Featured Selections

Whose Body?

by Dorothy L. Sayers
Mystery
Dover Publication
Paperback, 144 pages
$5.95

“My detective story begins brightly, with a fat lady found dead in her bath with nothing on but her pince-nez. Now, why did she wear pince-nez in her bath? If you can guess, you will be in a position to lay hands upon the murderer.” So wrote Dorothy Sayers about this book that introduced Lord Peter Wimsey to the murder mystery reading public in 1923. What a character! Sayers produced an incredible oeuvre built around Wimsey. He was a renaissance man’s renaissance man who solved mysteries for his own amusement. That is, when he wasn’t playing cricket for Oxford, playing classical piano, holding forth on fine wine, and collecting incunabula (you could look it up!). This is a tight, droll story written with the charm of early 20th Century British wit as are the remainder of the volumes in this delightful series.

A Window Opens

by Elisabeth Egan
General Fiction
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 384 pages
$26.00

Alice Pearse, dutiful steward to both suburban motherhood and the NYC literati, possesses that coveted “work/home equilibrium” in Elisabeth Egan’s debut novel, A Window Opens—that is, until her husband loses his job at a powerful New Jersey law office. In order to make ends meet in the meantime, Alice quits her job as books editor at You magazine to work at “Scroll”, a company plotting the germination of “e-book literary salons” across the nation. Alice is enticed at first by Scroll’s clean and efficient work atmosphere and attitude—whoever designed the Scroll office seemed to have read a book on feng-shui inspired by the aesthetic of a Google chrome-book. Corporate jargon and a general disdain for “carbon-based books," however, begin to gnaw away at Alice’s sense of self and belonging within her own family. If you are adverse to books exploring the value of family, then this isn’t the book for you, but make sure not to categorize A Window Opens as mere chick-lit—Egan’s satirical take on corporate absurdity gives this book a worthwhile edge that devotees of the “carbon-based” book will find delectable.

The Road Not Taken

by David Orr
Creativity/Literary Criticism
Penguin Press
Hardcover, 192 pages
$25.95

Who knew? Who knew that the twenty lines of Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken are the most “popular” bit of writing in all of American literature? Who knew that they would warrant one-hundred and seventy-two pages of cultural investigation and artistic exploration? Most of all, who knew that most of us over the years seem to have got this poem hopelessly wrong? Orr is the poetry columnist for The New York Times and editor of the new Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of Frost’s poems that commemorates the centennial of The Road Not Taken’s publication. He knows of which he speaks and he writes it in a compelling and accessible prose. This is a fun and interesting book.

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

by Fredrik Backman
General Fiction
Atria Books
Hardcover, 384 pages
$25.00

From the author of the internationally bestselling A Man Called Ove, a charming, warmhearted novel about a young girl whose grandmother dies, sending her on a journey that brings to life the world of her grandmother's fairy tales.

When Elsa's grandmother dies she leaves behind a series of letters apologizing to people she has wronged, Elsa's greatest adventure begins. Her grandmother's letters lead her to an apartment building full of drunks, monsters, attack dogs, and totally ordinary old crones, but also to the truth about fairy tales and kingdoms and a grandmother like no other. This is a story about life and death and an ode to one of the most important human rights: the right to be different.

Fuzzy Mud

by Louis Sachar
Middle Readers
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Hardcover, 192 pages
$19.99

This quick-moving eco-thriller is a marvel of suspense that pulls you willingly toward certain disaster while smartly sizing up middle-grade angst. In Fuzzy Mud, author Louis Sachar (Holes) shifts perspective and time between chapters, jumping among Tamaya, Marshall, and transcripts of Senate hearings. There is a touch of humor, but the real thrill here is the ecological mystery. Sachar presents the growing menace with chilling turns and touches - a great read for younger readers who enjoy science fiction and horror.

Alex McKnight Mystery Series

by Steve Hamilton
Midwest Mysteries
Minotaur Books

Let us introduce you to Alex McKnight, the ex-Detroit cop, who is the primary character in Hamilton’s mystery series set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Alex lives in a cabin his now dead father built just outside the small town of Paradise. With that as the starting point, Hamilton uses his criminally-twisted imagination and the incredibly diverse geography of the Upper Peninsula to keep Alex in really hot water for ten (10) novels. Many of you are yearning for a new Cork O’Connor mystery from Kent Krueger, but unfortunately it will be many months before a new one is published. During these next few months why not ride along with Alex, his friends Jackie, Vinnie and Leon, and experience the series of chaotic messes they are tossed into. Stop in the store and pick one up, or order online. Enjoy the ride, you will not be disappointed.

Leaving Berlin

by Joseph Kanon
General Fiction
Atria Books
Hardcover, 384 pages
$27.00

Caught up in the McCarthy witch-hunts, a young Jewish refugee Alex Meier, a socialist, is recruited into the CIA to seek redemption from the impolitic politics he practiced after his arrival in the US from war torn Germany. He is assigned to his native Berlin, a city in ruins and in desperate straits from the Soviet blockade. Things go wrong – kidnappings, killings, betrayal. The spy novel seamlessly morphs into the love story of a couple who find themselves reunited in the shadowy terrain of the American and Soviet sectors of the city. After being years and worlds apart he is now an intelligence agent with the CIA and she is the lover (more or less) of a Soviet official. The New York Times says, “ Kanon deftly captures the ambiance of a city that’s still a wasteland almost four years after the Nazi’s defeat.”

Apostle Islands Water Trips

by John C. Frank
Local Interest
Trails Books
Paperback, 208 pages
$26.95

An excellent guidebook with paddling, boating, and camping information for one mainland site and 21 islands in the Apostle Islands archipelago including each island’s location, geography and history, shoreline and landing sites, and camping and hiking facilities. The islands are described in separate chapters which include each island’s shoreline features, landing sites, and other important information for kayakers and boaters. In addition to the guidebook information, each chapter also includes a vignette or essay related to the chapter’s location and based on the author’s paddling and camping experiences on each island over a twenty-two year period. The author has donated all royalties to the Friends of the Apostle Islands and we are likewise donating all of our proceeds to the group.

This One Summer

by Mariko & Jillian Tamaki
Middle Readers/Graphic Novels
First Second Books
Paperback, 320 pages
$17.99

This One Summer, a collaboration between cousins Jillian and Mariko Tamaki, discusses and illuminates sensitive issues facing contemporary teen readers. At the center of the graphic novel is the friendship between Rose and Windy, two girls just entering their teen years and who spend every summer together on Awago Beach, where their families have summer homes. Rose and Windy soon find their friendship being challenged as they confront serious questions regarding sexuality, pregnancy, and mental illness.  Along with an engaging plot, Jillian Tamaki’s illustration style is striking and rhythmic with splashes and hues of indigo invoking a vibrant and whimsical tone.  This graphic novel is no run-of-the-mill comic— This One Summer will resonate with teens and adults alike.

Being Mortal

by Atul Gawande
Science, Mind, & Matter
Metropolitan Books
Hardcover, 304 pages
$26.00

In Being Mortal, Dr. Gawande argues that aging and dying are seen as medical conditions - versus being seen as the final stages of life - as heroic intervention has become increasingly commonplace. He tells the stories of his aging loved ones, illustrates the checkered history and promising present of elder care in the U.S., and recounts his own failings, strivings, and successes in communicating openly about death and dying with patients. Gawande offers hope about a subject many people (doctors included) are wary of but which we must bravely broach if our lives’ ends are to reflect our values. Advocating a culture-wide shift in approach to palliative care through support of a full life to the end, Being Mortal is a hopeful, important, and thoroughly engaging take on life and death.

The Hummingbird's Daughter

by Luis Alberto Urrea
General Fiction
Back Bay Books
Paperback, 499 pages
$15.00

This phantasmagoric epic set during the Porfiriato of late 19th century Mexico is a force to be reckoned with. Twenty years in the writing and five-hundred pages in length it weaves an imaginative story of the life of Teresita – Urrea’s actual great aunt – a saint who was a shaman as well as an inspiration of indigenous rebellion. Rife with polarities - tenderness and violence, sweetness and gore, realism and fantasy, life and death - the narrative is both gripping and repellent. Especially interesting is the depiction of the life of the hacendados of Sinaloa, Sonora, and even up into Arizona and their relationship to the People – the indigenous tribes of northern Mexico and the American southwest. The characters are radiant and the writing is vivid. This book was thoroughly enjoyed this past spring by the AIB Book Club - A good, long, summer read.

Red Moon

by Benjamin Percy
Science Fiction
Grand Central Publishing
Paperback, 544 pages
$16.00

Percy uses a United States gripped by fear from horrific attacks on defenseless citizens by werewolf- like creatures.  These  "lycans" form the backdrop for this gripping tale of deceit, torture and political misuse of power. The story of the three main characters, Claire, Patrick and Chase are the threads Percy uses to weave together a plot that rapidly shifts time frames and integrates a supporting cast that can be oddly charming or sadistically vile. The ever increasing tensions between the infected lycan terrorists and the non-infected populace results in a frenetic race to develop a vaccine and powerful behavior modifying drugs, and the winner of the race is in doubt until the last few pages. This book should not be read during a full moon.

Summerlong

by Dean Bakopoulos
General Fiction
Ecco Press
Hardcover, 368 pages
$26.99

We have had our fair share of hot summer days this year, and this book is the perfect companion for those days. The cover can be a bit deceptive, however, as this is not your typical lighthearted beach read. In the course of one hot summer night, Claire and Don Lowry discover that married life isn't quite what they expected. The characters in this novel are complex and real. They are questioning what they are doing and where they are going in life. Beautifully written and filled with both sadness and dark humor, Summerlong explores the humanity is those everyday characters that we all know and may relate to more than we'd like to admit.

The Magic of Reality

by Richard Dawkins
Science, Mind, & Matter
Free Press
Paperback, 272 pages
$16.00

We think Richard Dawkins gets a bad rap for his supposed “belligerent attacks” on religion and his alleged “aggressive atheism,”  That has not been our experience of him over the years from The Selfish Gene to The Greatest Show on Earth. His work has  been thoughtful and sober and reflective of his deep belief in the primacy of evidence-based inquiry as opposed to myth, superstition, magic and the “miraculous.” This little book takes his perspective down to the young adult level and explains things like evolution, the cosmos, the rainbow, and seismology in easily understood terms. The science-challenged adult would profit as well. His point, of course, is to drive home the notion that skepticism and rigor underlie the path to knowing, as best we can, what is true.

Swamplandia!

by Karen Russell
General Fiction
Vintage Press
Paperback, 400 pages
$14.95

A familiar story—a flawed family struggling to heal after a traumatic death—is told against the shimmering and otherworldly backdrop of the Florida Everglades in Swamplandia!, Karen Russell’s debut novel. Remarkably similar in style and content to Katherine Dunn’s Geek Love, this book is perfect for the reader looking for the unique experience that only novels about dysfunctional carnival families can provide. Through the perspective of thirteen-year-old Ava Bigtree, Swamplandia!’s protagonist (and the best alligator wrestler in the tri-state area), Dunn seamlessly juxtaposes themes of the mystical and the mundane, loneliness and camaraderie, innocence and corruption. You’ll find yourself rooting for Ava, who, above all else, is just a kid scrambling to piece together the broken and scattered shards of “The Bigtree Clan." Perfect for a sweltering August night when our Wisconsin wetlands seem similar to Florida’s ghostly swamps.

To Kill a Mockingbird

by Harper Lee
General Fiction
Grand Central Publishing
Paperback, 384 pages
$8.99

This is one of those books almost everyone reads at some point in their lives. Whether you've been forced to read it at school, or you've had a look because everyone's been urging you to do so, most people have their own personal experience of reading Mockingbird. The book is about Atticus Finch, who appears as an unconventional hero and role model due to his morality rather than his physical capabilities. The theme of morals is apparent throughout the whole novel - focusing on that gut instinct of right and wrong, and distinguishes it from just following the law.

Fifty-five years after Mockingbird's publication, we are now anxiously awaiting the release of Harper Lee's novel, Go Set a Watchman. Originally written in the mid-1950s, this was the novel Harper Lee first submitted to her publishers before To Kill a Mockingbird. Assumed to have been lost, the manuscript was discovered in late 2014. Will this story have the same lasting impact? We certainly can't wait to find out!

Childhood's End

by Arthur C. Clarke
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Del Rey
Paperback, 224 pages
$7.99

So, there is much talk these days of the extinction of humanity. Arthur Clark began to talk of it in the 1950’s. Childhood’s End opens with the arrival of the alien Overlords and the positioning of their huge spaceships above the world’s major cities. They assume distant supervision of the earth’s international affairs (note that the setting is the height of the Cold War) and indirectly lead humanity into decades of utopia – but, it's a cold golden age lacking passion and creativity. Fifty years later the Overlords reveal themselves. Ten years after that, human children begin to exhibit telekinetic powers. Soon enough only millions children, lethargically linked in a single group mind – and our protagonist, Jan Rodricks – are left. The novel’s theme of transcendent evolution forms the basis of Clark’s Space Odyssey series. To our mind this is the best of Clark’s books.

Lady in the Lake

by Raymond Chandler
Mystery
Vintage
Paperback, 272 pages
$14.95

At 44 years of age in 1932 Raymond Chandler lost his job as an oil company executive and became a mystery writer. The Big Sleep was his first novel. Farewell, My Lovely, The Little Sister, and The Long Goodbye were among his best. He stands with Dashiell Hammett and James Cain as a founder of noir-style detective fiction. His protagonist, Philip Marlowe, is the equal of Hammett’s Sam Spade. In The Lady in the Lake, Marlowe leaves his usual Los Angeles haunts and heads into the Sierra in search of a tycoon’s estranged wife. In a twisty, complicated plot he finds her and ends up with her in the worst possible circumstances. The book was produced as an experimental film (camera as protagonist) by Robert Montgomery oddly enough using a script by one Steve Fisher rather than Chandler’s own screenplay adaptation. It didn’t do so well. But, it’s a gripping book.

Nine Stories

by J.D. Salinger
Short Stories/Anthologies
Back Bay Books
Paperback, 320 pages
$15.00

We can’t believe that in five years not a single customer has picked this up and taken it home! Maybe everyone already has it. Maybe we’re just throwbacks to an earlier time. But, these stories are timeless.

Tent of Miracles

by Jorge Amado
General Fiction
University of Wisconsin Press
Paperback, 396 pages
$16.95

Part of Amado’s series of “Bahia Novels,” this one chronicles the chaotic events that mark the arrival of Columbia University Professor Dr. James D. Levinson in Brazil with his wild tales of an obscure Bahian writer Pedro Archanjo. The book was written just after the military coup in 1964 and the story line and characters carry a carefully crafted back-story designed to avoid censorship while taking sharp jabs at the regime. The setting is the historic Pelourino neighborhood in Salvador, Bahia. Aside from the story, Amado’s reflections on Afro-Brazilian culture and racial discrimination are worth the read.

Voices in the Night

by Steven Millhauser
Short Stories/Anthologies
Knopf
Hardcover, 304 pages
$25.95

Millhauser’s new collection of short stories may convince you of the existence of other worlds hidden just out of sight, barely contained by the expanse of our own minds. His stories reside in the borderlands of magic and realism, reminding the reader that there is always more out there, around us, and within us than we may be comfortable acknowledging. The towns he writes of, full of normal people gripped by a common desire to connect to ordinarily unreachable planes, describe the dangerous desires hidden beneath the surface of our daily lives. Decide for yourself if Bayfield could be the next town experiencing Mermaid Fever!

The Human Stain

by Philip Roth
General Fiction
Vintage International
Paperback, 361 pages
$16.00

Nathan Zuckerman is back in this 2000 novel set in the academic milieu of rural New England. This time the voice is Zuckerman’s while the protagonist is Coleman Silk, the dean of faculty at Athena College. Unlike our current NAACP leader in Spokane, Silk is Black passing for White and Jewish. He is accused by two African-American students of having made racist statements. He resigns. His life begins to further unravel before he begins to take it in his own hands. Roth has revealed that the story has been drawn from true events in the life of a close friend who was the subject of a similar witch hunt at Princeton. The friend was exonerated. Perhaps, not coincidentally, the story is set in 1998 during the Clinton impeachment hearings.