatherford. This book reveals the relatively unknown significance of Genghis Kahn's daughters as rulers of the most powerful empire the world has ever known.

The Lost Books of the Odyssey (Hardcover)

By Zachary Mason
$24.00
ISBN-13: 9780374192150
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2/2010
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I loved THE LOST BOOKS OF THE ODYSSEY by Zachary Mason, my latest staff pick. I pretty much read it straight through.

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones: A 44 Scotland Street Novel (5) (Paperback)

By Alexander Mccall Smith
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780307454706
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor, 1/2010
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You probably know by now how much I enjoy Alexander McCall Smith's writing.  It's pure pleasure, and I'm happy he's receiving the kudos he deserves.  His latest in the "44 Scotland Street" series, just out, received a well-deserved starred review from Publishers Weekly.  THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF SCONES continues the witty, charming and intriguing stories of the quirky residents of an apartment house in the author's beloved Edinburgh.

Settled in the Wild: Notes from the Edge of Town (Hardcover)

By Susan Hand Shetterly
$21.95
ISBN-13: 9781565126183
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1/2010
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I thoroughly enjoyed Alqonguin's new SETTLED IN THE WILD: NOTES FROM THE EDGE OF TOWN by Susan Hand Shetterly ($21.95). Here's what another indie bookseller says about it: ".....a delightful book about living in the woods, enjoying what's outside your window and finding pleasure in taking the time to notice the little things right in front of us. Shetterly provides a unique window into a world of wonder."--Sue Richardson, Maine Coast Book Shop.

The Believers (Paperback)

By Zoe Heller
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780061430213
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 1/2010
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This novel features the mother from hell. It is biting social satire, darkly humorous, featuring a family of radical political beliefs whose world is realigned when the father, a famous Kunstler-like lawyer who has spent his life defending radicals, is comatose from a stroke, revealing the great socialist saint has feet of clay.

The Book of Ebenezer Le Page (Paperback)

By G.B. Edwards, John Fowles
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9781590172339
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 7/2007
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This is one of my all-time favorites. I concur with my friend Frank Camp's review: "...(it) is the story of a man's entire life on Guernsey -- the channel island occupied by the Nazis in WW II. As I read about his daily life, thoughts, experiences, his life became so real that I felt I was observing it from the island itself. Although nothing much happens, everything happens. It is truly an amazing book -- difficult to categorize. I wanted to visit Guernsey after reading the GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY. I now really want to go." This is one of the New York Review of Books modern classics reprints ($16.95) and I'm much obliged to Tom Kearney and Michael Dirda for the recommendation.

Sweeping Up Glass (Paperback)

By Carolyn Wall
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780385343039
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Delta, 8/2009
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Set in the hardscrabble Kentucky hills, it features a feisty protagonist, racial issues, and a white supremacist group to the right of the KKK. It's plain, good ole storytelling, and I couldn't put it down. Others on the staff are also recommending it.

Driftless (Paperback)

By David Rhodes
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781571310682
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Milkweed Editions, 5/2009
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A beautiful novel that reminded me of Wendell Berry's fiction, DRIFTLESS is set in rural Wisconsin. Booklist gave it a starred review and called it "...a radiant novel of community and courage."

Love Begins in Winter: Five Stories (Paperback)

By Simon Van Booy
$13.99
ISBN-13: 9780061661471
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 5/2009
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These are the best stories I've read so far this year. Unlike many contemporary stories, his sad and lonely characters find love and connection, which they accept as miraculous. Want to feel good?--read these stories!

The Little Book (Paperback)

By Selden Edwards
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780452295513
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Plume, 5/2009
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If you enjoy time-travel novels, try this one by Selden Edwards in which our hero is "dislocated" from 80's San Francisco to Vienna in 1897, a time of great change looming in the 20th century. Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler and other great characters figure in this interesting story, which took the author 30 years to write.

The 19th Wife (Paperback)

By David Ebershoff
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780812974157
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 6/2009
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This was a page turner, a novel based on the true story of Brigham Young's 19th wife who divorced him and successfully advocated to end polygamy. Interspersed in that fascinating story is a modern mystery (they are connected) of the murder of a polygamous husband in the now notorious town of the "Firsts," who broke away from the Mormon Church. I enjoyed getting to know this author when he was here.

Liberty: A Novel of Lake Wobegon (Paperback)

By Garrison Keillor
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780143116110
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Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 6/2009
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This immensely entertaining book tells the story of 60-year-old Clint, who, in this late stage of his life, is afraid he has missed the boat and wants more out of life. It features the usual, good people of Lake Wobegon who drive each other crazy, Funny, bittersweet and ultimately hopeful. Reminiscent of Clyde Edgerton and Philip Gulley.

In Hovering Flight (Paperback)

By Joyce Hinnefeld
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9781932961898
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Unbridled Books, 8/2009
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This provocative, page-turning debut relates the compelling story of a family of bird-lovers and environmental activists. Not only are the family dynamics wonderfully portrayed, the book is a beautiful paean to the natural world. This is one of my favorite books of this year.

August (Paperback)

By Gerard Woodward
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780393332711
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 8/2008
In 1955 Aldous Jones lands in a farmer's field when his bicycle is bumped by a car, and he decides it's an idyllic spot for his London family to camp in during their August vacation. We follow the growing family as they return to the same farm for 15 years, and as they disintegrate--the vivacious, nurturing mother becoming drug addicted and the eldest son, a talented pianist, becomes antisocial and unstable. Unassuming Aldous holds the family together and in the end is the quiet heroic figure. Told with deadpan wit and wonderful descriptions of the Welch landscape. This one grabbed me and didn't let go. The first of a trio, it was a finalist for the Whitbread Prize. Terrific!