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New and loved at WORD
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    Sorry Please Thank You by Charles Yu. Yu's upcoming short story collection is mere days away! Coming out on July 24, it works with some of the same elements as his novel How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, and then goes off in new, strange, and wonderful directions. The first short story in particular (which Yu will be reading from at our Books Beneath the Bridge event on July 30) is a killer. (Jenn)
Flannery O'Connor: The Cartoons. This book collects O'Connor's slice-of-life linoleum-cut cartoons... WAIT. FLANNERY O'CONNOR MADE CARTOONS??!!! Believe it. (Emily)
Your Voice in My Head by Emma Forrest (also available as an ebook). It's hard to talk about this memoir--it's so intimate, so honest, so specific, so self-observant, that trying to describe how I felt while reading it feels like giving up some very personal information about myself. The voice of the title is her psychiatrist, who dies suddenly, leaving Forrest and his other patients bereft; the other man in the book is her ex, an actor whose presence in the story earned it plenty of the wrong kind of attention. It's not who he is; it's how they are. The highs and lows of Forrest's journey land in different spots, maybe, than those of many other lives, but the story reads like a quest in which the goal isn't treasure or glory, but calm and a certain kind of strength. (Molly)
Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. You should buy Tiny Beautiful Things for yourself, and then for your best friend, and maybe also your mom and your brother and anyone else who has ever needed a helping hand. (Really: everyone.) It's one of the most comforting, companionable book you could ever have on your shelf. Nota bene: I highly recommend not reading this on the subway, unless you're totally fine with sobbing in public. (Jenn) |
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More books we love at WORD
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Zone One by Colson Whitehead ( also available as an ebook). Now in paperback! Fans of horror and apocalypse will be delighted by Whitehead's vision of an overrun U.S. complete with zombies both terrifying and pitiful; fans of literature will revel in his linguistic flights of fancy and wry commentary on society. It's in my top five favorite end-of-the-world novels to date, and believe me when I say I've read more than my fair share. (Jenn) The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell (also available as an ebook). Moar zombies!! A perfect summer read, this features an awesome female protagonist named Temple who fends for herself and the man-child Maury in a zombie-infested wasteland haunted, both stylistically and thematically, by the ghost of William Faulkner. (Emily) Fray by Joss Whedon, Karl Moline and Andy Owens. Maybe I've just got Whedon on the brain (perhaps due to his rise from "Joss Whedon, cultish Buffy creator," to "Joss Whedon, director of enormous summer blockbusters"). Maybe you've picked up the Buffy Season 8 (or 9!) comics, but haven't gotten around to Fray, Whedon's tale about a tough, sassy (of course) slayer whose existence in a futuristic Manhattan could hardly be more different from Buffy's. Buffy fans might recognize a certain weapon of Melaka Fray's, though... (Molly) Kosher Chinese: Living, Teaching, and Eating with China's Other Billion by Michael Levy (also available as an ebook). Levy, a Peace Corps volunteer, spent two years in Guiyang, the geographic center of China. Hilarious and irreverent throughout, this book is also thought-provoking and insightful, as Levy is faced with the realities of China outside the cosmopolitan centers of Beijing and Shanghai. More than just a stranger-in-a-strange-land tale, Kosher Chinese offers a glimpse inside the lives of central China's young people, as well as Levy's outsider musings. (Jenny)
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Kids' books loved at WORD
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The Year of the Beasts by Cecil Castellucci (also available as an ebook). Told in alternating chapters of comics and prose, this is a summer tale of sisters and social life, of growing up, of fitting in, or not, of boys, of jealousy, and a story that we sense, early on, will have tragic results. In the comics chapters (with Nate Powell's stunning artwork), the characters are Medusa, a mermaid, a centaur, and a minotaur who are returning to school in the fall. As the stories progress, it becomes more and more apparent that the mythological metaphors are pretty perfect and that the stories are, of course, linked. Grief and loss turn people to stone, and the minotaur is elusive in his labyrinth of emotion. (Emily)
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (also available as an ebook). Between Bitterblue and Railsea, I already thought this was an amazing year for YA fantasy--and now Seraphina makes it even better. Musically gifted, smart, compassionate, and wary, Seraphina keeps to herself as the assistant music mistress at the court of Goredd--but she carefully guards a secret about her parentage, even as she becomes entangled in the complexities of human-dragon political intrigue. Hartman's worldbuilding is gloriously vivid, her heroine wonderfully complex, and her story so compelling, I may have cursed when I got to the end and realized I have to wait for the sequel. (Molly)
The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards (also available as an ebook). Scheherazade, Sinbad, sorcerers, open sesame... it's all here in this exciting, fast-paced fantasy for kids. Thirteen-year-old Zardi lives in Arribithia, home of an evil sultan who has banned all magic. But when Zardi's sister is in trouble, she and her friend Rhidan seek out Sinbad the sailor for help, and they become caught up in a series of dangerous and magical adventures. Pulling tales from One Thousand and One Nights, this is a unique story all its own. (Jenny)The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (also available as an ebook). I still remember this book vividly from when I read it as a young'un. It's a middle grade mystery where an eccentric millionaire dies and his will lays out a mystery that must be solved by someone in the community in order for anyone to inherit his money. A great cast of characters, and I still remember the thrill of the reveal, all these years later... (Emily) The Obstinate Pen by Frank W. Dormer. We've been fans of Dormer's since Socksquatch came out. This is the creator's latest, featuring a pen that writes things that are sometimes nonsensical, sometimes full of truth, but never what the person holding it is trying to write. And don't you want your child to learn the word "obstinate"? (Emily & Jenn) Squid and Octopus: Friends For Always by Tao Nyeu. Squid and Octopus have awesome hats, friendly disagreements about socks vs. mittens, big adventures, and interesting dreams. Super-imaginative and full of wee sea creatures that comment on the action (the starfish have a soup party), Squid and Octopus is unbelievably charming, and my favorite picture book of the summer. (Molly)
Pirateria by Calef Brown. At Pirateria, they stock only the best in eye patches and fake beards, and have regular classes in avoiding the gallows. Are you in love with pirates and fun rhyming read-a-louds? This book will shiver your timbers (I know, I'm hilarious). (Jenn)
Go, Go Grapes!: A Fruit Chant written and photographed by April Pulley Sayre. "Rah, Rah, Raspberries / Go, Go, Grapes! / Savor the flavors, / Find fruity shapes!" Young children will find all of their favorite fruits (plus some they've never heard of) in this gorgeously photographed, catchily rhymed picture book. Add author Sayre's 2011 book Rah, Rah, Radishes!, and you've got yourself a meal! (Jenny) |
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This has been another production of the book-lovin' fools at: WORD (126 Franklin St Brooklyn NY 11222) Open for your reading needs from: 10am to 9pm, seven days a week Available during those hours at: 718.383.0096 And always open at: www.wordbrooklyn.com |
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