The Phoenix Review
July 2009
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Dear Friends, We all know Vermont is a unique and special place: There's nothing quite like our lush summer landscapes, fall foliage, and harsh but pristine winters. But just as important are people like you, who - by choosing to shop locally - do your part to keep our community vibrant, resilient, and interesting. We strive to do our part too, which means carrying Vermont products in our cafe and hosting events where you can engage with authors who might be local treasures or persons of international renown. This month, we invite you to discussions on everything from healthcare reform with Howard Dean to reforming your marriage with Mary Carty. You'll find event details below, as well as sections on new fiction, nonfiction, book group recommendations, and ' picnic paperbacks' - all full of hand-picked titles that
we think you'll love. So read on to discover your next great read! Sincerely,
The staff of Phoenix Books  |
 JULY EVENTS
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From International Relations to Romantic Relationships
Start the holiday weekend early, with Open Mic Night from 6:00-8:00 pm tonight.
Come check out the local talent at your local, independent bookstore!
Want to be the local talent? Call 872-7111 and ask for Michael to sign
up.
We have two Knit Nights (Crocheters, too!) this month: The usual second Wednesday on July 8th from 6:00-8:00 pm, as well as Tuesday, July 21st from 6:00-8:00 pm. All skill levels welcome. See you there!
 On Thursday, July 9 at 6:30pm, help us celebrate - and pick up some tips - at a launch party and signing for relationship expert Mary Carty's, new book, PMAT: The Perfect Marriage Aptitude Test.
Then, on Wednesday, July 15th at 6:30pm, join Essex's own Thomas Middleton to talk about his new memoir Saber's Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq.
 On Sunday, July 19th at 3pm, we'll welcome former governor Howard Dean for a discussion and signing of his new book, Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform: How We Can Achieve Affordable Medical Care for Every American and Make Our Jobs Safer.
Visit our website for more info. Events at Phoenix are free and open to the public.
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THE CAFE AT PHOENIX
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Fresh Treats
We're always trying new products to add to our menu, from White Chocolate Chip Berry Cookies for all you blueberry fans, to our current soup du jour, to refreshing sodas and custom coffee beverages. So don't be a stranger: You never know what new treats might be in store!
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NEW FICTION
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On the Cutting Edge of Storytelling
The Little Stranger, by Sarah Waters - Featured on NPR!
 "Few authors do dread as well as Waters." --Library Journal
This is a fascinating blend of a ghost story and a detailed description of crumbling aristocracy in post-WWII England. A little Rebecca thrown in the mix with shades of Stephen King and Haunting of Hill House. (Reviewed by Judith.)
Signed copies now available at Phoenix - while supplies last!
The Genesis Secret, by Tom Knox
 In this epic thriller, a secret with shocking consequences is buried deep in the Middle Eastern desert...
A Western archaeological team in Kurdistan has unearthed the oldest human civilization - older than Stonehenge or the Pyramids. Meanwhile, a Scotland Yard detective is fast on the trail of a series of grisly killings in the British Isles - and discovers there may be a link to the site in Kurdistan.
Miss Harper Can Do It, by Jane Berentson
 "With its irresistible protagonist, wacky footnote asides, and spot-on language, Berentson's involving novel is funny, heartrending, and outstanding." --Booklist
Told through the draft chapters of 24-year-old school teacher Annie Harper's memoir-in-progress, this funny and poignant story chronicles what it means to be loyal versus what it means to be in love.
Killer Summer, by Ridley Pearson
 "A throwback to the time when plotting and pacing were the detective story's sine qua non..." --Kirkus Review
The world's most elite wine connoisseurs have descended on Sun Valley to bid on the world's best wines. Sheriff Walt Fleming is responsible for all aspects of the glitzy event, from the security of the dignitaries to the transportation of the wines themselves. Walt is soon caught in a heist of epic proportions - and not the heist he had prepared for.
Dune Road, by Jane Green
 "If the financial crisis hit Desperate Housewives' Wisteria Lane, the result would be Green's latest novel." --Library Journal
A sparkling new novel from the New York Times-bestselling author of The Beach House, Dune Road is the story of life in an exclusive beach town after the tourists have left for the summer and the eccentric (and moneyed) community sticks around.
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NONFICTION
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Books for Lifelong Learning
I'm Not Hanging Noodles on Your Ears, by Jag Bhalla
 Perfect for word lovers, travelers, and anyone else who enjoys looking at life in a riotous, unusual way.
This book was featured on BBC World News Hour and is an entertaining and educational journey into the idioms from around the world. We think this book is the bee's knees!
Love + Sex with Robots, by David Levy
 A Staff Pick from Bridget
A leading expert in artificial intelligence, Levy argues that the entities we once deemed cold and mechanical will soon become the objects of real companionship. He explores the reasons we fall in love, why we form attachments to animals and virtual pets, and why these same attachments could extend to love for robots.
Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, by Maryanne  Wolf - A Staff Pick from Bridget
"Human beings were never born to read," writes Wolf. This ambitious, provocative book, chronicles the remarkable journey of the reading brain not only over the past five thousand years, since writing began, but also over the course of a single child's life, showing in the process why children with dyslexia have reading difficulties and singular gifts.
Plan Bee, by Susan Brackney
 A guided tour through the history, folklore, and function of the honeybee.
Featured recently in major national news stories because they are disappearing at an alarming rate, bees are the unsung - and absolutely essential - heroes of the food chain. Now they get their due in this delightfully illustrated, fact-filled book, courtesy of a professional beekeeper and nature writer.
A Place Called Canterbury, by Dudley Clendinen
 "If you've ever had a mother, you will love this book." --Roy Blount, Jr.
Welcome to Canterbury Tower, an apartment building in Florida, where the residents are busy with friendships, love, sex, money, and gossip - and the average age is eighty-six. Entertaining and unsparing, it is essential reading for anyone with aging parents, and those wondering what their own old age might look like.
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BOOK CLUB PICKS OF THE MONTH
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Paperbacks We Can't Stop Talking About
The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry
 "Luminous and Lyrical" --O, The Oprah Magazine
Once one of the most beguiling women in Sligo, Roseanne McNulty is now a resident of Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital and nearing her hundredth year. Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, this novel is an engrossing tale of one woman's life, and a vivid reminder of the stranglehold that the Catholic church had on individuals throughout much of the twentieth century.
Somebody Else's Daughter, by Elizabeth Brundage
 "a deft balancing act of taut plot & richly drawn characters" --Wally Lamb
Willa Golding has been brought up by her adoptive parents in elegant prosperity, but they have fled a mysterious and shameful past. Building to a collision between two fathers - biological and adoptive, past and present - this novel is both a suspenseful thriller and a probing study of the American psyche.
Netherland, by Joseph O'Neill
 An unforgettable portrait of a New York populated by immigrants and strivers of every race and nationality.
In a New York City made phantasmagorical by the events of 9/11, Hans van den Broek stumbles upon the vibrant New York subculture of cricket, where he revisits his lost childhood and, thanks to a friendship with a charismatic and charming Trinidadian named Chuck Ramkissoon, begins to reconnect with his life and his adopted country.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and  Annie Barrows - "Warm, life-affirming prose ... an ideal choice for book groups" --St. Petersburg Times
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.
The Midwife, by Jennifer Worth
 "A charming tale of deliveries and deliverance." --Kirkus Review
At the age of twenty-two, Jennifer Worth left her comfortable home to become a midwife in post-war London's East End slums. The colorful characters she meets while delivering babies all over London - from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lives to the prostitutes and dockers of the city's seedier side - illuminate a fascinating time in history. (A true story!)
Did you know? Book clubs are eligible for a 15% discount on books ordered from Phoenix! At least five copies must be ordered, and all copies must be purchased through your book club's coordinator, for discount to apply.
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PICNIC PAPERBACKS
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Lighter Reads, for Tucking into Beach Bags
The Divorce Party, by Laura Dave
 "Incredibly deft, utterly satisfying, a triumph of a first novel."
--Melissa Bank
Dave captures a much-discussed cultural phenomenon that has never been
profiled in fiction before: divorce celebrations. The Divorce Party
features two women - one newly engaged and one at the end of her
marriage - trying to answer the same question: when should you fight to
save a relationship, and when should you let go?
Liberty, by Garrison Keillor
 Keillor's most ribald Lake Wobegon novel yet, set in a Fourth of July celebration amid marching bands and circus wagons.
The Chairman of the Fourth, Clint Bunsen, is in the midst of an identity crisis brought on by a DNA test just as he turns sixty. Should he remain in Lake Wobegon with his stoical wife Irene or fly to California with the young beauty Angelica?
The Girl from Junchow, by Kate Furnivall
 "A rare sequel that is better than its predecessor..." --Library Journal
China, 1929. For years Lydia Ivanova (from Furnivall's previous novel The Russian Concubine) believed her father was killed by
the Bolsheviks. But when she learns he is imprisoned in
Stalin-controlled Russia, the fiery girl is willing to leave everything
behind - even her Chinese lover, Chang An Lo.
The Beach House, by Jane Green
 "a compelling, unputdownable read" --Booklist
Nan Powell is a free-spirited, sixty-five-year-old widow who dearly loves her Nantucket home. When her finances take a turn for the worse, she takes out an ad: "Rooms to rent for the summer..." Slowly people start moving in to the house, filling it with noise, laughter, and tears. Then, an unexpected visitor turns all their lives upside down. (Also check out Green's newest book, Dune Road!)
Me of Little Faith, by Lewis Black
 "Lewis Black is the only person I know who can actually yell in print form." --Jon Stewart
Lewis Black, the bitingly funny comedian, Daily Show regular, social
critic, and bestselling author comes up with some answers to questions
about faith. Or at least his answers. In more than two dozen essays,
Black irreverently and hilariously explores his unique odyssey through
religion and belief.
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