The Phoenix Review
January 2010
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Dear Friends, Happy New Year! We hope you've all had a festive holiday season, and we'd like to thank you for turning out in force throughout December. Again and again, you make us proud to live in a community that values local businesses and independent thinking. Now, as we're all settling in for the long Vermont winter, we'd like to invite you to curl up with a good book and a hot latte from our cafe. In this edition, we've chosen a wide variety of books to get you through the dark winter days, from literary fiction to eccentric sci fi, and from an exploration of frugality to a survey of storybooks. Whether you're looking for something thought-provoking or escapist (or both), scroll down to discover what we hope will be your next great read. Sincerely,
The staff of Phoenix Books
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| JANUARY EVENTS
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Featuring... You!
 Our Open Mic Night will take place on Wednesday, January 6th, from 6:00-8:00 pm.
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.
Knit Night (Crocheters, too!) will take place on the usual second Wednesday, on January 13th from 6:00-8:00 pm. All skill levels welcome. See you there!
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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An Authentic Espresso and Wine Bar
Haven't visited our cafe yet? Phoenix Books is now home to the only cafe establishment in the town of Essex, so if you're looking for warmth and relaxation this month: Welcome! We're all set to provide you with one of our hand-crafted, toasty-warm sandwiches, or a homemade, steaming cup of soup.
Now that the holiday season has wound down, you deserve some R & R, so we invite you to select your favorite reading material and curl up in one of our cozy cafe chairs with a custom-made latte. Or, use the opportunity to catch up with a friend, and enjoy great conversation while sipping a comforting cup of tea or a satisfying glass of wine. And we've still got our home-baked scones and cookies, too. So whether you're looking for a snack or a meal, a table packed with friends or a quiet moment to yourself, come on by!
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ON THE SHELVES
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Fiction to Get You Through the Winter
 Sweeping Up Glass, by Carolyn Wall
"Haunting, lyrical, entirely absorbing..." --O, The Oprah Magazine
Olivia Harker Cross owns a strip of mountain in
Pope County, Kentucky, a land where whites and blacks eke out a living
in separate, tattered kingdoms and where silver-faced wolves howl in
the night. But someone is killing the wolves of Big Foley Mountain - and
Olivia is beginning to realize how much of her own bitter history she's
never understood. Now this proud, lonely
woman will face her mother and daughter, her neighbors and the wolf
hunters of Big Foley Mountain. And when she does, she'll ignite a
conflict that will embroil an entire community - and change her own life
in the most astonishing of ways.
 Fear the Worst, by Linwood Barclay
"...most readers will find themselves desperate to finish just one more page before putting the book down." --Elizabeth Gilbert
Tim
is an average guy. It's not a life
without hassles, but nothing will prepare Tim for the nightmare that's
about to begin.
His daughter Sydney vanishes into thin air. At the hotel where
she supposedly worked, no one has ever heard of her. Even her closest
friends seem to be at a loss. Now, as the days pass without word, Tim
must face the fact that not only is Sydney missing, but that the
daughter he's loved and thought he knew is a virtual stranger.
The
closer Tim comes to the truth, the closer he comes to the kind of evil only a parent's love has a chance
in hell of stopping.
 Await Your Reply, by Dan Chaon
The lives of three strangers interconnect in unforeseen ways in acclaimed author Dan Chaon's gripping,
brilliantly written new novel.
Longing to get on with his life,
Miles Cheshire nevertheless can't stop searching for his troubled twin
brother, Hayden.
High school graduate Lucy
Lattimore sneaks away from the small town of Pompey, Ohio, with her
charismatic former history teacher.
Ryan Schuyler walks off the Northwestern University campus, hops on a
bus, and breaks loose from his existence.
Await Your Reply is a
literary masterwork with the momentum of a thriller, an unforgettable
novel in which pasts are invented and reinvented.
 Stardust, by Joseph Kanon
"Kanon's atmospheric, character-driven latest...comes within a whisker of being flawless." --Kirkus Review
Hollywood, 1945. Ben Collier has just arrived from wartorn Europe to
find that his brother, Daniel, has died in mysterious circumstances.
Why would a man with a beautiful wife, a successful career in the
movies, and a heroic past choose to kill himself?
Rich with atmosphere and period detail, Stardust flawlessly blends fact and fiction into a haunting thriller
evoking both the glory days of the movies and the emergence of a dark
strain of American political life. It brilliantly proves why Joseph
Kanon has been hailed as the "heir apparent to Graham Greene" (The
Boston Globe).
 Broken Jewel, by David L. Robbins
"A remarkable story, brilliantly told". --Kirkus Review
For three years after the fall of Manila, 2,100 Allied civilians
have been imprisoned at Los Banos Internment Camp, 40 miles to the
southeast and notorious for its horrendous conditions. American Remy
Tuck, the camp's resident gambler, struggles daily with his Japanese
army captors to keep his community of Americans, Brits, and Dutch
alive, as they stave off starvation and protect one another from
vicious punishments. Meanwhile, Remy's son, Talbot, now nineteen, has become a man
while in captivity. Headstrong to the hilt and a nimble thief, Tal can
move like a snake under the guards' noses and defies their orders at
every opportunity...
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SCI FI PICKS
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Escaping the Daily Grind, on Planets Far, Far Away
 The Law of Nines, by Terry Goodkind
"Fantasy and thriller readers alike will find themselves swept along to the final confrontation..." --Publishers Weekly
Turning 27 may be terrifying for some, but for Alex, a struggling artist living in the midwestern United States, it is cataclysmic. Inheriting a huge expanse of land should have made him a rich and happy man; but something about this birthday, his name, and the beautiful woman whose life he just saved, has suddenly made him - and everyone he loves - into a target for extreme and uncompromising violence. In Alex, Terry Goodkind brings to life a modern hero in a whole new kind of high-octane thriller.
 Between Planets, by Robert A. Heinlein
By the four-time winner of the Hugo Award!
Don Harvey was attending school on Earth when his parents suddenly and urgently called him home to Mars. He had been skeptical about the talk of interplanetary war breaking out if Mars and Venus followed through on their threats to declare independence from Earth, but he was wrong. War broke out, and he was stuck on Venus, with no way of getting home. When Earth troops land on Venus and start looking for Don he realizes that he is trapped in the center of a war between worlds.
 Strip Mauled, ed. by Esther Friesner
Stories of suburban lycanthropy by Sarah A. Hoyt, Dave Freer, K. D. Wentworth, and more.
Werewolves and the suburbs are a natural go-together. Okay, so they're not the Iconic Suburban Golden Retriever or Chocolate Lab, but they've got a much better chance of taking home the Best in Show ribbon than vampires. Plus, they have one undeniable advantage: If his lupine side does something nasty on your lawn, his human side can come by later with the Pooper Scooper.
Sit.
Stay.
"Good" reader.
 Laugh Lines, by Ben Bova
Ben Bova, best-selling and award-winning author of the Grand Tour and Asteroid Wars series, takes a sardonic look at the humorous possibilities of future technology.
Bill Oxnard, a young technological genius, had perfected true three-dimensional television, making ordinary TV obsolete. He thought he would be rich and famous - but he hadn't realized how deranged the executives running the industry were; nor what sort of programs they were planning to broadcast using the new process in the maniacal quest for ratings.
 Gentleman Takes a Chance, by Sarah A. Hoyt
There are those living secretly among us who have the power to change their physical form from that of a human to an animal, even animals thought to be mythical, such as dragons...
Throughout out the ages, these shape shifters have come together in a loose organization to protect themselves from humans - and other shape shifters. According to their code, killing another shifter is a crime, no matter if the shifter was slaughtering humans. Someone - or something - has been killing shifters in large numbers, and the most ancient and powerful of shifters are converging on the city to find the killer. And anyone, human or shifter, who gets in their way will be eliminated without mercy...
 The Van Rijn Method, by Poul Anderson
By one of the most prolific and popular writers in science fiction.
When the human race spread out among the stars, they took the profit motive with them, and none exemplified that fact better than Nicholas Van Rijn, interstellar trader and capitalist extraordinaire. He might look like Falstaff and talk in a steady stream of malapropisms, but anybody who might take him for a bumbling buffoon would quickly find themselves taken--to the cleaners!
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RAISING PASSIONATE READERS
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Captivating Reads for Teens and Younger Readers
 Need, by Carrie Jones
Now in paperback, and by an award-winning author who graduated from Vermont College's MFA program!
Zara collects phobias the way other girls collect
Facebook friends. Little wonder, since life's been pretty rough so far.
Now Zara's living with her grandmother in sleepy, cold
Maine so that she stays "safe." Zara doesn't think she's in danger; she
thinks her mother can't deal. Wrong. Turns out that guy she
sees everywhere, the one leaving trails of gold glitter, isn't a
figment of her imagination. He's a pixie - and not the cute, lovable
kind with wings.
Captivate, by Carrie Jones
The sequel to Need, Captivate will be released on January 5th!
Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the
pixie problem for good. The king's needs grow deeper every
day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets
weaker. And now there's a new king in town. A
turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in
quickly. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be
together, that he's one of the good guys. Despite herself, Zara wants to trust the new king... (Young Adult)
 Alienated, by David Russell
Hand this to those who feel like they're from another planet." --Booklist
Best friends Gene Brennick and Vince Haskell come across freaky
aliens like Mold Man, Calamari Girl, and Crumble Bun all the time as
reporters for their homemade weekly tabloid, the "Globe," a newsletter
featuring stories on the aliens living quietly among humans in Santa
Rosa, California. Gene and Vince's classmates don't take their
articles too seriously - no one does, really. Gene's determined to
find a way to end his outsider status for good, and when he and Vince
discover a local teacher's deep, dark secret, Gene's convinced he's
found the answer... (Middle Grade)
 1001 Children's Books, by Julia Eccleshare
"This British import, a survey of influential childrens books...offers a comprehensive and diverse compendium of more than a century's
worth of essential reads." --Publishers Weekly
Whether you're a parent, an educator, or a young reader with a voracious appetite, this guide to
the best writing for children and young adults covers the spectrum of
children's literature. It is organized by age group. Each entry features
evaluations complete with
beautifully reproduced artwork from the featured title. The beloved
classics are here, but the guide also takes a global perspective and
includes the increasingly diverse contributions from around the world.
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NONFICTION PICKS
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Earth, Air, Sea, History and Shopping Lists
 Our Life in Gardens, by Joe Eck & Wayne Winterrowd
A deeply satisfying perspective on gardening, and on life.
Renowned garden designers Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd have collaborated on an entertaining,
fascinating, and unexpectedly moving book about the life and garden
they share. The book contains plenty of information about the
cultivation of plants and their value in the landscape, and invaluable
advice about garden design.
There are chapters about the various parts of their garden and
sections about particular plants - roses and lilacs, snowdrops, cyclamen, and vegetables. The authors also discuss the evolution of
their garden over time, and the dark issue that weighs more and more on
their minds: its eventual decline and demise.
 A Year on the Wing, by Tim Dee
"Page after lyrical page, this account articulates the author's fascination with the world's birds with...grace." --Publishers Weekly
A Year on the Wing brings us as close as
possible to birds, as we seek to understand the unique connection
between us and them as well as our estrangement from all of nature. Watching birds instills
a renewed sense of wonder, getting us airborne and expanding our
horizons. This vicarious liftoff does us good in a way hard to define
but incontestably felt. It also makes us ever aware of our place on the
ground. Dee homes in on those moments when the gap narrows between
humans and birds, when birds' freedom gives us our own, making our
lives more vibrant and alive.
 World is Blue, by Sylvia Earle
"Earle, who uses thrilling accounts of her undersea adventures to temper
alarm with beauty and wonder, stresses that its not too late to reverse
the damage." --Booklist
In recent decades we've learned
more about the ocean than in all previous human history combined. But,
even as our knowledge has exploded, so too has our power to upset the
delicate balance of this complex organism. Fortunately, there is reason for hope,
but what we do - or fail to do - in the next ten years may well resonate
for the next ten thousand. The ultimate goal, Earle argues passionately
and persuasively, is to find responsible, renewable strategies that
safeguard the natural systems that sustain us.
 American Lightning, by Howard Blum
"Howard
Blum has performed a literary miracle. He has brought back to
vivid and relevant life a forgotten act of terrorism in America's past
- and made it as suspenseful and crowded with unforgettable characters
as any novel I have ever read." --Thomas Fleming
In this masterpiece of narrative history, acclaimed author Howard Blum
evokes the original "crime of the century" and an aftermath even more
dramatic than the crime itself-a seminal episode in America's history
that would spark national debate and draw into its orbit master sleuth
William J. Burns, crusading lawyer Clarence Darrow, and
industry-shaping filmmaker D. W. Griffith.
 Locavore Way, by Amy Cotler
This friendly guide to eating locally gives readers all the
information they need to buy, cook, and eat close to home.
Cotler
covers all the basics - why eat locally, where to find local foods, how
to eat locally on a budget, what questions to ask at the farmers'
market, and even how to grow one's own food. She offers savvy shopping
tips, simple guides to preparing whatever is in season, ideas for
bringing out the best flavors in farm-fresh foods, and strategies to
make the harvest last.
Cotler demystifies local foods for the
newcomer and demonstrates how eating within one's own "foodshed" is as
simple as it is satisfying.
 The New Frugality, by Chris Farrell
"... Farrell provides a solid and
encouraging high-level overview of individual financial health." --Publishers Weekly
In today's economy, a "sustainable" lifestyle isn't just one that's
good for the planet - it's one that is based around core values and one
that sustains your bank balance as well. Farrell explains both the theory and the practice of living
frugally. Frugality, he reminds us, doesn't mean penny-pinching. It choosing quality rather than
quantity - buying the best you can afford but the least you need.
Drawing on his expertise as a financial reporter and his years of
conversations with his public radio listeners, he provides
down-to-earth, practical advice for every aspect of your financial life
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BOOK CLUB PICK OF THE MONTH
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Miles from Nowhere, by Nami Mun
 Teenage Joon is a Korean immigrant living in the Bronx of the 1980s.
Her parents have crumbled under the weight of her father's infidelity;
he has left the family, and mental illness has rendered her mother
nearly catatonic. So Joon, at the age of thirteen, decides she would be
better off on her own, a choice that commences a harrowing and often
tragic journey that exposes the painful difficulties of a life lived on
the margins. Joon's adolescent years take her from a homeless shelter
to an escort club, through struggles with addiction, to jobs selling
newspapers and cosmetics, committing petty crimes, and finally toward
something resembling hope. "Brilliant and authentic," declares the Dallas Morning News.
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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