| What's up at Green Apple Books
September 2012
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| Greetings! | Exciting things are afoot on Clement Street, from a new neighborhood bakery to our snazzy new t-shirts and canvas bags. Mostly, we're excited for all the big fall new releases--now you, too, can read all the good books we've been plowing through all spring and summer. See below for a sampling of the goodies.
But first, for your enjoyment and education, please tune in to this important election year message from the booksellers at Green Apple.
 | | An Election Year Message From Green Apple Books |
In today's email, we present:
- our Book of the Month, guaranteed to please;
- seven new books we love; and
- the arrival of our 2013 calendars.
And remember--if you read electronically, you can buy eBooks from Green Apple. If you have yet to try an eBook from us, check out these FREE and discounted eBooks. More HERE.
If you can't stop in soon, keep in touch digitally via Facebook, Twitter, our blog, or Tumblr.
Read on!
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September's Book of the Month
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The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (Knopf)
Our September Book of the Month, guaranteed to please, is The Dog Stars. Here's co-owner Kevin H's shelf-talker:
 While it may be that The Dog Stars is Peter Heller's first novel, within moments of beginning this haunting work, it becomes obvious that this doesn't read like a first book. Heller possesses a professionalism and grace that is rarely encountered in current fiction, and his deft balance of the poetic and the painful, the sublime and the savage, even the living and the dead, well, it impressed me in ways that I've not encountered in fiction before.
The term "post-apocalyptic" will be bandied about quite often in regard to this work, which is a shame, as I see it more like a dystopic Garden of Eden love story. Or a buddy tale. Or the story of a boy and his dog. Or a gripping outdoor adventure yarn. Yes, there was an apocalypse, but not on the pages of The Dog Stars -- this book is alive in a very special way, and it will touch the heart of anyone who reads it!
-Kevin H.
Buy the book (or the $11.99 eBook) from Green Apple today!
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Seven New Books We Like
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NW by Zadie Smith (Penguin)
NW is Zadie Smith at her best: characters that are vivid and complicated, dialogue that is sharp and effortless, and a story that draws together its many parts to reveal deep truths about culture and identity. Fans will find much both familiar and strikingly new; the "NW" of the title is northwest London, the setting of the debut novel that knocked the critics' socks off. But here Smith takes a more lyrical approach to characterizing the place with a meandering, often stream-of-consciousness narrative. NW is a big story told in small spaces, and seems to mark a slight turning point in Smith's style -- a turn worth taking with her. [ eBook here] 
Hitchens' final book is short (I'm sure he would have preferred it to be much much longer). In Mortality, Hitch chronicles the final 18 months of his own life, beginning from that day when the EMTs come to his hotel room and transport him (literally) "from the country of the well across the stark frontier that marks off the land of malady." It ends with short scraps, items he would have researched, pithy lines he would have worked into the larger text, had he lived longer. Nobody could have written this book except for Christopher Hitchens, confronting his own death with both eyes open, describing the torments of illness, discussing its taboos, and exploring how disease transforms experience and changes our relationship to the world around us. An astounding book. [ eBook here]
 You know, when one of the author's credits is scriptwriter for Arrested Development, that you're in for some fun. We couldn't summarize it any better than Janet Maslin did in the NYTimes: "The tightly constructed Where'd You Go, Bernadette is written in many formats: e-mails, letters, F.B.I. documents, correspondence with a psychiatrist, and even an emergency-room bill for a run-in between Bernadette and Audrey. Yet these pieces are strung together so wittily that Ms. Semple's storytelling is always front and center, in sharp focus. You could stop and pay attention to how apt each new format is, how rarely she repeats herself and how imaginatively she unveils every bit of information. But you would have to stop laughing first." [ eBook here] 
It's often pointed out that Americans rank a politician's apparent sincerity very highly, so what better time to analyze this slippery sentiment than during an election year? Magill's concise and witty history does just that, tracing the development of sincerity from its beginning in 16th century Protestantism through mutations resulting in today's hipster culture. 
Every so often, a book comes along that seems certain to pique a curiosity or speak of an unexpressed daydream in the heart of any reader and lover of language. Madness, Rack and Honey is one of them. Ruefle's written "lectures" deal in myriad subjects -- poets and the moon, the joys and sorrows of reading, fear and irreverence, to name a few -- with a voice that is witty, well-read, and ever so smart.
We're nine months into 2012 and I think I've found my favorite novel of the year. The Traveler of the Century is an intellectual and sensual masterpiece that, like the best historical fiction (think: Umberto Eco, Hilary Mantel), uses the past to cast a reflection on our own times. Full of memorable characters, devious plot twists, and brimming with complications, this book will sweep you up. Very highly recommended. (Sparks) [eBook here] The Future is not Ours: New Latin American Fiction edited by Diego Trelles Paz (Open Letter)  A wide-ranging anthology of young writers (those born in the 1970s) that brings into focus an exciting moment--if not movement--in Latin American literature. Broad in scope, aesthetically and thematically diverse, this collection introduces readers to some of the most promising writers working in Spanish today, including GAB favorites Alejandro Zambra and Daniel Alarcon.
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2013 Calendars are here!
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That's right, the future has arrived at Green Apple already. A wide variety of 2013 calendars are now available for your browsing pleasure. Wall calendars, planners, page-a-days, and journals--Green Apple has them all. Over 700 to choose from.
Note: Our calendars are in the annex this year, just inside the door to your left.
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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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