If you are wondering what to read next, you may also wish to take a peek at our regularly updated Staff Picks page for more amazing books that our booksellers have fallen in love with.
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9781935554172
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Melville House, 12/2010
The Clown is a story of a breakdown. Set in post-WWII Germany, the story begins with the loss of a love. This leads to heavy drinking, which in turn leads to further introspection, rage, poverty, contempt for your fellow man, and dry bitter humor. It confronts man's attempt at living an authentic life, while being squeezed by society's pressure to conform. —
Jillian
$19.99
ISBN-13: 9780062074263
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 11/2011
This is one of the most exciting and important books on "the Playwright." Roe did what no one had done before, he traces the footsteps of the playwright in Italy, using only the text of the Italian plays as his guide. If this doesn’t shake you up—I'm dumbfounded. This is one goddamn good book.. —
Greg
$13.00
ISBN-13: 9781936365449
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: McSweeney's Books, 11/2011
Dream of Paris, dream of winter. Written after a fourteen year silence, these "dreams" (fiction? memory? koan?) are a delightful companionable and mysterious lot. Written in French, published in French and English. —
Karen
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781566892537
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Coffee House Press, 5/2011
When a successful psychoanalyst carefully constructs his practice to fulfill his extravagant and insatiable erotic desires, well...things definitely get interesting. The risks and consequences of his indiscretions pile up until he is unable to tell whether he is running away from his downfall or towards it. This is a superb creation; Ducornet has compressed this explosive world of emotion and deceit down to its terrible essence. In the end, it is a stunning display of how someone can spend his whole life thinking only of himself and still have no idea who he is. —
Casey O.
$40.00
ISBN-13: 9781570616938
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Sasquatch Books, 10/2011
MOHAI Public Historian Lorraine McConaghy's fascinating look at Washington history draws from marriage records, posters, tickets, letters, pictures and much more. A sky River poster, Twin Teepees menu, a letter from a wartime assembly center. IWW songbook, CCC history...take a look. —
Karen
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780061934704
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 11/2011
Journalist Fariba Nawa emigrated from Afghanistan when she was a child, returning after 9-11 to document what has happened to her country. This account is her own but also includes significant historical detail. And she's one of only a few to link child brides to the narcotic state. This is essential reading. —
Karen
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9781590174487
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 8/2011
Unmoored and adrift after his movie star wife leaves him, the once promising poet Jamie Mangan travels to Ireland to find hi roots and, he hopes, himself. On the trail of a dead Irish poet who may be his great great grandfather (and also his doppelganger), he meets much more family than he bargained for. This is not your lovely picture postcard emerald isle vacation. Moore renders both the ugly and the beautiful with lyrical ease, and the narrative burns with pitch-perfect suspense—sublime and terrifying in its depths. —
Casey O.
$45.00
ISBN-13: 9780500515853
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Thames & Hudson, 11/2011
This book is awesome. Something to be inspired by or simply add to your multitude of coffee table books. —
Jillian
$13.95
ISBN-13: 9780156035521
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Mariner Books, 4/2010
This beautiful and haunting novel is the story of a father and daughter living off the grid in Forest Park, a large nature preserve outside Portland, Oregon. Their peculiar experience is related through the voice of 13 year old Caroline. Earnest and genuine, hers is a voice that will linger in the reader's memory. —
Pamela
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780807004661
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Beacon Press, 11/2011
The most redemptive book I've ever read. —
Dave
$26.95
ISBN-13: 9780670023004
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Viking Adult, 9/2011
Kathleen Flinn manages to convey the political food message in such a personal way. Along with nine volunteer chefs—each with varying degrees of skill and food needs—she creates a basic cooking curriculum which gives them the knowledge and more importantly the confidence to feed themselves well. This is the perfect gift for newlyweds, newly graduated, or new homeowners (or anyone who wants to break the processed/fast food lifestyle)...A real treasure. -
Holly
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9781118061817
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: John Wiley & Sons, 11/2011
America is a country founded on hucksterism. Berman's analysis is realistic and not remotely reassuring. In Berman's words, "Hustling, the pursuit of affluence, technology, and progress, have amounted to a huge steamroller in American history, a steamroller that is now going off the edge of a cliff." We are a dying culture with no future at all. One can either accept this analysis or go on living in the land of denial. "Call me Ishmael." —
Greg
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780061466571
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Ecco, 9/2011
This is a deliciously thrilling and thought-provoking tale of guilt, faith, passion and redemption. Within the first few chapters there is an incident—is the main character a hero or villain? Should we condemn him or support him? Oh, it’s brilliant! And the writing is excellent—Spencer is great at getting inside his characters. This is a must-read. —
Hilary
$19.95
ISBN-13: 9780307389763
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor, 9/2011
Workers of the world, read this book! It is an immense and important history of organized labor in America. —
Carl
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780316193566
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Orbit, 10/2011
Some fantasy novels are filled with elves, unicorns, and magical talking tableware. This is not one of those novels! Abercrombie's book is like a kick in the gut to stale, old fantasy and brings the swords back into the swords and sorcery genre. —
Rich
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780802170682
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grove Press, 5/2010
A marvelous personal account of the influence and impact of sci-fi on Atwood and her writing. Atwood is a contemporary writer I hold in very high regard. The essays are fun and gratifying to read. —
Greg
$15.99
ISBN-13: 9781416986898
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 8/2010
I could read this book 20 times with all the funny voices. Only haughty, naughty, children (and grown ups) will like this snarky tale. Not for the well-behaved. Really. No. —
Karen
$19.99
ISBN-13: 9781401222345
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vertigo, 11/2011
Glidden sets off on her birthright trip to Israel, believing she knows everything and realizes she has no idea. Glidden provides an objective account of Israel/Palestine as possible. She presents her experience with little explanation and allows the reader to reflect on and form their own conclusions...Well worth it. —
Alex
$24.99
ISBN-13: 9781595825605
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dark Horse Comics, 9/2011
This fantastic graphic novel is like the anti-
Law & Order . Instead of a cut and dried case that's solved in an hour, Jensen shows that, even when a killer is obviously guilty, some crimes cast a long and lingering shadow that can consume far more than just the lives of its immediate victims. —
Rich
$12.76
ISBN-13: 9780679736325
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 5/1992
Cornelius Suttree lives in a dilapidated houseboat on the Tennessee River. He comes from a prestigious and wealthy family, whom he has chosen to forsake. Suttree runs with a rough hobo crowd—most of whom he meets in the slammer. Gene Harrogate, nicknamed the City Rat, is one of many such goons—he's shot with buckshot when he's caught humping melons in the neighbor's field. In many ways, Harrogate is a continuation of mark Twain's Huck Finn—mischievous, poor, and completely unsupervised. He is always waist deep in some heinous scheme.
Though this novel is dark—it is by far Mr. McCarthy's funniest. It's full of white trash shenanigans that involve moonshine, turtle fishing, electrocution, dynamite, visits to witches, vicious bar fights, and the gold old misery and poverty that neglect fosters. —
Jake
$17.95
ISBN-13: 9780865716858
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: New Society Publishers, 6/2011
A bold thought experiment about the decline of the U.S. and frankly not that far from being a real possibility. —
Greg
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780307472847
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 3/2011
A masterfully told story set in motion by a horrendous mass murder in northern Sweden. Mankell works on a large canvas with great skill. This is so much more than a crime novel. —
Greg
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781590171998
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 6/2006
Readers of all types will delight in this wonderful book. It tells the story of William Stoner, a man born into a life of farming but drawn into a life of literature and academics. What sounds simple is actually a riveting story, and Stoner's character is at once frustrating, compelling and sympathetic. The writing is lovely—Williams says so much with so few words. It's an unforgettable book, and you will want to read more by this author. —
Hilary
$26.95
ISBN-13: 9780385534635
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Doubleday, 9/2011
When the first copy of this book arrived on my desk it sat there for weeks. I knew nothing about it, but for some reason I was in no reason to read it and even had a strange inclination not to want to like it. Then I read it. This is one of the most outstanding novels I’ve read in years. It’s atmospheric prose transports you to a remarkable world that is a playground for the mind and the senses. When I finished it, I went right back to page one and read it again. It is that good! Seriously, I can't think of anyone who likes to read fiction who won't enjoy this. So set aside your preconceptions and read it it! —
Jamil
$17.99
ISBN-13: 9781594744761
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Quirk Books, 6/2011
As a young boy, Jacob hears fantastical stories from his grandfather. When older (16), he sees his grandfather killed by a monster only he can see. Nightmares and fears lead him to a doctor who advises Jacob visit the remote island his grandfather grew up on and to visit the orphanage he was sent to. Time travel, haunting photos, a rich fantasy and a host of peculiars engage us in this intriguing and adventurous story. —
Seth
$18.00
ISBN-13: 9780547576725
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 9/2011
Have you ever heard someone say they don't read fiction, and thought about all that they were missing? This novel pitches you, head-and-heart-first, into a young boy's world, the youngest of three brothers in a biracial, working class family. In the ever-hopeful child's voice; full of energy, reactive, non-judgmental, the terrain of family life is portrayed with raw, emotional clarity.
Torres conjures the wrenching ties of familial love, allegiances, and expectations, and then the beginnings of personal and sexual self-discovery, with simplicity and amazing skill. This small book is an example of fiction that is breathtakingly powerful, and not to be missed. —
Erica
$9.95
ISBN-13: 9781402768194
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Sterling, 4/2010
Fujikawa's books are fantastic! Her illustrations are adorable and she included multi-racial children before it was PC.
Oh, What a Busy Day is my personal favorite and my 4-year-old niece's favorite. Other favorites by the author include
Baby Animals and
A Child's Book of Poems but you should really check out the whole collection and see for yourself. —
Pamela
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780143106494
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Classics, 9/2011
Whether you've read the novel or not, Davis' exceptionally readable new translation will (re)awaken the story of Emma Bovary—an unsparing study of a downward spiral driven by romantic obsession and the reckless pursuit of material gratification. Read it! —
Molly
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781400078431
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 2/2007
Poignant, heartbreaking, and fiercely honest, Joan Didion's memoir of the year she lost her husband to sudden cardiac arrest may change the way you think about life and death. Her spare writing conveys so much depth with so few words. The skill with which she describes these intense personal moments and thoughts makes this an indispensable read for just about anyone. I look forward to reading her new memoir,
Blue Nights . —
Hilary
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780307475572
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor, 10/2011
Lady Antonia Fraser's memoir of her life and marriage to the great British playwright Harold Pinter is a marvelous tribute to their life together. A revealing personal portrait. —
Greg
$35.00
ISBN-13: 9781553655725
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Douglas & McIntyre, 4/2011
You've bought rapina and shiitake mushrooms at the Broadway Farmer's Market (p.100) or maybe potatoes and tomatoes (p. 74). Soon, eggplant and fresh beans (p. 128). Make your own paneer (it's easy) and zucchini soup with ginger (p. 81) from Vancouver's famed restaurant, home cooking. Delicious! —
Karen
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780307475275
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 9/2011
NPR's Michele Norris' discoveries about her family prompted her to write this book (and ask others to share their own family stories). This prompted her six-word Racial Autobiographies Project online. Finding out what you don't know can enrich your life. —
Karen
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9781935554257
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Melville House, 2/2011
Easily one of the most disquieting books I've read in years, Yoani Sanchez's
Havana Real shines the spotlight on the hidden realities and intense difficulties of contemporary Cuban life. Based on her Blog, Generation Y—the creation of which has placed Yoani on Big Brother's long list of national threats—these scorching vignettes depict a hungry, impotent and increasingly agitated nation.
Cuba is at the forefront of gay and transsexual rights; the tiny country holds one of highest literacy rates in the world; Cuban-trained doctors are leaders of the international medical community. Yet, most Cubans return home from the markets with empty bags and deflated hope. They are barred from traveling, accessing an uncensored Internet or watching nongovernment sanctioned television. They set out empty chairs for the members of their families who have been imprisoned for speaking out against a stolid government. But with people like Yoani sending their voices out to the rest of the world, these people and their stories will finally be heard. —
Leighanne
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780767928892
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Broadway, 4/2010
After over a decade as pastry chef at Chez Panisse and his partner's sudden death, David Lebovitz moved to Paris. Starting over wasn't easy, but his travails provide plenty of material and that makes this book such a delight. He not only includes recipes for macaroons but also for carnitas because that's what you cook for your friends in Paris). —
Karen
$8.00
ISBN-13: 9780983497103
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Combustion Books, 6/2011
Goblins, gnomes, and absinthe...oh my!
Choose the path of adventure and untold danger and you may end up dead, but a hero's death it will be, and isn't that the stuff of legend? Choose the path of frivolous and selfish pursuits and you may yet live, but a life of cowardice is no life at all, and, in the end, death still takes us. So...what will it be? Adventure and the unknown or the charms of the bottom of a bottle and a fruitless existence. The choice is yours—after all, it is an adventure of your own choosing. —
Casey S.
$26.95
ISBN-13: 9780393077766
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 5/2011
This early work by Portugal's greatest living writer—newly and beautifully re-translated—is the perfect entry point into Antunes's dark and wonderful world. The book delves into the insanity of war and the brutality of state-imposed mental "health," yet never relinquishes the search for compassion and love —
Peter
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9780982631812
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dzanc Books, 11/2010
With all the oddities roaming through Robert Lopez's work, it's easy to forget that behind each story is a writer mesmerized by language and writing about words—their rhythms and irregularities, the different ways they can be twisted, how they work together and what it sounds like when they're broken. Collecting twenty-nine pieces that, from sentence to sentence, read bleak to black-humored to all-too-familiar,
Asunder is Lopez at his tinkering best. —
Matthew
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780375756566
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Modern Library, 9/2002
A chance encounter with a stranger at a train station—that a novel so sublime can begin this simply is a testament to Sebald's mesmerizing abilities as a writer and artist. This is the kind of book that you disappear into. Its sentences are strange and stunning and loop back in ways that leave me swimming. I want to say Austerlitz is about everything, and it is, though it is also about one thing: memory. The past and its endlessness, that euphoria we feel when recalling a long lost episode and the slow decay that sets in when we choose to forget. —
Matthew
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780393076356
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 5/2011
For translators, few books pose as formidable and seductive a challenge as Rimbaud's unpaginated, fevered masterpiece,
Illuminations . Here, seasoned translator and Pulitzer-prize winning poet John Ashbery answers that call and succeeds splendidly. Presenting each English translation alongside its French original, this dazzling edition breathes new life into the 19th century voyant’s kaleidoscopic world while sill preserving its intense vision and incomparable immediacy. The results are incandescent. Proof-positive that more than a century after he put down his pen and abandoned writing forever, our little Arthur is still miles ahead of everyone else. —
Matthew
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9781590173657
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 10/2010
"Keep your mind in hell, and despair not."
Its epigraph is an immediate signal of this singular memoir's intensity, its fearless depth, and its calm commitment to life in all its complexity, pain, terror, and pleasure. Written as the English philosopher was dying of cancer, this book is a meditation on life, inseparable from death, and the primacy of what she calls "love's work" : flawed and inexhaustible; battered, courageous, and sublime. —
Casey O.
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780374532864
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Farrar Straus Giroux, 4/2011
OK, you know who he is so you can just imagine who he admires, right? No, no, no, no. This book is not for the easily offended (or even not-so-easily offended). This is one man’s twisted aesthetic and he's proud of it. I’m mystified, offended, intrigued. You? —
Karen
$5.95
ISBN-13: 9780977055722
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Microcosm Publishing, 11/2006
A funny, energetic, wild, off-beat guide I use every time I visit that capricious city. Makes for great armchair touring as well! —
Dave
$27.50
ISBN-13: 9780300169690
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Yale University Press, 5/2011
If you want a fast-paced read about a little known theory that has fundamentally changed modern life then you can't go wrong with this book! —
Jake
$12.00
ISBN-13: 9780984414239
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Solid Objects, 1/2011
Indulge in this book the way you might indulge in candy at the checkout counter. It is a small container filled with considerable pleasure—a tight, melancholic story seamlessly told. —
Molly
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780295990842
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: University of Washington Press, 3/2011
How much do you know about your city? in the sixties, this was still a "sundown" area and the members of CORE worked across racial lines to end school segregation, job and housing discrimination, and get a cross-town bus (#48!). Their work is not finished. These four inspiring women were part of the movement. —
Karen
$19.95
ISBN-13: 9781935554400
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Melville House, 5/2011
Shot to death outside her apartment in 2006, this collection can be seen as Politkovskaya's answer to this question. She reported on the atrocities in Chechnya and the murderous corruption within Putin's Russian government. She never let the frequent threats to her life stop her from her work, and she relentlessly spoke out against the abuse of ordinary people. Also included here are moving glimpses into Anna's personal life—her close relationships with her dogs, a discussion of Russian passion and the Argentine tango, and powerful recollections from those who loved her. What emerges is an exceptionally compassionate and deeply committed woman who lived and died for what she believed. —
Casey O.
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781451607758
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Gallery Books, 2/2011
It's easy to be an armchair quarterback when the zombies rise against someone else, but do YOU really have what it takes to survive an undead assault? If you think you do proceed to page one... —
Rich
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9781451608625
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Free Press, 4/2011
NOT by Arundhati Roy, but by Anuradha Roy, a wonderful debut novelist.
This story of romance thwarted and romance ultimately found spans years and both urban and rural locales in a vividly rendered Bengal. With beautiful writing, an assured narrative voice, and finely developed characters, this novel helps show how in Rumi's words, "longing is the core of mystery," the mystery of the heart. —
Rick
$29.95
ISBN-13: 9781570616624
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Sasquatch Books, 5/2011
My new go-to cookbook (already spattered and crusty from time spent in the kitchen):
Good Fish . Everything I have made so far has been delicious, and not just the fish, quinoa cakes and nettle gnocchi (yum!). And the suggested wine pairings are wonderful (because they are not all white and not all wine)! The on-line video tutorials are pure manna for learning new techniques. It's all good! —
Holly
$28.00
ISBN-13: 9780979956249
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Siglio, 2/2011
Wood has some controversial ideas about what a map should be and what it should do. His ingenious Boylan Heights Atlas Project definitely shows his different points of view. Through these fantastic maps that include the practical and seemingly impractical, Wood shows us that maps don't have to be just about finding a place, they can also be about art, social issues, and even radio waves. Maps can get us to a place, of course, but they can also guide us to a different destination entirely. —
Casey S.
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9781936070718
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Akashic Books, 3/2011
A mixed race child is left in a community filled with guns and white supremacists and even if her family loves her, will they protect her from the inevitable?
Wingshooters is a mystery, a thriller and an unflinching look at the ways racism plays out in families. It's not simple. Bookclubs will have much to discuss. —
Karen
$29.00
ISBN-13: 9781936365180
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: McSweeney's, 5/2011
A young Republic is feeling its oats, and the world is forced to sit up and take notice...not always gladly. Sayles the master storyteller has crafted a terrific, rollicking, massive and monumental slice of American historical fiction about (arguably) the most freewheeling period in our history. It's wonderful: vast, laconic, ironic, and pungent as a bit of cheap, s***ty Kentucky rope. Enjoy! —
Jesse
$8.99
ISBN-13: 9780142418475
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Speak, 4/2011
When two authors come together to write one book, one never knows how it's going to turn out. In the case of Green and Levithan, two talented young adult authors, sharing a book seems to come naturally to them.
In alternating chapters, each author takes a Will Grayson, two angst-ridden Chicago teenagers that share the same name and some of the same insecurities, and sets them on separate paths that inevitably intersect to hilarious consequences. Buoyed by a fantastic set of supporting characters and a treatment of teen issues that is at once thoughtful and humorous, Will Grayson is a superb entry into the YA pantheon. —
Casey S.
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9780307387431
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor, 3/2011
The greatest manhunt in modern American history, during one of the wildest years in world history, when the country seemed about to shatter. A riveting and deeply moving slice of true crime history, and a disturbing slice of our past. —
Jesse
$17.00
ISBN-13: 9780307716996
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Three Rivers Press, 10/2010
Everything I could want to know I learned from David Bowie. And Spitz’s keen journalism places the rock icon within a greater cultural context over a relentlessly fascinating half-century of increasing notoriety. —
Dave
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780982580813
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Featherproof Books, 11/2010
In the first story in this amazing inter-dependent collection, Somerville imagines a machine of understanding Other People which would allow the user to glimpse into another person's psyche. Ultimately, he has created such a machine by writing this book. In it, Somerville embodies his entire, disparate cast of characters as though they were shades of his own personality. —
Leighanne
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781400034208
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 9/2003
Although the
Razor's Edge hosts a full range of characters, Larry Darrell steals the show. He comes home from WWI traumatized from a combat experience. He's more quiet and his life has taken an inward turn. All the other characters wonder: "what the hell is wrong with him?" but he just keeps getting radder and radder. See for yourself. —
Jake
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9780802145383
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grove Press, 2/2011
Beauclerk, with great erudition, presents a bold and provocative theory which should turn your head. It is not enough to attribute Shakespeare's greatness to "imagination" or "genius," biography in fact illuminates the plays and poems. I urge you to read this book. You will view these immortal works in a different light. —
Greg
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781590173954
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 3/2011
This under-appreciated and understated classic is back in print and I couldn't be happier as its also one of my favorites! Darkly funny and beautifully constructed, the story centers around an uncommonly intelligent dog who seemingly represents everything we want but shouldn't necessarily have. —
Molly
$25.00
ISBN-13: 9780143118695
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 2/2011
Macculloch's history of Christianity is a masterpiece. It is the most up to date, erudite and readable single-volume history in print. I Highly recommend it. —
Carl
$35.00
ISBN-13: 9781400041794
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Knopf, 2/2011
Part history, part biography, Hughes has written a fascinating account of the life and times of Socrates. Walk the streets of Athens, mingle with her citizens, and meet and learn from one of her most famous philosophers. —
Carl
$13.99
ISBN-13: 9781596434530
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: First Second, 8/2010
A book that practically screams adventure!
The Unsinkable Walker Bean comes packed with pirate ships, magic skulls, and merwitches (oh my!). From the author of
Spiral-Bound . This tale will not disappoint! —
Jamaal
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780374532314
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Hill and Wang, 10/2010
If I were—one day—walking along the shore of the ocean and were lucky enough to stumble across a bottle containing a genie, and the genie offered me one wish (the caveat being that the wish be book recommendation related) I would wish that everyone read this book. This book. I wish you would read it. —
Candra
$13.00
ISBN-13: 9780143105848
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Classics, 11/2009
Whom did you love first? That you still remember is exactly why this book is so sweet and sad and funny. Because, like Harry, we know. We get it. —
Dave
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9780802170828
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grove Press, Black Cat, 1/2011
They kept it a secret in the small remote coastal town in which they lived. Neither boy nor girl. Only three people knew. The parents, well-meaning, brought him up as a boy named Wayne, who struggled with the two genders within him. Not written with sensationalism, this debut novel is a beautiful and compelling story of societal labels, identity and our own place in the world. Highly recommended. —
Seth
$40.00
ISBN-13: 9780811876926
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Chronicle Books, 10/2010
Guinea Pig Zero, Hey 4 Eyes, Broken Pencil, Bomp, Vacuum Boots—all zines that we read or maybe you wrote your own? DIY history, fully illustrated with notes and essays. See more zines at Zap! the Hugo House zine archives and check out our zine selection. Priceless and essential. —
Karen
$6.95
ISBN-13: 9780810997127
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harry N. Abrams, 3/2011
Beneath the luster of algebra and inedible school lunches at Franklin Middle School lies a shadowy underbelly of organized crime. Vincent "Vinny Biggs" Biggio runs it all: the candy racket, the hall pass forgery ring, and, scariest of all: squirt gun assassinations. Among these dark halls, one boy stands up for truth and justice: private detective Matt Stevens. Stevens has never liked “Vinny Biggs” but Vinny’s got a case for Matt and he has to set aside his dislike because justice is blind and the difference between right and wrong doesn’t change from client to client. Who would have thought that middle school was such a sinister place? Brilliant middle reader noir from debut novelist Ferraiolo. —
Casey S.
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780143118763
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 3/2011
Judt points no fingers, instead he presents his incisive commentary on current economic and political (in)action. Judt provides a foundation for a new positive language necessary to address contemporary challenges. Judt reminds us of our history and urges us to face the day awake and aware. A timely, well-reasoned, and accessible read. —
Alex
$14.36
ISBN-13: 9781590172568
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 1/2008
Patrick Hamilton is a forgotten giant of 20th century British fiction—think of the cutting wit of Waugh combined with the gritty and pessimistic realism of Celine.
Here is the sad, sordid and somehow redemptive underbelly of pre-WWII working class London as seen through the divergent and overlapping perspectives of three of its unforgettably real denizens. —
Peter
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9781416550556
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Washington Square Press, 3/2010
Fairytale and historical fiction collide in this novel about searching for true identity. Morton is a story-weaver, effortlessly winding one plot around another, twisting the lives of her characters into a gorgeous tapestry. —
Leighanne
$12.99
ISBN-13: 9781907519567
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Abaddon, 11/2010
Three books of swashbuckling derring-do in one! Steampunk, dinosaurs, intrigue, and villainous villainy! What more could you ask for? —
Rich
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780385490818
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Anchor, 3/1998
I cannot remember the last time I was this affected by a novel. Atwood's terrifying portrayal of a future in which our country has reduced women to property of the state is all-too-real.
The Handmaid's Tale is haunting, daunting and at the top of my recommendation list. —
Leighanne
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9781402785924
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: SilverOak, 1/2011
It is a pity that every Swedish crime novel that comes out for the next few years will be compared to Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. After all, no one sits around comparing Agatha Christie and John LeCarre because they're both English. In any case,
Three Seconds is an excellent thriller! Every time I start talking about this book I get excited and want to talk about it with someone, or convince somebody to read it. If you like a good spine-tingler, you won't be disappointed. Stieg who? —
Jamil
$5.95
ISBN-13: 9780152058807
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Sandpiper, 3/2007
Great middle reader for the 10-12 year old set. Just how much trouble can two boys get into over the course of a summer on a farm ... ever tried peeing on an electric fence? Or putting the washing machine motor on a bike and having to constantly be on the lookout for Ernie the crazy rooster? Try this. —
Tracy
$32.95
ISBN-13: 9781591843634
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Portfolio Hardcover, 11/2010
Yes indeed, the economic devils are all in here; the one book you need to read in order to understand what caused our economic crisis. —
Carl
$22.95
ISBN-13: 9781565126800
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2/2010
More than a nod to Nella Larsen, one of the great Harlem Renaissance writers whose ethnic background mimics Durrow's, this novel stands proper on its own legs. Rachel is coming of age with clouded memories of an elusive event. Still able to sense her mother's love as well as her devastating fears, she roots out of the truth of what has happened to her family. Amidst this, she fights to define herself in a world that would rather do it for her. Rachel's story is a low and steady hum, intensity shrouded in a deceptively simple style. With a sinking feeling and a smooth unraveling, Durrow announces to us worlds we have yet to acknowledge. —
Shannon
$30.00
ISBN-13: 9780679444329
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Random House, 9/2010
Isabel Wilkerson has written the most wonderful, heartbreaking, heartmaking book with her well-researched, beautifully written account of the Great Migration of African Americans to points northwest in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. She unites the disunity people's lives, no matter the difficulties, in both small and grand measure. —
Rick
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9781885030054
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Kaya Press, 11/2010
This captivating beautifully made volume of performed poetry introduces readers to one Sahilja Patel, a third generation Kenyan of Indian descent. She explores—and explodes—the historical, literary, personal, and political terrain of colonization, empire, and migration to powerful, revelatory ends. —
Rick
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9781416596158
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Free Press, 9/2010
This is a wonderful book. I particularly loved the chapters on Homer and Melville's
Moby Dick . Dreyfus and Kelly look at the essential questions of life. —
Greg
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9781936365098
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: McSweeney's, 6/2011
Just as surprising and gripping as his first novel,
Arkansas , John Brandon's
Citrus County is a unique and daring effort. The soft, vibrant underbelly of a crime novel, eerily quiet, suspenseful with a horror that is awkward and uncomfortably real, all this swirling around perfectly rendered oddball characters. Brandon is a unique and skilled writer whose prose gains tremendous power from his sharp, understated style, tough humor and honest depiction of pain. —
Casey O.
$19.95
ISBN-13: 9781590173602
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: NYRB Classics, 9/2010
If you love to "listen" to brilliant people talking brilliantly—and see them mucking through the mess of their lives—then there's nothing better! Having read the biography,
The House of Wittgenstein , I found the clan so much more alive—and real—in Duffy's novel. —
Peter
$12.95
ISBN-13: 9780984115525
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Wakefield Press, 9/2010
The premise is exactly as it sounds: Georges Perec, on a bench in a Parisian square, methodically recording everything he sees, attempting to capture "that which happens when nothing is happening." On paper, it appears so simple. In practice, absolutely impossible. Which is precisely the point.
A desperate and hilarious meditation on the unstoppability of time. An elegant reflection of the everyday, in all its complexity. —
Matthew
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9781770500372
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Whitecap Books, 5/2011
M. Wylie Blanchet was a woman ahead of her time! widowed in 1927 with five children, she, her children and their dog cruised the unforgiving wasted waters of British Columbia in a twenty-five foot boat. Following the log books of Captain Vancouver, Blanchet sets out each summer into the wilds of the Northwest. Rich with experience, the family then turned their adventures into education by reading about all that they discovered. —
Seth
$12.00
ISBN-13: 9781590513385
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Other Press, 5/2010
Never have I read anything so warmly cathartic, so darkly funny, so wickedly sentimental. If it sounds contradictory; it is. How else do we experience our surest loves? —
Dave
$16.99
ISBN-13: 9780803734333
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Dial, 11/2010
This is the feel good book of the year I wish everyone would read and it's not another teen rock-n-roll book. High school senior Piper Vaughn would be voted "Least Likely to Manage a Rock Band" by her classmates—not because Piper is deaf, but because she is the antithesis of rock; staid, safe, practically invisible. So when a bet goes wrong, landing her as manger for the school band, Dumb, Piper is faced with a myriad of challenges—the least of which is her hearing. In the process she learns much about friendship and family and inner strength. Sooo good! —
Holly
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781565129849
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1/2011
This is the feel-good book of the year. It's a delightful hearwarming story about a dedicated basketball coach who pulls together a team of scrappy boys who play with nothing but guts, heart and good humor. You will love these quirky characters and the story will keep you on the edge of your seat with a smile on your face. —
Hilary
$27.50
ISBN-13: 9780802119681
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Grove Press, 12/2010
Barry hannah is a mile-high storyteller whose maniac command of the English language always leaves me dizzy. Long, Last, Happy, Grove's loving tribute to the recently deceased Southern master, pulls together some of Hannah's best work—from his burgeoning career in the mid-sixties to 2010 and the final manuscripts he left behind. The results are, what else? Grotesque and hilarious and giddily haywire. An excellent collection. —
Matthew
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780452296299
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Plume, 6/2010
What would you do if the closet door really did open to an enchanted land? Would your life be changed if you found out magic was real—would it be complete or would you still yearn for greener pastures?
The Magicians is a simply brilliant metaphor for the human condition. Escape today. Be transported. —
Holly
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780307591838
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Three Rivers Press, 8/2010
Julia Wertz makes me happy. She is funny and she likes chees and beer. This new collection is full of snarky, Wertz-style grumblings to make you smile. —
Candra
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780312427801
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador, 2/2009
In the mood for a quiet, well-written, lovely story? This is a gem. A renowned mathematics professor who, after a horrible car accident, can only remember the last eighty minutes, his housekeeper, a single mother and her son create a lovely triangle where each gives and receives in return. —
Tracy
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780679728757
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 5/1992
"Celebrate" seems a strange phrase to use for a novel so dark and cheerless. Nonetheless,
Blood Meridian is now a quarter of a century old. So put on your party hats. Now.
A searing meditation on the immanent nature of human depravity,
Blood Meridian follows a gang of bounty hunters seemingly hired to protect farmers from Apaches, though soon revealed to be an indiscriminate force of destruction wanting only to devour. Teeming with extreme violence and unparalleled poetry, McCarthy is at his aesthetic peak here; at turns transcendent and revolting, lucid and disorienting as he dives deeper into a distinctly American heart of darkness. - Matthew —
Matthew
$27.95
ISBN-13: 9781595581037
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: New Press, The, 1/2010
With compelling and unsettling clarity, Alexander makes the connection, not just between this country's disparate prison populations and racism, but between the "War on Drugs" and Jim Crow laws. A really important book. —
Candra
$9.99
ISBN-13: 9780062012173
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: HarperCollins, 9/2010
Spellbinding and downright hilarious, Pratchett's tales of witch-in-training Tiffany Aching always leaves you aching (Ha! get it?) for more. In the first installment, Tiffany discovers her burgeoning powers and, armed with only a frying pan and the help of the wee free men (little blue men with a penchant for drinking and fighting), sets out to save her brother from the evil queen of Faerie. This is a great introduction to Prachett's weird and wonderful Discworld. Wee Free Men: The Beginning contains the first two books in the series, Wee Free Men & Hat Full of Sky! —
Casey S.
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780452296367
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Plume, 6/2010
Judd Foxman, the protagonist in this hilarious novel, is in the midst of one big mess. Not only has he discovered his wife in bed with his boss, his father has just died. And, as if that wasn't enough, he learns that his atheist father's dying wish was for the family to sit Shiva for a week. And what a family it is: a snarky, wise-cracking, darkly comic bunch of characters forced to remain together for seven days as they go through the motions of religious mourning. Tropper is a master of dialogue and his voice is fresh and true. Hands down, one of the funniest books I've ever read. —
Laurie
$8.95
ISBN-13: 9780872865099
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: City Lights Publishers, 8/2010
This most recent and posthumously published of Zinn's titles is, to me, his most important. Every time I read him I learn something that profoundly impacts my world view. Excellent. -
Candra
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780679724773
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 10/1989
Based on his own translation of Suetonius's
The Twelve Caesars ,
I, Claudius is the first of Robert Grave's two-part account of the life of Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus. A gripping, often humorous, first-person narrative of Claudius’s early life and reluctant rise to emperor of Rome,
I, Claudius is still one of my favorite books and a perfect choice for those who enjoy historical novels. - Jillian —
Jillian
$24.00
ISBN-13: 9780802119612
Availability: Temporarily out. Orders usually back in stock in 1-5 days
Published: Atlantic Monthly Press, 9/2010
A compelling, brutal yet humane portrait of our own post-petroleum future. An outstanding follow-up to
World Made by Hand in which our agrarian past becomes our future. —
Greg
$17.00
ISBN-13: 9781400030651
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage, 11/2001
This is the ultimate India novel—you will be fully drawn in to the gritty vibrant landscape of 1970s India. The story follows several characters whose lives intersect as they struggle to get by amid the country's corruption and poverty. I read this book over ten years ago and the story is still as vivid in my mind as the day I finished it. One of my favorite books of all time! —
Hilary
$22.95
ISBN-13: 9781567923735
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: David R. Godine Publisher, 7/2009
This novel is a masterpiece. The main character in this story is an apartment building in Paris at one instant on a summer day in 1975. Perec's narrative details the rooms, occupants (past and present), furnishings, and minutea that bring life to this behemoth of concrete, iron and glass. Here is the beauty and serendipity of the everyday people and objects that surround us. The interconnection that escapes our notice until we are afforded a birds-eye view of the world. This is a very special book. Savor it. —
Jamil
$13.00
ISBN-13: 9781933633817
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Melville House, 12/2009
This book will make your heart spill over. Let it enrich your hour, day or week. Once you finish, you'll likely flip it back over and start it once again. —
Jillian
$25.99
ISBN-13: 9780765321503
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tor Books, 4/2010
The Nazis have created a team of supermen and are using their unusual powers to cut a swath of destruction through Europe. The British, fearing this unknown new weapon, summon the supernatural entities known as the "Eidolons" to help fend of the Fuhrer's war machine. But are these mysterious allies actually trustworthy or are they far more dangerous than anything Hitler could have dreamed up? —
Rich
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780385343671
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback, 12/2010
We all have such diverse tastes here at Elliott Bay that it is rare for us to agree on a novel.
The Imperfectionists has us going around saying, "Yes, it is that good!" in agreement. Each chapter would be a wonderful short story on its own, each character deserves his own novel. Highly recommended. —
Leah
$24.95
ISBN-13: 9780811218801
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 5/2010
In 1927, enigmatic Swiss writer Robert Walser began writing in a baffling set of tiny dots and scratches. Thought by many to be further evidence of his insanity, these ant-like pencil markings were actually an arcane, ultra-condensed Germanic script that allowed the author to write out entire stories on torn envelopes, small scraps of paper, the back of a business card. Microscripts collects twenty five of these pieces, presenting each work alongside a glossy, high-res facsimile of the microscript from which it came. A beautiful book, a beautiful object. —
Matthew
$19.95
ISBN-13: 9781594853463
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Braided River, 4/2010
I read about
Urban Pantry in
Edible Seattle and knew I had to have it. I am such a fan of books that teach me how to store and keep all the delicious seasonal bounty. Now I know what to do with all my plums! —
Holly
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780143104919
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Classics, 1/2007
Set in the late 1940s, on a Laguna Reservation,
Ceremony is the story of a young man who returns from war emotionally and spiritually broken. To help himself heal, he visits a wise man whose ceremony brings him back to himself. Lyrical and profound,
Ceremony is well worth the read —
Leighanne
$15.95
ISBN-13: 9780802145314
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Grove Press, 5/2011
Karl Marlantes, a decorated Vietnam marine and a Rhodes scholar, has written the classic novel of the Vietnam war. Set in 1969, the novel covers all aspects of the war: military, social, political, and personal. This is a brilliant work of fiction. —
Carl
$13.99
ISBN-13: 9780316042789
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Back Bay Books, 2/2011
If romantic and culinary passion, in the city famous for love and food, sounds appealing, then you'll find this memoir by an American journalist as deliciously irresistible as I did. Ms. Bard met her husband at an academic conference and writes eloquently about her courtship with the man AND with Parisian cuisine and culture in general. Her observations yield a wonderful portrait of place and of the process of making it one's home. Recipes accompany each chapter! —
Erica
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780743298902
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Washington Square Press, 10/2007
When young David's mother dies, all he has left of her are the books that they read together. But when the books start talking to him, they lead him into a world of fantasy; a place where wolves rule ravenously, the good guys turn sinister and a young boy comes of age. A wonderful journey. —
Leighanne
$14.95
ISBN-13: 9781935554011
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Melville House, 6/2010
Good Lord. If you are looking to be inspired by something new and exciting among on our staff-recs, please feel free to breathe a sigh of relief. Your quest is over. Look no further. Place book in hand, walk directly to register. In fact, if you find you have NOT enjoyed this novel, or have not felt "deeply moved" at any particular moment during the reading of it, I will happily slap you in the face, and splash you with cold water. STOP. You have found what you are looking for. —
Jillian
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781400052189
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Broadway, 3/2011
Wow! This story hooked me quickly. To scientists Henrietta Lacks is known as HeLa. Her cancerous cells were taken from her body without her consent or knowledge. Those cells became increasingly important in science research. They were used among other researchers to develop the polio vaccine, test the effects of steroids, hormones, vitamins, etc. Henrietta's family did not find out until over 25 years later. One of the best non-fiction books I've ever read. Not to be missed!! —
Seth
$14.99
ISBN-13: 9780060855024
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 5/2006
River Town is Peter Hessler's memoir of two years spent teaching English in a small city in China. If you're an armchair traveler these days like me, this is a great read. Hessler's writing is clear and descriptive, and his tales are often infused with a very entertaining dry wit. This book makes me want to travel more! —
Hilary
