| The October 2013 Staff Picks can also be viewed or printed as a PDF Staff Picks October 2013 (1.7MB) |
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OCTOBER FEATURE
This gorgeous novel explores the complexities between two brothers growing up in Calcutta in the 1960s, entwined yet utterly different – one a scientist, one a revolutionary. An intricate examination of family after tragedy: the ramifications of grief, guilt, honor and resolution that reverberate throughout subsequent generations. ~ Amy Palmer |
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The Lowland| NONFICTION | ||
 An Appetite for
Wonder: The Making
of a Scientist by Richard Dawkins. The renowned
evolutionary
biologist
recounts his early
years and education,
as a wild and skeptical kid,
and his beginnings as an innovative
thinker – up to the publication of
The Selfish Gene. Highly readable and
accessible, even if you aren't a fullblown
scientist. ~ Louise Jones |
 Men We Reaped: A
Memoir by Jesmyn
Ward. In this
memoir of community
set in the rural
south, Ward remembers
five young men
close to her who died
in four years. She painstakingly traces
each death back to a history of racism
and economic struggle, channeling
her grief into beautiful, precise
language. ~ Carol Graser |
 A House In the Sky:
A Memoir by Amanda
Lindhout.
Although this book
starts as a travelogue
of a carefree Canadian's
solo travels off
the beaten path, we
soon see shadows of what lies ahead:
kidnap and torture in Somalia. A memoir
of painful brilliance.
~ Jennifer Armstrong |
VERMONT
NORTHSHIRE READING GROUPS
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 Spillover: Animal
Infections and the
Next Human Pandemic by David
Quammen.
Quammen investigates
the suspects of
the next human pandemic,
including
Ebola, Lyme and Hendra. A great read
for those interested but possibly intimidated
by the field of virology. Fascinating,
at times funny and terrifying,
knowledgeable yet easy to understand.
~ Tara Swahlan |
 Levels of Life by
Julian Barnes. Barnes
shows in three connected
essays that
"Love is the meeting
point of truth and
magic," in this very
personal account of
his beloved wife's death. Moving, sensitive
– a lovely remembrance of a
marriage, with no sentimentality or
self-pity. A beautiful book.
~ Louise Jones |
 Driving Home: An
American Journey by Jonathan Raban. Like a cousin
of Christopher
Hitchens and Bill
Bryson, Raban is a
witty, erudite traveler
who sees the
things others tend to miss. This essential
essay collection is a penetrating
portrait of America.
~ Charles Bottomley |
OLD FAVORITE
 Life in a Jar: The
Irena Sendler Project by Jack Mayer. The story of a
Polish Catholic social
worker responsible
for saving the lives of
more than 2,500
Jewish children from extermination in
the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII.
Written by a Vermont pediatrician. A
glorious example of how one person's
heroism can change the world!
~ Amy Palmer |
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 Police: A Harry
Hole Novel by Jo
Nesbo. In
the newest thriller
by the master Norwegian
crime novelist,
a serial killer
is targeting Oslo's
police officers, recreating
unsolved murders. Breathless
pacing, well-drawn characters and a
ruthless baddie make this a pageturner.
~ Jennifer Armstrong |
Author Event Oct 11th in our Vermont Store  Three Can Keep a
Secret by Archer
Mayor.
Tropical Storm
Irene tears through
Mayor's 24th mystery,
as Joe Gunther's
team chases
after an escaped
mental patient, investigates a retirement
home murder and discovers
an empty coffin excavated by the
storm – the solutions complicated
by family secrets and past crimes.
~ Louise Jones |
NEW PAPERBACK
  Blood Sport: A Journey Up the Hassayampa and Deadville, both by Robert F. Jones.
Reissues of two of Jones's wonderful
novels long out of print: Blood Sport,
a fantastical father-son adventure, became
a cult classic. Deadville follows
two Vermonters west in the 1830s to
seek their fortunes. Both books are
stunning portrayals of good and evil,
meticulously researched, written with
wit and style. Great reads!
~ Louise Jones |
 & Sons by David
Gilbert. This
powerful, multilayered
novel-within-anovel
delves into the
emotionally fraught
landscape of fathers
and sons, taking on
New York's literary
scene, adolescence, conflicted sibling
relationships, love, loyalty and tragedy
with wit and enormous generosity of
spirit. ~ Amy Palmer |
 Bleeding Edge by
Thomas Pynchon. Pynchon is
old enough to be a
grandfather, but he
writes about the
digital universe like
Malcolm Gladwell
on DMT. Bleeding
Edge is an overheated hard drive that
hacks the funny bone even as it reboots
one's consciousness. A must read.
~ Charles Bottomley |
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 Man Alive! by Mary
Kay Zuravleff.
Owen Lerner, a pediatric
psycho pharmacologist,
is struck
by lightning, which
shreds apart then
reassembles the dynamic
in his closeknit
family – university headhunter
wife, teenage daughter and twin sons
in college. Engaging, witty, provocative,
compelling, elegantly written.
~ Louise Jones |
 The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. The best mystery
of the year is
a tightly knotted
tale of death and
double-crosses, set
during New Zealand's
colonial gold
rush. Superbly researched and wholly
unpredictable, it'll keep you awake
long after the candle has sputtered out.
~ Charles Bottomley |
 A Working Theory of Love by Scott Hutchins. It's one thing to create an artificial intelligence program using your late dad's journals. It's quite another when "dad" starts talking back. Hutchins's immensely satisfying debut novel is a father-son story unlike any you've read before. ~ Charles Bottomley |
 Traveling Sprinkler by Nicholson Baker. Have you
read The Anthologist?
If not, do so
and continue your
adventure through
Baker's fertile
brain,marveling
at his wit,in this "sequel." He gathers
poetry,cigar smoking, songwriting -
even romance - beneath his analyticalgaze,
probing the human condition
with humor and clarity.
~ Karen Frank |
GRAPHIC NOVELS
 Blue is the Warmest
Color by Julie
Maroh.
This beautifully
drawn graphic
novel was made
into a movie that
won the Palme
d'Or at the Cannes
Film Festival. It's a heart-stopping story
of young love for romantics of every stripe. I dare you not to cry at the end!
~ Charles Bottomley |
 May We Be Forgiven by A.M. Homes. Not only has Homes created a comic hero to stand alongside Portnoy or Ignatius J. Reilly, but he's the center of a powerful story of redemption. One of those essential books that make you feel better about being alive. ~ Charles Bottomley |
 The People in the
Trees by Hanya
Yanagihara.
Everybody knows
that when ancient
cultures meet Western
science, tragedy
usually results. In
his brilliantly told
first novel, Yanagihara spins an unforgettable
tale about the perils of going
native. ~ Charles Bottomley |
 Fancy Halloween Masques.
Bewitching and glamorous, with just
enough spooky and just enough sparkle,
these Halloween essentials will make any
costume spectacular. ~ Alison Clark |
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