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Letters to Isabella Stewart Gardner
by Henry James
Pushkin Pr Ltd
Our Price: $17.95
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Alan H. suggests...
These letters are a real treat for anyone who admires Isabella Stewart Gardner and the great museum she created here in Boston, as well as for fans of Henry James. The introductory chapters by Rosella Zorzi and Gardner Museum curator Alan Chong, plus the very extensive footnotes, are a mine of information about not just writer and recipient but the cultural and artistic world of the Gilded Age. We see the author both fascinated by Mrs. Gardner and determined to keep a degree of distance from her flamboyant personality. To be honest, I find her to be the more interesting of the pair and think she led a more interesting life, too. The letters also make it plain that James’s inability or unwillingness to write a simple declarative sentence without several subordinate clauses was by no means confined to his fiction!
Read all of Alan H.'s recommendations
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Cat and Girl: Volume II
by Dorothy Gambrell
Our Price: $15.95
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Alex M. suggests...
You may remember the "Time Traveler's Convention" sponsored by MIT a few years ago; what you may not know: it was inspired by a Cat and Girl comic. Now in its second volume, Cat and Girl combines idealistic twenty-something angst with the cleverness of an offbeat New Yorker cartoon, and the deadpan tone of a slogan t-shirt (worn ironically, of course). With recurrent references to conspicuous consumption, the peculiarities of the internet, performance artist Joseph Bueys, the artifice that is hipster-ism, David Foster Wallace, and the other minutia Gambrell finds tucked away in the corners of our culture, Cat and Girl takes that liberal arts education off the shelf and gives it something to do.
Read all of Alex M.'s recommendations
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Dog Loves Books
by Louise Yates
Alfred a Knopf Inc
Our Price: $16.99
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Amanda N. suggests...
"Dog loved books so much that he decided to open his own bookstore." Oh, for the love of books! Dog's optimistic and heartfelt experience in the book selling business reminds us all of the value of the printed word and its power to captivate our imaginations. A must for the book lovers in your life.
Read all of Amanda N.'s recommendations
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A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and American Experimental Music
by George E. Lewis
Univ of Chicago Pr
Our Price: $25.00
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Andy N. suggests...
A 700+ page book on free jazz is a hard sell even if one is interested
in the subject...but this book is so much more. A much overlooked history
on a group of individuals aching to create not just an art form that is
intimate, but a whole community of freedom and self expression. It is
common knowledge amongst musicians that it is painful at best to keep
communication open in a group of even three bandmates...the AACM has over
thirty. Mr. Lewis, an acomplished musician in his own right and a member
himself, takes the reader through not only the history of the group but
personal dialogues of musicians involved regarding the cultural and
philosophical implications of their new music. This is heady stuff dealing
with everything from the break from Bebop to African American identity to
the power music has over life...perfect for the musician interested in
creating something extraordinary.
Read all of Andy N.'s recommendations
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Portable Grindhouse: The Lost Art of the VHS Box
by Jacques Boyreau
Fantagraphics Books
Our Price: $19.99
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Andy N. and Sam C. suggests...
Yes, the VHS...yes, I rented ILSA: She Wolf of the S.S...No, I'm not proud, but thanks to this book I can now remember that awful night in 9th grade...and oh so much more... For all those who miss the lurid mystery of the VHS box and the questionable wonders it promises...this book is for you... Love-Andy and Sam
Read all of Andy N. and Sam C.'s recommendations
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A High Wind in Jamaica
by Richard Hughes
New York Review of Books
Our Price: $14.00
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Ann M. suggests...
This is a strange and lyrical story about wise children and world-weary pirates. I think you might really like it.
Read all of Ann M.'s recommendations
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Change Has Come: An Artist Celebrates Our American Spirit
by Kadir Nelson
Simon & Schuster
Our Price: $12.99
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Ariel R. suggests...
Kadir Nelson was approached by editors at Simon and Schuster just after the election with the idea for Change Has Come. He began work on the sketches included in this book while he was on tour for Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln, and he completed them in just ten days. Known for his glowing colors and polished paintings, this was the first time I had seen looser sketches by Kadir Nelson. These sketches show all of the skill of his other books, but also have a moving spontaneity. Kadir Nelson captures Obama, as well as the spirit of America at this time, beautifully. Change Has Come is perfect for introducing your child to Barack Obama, or as a gift or keepsake for anyone inspired by this election (and who isn’t?).
Read all of Ariel R.'s recommendations
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Wall and Piece
by Banksy
Random House UK
Our Price: $22.95
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Ben N. suggests...
Self-effacingly clever and brave, Banksy’s Wall and Piece is—well, it’s different. It’s graffiti, it’s performance art, it’s an essay. Banksy takes aim at social constructions, “normal” ideas, propriety, culture. This book is full of powerful thought. Whether or not you agree with any of the statements Banksy paints into existence and shapes into form, the stuff makes you think (and then re-think).
Read all of Ben N.'s recommendations
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The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart
by Jesse Bullington
Orbit
Our Price: $14.99
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Brad L. suggests...
*Warning: *The author of this book is a very, very sick man. Under no circumstances should you let your children anywhere near this book. Brothers Grimm this is not. Now that you have been warned come take a trip with Hegel and Manfried Grossbart, fourth generation grave robbers and heretics extraordinaire, as they wreak havoc from the Holy Roman Empire to the pyramids of Giza. Along the way you’ll meet a cast of curious characters from witches, manticores, pirates and sirens, and even the plague personified. You’ll witness scenes of shockingly senseless violence, hear blasphemies of the most outrageous kind, and experience the Middle ages in a way I’m sure you never imagined.
Read all of Brad L.'s recommendations
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Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer
by Tracy Kidder
Random House
Our Price: $16.00
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Carole H. suggests...
Like John McPhee, Kidder can interest me regardless of his topic. Finally he has a subject whose importance matches his considerable talents: Dr. Paul Farmer, infectious-disease expert, anthropologist, winner of a MacArthur grant, founder of Partners in Health, brilliant and tireless worker in brining health care to the world's poorest people. Farmer understands the political economy of disease and poverty, he believes that radical change is possible and he has proved it with his work in Haiti. The story is fascinating -- awe-inspiring, engrossing, funny and yet deadly serious.
Read all of Carole H.'s recommendations
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Wanted: The Perfect Pet
by Fiona Robertson
Putnam Pub Group
Our Price: $16.99
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Carter H. suggests...
Oh my gosh, this book is adorable. More than anything, Henry wants a dog. More than a trip to the moon, a cowboy costume, even world peace—Henry wants a dog. Not a frog, nope: frogs are boring. Now DOGS, they have personality. They can do tricks. So Henry places an ad in the newspaper: “Wanted: the Perfect Pet, aka A DOG.” But somewhere else there is also a duck who wants more than anything to have a friend. Ignore the boring cover and fall in love with the story about a duck, a boy, and the perfect pet.
Read all of Carter H.'s recommendations
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Asylum: Inside the Closed World of State Mental Hospitals
by Christopher Payne
Mit Pr
Our Price: $39.95
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Christina C. suggests...
On pages 42 and 71, you will find photographs of the Northampton State Hospital. There, when I was 16, my friends and I were threatened with arrest by police who patrolled the decrepit grounds day and night. This monstrously vast facility fascinated us, as it had others who had pried their ways inside to explore not just exam rooms still containing x-rays, mortuaries, underground tunnels, and other mysterious, otherworldly realms of the past, but also simply the time-saturated, crumbling walls. Flip through to find lonely beds, empty theaters, ghostly hallways, numbered graves, dry baths, abandoned medical supplies, and suitcases that never found their way home.
Read all of Christina C.'s recommendations
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The Armies
by Evelio Rosero
New Directions
Our Price: $14.95
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Churchill P. suggests...
This novel is one of the best pieces of fiction that I have read this year. It is the beautiful and sad tale of a retired schoolteacher and his life in Colombia, caught between warring factions who kidnap and murder with no hesitation. As the teacher's village loses touch with its once simple existence, so does his mind lose touch with reality. I could not recommend it more.
Read all of Churchill P.'s recommendations
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Eating Animals
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Little Brown & Co
Our Price: $25.99
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Clare M. suggests...
I would be tremendously disappointed if the majority of people who pick up this book are vegetarians simply seeking validation for their dietary choices, and I bet Foer would be too. As a writer, Foer is renowned for engaging with the darkest truths in human experience in a wholly original manner. In his first nonfiction book, Foer saddles up to one of the most polarizing topics today: eating animals. Despite Foer's self-confessed vegetarianism, he offers narratives from all sides of the debate...factory farmers, animal rights activists, vegetarian ranchers, vegan slaughterhouse architects (you read that correctly). Most importantly, Foer lays the hard facts about factory farming out on the table, so that readers can come to their own fully informed decisions. Articulate, meticulously researched, equally funny and disturbing. Foer gently forces us to face the good/bad reality of consuming animals, in the most digestible way possible.
Read all of Clare M.'s recommendations
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The Post-Office Girl
by Stefan Zweig
Our Price: $14.00
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Erica M. H. suggests...
Impending disaster always feels like it’s on the next page, and I found myself wanting to skip ahead to relieve the tension. Rage, despair, euphoria, and passion all have there place in this novel about the lost generation, and despite being about a specific place (Austria), and a particular time (the early 1920’s), the capitalist, socialist, democratic critique still felt pertinent. Rarely have I read fiction that really turns its gaze fully on the working poor, and gives them a voice; one that’s angry and unapologetic. Read if you want to feel your blood pounding, and your heart racing. Set aside Gatsby and the entitled crowd that populate most of our American 20’s lit, and experience something gritty and bitter. The ending is satisfying in that it’s hard earned, isn’t cheap, and isn’t expected.
Read all of Erica M. H.'s recommendations
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Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
Graphia
Our Price: $9.99
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Erica S. suggests...
Deadened by a self imposed reading list of slogs and shoulds? Let Cashore’s "Graceling" remind you of the engrossing adventures of the books you first loved, and couldn’t get enough of. An afternoon of guilt-free young adult fantasy will enliven your upcoming summer reading list; a well written story, interesting concept, and the ability to make you remember what it’s like to not want to put a book down. Also a fantastic pick for any actual young adult in your life.
Read all of Erica S.'s recommendations
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The Thief
by Megan Whalen Turner
Eos
Our Price: $6.99
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Fiona H-K suggests...
This book (and its sequels) boasts a delicious blend of mystery, fantasy, and adventure. Dragged from the king's dungeon to steal a mythical treasure, Gen sets out on the adventure of his life, accompanied by the king's scholar, a guard, and two young trainees. Their mission is an absolute secret. But Gen has a few secrets of his own... Fans of Percy Jackson will love the mythology of Gen's world, as well as Gen's unique combination of skills and attitude. I can't decide which makes him more of a criminal: his thievery or his personality. Featuring the cleverest plot twists I've ever seen, The Thief is a Newbery Honor book and one of my personal favorites--eclipsed only by the third in the series, The King of Attolia.
Read all of Fiona H-K's recommendations
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Skinny Dip
by Carl Hiaasen
Warner Books
Our Price: $13.99
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Frances H. suggests...
If you wanted to know how crazy people in Florida are, you could either read the newspaper or pick any one of Carl Hiaasen's hilarious bite-sized volumes. The cast of amazingly insane characters in Skinny Dip run the gamut from despicable to achingly endearing, all rendered in neon technicolor, and I swear real life Floridians are more like them than you want to believe. I read this one in two days and wanted to instantly hop on the plane back to the thick air and mosquitoes of my youth.
Read all of Frances H.'s recommendations
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Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
by Grace Paley
Farrar Straus & Giroux
Our Price: $15.00
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Geoff S. suggests...
I wrote this to a friend once: This is the literary equivalent of sitting on a dock watching sailboats drift in & out, across heartless tall buildings, dreaming about picnics you once had under bridges in cities you don’t live in anymore. So this is for when it rains.
Read all of Geoff S.'s recommendations
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Vacation
by Deb Olin Unferth
Pubilshers Group West
Our Price: $22.00
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Jane D. suggests...
Vacation is told in a voice I hadn't read before, and one that kept me up all night reading. It's a mystery why these characters are following each other around their neighborhoods and all over the world and how Deb Olin Unferth can show us familiar things through alien eyes, make us see, somewhat objectively, the bizarre world we're used to. It's funny and sad and you can't tell which is which. I loved every minute of it.
Read all of Jane D.'s recommendations
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Flour: A Baker's Collection of Spectacular Recipes
by Joanne Chang
Chronicle Books Llc
Our Price: $35.00
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Jen C. suggests...
Finally, a cookbook from our own local pastry chef/baker Joanne Chang, owner of Flour Bakery and Myers + Chang! Cambridge recently got our own branch of Flour this spring, right next to MIT, but I’m even more delighted about the release of this cookbook, so I can bake Flour goodies out of my own oven. I’ve been making her wonderful Mock-Oreo cookies and Mock Pop-tarts for several years, since Chang is generous about sharing her recipes with newspapers and magazines. Her recipes are easy to follow, and in the case of the mock oreos and pop-tarts, so much better than the “original” processed versions. I can’t wait to try her Iron-Chef-winning Sticky Buns.
Read all of Jen C.'s recommendations
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Wilson
by Daniel Clowes
Drawn & Quarterly Pubns
Our Price: $21.95
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Jordan P. suggests...
Daniel Clowes has been doing the alienated comic character thing for years, but his latest book and character, Wilson, just might one up anything he has ever done before. Wilson's story is presented as 70+ single page comics with titles like Fat Chicks, Gate 27, and Pure Bliss. Each page is a self-contained part of Wilson's larger narrative, and also a joke, making the book look and read like a series of Sunday comics. Wilson is a total asshole. Total. His unawareness, his self obsession, his blatant douchebaggery, truly are a glory to behold. He is such a perfectly constructed jerk that I worried about my own propensity towards snarky cynicism. I didn't want to identify with this guy, much less one day discover that I had become him. (Yikes!)
Read all of Jordan P.'s recommendations
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The Bible: A Biography
by Karen Armstrong
Grove Press
Our Price: $13.00
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Julia M. suggests...
This book is readable and fascinating. The Judeo-Christian Bible is possibly the text (in all its forms) that has caused the most joy and also the most devastation of any book ever to exist. Armstrong's treatise examines the development of Judaism and eventually Christianity and how individuals and groups have constructed, interpreted and reinterpreted the Bible over the 3,000-odd years of its life. Understanding this history is essential to understanding our Christian-influenced country/world.
Read all of Julia M.'s recommendations
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Waiting for Winter
by Sebastian Meschenmoser
Kane Miller Book Pub
Our Price: $15.99
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Kari P. suggests...
This is my favorite picture book of the year. The artwork is pretty amazing. There is so much implied motion in the seemingly simple lines, and the details are so much fun. (The little bits of stuff stuck on the hedgehog in every picture make me smile.) How can anyone resist the charm of a story that has a sleep-rumpled bear appearing after being awakened by a squirrel and a hedgehog singing sea shanties? Seriously. Just take a look. You won’t regret it. I promise.
Read all of Kari P.'s recommendations
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Breathing Lessons
by Anne Tyler
Ballantine Books
Our Price: $14.95
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Katherine C. suggests...
Breathing Lessons, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1989, is the story of Maggie and Ira, who've been married 28 years, beginning on a road trip that soon veers off course. Maggie is quirky and a little meddlesome and Ira is patient and reserved, and their adventure together is funny and heartwarming. This is one of my all-time favorites that I return to again and again.
Read all of Katherine C.'s recommendations
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Big Box Reuse
by Julia Christensen
Mit Pr
Our Price: $29.95
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Katie L. suggests...
It’s a particular thrill to receive a present that shows the giver knows you well. When a friend gave me this one, it was like she had conjured it out of my psyche. Converting abandoned Wal-Marts into civic centers? Sign me up! But when I sat down with Christensen’s brilliant documentary project, I realized that poetic justice, made material, is only one of many facets to this surprising, timely portrait of America’s landscapes: how corporations have shaped them, and how regular people are reclaiming them. Its multi-dimensionality (including gorgeous, haunting photographs) gives Big Box Reuse broad appeal, making it a wonderful gift for anyone who gets a kick out of: (a) community building (b) environmentalism (c) architecture (d) politics (e) alternative economics (f) sociology (g) beauty (h) inspiration (i) books (j) goodness
Read all of Katie L.'s recommendations
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The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
by Flannery O'Connor
Farrar Straus & Giroux
Our Price: $23.00
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Leah F. suggests...
I am delighted that Brad Gooch's Flannery has endeavored to shine new light on the quirks and brilliance of Flannery O'Connor, one of the century's most unapologetically weird and opinionated fiction writers. But no one can have better insight into the head of the writer than Flannery herself. The Habit of Being, letters first lovingly compiled by O'Connor's friend Sally Fitzgerald, risks a hagiographic tone in its introduction—but this, I'm glad to report, is summarily dismissed by the crackly voice of the letter-writer.
Read all of Leah F.'s recommendations
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Just Kids
by Patti Smith
Ecco Press
Our Price: $27.00
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Lillian D. suggests...
I wouldn’t consider myself a huge Patti Smith fan, but I do love skinny suspenders so I picked up this memoir and was completely blown away. Heading to New York City in the late 1960s with zero money and a small suitcase, she lived off lettuce scraps and by chance met Robert Mapplethorpe in a book store. Just Kids chronicles their extraordinary relationship, her artistic growth,and conversations with Dylan, Hendrix, and Joplin. You’ll meet the characters from the Chelsea Hotel, Warhol’s crew at Max’s Kansas City, and see Smith maintain a determined view of who she wants to become. Absolutely (and I never say this) inspiring, this book details a true artist’s journey and a bittersweet tale of a New York City that is long gone.
Read all of Lillian D.'s recommendations
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Picnics: And Other Outdoor Feasts
by Claudia Roden
Grub Street the Basement
Our Price: $29.95
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Linden M. suggests...
Vegetable dips, cold fish, meat pies, champagne menus, pates, terrines,
galantines, Japanese picnics, Middle Eastern picnics, Southeast Asian
picnics! And if all that (and the other 45 subsections) isn't enough,
Claudia Roden's book "Picnics and Other Outdoor Feasts" contains a section
on primitive ways of cooking to tie everything together at the end. Picnics
and indeed all outdoor feasts are a symbol of all things good in
summertime. They need not be expensive, they are delightful in city and
country, and they are the most charming of social occasions, where you can
just as easily wear a pair of cutoff jeans or a pretty summer dress. Roden,
my favorite coobook writer, seizes all of those components her book, adding
a great deal of historical and global context to the idea of the picnic.
She gives hundreds of recipes, many of which are loose guidelines, allowing
personalization and improvisation in your picnic prep. This book will
inspire your summer.
Read all of Linden M.'s recommendations
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The Slap
by Christos Tsiolkas
Penguin Group USA
Our Price: $15.00
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Lizzy G. suggests...
If you ever came into the Harvard Book Store and felt like you didn’t receive immediate service, I’m sorry. It was because I had sneaked into the stacks to continue furtively reading The Slap. I promise I never read more than like, 3 pages while I was on the clock. So I doubt it affected you too entirely much. Anyway, now I’m done, and instead of feeling sorry for you, the customer, I’m sorry for myself ? because I don’t know when I’ll find another novel that I just can’t put down the same way I couldn’t put this one down. Tsiolkas’ modern-day Australian domestic drama has the literary heft to make the Booker Prize long list, but reads like a guilty pleasure that you want to pass off to your best friend the moment you’re done so you’ll have someone to talk to about it. I haven’t formed such passionate attachments to (or in some cases, vehement dislike for) characters since my 12-year-old self read Black Beauty for the first time. If you’ve ever been frustrated by a prize-winning recommendation that seems stuffy or opaque, then The Slap is your ticket back to the time when reading was so purely enjoyable that you’d secretly stay up past bedtime to keep going. They should sell this thing with batteries for your under-the-covers flashlight.
Read all of Lizzy G.'s recommendations
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Cheever: A Life
by Blake Bailey
Knopf
Our Price: $35.00
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Mark L. suggests...
This terrific book goes immediately to my top shelf of literary biographies. John Cheever lived in endless turmoil with his contradictions—the erudite high school dropout; the closeted bisexual who despised gay men, guilt-ridden, manipulative and rampant in his pursuits; the snob most at ease with workers; a man who idealized husband-and-fatherhood, and an alcoholic compulsively unkind to his children and estranged from his wife. Given a lesser biographer all this could be merely lurid, but Bailey’s clean, low-key style and generous insights tease out the strands of harsh judgment and emollient self-deception in Cheever’s journals, and convincingly trace them into the effort and effect in his stories and novels. I don’t expect to read anything better this year. Brilliant.
Read all of Mark L.'s recommendations
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Why Architecture Matters
by Paul Goldberger
Yale Univ Pr
Our Price: $26.00
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Meagan P. suggests...
'It was a language of masonry, redolent with ornament and detail, emerging from the belief that every building, no matter how private, showed a public presence - that it had an obligation to the street and to anyone who paused before it, whether or not they had reason to walk through its doors.' The passion in Goldberger's sweeping, vivid descriptions gave me goosebumps. Read it. Read it especially if you have never read about architecture before. It inspires the desire to set out on an architectural tour of the world, but like me, you may have to settle with an extensive Google image search.
Read all of Meagan P.'s recommendations
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Light Boxes
by Shane Jones
Penguin Group USA
Our Price: $14.00
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Megan K. suggests...
This short fictitious tale is quite wonderful and very easy (both in content & size) to read & re-read to your heart's content. I would suggest reading this tale of tales once during a long New England winter and then again during a summer heat wave. Why? Because it is very interesting how your hatred towards February changes with the seasons.
Read all of Megan K.'s recommendations
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Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
by Mary Roach
W W Norton & Co Inc
Our Price: $25.95
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Megan S. suggests...
One of my first jobs in high school was working at the gift shop in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville AL. I hated my uniform but I loved learning about space travel, especially the daily lives of the astronauts. In the early days of the Gemini project, you would be stuck in what amounts to the front seat of the car for several days. In the shuttle, you at least had some room to maneuver, but what did you do all day when you weren't doing science stuff? And what if we ever send people to Mars? That's a three year trip in a cramped cabin. Sure, lots of people think about the bravery and heroism of astronauts. But I wanted to know how bad they smelled after a week wearing the same space suit. And how did they go to the bathroom in space? Or wash their hair? And why was their food so gross? Mary Roach shares my fascination apparently. In Packing for Mars, she goes on board with space monkeys, watches video of astronaut auditions, reads archives of isolation experiments and studies of what happens when you put three people in a small room for a week and don't let them change their clothes. She eats meals designed by veterinarians for minimal excretory output. And yes, she visits the center where astronauts train to use the space-commode. As with Stiff and Bonk, her earlier books about death and sex, Roach answers questions most of us aren't quite brave enough to ask. The story is a combination of amazing, hilarious, and amazingly hilarious. The chapter on space bathroom technology alone is worth the price of admission.
Read all of Megan S.'s recommendations
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The Thieves of Manhattan
by Adam Langer
Spiegel & Grau
Our Price: $15.00
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Mike C. suggests...
Ian spends his days serving coffee to successful Manhattanites and his nights writing short stories that he can't get anyone to read, let alone publish. Then a mysterious man makes Ian a business proposition; pass off someone else's novel as his own memoir and achieve the success that's eluded him for so long. The worst thing about this book is the awkward and unnecessary literary slang the narrator uses (Stylish eyeglasses are called "Franzens." It gets old right away.). If you can ignore that, like I did, you'll find The Thieves of Manhattan to be a surprisingly engrossing satire of the modern publishing industry and literary celebrity.
Read all of Mike C.'s recommendations
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The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity
by Mac Barnett
Simon & Schuster
Our Price: $14.99
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Rachel A. suggests...
It's been a long time since I laughed out loud on the T and had people ask "what book are you reading". This is that kind of book! Hearkening back to vintage good ole sleuth novels, Steve Brixton and the nation's most powerful secret agents (librarians – sshhh!) are out to recover a national treasure hiding important secrets. Laughter will ensue as Steve battles baddies and thugs. Fans of The Three Investigators, Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys will love this first installment of The Brixton Brothers.
Read all of Rachel A.'s recommendations
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Weekend Knitting: 50 Unique Projects and Ideas
by Melanie Falick
Stewart Tabori & Chang
Our Price: $18.95
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Rachel C. suggests...
First, an admission: I have not yet made any of the patterns in Weekend Knitting. That being said, I love this book. I just learned to knit, and I picked it up in a frenzy of enthusiasm. Even though I don’t have the skills to tackle most of the projects, it’s been an endless source of inspiration. In fact, there’s almost nothing in here I don’t want to try. And since it contains a mix of difficulties (although admittedly not marked, so be sure to read the instructions all the way through before beginning a project), I’ll be able to grow into it. I plan to start with the backgammon tote on p. 50 (the bag at least is well within my skill set), and I aspire one day to be able to tackle the finger puppets at the end.
Read all of Rachel C.'s recommendations
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Finnikin of the Rock
by Melina Marchetta
Candlewick Pr
Our Price: $18.99
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Regina S. suggests...
I’m maybe a little jaded about epic fantasy, because I’ve read so much of it. Finnikin of the Rock is a delight, though - despite its retreading of a familiar formula, the characters are interesting people, and the journey they take to reach an inevitable conclusion was not at all what I expected. Even when Finnikin is behaving like an idiot (which he does - he is, after all, under a lot of pressure), and Evanjelin seems to have completely lost her mind, I wanted to know what was going to happen to them. If you’re not as jaded as I am, I suspect this journey will be a particularly memorable one.
Read all of Regina S.'s recommendations
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Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists
by Tony Perrottet
Random House Inc
Our Price: $13.95
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Sam C. suggests...
For anyone who's ever wished they could take a holiday back in time, Tony
Perrottet's tale of following in the footsteps of Ancient Roman tourists is
inspired, informative, and frequently hilarious. Writing sections like “The
Olympian Money Machine” and “I ♥ Sparta” , Mr. Perrottet deftly connects
the surprisingly similar travels and travails of the ancient and modern
holidaymaker with wit and panache while making his own grand tour of the
Mediterranean world as it was and is.
Read all of Sam C.'s recommendations
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