Staff Recommendations, Weeks of October 18 and 25, 2022

 

I can see it now. It was Tuesday, maybe Wednesday last week. Maybe even Thursday morning. Cup of coffee in one hand, blog reading device in the other. And you navigated your browser to the Boswellians blog only to find - nothing. No update. No new staff recs. Nada. Maybe you refreshed your browser, once, twice. Maybe you set a little alert to ding when a new blog was posted on this page. Yet, still, zip. Your hand, perhaps, quivered. Shook. Your grip loosened on the coffee mug, the handle slipped from your fingers, the porcelain shattered on the floor as the warm coffee seeped into your socks. But you didn't notice. Rather, perhaps you shook that fist in the air, in a rage, cursing at the sky. WHERE!? Where were those sweet, sweet staff recs?

They're here. And, well, sorry, faithful rec readers! We were super busy last week and goofed our posting schedule. But if it's any small consolation, it means you get twice the recs to read this week. Twice the books. Twice the fun. Let's dig in.

We've got a couple books with double recommendations. The first is Signal Fires, the new novel from Inheritance author Dani Shapiro. From Daniel Goldin: "Two families who live across the street from each other in suburban Connecticut are bound together by one tragedy, a fatal car accident involving the Wilf family, and one miracle, in which Ben Wilf facilitates the birth of Alice Shenkman’s child. The story careens back and forth across time, as the strands of connection deepen and spread. I love books like this, from Simon Van Booy’s The Illusion of Separateness to Frederick Reiken’s Day for Night, and the fact that I’m referencing novels from nine and twelve years ago calls attention to how rarely I find books that capture this feeling of awe that I found in Signal Fires. It was clear from reading Inheritance that Shapiro is adept at capturing life’s reversals; I’m so glad to see that this special skill is equally on display in this beautiful and delicate novel."

And Tim McCarthy says: "Dani Shapiro has a gift for showing us how the smallest decisions and quirks of fate change everything. Signal Fires opens with a tragic accident. Lies are told and secrets kept to stop the very bad from becoming unlivable, and the effects reverberate through the lives of two families. It’s a story of the hope and fear of being a parent, and being a child, about the fierce love and smoldering regret, the shame of guilt. The story of life. In the hands of a talented writer we look at characters and understand: Yes. That could be me. It’s also the story of a universal energy binding us all and a way forward to living. The past and the future seem alive in the present. Shapiro is a talented writer. She tells truth with uncommon clarity, and this is beautifully written truth."

The next dual-rec is The Passenger, the first novel in more than a decade from Cormac McCarthy. From Jason Kennedy: "Bobby Western is at a crossroads when we meet him, diving in the Gulf of Mexico and trying to find a sunken airplane. He is haunted by the memories of his sister, who committed suicide some time ago, and whom he harbors some unbrotherly feelings for. Cormac McCarthy introduces us to a plethora ingenious and complex characters that philosophically propel Bobby towards making a decision that he can't bear to consider. This is an amazingly original story that McCarthy weaves together, one that will have me thinking for quite a long time."

And from Conrad Silverberg: "It has been sixteen years since Cormac McCarthy's last novel was published, and for some of us, that is just a ridiculously long time to go without. Has it been worth the wait? Absolutely. This is his best book since Blood Merridian (and that is saying an awful lot!). Every page is filled with the rich, taut, and precise writing for which he is known. Gem after gem of the most exquisite sentences you could ever hope to read. The Passenger is filled with just the kind of sociopathic characters, fixated on philosophy, theology, and their astonishing moral ambiguity, that McCarthy has made his stock in trade. This is vintage McCarthy, perhaps a bit less bloody than his previous books, but shot through with the soaring, almost biblical, flights of storytelling that defines his best work. Join the legions who consider him to be America's finest living novelist."

Now on to Chris Lee for his write-up on one of his top 5 best books of 2022, which comes from poet, essayist, and The Book of Delights author Ross Gay. The book is Inciting Joy: Essays, and Chris says: "Ross Gay has got to be one of the most generous human beings alive, and his essays in this book are beautifully messy, meandering, in-progress things, building onto and into each other as he searches his life for the connective tissue from which joy is made. It’s written the only way it could be while staying an honest exploration of the messy, in-progress thing that is being human. Gay casts a wide net in his search for joy, and the book ends up being about way too much to list, the result of a fierce and roaming intellect that delights in getting down into the nitty-gritty. But, a sample: his essay on masculinity and grief (and football, and fathers, and meditation, and… you get the idea) pretty much rended me completely apart and then, mercifully, rebuilt me again. Here’s a writer at the height of his powers accounting for himself and in turn inviting us join him in this accounting, this search for a gentler, more connected, joyful way to be. I would have finished this book faster except I kept having to take breaks to cry - tears of gratitude, of grief, and yes, most definitely, of joy."

Back to Daniel Goldin for his recommendation of Kaufmann's: The Family That Built Pittsburgh’s Famed Department Store by Marylynne Pitz and Laura Malt Schneiderman. Daniel says: "I have read a lot of books about department stores, Pittsburgh, Jewish culture, and Frank Lloyd Wright. Put them all together and you have Kaufmann’s, a well-researched and engaging history of a store whose main location was once the fourth largest in the country by area. Founded by four brothers, ownership of the store was consolidated by Edgar, the son of Morris, who married Lillian (nee Liliane), daughter of Isaac. Yes, his cousin - illegal in Pennsylvania, but allowable in New York, so that was where they married. As for the rest of the next generation, they were pushed out and helped found Kaufmann & Baer, a down-the-block competitor that eventually became the Pittsburgh branch of Gimbels. Edgar was not just a merchant prince; he was also responsible for two very significant pieces of American architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House. And as for the store, it sold to May Department Stores in 1946, ceased to function as an autonomous division in 2002, and the downtown store, the last survivor of what were once a half dozen large retailers, closed in 2015."

Let's head over to Ogi Ubiparipovic for his take on The Creative Gene: How books, movies, and music inspired the creator of Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid by Hideo Kojima, translated by Nathan Collins. Ogi says: "I really like learning about the art that inspired the people who inspire me. Hideo Kojima, arguably one of the most important designers in the video game space, writes about some of his favorite works of art and gives us some insight into his life. Read it if you like listening to people talk about the things they love."

And now, Kay Wosewick suggests The Alpha Female Wolf: The Fierce Legacy of Yellowstone's 06 by Rick McIntyre. Kay says: "This is McIntyre’s fourth book documenting the return of wolves to Yellowstone. Female 06 is unusual from the start: she leaves her natal pack when very young, lives alone for several years, and snubs many suitors. Eventually she chooses brothers 754 and 755 to settle down with, another unusual, yet auspicious, decision. Fierce, fast, fair, and famous, 06 is the epitome of a female alpha wolf. You will fall in love. McIntyre’s series is unparalleled. Why? McIntyre went out every single day for 15 consecutive years to document the wolves. WOW. Just WOW."

Jenny Chou takes us to another section of the store - YA Land - with Strike the Zither, a new novel by Joan He, author of Descendent of the Crane and The Ones We're Meant to Find, another Jenny fave. Of this latest, Jenny says: "The 14th century Chinese classic The Three Kingdoms told stories of betrayal, greed, ambition, and plenty of scheming. Joan He reimagines this epic work as a young adult novel with a feminist bent, giving the role of hero to a girl named Zephyr. She’s a strategist with a wily, brilliant mind, who contrives ways to outsmart enemies with a small but loyal army led by a warlordess. From the beginning, Zephyr’s bold, somewhat arrogant voice drew me into her story, and I loved her verbal clashes with Crow, strategist to a rival army. The way the two also speak to each other through music played on a zither is absolutely charming and has all the makings of enemies-to-lovers romance. Not much in a Joan He novel is ever quite what it seems though. The plot twist this time takes the book in a direction I can only describe as equally humorous and heartbreaking, and the cliff-hanger ending has me longing for book two!"

And Jen Steele has two kids recs for us. The first is a graphic novel perfect for middle grade readers called Frizzy by  Claribel A Ortega, illustrated Rose Bousamra. And recommended thusly by Jen: "Every Sunday, Marlene and her mom go to the salon to get their hair straighten. Marlene wants to make her mom happy, but she hates the salon. What Marlene really wants is to embrace her natural curls, but she doesn’t know how to tell her mom. Through some trial and error, Marlene finds a way to get what she wants. Frizzy is a charming graphic novel about speaking your truth and learning that you are absolutely perfect just the way you are."

Jen also recommends the new picture book from Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen, Three Billy Goats Gruff. Jen says: "Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen breathe new life into a classic tale: The Three Billy Goats Guff. Entertaining, funny, and adorned with Klassen's signature art, this is sure to be a story time favorite, so do yourself a favor and clip-clop clip-clop on over to get your hands on this delightful new picture book!"

Paperback Zone! For this post's paperback picks, we  first pick a paperback original, as recommended by Kay. Confessions of Keith is a novel by Pauline Holdstock, and of it Kay says: "Vita is a middle-aged woman whose life is falling apart at every seam. Vita’s clipped journaling is sprinkled with droll, often self-deprecating observations. I wanted to shake her, scrub away heaps of denial and make her DEAL WITH IT. Then Vita would make me laugh again, and I’d forgive her. Holdstock has an uncanny gift for matching writing style and content, as she also did with in her prior book Here I Am. I can’t wait for Holdstock’s next twist of magic."

The next paperback pick comes from Daniel Goldin, who just read a book that was released in paper in late September of this year: A Play for the End of the World by Jai Chakrabarti. Daniel says: "If you are knowledgeable about Holocaust history, you probably know the story of Janusz Korczak, the Jewish educator who ran an orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto, who despite being offered passage out of the country, chose to say with his charges and face certain death. During this time, he staged a production of Rabindranath Tagore’s The Post Office, a well-known Indian play about an orphaned and sick child. In Chakrabarti’s debut, Janyk Smith, one of the Ghetto orphans who miraculously escaped, is called to India to help with a new production in West Bengal, uprooting the precariously stable life he has created in New York. This powerful novel is a moving story about the legacy of grief and trauma, the healing force of love and connection, and the enduring power of theater."

Well, that's what we've got! Hope to see you next week, folks, and until then, read on.

Staff Recommendations, Week of October 11, 2022

We return for another week of book recommending. Let's get reading.

Let's start with a couple of event book recommendations. First, from Daniel Goldin, this endorsement of Bad Vibes Only: (And Other Things I Bring to the Table), the latest from author and podcaster Nora McInerny. Daniel says: "This is what you need to know about Nora McInerny. Her first husband died very young, and that was devastating. She’s very tall. Plus, she’s also very funny, and that last quality shines through in her new collection, Bad Vibes Only. Like David Sedaris, Jenny Lawson, and Samantha Irby, she can write about any number of subjects, from bad bosses (I’m already quoting from this essay), messy vacations, parenting, and Catholic school and give them a McInerny spin - wry observation and a healthy dose of ‘mistakes were made.’ Lots on Catholic school - I see her as the 21st century version of John R Powers, who’s Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up was a perennial bestseller in its day. Though she lives now in Phoenix, her Minnesota upbringing included detours to Wisconsin and her Midwest sensitivity still shines through. Her publisher compared her writing to eating cotton candy, but I might compare it more to cranberries – sweet, sure, but also a little bitter. And did I mention I love cranberries?"

Reading this blog before Thursday, October 20, 6:30 pm? Great! Plan to join us on that date and time when McInerny visits the store for a chat about this book. Click here for more info and to register.

Another event book, another great recommendation, this time from Kay Wosewick, who suggests The Rescue Effect: The Key to Saving Life on Earth by Michael Mehta Webster: "Webster wants to help save species intelligently. He describes six ‘rescue’ processes, some which often happen on their own, some we can nudge, others we can aggressively employ to save species. Refreshingly, Webster understands we can’t save everything, and we also need to acknowledge that nature is, always has been, and will continue, changing, with or without us."

And if you're reading this blog before Tuesday, October 25, 7:00 pm, you'll be pleased to know you can still click right here and register right now for Michael Mehta Webster's virtual event conversation with Meenal Atre of the Urban Ecology Center, our event cohost.

And now Tim McCarthy with not one but two staff recs for us! First, Tim writes about Sinister Graves (A Cash Blackbear Mystery #3) by Marcie R Rendon. Tim says: "Cash Blackbear is only 19, but she’s already experienced a hell of a lot, including abuse from a white foster family that called her a heathen. Just before foster care, a county sheriff pulled her impaired mother’s car out of a ditch. He watches out for her and got her into college classes, and Cash has been helping him with his cases. In dreams she sometimes sees things before they happen and finds out things she shouldn’t know. She’s just beginning to learn about it and just starting to live her own life. Now spring floods around Minnesota’s White Earth Reservation have carried an Indian woman’s body into a nearby town, and Sheriff Wheaton asks Cash if she sees anything that can help. She definitely sees something. There’s a darkness following this death. Cash has lived through crazy things in foster homes, but she’s about to see a whole new level of crazy. I like Cash Blackbear a lot, and I feel validated because Louise Erdrich likes Cash Blackbear a lot, too. This is the third book in the series but the first I read. Then I went back and read the first two! I love finding a cool new series."

Tim also recommends Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way, a release from last week that Tim just caught up on from Kieran Setiya, the author of Midlife: A Philosophical Guide. From Tim: "'Life, friends, is hard - and we must say so.' So begins a direct and clear exploration of why denying struggle is a mistake. Life is much harder for some than others, but nobody avoids 'sickness, loneliness, failure, and grief.' Attempts to only look at the bright side or justify human suffering by claiming that everything happens for a reason are simply wrong and counterproductive. And happiness is not the ultimate goal. The goal must be to want life in this world as it is, filled with flaws and adversity. Setiya details the many ways we struggle, using research, history, literature and moral philosophy to build a "map to navigate hardship" toward living as well as we can. It's a framework that I find extremely helpful in my battle to want this troubling life. He makes it interesting and easy to read. This is a man that understands me and has a voice that I’ve needed. Perhaps he can help you, too."

Reading this post before Monday, October 17, 6:00 pm? Then bully for you - you can tune into a virtual event featuring Setiya in conversation with Sally Haldorson of Porchlight Book Company, our event cohost. Click here and register for this virtual event.

In paperback releases this week, we begin with a romance rec from Rachel Copeland: The Belle of Belgrave Square by Mimi Matthews. Rachel recommends thusly: "Beauty and the Beast meets Jane Eyre in this sweet historical romance from Mimi Matthews. Shy bluestocking Julia Wychwood only feels confident on her beloved horse's back. Captain Jasper Blunt seems to be her opposite in every way - from his vicious reputation in battle to the rumors of his illegitimate children locked away in his remote ruined castle, complete with a locked tower room. But his intimidating exterior doesn't fool Julia, and their marriage of convenience might just be the love match of the season. My favorite romance novels are the ones where the two main characters are equals - in this case, both equally lost and needing someone to see past rumors and lies. Historical romance enthusiasts will want to keep an eye on this series from Mimi Matthews!"

That's it for this week, dear readers, so read on, and we'll meet you back here next week with more book recs. Happy reading.

Staff Recommendations, Week of October 4, 2022

 

Welcome to October! What better way to begin a new month than with a new batch of books? Here are our picks for the week.

First up is Daniel Goldin with an exciting debut novel by British author Joanna Quinn called The Whalebone Theatre. Daniel says: "I love books where the experiences that shaped the characters as children help define their lives as adults. Christabel, Florence, and Digby grow up with absent or negligent parents on a country estate on the southern coast of England that has seen better days. When a dead whale washes onshore, Christa’s dream of mammalian conquest is fulfilled when it turns out that neither the king nor anyone else wants it. How it becomes the bones of a theater is something that’s too complicated to describe here. Let us just say that when war rears its ugly head and special forces comes calling, the Seagraves are already prepared to give the performances of their lives. Already a bestseller in the UK, The Whalebone Theatre offers enough twists on the classics of the genre to stand beside the classics."

Joanna Quinn will be in virtual conversation with Daniel Goldin and Lisa Baudoin for a Virtual Readings from Oconomowaukee Event, Tuesday, October 11, 2 pm. Click here to register for this broadcast.

Next we've got Chris Lee with a seasonally appropriate recommendation: Malice House, a new novel by Megan Shepherd. Chris says: "This is, to me, just the best kind of good, old-fashioned, 80s style (John Saul, anyone?) horror novel. So much fun. A not-very-successful artist (though quite talented horror flick summarizer [this is somehow her job, and yes, I am jealous]) inherits her famous-writer-father’s ramshackle oceanfront estate, complete with his collections of Pulitzer medals, books, booze, and maybe a few demons. Further ingredients include: a strange, secret manuscript, monsters that range from the near-comically warped (Pinchy the ankle-tendon-snapping blob from under the bed, anyone?) to the truly dark, sinister, and all-too-human varieties, and so, so many dark family secrets to be revealed. And Shepherd packs lots more into a book that veers from haunted-house creeper to small-town-power-struggle thriller to gothic-family-curse mind-blower, and she hits the best notes of each horror subgenre along the way. A perfect Halloween-season novel and/or beach read for cool weirdos."

Kay Wosewick has invented this recommendation for Nature's Wild Ideas: How the Natural World Is Inspiring Scientific Innovation by Kristy Hamilton: "Biomimicry is a simple idea: take inspiration from nature to solve human problems. Putting it into action? Well, that’s not so simple. Hamilton describes a baker’s dozen of biomimicry projects, each in a different field of study, each with its unique source of inspiration. Three of the sources are human bones, reptile spit, and pomegranates. Curious? Hamilton’s writing is very accessible, and this book will sate anyone’s curiosity."

Tim McCarthy join us in the recommending with his write-up for the first in a new series that's the latest in YA mystery reboots of beloved 80s/90s cozy whodunits - that's right, it's Murder, She Wrote for a new generation. By the Time You Read This I'll Be Gone is written by Stephanie Kuehn. Tim says: "This is a smart and savvy teen mystery. Beatrice Fletcher is the great-grandniece of Jessica Fletcher, the ageless TV murder-solving hero of Cabot Cove, Maine’s Murder, She Wrote. Bea has serious anxiety issues, but she’s intense and curious enough to face a risk-filled world. Her psychiatrist helps her manage the anxiety, she has a few good high school friends, and her interest in macabre true crime gives her the intensity. Now she’s writing for a start-up web site about the cold-case murder of a Cabot Cove teenage girl. It all comes together in a dangerous way when she posts that her closest friend is missing and that several other Cabot Cove teens have recently disappeared. Both the digital world and her cozy little seaside town soon know that she’s the first one to report him gone. Is she a suspect? Bea is the creation of an author who’s the mother of teens and also a clinical psychologist. It shows. She sounds true to teen reality, and also true to people who keep going despite their fear. This is the first of a series. I’m hooked! Just like I was hooked on the TV show."

Finally, Jen Steele with a middle grade book recommendation: A Rover's Story, the new book from Newbery Honor author Jasmine Warga. Jen says: "I absolutely adored everything about this book! Resilience is a Mars rover who is learning code and preparing for the day NASA will send him to Mars. As Resilience (Res for short) learns his code for the mission, he starts to learn human emotions from the hazmats creating him. Yet the other rover in the lab is not experiencing the same thing - could something be wrong with Res? The day for launch fast approaches, and Res is determined to show he is worthy. A Rover’s Story is a tale of heart and bravery, compassion, and wisdom. Resilience is sure to become a beloved character for all."

Jasmine Warga appears In-Person at Greenfield Public Library, 5310 W Layton Ave, on Wednesday, October 5, 6:30 pm, in conversation with Amanda Zieba. Click here to register for this event. Cosponsored by the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition.

Paperback picks ! Some good books get their paperback release this week. 

Jenny Chou recommends Blue-Skinned Gods, a novel by SJ Sindu. Jenny says: "There are two reasons why a person might be born with blue skin.  They might be the tenth and final reincarnation of the Hindu God Vishnu or, possibly, within their DNA is a rare recessive gene that has a chance of popping up when even distantly related people conceive a child together. Ten-year-old Kalki’s blue skin, his parents insist, comes from being a living god, one who can heal and perform miracles. His father creates a religious retreat in India called an ashram, and he welcomes Westerners interested in meditation and yoga and locals who yearn to be cured of back pain, bad luck, and more. Many simply want a blessing from a god. Secretly, doubts flicker through Kalki’s mind. Is he a healer? What if he is simply casting an illusion over people desperate to believe? Kalki’s journey from a living god in India to the mascot of his American cousin’s rock band, the Blue-Skinned Gods, is full of loss and much soul-searching. Blue-Skinned Gods is such a compelling take on identity written from the vantage of an adult recalling glimpses of his childhood and twenty-something years. This is absolutely the right choice, because this is a book that asks a question that I think needs an adult’s perspective to answer: Does having faith mean believing in a lie? And faith could mean belief in a god or gods, in our parents, or even in our political leaders. Blue-Skinned Gods is a great story, but it’s also a book that I’m still turning over in my mind days after the last page."

Speaking of Jenny, she, Jason, and Kay all are fans of Andy Weir's hit follow-up to The Martian: Project Hail Mary. From Jenny: "I knew after reading an advance copy of Project Hail Mary on January 10th that I’d found one of my Top 5 Books of 2021. Turn off your phone because you don’t want to talk to anyone until you reach the last page in this thrill ride of a novel. When the scientific world heartily rejected his theory on the possibility of life evolving without water, microbiologist Ryland Grace retreated in disgrace to life as a middle school science teacher. As it turned out, he likes teaching kids, and he’s good at it, but just as quickly as he was banished, Ryland is yanked back from obscurity to become earth’s one hope for survival. The beginning finds Ryland waking from a coma without the slightest idea of his name or where he might be. Slowly, he becomes more aware, and he's startled to find himself alone on a spaceship, eons from earth, most likely on an important mission, but without a clue where he’s headed or why. Fascinating doesn’t begin to describe the story from that point, and the plot combines chemistry and math with humor and compassion. I loved Ryland’s creativity, and he’s a problem-solving genius, but the connections he makes in space give this outstanding novel its delightful punch of emotional depth."

From Jason Kennedy: "Did you like Mark Watney? Then, you will absolutely love Ryland Grace. Who is he? Waking up in a strange environment, Ryland can remember little about his life other than his name. He’s in a bed with tubes running into pretty much every bodily opening he has, and the other two other beds have dead people in them. In short order, he figures out that he is humanity’s last hope to save Earth. The writing is funny and pitch perfect, the science is wildly creative and carefully explained. This is the book I was not expecting to be blown away, by and I loved every second of it."

And from Kay: "Andy Weir hits his third consecutive homerun, this time out of the ballpark! Project Hail Mary brilliantly explores two themes: ‘save planet Earth’ and ‘first alien contact.’ Saving the planet entails solving an environmental problem that is entirely new to humans and aliens alike and is a terrific story in itself. But the alien/human encounter (starring Rocky and Grace, respectively) is even more impressive. Neither an aggressive brute nor a spectacularly advanced, intellectual creature, Rocky is much more advanced than humans in some ways, and much less advanced in other ways. Having evolved under very un-Earth-like planetary conditions, Rocky’s physicality and understanding of the universe differs significantly from Grace’s. At the same time, there are enough similarities to enable Rocky and Grace to develop communication, then cooperation, and eventually personal attachment. Relationship building and joint creative problem solving among alien and human are portrayed with great humor and tenderness, and there’s still plenty of ‘sci’ for even the geekiest reader. Project Hail Mary is a radiant gem."

See you next week for more recommeding. Until then, read on.

Staff Recommendations, Week of September 27, 2022

 

The last week of September. Wait, WHAT?! The last week of September? Where does the time go? Well, if you're doing it right, a good chunk of the time goes right by as you're reading books. Why not spend some time with our favorite new releases?

First, a fourfer! That's a word I just made up for books that get four recommendations from Boswellians. That is a lot of recommendations - probably because this is a very good book: Lark Ascending by Silas House has topped two Boswellian year-end lists, too (yes, we're already working on those, yeesh!) - it's one of Chris's top 5 books of the year and one of Daniel's top 10s. Onto the recs.

Chris Lee says: "If, like me, you have a less-than-sunny outlook on the prospect of avoiding simultaneous civil collapse and climate catastrophe in your lifetime, then you may find it counterintuitive when I tell you this novel of a young man running from the aftermath of those very events is the most comforting thing I’ve read all year. A dark book for dark times, Lark Ascending is, all the same, written so beautifully, full of honesty and compassion. In his old age, Lark recalls his harrowing journey to escape an America ruled by fundamentalist and swept by massive fires, sail across a stormy Atlantic, and trek across Ireland to a thin place that may offer sanctuary. House offers something necessary - hope that through all the violence, hatred, death, scarcity, and destruction of the impending collapse, a glimmer of humanity might remain."

From Daniel Goldin: "In the not-too-distant future, fires have ravaged much of the world, and America, like much of the world, has been taken over by extremists. Even the isolated Maine woods have become too dangerous. The only option is for Lark and his family to escape to Ireland, the only country still open to refugees. But during the harrowing voyage, not only does tragedy strike at every turn, but hopes for a peaceful resettlement are dashed. Can Lark, with the help of two newfound companions (one canine) find peace in the legendary settlement of Glendalough? I’m not generally a dystopian reader, but Lark Ascending’s beautiful language and imagery, combined with the emotional heft of the story, drew me in from the first paragraph."

Tim McCarthy adds: "It's Lark's clear voice that carries us through many terrifying moments. As an old man, he's asked to write the “whole particulars” of how he came to be in Ireland, starting with the ocean crossing after America became a war-torn, burning wasteland, and then looking further back to the way his family survived and escaped North America. They headed for the one place Lark’s parents thought they could be safe. All the while, he insists on living. There’s so much regret inside the grief, but ascend he does. And he has reasons: the people he loves who told him not to give up, and the sudden appearance of a dog. Protecting a dog is surely enough reason to live. Ascension defines the novel. The writing ascends to uncommon heights of beauty while affirming life as the refusal to submit, even when the desire to quit is relentless. Lark Ascending is brave in a way we desperately need, brave enough to see beauty through enormous pain. It’s also a warning. House makes us feel that this could easily happen to us, and soon."

And Kay Wosewick rounds it all out: "Lark grows up as climate-driven wars pit gun-toting fanatics intent on complete control against loosely formed bands of resisters. While most of Lark's early life is spent idyllically at a distance, he is finally forced to travel a long distance through war zones. Lark recounts times of bliss and harrowing moments of horror with equally affecting and lovely prose."

WHOA WHATTA BOOK! Surely if we were lucky enough to host the author of this masterpiece, you'd want to come meet him, right? WELL GUESS WHAT - Silas House appears at Boswell on Thursday, October 6, 6:30 pm central. Click here for more info and to reserve your spot for this event right this instant!

Let's stick with Chris, because this is a very good week of books for him. Yet another of his top 5 picks for the year comes out today: Stay True: A Memoir by New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu. Here's what Chris says about this one: "This memoir is so many things: a time capsule of 90s America from a West Coast outsider, a dissection of friendship through lenses of philosophy and language theory, a lived account of Asian diaspora in America. It’s road trips, cigarette breaks, mixtapes, and late nights goofing off. It’s the tone of nostalgia from a Smashing Pumpkins song. It’s the core-deep impact a friend can have, and it’s the tragedy of an early, senseless, violent loss. This book tore me completely apart. For anyone who’s ever found a friend who let them find themselves, for anyone who’s ever lost a friend who took a chunk of you with them, this book is going to destroy you then put you back together again, a little wiser and a little more tender."

We now go to a twofer YA novel, the latest from Kwame Alexander: The Door of No Return. From Jen Steele: "The Door of No Return is one of the most poignant books I've ever read! Told in verse and set in 1800's Africa, this emotional story follows Kofi, a young boy who loves and is loved, who will endure unimaginable heartbreak and faces an unknowable future. Kwame Alexander has delivered what is sure to be a modern-day classic!"

And from Tim McCarthy: "This is the fictional story of Kofi Offin. He's on the verge of manhood. It’s based on the real lives of people in an 1860 West African Asante village, in the nation now known as Ghana. Kofi lives a loving family life. He's 'smitten' with a young woman, who also likes him. He's bullied by a cousin and must find a way to defeat him. He struggles with school, where a teacher refuses his traditional language. He knows the history of warfare between two villages that once lived as one, and he will soon learn that greed and power and revenge can usurp family love. How will he keep any comfort or integrity or hope in the face of brutality? Kwame's introductory note says that this was a hard story to write, but it needed to be told. He needed to open a door, and his lyrical, graceful, powerful writing does just that. Now we must walk through, with 'eyes unshut' and our 'heart unlocked.' It's an intensely profound walk. Do join me."

Jen Steele also has a quick note on The Flamingo, a graphic novel chapter book by Guojing. Jen says: "The Flamingo is a breathtaking graphic novel full of wonder and love. I was absolutely charmed by everything about this!" That says it all!

Tim also has a graphic novel suggestion for us: Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile. Tim says: "I was eight years old in October of 1968 as I watched Tommie Smith and John Carlos receive their Summer Olympic medals with raised, black-gloved fists. I didn't notice they were also shoeless and wearing black socks to represent poverty, or see the beads and scarf representing lynchings. I admit that the moment scared and confused me. This suburban white kid didn't understand how a great victory would make these men look so sad. It was perhaps the first time I really wondered what was wrong with America, and it remains one of my life’s strongest visual memories. Now I've been given a chance to learn Tommie Smith's life story directly from him. He was also young when he started wondering what was wrong, why his large, loving, hard-working, faithful family of Texas sharecroppers had so much less than whites, despite tireless, honest effort. The story of his path from childhood to the moment they took a stand for human rights and a better nation is inspiration from an American hero, for which I’m deeply grateful. With exquisite illustrations by Dawud Anyabwile, this graphic novel answers questions that began in my eight-year-old thoughts fifty-four years ago. Now that’s extraordinary!"

And Tim (oh, Tim) has yet another staff rec for us, Oh, Sal, the new middle grade book from beloved Wisconsin creator of books for children, Kevin Henkes. Tim says: "Kevin Henkes has come back to writing about the Miller family. He couldn't let go of eight-year-old Billy and his little sister Sal, especially when COVID made him want the comfort of their familiar world. A beautifully warm world it is, with a new addition! Four-year-old Sal has a tiny baby sister who doesn't even have a name yet, and being between Billy and the baby has left her feeling left out. At first the baby made Sal’s heart bell ring, but now so much seems to be about everyone else. How will she find her place? While the first two Miller family books were told in Billy’s voice, this one gives us a smart, strong, and sometimes sad and angry little girl finding her way, with lots of loving help. I personally still need comfort in these terribly unstable times, and I was thrilled to be back in the Miller's world. Thank you, Kevin Henkes!"

Now here's Jenny Chou with a rec for a much-anticipated trilogy finale from Naomi Novik, The Golden Enclaves. Jenny says: "If you are anything like me, the last line of Naomi Novik’s book The Last Graduate destroyed you in that astonishing way that only the best fiction can. After declaring his love, Orion shoved El out of the graduation hall and stayed to fight the maw-mouth on his own. Since no one survives a maw-mouth attack (except El herself), she needs to get back into the Scholomance and save the life of that “bag of jumbled screws,” Orion Lake, and not for the first time; she’s keeping score. While this quest propels the story forward at a don’t-bother-me-I’m-reading pace, Novik’s social justice theme brings the real depth to this brilliant conclusion to the Scholomance series. When El discovers the hideous secret that allowed the enclaves to create their structure of safety and advantages, Novik forces readers to contemplate the damage inflicted on the weakest among us. The emotional journey taken by El, Orion, and their many enemies and few friends made for a series I’m sorry to see the end of, but I couldn’t have imagined a more fulfilling conclusion."

How about this for a paperback release: Cloud Cuckoo Land, Anthony Doerr's follow-up to his Pulitzer-winning novel All The Light We Cannot See comes out in paperback today. Is this book also a fourfer? It is! Am I going to reprint all four staff recs for it right here? I am! From Jason Kennedy: "Anthony Doerr intricately weaves together three story lines, scattered throughout time, in a brilliant tapestry of wonder. What holds this all together is an ancient Greek text that should’ve been lost to time. As we bob in and out of the different characters’ stories, we see how the text moves and influences their decisions and actions. We see the power of a written text and how people will devote resources and lives to the discovery and protection of the written word. There is so much to talk about in this book; please read it so I can discuss it with you. An amazing, epic novel!"

From Daniel Goldin: "An ancient Greek text ties together three stories in this long-awaited follow-up to All the Light We Cannot See. Whether he is writing about the Siege of Constantinople, a small-town Idaho library under attack, or a rocket’s worth of humanity trying to escape Earth’s devastation, Anthony Doerr has a way with compelling characters and a story that is both beautifully written and compulsively readable through its short chapters bursting with tension. Together, Cloud Cuckoo Land becomes a triumphant ode to storytelling and a heartfelt celebration of libraries."

From Jenny Chou: "Readers will carry Doerr’s latest story in their thoughts as they go about their day, checking watches or phones, waiting for the minute they can return to his world and his characters. The book is a breathtaking tribute to the art and power of storytelling and a reminder of the wondrous places libraries are to those of us who love them. An ancient Greek manuscript is at the center of the story, and its passage through time connects children (and the adults they become). Anna, in 1453, is a clumsy seamstress by day and a stealthy thief by night. She unearths the manuscript, and the story within, and goes on to protect it with her life during the siege of Constantinople. On a snowy night in Idaho, centuries later, a small library hosting a play based on the manuscript becomes the accidental stage for a teenager’s burst of righteous anger. And generations into the future, after humans have managed to ravage our home planet, a spaceship carrying our hope for survival as a species speeds through space. Onboard is fourteen-year-old Konstance, whose fascinating use of the latest library technology binds all the stories together. Cloud Cuckoo Land dances between emotionally wrenching and simply beautiful, and I was left in awe of Anthony Doerr, storyteller."

And from, yep, you guessed it, Tim McCarthy: "These characters are beautiful outcasts, different in ways too clear to miss, ways that push them out. They're beautiful for how they fight to keep what’s best about the Earth, and life, in spite of the most painful circumstances. They focus on the people, objects, natural places, and stories that stand side by side with the indignities of humanity. In the brutal siege of 15th century Constantinople, in a beloved and threatened 20th century Idaho forest, in a harsh Chinese prisoner of war camp, and in the containment of a ship blazing through future space, they dream of possibilities. From the opening it seems the time to save a healthy Earth has past. This is the story of saving an ancient piece of tattered writing, an ancient story rescued from the decay of time by these outcasts, as they fight for hope. Doerr's extraordinary details of living in these places make the characters all the more real as he makes a dramatic case that saving stories may indeed have the power to save us as well."

One of Margaret Kennedy's 2021 top 5 picks gets a new cover in paperback this week: Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke. Margaret says: "Surrealist humor meets monotonous office life in the new book Several People Are Typing. Written in the form of instant messenger conversations, this book had me laughing in disbelief at the absurd and unexplained happenings at this company. Each employee has their own problems, ranging from the mundane to the hilariously insane, but none more so than Gerald - who accidentally uploaded his consciousness into the firm's slack server. But who cares, because his productivity is suddenly through the roof now that he doesn't need to eat or sleep, so does he really have it that bad? With constant, sourceless howling, frighteningly illegible emoji conversations, missing briefs, and a growing sentience in the app's help Bot, Kasulke exaggerates the average American office to seem as crazy as it sometimes feels like in this wonderfully deranged novel."

Madi Hill adds: "Several People Are Typing is the kind of book you get someone else read with you just so you have a person to text "WHAT JUST HAPPENED" after every chapter. I am a bit leery when it comes to AI, and this nightmarish set up had me giggling and gasping at every hilarious twist. Perhaps it is from familiarity with Slack and mundane office work, but for a novel about a man trapped in a professional instant messaging program and told through the very same media, I myself was ensnared. Read this as a commentary on capitalism and the toxic praise that comes from not taking a break and working yourself into oblivion (in this case, literally), or just enjoy it as a humorous science fiction mix up - either way, it is an enjoyable foray into a very weird book."

One of Conrad Silverberg's top 5 of '21 also gets its paperback release today: When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash. Conrad says: "A plane crash-lands at a small town North Carolina airport during the dead of night. All the passengers and crew have disappeared before the sheriff can investigate. The only body he finds is that of a local black man lying nearby, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. The sheriff's investigation is hampered by interference from his main political rival: the scion of old plantation money whose close ties to the Klan and history of good ole boy hellraising threatens to derail finding answers. The deep-seated and virulent racism of the town threads its way through every twist and turn of this gripping novel. A truly can't-put-it-down read."

And from Jason Kennedy: "Winston Barnes, Sheriff of a tiny North Carolina community, is awoken one night in 1984 to news of an unknown airplane coming in at the local airport. Upon investigating, he finds the plane is empty, barely contained to the runway, and there’s a dead body near it. Wiley Cash spins his tale out from this tight moment in time to explore everything from racial tensions to drug smuggling to families being upended by tragedies. This is more than just a mystery or whodunit, it’s a story about relationships between fathers and daughters, husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters. This seven-layer salad of a novel surprises with each unfolding scene, and the last layer has the punch to your gut that will leave you mute. I am such a fan of Wiley Cash, and you should be too."

That's a lot of recommending! See you next week, and until then, read on.

Staff Recommendations, Week of September 20, 2022

 

New week means new recommendations, right? RIGHT! Here they are.

Daniel Goldin starts us off with the latest Elizabeth Strout novel, Lucy by the Sea. Daniel says: "Starting moments after the close of Oh William!, Elizabeth Strout’s latest finds Lucy Barton in lockdown with her first husband William in a small town in Maine. The joy of Lucy is in her astute observations; the peril is that her heightened sensitivity and sometimes passive nature can lead her into many a fraught relationship. I loved the way Strout showed that Lucy is a citizen of Strout’s Yoknapatawpha, with appearances not just by Bob Burgess, but also Olive Kitteridge’s aide at the assisted living center. Reading Lucy by the Sea recaptures every small memory of early COVID, from the panic about surfaces and the desire to escape urban environments to the eventual politicization of the virus, so beautifully that I was willing to relive them."

Next it's both Jason Kennedy and Madi Hill singing the praises of Ghost Eaters, the latest from Clay McLeod Chapman. From Jason: "Erin's on-again-off-again boyfriend Silas finds a drug that allows him to see the dead. When he suddenly dies one day, Erin and her friends attempt to contact him. Clay McLeod Chapman amps up the anxiety and suspense in this drug-fueled horror novel about love and loss. Both Erin's friends and the Richmond scenery that they inhabit have storied pasts with sins in abundance. When the end came, it leveled me - such a great book!"

Madi says: "How far would you go to see a loved one that had passed? Ghost Eaters imagines a world in which it’s possible but at a very steep price. After the overdose death of her ex-boyfriend and best friend Silas, Erin and her friends have to navigate their grief while trying to establish their post-college adult lives. When one of the friends reveals he and Silas found a magic mushroom that allows the living to speak to the dead, the friends try to find Silas, but encounter much more of the spirit world than intended. Though supernatural, Chapman uses this horror story to explore how people cope with mourning and addiction, especially in an already difficult transitory time for these early twenty-something characters. His exploration of an abusive relationship beyond the dead is creepy but gripping. Ghost Eaters explores how history is never truly in the past, and the impact the dead still have on the living."

Sticking with Madi, she also suggests you read Cryptid Club, the new book of comics from Sarah's Scribbles creator Sarah Anderson. Madi's rec: "Cryptid Club is a collection of web comics by Sarah Anderson that are the cutest cryptids you will ever see, and not just because they're impossible to photograph. You don't have to be a believer to enjoy the trials and tribulations of the likes of Mothman, Slenderman, and the Loch Ness Monster, among other creepy creatures. Anderson takes the horror out of the horrific and makes them a very lovable bunch with very human problems, like dating and the struggles of high-waisted pants. Cryptid Club will make you want to believe."

Let's go now to Jen Steele for Legendary Creatures: Mythical Beasts and Spirits from Around the World by Adam Auerbach. Jen says: "Legendary Creatures is a first-rate collection of mythical beasts and folklore. Not only does it give the reader an enjoyable glimpse into the otherworldly, but Adam Auerbach also illustrated these astonishing creatures. A perfect jumping off point for any kid interested in learning more about mythology."

And we stay with Jen, because she also recommends Wildoak by CC Harrington. And of this, Jen says: "Set in early 60s Cornwall, Maggie, a young girl with a stutter is sent to stay with her grandfather for a few weeks. Maggie spends most of her days in Wildoak, a beautiful forest near her grandfather’s place that’s under threat of destruction. It is in Wildoak that Maggie discovers Rumpus, a lost snow leopard who needs her help. CC Harrington delivers an engaging novel about what connects us all. I was absolutely charmed by these characters, and I know you will be too!"

How about a paperback pick with Wisconsin ties? Daniel Goldin brings us The Family Chao, a novel by Lan Samantha Chang, with this rec: "In a Chinese restaurant in Haven, Wisconsin (maybe standing in for Appleton?), a family prepares for a grand celebration. The oldest son, Dagou, has returned to town, tail between his legs (though still with two women fighting over him), to work at the family restaurant. His brothers Ming, a successful tech executive, and James, a medical student, are on their way home, too. The family is already on edge because of their parent’s separation, but when Leo reneges on a deal to give Dagou a piece of the restaurant and a recently discovered cache of money disappears, the family explodes. You absolutely don’t have to have read the inspirational source for this sharp-witted and passionate tale to enjoy it, but if you aren’t fluent in Dostoevsky, you might want to read The Brothers Karamazov Wikipedia entry afterwards."

Thanks for navigating our way again this week, dear readers, and until next time, read on.

Staff Recommendations, Week of September 14, 2022

 

So many staff recommendations this week it took an extra day to get the blog published. Whew! It's still September, which means there are still lots and lots of new books arriving each week. Here are our suggestions.

We start with Daniel Goldin, who as three books for us this week. First it's Painting Beyond Walls, by David Rhodes. Daniel says: "In a sort of prelude to the main narrative, August Helm (last seen at the age of 10 in Jewelweed) is working as a graduate student at the University of Chicago when two significant events occur – he falls in love with a wealthy and beautiful corporate executive, and he interrupts his boss having sex with a student. Both do not end well. With his tail between his legs, he returns to Words, Wisconsin in the Driftless region, where familiar friends and family await. But things are different – folks have aged, relationships have formed, and most notably, a compound of super-wealthy city dwellers have carved out a private space where they live a luxurious life a bit in fear of the locals – kind of a rural gentrification. Can August navigate this new life without repeating his past mistakes? And can David Rhodes continue his conversation about community and culture while weaving in class conflict, the roots of power, the biology of attraction, and some speculative elements? It’s a tall order, but I think he succeeds mightily, as long as you accept and even savor the philosophical digressions and a completely unexpected resolution."

Next from Daniel, words on Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions: A Novel in Interlocking Stories by Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi: "Ogunyemi’s powerful stories center on a moment in the 1980s when four young women led a protest at their school, ending in tragedy. The stories dart forwards and backwards, to the United States and back to Nigeria, as Nonso, Remi, and Aisha navigate love, careers, racism, and the pull of Christianity and Islam against traditional Nigerian spirituality and religion. Connections are so important to this book, not just in the subtle ways that the stories fit together, making me feel like a literary detective, but in the strong bonds of friendship that connect these wonderful women."

And lastly for Daniel, along with Chris Lee, he recommends Sugar Street by Jonathan Dee. Daniel says: "We don’t know who he is, and we don’t know what he’s done, but what we do know about the hero (??) of Dee’s compulsively readable Sugar Street is that he’s on the run from something and desperate to not be caught. In prose that is at once taut and richly nuanced, Dee ratchets up the tension while pondering contemporary society, from race, class, and gender to technology’s stranglehold on freedom and privacy. Coiled like a spring and ready to snap!"

And from Chris Lee: "This is a sort of dangerous book, with the potential to become a manifesto that people rewrite their lives around - a blueprint for dropping out and a logic for bad action. That said, it’s also a gritted-teeth honest and gutsy exploration of whiteness and masculinity - of exceptionalism, savior complex, and class tourism. One guy has a lot of stolen cash and a strong desire to disappear from his old life and the surveillance state. Even as things go entirely off the rails, the writing is so compelling and clear that you can’t help but to tear through this novel and spend days afterwards attempting to triangulate the lines between good and bad actions and good and bad reasons. This is a bold one."

Now we go to Jen Steele for her take on the new Angie Cruz novel How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water: Cara Romero wants to work. After being laid off at the factory, Cara meets with a job counselor to help her find a new job. Told through 12 counseling sessions, Cara shares her life's story: from the Dominican Republic to Washington Heights, through marriage and motherhood, family, friends, lovers, and faith. Insightful, heartwarming, and laugh-out-loud funny, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is a new favorite! Grab your favorite cafe and settle in, Cara Romero is a character you will not forget."

Jen also has some nonfiction to recommend - the new memoir from Betty Gilpin called All the Women in my Brain: And Other Concerns. Jen's take: "I haven't read such an honest, chaotic, no-holds-barred kind of a memoir in a long time. Betty Gilpin lays it all out there - the good, the bad, and the holy hell did that really happen. All the Women in My Brain: And Other Concerns is a must-read this fall!"

Oli Schmitz is next with Tamsyn Muir's Nona the Ninth: "This third installment in The Locked Tomb series feels like the beginning of the end, with a story that had me under its thrall from beginning to end. Muir's humor and incredibly distinct character voices shine through as usual, but Nona is decidedly brighter than the previous two books' narrative styles. Even through Nona's sunny eyes, readers will see signs of a coming apocalypse around every turn: chaos and uncertainty surrounding her as she goes to school, pets a very good dog named Noodle, and plans a party. And just as pressing as the chaotic present is the unraveling of the past, chapters which I had to hold myself back from skipping to in order to find out how the path of humanity veered toward a future of Necromancers in space 10,000 years from now. Where many dystopian and sci-fi books fail when it comes to a “how we got here” storyline, Muir handles it as expertly as the character dynamics and truly, perfectly unhinged humor. Now is the perfect time to dive into The Locked Tomb series!"

Does Rachel Copeland have romance for us this week? Yes! That'd be Lucy on the Wild Side, a paperback original by Kerry Rea of which Rachel says: "Lucy loves nothing more than gorillas and her job as a zookeeper, so she's thrilled that her zoo will be featured on a hit nature docuseries... until she's asked to be part of the filming process. Lucy and cameras do not mix, and what's worse is that the show's gorgeous and popular host, Kai Bridges, overhears her complaining about his overblown ego and lack of brains. But if she wants a promotion to senior keeper, she has to play nice - on camera and with her new nemesis. Kerry Rea had me both cackling and crying in this book, which is not an easy thing to do! I enjoyed Lucy's initial pettiness toward Kai quite a bit (maybe more than I should have), and their banter was top tier. This book has a ton of heart, and it left me wanting more in the best way."

And what kind of week would it be without a recommendation from Tim McCarthy? An empty one indeed. Fortunately, this week he suggests the latest from Minnesotan Peter Geye, The Ski Jumpers: "Families are held together in such unusual ways, and Johannes Bargaard has a family stretched so thin he hasn’t seen his beloved brother Anton for decades. Ski jumping is the one thread from their glory days that’s unbroken, but time is running out for Jon and Anton to do more than hide the frightening secrets that pushed them apart. Jon’s been told he has younger-onset Alzheimer’s and doesn’t know how long he’ll be able to trust his own mind or if he can finish writing one last successful novel. Their father’s funeral may be the only time left to fully uncover the bitter past. Geye gets the little details right as he brings his characters’ world to life, and his spectacular winter scenes of ski jumpers taking flight, from Chicago and throughout Minnesota to Madison and Lake Placid, surrounded me with a beautiful literary warmth. The Ski Jumpers, just as Northernmost did before it, will surely have me looking for Geye’s next book!"

Lots of great book recs for the youngsters today, too. From Jen Steele, a write-up for Adventuregame Comics: Leviathan by Jason Shiga: "There’s a giant sea creature wreaking havoc in your village. Your quest, if you so choose, is to find the old wizard and find a way to defeat this menacing creature. Can you find your way through the maze? Jason Shiga delivers an entertaining and crafty choose-your-own-path graphic novel with endless possibilities."

Jen also recommends the picture Farmhouse by author and illustrator Sophie Blackall. Here's here take: "Sophie Blackall pays tribute to a farmhouse and the lives lived inside. A thoughtful picture book about the lives of twelve children who grew up in a farmhouse over a hill, at the end of a road, by a glittering stream. A wistful and loving book to add to family story time."

Tim loves this one, too! Here's what he says: "What we see at first to be a gorgeous, romantic, clever look at a classic American farm family also becomes a breathtaking personal experience for two-time Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall. I absolutely love her work, and this latest picture book is stunning! Blackall imagines the life of 12 children, their parents, and a very patient cat, living and working on the land. The depth of the artistic perspectives and details absorbed me and immediately grabbed my six-year-old buddy Landon's attention, too. The poetry of her storytelling rolls off the tongue, revealing Blackall's skill as both author and illustrator extraordinaire. Then the story turns, as the dozen children grow older, and we finally learn that Blackall herself bought an abandoned farmhouse that was being reclaimed by nature, with relics still inside of the family's lives. This is her story of how she honored the Swantak's farmhouse by using their past to reinvent their world. A brilliant, bold, beautiful, and essential celebration of America's bygone days by one of today's children's book masters!"

Kay Wosewick brings a middle grade novel by Lynne Rae Perkins entitled Violet and Jobie in the Wild. Kay says: "This tender tale stars brother and sister mice who are abruptly removed from the human home they grew up in. The humans capture and dump them in an unfamiliar wilderness. The brother and sister meet other mice and adapt quickly, but then they face an unexpected rupture in their brother/sister relationship. The story has fun surprises to balance the family crises. Best of all, it has an unexpected and perfectly lovely ending that will leave young readers smiling."

Paperback picks! Paperback picks? We've got one.

Let's go right back to Kay Wosewick for the first now-in-paperback recommendation: 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows: A Memoir by Ai Weiwei, translated by Allan H Barr. Kay says "Ai Weiwei’s only known artistic influences as a young child living in labor camps were hearing bits of his father’s poetry and pouring over his father’s art books while his father worked nearby. Ai Qing was released from labor camps after Mao died, just as Ai Weiwei was old enough to attend junior high school. He enrolled in numerous art schools and art programs abroad throughout his young adult years, only to drop out soon after starting. His early artistic output thus appears to be mostly self-directed, often evolving dramatically with little apparent reason. When he returned to China, ancient, odd artifacts captured his attention, but it wasn’t long before his art became almost completely politically driven. Since he and his father rarely spoke, Ai Weiwei’s fierce morality seems largely based on observation of his father. Ai Weiwei’s autonomy, brilliance and passion shine throughout his memoir, with minimal presence of ego. Beloved worldwide, this book convincingly depicts how he earned this lofty status."

That's a lot of reading! We'll see you on the other side of this stack of books next week, dear readers. Until then, read on.