April's Book of the Month: Matterhorn

Each month, Green Apple chooses a brand-new book that puts us over the moon. We even guarantee it 100% or your money back. This month's is Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (Atlantic Monthly Press). Here's Martin's "shelf-talker:"

"Karl Marlantes has written a book for the ages. It is, I think, the best novel about the Vietnam War, and one of only a handful of books about men at war that truly reflect the experience. Matterhorn, in the short span of time that it covers, manages to convey what Vietnam was like for the soldiers, from the smallest of details to the climactic battles. Marlantes has joined a select company--those who have lived through the battle--and written classic novel about it. He spent 30 years writing this book. It was worth the wait!"
--Martin S.

It should also be noted that we're not the only ones who love this book.  It's currently out of stock at most bookstores, in its sixth printing just three weeks after publication, and the reviews have been pretty stellar.  We secured a special allotment from the publisher, so get it while you can!

 

Six new books we like

The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Jason Turbow with Mike Duca (Pantheon)

Co-owner Kevin Ryan says: One of the best insider baseball books I've ever read. Based on interviews with hundreds of players from the last 50 years of baseball, along with great historical anecdotes, The Baseball Codes reveals the unseen game: what offences cause a pitcher to intentionally hit a batter;what recourse that batter has; what's ok and what's not ok when it comes to stealing signs; how to properly celebrate an accomplishment without earning the ire of the opposing team; what actually constitutes "running up the score"; what is proper decorum for a rookie in the clubhouse. Best of all, the authors are both local, so many of the tales involve the Giants, like this one from a 2006 game between the Giants and the Nationals: the Nationals had only one catcher on their roster, Robert Fick, who tore rib cartilage during the game. Able to catch and throw but not swing a bat, he stayed in the game for the good of the team. Fick came to bat in the 5th with the Nationals leading 6-1 and, not able to swing a bat, attempted a bunt, but fouled the ball. Giants pitcher Noah Lowry, angered that someone would be bunting with a 5-run lead, drilled Fick with the next pitch. Talk about taking one for the team.


Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show by Frank Delaney (Random House)

Green Appler Martin says: "I think this is one of the most well-written books I have ever read. I loved the story: a father running away from the farm, and the son having to go after him. What overwhelmed me was the language. This book is filled with passages that make you want to read them out loud to whoever is next to you- whether you know them or not. Truly a beautiful book."


Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari with a Cast of Trillions by Mark Moffett (University of California Press)

Filled with tales of brutality and ingenuity (and chock full of color photos), this is the story of the humble ant. Perhaps no creature on God's green earth is more fascinating, and Moffett, a researcher at The Smithsonian, is an engaging host for this look into their strange and fascinating world. How about the slave-making Amazon ants, who raid the nursery of smaller Formica ants, abscond with the pupae, then raise them as slaves? Though outnumbered by their own slaves, the Amazon ants use a chemical known as a "propaganda substance" that they wield as a social weapon, which throws the bombarded colony into mayhem. Cool, huh?


Every Man Dies Alone by Hans Falluda (Melville House)

One of our favorite books of 2009 is now one of our favorite paperbacks  of 2010. Set in Berlin in 1940. The city is still functioning mostly normally: there is food in the stores, people go about their business. But it is a city where everyone feels they are being watched, where information can be traded to the Gestapo for a price, where citizens who won't join the party are looked upon with suspicion or worse. When Otto and Anna Quangel's son is killed on the French front, this ordinary German couple decides it is time to resist the totalitarianism suffocating their country. How they decide to resist seems almost comically minor at first glance, but the reader soon realizes that no act of defiance is minor in such a time and place. And this act of defiance soon sets loose a chain of events that catches others, innocent and not-so-innocent, in its deadly web. Chilling, brilliant, written by a man who lived through it and based on a real Gestapo file, Every Man Dies Alone is a great work of literature.


Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities by Jason Shiga (Harry Abrams)

The inevitable comparison for Jason Shiga's extraordinary graphic novel is to the Choose Your Own Adventure books. The story begins with a simple premise: a boy in an ice cream shop is asked what kind of ice cream he wants. The reader chooses, then follows the tabs to find the repercussions of that choice. Choosing chocolate leads to one set of events, vanilla to another, some choices lead to the destruction of the planet, others to more benign conclusions. Beautifully drawn, endlessly (literally) entertaining, great for kids and adults.


Contested Will: Who Wrote Shakespeare? by James Shapiro (Simon & Schuster)

Shark Vs. Train by Chris Barton (Little, Brown)

In this zany competition, will it be Shark or Train who is victorious? See them compete on seesaws, in hot-air balloons, running lemonade stands and playing hide-and-seek. These two competitors have more in common than you may think. . . .this is a super, fun read! 

Girls Are Not Chicks Coloring Book by Jacinta Bunnell and Julie Novak (PM Press)

Just because you're a girl, doesn't mean you've gotta play with dolls or only like the color pink. In this AWESOME book, color girls doing things (surfing, driving a tractor and going to auto mechanics class) their own ways!




Stagecoach Sal by Deborah Hopinkson (Hyperion)

Inspired by the true tale of Delia Haskett Rawson, the first (and possibly only) woman to carry the U.S. mail by stagecoach in California, Stagecoach Sal is one of the most beautifully illustrated books out there. When Sal's Pa gets injured, she steps in to make sure the mail gets delivered!

 Chick Lit au go-go at our annex

Indulge yourself in something fun and flirty for a change--Chick Lit.

We've stocked up on all the popular Chick Lit authors: Melissa Bank, Meg Cabot, Helen Fielding, Jill Conner Browne, Kate Jacobs, Ann Brashares, Laura Dave, Emily Giffin, Marian Keyes, Jane Green, Rebecca Wells, Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella, and of course Lauren Weisberger and Candace Bushnell.

Don't let the pastel pink and violet covers fool you. Within them is a diverse spectrum of female experiences by and for twenty-and thirty-something women, (but not like Mary Daly), including girlfriend confessionals about stress, success in often glamorous careers, personal finance woes, dating, boyfriends, break-ups, marriage, and making and having babies.

They're an affordable indulgence at $5.00 for softcovers, and $6.00 for hardcovers in the back of the fiction room of our annex. Indulge your guilty pleasures for less at Green Apple!