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    Outlaw Album  Zone One Family Meal Guadalajara  

 

The Outlaw Album by Daniel Woodrell. My favorite author has just released a book of short stories, and as usual, it's not something you want to miss. If you are a fan of Daniel Woodrell, you won't need any coaxing. If not, this is a great introduction to the writer who brought us Tomato Red and the highly-acclaimed Winter's Bone. Not for the faint of heart, like a mix of Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, or maybe he is the Shakespeare of the Ozarks. I don't know. But as you can tell, I think he's pretty amazing. (Cree)

 

Zone One by Colson Whitehead. This book requires two reviews:

 

For people who like zombies: Dude. It's a book about zombies. Zombies in MANHATTAN. Killing zombies and surviving and killing more zombies. Read it already.

 

For people who don't like zombies: Ah, ignore the zombies. Feel free to see them as a useful metaphor if you must. But don't miss this book. Whitehead is at the top of his game. There are many pages of writing so good, you'll feel like a zombie just ate your heart out and your life is slowly fading before your eyes. Wait! I mean, ignore the zombies.  

 

 (Stephanie, Jenn, and Christine)

 

The Family Meal by Ferran Adria. This might be the finest cookbook of the year. Not only is every recipe drool-inducing (hello, potato chip omelet, get in my mouth), but each is also laid out in a stunning, simple format that makes you feel like you might actually be able to cook this stuff. It's like food porn except it's practical. Love love love. (Stephanie)

 

Guadalajara by Quim Monzo. This is a surreal short story collection from Spain. The language and the telling are straight-forward, but the happenings are anything but. Sinister undercurrents and creepy twists will keep you surprised and curious from story to story. (Simone

 

Beautiful Every Thing On It Subway Story Name of the Star 

 

Beautiful & Pointless by David Orr. This book should have been called Snarky & Compelling. Orr has a pretty dry sense of humor, and immediately makes you feel like you're in on the joke that is The State of Poetry Today. And yet somehow, by the end of it, you want to go read some poetry -- no small accomplishment! (Jenn)  

 

Every Thing On It by Shel Silverstein. I'm just a big kid, and I am super excited by this new book of previously unreleased poems by Shel Silverstein! On a slightly unrelated note, did you know Shel got his start as cartoonist for Playboy Magazine, and wrote hundreds of songs, such as "A Boy Named Sue" (made famous by Johnny Cash), and "Cover of the Rolling Stone" (Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show; one of my favorite bands of all time!). Can you tell I am a huge fan of Shel Silverstein?! (Cree)

 

Subway Story by Julia Sarcone-Roach. A history of the New York train system in a sweet picture book. Who can explain the connection between ocean reefs and the MTA? Acrylic illustrations take us on a ride from the 1960s that New York children and their parents will both appreciate. (Simone)  

 

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson. Maureen Johnson, if you don't already know it, is one of the funniest authors on the internet and one of our favorites in the YA section. In her new book she balances the everyday drama of teenage life--boys, school, roommates--with a hair-raising whopper of a plot: a Jack the Ripper copycat begins stalking the neighborhood surrounding Rory's London boarding school, and our heroine starts to see things no one else can see. Johnson manages to wink at the paranormal YA genre as a whole while crafting something new and engaging, and I mean, come on, LONDON GHOST POLICE. You know you want to read about that. (Jenn)   

    

Staff picks

 

  Hall of Singing Caryatids Alec: The Years Have Pants I Want My Hat Back Forever   

The Hall of the Singing Caryatids by Victor Pelevin. Women hired to work in an underground club are required to submit to a painless injection at the start of each shift allowing them to remain motionless for days at a time -- living statues. One of the unexpected side effects of this temporary paralysis is a psychedelic linking up with a higher reality. Via a praying mantis! (Simone)

Alec: The Years Have Pants (a Life-Sized Omnibus) by Eddie Campbell. One of my favorite graphic novels, from the guy whose art you'll recognize from From Hell. Campbell was into autobio comix before the people who made it famous were even born, and this collection finally puts all those years of writing and drawing in one place. How To Be An Artist, one of the most well-known parts of the collection, is required reading for every stripe of creative person. Grand and inspiring. (Also, page for page, one of the best bargains in the store.) (Stephanie)

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. If you would like to send a toddler into paroxysms of laughter, this is your book. Very dry and very perfect for reading out loud over and over. (Adrian)

Forever by Pete Hamill. With the recent release of Tabloid City, we're reminded that Hamill has been writing fantastic books for a long time. A man gets granted eternal life but cannot step off the island of Manhattan, so he watches the city change from the 1700s through September 11th. Full of historical detail and a bit of mysticism, it's a dense, satisfying read that will teach you so much about the city we love. (Christine)  
Google ebooks
 
   Monsters of Templeton cover  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close  Shopgirl  Name of the Rose

This month some of our favorite books are discounted in ebook format! It's a great chance to try out Google ebooks for the first time. Remember, Google ebooks can be read on any smartphone and reader except the Kindle. Let us know if you have any questions about how to set up your account or access your books.

The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff ($2.99 until the 24th). When I first read it, I described this novel to people as "Barbara Kingsolver meets Emily Bronte." Which means pretty much what you think it means -- it's sort of a modern-day novel about a woman trying to figure out her life, as well as a gothic family novel. A fun, at times surprising, read! (Jenn)

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer ($3.99 until the 31st). I was thrilled to see that one of my favorite books was able to translate electronically. The photographs and visual elements are all there, looking good. And when I glanced through it again, Tom Hanks' name jumped out at me, which I thought was funny since he is starring in the (gulp!) film version. Which actually looks (gulp!) not that bad. (Christine)

Shopgirl by Steve Martin ($2.99 until the 24th). Years ago, a slim silver-covered edition of Shopgirl made its way into my life. I was delighted to realize the actor and author were one and the same. I assumed it would be a humorous book, or at least as light in subject as it was in physical weight, and was greatly surprised how much poignant human experience was packed into Martin's novella. The story of a young woman coming into her own in oversized Los Angeles swept me up and rang true and has stayed with me. (Simone)
 Tender Bar

Other WORD favorites that are currently discounted:

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco ($3.99 until the 31st

Blindness by Jose Saramago ($3.99 until the 31st)  

Dairy Queen by Catherine Gilbert Murdock ($3.99 until the 31st)
The Tender Bar by J. R. Moehringer ($2.99 until the 24th)
How To Eat by Nigella Lawson ($2.99 until the 24th)
Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani ($2.99 until the 24th)

Coming out soon -- pre-order now!
Remember, all pre-paid pre-orders get 10% off! Pre-pay in-store or online to get 10% off and have the book you're dying to read waiting for you behind the counter on release day.

 

Blue Nights 11/1: Atlantic by Simon Winchester (paperback release), Blue Nights by Joan Didion, Civilization by Niall Ferguson, Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber, Decoded by Jay-Z (paperback release), The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick edited by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On by Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp, That Is All by John Hodgman, The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obrecht (paperback release) 

 

11/8: Best European Fiction 2012 edited by Aleksandar Hemon, The Ecstasy of Influence by Jonathan Lethem, Inheritance by Christopher Paolini, Long, Last, Happy: New and Collected Stories by Barry Hannah, The Metropolis Case by Matthew Gallaway (paperback release), The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without MeThe Sigh by Marjane Satrapi, Stuck by Oliver Jeffers 

 

11/15: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney, It Chooses You by Miranda July, An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (paperback release), Then Again by Diane Keaton 

 

11/22: The Third Reich by Roberto Bolano 

 

11/29: Queen of America by Luis Alberto Urrea, Zelda : A Biography by Nancy Milford 

 

 


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