Books and other fun at Green Apple
July 2012
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| Greetings! | Summer's bringing many new faces in from the fog, and we're slinging books left and right. We even have a new sweatshirt with Paul Madonna artwork for those cool summer days when you just want to curl up with a good book.
Here's the line-up for today's email:  - our Book of the Month, guaranteed to please;
- an author event not to be missed; and
- five new books we love.
And remember--if you read electronically, you can buy eBooks from Green Apple. More HERE.
If you can't stop in soon, keep in touch digitally via Facebook, Twitter, our blog, or Tumblr.
We hope to see you soon. Read on!
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July's Book of the Month
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How Should a Person Be? A Novel from Life by Sheila Heti (Henry Holt)
Our July Book of the Month, guaranteed to please, is How Should a Person Be? Here's Josie's shelf-talker:
[I first read this book when it was originally published in Canada in 2010. Here is a review that I wrote shortly thereafter].
Sheila Heti's How Should a Person Be? is exactly what its title implies: an inquiry into how to live and how to do it well. Through a fictionalized account of her personal life, Heti explores the ways in which self-doubt, capriciousness, and the ego are tied to one's ability to live a creative life in the modern age. Yes, I know. This sounds so serious. Or maybe it doesn't. Either way, this novel is a rare gem that effectively combines philosophical musings with an absorbing and funny narrative, all without being pretentious. How Should a Person Be? is about what it means to make art, friends, and ultimately what it means to be human. I raced through it over the course of a few days, after which it stuck with me for weeks. I even read passages of it aloud to a friend, something I rarely do.
There have been some changes made to this, the US edition, which truly enhance the novel's original form. It's been almost two years since my initial reading of How Should a Person Be?, and I am still excited about the book. In fact, since that time, I've continued to ponder over and occasionally re-read selections from it. Each time, my heart aches a little more, and I learn something new about myself and about the world. I suppose one can't ask for much more than that.
Buy the book (or the $11.99 eBook) from Green Apple today!
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July event
| As with all Green Apple events, if you can't attend but want an inscribed copy, just give us a call (415-387-2272). Prepay and we'll hook you up.
July 10: G. Willow Wilson's Alif the Unseen Don't miss G. Willow Wilson, who will be appearing in our Granny Smith Room to read from her new book, Alif the Unseen, a fantastic thriller about a computer hacker's elaborate attempt to disappear into anonymity during the Arab Spring. Wilson's debut novel (a departure from her previous work as a graphic novelist) is being met by rave reviews both in the New York Times and among our own staff. Green Appler Martin says: "There are some books that come to you out of left field, that are so unlike anything you've read, that just leave you slack-jawed in admiration. Alif the Unseen is an incredible fiction debut from an author I know we'll be enjoying for decades to come, and one of the best books written about the Arab Spring." So pick up a copy today, and come meet the author and get it signed. We hope to see you there. Details: Tuesday, July 10 at Green Apple at 7:00 pm. Free @ Green Apple.
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Five New Books We Like
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Amy Leach's lyrical collection of essays on the natural world inhabits the same aesthetic space as Annie Dillard's classic Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Brimming with delight and curiosity, Leach roves across the universe, from the minute (there's an essay on peas) to the unfathomably large ("In the year 3,000,002,012 the Andromeda Galaxy may collide with our Milky Way."), in the process loading this ark of a book full of the most wondrous creatures.
Anderson, best known for his seminal work Imagined Communities, here offers up a short essay on one of the strangest theme parks in existence. Wat Phai Rong Wua, located in rural Thailand, is kind of a purgatorial cautionary museum, full of statuary depictions of souls suffering for their transgressions. Accompanied by dozens of color photographs, Anderson's essay opens a window into a little-known part of Thai Buddhist culture.
 The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2012 edition by David Wallechinsky and Jaime Loucky (Aurum)
Whether you want to be the know-it-all who can name the Gold medalists in the 1000 meter kayak pairs race in 1936 (Kainz and Dorfner, of course) or are merely curious about the history and lore of the Olympic Games, this is the book for you. An exhaustively researched and surprisingly entertaining work. Perfect for those long commercial breaks.
Christine Overall's book takes as its starting point a question that a lot of us (of a certain age) are very familiar with: "When are you going to have children?" Channeling her inner-Socrates, Overall turns that question on its head, arguing that the burden of procreation should actually be reversed, so that we instead ask ourselves, how can I justify having children? While her perspective may sound contentious, the book reads fairly, opening up important ethical considerations. A valuable and honest contribution to the literature of parenting.
Jemrac h's Menagerie by Carol Birch (Vintage)--new in paper!
Street urchins! Escaped tigers! Epic whaling voyages! Fabled dragons! Shipwreck! Holy Moly, if ever a book screamed READ ME!!, this is the one. Saturated with the sights, sounds, and smells of the 19th century, Jamrach's Menagerie is a page-turning, rip-roarin' novel that you'll easily get swept up--and swept away--in.
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Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
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Pete et al
Green Apple Books and Music
415-387-2272
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