Raging Clouds by Yudori
Books sometimes find me. I was going to the library to pick up some I had ordered and Raging Clouds by Yudori was sitting off to the side of the entrance. I almost didn’t go that way to the checkout desk (I usually go left, not right) but something made me go right. And there it was. Fat, shiny and new. It was shyly facing away from me. And that’s the last time this book was shy. Even the librarian when I checked it out wasn’t […]
Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout
To be honest, I have a lot of books that get misplaced. I put them in safe places and well, they are so safe even I can’t find them. But there is always a way to find them. And with Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout that way was the library and interlibrary loan. A powerful and beautifully done story of family and the horrors of war unfolds across the pages. As it is told via a blackbird, things at times become almost […]
The Sunflowers: Vincent van Gogh's Search for Beauty by Zahra Marwan
As many of you know, I am in the bookselling business. Currently I am behind the scenes, but I occasionally still “hand sell” a book (usually via an email or over the phone, not on the sales floor). And because I am in retail, it might seem odd I would go to the library as I practically have access to any book I want. But sometimes you just have to. I want to see if I would like a book before I buy it, or […]
The Bicycle: How an Act of Kindness Changed a Young Refugee’s Life by Patricia McCormick
I did not read the entire article I had about some new books coming, but it was highlighting summer and bicycles. The list was around half a dozen titles long, all picture books. I figured I could locate copies of most of them. And in fact, was able to find online reader copies for all of them. However, four of them stood out for me. These four were different but still had familiar elements that I found comforting. In The Bicycle: How an Act of […]
Judas: How A Sister's Testimony Brought Down A Criminal Mastermind by Astrid Holleeder
I try hard not to pander as a well-intentioned guy but, man, men suck. Not trying to impress anyone with this very obvious comment. It’s a world created by and dominated by men. I don’t say this to invisibilize the very real gains and sacrifices women and non-cis-men have made in this world. But so often, the worst crimes in humanity originate from the minds and hands of men. I say this because Astrid Holleeder’s very raw memoir about testifying against her brother is not […]
Read for Cannonball Run Bingo. Category: White Whale. The World Cup was on this past summer and anytime I see it, I’m inclined to read more books about soccer. I’m a big sports fan but my interest in soccer really only begun about 12 years ago when, bored out of my mind for the summer of 2006, I watched the World Cup fastidiously. Soccer is now perhaps my fourth favorite sport after baseball, football, and basketball and I’m wearing a New York City FC shirt […]
