THE

1511 South 1500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84105 InkslingerHoliday Issue 2 019 801-484-9100

Good News for the Year Ahead and a Look Back at the Year Past

Our new holiday Inkslinger is chock-full of gift ideas, large and small, Richard Powers—and, from other incredible events we’ve hosted this funny, sad, serious, mysterious.... There are books for people who love year, authors we love from Heather Armstrong to David Sedaris to the earth or Greek drama or history, for those who love art and good Richard Russo, to Christopher McDougal (with his donkey sidekick) fiction and sports. And puzzles. Have you seen our puzzles? There are to Alexander McCall Smith (complete with kilt!), to name but a few. books for adults, for children, and for those in between. Also, please, As gifts, their books are hard to beat, but the memories of their visits save the final six pages of this issue for the time when the frenzy are beyond good—for us and, I’m sure, for all of you who were with of gift-giving is past, and the holidays have drawn to an end. They us for their appearances. are meant to tide you over until spring since, due to circumstances However fraught our world becomes, our hope is that we give you joy beyond our control (joyous circumstances—our Inkslinger designer, and a sense of community at TKE. And may we all have a wondrous Hilary Dudley, will be welcoming her new baby into the world), we holiday season and peace in the New Year. won’t be able to publish a winter Inkslinger in February. Full of books out in January and February, these six pages are our way of insur- ing that even without the winter Inkslinger you’ll have new books on hand when the snow is piled high and you’ve run out of reading. In addition to giving you good news about the books on our over- stuffed shelves, we wanted to look back over the year just ending and give thanks: for the river of good books that flows so ceaselessly, the flood of customers who return week after week bringing friends and family along in their wake, and the parade of authors who’ve visited, enlightened and entertained us: authors we’ve interviewed— from Pam Houston in the spring to Amor Towles in the summer to Christopher Alexander Madeline Miller in the fall, along with (on stage and on tree tour) Richard Powers McDougal McCall Smith

The King’s English Holiday Calendar

Friday, November 29 – Saturday, De- 20% off everything at TKE, enjoy snacks and good cember 7 Shift Your Spending with Local cheer, and meet your favorite local authors with First and save 15% off all week long as new books this year including Pat Bagley and our way of saying thanks for shopping at Jeff Metcalf (see page 2 for details), Will Bagley, 15th & 15th! Katharine Coles, Rod Decker, Stephen Trimble, Saturday, Novem- Amy and Greg Newbold, Lisa Michele Church, ber 30, Small Business Saturday means 20% off Matthew D. LaPlante, Jennifer Adams, Scott Perry, everything ALL DAY!! Christian McKay Heidecker, Dan Schil­ling, Paula Longhurst, and Nicole Tomlin. 11 a.m. Local author Mark Pett will read and sign his Saturday, December 7, 11 a.m. Grow your heart new picture book, I’m Not three sizes with a special appearance by The Millie! Grinch (and a reading, of course). Kids: bring your adults! 6 p.m. Bestselling authors Shannon Hale and Dean Hale will discuss and sign the latest in their Sunday, December 8, 9 a.m. Books & Bagels! Princess in Black transitional reader series, The Betsy, Anne and Margaret will be there to show Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle. Location TBA. you some books they’re excited about for holiday gift-giving and to help match them to the people on your list. Holiday Cheer Abounds! Friday, December 6, 5-7 p.m. Our Annual Holiday Bash! Kick off Free Delivery in Salt Lake! Free Gift Wrap! And we can mail your your holiday season up and down the street at 15th & 15th! Take out-of-state purchases for you too! 20% off from 9 a.m. –12 p.m. See Page 2 for Adult Calendar, Page 3 for Children’s Calendar Beyond Fun for the Holidays!

40 Years with 40 Years with The Great Christ- Bagley, mas Tree Lot Pat Bagley Fiasco, Jeff Metcalf The Great

Bagley is back The Salt Lake Tribune Leave it to the

Bagley’s “Lady Libeerty” is a In addition to being a Beehive with atwenty-five funny foot landmark mural Christmas Tree Lot Metcalf family to State institution, Pat Bagley on Squatters Pub in downtown is the longest continuously- Salt Lake City. It celebrates the Fiasco employed, full-time editorial and fact-filled create an unforget- cartoonist in America, having freedom of the press embodied created over 10,000 cartoons in the U.S. Constitution. in his forty years with The Salt retrospective of table holiday season Lake Tribune. His work And beer. Bagley is syndicated around the globe and has won dozens of his 40 years at in which no one awards, including finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Salt Lake U.S. $19.95 by Pat Bagley gets hurt or goes to Tribune. With jail; at least we don’t his trademark humor, he reminds us about what we love (and Jeff think so! love to complain about) in Utah! – Anne Holman, The Salt Lake Metcalf – Anne Holman, Tribune, $19.95 TKE Ink, $12.95

Adult Calendar of Events November - February

Tuesday, November 19, 7p.m. Add unusual Monday, November 25, 7:30 p.m. U of U law travel destinations to your bucket list as Patricia professor Amos Guiora will discuss and sign his Schultz discusses and signs 1,000 Places to See new book, Populist and Islamic Challenges for Before You Die: The World as You Have Never International Law. Seen It Before. Friday, November 29 Wednesday, November 20, – Saturday, December 7 p.m. Artist and designer 7 Shift Your Spending Maya Lin will deliver a lec- with Local First and ture entitled “At the Intersection of Art and Ar- save 15% off all week chitecture” at the University of Utah’s Kingsbury as our way of saying thanks for shopping at 15th & 15th! Hall as part of the Tanner Humanities Center’s Saturday, November 30 ALL DAY!! Shop at Tanner Lectures on Human Values. This is a free TKE and all of your favorite local merchants as event but tickets are required and can be found part of Small Business Saturday. At TKE receive a at Tickets.utah.edu. 20% discount all day! Wednesday, November 20, 7 p.m. Longtime fly Friday, December 6, 5:30-7 fisherman Quinn Grover will discuss and sign p.m. Our Annual Holiday Wilderness of Hope: Fly Fishing and Public Bash! Kick off your holiday season up and down Lands in the American West. the street at 15th & 15th! Take 20% off everything Thursday, November 21, at TKE, enjoy snacks and good cheer, and meet 7 p.m. Sadie Hoagland will your favorite local authors with new books this read from and sign her new year including Pat Bagley and Jeff Metcalf (see above), Will Bagley, collection of stories, Ameri- Katie Coles, Rod Decker, Stephen Trimble, Amy and Greg Newbold, can Grief in Four Stages. Lisa Michele Church, Matthew D. LaPlante, Jennifer Adams, Scott Friday, November 22, Perry, Christian McKay Heidecker, Dan Schil­ling, Paula Longhurst 7 p.m. University of Utah and Nicole Tomlin. professor and local favorite Sunday, December 8, 9-11 a.m. Books and Ba- Jeff Metcalf will read from gels! Enjoy bagels and coffee while King’s English and sign his new novel, booksellers Margaret, Anne, and Betsy present Wacko’s City of Fun Carnival. books for holiday giving. We’ll wrap and mail for Saturday, November 23, you, too! 4 p.m. Eleni Saltas will sign Wednesday, January 1, ALL her debut cookbook, All You DAY. It’s our annual New Year’s Day Sale! Take Can Greek. 25% off all the books (and everything else) on the shelves.

Don’t miss our annual New Year’s Day Sale, Wednesday, January 1, ALL DAY! Adult Calendar of Events November - February

Thursday, January 16, Thursday, February 6, 7 p.m. Jennifer Tyler Lee 7 p.m. Erin Morgenstern, bestselling author of will discuss and sign her new cookbook, Half the The Night Circus, will read from and sign her Sugar, All the Love. new novel, The Starless Sea. Event location TBA. Thursday, February 13, 7 p.m. Robert Lopez Tickets for this event can be purchased on Event- and Patricia Smith will read from and sign their brite.com and include a copy of The Starless Sea. works as part of the University of Utah’s Guest Thursday, January 16, Writers Series. This event will take place at Finch 7 p.m. Authors Kimiko Lane Gallery, 54 Finch Lane. Hahn and Lindsay Lusby Thursday, February 20, 7 p.m. Author and will read from and sign their historian, Ibram Kendi, will discuss and sign his works, Brain Fever & Toxic Flora and Cateche- new book, How To Be an Antiracist. sis: A Postpastoral, as part of the University of Utah’s Guest Writers Series. This event will take Thursday, February 20, place at Finch Lane Gallery, 54 Finch Lane. 7 p.m. Katherine Arden will read from and sign Wednesday, January 29, her novel, The Bear and 7 p.m. Local poets Lance the Nightingale. This event Olsen and Melanie Rae Thon will read from and will take place at the Provo sign their poetry collections, My Red Heaven Library at Academy Square, 550 North Univer- and The Bodies of Birds& The 7th Man, respec- sity Ave. tively. Friday, February 21, 7 p.m. Thursday, January 30, Dr. John Florsheim will 7 p.m. Jacqueline Balder- read from and sign his nonfiction book, Lost rama will read from and and Found: Young Fathers in the Age of Unwed sign her chapbook, Nectar Parenthood. and Small. Monday, February 3, 7 p.m. Poets Don Bogen and Paisley Rekdal, who is our Utah Poet Laure- ate, will read from and sign their works as part of the Westminster Poetry Series. This event will take place at the Kim T. Adamson Alumni House, 1840 South 1300 East. Kids and Young Adults Events Calendar

Saturday, November 30, 11 a.m. Local will read and sign her new picture book, author and illustrator Mark Pett will read and The Tale of Tiger Slippers. This event is sign his new picture book, I’m Not Millie! free and open to the public and will take Saturday, November place at Providence Hall Elementary 30, 6 p.m. Author duo, School at 4795 West Patriot Ridge Drive, Shannon Hale and Herriman. Dean Hale, will read Saturday, Decem- from and sign The ber 14, 6 p.m. Neal Shusterman will read from Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle. and sign the finale in the Young AdultScythe Location to be announced. trilogy, The Toll. Tickets can be found at Event- Saturday, December 7, brite.com and include a copy of The Toll. 11 a.m. Bring the entire Tuesday, January 14, 7 family for our annual reading of How the p.m. Local author Tiana Grinch Stole Christmas, with a visit from The Smith will read from and Grinch himself! sign her new YA novel, Friday, December 13, 5-8 p.m. Favorite chil- How to Speak Boy. This dren’s book author and illustrator, Jan Brett, event will take place at the Provo Library at Academy Square, 550 North University Ave.

3 Extravagant and Extraordinary Books for Holiday Giving by Betsy Burton

Women: Take Note of nature, all rich in ideas, colorful, and chock-full of facts, while in David In this, the era of the #MeToo move- Yarrow Photography: Americas Africa ment, books about trailblazing women Antarctica Arctic Asia Europe (David make perfect gifts for the feminist in Yarrow, foreword by Tom Brady, Riz- your life and for those who love them. zoli, $95) its photographs of animals Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter in the wild in are mesmerizing and Chelsea Clinton’s The Book of Gutsy magnificent. Equally mesmerizing and Women: Favorite Stories of Courage vivid, though gut-wrenching in the and Resilience (Simon & Schuster, $35), extreme, is National Geographic the evocative tales of the amazing women Photo Ark Vanishing: The World’s Most Vulnerable Animals (Joel who inspired this famous mother/ Sartore, foreword by Elizabeth Kolbert, National Geographic, $40), daughter duo—from (to name a few) a gallery of threatened species, many of which still exist only by the Rachel Carson and Chimamanda Ngozi to Wangari Maathai and grace of scientists and conservationists. Malala Yousafzai, Harriet Tubman to Mary Beard—is one wonderful example. Another is Smithsonian American Women: Remarkable Cats of domestic varieties are nowhere Objects and Stories of Strength, Ingenuity, and Vision from the Na- more elegantly presented than in tional Collection (Smithsonian Institu- Walter Chandoha. Cats. Photographs tion, foreword by Jill LePore, edited by 1942–2018 (edited by Susan Michals Victoria Pope and Christine Schurm). and Reuel Golden, Taschen, $50), a Throw in a copy of Lindy West’s formi- paean to domesticated felines that is dable and funny cultural critique, The as sophisticated in its humor and as Witches Are Coming (Hachette, $27), sleek in its lighting and line as Helmut Margaret Atwood’s Booker Award-win- Newton’s work, and something any cat ning novel The Testaments (Nan Talese, lover (every family has at least one) will $28.95), or Gail Collins’ smart and treasure. Finally, speaking of species, readable No Stopping Us Now (Little, a book already flying off our shelves is Brown, $30), each or every one perfect The Art of the Bird: The History of -Or for the emancipated women in your life. nithological Art Through Forty Artists(Roger Lederer, University of Chicago, $35), a lavishly conceived and gloriously colorful testament The Environment in Living to the ways in which the intense observation inherent in both art and Color, Endangered and Oth- science reveal the mysteries of the natural world. Magnificent! Mag- erwise nificent also describes the sumptuous This is also the year we’re going tome Mountains: By Magnum Photog- green (and God knows we’d raphers (Nathalie Herschdorfer, Pietro better!), protecting the land, Giglio, Prestel, $60), while the word fighting for it, living joyfully on magisterial perhaps better epitomizes it, submerging ourselves in its Emmet Gowin and Robert Adams’ beauty with the help of two large heartbreaking The Nevada Test Site and lavish new books on our (Princeton, $49.95), a book that bears parks, Treasured Lands: A Photographic Odyssey Through America’s shocking witness to the moonscapes National Parks, Second Expanded Edition (QT Luong photographer, created in our beloved West by 40 years foreword by Dayton Duncan, Terra Galleria, $65) and Jon Water- of atomic bombs and radioactive waste. man’s equally lovely and informative National Geographic Atlas of Finally, for the truly daring, there are the National Parks (National Geographic, $65). Add a paperback such diverse and dazzling books as Cam copy of Terry Tempest Williams’ The Nonan’s Wanderlust USA: The Great Hour of Land: A Personal Topography American Hike (Gestelten, $50) and of America’s National Parks (Picador, America’s Great Mountain Trails: 100 $19) and you’ll have a seminal way to Highcountry Hikes of a Lifetime (Tim plan or savor your experience in our Palmer, foreword by Jamie Williams, most precious national treasures. Rizzoli, $50). And, for those who don’t Or, if you have a yen to wander further suffer vertigo,Climbing Rock: Vertical afield, Patricia Schultz’s1,000 Places Explorations Across North America to See Before You Die (Deluxe Edi- (photographs by Jesse Lynch and Fran- tion): The World as You’ve Never Seen cois Lebeau, foreward by Peter Croft, It Before (Artisan, $50) is a trove of Rizolli, $50) and Great Cycling Climbs: The French Alps (Graeme travel temptations, many in the world Fife, photographer, Peter Drinkell, Thames & Hudson, $39.95) will provide a welcome adrenaline rush for the holidays. Whew! 4 Extravagant and Extraordinary Books for Holiday Giving

How Wide the Sky A masterful match to those with rever- ence for the old masters is provided by Visual Galaxy: The Ultimate Guide to any one of the three magnificent new the Milky Way and Beyond (foreword volumes (or, for the gift of the cen- by Chris Hadfield, National Geographic, tury, all three) on the Dutch master: $50) is a deep dive into the past, pres- Rembrandt. The Self-Portraits (Volker ent, and future of our home galaxy, the Manuth and Marieke de Winkel, Milky Way. Spectacular photographs Taschen, $70) which contains over 80 are converted into interpretive graph- works that not only reveal the artist ics, starting with the sun and moving himself from every possible perspec- outward into space where stars are tive but also complex variations in light born, black holes lurk, and planets of and angle, palette and patina as his art diverse size and anatomy spin through matured; Rembrandt. The Complete Drawings and Etchings (Erik their orbits. Detailed maps and fascinating imagery from recent space Hinterdingand, Peter Schatborn, Taschen, $200) which provides, missions make this the gift of the year for amateur astronomers. through 708 drawings and 314 etchings, a stunning reflection on the Consider also, Light from the Void: Twenty Years of Discovery with keen eye and depth of emotion that underlie all his work; and lastly, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory (Kimberly K. Arcand, Grant Rembrandt. The Complete Paintings (Volker Manuth, Marieke de Tremblay, Megan Watzke, Belinda J. Winkel, Rudie van Leeuwen, Taschen, $200) which reveals the master Wilkes, Smithsonian, $45) which show- in all his glory, the intricacies of line, of light and shadow, each cases rarely-seen celestial phenomena subject’s individual presence emerging such as black holes, planetary nebulae, through Rembrandt’s superb renderings galaxy clusters, gravitational waves, stel- of expression and of the trappings of lar birth and death. Images start close power. Finally, in Leonardo da Vinci: to home and move from the Chandra Complete Paintings Revised (Pietro C. launch outward into the solar system, Marani, Abrams, $100), every known through a nearby universe, and finally painting is discussed and analyzed, on to the most distant galaxies. Just the glorious color plates have been imagine.... refreshed, and three previously unat- Life as Art, Art as Life tributed paintings have been added in Our art shelves at TKE are jampacked a book every art connoisseur should with a myriad of lavish books on in- have—while, for those who prefer the dividual artists from Rothko to Rem- masters of later centuries, Basic Art Series: TEN in ONE: Impres- brandt to Rusty Brown, Basquait to Kurt sionism (Taschen, $40) provides, in provocative text and magnificent Beers. Match a taste for the modern color, the art and lives of Cézanne, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Monet, with Mark Rothko: The Exhibitions at Renoir, Rousseau, Seurat, Toulouse-Lautrec, and van Gogh. Pace by Arne Glimcher (Callaway Arts Whether in the form of graphic and Entertainment, $125), a compre- novels, comic books, comic strips, hensive look at the prolific Rothko’s or minimal realism, books de- early modernist work and the way it signed for graphic art fans abound widens and deepens into abstraction on our shelves at TKE from Chris with his unprecedented use of color. Or, there’s the memorable War­ Ware’s Rusty Brown (Pantheon, hol on Basquiat: The Iconic Re­lationship Told in Andy’s Warhol’s $35), a brilliant new graphic Words and Pictures (edited by Michael Dayton Hermann, Reuel novel telling complex, interactive, Golden and The Andy Warhol Founda- thought-provoking stories, to The tion for the Visual Arts, Taschen, $70), Art of Nothing: 25 Years of Mutts an electrifying look at a complex and and the Art of Patrick McDonnell (Lynda Barry, commentator, intriguing partnership between two Abrams, $40) showcasing McDonnell’s years of comic strip (Mutts) groundbreaking artists, seen through and children’s book illustrations, graphic works beloved by fans of photographs of both these two art- all ages and walks of life. These are books to remember at gift-giving ists and their art. Fascinating. Finally, times. As, for the aficionados of the art of design on the internet, is Kurt Beer’s 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow Web Design. The Evolution of the Digital World 1990–Today (Rob (Thames and Hudson, $60) features Ford and Julius Wiedemann, Taschen, $50) which explores the visual cutting-edge, often eye-popping work and technological advances of web design in rich graphic detail from from the finest emerging sculptors 1998 to the eye-popping present. worldwide.

5 Extravagant and Extraordinary Books for Holiday Giving

Art Onstage: the Worlds of Music, garet; and the stunning The Style of Movement: Fashion & Dance Dance, and Film (Ken Browar, foreword by Deborah Ory Valentino, introduction by Pamela Golbin, Rizzoli, $75) is a marriage of style and movement, as For the Love of Music: A Conductor’s intriguing as it is glamorous. Guide to the Art of Listening (John Mauceri, Knopf, $25.95) by a protégé The Written Word: Biography/ of Leonard Bernstein is a wonderful Memoir/Letters exploration of the birth and global Sontag: Her Life and Work (Benjamin spread of what we now know as classical Moser, Ecco, $39.99) is the definitive music, and the ways in which this music portrait of Susan Sontag, who wrote evokes emotion and expresses mean- on everything from art to politics, ing to all who listen. And speaking of feminism and homosexuality to ce- listening, Listening for America: Inside lebrity and style, medicine and drugs, the Great American Songbook from to radicalism and fascism, and whose Gershwin to Sondheim (Rob Kapilow, formidable intelligence and vocal public Liveright, $39.95) brings to life songs by the composers of the great activism made her definer-in-chief of American songbook from Jerome Kern to Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin American culture. One of the literary to Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers to Leonard Bernstein and Stephen events of the year. As is Think, Write, Sondheim, music beloved by millions (including my parrot, Bartok!); Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the and Country Music: An Illustrated History (Dayton Duncan and Editor (Vladimir Nabokov, edited by Brian Boyd and Anastasia filmmeister Ken Burns, Knopf, $55), a colorful and wildly enter- Tolstoy, Knopf, $30) which spans the years from 1921 to 1977 when taining companion to the amazing PBS special by the same name, Nabokov grew from a fledgling poet and reviewer in Berlin to a virtually sings with the iconic music of vocalists from Hank Williams world-famous novelist and essayist in America—ever alert to detail to Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton to Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash to Merle and nuance, ever a master of the written word. As, in a different way, Haggard (who knew they shared a jail cell?); while Morning Glory was Ralph Ellison, who in The Selected Letters of Ralph Ellison: A on the Vine: Early Songs and Draw- Life in Letters (edited by John F. Callahan and Marc C. Conner, Ran- ings (Joni Mitchell, Houghton Mifflin dom House, $50) reveals himself to have been in private as skilled Harcourt $40) faithfully reproduces an and acute an observer as he was in public, not surprising in one of exquisite hand-crafted book contain- America’s great novelists, critics, and ing hand-written lyrics and poems, scholars. And last but hardly least, the illustrated with Mitchell’s drawings. At ever-entertaining, multitalented Cole the other end of the spectrum Music: Porter further captivates us all with The A Subversive History (Ted Gioia, Basic Letters of Cole Porter (edited by Cliff Books, $35) tells the tales of outsiders Eisen and Dominic McHugh, Yale Uni- and rebels whose names have been sup- versity, $35), in which he corresponds pressed or forgotten but whose music with everyone from Irving Berlin and often seeded mainstream music—and, Cary Grant to Orson Welles, thus tak- in a category by itself, Guitar: The ing us into the worlds of Broadway, World’s Most Seductive Instrument celebrity and gay cultures—and into the (David Schiller, Workman, $35) is a mind and heart of one of the world’s slip-cased wonder of legend, lore, and most dazzling and delightful songwrit- full-color photographs of 200 famous guitars, a must-have for anyone ers. and everyone who loves the guitar, its music or its history. The Written Word Illustrated: Jerome Robbins, by Himself: Selections from His Letters, Jour- Fantasy and Horror nals, Drawings, Photographs, and an Unfinished Memoir (Jerome Robbins and Amanda Vaill, Knopf, For writers of speculative fiction, few $40) showcases a man for all seasons, books are as beloved as Dune, which a choreographer extraordinaire who won the first Nebula Award. A new created the vernacular of American hardcover edition, brilliantly illustrated, ballet, helped shape the New York City Dune: Deluxe Edition (Frank Herbert, Ballet, and re-invented Broadway (“The Ace, $40) reimagines in vivid color King and I,” “Gypsy,” “Fiddler on the the desert planet Arrakis and peoples Roof...”); while the utterly entertaining it with shadowy presences, making The Movie Musical! (Jeanine Basinger, this the ideal gift for lovers of science Knopf, $45) features such stars as Fred fiction, as, for those whose speculative Astaire and Gene Kelly, Shirley Temple taste runs more to the gothic, does The and Judy Garland, Elvis and Ann Mar- New Annotated H.P. Lovecraft: Beyond

6 Extravagant and Extraordinary Books for Holiday Giving

Arkham (H.P. Lovecraft, edited by Leslie S. Klinger, introduction vegan, and gluten-free times. Another publishing sensation in the by Victor LaValle, Liveright, $39.95). This final volume of the 2014 culinary world is America’s Test Kitchen Twentieth Anniversary TV annotated edition reanimates 25 short stories and, like its predeces- Show Cookbook: Best-Ever Recipes from the Most Successful Cook- sor, is rich with eye-opening annotations and rare images to tease the ing Show on TV (America’s Test Kitchen, $40), the newest book from imagination. One final suggestion for TV’s longest-running and most popular public television show, full of an ideal book to stir the imagination must-have new recipes and commentary from the show, all with the is Archipelago: An Atlas of Imagined color and clarity we’ve come to expect from another kitchen staple. Islands (edited by Huw Lewis-Jones, Groundbreaking in culinary circles is Thames and Hudson, $35), a glorious American Cuisine: And How It Got paean to imaginary islands (such as that This Way (Paul Freedman, Liveright, discovered by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson $39.95), hailed by critics as an impec- Crusoe) in which a host of international cably researched look at our cuisine illustrators have imagined a fabulous and its place in the culinary firmament. archipelago of invented islands sure to Freedman traces the regional roots beguile the illustrators, cartographers, of our cuisine and decries the plague and dreamers in your life. of food industrialization, creating in Interpreting the Past the process an exciting picture of food In The Lost Art of Scripture: Rescuing in our country. Groundbreaking in the Sacred Texts (Karen Armstrong, another way is James Beard award- Knopf, $35) the Quran, Torah, and winning food writer Michael Ruhlman’s Bible, all too often coopted by funda- lavishly illustrated From Scratch: 10 Meals, 175 Recipes, and Dozens mentalists who insist on literal interpre- of Techniques You Will Use Over and Over (Michael Ruhlman, tations, were, according to Armstrong, Abrams, $40), which looks at 10 favorite meals—everything from originally meant to be tools used to en- roast chicken to paella to the perfect omelet—adding imaginative and able the reader to connect with the di- savory complexity to each, creating whole new meals, side dishes or vine. Her fresh take on the sacred is il- variations for leftovers. luminating in many ways, among them A Little Bit of This, a Little Bit of the similarities that may help us bridge That our differences. As always her work is For the gardener in your life, The Tulip: profound and inspiring. Inspiring in Twentieth Anniversary Edition (Anna a different way isWorld War II: Infographics (Jean Lopez, Nicolas Pavord, Bloomsbury, $60), a bible of Aubin, Vincent Bernard, and Nicolas Guillerat, foreword by Jonathan earthly delights newly reissued and Fenby, Thames and Hudson, $40). This book provides an innovative lavishly illustrated and updated, not and utterly imaginative way to deliver the facts of war, WWII in this only contains the fascinating history case, using graphic art to pursue and connect over 60 themes from of the tulip, but also provides up-to- the Nazi concentration camp system to Operation Barbarossa to the date facts about the newest and best American operation in the Pacific. Fascinating to consider, stunning varieties to dream about planting in to look at, this is the perfect gift for the armchair historian. As isFDR your slumbering flowerbeds while your at War Boxed Set: The Mantle of Command, Commander in Chief, partner dreams his or her own way through the pages of NFL 100: and War and Peace (Nigel Hamilton, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, A Century of Pro Football (National Football League, edited by Rob $75). The definitive three-volume history that FDR did not live to Fleder, foreword by Peyton Manning, Abrams, $50), perusing its write, this is the story of World War II from his perspective, showing infographics and statistics, its photographs of famous players, reading his mastery of strategy, his vision, and how he overcame resistance the NFL’s history—or perhaps browses through the lavishly illustrated from Churchill along with many in his own country. and informative The Story of Tools: A Celebration of the Beauty and Creating a Delectable Present Craftsmanship Behind the Tools of Handmade Trades (Hole & Cor- No kitchen is complete without Joy ner, Pavilion, $32.50), covets the Lamborghinis and Alpha Romeos, of Cooking, so what better gift than the Jensen FFs or Porsche 918 Spyders in Beautiful Machines (edited Joy of Cooking: 2019 Edition Fully by Gestalten and Blake Z. Rong, preface by Jan Baedeker, Gestalten, Revised and Updated (Irma S. Rom- $69) or the ’62 Corvettes, ’57 Thunderbirds, 1930 Bimmers, the ’64 bauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, Ethan Shelby Cobras, Tesla Model Xs, or Aston Martin Vulcans in 100 Becker, John Becker, Megan Scott, Dream Cars: The Best of “My Ride” (A.J. Baime, foreword by Mario Scribner, $40) to replace the battered, Andretti, Rizzoli, $45). Just hope he or she doesn’t ask for one of the food-stained copy in your pantry? Tried above for Christmas or Hanukkah! Speaking of which, Happy Holi- and true recipes are retried, retasted, days to all and to all a good night! and in some cases revised, and over 600 new recipes have been added to keep up with our nutrition-based, quick-cooked, vegetarian, 7 Stocking Stuffers: Short Takes

Migrations: Open Hearts, Open Joy: 100 Poems, edited by Christian Wiman Borders: The Power of Human Mi- Ranging from Emily Dickinson to Mahmoud gration and the Way That Walls and Darwish and from Sylvia Plath to Wendell Bans Are No Match for Bravery and Berry, the diverse and provocative works Hope Wiman brings together are a kind of counter Sending a powerful message about to the old, modernist maxim “light writes human migration, more than 50 art- white”—no agony, no art. A timely reminder ists have created postcards curated by of the essential role joy plays in human life. the International Centre for the Picture Book in Society. Images and – Yale, $20 words from South Africa and Sweden, Chile and the Czech Republic, Leonardo da Iran and Indonesia—more than 25 countries in all—are now gath- Vinci’s Flying ered into a stunning keepsake volume that is the perfect gift in this Machines Kit: Paper Airplanes Based dark time. – Candlewick, $17.99 on the Great Master’s—Sketches That Classic Krakauer, Jon Krakauer Really Fly, Andrew Dewar Fans of Krakauer will enjoy this trip through Among the most unusual of stocking some of his most famous pieces previously stuffers, this remarkable new collection published only in magazines. Caving in New of paper plane models by renowned Mexico, riding the Maverick, a catastrophic paper artist Andrew Dewar presents replicas of 13 of da Vinci’s most avalanche on Everest and wilderness therapy famous aviation inventions—most of which actually fly! In addition gone bad, are just a few of the experiences to detailed instructions, colorful diagrams, and sturdy pop-out paper Krakauer describes. His storytelling skills pieces, this comes complete with launcher! – Tuttle, $14.99 shine in these stories. Great stocking stuffer. Peculiar Questions and Practical Answers: A – Margaret Brennan Neville, Random, $15 Little Book of Whimsy and Wisdom from the Be More RBG: Speak Files of the New York Public Library, New Truth and Dissent with Supreme Style, York Public Library, illustrated by Marilyn Easton Barry Blitt Whether you feel like your dream career is They say that curiosity killed the cat but a million miles away, you’re struggling with sometimes it can tickle the funny bone in- your gym routine, or you want to change the stead in these whimsically illustrated cartoon world but don’t know how to start, ask your- illustrations featuring the odd and sometimes self: What would RBG do? Then find the -an beyond unusual questions encountered by swers in Be More RBG, which is full of witty the staff of the New York Public Library. and wise quotes from Associate Supreme Examples? “What kind of apple did Eve eat?” or “How many neurotic Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and tongue-in-cheek advice for people are there in the U.S.?” or “Does anyone have a copyright on every situation. – DK, $9.99 the bible?” – Griffin, $18.99 Pocket Queer Wisdom: Inspirational Quotes Who Said That?: Take the Quote Quiz Chal- and Wise Words from Queer Heroes Who lenge, Owen Frank Changed the World, Hardie Grant Sitting around with nothing to do? One liners WorldPride was held in the United States in by everyone from Rene Descartes to Patti 2019! These portraits and pearls of wisdom Smith, Mother Theresa to Charlie Brown to from the likes of Freddie Mercury, Virginia Mohammed Ali—along with a multitude of Woolf, Laverne Cox, Harvey Milk, and Audre different ways to play the game—make this Lorde mark the 50th anniversary of the the perfect way to while away a snowy winter Stonewall Uprising and a half-century of LG- evening. – Workman, $9.95 BTQIA+ liberation. – Hardie Grant, $9.99 Cats Are the Worst, Elemental Haiku: Poems to Honor the Peri- Bexy McFly, Megan odic Table, Three Lines at a Time, Lynn Kott Mary Soon Lee Watercolors and humor illustrate cat-attitude Perfect for scientists, poets, or anyone with a at its worst (or best), perfect for anyone sense of humor these short, pithy lines such blessed (or plagued) with cats in their lives. as: “Nickel, Ni: Forged in fusion’s fire/flung – Chronicle, $14.95 out from supernovae./Demoted to coins are both whimsical and memorable. – Tenspeed, $14.99 8 Stocking Stuffers: Short Takes

And finally, for those who just need to CALM And some great nonfiction: DOWN, 52 Lists for Calm: Journaling Inspi- The Library Book, Susan Orlean, Simon & ration for Soothing Anxiety and Creating a Schuster, $16.99 Peaceful Life, Moorea Seal, helps you to do just that! – Sasquatch, $16.95 On Desperate Ground, Hampton Sides, Anchor, $17 Here’s a list of a few favorite novels, all new in paper, which would be welcome in the stock- Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know, Colm ings (or mittens) of any booklover: Tóibín, Scribner, $18 The Overstory, American Dialogue, Joseph Ellis, Vintage, Richard Powers, Norton, $18.95 $17 Warlight, Michael Ondaatje, Vintage, $16.95 Virgil Wander, Leif Enger, Grover Press, $17 Bridge of Clay, Marcus Zusak, Random House Children’s, $26

WHAT OUR BOOK CLUBS ARE READING NOW All are open to the public and meet at the bookshop unless otherwise noted.

ROZ READS! Cost: $10 per evening paid to Roz. Last Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m. SLC LESBIAN See www. rozreads.com for details 1st Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m. December 2, 3, 4: Warlight, Anderson-Foothill Library, basement Michael Ondaatje meeting room. January 27, 28, 29: Sula, For more information, contact slc.lesbian. Toni Morrison [email protected] February 24, 25, 26: So Long, See You January: Break - No book club Tomorrow, William Maxwell February: Tell It to the Bees, Fiona Shaw BRIAN SHORT X-NEWMAN 2nd Tuesday of the month, 7 p.m. New members welcome! November: Duped: Double Lives, False Contact Ken at [email protected]. Identities, and the Con Man I Almost December: Before We Were Yours, Lisa Married, Abby Ellin Wingate December: Disappearing Earth, Julia Phillips (this month we are meeting YA & WINE at a member’s home; email JoAnn at 2nd Wednesday of the month, 7 p.m. [email protected] for directions). Please contact Sarah Cleverley ([email protected]) POETRY or Krysti Meyer (krystimuggle@gmail. 4th Tuesday of the month, 7 p.m. com). Contact Trudy for more information at November: Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo [email protected] December: The Afterlife of Holly Chase, January: Conflict Resolution for Holy Cynthia Hand Beings, Joy Harjo February: Catalog of Unabashed Grati- tude, Ross Gay March: Incarnadine, Mary Szybist

9 FICTION

The Testaments, Margaret Atwood interesting people and a beautiful barrel-racing cowgirl who steals The Handmaid’s Tale sent readers into his heart. But no sooner has the carnival pulled into Cheyenne than shock. As women’s rights were eroded things begin to go sideways. You might ask where this story, by turns and then taken away completely in the tender and hilarious, comes from; although written as a novel, many, renamed land of Gilead, leaving them if not all, of these events actually transpired! – Anne Holman, TKE with no function but procreation, we Ink, $17.95 Editor’s Note: Come and hear Jeff tell the story himself on asked ourselves, Could such a thing hap- Friday, November 22 at 7 p.m. pen here? Unsettling to read in the 1980s The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead when the book first came out, now, nearly It is the early 1960s and nothing can save 35 years later, in a time of massive, fright- Elwood Curtis from the Nickel Academy. ening change, for many of us who can’t It is no surprise that Whitehead (The see a path forward, it seems as if all of us Underground Railroad) has taken on an- are headed into some Gilead-like wilder- other tough subject. He based the Nickel ness. The Testaments, Atwood’s sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, pro- Academy on the infamous Dozier School vides a beacon in this dark time. Three women—one, the daughter of for Boys, a reform school in Florida that an escapee who’s been living in Canada; the second the daughter of a murdered more than 100 children and Gilead commander; the third the leader of the “aunts,” the group of abused more kids than history will know women who hold power in Gilead, insuring the subjugation of their or admit. Raised by his grandmother, sisters—have all left records of a time when Gilead’s iron grip on its Curtis has been kept on the straight and citizens is slowly eroding and hope is beginning to blossom. A blis- narrow and had planned on attending a tering read that swings the reader from hope to fear and back again, small black college. He is completely unprepared for the horrors of The Testaments is impossible to put down and, once finished, fodder the Nickel Academy which, like the rest of the southern U.S., is seg- for thought and much discussion. We have a group forming at the regated, its treatment of the black kids worse than vicious. In the face store for just such a discussion, many other book groups are choosing of evil, Elwood tries to hang onto his hope for a future. But this is Jim it, and customers come into the store wanting to talk to about it with Crow America. Although he manages to survive the academy and re- booksellers—something we are always thrilled to do. I for one loved main somewhat hopeful, for the rest of his life Elwood is haunted by The Testaments and am giving it to everyone I know. – Betsy Burton, that evil and the moral failure called the Nickel Academy. This novel Nan Talese, Doubleday, $28.95 Editor’s note: Margaret Atwood shared haunts me still. – Margaret Brennan Neville, Random House, $24.99 this year’s Booker Prize with Bernardine Evaristo. Frankissstein, Jeanette Winterson Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout During her stay in a dank and dreary In her sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-win- house on Lake Geneva, 19-year-old Mary ning Olive Kitteridge, Strout brilliantly Shelly is inspired to write the story of a weaves together Olive’s narrative as an scientist who creates a new life. Her tale 80-year-old with that of her community’s, is told alongside Ry’s, a young transgen- capturing moments of natural beauty der scientist in Brexit-era Britain who is even while dealing with its very human falling in love with Victor Stein, an AI stories. This book is, quite simply, a mas- mogul leading a very public debate about terpiece. “I do not have a clue who I have artificial intelligence who is also perform- been,” is the thought Strout leaves readers ing some questionable experiments of with. I may not know myself, but I know his own in an underground laboratory. a great novel when I read one! – Margaret Stylistically evoking her earlier beloved Brennan Neville, Random House, $27 novel Sexing the Cherry and shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize, Wacko’s City of Fun Carnival, Jeff Metcalf Frankissstein is an audaciously powerful love story that weaves story- When Hub Walker gets arrested trying to lines into a novel that is an exploration of buy a bottle of whiskey at the local liquor transhumanism, artificial intelligence and store, it sets in motion a chain of events queer love by an author at the top of her only Jeff Metcalf could imagine. A high game. – Rachel Haisley, Grove Press, $27 schooler, Hub has already had one or two Nothing to See Here, Kevin Wilson run-ins with the law, and in his young Dysfunction abounds in Wilson’s story mind, he was on his way to Juvie for sure. about the limits—natural and unnatu- So when an opportunity arises to steal a ral—of friendship and parental love. cop car and escape, it seems like a good Twice, Lillian places Madison’s needs idea. One crazy thing leads to another above her own. Lillian’s first sacrifice and before we know it, Hub has fled to sends her spiraling downward in a vortex Wyoming and joined Wacko’s City of Fun of failure as profound as Madison’s me- Carnival. He seems well-suited to the carnie lifestyle—plenty of beer, 10 FICTION teoric rise to success. Years later, Madison asks Lillian for a second Divide Me By Zero, Lara Vapnyar favor. Lillian says yes again and rightly wonders if she will literally be Let go of what you think belongs on the able to survive this one. All bets are off in this novel where a brother pages of a novel and read this one. Notes and sister burst into flames whenever they feel upset. – Michelle to the reader, advice on math, geometrical Macfarlane, Ecco, $26.99 illustrations, a pain scale poster, photo- On Swift Horses, Shannon Pufahl graphs of Leonid Brezhnev and George It is the late 1950s. The Korean War is Bush—it all adds up in this complex story over and Vietnam is just getting started. of a woman trying to make it in the world For brothers Julius and Lee, newly home as a new single-parent, a woman whose on leave, getting out of Kansas and own mother is dying. Vapnyar’s frank starting anew in San Diego means the narrative style is as unflinching as her beginning of their American Dream. For characters take on life. – Michelle Lee, it’s about his new wife Muriel and the Macfarlane, Tin House Books, $24.95 promise of a house in the suburbs. For The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern Julius, things are less clear. These were When Zachary Ezra Rawlins discovers a still early days in the West—from the tops mysterious book in his university library, of hotels on Fremont Street in Las Vegas he enters magical doors to search for folks were watching atomic bombs blow the starless sea. The magic of bees, keys, up, and decency laws still lived on the books and in people’s minds. feathers and crowns appears to guide As we follow Julius and Muriel alternately, we see two people, part of Zachary into secret worlds. Zachary the Greatest Generation, trying to be true to themselves. and his two friends are at the core of the – Anne Holman, Riverhead, $27 novel, but names change, locations rise Grand Union: Stories, Zadie Smith and fall and time moves them through Smith’s range of writing in the 19 stories stories of life and death. There is no way gathered here in her newest book show The Starless Sea can be portrayed as a off her strength as a mature author. They traditional novel with a simple beginning, offer something for everyone, some middle and end. Both fantasy in the traditional sense and a 21st cen- dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic, others tury video game, this book is an homage to stories, past, present and political or social satire, still others histor- future in which characters move through time and space confront- ical fiction. These stories are often tough. ing the personification of myths, fairy tales, dreams and nightmares. As in all her fiction, Smith refuses to back Morgenstern has outdone herself in this follow-up to The Night Cir- away from hard subjects such as racism, cus; old fans and new readers alike will be enthralled. – Wendy Foster aging or sexual experimentation. Her fans Leigh, Doubleday, $28.95 have a treat in store. – Jan Sloan, Penguin Fleishman Is in Trouble, Taffy Brodesser- Press, $27 Akner She Was Like That, Kate Walbert Toby Fleischman is in trouble all right. He Motherhood, with its many complicated and his wife Rachel have been separated emotions, takes center stage in Walbert’s for only a couple of months, and she has new collection of short stories. Her gone AWOL. Even though he’s a success- books always pack a spare yet emotional ful New York City surgeon, raising two punch and this collection is no exception. kids and paying for their private schools, Women’s relationships with themselves camps, lessons, etc. is expensive—and and each other are always at the heart of hard without a partner to share the load. her work, and here she delivers a nuanced Add to that his new dating app filling look at gender with tales that range from up with nude photos of seemingly every that of a woman losing her daughter in available woman in Manhattan and be- the Times Square M&M world to one yond and Toby has much to consider. At times hilarious, this is a ten- who runs into the former boss that made der book about being forced to reexamine your life and the choices her choose between her career and a family. A master at revelation, you’ve made so far. And then to choose differently. – Anne Holman, Walbert shows readers some of those tucked-away feelings in the Random House, $27 hearts of her characters, all recognizable. – Mackenzie Van Engelen- hoven and Margaret Brennan Neville, Simon & Schuster, $26

11 FICTION NONFICTION

Right after the Weather, Carol Anshaw A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Can- Cate, a set designer, stumbles across a vio- terbury to Rome in Search of a Faith, lent scene in which her best friend is vic- Timothy Egan tim. The effect of Cate’s response changes Part travelogue, part history lesson and her life forever. Set in Chicago within the part search for life’s meaning and the art world and told with exquisite prose, impact of faith on that search. Egan, Anshaw has created characters who repre- prompted by family tragedy, sets out on sent those found today, some functioning his own personal search for God along well and others barely existing in a world the Via Francigena, a 1,200-mile route of sociopathy and addiction. Unforget- from Canterbury to Rome. The VF, now table, this strong novel follows Anshaw’s a well-travelled footpath, began when the successful Carry the One, which received Bishop of Canterbury travelled to Rome Simon & Schuster’s award for favorite to visit the Pope in the year 990. Over the book of 2012. – Sue Fleming, Atria, $27 centuries the VF has become a major pilgrimage for those in search The Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes of the meaning of a “God-Belief,” as well as for those merely looking for a strenuous holiday outing. Great maps and good story-telling Moyes’ new novel introduces the reader make this a captivating book about man’s search for the footings of to Eleanor Roosevelt’s Pack Horse Library faith. – Patrick Fleming, Viking, $28 Initiative, an important part of the WPA program. We meet five women willing to Running with Sherman, Christopher brave the elements, the backwards ways McDougall and the sexism of Depression-era Ken- McDougall’s young daughter Sophie tucky to bring books, magazines, recipes, insists the family adopt a terribly trau- quilt patterns and literacy itself to the tiny matized and damaged mule they name communities of Appalachia. Moyes’ story Sherman. So begins a story of courage, follows young English bride Alice Wright redemption and hilarity. The McDougall as she struggles to adapt to her new family are newcomers to a small farm- home, her cold and standoffish husband ing community in the southern end of and her overbearing father-in- law. When she meets Margery O’Hare Pennsylvania Amish country, and Chris and learns of the Pack Horse Library, she finds some semblance of is still settling in with his neighbors and independence while doing her “civic duty.” Alice is unaware and in- learning the basics of caring for animals. nocent of the long days, hardship and dangers that she and the other He decides to enter Sherman into a mule riders will face, but the friendships and camaraderie prove supreme. race because his neighbors insist that in order to heal, the mule needs With impeccable research, Moyes brings this tale to beautiful and a job, a purpose. However, Sherman will neither move nor eat and in realistic life. I felt the bitter cold, the searing heat, and the beauty of fact appears catatonic—that is, until he’s befriended by a goat and two the countryside under her sensory guidance. – Anne Stewart Mark, other mules. The similar effects of animals on damaged humans soon Penguin Random House, $28 becomes clear as well. In the inimitable style of his earlier best seller, Born to Run, McDougall here presents the reader with damaged NONFICTION animals, damaged humans and the miracles that occur when all are allowed to heal together. A wonderful read for all ages. One Long River of Song: Notes on Won- – Sue Fleming, Knopf, $26.95 Editor’s note: signed copies available der for the Spiritual and Nonspiritual The Body: A Guide for Occupants, Alike, Brian Doyle Bill Bryson Tender, funny, real, smart are all words In his latest, Bill Bryson, a true Renais- that describe this diverse assortment of sance man, has given us a tour-de-force writings and musings by the late Brian tour of the human body in a detailed and Doyle. In everything from a letter to revelatory look into this most compli- his brother Kevin and a narrative about cated organism. Microbes, the workings meeting the Dali Lama in which the two of the heart and lungs, the skeleton, the bond over sports, to the fraught topic of intestines, the immune system are all dealing with cancer, these short gems will examined and analyzed. Little-known make you gasp, chortle, shed a tear, and anecdotes about the body are explained as will challenge readers to make the most only Bryson can do—with wit and intel- of every day. Not only is this a book you ligence. In terms that the layman can un- will treasure yourself, it will make the perfect holiday gift for anyone derstand and appreciate, the man who walked the Appalachian Trail and everyone. I loved it! – Margaret Brennan Neville, Hachette, $27 and explained the history of the house has now given us, through Editor’s note: available December 3 nearly five years of research, the very best layman’s explanation of the workings of the human body. – Barbara Hoagland, Doubleday, $30 12 NONFICTION

Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow years or so. Collins guides us through a 2017: Farrow was working at NBC on history of the progress made by women a routine investigation when he started across the centuries from the “crone” hearing rumors of a powerful movie sitting in the corner rocking someone producer whose predatory behavior was else’s child, to the vibrant 70-year-old an ‘open secret’ in Hollywood. As he starting her own company. The days when continued to dig, Farrow found the bones a woman’s value ended when her child- of stories that had been suppressed for bearing years were over seem to be past, years of actresses afraid to go on camera but the struggle for equality continues. for fear of retaliation—all sickeningly This book is a must-read for all women, similar to one another. At the center of particularly the young. We owe much to this conspiracy of silence stood Harvey our foremothers. – Barbara Hoagland, Weinstein, a man who didn’t seem to Little Brown, $30 understand that when a woman said ‘no’ Mythos, she meant it. Weinstein’s attempts to suppress yet another story about Stephen Fry his behavior included a shady security firm staffed by ex-Mossad This retelling of the Greek myths is a operatives, as well as private detectives who shadowed Farrow from blast. Spend a few hours with Fry as he New York to Los Angeles, staking out his apartment and hacking his recounts, illuminates and comments on phone. The National Enquirer brought intense legal pressure to bear those ancient deities and all of their huge- on Farrow, his producer, and even his own network in order to bury ly entertaining peccadilloes. Seriously, the story. To his credit, Farrow kept going, defying NBC (who do not if you sleep around on Mount Olympus, come out of this smelling of roses) and eventually taking his story to you could be sleeping with your mother, The New Yorker. A page-turning true-crime thriller that proves that your siblings, your pets, somebody else’s one person can make a difference. – Paula Longhurst, Little Brown, mother or their pets. They do (sleep $30 around), murder happens, and then they do it all again. Better than The Witches Are Coming, Lindy West anything currently on HBO! There are three pieces to this book: the From the moment powerful men started actual myths, the cultural context that illuminates the ongoing pres- falling like dominoes in the #MeToo ence of these stories in our world today, and Stephen Fry’s distinct movement, the lamentations began: this voice, his repartee and wit. Add to all this its photos and illustrations is feminism gone too far, this is injustice, and it’s a great gift! – Margaret Brennan Neville, Chronicle, $29.95 this is a witch hunt. In The Witches Are Editor’s note: for a truly engaging audio book, check this out on Libro. Coming, New York Times columnist and fm. author of the New York Times bestsell- Threads of Life: A History of the World ing memoir and now critically acclaimed Through the Eye of a Needle, Hulu TV series Shrill, Lindy West turns Clare Hunter that refrain on its head. You think this is Far more than an entertaining survey of a witch hunt? Great. Now you’ve got one. needlework, this debut work from Hunter Darkly hilarious, West’s newest collection weaves a history of the human race of insightful essays oscillates between heartbreak and humor so sharp through its stitches. From the author’s it practically hurts. – Rachel Haisley, Hachette Books, $27 early descriptions of the Bayeux tapes- The Book of Gutsy Women, try, to Mary Queen of Scots, to British Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea soldiers and prisoners of war, Hunter’s is Clinton a story told in panels both large and small An ideal gift to all of us, young, old, and utterly female or male, this is a book for mothers captivating. Do not miss this one. and grandmothers to sit and read with – Anne Holman, Abrams, $26 both the girls and boys in their lives. Not The Golden Thread, Kassia St. Clair all of the subjects are well-known, but When we think of archaeology we often each has a story that needs to be told— think of the great golden and carved trea- and listened to! – Jan Sloan, Simon & sures unearthed in Egyptian pyramids. Schuster, $35 But how often do we stop to think of the No Stopping Us Now, Gail Collins hundreds of meters of linen painstak- The history of older women in America is revealing, if not discourag- ingly woven and wrapped around every ing. In the early days of this country, a woman was considered elderly single item in those pyramids? Like the at 35. That judgment has pretty much continued up until the last 20 Greek Fates, St. Clair has re-spun the

13 NONFICTION story of human civilization with an eye to textiles. From the origins But in this book we better understand why Grant was the most of the word text, through the political feuds of the silk roads, to space important Union general of the war and how his victory in western exploration, to modern experiments with spider silk clothing, thread Mississippi became the turning point in America’s most bloody and production is woven through our lives. This book is an evocative look divisive conflict. – Patrick Fleming, Simon and Schuster, $35 at that weaving. I loved it. – Michaela Riding, Liveright, $27.95 Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Edison, Edmund Morris Final Year of the American Civil War, Thomas Alva Edison was probably the S.C. Gwynne most prolific inventor in history—and Gwynne is one of my favorite authors. what wondrous inventions his were. Specializing in American history, he Edison founded 120 companies to market gives us a new look at topics which have them—from the electric lightbulb to the been written about numerous times. Yet phonograph to the rechargeable alkaline he never fails to bring new insight and battery—all invaluable to the modern perspective. His latest, about the final year world. His polymathic mind was never at of the Civil War, is no exception. People rest, and the scope of his interests is hard will ask: “What more can possibly be to comprehend—botany, naval strategy, written about the American Civil War?” chemistry, medicine and more occupied Well, plenty, it turns out, especially in the his seemingly endless days. That he was hands of Gwynne. The last year of the Civil War is, arguably, the most nearly deaf from a young age made his life’s accomplishments even important period of American history, and this compelling account more remarkable. Morris was given access to Edison’s archives which of it is perfect for the serious and amateur history buff alike. reveal never-before-known aspects of the great man’s life. Told in an – Patrick Fleming, Scribner, $32 interesting narrative style, from the end of Edison’s life back through Toil & Trouble, Augusten Burroughs to its beginnings, the book succeeds in illuminating the life and times of one of history’s most complicated geniuses. – Barbara Hoagland, As far back as Augusten Burroughs can Random House, $38 remember, he has always known things, inexplicable things that he should never Plagued By Fire, Paul Hendrickson have had any knowledge of. As a boy, Frank Lloyd Wright is one of the great- when he told his mother about this, she est architects of the 20th century; his had reassured him that it was completely designs are as lauded today as they were normal, that they were both descended 100 years ago. In this stunning look at his from a long line of witches, that all of life, Hendrickson portrays a man driven Augusten’s strange knowledge was actu- by his genius whose singular focus on his ally witchcraft. In the world of Burroughs’ craft often left chaos in its wake. Father to newest book we learn that there are few six with his first wife, he abandoned this coincidences yet plenty of magic. Ghosts family for love of another woman who are real, trees can want to kill you, houses was ultimately murdered with great sav- are alive, and at the end of the day, love is the most powerful magic agery at the first Taliesin, which was then of all. Toil & Trouble is the chronicle of one person’s journey to burned to the ground. Hendrickson calls understanding himself as well as the strange world around him. This this book “a biographical portrait more than true biography” and in New York Times bestselling author is just as funny, terrifying, quirky this he succeeds. It is a wide-ranging look at the world Wright lived and eccentric as always in his newest memoir. – Rachel Haisley, St. in, the people who inhabited it, as well as the magnificent buildings Martin’s Press, $27.99 he designed for it. – Barbara Hoagland, Knopf, $35 Year of the Monkey, Patti Smith Vicksburg: Grant’s Campaign that Broke This slim memoir is more of a dream the Confederacy, Donald L. Miller sequence than a factual account. As with A must-read for American Civil War many dreams, it is sometimes surreal, a history buffs, this is a narrative about the nuanced rendering of her trips around the western theater of the Civil War told in a country, from Manhattan to San Francis- style which reads more like a novel than a co, Venice Beach to Tucson. Photos of the scholarly work. Miller supplies excellent trips introduce each chapter and the title maps and explanatory footnotes which of the book comes from the “bad feeling” aid in the understanding of this often- Smith says she had in the 2016 election— overlooked aspect of the American Civil that being the year of the monkey in the War. Grant’s titanic struggle with Robert Chinese zodiac. The political does enter E. Lee in the eastern theater is probably into the memoir, but for the most part she the better known of Grant’s campaigns. reckons with the changes that we all face

14 NONFICTION as we grow older and are forced to deal with loss, aging and shifts in The Cartiers: The Untold Story of the the landscape we call America in the 21st century. An elegant, wise Family Behind the Jewelry Empire, book that also offers, in rough form, hope for the world. – Jan Sloan, Francesca Cartier Brickell Knopf, $24.95 Brickell was given access to troves of let- How We Fight for Our Lives, Saeed Jones ters and diaries which chronicle the rise Saeed Jones’s coming-of-age memoir is a of the House of Cartier. From modest tour de force. Jones recounts his upbring- means to the pinnacles of wealth and ing as a gay black man in the South who prestige, the Cartier family succeeded by was raised by his single mother and always looking to each other for support. evangelical Christian grandmother. In Before World War I, they were jewelers addition to writing about his childhood, to aristocracy around the globe, world Jones addresses the combination of the famous for buying and selling the most internal forces that continue to segment precious jewels on earth. Their story his inner life, and the external forces in intrigues in part because their lives mirror the major changes in the modern America that isolate him from world of the 20th century, something Brickell admirably reflects. Her his sense of self. Jones is a poet and his personal approach to her family is insightful and compelling. prose retains those award-winning sensi- – Barbara Hoagland, Ballantine, $35 bilities. His book is spare, evocative, and deeply moving. Labyrinth of Ice: The Triumphant and – Mackenzie Van Engelenhoven, Simon & Schuster, $26 Tragic Greely Polar Expedition, Buddy Passing, Michael Korda Levy Korda’s memoir about his wife’s battle Adrenalin junkies rejoice! Like Shackle- with metastatic melanoma is honest and ton’s Endurance, Greely’s attempted trip tender. Their lifelong love started with a to the North Pole in 1881 reflects nature’s passion for each other, for horses, for the unpredictable power as an uneven match life they knew they could build together. against the struggles of men to cope. Korda’s year-long memoir, which tracks Greely, a renowned scientist and a born the trauma of her treatment and the leader, led a crew of experienced explor- constant sense of impending tragedy, is ers and scientists. If the trip had gone as not just about his wife’s cancer—it is also planned it would simply be a paragraph about Korda’s caregiving and his own in the history books. But Greely’s expedi- understanding of their shared experience. tion, both horrific and heroic, did not go as planned. Reader, you Grief takes many forms. This memoir, will want an extra blanket when you dive into this icy exploration of which starts with passion and ends as another kind of love story, is man’s ability to survive. And you will end up asking, among other a tribute to his wife that also implicitly honors his own integrity and things, just how unlucky could a bunch of guys be? dignity. – Margaret Brennan Neville, Norton, $24.95 – Margaret Brennan Neville, St. Martins, $29.99 Editor’s note: avail- able December 3 Ordinary Girls, Jaquira Diaz The Queens of Animation, Nathalia Holt A self-described “ordinary girl,” Diaz, in her memoir, takes a frank look at how her Without animation there would be no military service helped her gain confi- Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella, both of dence and a stronger sense of self. After which still rank among the best known an unstable childhood in Puerto Rico and and beloved of all the Disney creations. Miami that was peppered with a drug- So it is ironic that Walt Disney Studios dealing father, homophobia, poverty, and was a man’s world in the beginning. her own involvement in illegal narcotics, Through the years women began to play she dropped out of high school to enlist more important roles, however, slowly in the navy where she not only came to overcoming prejudice as their talents and terms with being a Latinx queer woman creativity began to shine. Holt introduces but where she was also able to gain confi- these unknown women to the reader, dence in that identity. Jones interlaces the story of her journey to self- outlining the difficulties they faced in a discovery with stories of Puerto Rican history—her own indomitable business controlled solely by men. As their stories unfold we engage spirit mirrored in that of her country’s. in their struggles and admire their dedication to their craft. A tale – Mackenzie Van Engelenhoven, Workman, $26.95 long overdue. – Barbara Hoagland, Little Brown, $29

15 NONFICTION

Sandworm, Andy Greenberg across eastern Europe and is only 80 miles Computers control everything we rely from Berlin. Stalin appears to have all on for our modern lives. Cyberspace is the cards: Roosevelt is terrified that the therefore at the forefront of a new war, U.S. will have to invade the home islands the effects of which we occasionally feel of Japan by itself, and Churchill sees the rather than see, if only because the U.S. power and prestige of Great Britain’s em- hasn’t suffered a real cyberwar—unlike pire slipping away. All three leaders have the Ukraine, which has been hit with much at stake as they meet in a back- wave after wave of cyberattacks, devastat- wards resort area in the remote Crimean ing its economy to the point of collapse. Peninsula. What they decide (and don’t It could be a taste of things to come. decide) there will impact the world to this Greenberg’s investigation into the team of day and beyond. A very readable descrip- hackers known as Sandworm is gripping, tion of this pivotal face-to-face meeting, terrifying, and should be read alongside a copy of the Mueller report. complete with great maps, a list of the main characters, and some – Paula Longhurst, Doubleday, $28.95 quirky details of the conference give tremendous insight into what happened and why. – Patrick Fleming, Atlantic Monthly Press, $28 The Great Pretender, Susannah Cahalan “If sanity and insanity exist, how shall we MYSTERY/THRILLER know them?” This is the question behind the Rosenhan study, conducted in 1973 Country, Michael Hughes by a charismatic doctor who convinced eight healthy people to commit them- Country is a thriller set during the Trou- selves to mental hospitals and then try to bles. Its plot twists and turns and its sing- prove their sanity in order to be set free. ing diction, laced with overtones of the That study upended the entire field of Iliad, is sheer genius. Achill is an assassin psychiatry. With twists and turns worthy whose mere presence paralyzes the SAS, of a mystery novel, this quick-paced read but not his leader Pig, who takes Achill’s will linger long after you’ve finished, leav- woman, and thus fractures the unity of ing you to question everything you think their IRA border gang. Henry, the finest you know about the mind. Still, 46 years later, the study suggests the SAS has to offer, is a man who has his new ways of understanding mental illness. – Michaela Riding, Grand own problems with the powers that be. Central Publishing, $28 Love flares and dies, tempers rise and fall, betrayal follows betrayal, all in a narrative All Blood Runs Red: The Legendary Life recited with Homeric but Irish-intoned cadence: “Now we’re getting of Eugene Bullard-Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, to it. Wait ‘til you hear...” Such is Hughes’ language in this pounding Spy, Phil Keith, Tom Clavin yet rhythmic recitation of fearsome events, the whole saga drenched During World War I, Bullard became the in the rage-driven violence that sets pages and empires on fire. Men!, first African American military pilot to this reader muttered aloud to herself a time or two. Although, as in fly in combat, but that was only one facet the pages of Homer, women too have their elemental parts to play. of his amazing life. He fled rural Georgia Brutal, mythic, consuming—yet throughout there exists for the read- at the age of 11, eventually landing in er a compulsion to play the irresistible game of matching character to Europe where he discovered boxing. He character, Trojan to Irish. Although patterning contemporary novels acquired worldwide acclaim as the “Black on Greek drama is becoming ever more common this is, as they say, Sparrow,” and settled in Paris to enjoy his one for the books. – Betsy Burton, Custom House, $26.99 good fortune. With the outbreak of World To the Land of Long Lost Friends, War I Bullard joined the foreign legion Alexander McCall Smith where he gained distinction as a fearless fighter pilot. After the war he returned to Paris, becoming a fixture in the café society of the ‘20s. Mma Ramotswe and her coterie of friends He was once again called to serve with the advent of World War II, are alive and well in Botswana during one this time working for the resistance. A book as mesmerizing as the hot, dry summer. When an old friend remarkable man it describes. – Barbara Hoagland, Hanover Square, reappears in her life and begins tell- $29.99 ing her about her family worries, Mma Ramotswe, as always, feels the need to Eight Days at Yalta: How Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin Shaped help—even though it means her involve- the Post-War World, Diana Preston ment in other families’ affairs. Meanwhile This book is especially relevant now given our current geo-political her assistants, Mma Makutsi and Charlie, situation in Europe, Crimea, Ukraine, Korea and China. It is near who have inherited Mma R.’s curiosity, the end of World War II in Europe. The Soviet Army is steamrolling find their own cases to solve. An unfailing

16 MYSTERY/THRILLER calm is the tone throughout books of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency sheriff, disappears, and Sarah Jane’s job is series. The world may be falling apart, but Mma Ramotswe, Mr. J.L.B. to find him. Sallis’ characters are strong, Matekoni, and their friends always take time to reflect on the feelings and he creates a sense of place in rural and problems of those around them. In this day and age of shouting American that is real. Jazz, a common ele- and conflict,To the Land of Long Lost Friends feels like an island of ment, reflects the rhythms of Sarah Jane’s civility, a fairy tale imagining what is possible when people listen to discordant life searching for a theme that each other and speak softly. – Wendy Foster Leigh, Pantheon Books, has meaning. Don’t become complacent $25.95 Editor’s note: signed copies available. in any one moment in this character’s Agent Running in the Field, story because the music is sure to change. John Le Carré – Wendy Foster Leigh, Soho, $23.95 At close to 90, Le Carré’s voice is as mag- The Night isterial, his storytelling power as compel- Fire, Michael ling, his mind as byzantine and all-seeing Connelly as ever. What has changed is his anger Harry Bosch, retired and working the oc- and contempt for the moral bankruptcy casional cold case, is attending the funeral and rampant duplicity in our present-day of his former mentor at the LAPD when corridors of power. These feelings have he is given a decades-old murder book—a always driven his fiction, but they have cold case if ever there was one. Curious, risen to a fever pitch in this tale in which, he wants to know more and asks for help surprisingly, the game of badminton is from Renee Ballard, who has troubles of pivotal. Nat, who is no mean player, has her own with the force and is working been recalled to London. Supposing that at 40 his days in the field are the midnight shift. Their collaboration, at an end, he spends time in his athletic club. There, he meets Ed, a the widening scope of their investigation, man half his age whose skills on the badminton court equal or sur- and a trial involving his half-brother Mickey Haller are the frac- pass Nat’s own. They develop a friendship of sorts while at the same tured pieces of a plot that is clever, deceptive, fascinating in terms of time Nat is given what could be his last assignment—the supervision forensics—one that forms an absolutely inescapable shape once all of a British secret agent substation, The Haven. Trump rules (I use those moving parts are fitted logically together. – Betsy Burton, Little, that verb advisedly) America, Brexiteers rule the waves, the tentacles Brown, $29 of Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs are everywhere, and betrayal is as The Butterfly Girl, Rene Denfeld globally common as misinformation and mistrust. Ed is an absolutist of sorts, the kind of man who adheres to principles and refuses to lie. Naomi is the child finder. But there’s one Nat, diplomat and spy, is hardly that. But he likes Ed. What becomes child she hasn’t found—her sister. Naomi of this odd couple is a tale that mixes black humor, suspense, and feels guilt at leaving her behind on the moral outrage in equal parts to produce a thriller that is vintage Le night she managed to escape their prison Carré. – Betsy Burton, Viking, $29 alone, running barefoot into the night. And that guilt won’t be assuaged until The Furies, Katie Lowe she finds her younger sibling. The search An exclusive girls school. A feminist takes her and Jerome to Portland where teacher. Some dabbling in witchcraft. homeless children, runaways like Celia, What could possibly go wrong? Violet, walk the streets, bellies empty—easy prey homeschooled up to this point, enters the for a killer with an eye for young girls. privileged halls of Elm Hollow Academy. Naomi agrees to help hunt the killer in Drawn into a clique with Robin, Alex and addition to her own personal search. Is she too distracted to real- Grace, she begins private lessons with An- ize that Celia could be next on the killer’s list? – Paula Longhurst, nabel, the group’s art teacher. Elm Hollow Harper, $26.99 has a dark past; its founding headmistress Good Girl, Bad Girl, Michael Robotham was burned as a witch. The Furies are just fairy tales. They don’t exist. They can’t Put off by the title, I came to this late. But be summoned, especially by a group of once I began Robotham’s newest mystery teenagers. Can they? – Paula Longhurst, St. Martins, $26.99 I couldn’t put it down. Forensic patholo- gist Cyrus Haven has been asked to exam- Sarah Jane, James Sallis ine Evie, a young girl who was kidnapped, Sarah Jane moves from chicken farming to the military to life as a imprisoned for an indeterminate time short order cook and baker—all before becoming a cop and then and finally freed, only to be held hostage the acting sheriff of a small town. She’s been a drifter, never satisfied, by social services. Cyrus offers her tem- always wary of those around her. Just when she feels that she may porary guardianship, and the two live in have finally found a friend and a place in the world, that friend, the uneasy stasis, Evie trusting no one, Cyrus

17 MYSTERY/THRILLER preoccupied by a case he’s involved in—the murder of a teenage girl. The Glass Woman, Caroline Lea As the reader moves back and forth between their interior voices, our Iceland in the 17th century is a place of immediate fascination and growing affection is replaced by anxiety runes and witchcraft, a place where young as the plot twists and turns in unexpected ways. Not only a great women live at the mercy of a supersti- read that is awash in compassion and its close cousin empathy, this tious population. Naïve young Rosa plans is also an insightful look at forensic pathology as well as the victims to marry an older, rich man in order to and perpetrators at the heart of that dark profession. – Betsy Burton, save her mother and the village from the Scribner, $27 harsh winters and poor land. But rumors The Second Sleep, Robert Harris abound about Jon, his first wife, and her “What goes around comes around” might death. Told from both Rosa’s and her be the secret that The Second Sleep prom- future husband Jon’s points of view, this ises its readers. Set in 1468, almost Thom- novel is an old-fashioned tale reminiscent as Hardyesque with its somber, gloomy of gothic novels and Icelandic sagas. tones, this intriguing story unfolds over – Wendy Foster Leigh, Harper, $27.99 six days. When the young priest Christo- Treachery, S.J. Parris pher Fairfax travels to an isolated Wessex A shipboard murder and a mysterious re- village to conduct a funeral for its beloved ligious document place Giordano Bruno if heretical priest, he finds it teeming with and his close friend Sir Philip Sidney in disturbing discoveries and ancient relics. company with Sir Francis Drake. England Fragments of intricate glass, plastic de- is on the brink of war, and Drake’s fleet, vices with bitten apples, skulls and bones, anchored in Plymouth, is ready to put and the Devil’s Chair are among the curiosities. When Fairfax reads to sea in order to ambush the Spanish. the four church registries—all on yellowed parchment and containing But morale is fragile, and the expedi- the names of parish villagers “baptized-married-buried” dating from tion cannot sail until the murderer is May 1597 to 2025—the mystery deepens. Readers will delight in fol- caught. There are many suspects, and one lowing this cautionary tale of times past and present! – Carol Kranes, of them could be a Spanish spy. – Paula Knopf. $26.95 Longhurst, Pegasus, $26.95 Editor’s note: The Old Success, Martha Grimes available Dec 3 Richard Jury is having a drink with a colleague at a pub on Land’s End named MYSTERY IN PAPER (you guessed it) The Old Success, when he gets a call from the Scilly Islands where a Now You See Them, Elly Griffiths corpse has washed ashore. As is typical in Edgar, Max, and Emma are back together Jury’s world, more murders crop up, and in this, the fifth of theMagic Men Elly he and his colleagues begin to investigate, Griffiths mysteries. The three have their trying to decide whether said murders are individual lives as police superintendent, connected. Replete with the humor and movie star, and bored housewife. When whimsy readers have long come to expect a series of disappearing girls brings them from Grimes. – Betsy Burton, Atlantic together, they may have a mutual goal, Monthly, $26 but they are not yet ready to work as a Just Watch Me, Jeff Lindsay team. Edgar has a new detective on the From the creator of Dexter comes another force, Max is diverted by his newly found anti-hero we can cheer for. Riley Wolfe daughter, and Emma, tired of being targets a very narrow sliver of the popula- labelled “housewife,” is determined to tion, the 1%, and is not above killing return to her role as star detective. Griffiths tells a lively story which them if they get in his way. Riley needs can be read alone. For the dedicated series reader, however, read The an outrageous challenge and stealing the Zig Zag Girl in order to fully understand the complicated dynamics Iranian Crown Jewels might well be it. of this threesome. – Wendy Foster Leigh, Mariner Books, Houghton Helped by a beautiful art forger and pur- Mifflin Harcourt, $15.99 sued by a relentless FBI agent, can Riley pull off the impossible? Or will he die trying? – Paula Longhurst, Dutton, $26 Editor’s note: available Dec 3

18 SPECULATIVE FICTION At Home for the Holidays Andromeda Evolution, Michael Crichton Did you know we offer free home-deliv- & Daniel H. Wilson ery—not just during the holidays but all Project Eternal Vigilance is nearing 50 year long? Nicks Burton and his compan- years old. Its mission—to detect further Andromeda strain outbreaks—is now ion, Ricky Hoffman, deliver anywhere looked on as a budget item to be redlined. within Salt Lake county limits—the day you But deep in the heart of the Amazon rain order if you call before noon. What better forest is a structure that appears to con- way to simplify the holiday chaos? Just call tain traces of AS1 and the same plastic- in an order, and the next thing you know eating AS2 that had slowed down the space program. An elite team of scientists this smiling pair will appear at your door, is sent in to contain the new outbreak. It book(s) in hand. You can even ask for gift includes roboticist James Stone, the son wrapping! of the scientist who saved Earth from AS1. Not only has the virus re- turned, it has evolved, and no one is safe. – Paula Longhurst, Harper, $29.99 Cursed, Thomas Wheeler, illustrated by Frank Miller Nimue takes on a very different role in this distinctly feminist retelling of the King Arthur legend. She is Fey and when her mother’s death puts the Sword of Power in her hand she reluctantly becomes the Wolf Blood Witch. Thomas weaves all of the other famous characters into Nimue’s world, so it’s no surprise that this retelling of the King Arthur Ricky Hoffman and Nicks Burton story is coming to the screen. It is a truly cinematic read, magnified by the Frank And don’t forget, you can get the lat- Miller storytelling art. Simultaneously released as a Netflix series, this is a novel young adults will be drawn to. – Margaret Brennan Neville, est NYT-bestselling audio books from us Simon & Schuster $24.99 now. Download the Libro.fm app and start The God Game, Danny Tobey reading. For more info about any of these programs, you can visit www.kingsenglish. Come and play with G.O.D., by invita- tion only! This mysterious AI is said to be com or just call us at 801-484-9100 and loaded with everything mankind knows we’ll walk you through it! about the big guy upstairs. At A.B. Turner High School Charlie, one of the group calling themselves the Vindicators, gets invited to play the game, but he’s still reeling over the loss of his mom. The game starts him off easy with supposedly harmless pranks. Soon other Vindicators, fiery code girl Vahni, student journalist Kenny, transfer student Peter and finally Alex, who lives for pranks and not much else these days, have joined in. What they haven’t yet realized is that this G.O.D. is the Old Testa- ment variety who combines age-old tricks with hi-tech rewards and punishments. There may be nowhere they can hide if/when the AI turns vengeful. – Paula Longhurst, St Martins Press, $26.99

19 Children’s Picture Books by Ann Cannon

unique abilities to create a How to Read a Book, Kwame garden together. Just like trees Alexander, illustrated by Me- and flowers, children grow in lissa Sweet their own unique ways, and “First, find a tree—a black so “if you are curious about Tupelo or dawn redwood will other kids,” Sotomayor advises do—and plant yourself. It’s young readers, “just ask.” okay if you prefer a stoop, – Philomel, $17.99 like Langston Hughes.” Thus A Stone Sat Still, Bren- begins Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander’s dan Wenzel poetic love letter to the act and art of reading. As always Melissa Sweet, a Caldecott Honor In his stunning Calde- winner, beguiles the reader with her colorful, cott Honor book, They winsome illustrations and collages. Because of All Saw a Cat, Wenzel its subject matter and lyrical language, How to shows the reader what Read a Book could easily be used in a class- a cat looks like from room setting. – Harper, $17.99 different animals’ points of view. He returns to This Book of Mine, Sarah the subject of perspective, this time by examin- Stewart, illustrated by David ing the “life” of a stone that sits still “with the Small water, grass and dirt.” To some creatures, the And speaking of love letters, stone is small and insignificant; to others it’s beloved wife-and-husband a veritable mountain. To some it’s a danger; team Stewart and Small have to others it’s a haven. A Stone Sat Still is a written one of their own. wonderful introduction to the concept that we This Book of Mine celebrates all see things differently, depending upon our all the things books do for vantage point. – Chronicle, $17.99 us. Enchant us. Comfort us. Explorers, Matthew Transport us. Inspire us. Fabu- Cordell lous! (P.S. The New York Public Library’s iconic marble lions make a friendly cameo appear- What happens when ance.) – Farrar, Straus, Giroux, $17.99 a young boy buys a toy dragonfly from Home in the Woods, Eliza a mysterious street Wheeler vendor before enter- When 6-year-old Marvel ing a natural history moves into the tar-paper museum with his fam- shack in the woods with ily? Magic, of course! In this new wordless her large family after the picture book, Cordell takes his readers (and his death of her father, she characters!) on a journey of multiple discover- can’t believe it will ever ies. Explorers is thoroughly delightful. – Feiwel feel like a home. But as the and Friends, $18.99 months come and go, Marvel discovers all the Everyone Counts, Judy Sierra, ways there are to love a place. Based on the illustrated by Marc Brown experiences of Eliza Wheeler’s grandmother, Home in the Woods is my favorite book of the Sierra and Brown (Wild About season. – Random House, $17.99 Books) combine their talents once again to create picture Just Ask, Sonia Sotomayor, illustrated by Rafael book that’s both visually ar- Lopez resting and fun to read aloud. In this story inspired by her own diagnoses of When Takoda the Tiger Cub diabetes when she was a child, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor introduces readers to a cast of differently-abled children who use their

20 Children’s Picture Books

decides to turn a “tumbledown mall” into a brand new zoo, he enlists his animal friends to help. But will everyone—no matter the size— be allowed to participate in the project? This is Moose), cements his place in Gree’s life. Read- a counting book with heart. – Knopf, $17.99 ers will be able to predict the arc of the story, Fly!, Mark Teague but the ending will give this tale even more heft. Loved the illustrations too. – Margaret Sometimes leaving the nest Brennan Neville, IPS, $19.99 can be hard. REALLY hard. Especially when you’re a young What’s Going on Here?, Olivier Tallec bird who’s too scared to fly. Pick up Tallec’s new book and things Fortunately, a patient but firm are guaranteed to get real funny, real mother can make all the dif- fast. Why? Because flipping through ference. Teague’s wordless (and the die-cut pages allows readers of exuberant!) picture book is a all ages to create countless hilarious whole lot of fun. – Simon & Schuster, $17.99 characters who are ready and raring Just Because, Mac Barnett, il- to be the stars of their own stories. lustrated by Isabelle Arsenault What’s Going on Here? is as enter- taining as it is inventive. – Chronicle, In an effort to delay the inevi- $15.99 table, a little girl peppers her father with questions at bed- Just Like Beverly: A time. Why do birds fly south? Biography of Beverly Cleary, What are black holes? Why do Vicki Conrad, illustrated by the leaves change color? Dad’s David Hohn answers are both unexpected Beverly Cleary famously and charming. Barnett’s trade- gave us Ramona and Henry mark humor is on full display and Motorcycle Mouse. Now here. Terrific! – Candlewick, $17.99 Vicki Conrad gives us Beverly I Wonder, K.A. Holt, illus- Cleary in this informative and trated by Kenard Park brightly-colored picture book biography. Young Beverly, who And speaking of wondering, yearned to read stories about real children who this wonderful new picture were as funny as she and her friends were, is book poses a series of imagi- especially appealing. – Little Bigfoot, $18.99 native, fanciful questions. What do clouds taste like? And check out these new titles by some of our Does a grasshopper take hop- local writers and illustrators! ping lessons? What do stars do The Little Snowplow during the day? Don’t be sur- Wishes for Snow, Lora prised if I Wonder will inspire Koehler, illustrated by Jake you to ask questions of your own! – Random Parker House, $17.99 The Little Snowplow The Moose of Ewenki, returns in this charm- Gerelchimeg Blackcrane ing story about a winter A bull moose is a huge ani- without snow. So, what’s a mal! When Mongolian elder little snowplow to do? Will Gree Shek shoots a female, a special birthday wish work some late winter he does not realize she has a magic? Parker’s lively illustrations are a joy to calf until it follows him back behold. – Candlewick, $16.99 to camp. That calf, which he names Xiao Han (Little

21 Children’s Picture Books

If Monet Painted a Monster, Amy Newbold, illustrated by Greg Newbold Long Ago, on a Silent Night, What if Monet painted a Julie Berry, illustrated by monster? What would it Annie Won look like? Or what if Escher painted one? Or Edward Julie Berry is one of the most Hopper or Frida Kahlo or versatile writers for young Whistler? Can you imagine readers working today. In the results? If Monet Painted a Monster is an- this, her first picture book, other terrific book in this educational and en- she draws tender parallels tertaining series created by wife-and-husband between the first Christ- team Amy and Greg Newbold. Recommended! mas story and the joy today’s parents feel at – Tilbury House, $17.95 the birth of a child. This is a gorgeous holiday book. – Scholastic, $17.99 I’m Not Millie!, Mark Pett Little Robin’s Christmas, When it comes to nighttime Jan Fearnley rituals—eating dinner or taking a bath—Millie takes Little Robin has seven warm the shape of various non- holiday vests—that is until compliant animals and re- he gives them away, one by fuses to do what her parents one, to a host of shivering want her to do. Pett, himself woodland creatures. Will a father, clearly understands Little Robin be left out in this familiar family dynamic. the cold? Not if a certain I’m Not Millie! is an enormously likeable book. special individual can help – Penguin, $17.99 Editor’s note: Mark Pett will it. Fearnley’s new, sweet- be in the store for an event on November 30. natured book is enormously appealing. – Nosy Visit our website www.kingsenglish.com for Crow, $16.99 details! If I Could Give You Holiday Picture Books Christmas, Lynne Plourde, illustrated by Is there a better holiday gift than a holiday Jennifer L. Meyer book with a personal note written to a loved one on the flyleaf? We think not. When it What would you give comes to new holiday books, some years if you wanted to give are definitely better than others. And this Christmas to a little year—hallelujah!—is a good one. Some of our one? The pointiest, favorites follow. piney-est tree? The sound of chirping Dasher, Matt Tavares carolers? The greeting of friendly faces in the Everyone knows Ru- doorway? This little book is a big celebration of dolph’s backstory. But be- the holiday season’s sights and sounds. A lovely fore Rudolph arrived on gift choice for anyone who loves Christmas. the holiday scene, there – Disney Hyperion, $17.99 were the original eight— The Bear and the Star, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Lola M. Schaefer, illustrat- Vixen, Comet, Cupid, ed by Bethanne Andersen Donner and Blitzen. This book is their origin story. We loved Taveres’s When Bear awakes one gorgeous Red and Lulu, and we love this one, morning and sees a new too! His illustrations are a feast for the eyes. star on the horizon, he – Candlewick, $17.99

22 Children’s Picture Books

knows it’s time—time to summon creatures from the east and west, the north and south to gather together and sing of peace. This is a grows from there. As always Lavallee’s illustra- beautiful book in every way. Andersen (who tions are a joy to behold. This is a particularly lives in St. George, Utah!) does the story’s nice choice for toddlers. – Houghton Mifflin, lyrical language justice with her double-spread Harcourt, $8.99 illustrations. – Greenwillow, $17.99 Christmas Train, The Tree That’s Meant To David Miles Be, Yuval Zommer All aboard! This A young tree realizes it’s not clever new book in- like the other trees in the vites young children forest. It’s small and uneven, (and their parents) so when people come look- to tour the North ing for the perfect Christmas Pole AND count tree, they walk on by without to 20 by hopping taking a second look. To the aboard the Christ- animals who befriend it, mas Train. Cut in the shape of a locomotive however, this little tree is just from glossy pressboard, Christmas Train can right—the very tree that’s also be used as a freestanding holiday decora- meant to be. – Doubleday, $17.99 tion. – Familius, $12.99 Angela’s Christmas, Frank Snow Still, Holly Surplice McCourt, illustrated by Raul When the first snow flies, a Colon little fawn discovers a sea- In 1996 Frank McCourt son-full of new possibilities published a gut-wrenching for fun. With its simple text memoir about the desper- and simple illustrations, ate mother at the center Snow Still is simply charm- of his childhood—Angela ing! – Nosy Crow, $8.99 McCourt. This new picture The book, featuring Angela as a Twelve Days of Christmas child, is as gentle as Angela’s Cats, Don Daily Ashes was fierce. Young An- gela, worried about the baby Jesus in her parish This exquisite book, which church’s manger scene, sneaks him home to celebrates all things fe- wrap him in a blanket and keep him warm. line, is now available in an Colon’s burnished illustrations give the book oversized board book! The a decidedly golden glow. – Simon & Schuster, perfect gift for the kitty-lov- $17.99 ing kid in your life. – Apple- Board Books sauce Press, $12.95 And finally there’s . . . We also have some great new board book choices for the Ho-Ho-Holidays! Santa Mouse, Michael Brown, illustrated by Elf- All You Need for a Snow- rieda de Witt man, Alice Schertle, illus- trated by Barbara Lavallee Remember Santa Mouse who first appeared in What do you need to build 1966? The tiny mouse who a snowman? “One small becomes Santa’s trusted snowflake fluttering down” helper? He returns in this for starters—and the list attractive new picture book edition! – Simon & Schus- ter, $17.99

23 Children’s Chapter Books

The Beast, a Darkdeep Novel, Ally MIDDLE READERS by Margaret Brennan Neville Condie and Brendan Reichs The Darkdeep reminded us how much Scary Stories for Young Foxes, fun it is to be scared! Although the Torch- Christian McKay Heidicker bearers know they have a big problem to Seven kits searching for scary stories contend with, for the moment the Dark- think they have found them in Bog deep is quiet. But Timber is not—beast Cavern—although the “storyteller” warns mania is taking over while the Sheriff is them that the tales might be hard to still trying to figure out who vandalized handle. Short trips into the anthology of the town. Add a sleazy publicity hound horror alternate with the story of Mia and and the new “figments,” and the action Uly. These young foxes, both fleeing for ramps up! A great read—adventure and their lives, just might be able to survive mystery with a dose of scary! hunger, humans (Beatrix Potter as you – Bloomsbury, $16.99 (8 and up) never imagined her), tyrants, and the The Good Thieves, Katherine Rundell “yellow,” if they work together. The inter- play between the real world and the horror world is weirdly fascinat- Rundell is a spinner of tales that engage ing, but creepy. Crawl into your den with this book and make sure and charm readers. Vita and her mom the door is locked! Terrific – Henry Holt, $16.99 (9 and up)Editor’s are in New York City to help her grandpa note: signed copies available settle his affairs when Vita finds out that a notorious developer actually cheated him Words on Fire, Jennifer Nielsen out of his castle. She knows she wants to Thanks to Ruta Sepetys’ novelBetween help but also knows she can’t do it alone. Shades of Gray, many readers are familiar Vita finds assistance in unlikely places: a with Lithuania and its fight for indepen- circus and the Bowery. Mystery, adven- dence. It is 1883 and Russia has overrun ture, friendship and New York City in the Eastern Europe, outlawing everything 1920s will thrill Rundell’s fans! – Harper, that will sustain the culture and heart of $17.99 (8 and up) Lithuania—including language, books Weird Little Robots, Carolyn Crimi and and religion. Audra finds out that her Corinna Luyken parents are part of the resistance when they hand off a package that needs to be Penny Rose doesn’t know anyone in her delivered. She is thrust violently into a new neighborhood. Her only friends are world of repression and cruelty in which the robots she makes—until she meets people are risking their lives and communities for books, for the Lark. All of sudden Penny Rose and Lark power of the written word. Readers will be rooting for Audra, and for are collaborating to create a new city for Lithuania. – Scholastic, $17.99 (10 and up) the robots, something that leads to ad- venture and challenges. A book about the Dead Voices, Katherine Arden magic of friendship, this is also about the Scary is back! And so are Ollie, Coco and magic of reading. Its rich illustrations are Brian (Small Spaces). This time these a bonus! – Candlewick, $16.99 (8 and up) resourceful kids are going to spend a Look Both Ways, Jason Reynolds weekend at a ski resort. But right from the start, it is clear that this will not be Once again Reynolds uses a creative de- an ordinary vacation. As Arden’s chiller vice to grab his audience, and once again, unfolds and more and more horrifying it works! This is “a tale told in ten blocks,” information is revealed, our heroines and literally, 10 ways to get to the same place. hero will have to outsmart evil yet again! Right from the start, when a bus falls Fans of Small Spaces will be very fright- from the sky, and the kids walking home ened and pleased! – Penguin, $16.99 (10 both do and do not notice, you will be and up) hooked. Reynold’s surprising details and concise narrative let readers into each character’s life. His linked short stories and a smart ending make this another tri- umph for Reynolds. – Simon & Schuster, $17.99 (10 and up)

24 MIDDLE READERS

The Green Children of Woolpit, Douglas, Randy Cecil J. Anderson Coats Iris loves going to the movies: Douglas In this dark fairy tale loosely based on an Fairbanks makes her swoon. One day she old British legend, Agnes, who is working accidentally brings home a brave little in the fields, hears cries from the forest. mouse who happens to live in the old They lead her to a deep hole in which two Majestic Theater. Iris names her Douglas children lie at the bottom, screaming. and in a tale told in four acts we discover The kicker is, they are green. Clearly not that Douglas wants to go home. Set in human. This discovery will create a trial Bloomville, as in his last book Lucy, Cecil for the entire village, and Agnes, who is reveals much about the town in his brief usually off daydreaming, must decide if text and intricate monochromatic draw- she wants to follow the green children. ings. I wonder what is going to happen in Bloomville next. This one is True to its dark genre, there are no happy a charmer. – Candlewick, $19.99 (4 and up) endings here. But it is so much fun to read! – Simon & Schuster, The Hippo at the End of the Hall, $17.99 (9 and up) Helen Cooper The Last Human, Lee Bacon Ben has been looking for his dad all his In order to save her family, Emma must life. When a mysterious invitation, deliv- leave the only home she has ever known, ered by bees, shows up, he knows that this a bunker deep underground, to face a might just be the answer to his search. As world in which XR believes there are no it turns out, the invitation has come from more of the terrible human beings on someone who thinks Ben might have the earth. Adventure, exploration, kindness answers to another mystery. This tender- and loyalty combine in a story that will hearted romp, illustrated with charming, surely remind thoughtful readers of some quirky art, is a wonderful read-aloud! of the current strife in our country. – Candlewick, $17.99 (8 and up) – Abrams, $16.99 (9 and up) Someplace to Call Home, Sandra Dallas The Ghost Three siblings are trying to survive, to Collector, find someplace safe to make it through Allison Mills hard times. But everywhere they go Shelly can catch ghosts. And so can her people treat them as if they are bad. Their grandmother. In their hair! Shelly loves situation seems hopeless. So when the helping her grandma. They send the lost Carlsons offer a little help, the kids grab souls they have captured on, helping their on. It takes a lot of hard work and cour- community in the process. But when her age on both sides to do the right thing mom dies, Shelly’s gift/talent becomes in this story for today’s world that is also hard to bear. First Nation Crees and their a glimpse into the past. – Sleeping Bear traditions anchor this moving story about Press, $15.95 (9 and up) acceptance, grief, and finding your best Two Girls, a Clock and a Crooked House, self. – IPS, $9.95 (10 and up) Michael Poore Wildfire, Rodman Philbrick When Amy’s parents leave to prevent Wildfires take up a lot of the news during a mining company from destroying the summer months all over the country. something valuable, she turns to her Philbrick’s novel about two kids trying to friend Moo for company. Amy and Moo escape a devastating fire in the Northeast can communicate without talking (Amy will keep your attention. When Sam and was struck by lightning which resulted Delphy have to take desperate steps to in some special gifts, ESP being one of save their lives, readers will root for the them!). The girls decide they want to go two kids. Philbrick includes a lot of infor- “somewhere,” but the Haunted Woods mation about wildfires. – Blue Sky Press, might not have been the best choice. The $17.99 (9 and up) ensuing adventure makes for an interest- ing combination of environmentalism, friendship and magic that is also a very satisfying read. – Random, $16.99 (9 and up)

25 MIDDLE READERS YOUNG ADULT

And one for the New Year! The Merciful Crow, Margaret Owen Mañanaland, Pam Muñoz Ryan Could not put it down! And isn’t that the Max, who lives with his father and has highest compliment?! The crows clean lots of loving family around, discovers up during the plague, but they find there that there is a very unusual reason for his is no respect for the repellant work they Papa’s obsession with protecting him. His do. When Fie and her family get trapped father’s family has been guiding illegal in the prince’s plan, things could change. immigrants through their part of the But delivering the prince and his hawk to country. Max’s choice to help a young safety might just be impossible. This is a girl who is fleeing a terrible situation is clever and highly creative fantasy adven- revealing in a powerfully written and ture. Our only problem will be waiting eloquent book about a family that guides for the sequel. – Henry Holt, $18.99 (14 refugees fleeing from an intolerable coun- and up) try with a cruel dictator/regime. Sound The Girl the Sea Gave Back, familiar?? Written outside of a specific time or place, the resultant Adrienne Young blurriness makes this an “everyman’s” story—an invitation to much- Tova knows she came from the ocean. needed conversations. – Scholastic, $18.99 (9 and up) Although she remembers nothing, she’s sure that she is a Truthtongue. Her skill YOUNG ADULT by Margaret Brennan Neville is considered a curse among the Svellb for whom she is just an instrument. She The Fountains of Silence, Ruta Sepetys resigns herself to a fragile existence—un- Sepetys blows you away with a subject til the conspiracy to take the tribe to war a lot of readers might not know about. becomes real. The other voice in this tale Franco’s Spain was a dark time when is that of Halvard, a young man who will everyone did their best to ignore the evils be chieftain long before he wants to be. of dictatorship. One of the most signifi- Both characters tell their stories through cant atrocities of the 20th century took flashbacks, and both might, given the right choices, be able to change place beneath their silence—the sale of their own destinies. Set in a magical Viking world, this fantasy feels babies, taken unknowingly from their like it might be the retelling of a myth. Illustrations add a further parents after birth. Daniel and his parents dimension. – Wednesday Books, $18.99 (12 and up) have come to Spain in 1957 for business, Eight Will Fall, Sarah Harian vacation and adoption. Daniel, who wants Because magic has been outlawed, those to be a photographer, instantly “sees” the possessed of it are forced to labor in the beauty of Madrid. But he cannot see what life is like for Ana and her most awful places—so Larkin has to family. This moving tale, fleshed out with unforgettable minor char- hide hers every day. She and seven other acters, works on every level as Sepetys skillfully reveals the hardships, people on the fringes of this society are the fears, and the horror of it all. Her previous work was anchored in forced to descend into the underworld to her own stories. Here, wielding her narrative power with memorable fight an unknown beast that has put their and riveting grace, she leads us to the heart of another’s saga. A great world on guard. The monster is omni- book from one of my favorite authors. – Penguin, $18.99 (12 and up) scient and scary. As the members of her Loki: Where Mischief Lies, crew are slowly killed, Larkin comes to Mackenzi Lee realize that there is a mystery even larger Beautifully dressed, high heels and all, than she had realized....A fantasy adven- Loki stands in complete contrast to his ture that feels a little like it should be in brother Thor. When Odin sees the future the horror section. – Henry Holt, $18.99 attack of the undead on Asgard, Loki, in (12 and up) his heart of hearts, knows that his future Scars Like Wings, Erin Stewart is tainted. From Asgard to London, from When her home was consumed by a fire sorceress to factory worker, he valiantly Ava was severely burned, disfigured, (sort of) tries to find his best self and be and left an orphan mourning not only the son his father wants him to be. Local her parents but also her best friend and author and phenom Lee had the fun of cousin. She knows that going back to high writing an origin story about the “Trick- school will be even more painful, that all ster.” It is tightly plotted, often surprising, and a blast to read! her worst fears will be confirmed. Ava’s – Hachette, $17.99 (12 and up) Editor’s note: signed copies available! account of her return to school will cap-

26 YOUNG ADULT EDGY ture your attention and your heart from page one. Turns out that ev- The Grace Year, Kim Liggett eryone has scars. Ava and the kids around her are all trying to figure The grisly ritualized maturation period out how to deal with “stuff.” Stewart magnifies Ava’s grief and pain for girls in the world of this novel involves with interludes of poignant, tender poetry that allow an intimate inte- going away for a year at the age of 16 and rior view. Very readable, with touches of dark humor, this compelling trying to survive more horror than read- story is an excellent debut novel from one of Utah’s newest authors. – ers will be able to imagine. Tierney has Random House, $18.99 (12 and up) always believed she can control her life, Rated, Melissa Grey but that belief falls apart the minute she In a creepy world where your numbers is presented with a “veil.” The year away count (if they get too low, watch out!), six starts with her journey to the terrible students at Maplethorpe Academy tell the place where she must stay. The horrors story of their own ratings. When someone keep coming and as she begins to figure takes a stand against the system, graffiti out what is actually going on, the reader’s appears on the front doors of the school ire increases! You will not be able to put this book down. – MBN, and the founder’s statue is desecrated. Wednesday Books, $16.99 (14 and up) The consequences of such acts impact the All the Bad Apples, Moira Fowley-Doyle entire community, forcing students to fig- One of my co-workers said, “Fowley- ure out what is real and what is not. Lots Doyle’s books are all about family curses.” of interesting parallels with how social Although this holds true for All the Bad media is being used today. – Scholastic, $17.99 (12 and up) Apples, with a deft new twist, Fowley- The Downstairs Girl, Stacy Lee Doyle delves into Irish history that will By day, Jo Kuan is a lady’s maid in Atlanta haunt the Irish for generations. Deena, in the 1890s. By night, she’s the famous who does not believe her sister killed yet anonymous advice columnist Dear herself, follows the trail of her sister’s let- Miss Sweetie. When her secret identity ters and finds that each one takes her one is nearly exposed, and with all of Atlanta step further back in a long family history talking about her column, Jo is forced to of poverty, religious rigidity and persecu- confront hard truths about her family, her tion that Deena and the other women of past and what it means to be a Chinese Rhy have been trying to escape. Its lyrical storytelling, overlaid with American girl in the Antebellum South. glimmers of magical realism, add up to a novel that will keep readers Optimistic, accessible historical fiction turning pages. – MBN, Penguin, $17.99 (14 and up) with a protagonist you’ll root for from The Bone Houses, Emily Lloyd-Jones page one. – Mackenzie Van Engelen- There is a creepy, atmospheric spell to hoven, Putnam, $17.99 (12 and up) this book that is part Brothers Grimm, EDGY by Margaret Brennan Neville and part Neil Gaiman, part folktale, part Mackenzie Van Engelenhoven zombie novel. Ryn and her family have been tasked with keeping the local Bone The Queen of Nothing, Holly Black Houses—the risen corpses in her town Black continues the story of Jude and graveyard—under control. But when Ellis, Carden that began with The Cruel Prince. an unassuming mapmaker, comes to Ryn’s Exile does not suit Jude, so when the small isolated village, the bone houses opportunity to return to Elfhame pres- start leaving the forest, getting through ents itself, she cannot say no. The Faerie the remnants of the iron fence and attack- Court, her father, Carden, and of course, ing. Ryn, who knows that she must fix her heart are just a few of the things pull- this horror and that the old stories will tell her how to do it, sets off ing her back. Black’s Faerie world is won- on a journey to break the curse that makes the dead walk and so save derfully constructed in a rare series where her family. We were both enchanted by the ominous, melodic prose each new book intertwines characters of this dark fairytale. What a uniquely beautiful book. – MBN and in new ways, enlarges the scope of their MVE, Little, Brown, $17.99 (14 and up) world and enchants readers. Just flat out fun to read! – MBN, Little, Brown, $19.99 (14 and up)

27 EDGY

Hello Girls, Brittany Cavallaro and Let’s Call It a Doomsday, Katie Henry Emily Henry Ellis is obsessed with the apocalypse, A badass Thelma and Louise-esque and she’s sure the end is near. No one feminist manifesto for any woman who will believe her, until she meets Han- has ever been told by a man to smile nah, a girl who claims she knows exactly more. Winona and Lucille are girls from when doomsday will arrive. All Ellis has two different worlds who meet one night to do to learn the fate of the world is to at a police station. They’re both battered help track down a mysterious prophet in and bruised, and they decide to team their hometown of Berkley. Combining up—both to flee the violence awaiting themes of religion, family, mental illness them at home and to take back their with a healthy dose of snarky humor, Let’s own power from the men in their lives Call It a Doomsday was an unexpected, who have been allowed to shape their narratives. A razor-sharp, dark charming read that kept me guessing. – MVE, HarperTeen, $17.99 comedy that moves as fast as a stolen convertible. – MVE, Katherine (14 and up) Tegen Books, $17.99 (Age 14 and up) Suggested Reading, Dave Connis Shatter the Sky, Rebecca Kim Wells Suggested Reading is far too relevant Maren will stop at nothing to rescue her for comfort, but necessary for that exact girlfriend, even if that means leaving reason. When Clara finds out her school home and stealing a dragon egg from the has been secretly banning books for years, emperor himself. But along the way she she does the only logical thing: she starts ends up uncovering sinister goings on in a secret library of banned books from her kingdom. Empowering, diverse, and her locker. Deftly taking on questions absolutely riveting. Anne McCaffrey and of censorship and free speech but not Tamora Pierce for a new generation. simply a morality tale, Suggested Reading – MVE, Simon & Schuster, $17.99 (14 will make readers think about the books and up) they’re picking up, and why it’s important to never surrender our The Wise and right to them. – MVE, Katherine Tegen Books, $17.99 (14 and up) the Wicked, Rebecca Podos The Lady Rogue, Jenn Bennett A powerful family of women who some- It is the 1930s and Theodora’s father, a how know when they will die is shaken world famous archaeologist, is currently when one of them perishes unexpect- making his way through Romania and edly. It alters all their futures forever. Bulgaria in search of Vlad the Impaler’s Ruby, who has always been certain she legendary Bone Ring. When he goes would die young, suddenly sees a chance missing somewhere along the route, Theo to change her fate. She is willing to do and her father’s infuriatingly handsome whatever it takes—until she finds out assistant Huck set out to find him. Their that magic comes at a price. This mod- quest leads them deep into the Carpath- ern fable, infused with magic, culture ian Mountains on the heels of dangerous and family, asks the timeless question of occultists and a centuries-old curse. This whether we can change our fates. – MVE, Balzer+Bray, $17.99 (14 female-led Indiana Jones tale is a twisty and up) thrill ride from start to finish. – MVE, Simon Pulse, $18.99 (14 and The Good Luck Girls, up) Charlotte Nicole Davis A Treason of Thorns, Laura Weymouth Westworld meets The Handmaid’s Tale. In an alternate Victorian England, all the In the fantasy wild-West world of Arketta, magic afloat in London is contained in five girls, known as the Good Luck Girls, sentient houses. After her father com- are all branded and their cursed marks mits an act of treason that sends one of trap them in a life of prostitution. When the houses spiraling into disrepair and Clementine, the newest of the girls, ac- puts the magical stability of England in cidentally kills one of their customers, jeopardy, Violet is tasked with repair- the girls go on the run, searching for a ing the dilapidated house and the magic way to remove their binding tattoos and contained inside it. But the more she survive the brutal wasteland beyond their works on it, the more Violet finds her doorstep. A complex, modern Western fate—and her life—tied to the house and that both leans into your favorite genre tropes and reinvents them, all its fate. This book is an atmospheric, spellbinding gothic historical centered on a squad of badass girls. – MVE, Katherine Tegen Books, fantasy with shades of Jane Eyre and The Secret Garden and a system 28 $17.99 (14 and up) of magic unlike anything I’ve ever read. – MVE, HarperTeen, $17.99 (14 and up) NONFICTION by Margaret Brennan Neville

Cryptid Creatures: A Field Guide, brothers had an idyllic life until their mom died of cancer. They left Kelly Milner Halls home for boarding school, and then for war and work, but through There is nothing like a good field guide! it all did their best to stay connected. When life finally brought them Cryptid creatures are the animals (or together, opportunities to create the Narnia books became a reality. other things??) that may or may not – Roaring Book Press, $19.99 (any C. S. Lewis fan!) be real. Humankind has been striving A Light in the Darkness: Janusz Korczak, for centuries to explain and verify that His Orphans and the Holocaust, Sasquatch, The Loch Ness Monster and Albert Marrin mermaids exist, but what makes this new Readers can count on Albert Marrin to guide really something are all the crea- clearly lay out historical events and biog- tures you might not know about. Halls raphies. Janusz Korczak, a Polish doctor, does a terrific job of combining the fiction chose to stay with his orphans from the with the facts about a plethora of creatures in a book that is going to ghetto on the trains to Treblinka. Mar- make a lot of kids, and a few geeks, very happy! – Sasquatch, $16.99 rin not only retells the story of one man’s (8 and up) refusal to abandon his own humanity, Spies, Lies and Disguise, he also gives readers an intimate view of Jennifer Swanson and Kevin O’Malley the horrors of the Warsaw Ghetto. This is Full of stories about the ingenious execu- not a new story, but it is one that readers tion of tricks that the WWII Allies used should never forget. – Random House, $19.99 (12 and up) to fool the Nazis. Swanson’s book will give Guts, Raina Telgemeier readers another way to look at the war Telgemeier is willing to take on any sub- outside of its battles—a look at the brave ject. Guts’ main character is Raina, and people who put their lives on a different her stomach is constantly churning. She kind of line. Fake equipment and bases, is having a hard time dealing with food, camouflaged facilities and equipment, friends, and school. Readers will not be bouncing bombs and a dead corpse surprised by Raina’s trials and tribula- loaded with a new identity are just a few of the hoaxes outlined in tions, and will appreciate and admire her this fascinating read. Photos, maps and illustrations add another layer courage. Another true story that readers of information. – Bloomsbury, $21.99 (10 and up) will love. – Scholastic, $ 12.99 (9 and up) Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from WWII to Peace, Ashley Bryan Ashley Bryan has been sharing his talent as an author and illustrator GRAPHIC NOVELS by Margaret Brennan Neville (Freedom Over Me, I Am Loved, Sail Away) for many years. With his new White Bird: A Wonder Story, P. J. Palacio book he tells his own story of his time in the U.S. Army during WWII along- We have been waiting a long time for side countless other men of color who Palacio to publish a new book, and her were expected to serve and die, despite being viewed as second-class graphic novel debut is extraordinary! citizens. America is still struggling with its racist past, and Bryan’s Although White Bird begins with a char- story illuminates the horror he witnessed during his four years in acter from Wonder, it quickly becomes its the military. He also shares examples of the caring, decent people he own story. Julien needs to interview his encountered during his service in a book that challenges us to re- grand-mère for a school project. Grand- member to choose decency and kindness. The artwork/photography mère was once a young Jewish girl in the in this book is captivating and adds an intimacy to the story. Infinite Free Zone of France where, as the Nazi Hope has award-winner written all over it! – Simon & Schuster, influence spread, the danger to Sara and $19.99 (10 and up) her family increased. As Grand-mère’s story unfolds, Julien sees how the bravery Finding Narnia: The Story of C. S. Lewis of a classmate and of neighbors might have been key in saving her and His Brother, Caroline McAlister, life. Palacio encourages readers to understand how ALL people re- Jessica Lanan gardless of appearance, abilities, or religion deserve to be treated with Narnia is a place that continues to capture dignity and kindness. She includes an extensive afterword with plenty the imagination of readers young and of facts and notes. – $24.99, Random (10 and up) old. McAlister and Lanan give readers a picture-book biography that will make you love the classic series even more. The

29 GRAPHIC NOVELS Books for the Whole Family— They Called Us Enemy, George Takei, Perfect for the Coffee Table! Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, illustrated by by Margaret Brennan Neville Harmony Becker A really nice trend in TKE’s kids’ room is the prolifera- George Takei tells the story of his own family’s treatment after the attack on tion of intricately illustrated, thoughtfully designed, Pearl Harbor. While not horrific, Takei’s oversized books of nonfiction. Ostensibly for your memories of his parents’ struggle with kids, they are an easy source of answers for tough their many losses and humiliations are questions on everything from the cosmos to planet difficult. As an adult, his knowledge about earth. And the collections of stories and mythology are what the Japanese internment camps were books that your kids will ask for when they have kids! really about makes his recollections even Look over the examples below, and come to the store more poignant and powerful. This mem- to see even more wonderful choices. oir in graphic novel format is well worth reading—another story apropos of what is going on in our country right now. Kudos to Takei for the courage to go where man doesn’t want to go! – Random, $19.99 (12 and up) Life: The First Four Billion The Okay Witch, Emma Steinkellner Years: The Story of Life From the Big Bang to the Evolu- Moth knows something is going on when tion of Humans, Martin Jen- all of a sudden strange things begin to kins, illustrated by Grahame occur: bullies stop bullying, her cat talks to her, her new friend gets the best role Baker-Smith, Candlewick in the school play. Moth begins to find Studio, $24.99 out about her own history and that of Paper World: Planet Earth, her hometown. Being a witch could be a Bomboland, Big Picture good thing. Readers will be cheering for Press, $24.99 Moth in this addition to the graphic novel section. – Simon & Schuster $12.99 (9 Overview, Young Explorer’s and up) Edition: A New Way of See- Stargazing, Jen Wang ing Earth, Benjamin Grant, Sandra Markle, Crown Christine does not really like Moon the Books for Young Readers, first time they meet. But circumstances (parents!) continue to bring them to- $24.99 gether. Moon is being raised by her mom Mythologica, Victoria Top- while Christine lives in a more traditional ping Stephen P. Kershaw, setting. Different in so many ways, both Wide-Eyed Editions, $30 girls are looking for a true friend and for the chance to be themselves. Moon’s The Illustrated Treasury of quirky behavior might ruin the whole Classic Children’s Stories, thing, and Christine will have a tough illustrated by Charles Santore choice to make. The Prince and the Applesauce Press, $39.95 Dressmaker is a story that resonated with everyone that read it, and I think Stargazing will do the same! – First Pictured Worlds: Master- Second, $12.99 (9 and up) pieces of Children’s Book Art by 101 Top Illustrators from Around the World, Leonard Marcus, Abrams, $75

30 FORTHCOMING

their political views in a dangerous world. Full of contrasts—dictators FICTION and freedom, leaving and belonging, fear and hope—Allende’s novel is possessed of perfect timing, and her prodigious talent radiates Apeirogon, Colum McCann (Feb.) throughout. – Margaret Brennan Neville, Random, $28 Apeirogon, a “countably infinite” shape, Greenwood, Michael Christie (Feb.) describes McCann’s new book perfectly in An abandoned baby hanging from a tree, that it evokes the countably infinite sto- two 9-year-old boys—sole survivors of ries that we as humans tell ourselves and a passenger train crash—an expensive each other in our desire to make sense tourist resort in one of the world’s last of an often senseless world. Set in Israel remaining forests: Greenwood is an and Palestine, it is the story of Bassam amazing read. It’s filled with unpredict- Aramin, a Palestinian, and Rami Elh- able yet believable events and sympathetic menanan, an Israeli, who have both lost characters (billionaires and hobos alike). daughters to the violent conflict between Its plot surprises. Its family relationships their nations. These two characters and are tangled and complex. Events like “the their stories are real, the rest is fiction. crash” and “the withering” connect us to Apeirogon covers the larger themes of life: friendship, love, loss and our past and future worlds. It abounds belonging, and does so beautifully. However, the beating heart of the with mystery and scandal. Christie weaves these elements with both book—something that could cure all conflicts—comes in the exact compassion and an intense almost scholarly connection to trees. center of the novel and is told by Rami..... “if they [the Palestinians] The story first unspools—beginning in 2038 (with over-qualified were anything other than objects to be feared, they would become tour guide Jake Greenwood) moving to 2008 (with carpenter/artisan real people.” The story itself is told in the manner of the 1001 tales Liam Greenwood) to 1974 (with environmental protestor Willow in the Arabian Nights, with Bassam’s and Rami’s true stories in the Greenwood) to 1934 (with the billionaire Harris Greenwood and his middle of the book. Each vignette advances not only their tales but hobo brother Everett Greenwood) to 1908 (with the beginning story also the physical and emotional checkpoints that they must negotiate, of Harris and Everett)—and then rewinds, ending back in 2038. The small passages that stitch together story, history, nature and politics. characters’ connections to trees are imaginative. Harris owns a vast A soaring, searing novel that is at once bleak and hopeful, this is lumber company. Everett lives in the forest and taps sugar maples. absolutely one of the best books that I have ever had the pleasure of Liam makes wooden furniture. Willow sabotages her father’s tree- reading. – Jan Sloan, Random House, $28 Editor’s note: Bookseller cutting machines. Jake earns a Ph.D. in botany yet works as a forest Gayle Shanks from Changing Hands in AZ was traveling in Israel and guide at Cathedral Arboreal Resort in British Columbia. Particularly Palestine and had read (and loved!) Aperiogon. She said in an email, satisfying is the story of Harris and Everett as they grow, fiercely com- “Tonight as part of our tour, we met with two men who have started an petitive, developing survival skills—all told from the point of view of organization called the Parents Circle, a part of another organization “we” the town. Chapters are short, character names distinct and easy called Combatants for Peace. To my utter shock and tearful amaze- to track, and the Greenwood Island setting is evocative of the novel’s ment, the two men introduced themselves and turned out to be the very final line: “A forest has always been the best place for a person to men in the novel!! They were as shocked as we were and have actually escape into.” A must-read novel! – Carol Kranes, Hogarth, $28. not yet read the book. They are going to call McCann and tell him that Weather, Jenny Offill (Feb.) I loved the book and that they met me. My best to all of you from the crazy and beautiful Middle East. Lizzie, a librarian, lives a piecemeal but fulfilling life, working part-time at the A Long Petal of the Sea, Isabel Allende library and part-time fielding post-apoc- (Jan.) alyptic emails for a friend with a famous In August 1939 Pablo Neruda organized doomsday podcast. Lizzie has a husband a refugee ship, the Winnipeg, to transport and son she loves, a brother she’s trying to over 2000 Spanish refugees to Chile. Al- rescue. On the whole she seems happy— lende’s new novel, inspired by this little- as we see in the fragments of narrative known event, should strike a chord in and interior monologue interspersed with our current unwelcoming world. Its main the above-mentioned emails, snippets character, Victor Dalmau, is a medic on from philosophy and religion, jokes....all the Republican side during the Spanish of which sounds beyond piecemeal but is Civil War until, knowing that only brutal- actually amusing, moving (especially the ity will follow Franco, he flees to France, scenes with her son), and great fun to read—until the emails darken desperate to find his dead brother’s fian- along with her brother’s psychosis and the country’s politics. We cee and child. His plan to convince Roser to marry him so she and realize that the weather has been steadily darkening, that the world the child can join him on the Winnepeg works. We follow their lives suddenly seems more terrifying than amusing—that it has become, as as they build a community, pursue careers, and search for their own Yeats would have it, a world in which, “the center will not hold.” The identities in their adopted country. However when another dictator, world we now live in. Startling us, dazzling us, devastating us, Offill Pinochet, shows up, the Dalmau family must once again consider can do more in fewer pages than anyone I’ve read in years. – Betsy Burton, Knopf, $23.95 31 FICTION

Amnesty, Aravind Adiga (Jan.) Heathcliff Redux and Other Stories, Danny, who wears his vacuum on his Lily Tuck (Feb.) back and hauls around his cleaning sup- From “a kiss in the kitchen” to a stranger’s plies in a backpack, came to Sydney legal- bizarre emails, Tuck’s evocative stories ly but has overstayed his visa. Now he is surprise, sadden, and enlighten. Read- trying desperately to stay under the radar. ers will appreciate her insightful and He cleans apartments and has a girlfriend, restrained visions of characters decid- and, although he longs to obtain legal edly human, vulnerable with desires, status, he’s reasonably happy—until one regrets and unflinching revelations. In the of his clients is murdered. Danny believes novella of the title she skillfully inter- he knows the identity of the murderer weaves passages from Wuthering Heights and, law-abiding man that he is, knows (which the narrator is reading) with a he should call the police. But he also married woman’s off-handed, chatty knows that if he does he’ll be deported. Befogged by indecision he prose confession of her affair with Cliff. A wanders the streets of Sydney, reliving his past, Bloom-like, even as photograph of two couples dining in an Italian café inspires observa- he attempts to follow the routine of his daily life. Humor abounds, tion and imagination. Sadie—in a third and most melancholic tale— the tension ratchets up as the murderer draws near, and the reader’s uses a dead swan to reveal feelings about her dreadful marriage and affection and respect for Danny grows apace. Yet the dark tide that unfulfilled dreams. A forgotten act of violence resurfaces years later illegal immigrants are swept up in is also there on every page lending with the casual mention of an East River park. And in the final story, an all-too-vivid reality—under a dreamlike pall of absurdity—to dozens of emails flood a woman’s presence and trigger memories of the plight of those who, undocumented, live utterly adrift and at the her past experience in the infamous Rajneesh cult. These five pieces mercy of the currents of present-day xenophobia. Nowhere has the by a highly accomplished writer will delight and satisfy (especially) plight of undocumented immigrants been so evocatively portrayed. female readers. – Carol Kranes, Atlantic Monthly Press, $23 – Betsy Burton, Scribner, $26 The Bodies of Birds, Melanie Rae Thon Run Me to Earth, Paul Yoon (Jan.) (Out now, event in Jan.) Set in Laos in the 1960s, this spare but Part poetry, part prose, wholly original powerful narrative tells the tale of three and utterly, vividly visceral, Thon’s latest orphans and a dedicated doctor named evokes light and dark, beauty and death, Yang. The orphans have taken refuge in violence and hope—often on a single a bombed-out field hospital and become page—in three parts. The first, “In the motorcycle couriers maneuvering across Exclusion Zone,” is set in a present-day fields laced with unexploded bombs and Chernobyl devoid of human life yet under barrages of bombs from the air— reclaimed by vines and willows and feral until Yang arranges for the four of them roses, owls and bears, storks and beaver. to be evacuated on the last helicopter The second, “The Bodies of Birds,” is the leaving the country. This begins a story interior monologue of a young Latina on that lasts decades, a poignant, tragic and beautiful work of historical her way home from a thankless cleaning fiction that once again solidifies Paul Yoon as a writer of remarkable job in a car driven by her father—a car headed toward her destruc- talent. It will stay with you long after you finish the last page. tion. In the third, “Requiem in the Rain,” an imprisoned murderer – Sally Larkin, Simon & Schuster, $26 learns patience, knows repentance while his sister remembers. Each Interior Chinatown, Charles Yu (Jan.) is a paean to miraculous hope and to its antithesis, the raw pain of existence. Each evokes incandescent beauty and blinding pain. Thon’s “Generic Asian Man,” Willis Wu, is/are words are benisons, her phrases and stanzas drenched in music. Her Yu’s protagonist(s) in a story set within ability to inhabit each character’s interior, especially those of the story after story. Living in the shadows of outcasts and dispossessed, and to infuse every landscape with radiant his father, Sifu, the mysterious Kung Fu life, has always been and continues to be a wonder. – Betsy Burton, master, his mother, Young Dragon Lady, New Michigan Press, $9 Editor’s note: Melanie Rae Thon will read at and older brother, Former Kung Fu Guy, TKE with Lance Olsen on Wednesday, January 29, 7 p.m. Wu strives for what might prove unattain- able—his own chance to play the part of Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, Deepa Anaparra (Jan.) Kung Fu Guy. Yu’s playful novel looks and Jai, no scholar, is, at age 8, an ardent student of crime thanks to his reads like a movie script. But the stakes consumption of true-crime shows on TV. When a classmate disap- are high both in Wu’s real life and in a pears he recruits his two best friends to help track the missing boy. very real world of racism. So begins a search that takes them through the streets of the smog- – Michelle Macfarlane, Pantheon, $25.95 engulfed basti (slum) where they live, on a hair-raising railroad trip to Mumbai on the Purple Line, back to their own basti to haunt the dumps and playing fields and markets as another child and then an- 32 FICTION NONFICTION other (and another) disappear. The police Imperfect Union: How Jessie and John are indifferent, the fear-driven popula- Fremont Mapped the West, Invented Ce- tion turns restive, then enraged, and still lebrity, and Helped Cause the Civil War, children vanish. The game of detective the Steve Inskeep (Jan.) three friends have been playing gradu- John C. Fremont began life in ignominy, ally takes on darker and more frightening born out of wedlock in a time and place tones as they begin to take the possibility where this very fact could forestall any of evil Djinns seriously—to take evil seri- chance of fame and fortune. He not only ously—in a novel that is by turns fascinat- rose above his beginnings but went on to ing, riveting and heartbreaking. become one of the most famous men of – Betsy Burton, Random House, $27 the 19th century. His rise to prominence Dear Edward, was largely directed at the hands of his Ann Napoli- wife, Jessie Benton Fremont, who was tano (Jan.) the daughter of a powerful senator and who took it upon herself to The unthinkable happens to Edward mold her husband into the celebrity he became. His feats as an ex- when he is only 12 years old. En route plorer were unmatched—he accurately mapped much of what would from New York to California, his fam- become the American West, laid out the Oregon Trail, and almost ily (his parents and brother), and every single-handedly began the revolt that would put California into U.S. other passenger, die in an airplane crash. hands. He became the first Republican Presidential candidate to Edward’s miraculous survival catapults advocate for the abolition of slavery. Despite his defeat, he and Jessie, him to fame in a new world he is ill- though Southern, remained adamantly anti-slavery. Throughout their equipped to face. Lacey and John, his aunt long life together, John and Jessie faced the world as one. Their story and uncle, as well as Besa, their neighbor is compelling and insightful. – Barbara Hoagland, Penguin, $30 across the street, and Shay, her daughter, My Autobiography of Carson McCullers, all do their best to surround and support Edward as he grapples with Jenn Shapland (Feb.) his loss. Woven through Edward’s and his family’s story are those of While working as an intern at the Harry the other passengers who do not survive. After the crash, their loved Ransom Center, Jenn Shapland comes ones reach out to Edward hoping for something from him that he is across a collection of love letters between not, as yet, prepared to share—his own memories of that day. Carson McCullers and a woman named – Michelle Macfarlane, Dial Press, $27 Annemarie—letters that cause Shapland The Majesties, Tiffany Tsao (Jan.) to not only reevaluate her perceptions Who put the poison in the shark’s fin of McCullers but also her perceptions of soup? And why? Readers find out the who herself. Perfectly timed to coincide with immediately, but the why takes 254 pages. the 50th anniversary of the publication Two sisters, Estella (Stell) and Gwendolyn of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, this is a (Doll) from a wealthy Indonesian family haunting, resonant read regardless of whether or not you’ve read Mc- enjoy all the luxuries money buys: educa- Cullers’ novels. Evoking the work of Robert MacFarlane and Helen tion at Berkley, travel to Paris Fashion MacDonald, Shapland’s first book hits that beautiful sweet spot be- Week, Melbourne, sunny California to see tween literary criticism, biography and memoir to create something Monarch butterflies. But beneath all this that is truly a literary treasure. – Rachel Haisley, Tin House Books, lurks a troubled marriage, the unsolved $22.95 death at sea of an aunt, a controlling Citizen Reporters: S.S. McClure, Ida matriarch and—when “poison trumps Tarbell, and the Magazine That Rewrote all”—the murder of over 300 clan member-guests at a grandfather’s America, Stephanie Gorton (Feb.) 80th birthday celebration. The sisters search for personal indepen- Long before the internet existed, Ameri- dence and redemption from the families’ sins, and “all the secrets we cans got their news from magazines and keep.” For me, one of the most interesting parts of this riveting and newspapers. During the end of the 19th disquieting novel was the development of Doll’s fashion company, century and at the beginning of the 20th, Bagatelle, a signature line of jewelry made from shimmering insects. one of the most influential voices wasMc - You won’t put this book down, and you will appreciate the insights Clure’s, a magazine that drew over 400,000 into the world of a Chinese-Indonesian dynasty. – Carol Kranes, readers. S.S. McClure was the founding Atria Books, $26 publisher of the magazine and Ida Tarbell was one of his prized reporters. Between the two of them they invented investiga- tive journalism. In the process, they single-handedly brought about the demise of the Standard Oil monopoly. This was but one of nu-

33 NONFICTION MYSTERY/THRILLER merous schemes and evildoers they exposed. McClure’s also provided Ruby, a deceased boxer with spectacular tattoos; and by Inspector a platform for numerous literary voices. In the end, they molded the Rose of Scotland Yard. The rivers of London are rising from their America we’ve inherited. This is a wonderful examination of a signifi- burial grounds and threatening to turn London into a suburb of cant part of our history—and a reminder of its importance in today’s Atlantis. To find Christabel, Bridie has to revisit her past—a past she perilous times. – Barbara Hoagland, Ecco, $28.99 would prefer stay buried. But with a child’s life at stake she will not Hold On, But Don’t Hold Still: Hope and fail, again. – Paula Longhurst, Atria, $27 Humor from My Seriously Flawed Life, Long Bright River, Liz Moore (Jan.) Kristina Kuzmič (Feb.) The Fitzpatrick sisters weren’t always at You might not recognize the pretty odds with each other. Kacey works the woman on the cover of this memoir if streets and so does her sister, Mickey. But you’re used to watching Kristina sitting in Mick is a cop with a 4-year-old son and her clothes closet drinking coffee directly Kacey is hostage to her opioid addic- out of the pot (with a straw). But just read tion. When a bizarre series of murders a few pages and you’ll hear the familiar rocks Mickey’s Philadelphia beat, Kacey warm and funny voice of the mom we’ve vanishes. Mick risks her job and her life come to know and love via social media. to locate her sister. Soon she’s questioning Turns out, she’s had more than her share whom she can really trust. of struggles and while she’s come out on – Paula Longhurst, Riverhead, $26 the other side, she remembers where she’s been—hers is a practical Cartier’s Hope, M.J. Rose (Jan.) and practiced view of life. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to get in that closet and have a serious, and seriously hilarious kaffe klatsch! 1910 New York. On the face of it, socialite – Anne Holman, Viking, $26 Vera Garland and undercover reporter Vee Swan have nothing in common. Vera The Art of Resistance: My Four Years in is the daughter of a retail tycoon and Vee the French Underground: A Memoir, thinks nothing of living in crowded, filthy Justus Rosenberg (Jan.) tenements to uncover stories of injus- Justus Rosenberg was just 16 when his tice. Vee is Vera’s alter ego, the woman parents encouraged him to move to Paris who, encouraged by her father, feels that from Danzig, Germany, in order to finish she can make a difference in the world. his education in a safer environment than Vera has seen her share of tragedy too. A the anti-Semitic atmosphere of Nazi Ger- recent back injury, the loss of a beloved many. But when World War II broke out uncle and the devastating death of her fa- and France was overrun, Rosenberg was ther have pulled the rug from under her. A letter will change all that, stranded there and forced to rely on his shed light on a well-hidden family secret and set Vera, as Vee Swan, wits to survive. Survive he did and, in the on a path to take down the man she holds responsible for her father’s process, he became a fierce and invaluable death. On that path stands Pierre Cartier, jeweler and showman ex- member of the French resistance. His story is one of a young man traordinaire, and the legendary Hope diamond said to bring bad luck who used his fluency in languages and his survival skills in a time of to whoever owns it… – Paula Longhurst, Atria, $27 enormous peril. Rosenberg, who is now 98, has given us a powerful The Missing American, Kwei Quartey tale of an important time and place from someone who was at the (Jan.) center of it all. – Barbara Hoagland, Morrow, $28.99 Introducing Emma Djan, the daughter of a decorated police officer in whose MYSTERY/THRILLER footsteps Emma hopes to follow. Ghana’s police force, however, is now rife with Things in Jars, Jess Kidd (Feb.) corruption, and Emma is relieved of her In Kidd’s third book she introduces us to boring duties when she refuses to do the formidable Bridie Divine, a flame- a ‘favour’ for a senior colleague. Now haired female investigator in 19th-century employed by the Sowah detective agency, London who has been hired to recover Emma takes the case of Derek Tilson, the kidnapped daughter of a Baronet. an American who is searching for his Young Christabel Berwick has strange missing father. Gordon Tilson, who met a powers, she can control the tides and she beautiful Ghanaian widow online, flew over to surprise her and then can see into anyone’s mind to pick out vanished without a trace. Emma’s investigations will take her into the thoughts as easily as a skilled angler lands weird and dangerous world of fetish priests, online scammers and a trout. Bridie is assisted by her house- double-dealing at the highest levels. – Paula Longhurst, Soho Crime, keeper Cora, rescued from the circus; by $25.95

34 MYSTERY/THRILLER

My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell decades-old disappearance of her three (Jan.) stepdaughters on the bleak Norfolk Fens. 2000: Vanessa was 15 years old when she Before leaving London Helena meets fell in love with Jacob Strane, her English young Samuel Moncrieff, who is mourn- teacher at an exclusive prep school. It was ing his lost love and having terrible “sooooo romantic.” She was noticed, she nightmares about the same desolate area was special. 2017: Strane has just been ac- Helena is travelling to—an area of dark cused of a pattern of abuse of the teenage magic, old superstitions, devil men and girls he was supposed to be protecting. vanishing children. And sometimes those One of the girls reaches out to Vanessa, children come back… – Paula Longhurst, begging her to go public. Through the Titan, $14.95 lens of therapy Vanessa begins to ques- The Janes, tion her memories of the affair. Was she Louisa Luna the instigator or the victim? Did Strane empower her or control her? (Jan.) Vanessa steps off the page and into your head; you’ll find yourself The Janes of the title are Jane Does; two arguing with her over her decisions and the consequences. anonymous young women who have been – Paula Longhurst, William Morrow, $27.99 murdered. Their autopsies show they are First Cut, Judy Melinke and T.J. Mitchell little more than children, and forensic evi- (Jan.) dence indicates frequent brutal sexual as- Dr. Jessie Teska, the practitioner of one of saults. They’ve been trafficked. Not a high the darker professions, forensic pathology, priority for law enforcement. The San has left L.A. under a cloud and is starting Diego police outsource the murders to a new job as medical examiner in a busy, Alice Vega and her partner Max Caplan, understaffed office in San Francisco. The whom she calls in from across the coun- last thing she needs is trouble—but when try—but no sooner do they make some progress in the sex traffick- a corpse her boss has deemed a suicide ing operation, than they are called off the case. By now emotionally seems to her to be a homicide, she sets involved, the pair continue their investigation, widening it to include out on what will be a collision course with the police and inadvertently stepping on the toes of a Mexican cartel. the status quo. Drugs and more death, Threats, betrayal and violence ensue in this dark, fast-moving thriller. bitcoin and more drugs, and yet more What the two rogue detectives discover isn’t pretty, but is so common deaths fuel a tale that graphically evokes both her profession and her in these sick times we live in that it’s hard to ignore. – Betsy Burton, personal life—whether the topic is sex, viscera, or violence. A killer Doubleday, $26 mystery (no pun intended) by the author of Working Stiff guaranteed to keep you up until the wee hours of the morning. – Betsy Burton, MYSTERY NEW IN PAPER Hanover Square, $26.99 The Rabbit Hunter, Lars Kepler (Jan.) Scrublands, Chris Hammer (Jan.) Sweden’s politicians are being targeted Martin, a burned-out war correspondent by a terrorist. With one minister already with a bad case of PTSD acquired in dead, Saga Bauer of the security police is Gaza; Riversend, an Australian town still drawn into the case and so is Joona Linna, traumatized by the actions of a trusted who is still serving his sentence for as- priest-turned-mass-murderer who had saulting another officer. Linna targets the killed several of the town’s residents the terrorist by insinuating himself into the year before; the heat-scorched scrubland man’s network and then carrying a vital beyond that town; the inhabitants of town message to the outside. What happens and bush, reluctant to talk: the major next puts Linna back in prison and Bauer ingredients of this mesmerizing, deeply on a plane to a secure facility in America intelligent, beautifully written mystery. where a witness waits. Bauer hopes this Scrublands examines far more than the witness can tell her everything, that is if the woman hasn’t completely whys of the shooting. Raw, riveting and lost her mind. – Paula Longhurst, Knopf, $27.95 as apocalyptic as a bushfire one minute, as thoughtful as a contem- plative prayer the next, teeming with long-hidden secrets but also The Golden Key, Marian Womack (Feb.) with love and fear and compassion, it probes at the anthill of human Queen Victoria is dead and London is in the grip of psychic mayhem. motivation and allows us to view what’s within, creating a storytelling Mediums and nightly seances calling forth the spirits are celebrated wonder of a novel in the process. – Betsy Burton, Touchstone, $18 and investigated in equal measure. One of these mediums, Helena Walton-Cisneros, has been enlisted by Lady Matthews to solve the

35 INKSLINGER’S INKSLINGERS Editor: Betsy Burton Publisher & Editor: Copy Editors: Betsy Burton Anne Brillinger Designer: Deon Hilger Hilary Dudley Michelle Macfarlane Inkslingers: Betsy Burton Wendy Foster Leigh Ann Cannon Paula Longhurst Rob Eckman Michelle Macfarlane Patrick Fleming Anne Stewart Mark Sue Fleming Margaret Brennan Rachel Haisley Neville Barbara Hoagland Michaela Riding Anne Holman Jan Sloan Carol Kranes Mackenzie Van Sally Larkin Engelenhoven

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