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As summer approaches, we're putting out lots of fine new releases.  We're also processing a few recent used cookbook buys, so those shelves are heaving.  And we're preparing for the kids on summer vacation coming in for recommendations.  We're always ready!

In today's newsletter we offer:
  • nine new books we find interesting;
  • a ticket giveaway to see Jennifer Weiner at the JCC; 
  • a shout-out to our very own George Albon for his recent honor;  
  • a reminder of Wednesday night's rock-tinged event at the MakeOut Room (join us, Mission literati!);  
  • a special offer for SIGNED copies of the new book from award-winning author-illustrator Gene Luen Yang. 

And remember: you can read digitally and shop locally.  Our partnership with Kobo allows you to read eBooks on any device (except Kindle).  Sign up here and Green Apple will forever get a cut of your eBook purchases.  

 

Read on!
New Books We Think You'll Want

This large-format monograph of Carleton Watkins' early and iconic photos of California--including images from Yosemite and the Bay Area--is a marvel. Priced at only $40 (!) and never to be reprinted, we suggest you snatch a copy up quickly, before they're gone forever.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Scribner)

How much did I love this book? So much that I passed my copy on to another bookseller at another store. This is an incredible read that produced two different impulses: one was to race to the end, to see how it all turns out. The other was to savor the book, knowing it can only be read for the first time just once. Expect to see this in the running for all the major prizes. -- Martin


Thunderstruck by Elizabeth McCracken (The Dial Press)

Elizabeth McCracken's first short story collection in 20 years is a meticulously detailed, melancholy ode to the everyday--an everyday full of ghosts and murder and parrots with bad French accents, that is. Rich in insight and humor, as well as touch of sadness, Thunderstruck is a poignant reminder of the perils of life.

Talking to Ourselves by Andres Neuman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux)

This isn't an easy book, but it's a unforgettable one. It's an unflinching and emotionally honest look at the dynamics of family life, mortality, and loss. Neuman is a brave writer, one who doesn't flinch when looking at the complexities of our relationships. 

The Sea Inside by Philip Hoare (Melville House)

Hoare's latest (following The Whale) is the best kind of nature writing: personal, committed, informed, and elegiac. Rippling with evocative descriptions of teetering oceanic environments, this is both a call for action and a memoir of what the sea means to one man--and all of us. I highly recommend it. -- Sparks

Sidewalks by Valeria Luiselli (Coffee House Press)

Remember the name Valeria Luiselli: one day she's going to be big. If you need more proof than our saying so, get this: Coffee House Press published Luiselli's essay collection, Sidewalks, and her first novel, Faces in the Crowd, simultaneously. That should tell you something about just how good she is. Her essays are spare, erudite, and meander across places and ideas, forming a beautiful landscape of prose. 

Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty (Harvard U.P.)

We were all over Piketty's phenomenal success before it was cool (see our March newsletter), but we wanted to remind you that we have plenty of stock, as many places have been out of this tome.  Might this be the most unusual beach read ever?

The Man Who Walked Away by Maud Casey (Bloomsbury)

Maud Casey's hypnotically beautiful novel is based on the life of a certain Albert Dadas, a 19th century Frenchman afflicted with a condition called dromomania, or traveling fugue. Dadas, it seems, would fall into trances and begin walking, without awareness, from his native France to the far reaches of Europe, ending up as far abroad as Moscow. Casey's account of this bizarre chapter of medical history is humanely and atmospherically imagined.

The Broken Road by Patrick Leigh Fermor (New York Review of Books)

At long last, the third and final book recounting Patrick Leigh Fermor's 1933-1934 walk from Holland to Istanbul arrives. From small villages in Rumania and Bulgaria to the remote monasteries of Mount Athos, Fermor recalls his journey with joyful enthusiasm. -- E.H.


Free Tickets to See Jennifer Weiner
Our friends at the Jewish Community Center have generously provided us with ten FREE pairs of tickets to see Jennifer Weiner on Sunday, June 22 at 4pm.  We'll be there peddling books, so join us? 

First-come, first-served. In-store only.

Jennifer Weiner (Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, Best Friends Forever, Fly Away Home) writes witty, entertaining novels that often feature clever plus-sized women who triumph over skinny mean girls. Despite selling millions of books, she's never been reviewed in the New York Times. Lately she's in the news for igniting a public discussion about male bias in the publishing industry. Her new book, All Fall Down, takes on the topic of women and addiction.
George Albon wins poetry prize!
 

Our very own George Albon was recently awarded 2014's Book of Year in the poetry category for Fire Break (Nightboat Books) by the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association.  Our heartiest congratulations to George.  Come by for your own signed copy if you have yet to read it.


 
Event Reminder--Wednesday night!
Wednesday, May 21 at the Make-Out Room: Stacey D'Erasmo and Sylvie Simmons

Gear up for a rockin' night at the Make Out Room, as Green Apple hosts the release party for author Stacey D'Erasmo's novel, Wonderland, on Wednesday, May 21 at 7:00pm.  She'll be in conversation with music writer Sylvie Simmons (whose latest book is I'm Your Man: a Life of Leonard Cohen).

About Wonderland:  Anna Brundage is a rock star. She is tall and sexy, with a powerhouse voice and an unforgettable mane of red hair. She came out of nowhere, an immediate indie sensation. And then, life happened.  Anna went down as fast as she went up, and then walked off the scene for seven years. Without a record deal or clamoring fans, she sells a piece of her famous father's art to finance just one more album and a European comeback tour.  A riveting look at the life of a musician, Wonderland is a moving inquiry into the life of a woman on an unconventional path, wondering what happens next and what her passions might have cost her, seeking a version of herself she might recognize. It takes us deep into a world many of us have spent hours imagining and wishing ourselves into--now we have a bit of that wish come true.  

 

NOTE: This event is at 7pm at the Make Out Room (3225 22nd Street). 

Gene Luen Yang offer

Pre-order The Shadow Hero before July 22, and Mr. Yang will inscribe a copy to you (or your pal).
Thanks for reading.
 
Sincerely,
 
Pete et al
Green Apple Books and Music
415-387-2272