| Every Sunday. the San Francisco Chronicle Book Review publishes a list of new books recommended by a Northern California independent bookstore in a feature called TOP SHELF. This is a recent list from the staff at
FICTION
The Ar t Forger by Barbara Shapiro - An interesting "solution" to an actual mystery of stolen paintings at the Gardner Museum with wonderful details of art history. It's entertaining and educational.
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - Have the tissues nearby for this beautiful satisfying read. Be prepared to read it straight through. A wonderful story of a quadriplegic and his caretaker.
The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson - I laughed out loud in this book - a mystery with a little Forrest Gump thrown in.
Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan - A novel set in Paris loosely inspired by the true story of the van Goethem sisters of Montmartre one of whom was the model for 'Little Dancer Age 14' by Degas.
NONFICTION
The Myths of Happiness by Sonja Lyumbomirsky dismantles culturally generated myths of happiness and offers strategies to help people "reach and exceed [their personal] happiness potentials."
The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing by John Perry - Perry realized he was a structured procrastinator: a person who gets a lot done by not doing other things This is a wise, charming, compulsively readable book, with ingenious strategies for getting things done.
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II by Adam Makos - This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies Dec. 1943--the American--2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown, a former farm boy from West Virginia who came to captain a B-17--and the German--2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler, a former airline pilot from Bavaria who sought to avoid fighting in World War II.
Eating Aliens by Jackson Landers - Hunter  and environmentalist Landers has an unorthodox approach to solving the problems caused by invasive species: eat them! It's an entertaining thought provoking adventure book.
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Lawson's memoir Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) also hit the list, fueled no doubt by her raunchy wit, self-deprecating humor, and fearless honesty. If you haven't been exposed to Lawson's humor, this description from Parade magazine offers a clue about what to expect: "Take one part David Sedaris and two parts Chelsea Handler and you'll have some inkling of the cockeyed humor of Jenny Lawson." 
our Variations on Voice by longtime indie bookseller favorite Terry Tempest Williams. It's a unique meditation on family and women's voices that was triggered by the death of Williams' mother, a Mormon who asked her daughter to read her journals after she has passed on. Williams discovers that all the journals are blank, which leads to an exploration of that mystery along with remembrances of her life and considerations of what it means to have a voice.
erance in the City of Love by David Talbot. It's the story of San Francisco in the turbulent years between 1967 and 1982, and it is an absolute page-turner. I bought four copies of this book for gifts last year, and everyone I gave it to loved it. All of us lived in the area during the years in question, and we all knew about the events described in the Season of the Witch - from the rise and fall of the Haight-Ashbury and the People's Temple to the spread of AIDS and the assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.