BOOKNOTES, the newsletter of THE ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY, is written entirely by bookstore staff. It represents a sampling of recently published books that we have enjoyed reading. We appreciate every opportunity to assist in finding books to meet your interests.

Fiction & Poetry

Machine
by Peter Adolphsen (MacAdam Cage)

It is extremely difficult not to become obsessed with Clarissa Sanders, even though she only inhabits a mere quarter of the eighty pages that compose this exquisitely slim novel. On June 23, 1975, Clarissa has a chance meeting with a one-handed immigrant while on a leisurely drive in her parents’ Pinto. While filling the tank with gas, she comes in contact with the petrol that will later form the exhaust fume that gives her cancer. This devastatingly beautiful novel traces that fume back to its origin millions of years earlier to examine how thin the thread is that guides our lives. -C. Joyner

How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone
by Sasa Stanisic (Grove)

Aleksandar's beloved grandfather makes him a magician's hat from cardboard on the day Carl Lewis runs in the 1991 Olympic Games. From this day on Aleks is plagued by events he wishes he had the power to avert: from death in the family to his country's destruction in the abattoir of civil war to his separation from a mysterious girl he will spend a lifetime trying to locate. As time goes by, he finds that the only capacity in his control is his memory. Translated from the German, this is an endearing debut about the desperation of growing up a Bosnian refugee. -C. Sabatini

The Cellist of Sarajevo
by Steven Galloway (Riverhead)

Many of us have potent memories of the Balkan war, an inconceivable catastrophe in the "civilized" world. Steven Galloway has written a heart-wrenching novel of the siege of Sarajevo. We are introduced to four people—three men, the Cellist, Kenan, and Dragan, and one woman, "Arrow," a sniper—all trying to retain their humanity while being assaulted daily by shelling and bullets. The music the Cellist plays for twenty-two days in the city square is a plea to our higher nature in the midst of humankind's lowest nature. Galloway has written a powerfully humane and hopeful book you won't soon forget. -G. Berry

Atmospheric Disturbances
by Rivka Galchen (Farrar Straus and Giroux)

Leo Liebenstein is a psychiatrist who becomes enraptured by the duplicitous nature of reality. He discovers suddenly that his wife is missing and that she has been replaced by another woman who is almost her exact duplicate. In the resulting search, he becomes convinced of a vast conspiracy involving alternate dimensions and a cult that controls the weather through telepathy. As the action progresses it becomes increasingly difficult to judge what is true and what is the result of a mind unhinged. This is an exciting first novel whose buoyancy is checked by what Heidi Julavits calls a "stealth-bomb sadness." -C. Sabatini

Evening Is the Whole Day
by Preeta Samarasan (Houghton Mifflin)

There are at least two striking debut novels this season set in Malaysia, one of which is this luminous exploration of an Indian immigrant family's history in a place newly emerged from colonial times. A grandmother's dying and a servant's unseemly departure set in motion the way the decline of the family's fortunes is seen, particularly from the perspectives of two sisters far apart in age and distant in other ways as well. Rich, knowing language of people and place draws readers in and keeps them there, different perspectives fusing to become the readers' single one. -R. Simonson

The Gift of Rain
by Tan Twan Eng (Weinstein)

Also drawing from Malaysia is this quietly lyrical debut, set primarily during World War II. This reader can think of few books, debut or otherwise, that draw so adroitly and poignantly on the closest emotional bonds that can be made at a time in one’s life when betrayal occurs and when adult choices to forsake possibility mean not every possibility can be lived, including those of deep longing. The Japanese occupation of Penang is powerfully and incisively rendered. Death, life, and the attempt to reconcile and accept the choices made in the past are also at the heart of this most memorable novel. -R. Simonson

The Boat
by Man Le (Knopf)

In Nam Le’s first collection, each story has a scope and depth one might expect from a veteran writer. They include a struggling Vietnamese American writer in Iowa, an assassin in Colombia, small-town life in Australia, an American woman visiting Tehran, and more. These stories traverse more than the complexities of geography; they stare straight at imperfection, disconnection, age, cultural clash, and the limitless possibilities for life in an infinitely varied but strangely congruent human world. A lesser writer would get lost in creating a book of these grand expanses, but Nam Le has the empathy and unique talent to master it. -J. Wells

The Resurrectionist
by Jack O'Connell (Algonquin)

Biker gangs, circus freaks, egomaniacal doctors, and all manner of fringe persons populate O’Connell’s latest inimitable novel. The story swirls gloomily around Sweeney, whose son, Danny, lies comatose. The realistic tale then fractures into the fantastical as the story of Danny's obsession, Limbo, a comic book universe inhabited by circus freaks, comes to the forefront. The comic book happens to also be the last thing that connected Danny to his father and the conscious world. The real and the imagined run parallel to one another, and the beauty of a simple idea becomes clear: a father and son’s struggle to find one another again. -C. Stryer

Child 44
by Tom Rob Smith (Grand Central)

When the bodies of murdered children begin appearing across Stalinist Russia, State Security Force member Leo Demidov finds himself with impossible questions: How do you catch a serial killer when to acknowledge the existence of one is a crime against the state? How do you do what is right when it will lead you in front of a firing squad? How can you hunt when you have become the hunted? The suspense in this novel is so visceral that, despite the frigid physical and political setting, the pages are ablaze with an intensity quelled only by closing the book after reading the final page. -J. Zaidi

Wolf Totem
by Jiang Rong
trans. by Howard Goldblatt (Penguin)

Wolf Totem follows Chen Zhen, a recent graduate who has just relocated from Beijing to the grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Chen becomes fascinated with the nomadic Mongols' flawless hunting tactics and their religion, which worships the wolves. Spellbound from the stories and the hunts, Chen learns how the wolves protect the delicate balance of life on the grassland, and he becomes obsessed.

Full of rich detail, Wolf Totem is a chilling and exhilarating read that has sold second most in China after Mao's "little red book." I couldn’t put it down. -J. Stark

All the Sad Young Literary Men
by Keith Gessen (Viking)

Keith Gessen captures the pitfalls of three young men—Sam, Mark, and Seth—0as they progress from college through their early thirties. He does this humorously, without giving short shrift to just how earnest they are while capturing the real heartache in maturing—even against their will. Mark is obsessed with the Russian Revolution, Sam intends to pen the "great Zionist epic," and Seth just has a notion of his greatness. They all have calamities in their love lives—doing as men do in their twenties, making a mess of it, although strictly speaking that may be a lifelong habit. -G. Berry

The Plague of Doves
by Louise Erdrich (HarperCollins)

In her complex new novel, Louise Erdrich forms two unbreakable ties that bind a mosaic of disparate stories and myriad characters: blood relations and brutal injustice. Erdrich returns to the familiar territory of rural North Dakota to tell the story of a 1911 lynching, the wrongfully accused, and the tremors of the horrific event that continue to flare for generations. As she explores the surprisingly blended edges of familial love and romantic angst, past and present, and redemption and anger, Erdrich’s narrative rings with an equally surprising combination of compassion and edginess. -E. Ehrlich

The Outlander
by Gil Adamson (Ecco)

Catastrophe seems to follow Mary Boulton. Or does she bring it with her? The year is 1903 and nineteen-year-old Mary is on the run after murdering her husband. The widow heads into the mountains and then on to a mining town where she crosses paths with a menagerie of characters, among them a wayward recluse who will send her already tumultuous life into a tailspin, a preacher whose sermons should be held in a boxing ring, and a diminutive man who sells everything from hides to moonshine.

Adventurous, gritty, lusty; this rollicking debut novel from Canadian writer Gil Adamson is a sensory feast. -J. Darrah

Unmentionables
by Beth Ann Fennelly (Norton)

This volume reminds me of the tent in the old Valentino classic The Sheik, which, though diminutive on the outside, somehow—impossibly—encloses a capacious and sumptuous interior. In the same physics-defying manner, Fennelly's slim volume encompasses cosmos of time, place, and—especially—personas. Yet at the center—the pole holding up the firmament of the tent—the pure primal voice of poet, woman, mother: "Because People Ask What My Daughter Will Think of My Poems When She's 16." This is one of those collections you'll want to carry with you, randomly opening and flipping pages until you've read them all...then again, and again. -P. Aaron

The God of War
by Marisa Silver (Simon & Schuster)

Ares Ramirez, a twelve-year-old boy living with his mother and his developmentally disabled brother in a desolate trailer park on the edge of the Salton Sea, longs for the stability and comfort he finds in the home of his brother's teacher. When both his life and his teacher's simultaneously unravel, he must revisit assumptions about love and safety, family and home. This novel is a loving portrait of a young man on the edge of adulthood, yearning for a stable parent while learning to parent and trust himself in the process. -K.M. Allman

The Calling
by Inger Ash Wolfe (Harcourt)

Wolfe drew me right in to her story of a serial killer whose victims are willing participants in their own deaths. Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef is a divorced sixty-one-year-old with a bad back running a police station in small-town provincial Canada. What starts out as an isolated case of murder soon becomes much larger as Micallef and her colleagues take note of the peculiarities of the case. The killer has been moving province by province across Canada until reaching her jurisdiction in Ontario. Where will the killer go from there? More importantly, who is it and what is the motive? Who is Inger Ash Wolfe?. –G. Berry

Nonfiction

Natural Acts: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature
by David Quammen (Norton)

For a decade and a half, David Quammen wrote a regular column in Outside magazine, in which his only parameters were that each submission had to address, at least tangentially, science or nature. This collection brings together the early days of this foray; we are treated to a delightful world where crows are existentially bored, where mosquitoes are the sentinels of the rainforest, where the volcanic formations of the Tularosa Basin are an enormous yin and yang. Filling out the second half of this collection are some of Quammen's recent works, most notably the Harper's cover story "Planet of Weeds." -C. Sabatini

A People's History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation
by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle (Metropolitan Books)

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States was one of the greatest gifts to our country in writing—in effect putting decades of American history textbooks to shame. U.S. history is not a parade of presidents or a timeline of wars; instead, Zinn shows an epic struggle of the American people who, in the face of big money's empirical interests, have had a different and nobler vision.

A People's History of American Empire blends historical photographs with comics and Zinn's writings to retell American history against empire in visual form and once again light our hearts afire. -T. Radebaugh

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
by Mary Roach (Norton)

Mary Roach, the best-selling author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, fearlessly explores the traditionally feared and under explored sexy side of science in Bonk. Bonk is both educational and entertaining, referencing studies throughout history of arousal and orgasm, all the while infusing her investigation with her humorous interpretations and giggle-inducing side comments. Roach does not merely answer the questions everybody else is too embarrassed to ask; she asks naughty questions no one else is twisted enough to even know to ask. -B. Reynolds

Maps and Legends
by Michael Chabon (McSweeney's)

In this collection of essays, the author's first book of nonfiction, Pulitzer Prize winner Chabon riffs on various topics—from Sherlock Holmes to Will Eisner, Lyra Belacqua to Cormac McCarthy, Loki to Captain Marvel—as well as offering insight into his own life, work, and influences, all under the common thread of "genre" fiction—the so-called "Borderlands."

Chabon's essays are insightful, passionate, and educational. Indeed, armed only with this book, a library card, and an inquisitive nature, one might greatly expand his or her literary universe, finding Art where once was Pop. -P. Egan

I Was Told There'd Be Cake
by Sloane Crosley (Riverhead)

Sloane Crosley revels in the absurd situations she's found herself in. In I Was Told There'd Be Cake, we're treated to her version of some classic stories, such as being Jewish at a Christian summer camp and making a hellish move to New York City. She also has some truly original tales, including one about a dinner party where a guest leaves an unpleasant deposit on her carpet and another that explains the link between her ex-boyfriends and the plastic pony collection under her kitchen sink. Sloane Crosley has a talent for comedic writing that I hope we see more of soon. -M. Hickner

The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up
by Liao Yiwu (Pantheon)

Liao's interviews respectfully conjure his subjects' hardships from the Great Leap Forward through the Cultural Revolution to present day. They are a diverse group: a Buddhist monk, an illegal border crosser, a former red guard, a neighborhood committee director, a composer, a former landowner, and many others. What they all share is the controlling grasp the Chinese government has on their lives. As they each relate their experiences, the reader may begin to feel bombarded with smashed relics, brutal beatings, and unbearable discriminations, but the glimpses of compassion and forgiveness help to temper the grimness. -P. Davis

The Delighted States
by Adam Thirlwell (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)

This companionable genealogy of the novel spans several centuries and continents and draws correlations between authors not usually associated with one another (one of Tolstoy's earliest works was an unfinished translation of Sterne's A Sentimental Journey). The disparate crew includes Flaubert, Joyce, Diderot, Kafka, and Borges, among many other well-known and obscure names. Dwelling on innovations in style and difficulties of translation, Thirlwell takes his reader on an unpredictable journey. The roving style makes this the perfect volume to read at one's leisure, coming and going as one pleases. -P. Davis

Letter By Letter: An Alphabetical Miscellany
by Laurent Pflughaupt (Princeton Architectural Press)

Here typography and history meet to tell the rich and fascinating story of our alphabet, from its origins in the Greek alphabet two thousand years ago (and even further back, in cuneiform, the first writing system). Designer, artist, and calligrapher Laurent Pflughaupt also tells a story about each letter, tracing its typographical and structural changes over time and examining its significance in areas as diverse as musicology, esoteric traditions, mathematics, and modern culture. Each letter can be seen to have a distinct personality—and is so much more than just a mark on the page. -C. Schwennsen

Twenty Chickens for a Saddle
by Robyn Scott (Penguin)

Love of family and place permeates this wonderful memoir of childhood in rural Botswana. Home schooled by their unconventional but quick-witted mother, encouraged by their father, a village doctor who flies to his clinics, and influenced by their charismatic grandparents, Robyn and her siblings reveled in the vast classroom provided by the surrounding bush.

An eventual move to the South African border brings awareness of the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the tensions of racial politics, but the prevailing delights of this story are the detailed accounts of a bright, open-minded family's interactions with one another and with a country so gorgeous, vibrant, and complex. -E. Dorfman

The Bin Ladens: An Arabian Family in the American Century
by Steve Coll (Penguin)

Steve Coll continues his masterful exposé of the complex and far-reaching antecedents to the 9/11 episode. The Bin Ladens is a lengthy, absorbing account of the family history, from Mohamed, the Yemeni clan patriarch, and the development of a construction empire through royal patronage to the fractious years after his death, when his many male heirs struggled to navigate a world of globe-trotting glamour and religious reclusion. It is a story inextricably linked with the al Saud clan and their oil-rich land's introduction to the international stage. Yet most revealing, and ultimately tragic, is the conflicted development of one brother in particular. -J. Reiner

The Bishop's Daughter
by Honor Moore (Norton)

Honor Moore, daughter of the late Paul Young, Episcopal priest and bishop of New York, has created a fascinating portrait of her relationship with her visionary father. Born into wealth and privilege yet committed to social justice, outwardly conventional yet with many deep secrets, Bishop Young led a hidden life as a gay man and died leaving a longtime companion who had never met his family. Father and daughter are both complex figures struggling with sexuality and both shaped by the social realities of their respective times. -K.M. Allman

Socialism is Great
by Lijia Zhang (Atlas & Co.)

Beijing writer Lijia Zhang always wanted to be a journalist when she grew up. Coming of age when she did meant her choice didn’t get to be her choice—her mother instead slotted her for a coveted position in a munitions factory in her hometown, Nanjing. Zhang deftly captures the pitfalls and (few) pleasures that came with this work, the routine the work and life were, and the alteration of moods and modes of work that happened as increasing changes came from West to East. Zhang's is a smart, engaging account that tells a story not commonly told. -R. Simonson

The Film Club
by David Gilmour (Twelve)

As an avid film viewer, I was intrigued by the idea of this thin little memoir: father lets son drop out of high school on the condition that son must watch three films a week of father's choosing. I figured there would be some unconventional life lessons learned by both father and son in addition to some interesting film criticism.

Instead, what I got was a blueprint for how to positively influence one's teenage children when they appear dead set on making bad choices. Gilmour does this by watching movies with his son. It is the mechanism by which he and Jesse are able to connect before both move on with their lives, and it prepares Jesse to make some monumental decisions. The Film Club is well worth the read, full of insights on parenting, adolescence, and the role of the film critic. -M. Voss

The Two Kinds of Decay
by Sarah Manguso (Farrar, Strauss and Giroux)

Memory and awareness are the tools Sarah Manguso uses to craft this astonishing memoir. At twenty-one, Manguso was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that left her body periodically paralyzed. The treatments and drugs she took caused severe side effects that lingered with her for years. Now her disease is in remission, but she revisits her experience as vignettes that her memory allows her. By frankly stating what her human body endured, she sheds light on the intangible experiences of illness and the importance of paying attention to the decay and truth of the actual present. -J. Wells

Children's

Savvy
by Ingrid Law (Dial)

People say there's something strange about the Beaumont family. The weather near them is always changing; sunny everywhere else, but around their home the winds pick up and it will rain for days.

They say the kids are funny. One of them always looks like he's rubbed a balloon on the top of his head. The radio always seems to turn to static when he's around. Then there's his kid brother Fish—I'd swear he's the one behind that wind and rain. So when the news broke about some of them going missing along with the preacher's children, I knew that stranger things were to come.

This book is sweet and exciting—perfect to read to someone else or to yourself. -J. Ditzel

Climbing the Stairs
by Padma Venkatraman (Putnam)

In British-occupied India during WWII, fifteen-year-old Vidya witnesses the beating of her father by a British soldier during a nonviolent protest. His near-fatal injury relinquishes any possibility she will be allowed to go to college. Instead she is relegated to the women's floor of her uncle's home, where she is to focus on marriage.

A voracious reader, Vidya cannot keep herself from the men's library that lies at the top of the stairs. She must make her intellectual voice heard even as she falls in love and celebrates her culture. Venkatraman delivers a story of a young woman finding her power. -T. Radebaugh

Wave
by Suzy Lee (Chronicle)

In this wordless picture book, Suzy Lee tells the story of a little girl on a sunny beach, playing with a wave. Lee's gorgeous illustrations, done in shades of gray elegantly contrasted with a rich Maya blue, evoke the joys of a new friendship as we watch the little girl and the wave tease and play with one another.

This deceptively simple picture book captures the perfect joy of playing at the edge of the ocean: splashing in the water, chasing seagulls, and discovering treasured starfish and seashells, all while soaking up the sun. -D. Cronin

The Dangerous Alphabet
by Neil Gaiman
illus. by Gris Grimly (HarperCollins)

Neil Gaiman brings his seemingly limitless imagination to the alphabet book. In thirteen couplets, The Dangerous Alphabet tells the story of two Victorian children and their circuitous quest through the sewers in search of treasure. Accompanied by their pet gazelle, the children face all manner of creepy creatures and scary situations as they traverse the perilous terrain. Will they find treasure and make it home again? The mystery continues until the final page! Along with illustrator Gris Grimly, whose Gorey-like art is enthralling, Gaiman has crafted a clever tale to frighten and delight as well as educate. -C. Stryer