Staff Picks by Tag

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Letter to a Stranger: Essays to the Ones Who Haunt Us By Colleen Kinder (Editor), Leslie Jamison (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Colleen Kinder (Editor), Leslie Jamison (Foreword by)
$19.95
ISBN: 9781643751245
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Algonquin Books - March 22nd, 2022

Concept: Write a letter to a stranger. Maybe you caught their name, maybe they will forever be a mystery but essentially a person who passed by your life only fleetingly. Yet they haunt you, you've never forgotten them. What would that letter say?

Product: This book! 


Review by Emily

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Real Estate: A Living Autobiography By Deborah Levy Cover Image
$20.00
Unavailable at this time.
ISBN: 9781635572216
Published: Bloomsbury Publishing - August 24th, 2021

An innovative memoir that explores concepts of home, the passage of time, and the power of movement, imagination, and family.



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The Wanderer By Peter Van den Ende Cover Image
$21.99
ISBN: 9781646140176
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Levine Querido - October 6th, 2020

Mesmerizing. Strange. Glorious. 

I have to thank fellow bookseller Nicole for introducing me to this stunning book. The technical skill left me astonished. I wanted a bench, as though in a museum, to sit and quietly take in each page of black-and-white pen-and-ink line drawings. Van den Ende's debut is a wordless story of a small paper boat's epic journey across a vast and fathomless ocean. It teems with myriad flora and fauna that reside somewhere between fairy tale and reality. It intrigues. It beguiles. An elegant testament to solitude, strength, and bravery. 



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Assassination Vacation By Sarah Vowell Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780743260046
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Simon & Schuster - February 6th, 2006

Did you know, whilst on a train platform before he could fall to his death, John Wilkes Booth's brother saved Abraham Lincoln's son's life? It's interesting tidbits like this that you can pull out at parties or impress your friends with that you'll find in this book. Vowell, a history nerd at heart, travels to locations around the US immortalized by bloodshed, uncovering more about the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley. And with her sharp wit and wisecracking humor, it makes you feel like you're being taught a history lesson but by the cool, hip teacher.  

 


Review by Emily

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments By Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Fumi Nakamura (Illustrator) Cover Image
$25.00
ISBN: 9781571313652
Availability: On our shelves now at one or more of our stores
Published: Milkweed Editions - September 8th, 2020

This is the kind of gentle and lyrical ecotone I wish I could write, and one that everyone on planet Earth should definitely read!  The essays on Fireflies and the Southern Cassowary were my personal favorites, but each animal and anecdote left me with something new: A deep nostalgia for my own mud-caked and grass-coated childhood; An urge to protect the places and creatures that help us find such solace, and to defend the people denied that comfort because of prejudice; A plethora of  Did-you-know's to break out in random conversations and a heightened appreciation for bright colors--the brighter the better! Without a doubt, I will be returning to this collection for the humor, hope, and understanding elicited by Nezhukumatathil's experiences, but also for Fumi Nakamura's original art (which I honestly want to have printed on my walls)!   


Review by Katelynn

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Hav By Jan Morris, Ursula K. Le Guin (Introduction by) Cover Image
By Jan Morris, Ursula K. Le Guin (Introduction by)
$19.95
Unavailable at this time.
ISBN: 9781590174494
Published: NYRB Classics - August 30th, 2011

Take an unforgettable trip to the historic city of Hav! Watch the exciting roof-race! Explore the caves of the mysterious Kretevs! Marvel at the secret rites of the Cathars! Morris evokes a place so rich and fascinating that you'll wish you were there!


Review by Stephen

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White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World By Geoff Dyer Cover Image
$16.95
Unavailable at this time.
ISBN: 9781101970126
Published: Vintage - May 30th, 2017

Like a Romantic Larry David, Geoff Dyer travels from Tahiti to the Arctic Circle, meeting humiliation and disappointment on his quest for the Sublime.


Review by Stephen