I grew up in upstate NY.
If George Saunders and Nora Ephron had hit it off at a party some 30-odd years ago, Bob-Waksberg could conceivably have been their unintended consequence. His stories ripple with a similar depth and goofiness that made his animated series BoJack Horseman such a hit. Each story is about the lunacy of romance: a dog details in dog-speak the intricacies of his owner’s failed relationship; a scientist has an affair with the parallel universe version of his own wife; a deceptively simple list of lies a couple has told each other. Though strange and humorous, each one struck several chords of recognition: desire, anxiety, heartache. ~ Reviewed by Joe Michon-Huneau
Classic Krakauer is an appropriate title in two ways. These collected articles are classic in that they exemplify what I love about Krakauer’s entire oeuvre: his ability to make me care about subjects I otherwise would not have read about, the compassionate lens with which he views his subjects, and the richness of detail that can make topics like surfing and mountaineering feel more exhilarating on the page than in actuality. And they’re classic in another way: though they span Krakauer’s early career, they still feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were written. ~ Reviewed by Joe Michon-Huneau
The Pinochet regime was one of the bloodiest dictatorships in Latin American history, and Fernández condenses the rippling effects of life under Chilean political suppression in the 1980s with this slim novella. Clocking in at under 100 pages, these glimpses of compliance and resistance are all the more vivid for their brevity. Told in snippets through the collective dreams of the former classmates of Estrella, the young daughter of an officer in Pinochet’s regime, each brief chapter echoes small moments in her life: writing letters to her best friend, slipping secret notes to her crush, playing Space Invaders, watching her father remove his prosthetic hand at the dinner table, and then one day disappearing from class without notice. ~ Reviewed by Joe Michon-Huneau
Set in Texas, these short stories are odd scraps of messy relationships told with one of the strongest debut voices I’ve read in a long while. Parsons’ sparse descriptions and intimate details are immediately satisfying. Whether they’re discovering their sexual selves in scuzzy motels or searching roadside cow pastures for hallucinogenic mushrooms, her characters are boldly and seductively amplified. Keep an eye on this one. ~ Reviewed by Joe Michon-Huneau
A comedic book at heart, this is perhaps my favorite cocktail guide. These recipes are full of as much wry wit as rye whiskey, as much dry humor as dry vermouth. McCartney—author of such impulse-buy classics as The Joy of Leaving Your Sh*t All Over the Place and The Little Book of Sloth Philosophy—has crafted the perfect counterpoint to all those fussily pretentious mixology books brimming with elaborate, ornate cocktails you’ll never make. Grab some white wine (serving size: one bottle) and start drinking like a normal again! ~ Reviewed by Joe Michon-Huneau
Northshire Manchester
4869 Main Street
Manchester Center, VT 05255
ph. 802.362.2200
ph. (toll free) 800.437.3700
Sun-Thu 10am-7pm Fri-Sat 10am-9pm
Directions to Manchester
Northshire Saratoga
424 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
ph. 518.682.4200
ph. (toll free) 855.339.5990
Sun-Thu 10am-7pm Fri-Sat 10am-9pm
Directions to Saratoga Springs