Great Children's Author

Tree of Life - Peter Sis
2003 - Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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Such a magical illustrator and storyteller -- I am a huge fan of Peter Sis. Really, any and all of his books. 


Amazon description - Here is a fascinating, detailed look at the life of Charles Darwin: naturalist, geologist, and independent thinker. In his author's note, Caldecott Honor illustrator Peter Sis (Starry Messenger, Tibet: Through the Red Box) writes that Darwin always regretted not learning how to draw. However, he could and did take "dense and vivid" written notes, from which Sis drew his inspiration. Readers will spend hours poring over the gorgeous, intricately crafted pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations depicting layer upon layer of Darwin’s life as he developed his theories about the origins of life and natural selection. Tidbits from Darwin’s extensive and legendary voyage on the Beagle, notes on Galapagos tortoises, bloodsucking benchuca bugs, and Toxodon skeletons, and particulars from his family life intermingle with each other--just as in real life. Crammed with a veritable muddle of diary entries, cameo portraits, diagrams, natural illustrations, maps, timelines, a gatefold spread, and narrative divided into "Public Life," "Private Life," and "Secret Life" blocks of text, The Tree of Life will certainly be overwhelming to some readers; for other, less linear thinkers, it will be sheer, chaotic delight. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Pre-Google Earth?

New York Photo Atlas
2004 - Collins Reference

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Although Google Earth probably does this kind of stuff, this is a beautiful compendium to this great city. 


Publisher's Weekly description - From thousands of feet up, New York, with its grid of blocks, looks more like a circuit board than a city; its bodies of water more like airbrushed spills than the gigantic moats they in fact are. This giant book is just what it says it is: New York City photographed from space, with accompanying maps that give names to the bleached out, anonymous-looking checkerboards that appear in the photos snaked through with light-looking lines of asphalt—more than 40,000 streets in all. The scale of this 10½" × 14½" book, and its weight, add to the sense of enormity; readers will soon zoom in, however, flipping back and forth between maps containing their favorite blocks or sites and pictures showing them with their surrounding environs. For anyone who has ever pored over an atlas and filled it in with their mind's eye, this city-between-covers will be a wish come true.

Storybook Architecture

Storybook Style - Arrol Gellner
2001 - Studio Press

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I wish there was a better name for this type of architecture, and maybe there is. Regardless, I quite enjoy this quaint form. I wonder what a psychologist would say about this architectural proclivity of mine.


Amazon description - Storybook Style, the rambunctious evocation of medieval Europe in American housing, was born in the early 1920s and almost forgotten by the late 1930s. It took its inspiration from the Hollywood sets that enthralled Americans of the period and that still appeal to our jaded modern eye. Half timbered and turreted, pinnacled and portcullised, these houses owed their fanciful bravura to architects and builders with theatrical flair, fine craftsmanship, and humor. In Storybook Style, architectural information enhances the stunning color pictures by Bungalow and Painted Ladies photographer Doug Keister to impart a wealth of information and enjoyment.

A Must-Have Tool for the Book Collecting Enthusiast

ABC For Book Collectors - John Carter
2004 - Oak Knoll Books

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I have mentioned this book before in my post about books for the book collector. This is definitely one of a handful of invaluable primers for the book collector whether experienced or inexperienced.


Amazon description - Eighth edition, completely revised and re-set, with additional information and an Introduction by Nicolas Barker. Shaken, Unsophisticated, Harleian Style, Fingerprint, E-book, Dentelle. Can you define these terms? If not, this is the book for you! John Carter's ABC For Book Collectors has long been established as the most enjoyable as well as the most informative reference book on the subject. Here, in over 490 alphabetical entries, ranging in length from a single line to several pages, may be found definition and analysis of the technical terms used in book collecting and bibliography, interspersed with salutary comments on such subjects as auctions, condition, facsimiles and fakes, 'points', rarity, etc. This eighth edition has been revised by Nicolas Barker, editor of The Book Collector and incorporates additional words created by the introduction of web-based collecting. The ABC For Book Collectors retains its humorous character as the one indispensable guide to book collecting while also keeping us up-to-date with modern terminology.

The Wisdom of Crazy Horse

Quiet Thunder - Joseph M Marshall III
Audiobook 2005 - Sounds True

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This is an audiobook, and as far as I can tell it's only in audio form. 


It is hard to beat a native american historical narrative by an educated native american. Highly recommended. 


I remember listening to this audio as I drove along the outskirts of a reservation in Wyoming. Definitely added to the gravity of the subject matter.


Amazon description - Mention the name Crazy Horse, and many of us will remember a history lesson about a faceless Indian warrior who defeated General George Custer at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. But beyond this singular event, who was this man? And what teaching did he offer to all peoples of every nation? On Quiet Thunder, Lakota lineage holder Joseph M. Marshall III presents the first audio-learning program based entirely on the rich oral tradition of his people to share a vibrant portrait "painted with the brush of reality rather than the distortion of legend." With him, you will meet a compassionate but purposeful man driven by the empowering vision of a "Thunder Dreamer"- one who "walked the path of giving as opposed to gaining," honor instead of ego, and leadership through leading, not authority. Let the past come alive with Quiet Thunder as Joseph M. Marshall III uncovers the life and teachings of Crazy Horse-warrior, visionary, and beloved leader of the Lakota nation.

Aphorisms, or Wisdom for the Lazy Person

Oxford Book of Aphorisms
Originally published in hardcover in 1983 - Oxford University Press

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I LOVE aphorisms! These little pint sized gems are perfect for the way my lazy brain digests data.


Amazon description - The dictionary defines "aphorism" as "a short pithy statement or maxim," but beneath this definition lies a wealth of wit and insight to which neither the word nor any brief description can do justice. This delightful anthology demonstrates just how rewarding the aphorism can be and how brilliantly the aphorist can illuminate a hidden truth or reveal the ironies of life.


Whatever the situation, whatever the mood, the reader will find in this international array of aphorisms just the right words to give his or her feeling pungent expression. The classic aphorists--La Bruyère, Nietzsche, both Samuel Butlers, La Rochefoucault, Emerson--are here in abundance, as are the philosophers from the Greeks of Paul Valéry, the social commentators from Edmund Burke to Walter Benjamin. Statesmen and scientists, Olympians and gadflies, mystics and boulevardiers--this collection brings together the most diverse figures, drawing freely on ancients and moderns, on the widsom of East and West, juxtaposing viewpoints as different as those of Jean Cocteau and George Orwell, Ambrose Bierce and Marcus Aurelius, Lord Chesterfield and Elias Canetti. Profound, provocative, and vastly entertaining, The Oxford Book of Aphorisms will lure the reader back to its pages time and again. The book is fully indexed, and wherever possible, sources, dates, and complete names are supplied.

Oh the Memories

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - Bill Watterson
2005 - Andrews McMeel

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Does life get any better than this? I dont know that I have ever been as excited (and a bit surprised) when this was released. Calvin came out during my formative years and had a fantastic run of 10 years before ending in 1995. So to see such a beautiful and comprehensive collection come out was pure heaven. And I'm a bit surprised that this edition is actually still in print and still readily available. A solid recommendation from me.


Amazon description - Watterson's imaginative approach to his material and his inventive graphics have made Calvin and Hobbes one of the few universally admired by other cartoonists." --Charles Solomon, Los Angeles Times Book Review

Calvin and Hobbes is unquestionably one of the most popular comic strips of all time. The imaginative world of a boy and his real-only-to-him tiger was first syndicated in 1985 and appeared in more than 2,400 newspapers when Bill Watterson retired on January 1, 1996. The entire body of Calvin and Hobbes cartoons published in a truly noteworthy tribute to this singular cartoon in The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Composed of three hardcover, four-color volumes in a sturdy slipcase, this edition includes all Calvin and Hobbes cartoons that ever appeared in syndication. This is the treasure that all Calvin and Hobbes fans seek.

A Modern Ben Stein

The Areas of My Expertise - John Hodgman
Originally published in hardcover in 2005 - Dutton

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Hodgman is brilliantly ridiculous. And what's so interesting about him is that he can sustain his brilliance unlike most artists of any stripe. He is as good in print as he is to hear or see. He is brilliant on his appearances on the John Stewart show as he is brilliant in his podcast as he is brilliant in this book. Very entertaining. 


Amazon description - In the great tradition of the American almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small. Although bestsellers such as Poor Richard’s Almanack and The Book of Lists were certainly valuable, they also were largely true. Here is a different kind of handy desk reference, one in which all of the historical oddities and amazing true facts are sifted through the singular, illuminating imagination of John Hodgman—which is the nice way of saying: He made it all up.
John Hodgman brings his considerable expertise to bear in answering all of the questions book buyers have been asking:
-What are the mottoes of the 51 United States?
THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED
-Who were the U.S. presidents who had hooks for hands?
THE ANSWER IS PROVIDED
-What role does the Yale secret society “Skull and Bones” play in the secret world government?
THERE IS NO SECRET WORLD GOVERNMENT
-What was the menu at the first Thanksgiving, and did it include eels?
Technically, that is two questions, but do not apologize, for John Hodgman shall answer them both . . . LATER.
-Aside from a compendium of fake trivia, what is the best kind of book to write?
A SIMPLE TABLE OF THE 55 MOST DRAMATIC LITERARY SITUATIONS PROVIDES THE ANSWER, and John Hodgman is the author of that table.

Imagine if The Book of Lists had been rewritten by Peter Cook and Jorge Luis Borges under the pseudonym of “John Hodgman” and then renamed The Areas of My Expertise, and you will only begin to have a sense of the dizzying, uproarious, sublimely weird, and strangely wise journey that is contained within this book (along with all the pages and words).
Perfect for anyone who thirsts for knowledge, and especially for collectors of books of fake trivia, The Areas of My Expertise offers through absurdity a better understanding of the world we share—and recognizes that while the truth may be stranger than fiction, it is never as strange as lies . . . or as true.

I Dont Read Very Many Classics...

Ragged Dick - Horatio Alger Jr.
Originally published in hardcover in 1868 - Loring

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All boys should read Alger in their formative years. I did. Ha. Seriously, though, Alger is one of those classic "old" authors with delightfully moralistic tales that resonated at least with me when I was a youngster. His books on the whole are formulaic, but I still remember being so eager to go out and find more Alger titles even before I was finished with what I was currently reading. Alger is like America's Dickens.


Amazon description - Horatio Alger Jr. was well known for his popular novels detailing the lives of young boys working as bootblacks, newsboys, buskers, and peddlers who attempted to rise up from humble and impoverish backgrounds. Ragged Dick, Or: Street Life in New York plays toward these themes through the telling of a poor boy, Ragged Dick, who works as a bootblack and attempts to better himself through hard work, determination, and moral behavior. Ragged Dick not only fends off street bullies and con-men through his cunning skills and tricks, but legitimately betters himself through deliberate action, school, and consideration. A great moral story for children and young adults.

One of the Great Fantasy Writers of All Time

Icewind Dale Trilogy - RA Salvatore
Originally published in 1988 (Crystal Shard), 1989 (Streams of Silver), 1990 (Halfling's Gem) in paperback - TSR Forgotten Realms

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One of my top 5 fantasy writers of all time. And this is his best series, the trilogy that put him on the map, One of the more violent series, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing in this genre.


Amazon description - We all owe a debt to Akar Kessel, that treacherous chump of a wizard's apprentice, briefly known as the (short-lived) Tyrant of Icewind Dale. Akar started it all when he stumbled across the ancient and malevolent Crenshinibon, the Crystal Shard, thereby kicking off one of fantasy's best and best-loved series--and at its heart, one of the genre's most beloved heroes, the noble dark-elf ranger Drizzt Do'Urden.
While surely no Tolkien (who is, really?), Bob Salvatore can take pride in the fact that he's brought legions of enthusiastic fans to the genre--and for anyone who's caught themselves in an embarrassed yawn on page 412 of The Silmarillion, that's not a distinction to be taken lightly. You'd have to be a pretty cold fish for your pulse not to quicken a bit as Drizzt and company lay into yet another ravenous horde of trolls (or giants, or wererats). As an affectionate Terry Brooks says in his introduction to this collector's edition, you could do worse than to have your tombstone say you were a solid, workmanlike writer. And Salvatore, through his superior characterizations and knack for just telling a believable, engaging, and lovable story, transcends even that worthy praise.
For fans, this collection unfolds like a treasured scrapbook: The Crystal Shard, where we first meet the band and explore the Dale (with so many unforgettable scenes: Drizzt taking down Errtu, Wulfgar crushing King Heafstaag's head with his bare hands, Bruenor tearing up as he gives Wulfgar the freshly forged Aegis-fang); Streams of Silver, with the heroes fighting their way to Mithril Hall and facing Artemis Entreri for the first time; and The Halfling's Gem, in which old Rumblebelly has been carted back to Calimport (who can forget the flying-chariot pirate fight, or when Drizzt--finally!--sneaks a quick smooch from Catti-brie?). A must-have on the shelf of any Drizzt true believer, or the perfect gift for some young, would-be fantasy fan. --Paul Hughes

Great Contemporary British Writer

The Sea - John Banville
Originally published in the US in hardcover in 2005 - Knopf

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I apparently have come late to Banville, but what a gem I have found. Banville, to me, is one of those authors whose prose is painfully beautiful. I savored this book for a long while.


I have since read his foray into the mystery genre. I was captivated by the concept of a beautiful prose novelist switching to mystery. But alas, I think he has fallen short. And should promptly return to novels. 


Amazon description - Incandescent prose. Beautifully textured characterization. Transparent narratives. The adjectives to describe the writing of John Banville are all affirmative, and The Sea is a ringing affirmation of all his best qualities. His publishers are claiming that this novel by the Booker-shortlisted author is his finest yet, and while that claim may have an element of hyperbole, there is no denying that this perfectly balanced book is among the writer’s most accomplished work.

Max Morden has reached a crossroads in his life, and is trying hard to deal with several disturbing things. A recent loss is still taking its toll on him, and a trauma in his past is similarly proving hard to deal with. He decides that he will return to a town on the coast at which he spent a memorable holiday when a boy. His memory of that time devolves on the charismatic Grace family, particularly the seductive twins Myles and Chloe. In a very short time, Max found himself drawn into a strange relationship with them, and pursuant events left their mark on him for the rest of his life. But will he be able to exorcise those memories of the past?
The fashion in which John Banville draws the reader into this hypnotic and disturbing world is non pareil, and the very complex relationships between his brilliantly delineated cast of characters are orchestrated with a master’s skill. As in such books as Shroud and The Book of Evidence, the author eschews the obvious at all times, and the narrative is delivered with subtlety and understatement. The genuine moments of drama, when they do occur, are commensurately more powerful. --Barry Forshaw

What a Quaint Little Book

Old English Household Life - Gertrude Jekyll
Originally published in 1925 - Batsford

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I stumbled upon this book last night in a box of books given to me to sell on consignment. This book is still in print and the copy I found was a 1945 British Heritage Series hardcover. Such discoveries are what I so enjoy about being in the book business, coming upon a little gem of a book and putting all things aside for the night to read the little tome. Which is exactly what I did. 


The book took several forays into medieval life, which was what initially caught my fancy, but generally speaking it is about life in England in the last century or two, from a very ordinary perspective of the household. The pictures are fantastic. The snapshot this book affords is so interesting. 

Another Great Coming of Age(?) Novel

Youth in Revolt - CD Payne
Originally published in hardcover in 2003 - Aivia Press

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Laugh out loud funny. Seriously. I read this in 1995 and I have a poor memory, but I still remember how funny this book is. (The movie is also a must-see, but not quite as good.)


One of the interesting back stories to this book is that it was essentially self-published by Aivia press. Two years later, Doubleday released the book. Those Aivia press copies are VERY valuable. Click here to see an original hardcover edition of this title.


Amazon description - SIX MONTHS IN THE LIFE OF THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS TEENAGER

Youth in Revolt is the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming fourteen-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt. As his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, the gulag of the public schools, a competitive type-A father, murderous canines, and an inconvenient hair trigger on his erectile response–all while vying ardently for the affections of the beauteous Sheeni Saunders, teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad.

Bibliomania, OR, To Love Books

Among the Gently Mad - Nicholas Basbanes
Originally published in hardcover in 2002 - Henry Holt

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A must-read for those who love books and love collecting them. Basbanes is the master of writing about books. I remember racing through this book when it first came out in hardcover. Basbanes reinvigorated my passion for books and book collecting and even book selling. I will always have a special place in my heart for this book.


Amazon description - Sharing the superb insight he has gathered from booksellers over the years, Nicholas Basbanes offers a refresher course on the fundamentals that endure, while questioning certain practices of doubtful validity. Topics include how to determine if a book is a first edition, how to spot book club editions, the importance of dust jackets, scouting the flea markets, how to work the book fairs, and the importance of handling the goods, as well as discussing less tangible issues like spotting trends and having a focus. Then he takes a long look at the pros and cons of Internet buying, illuminating how you can use these electronic tools to your advantage and making this the book no modern collector will want to be without.

One of the Funniest Books I've Ever Read

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff - Christopher Moore
Originally published in hardcover in 2002 - William Morrow

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     Hello! One of the most humorously engaging books I’ve read in a while. Painfully, I’ve gone through the rest of Moore’s oeuvre confirming my theory that he channeled Tom Robbins and perhaps some other lesser authors to write this literary slice of heaven. As a side note, I attended a reading and was thoroughly blown away for two reasons. First, I learned why Moore doesn’t do readings. He is f-ing horrible at reading, let alone his own words. BUT, it was so incredibly horrible that it made the whole thing endearing. And the other thing that I learned was that Lamb was by far *his* most favorite book, if he had to choose one. Makes sense. 
     This one was a tough one to rate for me -- I could go either 9 or 10 stars depending on the way the wind blows.


Amazon description - The birth of Jesus has been well chronicled, as have his glorious teachings, acts, and divine sacrifice after his thirtieth birthday. But no one knows about the early life of the Son of God, the missing years -- except Biff, the Messiah's best bud, who has been resurrected to tell the story in the divinely hilarious yet heartfelt work "reminiscent of Vonnegut and Douglas Adams" (Philadelphia Inquirer).

     Verily, the story Biff has to tell is a miraculous one, filled with remarkable journeys, magic, healings, kung fu, corpse reanimations, demons, and hot babes. Even the considerable wiles and devotion of the Savior's pal may not be enough to divert Joshua from his tragic destiny. But there's no one who loves Josh more -- except maybe "Maggie," Mary of Magdala -- and Biff isn't about to let his extraordinary pal suffer and ascend without a fight.

One of My Favorite Modern Novelists

Skinny Legs and All - Tom Robbins
Originally published in hardcover in 1990 - Bantam

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This book will always have a place in my heart because it is the first Robbins book I read. I remember the actual independent bookstore I bought it at on vacation (though that was almost 20 years ago as of this writing). I've read everything since and know of very few authors who can turn a phrase like Robbins. To say the very least, everything he writes is a true feast in word usage and storytelling.


Amazon description - An Arab and a Jew open a restaurant together across the street from the United Nations…
    It sounds like the beginning of an ethnic joke, but it’s the axis around which spins Tom Robbins’s gutsy, fun-loving, and alarmingly provocative new novel, in which a bean can philosophizes, a dessert spoon mystifies, a young waitress takes on the New York art world, and a rowdy redneck welder discovers the lost god of Palestine—while the illusions that obscure humanity’s view of the true universe fall away, one by one, like Salome’s veils.
     Skinny Legs and All deals, in Robbins’s audacious manner, with today’s most sensitive issues: race, politics, marriage, art, religion, money, and lust. It weaves lyrically through what some call the “end days of our planet. Refusing to avert its gaze from the horrors of the apocalypse, it also refuses to let the alleged end of the world spoil its mood. And its mood is defiantly upbeat.
     In the gloriously inventive Tom Robbins style, here are characters, phrases, stories, and ideas that dance together on the page, wild and sexy, like Salome herself.
     Or was it Jezebel?

Father of the Modern Novel?

Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
Published a looooong time ago.

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"Is this really over 400 years old?" Over and over I asked myself this question while reading this book. Seriously. I was and still am astounded at how engaging this book is and the characters and trials and travails Cervantes sends us on. Cervantes is one of the greatest literary geniuses of all time. Perhaps the greatest. Perhaps the first.
     I am not snooty or well-read enough to have a particular translator to recommend.


Amazon description - Edith Grossman's definitive English translation of the Spanish masterpiece. Widely regarded as one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the adventures of the self-created knight-errant Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain. You haven't experienced Don Quixote in English until you've read this masterful translation.

     This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

And What a Scary Road

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Originally published in hardcover 2006 - Knopf

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I'm not a McCarthy fan at all, but this is a haunting little book. And as is the rule, the book is better than the movie, but the movie is really good.


Amazon description - The searing, post-apocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece.A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-—and each other.The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Powerful Book

The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
Originally released in US as paperback, 1996- Ballantine

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It took me a while to finally pick this up - the story line just didn't strike me as interesting. But I am truly happy and lucky that I did. This is a phenomenal book and truly a modern classic. A definite must-read.


Publisher's description - In the Ballantine publicity department, we have an informal book club. It usually gets started is when one of us reads a book, loves it, and then passes it on to a friend in the department. Once one person has read a book and loves it, then we ALL have to read it too! The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay was one of those books. You may have seen the movie with Morgan Freeman, but I urge you to read the book because it was much better than the movie. It's a coming-of-age story of a young boy in South Africa. He has such a hard time of things! He's picked on as a young boy, then he befriends an older man who teaches him the wonders of life. The book is beautifully written, and the story is extremely compelling. If you liked Anna Quindlen's Object Lessons or Edward Albee's A Death in the Family or John Irving's A Prayer for Owen Meany, you will love this book too.

Game Changing Book in the Sci-Fi Genre

Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card
1994 - Tor

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Although I do not know the Sci-Fi genre very well, I will go out on limb and call this book one of the greatest in that category in a long time. A completely engaging book centered around one of the great young protagonists. Superb character development.


Amazon description - In order to develop a secure defense against a hostile alien race's next attack, government agencies breed child geniuses and train them as soldiers. A brilliant young boy, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin lives with his kind but distant parents, his sadistic brother Peter, and the person he loves more than anyone else, his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were candidates for the soldier-training program but didn't make the cut--young Ender is the Wiggin drafted to the orbiting Battle School for rigorous military training.

Ender's skills make him a leader in school and respected in the Battle Room, where children play at mock battles in zero gravity. Yet growing up in an artificial community of young soldiers, Ender suffers greatly from isolation, rivalry from his peers, pressure from the adult teachers, and an unsettling fear of the alien invaders. His psychological battles include loneliness, fear that he is becoming like the cruel brother he remembers, and fanning the flames of devotion to his beloved sister.

Is Ender the general Earth needs? But Ender is not the only result of the genetic experiments. The war with the Buggers has been raging for a hundred years, and the quest for the perfect general has been underway for almost as long. Ender's two older siblings are every bit as unusual as he is, but in very different ways. Between the three of them lie the abilities to remake a world. If the world survives, that is.

Winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

Great, Engaging Story

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Originally published in hardcover 2004 - Penguin Press

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This is one of those books that makes me want to leave work on a dreary fall day and sit at home and read. I remember *almost* wanting to put it down so I wouldn't run out of book! He has such a beautiful way of turning a phrase.


Publisher's Weekly description - Ruiz Zafón's novel, a bestseller in his native Spain, takes the satanic touches from Angel Heart and stirs them into a bookish intrigue à la Foucault's Pendulum. The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Laín Coubert-the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barceló; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermín Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide. Officially, Carax's dead body was dumped in an alley in 1936. But discrepancies in this story surface. Meanwhile, Daniel and Fermín are being harried by a sadistic policeman, Carax's childhood friend. As Daniel's quest continues, frightening parallels between his own life and Carax's begin to emerge. Ruiz Zafón strives for a literary tone, and no scene goes by without its complement of florid, cute and inexact similes and metaphors (snow is "God's dandruff"; servants obey orders with "the efficiency and submissiveness of a body of well-trained insects"). Yet the colorful cast of characters, the gothic turns and the straining for effect only give the book the feel of para-literature or the Hollywood version of a great 19th-century novel. 
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

Not Your Typical History Book

The History of Love - Nicole Krauss
Originally published as hardcover in 2005, WW Norton

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I LOVE this book. I need to read more by her.


And here's a theory you may try out at your next book cocktail party or whatever social soiree you book industry people engage in when not working – Foer wrote The History of Love. (Or Krauss wrote Everything Is Illuminated and/or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Either way.) It’s gotta be true. When these two die and someone writes the biography of this writer/couple, it will somehow be uncovered that one of them is the author of all three of these books. Or hey, maybe they cowrote everything? That would be more plausible…


Amazon description - A long-lost book reappears, mysteriously connecting an old man searching for his son and a girl seeking a cure for her widowed mother's loneliness.

Leo Gursky is just about surviving, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbor know he's still alive. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago, in the Polish village where he was born, Leo fell in love and wrote a book. And though Leo doesn't know it, that book survived, inspiring fabulous circumstances, even love. Fourteen-year-old Alma was named after a character in that very book. And although she has her hands full—keeping track of her brother, Bird (who thinks he might be the Messiah), and taking copious notes on How to Survive in the Wild—she undertakes an adventure to find her namesake and save her family. With consummate, spellbinding skill, Nicole Krauss gradually draws together their stories.

This extraordinary book was inspired by the author's four grandparents and by a pantheon of authors whose work is haunted by loss—Bruno Schulz, Franz Kafka, Isaac Babel, and more. It is truly a history of love: a tale brimming with laughter, irony, passion, and soaring imaginative power.

Essential American History

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee - Dee Brown
Originally published as hardcover in 1971 - Holt, Rinehart and Winston

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What a powerful and phenomenally sad book about how the West was "won." I'm not a history buff  but Brown's Indian history of the American West is an exceptional and important history book. 


(The edition above is a 2009 Sterling Innovation edition that's beautifully done. I LOVE the illustrated/annotated versions of books I enjoy.)


Amazon description - For the first time: a full-color illustrated edition of Dee Brown’s classic history of the American West!


Eloquent, heartbreaking, and meticulously documented, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee follows the systematic destruction of the American Indian during the second half of the 19th century. Upon its publication in 1970, the book was universally lauded and became a cultural phenomenon that proved instrumental in transforming public perceptions of manifest destiny and the “winning” of the West.

Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand descriptions, Brown’s work highlighted the voices of those American Indians who actually experienced the battles, massacres, and broken treaties. Here is their view of the events that ultimately left them demoralized and defeated, including: the Battle of Sand Creek; Red Cloud’s War; the Battle of the Little Bighorn; and, of course, the Wounded Knee Massacre. Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Spotted Tail—the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota, Ute, Cheyenne, and other tribes—come to life through their own words and formal portraits.

Now, hundreds of illustrations—including maps, photographs, sketches, and paintings—enhance Brown’s masterpiece, making it even more vivid and personal. In addition to the incredible images, this edition also features relevant excerpts from such highly acclaimed Native-American themed books as Where White Men Fear to Tread by Russell Means, Mystic Chords of Memory by Michael Kammen, and Lakota Woman by Mary Crow Dog, as well as all-new essays by contemporary historians and Native American leaders like Elliott West and Joseph Marshall III.

An Author's Highpoint

A Prayer For Owen Meany - John Irving
Originally published as hardcover, 1989 - William Morrow

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A lot of well-read people ascribe The World According to Garp as Irving's high point. And it is. But for me, Owen Meany is the book that made we want to try Irving's other works. (Many, but not them all.) Eccentric is probably not the right word, but I absolutely love the character development.


Amazon description - In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy’s mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn’t believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God’s instrument. What happens to Owen, after that 1953 foul ball, is extraordinary and terrifying.