The Last Pirate by Tony Dokoupil (Anchor) 

If you smoked Colombian weed in the continental United States between 1970 and 1986, odds are good that the author's father, Big Tony Dokoupil, was your supplier.  Yet this titan of the pot trade would have become an obscure footnote if not for his son and namesake, a senior writer for NBC News, who took an inheritance of psychic loss and transformed it into a probing, exuberant memoir about the history of the American drug economy, the ambitions and failures of politicians and outlaws, fathers and sons. After years of estrangement, Little Tony reunites with his father looking for answers. The result is a fascinating tale about the wreckage of addiction and the shadow side of the American dream. 

A Bad Character by Deepti Kapoor (Knopf)

A lyrical examination of first love gone awry, A Bad Character tells the story of a young woman in New Delhi and the affair that both saves her and ruins her. Kapoor's writing swept me away with its gracefulness and grit. A beautiful book about the loves that shape us and the people who alter our paths. - Emily

Area X: the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux)

The Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture (Melville House)

The publishers of Melville House felt that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's Torture Report was such an important document that they decided to publish it in book form.  The story of that undertaking is inspiring, and the book is required reading for anyone concerned about the misuse of power. This is a necessary book.

The Deep Zoo by Rikki Ducornet (Coffee House Press)

Language, in Rikki Ducornet's hands, is a living and revivifying thing. The essays collected here--lyrical, magical, and occasionally scabrous--are a perfect introduction to the work of one of the singular figures of American letters.   

N.B. She'll be at Books on the Park on February 25, so read it now so you'll have better questions to ask her!   

A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall by Will Chancellor (Harper)

I plunged headlong into Will Chancellor's ambitious debut novel, and it's a remarkable blend of page-turning satire of the art world plus a novel of ideas complete with a cameo by Jean Baudrillard.  A Brave Man Seven Storeys Tall reminds me of The Flamethrowers, with a dash of Saul Bellow's bravado. It's an impressive start to a promising career. - Sparks 

Where the Dead Pause, and the Japanese Say Goodbye by Marie Matsuki Mockett (Norton)

The First Bad Man by Miranda July (Scribner)

Miranda July's first novel, cannot be summed up in just a few words. To say that it is quirky would be diminutive, but that's not to say that it won't overwhelm some readers with its eccentricity. While the plot structure is linear, enabling a fast and engaging read, The First Bad Man explores a myriad of universal themes, often in the most unconventional ways. July introduces us to Cheryl Glickman, a forty-something year old woman whose neuroses have been staunched by maintaining an existence of precise curation. But her carefully constructed world begins to unravel when an unexpected house-guest is thrust upon her. July is a master at creating complex, three-dimensional characters that often teeter on the brink of absurdity, yet remain ultimately sympathetic. The unconventional relationships detailed in the novel offer readers a new prism through which the human condition can be explored and understood. In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, July writes that she would "like to think that when people read it, they'll laugh and cry" and I think that she has achieved this admirably. The First Bad Man is a must-read for 2015.  

N.B. We may still have signed copies left when you receive this email.  Call to confirm if you're interested, as they're going quickly. 415-387-2272 

We don't usually pitch events that are three months away, but last year's inaugural California Bookstore Day was so successful that it's going national, and it was so much fun here that we're preparing to out-fun ourselves this coming May 2.  It's going to be a party. 

There will be 16 books and word-based art pieces that are ONLY for sale on May 2, only at indie bookstores.  We'll carry all 16 items, of course, and we'll host events all day and all night at both stores.  Think "pirates vs. poets," Literary Mad-Libs, art projects with 3 Fish Studios, and many surprises.

As for the books and other items, we'll trickle out details in the coming weeks on Twitter and Facebook and sum them up in a coming email, but rest assured that these are from authors you love, from Chris Ware to Margaret Atwood, from Christopher Moore to Roxanne Gay.

Meanwhile, save May 2, 2015 for some literary fun with your pals at Green Apple Books.