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Adrian, the world's only illiterate bookseller
Most recent staff pick: Little Pea, Little Hoot, Little Oink by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Jen Corace
At 4, Adrian has been enjoying revisiting some of the board books that he loved as a baby and seeing them in a new light. He especially loves this boxed set lately and had this to say, word for word: "Pea doesn't like candy and pig doesn't like messing up and the owl doesn't like playing and that's why I like them. These books are really lovely." |
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Chad
Most recent staff pick: The Flamethrowers by Rachel Kushner
Okay, okay. Believe the hype. The Flamethrowers is great. For one, it features motorcycles, land art, revolutionary politics, and New York in the 1970s. For two: oh man, Kushner can write (and she isn't afraid to). Reno, the novel's protagonist, breaks land speed records. She cuts conceptual art experiments into dry, desert floors. She takes on love and politics in the NY art world. And eventually, she finds herself more-or-less floating, through heartbreak and a revolution. Unique in its style, yet immensely readable, The Flamethrowers is a world of phonies, lovers, players, capitalists, revolutionaries, and geniuses. You know, kind of like our world. |
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Christine, owner
Most recent staff pick: Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
This book was a pleasant surprise. It's a novel that I can only assume has close parallels to Lauren Graham's experience as a young woman struggling to make it as an actress in NYC in the '90s. Each chapter starts with main character Franny's Filofax entries (yes, Filofax -- it was the '90s, remember?) which is a fun way to feel involved in the minutiae of her life, really engaging the reader in her day-to-day thoughts and activities without crowding the narrative. There's some romance and lots of humor, with a Bridget Jones-y flair. It could also cross over well for teens. Perfect gift for someone who loves a quick, fun read (and we have some signed copies left!). |
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Emily, manager
Most recent staff pick: 18% Gray by Zachary Karabashliev
This is part adventure road novel, part lamentation over the loss of love, and part homage to the small echoing moments of America, captured through the camera lens of a lost and drifting young man from Bulgaria. |
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Jenn, events manager
Most recent staff pick: Equilateral by Ken Kalfus
Here's the pitch: A 19th century astronomer convinces an international array of backers to fund the building of a giant, visible-from-space, equilateral triangle in the Sahara Desert, which he then plans to LIGHT ON FIRE, so that Earth can attract the attention of the Martian genius philosophers that everyone is absolutely positive exist. Sounds like the best kind of crazy, am I right? This novel plays with real history (up to a certain point), and while it's deeply steeped in the gender and racial politics of its setting, it also manages to both excoriate and understand its increasingly befuddled protagonists.
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Jenny, children's specialist
Most recent staff pick: Awesome Dawson by Chris Gall
Young Dawson is a junk collector and inventor extraordinaire. When he creates a robot to do his chores, it really works... a little too well! The intricate, labeled cartoon illustrations are fantastic and had me captivated for multiple readings. |
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Molly
Most recent staff pick: Again! by Emily Gravett
The little dragon in Emily Gravett's clever new picture book is hardly the only child to want to hear a story more than once -- but when a dragon gets demanding, the consequences can be downright fiery. This story starts on the endpapers and continues all the way to the back cover, and the meta-charms don't stop there; you can follow the story-within-a-story as it changes, and then peel off the jacket to reveal that the book you're holding is the same one the little dragon is so desperate to hear. Everything about this book is just right, down to the smallest detail. Again! |
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Simone
Most recent staff pick: A Map of Tulsa by Benjamin Lytal
Our protagonist Jim returns to his home town and falls head over heels for the mysterious Adrienne. It's a dark tale of failed attempts to relate to and respect one another and themselves. Their playful, painful, rambunctious affair is filled with art and pushing boundaries and the searching that defines so much of everyone's early twenties. |
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Stephanie, manager emeritus
All-time favorites:
The Phantom Tollbooth, The Grapes of Wrath, Bombadiers, Vanity Fair, James Agee, E. Lockhart, The Best of Everything, The Westing Game, Louise Erdrich.
Utter fangirl for:
Alan Moore, Mark Bittman, Nigella Lawson, and Jules Feiffer.
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