Between the Covers Summer 2018

Woman Reading in a Garden” by Barbara Jaskiewicz A Summer Evening for Bookclubs

Wednesday, August 29th, 2018

Page 1 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Boulder’s Bookclub Bestsellers

Less Trickster Feminism by Andrew Sean Greer by Anne Waldman

A wedding invitation arrives in How do we investigate the the mail: your boyfriend of the psyche of our playful past nine years is engaged to resistance to assumptions and someone else. On your desk norms through poetry? In this are a series of invitations to collection, mythopoetics, shape half-baked literary events shifting, and chance operation around the world. QUESTION: play inside the field of How do you arrange to skip intertwined poems, which town? ANSWER: You accept coalesced out of a year of them all. What would protest with some texts possibly go wrong? F penned in the streets. P

Artemis Killers of the Flower Moon by Andy Weir by David Grann

Set in the first moon colony and With a compelling narrative and featuring a charming smuggler- extensive years of research, inventor antihero, the plot is David Grann recounts the fun, clever, and riveting. I was events of the Osage murders in deeply impressed by the the 1920s, following the trail of amount of thought and evidence unearthed by the FBI respectful research that went and then researching further in into the crafting of the setting tireless pursuit of the truth. This and characters, and I absolutely book is heart-wrenching, loved the main character, profound, and deeply Jazz. ~Genevieve F affecting. ~Genevieve NF

Magpie Murders Calypso by Anthony Horowitz by David Sedaris

When an author of a popular Sedaris sets his formidable detective series is found dead, powers of observation toward his editor starts looking for middle age and mortality. His clues and the missing pages of powers of observation have his latest book. Agatha Christie never been sharper, but much references abound and the of the comedy here is born out whole set-up is wonderfully of that moment when your own clever and delightful. Great for body betrays you and you fans of British mysteries, both realize that the story of your modern and vintage. life is made up of more ~Liesl F past than future. NF H

There There How to Change Your Mind by Tommy Orange by Michael Pollan

There There deals with the How to Change Your Mind is a dilemma of Urban Indians in brilliant and brave Oakland, California, people investigation into the medical who are estranged from their and scientific revolution taking ancestral cultures, but equally place around psychedelic at a loss when dealing with drugs. A unique and elegant mainstream society. It has one blend of science, memoir, of the best first chapters I’ve travel writing, history, and read in years, and it builds to a medicine, this is a triumph of sledge-hammer ending. participatory ~Harry F H journalism. NF H Page 2 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Upcoming Events for Bookclubs

Gwen Florio Adam Cayton-Holland September 4th, 7:30pm, $5 September 6th, 7:30pm, $5

In 2001, Kabul is suddenly a Adam Cayton-Holland chose to place of possibility as people meet life’s tough breaks with fling off years of repressive stand-up comedy; his youngest Taliban rule. Silent Hearts is an sister, Lydia, struggled with absorbing, complex portrayal mental illness and ultimately of two very different but took her own life. Tragedy Plus equally resilient women caught Time is a heartbreaking, in the conflict of a war and its honest, and darkly funny aftermath that will test them in memoir about trying your ways they never hardest to choose life imagined. F H in the wake of loss. NF H

Radha Agrawal Chris Hedges September 20th, 7:30pm, $5 September 21st, 7:30pm $10 at *First Congregational Church* After suffering a bout of community confusion, Radha America, says Chris Hedges, is Agrawal co-founded convulsed by an array of Daybreaker, events where pathologies that have arisen people get up at the crack of out of profound hopelessness dawn, meet in event spaces and a civil society that has around the world, and dance. ceased to function. Belong is her highly energetic With America: The Farewell guide to discovering where Tour, Hedges seeks to jolt us and with whom you out of our complacency fit. NF H while there is time. NF H

Leif Enger Dominique Christina October 10th, 7:30pm, $5 October 16th, 7:30pm, $5

After a car accident, In Anarcha Speaks, the life of Midwestern movie house Anarcha is personally owner Virgil Wander begins to reenvisioned. Anarcha was an piece together his personal enslaved Black woman who history and the lore of his endured experimentation at the broken town, with the help of hands of Dr. Marion Sims, a cast of affable and curious commonly known as the father locals. Leif Enger conjures a of modern gynecology. These remarkable portrait of a region poems provide a proper way to and its residents. remember Anarcha. F H P On Sale 10/2 On Sale 10/16

Lisa S. Gardiner Chelsea Clinton October 23rd, 7:30pm, $5 October 25th, *6:00pm*, $18.50/ $23.50, Visit our website for Weaving scientific facts and more information! research together with humor and emotion, Tales from an With information on problems Uncertain World explores large and small, Start Now! human responses to erosion, breaks down the concepts of earthquakes, fires, invasive health, climate change, species, floods, and other endangered species, and more, natural disasters to illuminate so that readers can learn how why we find it so challenging to they can make a difference in their communities. deal with climate change. NF On sale 10/2 NF H Page 3 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Our Booksellers Recommend...

Sacred Hunger Refuge by Barry Unsworth by Dina Nayeri

Sacred Hunger is the story of Refuge is a lyrical, memorable, an 18th-century slave ship and and meaningful story about the people of distant origins what happens to a family when who fall prey to it. What I most some escape and some remain love about it is how Unsworth behind. It is a stunning portrait builds out the story, so that of what it means to be a the Liverpool Merchant itself refugee, what it means to be an becomes a tiny agent of doom immigrant, what it means to with the bloodstream of world feel displaced, lost, and in trade. I return to this novel between two worlds. again and again. ~Julia F. F ~ Olivia F

The Rings of Saturn How to Build a Girl by W. G. Sebald by Caitlin Moran

Sebald captures the vibrant Moran perfectly captures the pastoral nature of the English naïve, yet hopeful nature of countryside in this lavish and adolescence and crafts a beautiful wander through time character that is both relatable and place. With photographs and flawed. Set amongst the throughout, a sense of moving English working class, the through history as well as young protagonist aspires to across the Suffolk countryside become a glamorous music permeates Sebald's fictional critic. Look for the sequel, and journey in an almost the upcoming movie! dreamlike way. ~Katie F ~Savannah F

Spill Zone The Woman in the Woods by Scott Westerfeld, illus. by by John Connolly Alex Puvilland Connolly is a very rare thing, a No one knows what caused the literary genre writer. His Spill, but the result is a writing and characters are as Chernobyl-like isolation zone, compelling as the mystery. This complete with mysterious is a supernatural story that creatures, dangerous follows a detective helping a landscapes, and a government women fleeing danger. But who blockade. Addison risks her is the ancient being stalking safety to photograph the Zone them and what is the book of for elite collectors. Book 2 fairy tales she left is out now too! ~Julia A. G behind? ~Cynthia F H

We Have Always Lived in the Give Me Your Hand Castle by Shirley Jackson by Megan Abbott

If you’re looking for a writer to Diane Fleming. Brilliant, chill your bones, you’d be beautiful Diane. Kit has been hard-pressed to find a more tormented by Diane’s secret competent master than Shirley for more than 10 years. Just Jackson. We Have Always Lived when she has a chance to in the Castle delivers an forget the past, Diane comes unsettling tale about two sisters strolling back into her life, living with their uncle, years determined more than ever to after one of the sisters poisoned hide their past. What is this the rest of the family. secret, you ask? Read ~Trevor F to find out. ~Christina F H Page 4 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Our Booksellers Recommend...

Underground I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Haruki Murakami by Michelle McNamara

Underground tells the stories of For fans of true crime, it survivors of a horrendous and doesn’t get much better than senseless attack, with insight this. The late McNamara on how they were ostracized by constructs a perfect balance society simply for having been between investigative traumatized by something out journalism and personal of their control. Sound familiar? antidote in her quest to find Cyclical history stares you in the Golden State Killer. Her the face in this prescient and dedication eventually lead to unbelievably somber book. the murderer’s arrest. ~Nick NF ~Savannah NF H

The Right Stuff The Death of Truth by Tom Wolfe by Michiko Kakutani

What did it take to become an Kakutani, through an expert astronaut in the 1960s, when grasp of complex concepts and the term was being defined? theories that gave birth to Tom Wolfe went in-depth postmodernism, details for the researching the incredible reader how truth and an bravery and courage of those understanding of what reality is who became the first in space. have been shaken by the This is a great read for any tactics used by the Trump lover of space, or for anyone administration and Russian who likes a good interference. adventure. ~Brad NF ~Tess NF H

Zelda How Not to Be a Boy by Nancy Milford by Robert Webb

From her wild youth in to her Yeah, JK Rowling loves it. It's rocky marriage to F. Scott that guy from Peep Show and Fitzgerald, Milford describes That Mitchell & Webb Look! One Zelda Fitzgerald's life of of the finest minds in modern complicated relationships and comedy turns inward and mental illness. Letters from provides a hilariously honest Zelda to Scott and selections (like "oh, I forgot it used to be from her published works that way") portrait of upbringing illuminate Zelda's talent as a and its confusions. writer full of earnestness ~Nick and ambition. ~Katie NF Paperback avail. 6/4/19 NF H

No One Cares About Crazy I Was Told to Come Alone People by Ron Powers by Souad Mekhennet

Interwoven with the appalling Mekhennet conducted countless history of mistreatment interviews in areas of conflict to inflicted on the mentally ill in create this detailed account of the name of "care" is Ron the current turmoil and the Powers' touching personal factors contributing to the history with the crippling radicalization of young Muslims. effects of schizophrenia. This If we want to end the war on book is for anyone whose life is terror, it is imperative that we touched by mental illness understand all sides of the (which is all of us). conflict. This book’s a good ~Julia A. NF place to start. ~Trevor NF Page 5 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Rob’s Recommendations

Convenience Store Woman Rob Pine is a Sales by Sayaka Murata

Keiko had always been a Representative for little strange, so when she takes a job in a Ingram Publisher convenience store while at university, her Services parents are delighted.

However, at 36, she is still in the same job. When a similarly alienated but bitter young man comes to work in the store, he will upset Keiko's contented stasis—but will it be for the better? F H

Lucky You The Break by Erika Carter by Katherena Vermette

Ellie, Chloe, and Rachel When Stella looks out are friends (sort of), her window one evening waitresses at the same and spots someone in dive bar in the Arkansas trouble on the Break — college town they've a barren field outside stuck around in too long, her house — she calls each becoming the police. In a series of unmoored in her own shifting narratives, way. When Rachel falls people who are under the sway of a connected, both directly messianic boyfriend with and indirectly, with the whom she's agreed to victim — police, family, live off-grid for a year, and friends — tell their she convinces Ellie and personal stories leading Chloe to join them in up to that fateful F F night. "The Project."

The Watermelon Boys Us&them by Ruqaya Izzidien by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani

Ahmad leaves his family Lili and Goli have argued at home by the Tigris to endlessly about where join the British forces their mother, Bibijan, fighting the Ottomans. should live since the Carwyn, a young man Iranian Revolution. They from Wales, travels to disagree about her fight for the English in finances too. But once Egypt and Baghdad. Both they begin to "share" the are changed by their old woman, they start experiences, betrayal, asking themselves where and discrimination at the the money might be hands of the British coming from. Only when army, and by the heart- Bibijan finally break and passion that relinquishes the past can arise when loss and she remember F F political zeal collide. the truth. Page 6 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Rob’s Recommendations The Boatbuilder by Daniel Gumbiner

Rob Pine is a Sales At 28 years old, Eli "Berg" Koenigsberg Representative for has never encountered a challenge he couldn't Ingram Publisher push through, until a head injury leaves him Services with lingering headaches and a weakness for opiates. Addled by addiction and chronic pain, Berg meets Alejandro, a reclusive, master boatbuilder, and begins to see a F path forward.

See What I Have Done Magdalena Mountain by Sarah Schmidt by Robert Michael Pyle

We've all heard the At the center of this rhyme, but mysteries story of majesty and still surround the high mountain magic murders of Andrew and are three Magdalenas — Abby Borden. Did Lizzie Mary, a woman whose wield the ax? Or is there uncertain journey opens more to the story? Sarah the book; Magdalena Schmidt presents us with Mountain, shrouded in a fictionalized telling of mystery and menace; these infamous murders, and the all-black and you won't be able to Magdalena alpine turn away. Set aside a butterfly, the most weekend or a long plane elusive of several rare flight for this gorgeously and beautiful species written novel. F found on the F ~Julia A. mountain.

Enlightenment Town Small Moving Parts

Why has a tiny old Two men. One young, mining town — one old. Complete Crestone, Colorado — strangers who have become home to 25 made the same ultimate spiritual centers decision — that their representing nearly all lives are not worth living the brand-name faiths and it is time to take fate of the world? As Jeffery into their own hands. Paine explores When their stories Crestone, the town's intersect on one fateful amazing spiritual night in West Texas, the diversity highlights ensuing friendship takes fundamental them down a perilous commonalities in a way road neither imagined possible. that will inspire. NF F Page 7 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Nicole’s Recommendations

JELL-O Girls by Allie Rowbottom

In 1899, Allie Rowbottom's Nicole Sullivan great-great-great-uncle bought is the owner of the patent to Jell-O for $450. An examination of the dark the BookBar in side of an iconic product and a Denver, and the portrait of the women who lived in the shadow of its founder of fractured fortune, JELL-O Girls ReadTribe is a family and feminist history, and a story of mother- hood, love, and loss. NF H

Where the Crawdads Sing The Man Who Walked Backward by Delia Owens by Ben Montgomery

In late 1969, when Chase Plennie Wingo was hit hard by Andrews is found dead in a the effects of the Great quiet town on the North Depression. After months of Carolina coast, the locals struggling, Plennie decided it immediately suspect Kya, the was time to do something so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is extraordinary — something to not what they say. When two resurrect the spirit of young men become intrigued adventure and optimism he felt by her, Kya opens herself to a he'd lost. He decided to walk new life — until the around the world… H unthinkable happens. F H backwards. Avail. 9/18 NF

Mad Boy Varina by Nick Arvin by Charles Frazier

Young Henry Phipps is on a Her prospects limited, Varina quest to realize his dying Howell agrees to wed an older mother's last wish: to be buried widower, with whom she at sea. As he dodges the expects a secure life. He cannon fire of clashing armies, instead pursues a career in he meets scoundrels of all politics and is appointed types. Mad Boy is at once an president of the Confederacy, antic adventure and a work of placing Varina at the center of historical fiction that recreates one of the darkest moments in a young nation's first truly American history. international conflict. F Paperback avail. 4/16/19 F H

Florida The Waiter by Lauren Groff by Matias Faldbakken

The stories in this collection In a centuries-old European span characters, towns, and restaurant, a middle-aged time, but Florida — its waiter takes pride in the landscape, climate, history, and unchangeable aspects of his state of mind — becomes its job. In this universe unto itself, gravitational center. With a well-groomed young woman shocking effect, Groff pinpoints walks through the door and the moments and decisions upsets the delicate balance of behind human pleasure and the restaurant and all it has pain, hope and despair, come to represent. love and fury. F H Avail. 10/9 F H Page 8 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 About ReadTribe

ReadTribe is a website that links readers to book clubs in their

area, allows book clubs to register and get linked to new members,

and connects clubs to their local, independent bookseller. ReadTribe connects readers to clubs and clubs to booksellers!

Stay tuned for the big launch date and news of their launch party!

www.readtribe.com

@readtribe Shelter by Jung Yun

Kyung is a father burdened by a house he can’t afford. His parents live in the town’s most exclusive neighborhood. When an act of violence leaves his parents unable to live on their own, Kyung takes them in. Once more under the same roof, Kyung questions what it means to be a good husband, father, and son, while the life he knew crumbles.

The Fellowship by Philip & Carol Zaleski

C.S. Lewis is the 20th century's most widely read Christian writer and J.R.R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades, they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings. In The Fellowship, Philip and Carol Zaleski offer the first complete rendering of the Inklings' lives and works.

Page 9 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Stephanie’s Recommendations

Lucky Boy Stephanie has by Shanthi Sekaran

been with Soli, a young Mexican Boulder Book woman, makes it to Store since 2006. America, and she She has worked becomes pregnant along in almost every the way. Kavya is unable department in to become pregnant, but she finds the joy of the store, and motherhood as foster she currently mother to Soli's baby sets up events. after Soli is placed in She runs the immigration detention. bookstore’s Both women are willing fiction book club, to do anything for this baby boy. This is a From Our touching novel with Shelves. no easy answers. F

Delusions of Gender Circe by Cordelia Fine by Madeline Miller

At its core, this book is From the first chapter I an examination of what wanted to know more makes a man and what about Circe, and her makes a women — and evolution from a sad, in the author's opinion, lonely goddess with no it has nothing to do with power to a strong, how we're born. Rather, powerful sorceress was Fine makes a strong wonderful to watch. As argument that society Circe is immortal, she defines gender roles sees many of the major rather than our brains stories you remember or biology. This book reading about in makes you reconsider mythology unfold. I was your preconceived captivated from start to notions about finish! Paperback NF F H gender. avail. 2/5/19

Celine The Blue Hour by Laura Pritchett by Peter Heller

Celine, based on the This is a beautiful author's mother, tells collection of moments the story of a fierce, in the lives of people strong, amazing woman living in a fictional who searches for Colorado mountain missing persons. This is town. It's labeled as a a highly entertaining novel, but it's more of a literary mystery that's collection of connected as much about short stories that all discovering Celine's revolve around the past as it is about suicide of the town vet. finding a National Pritchett does a Geographic masterful job of photographer outside showing how the lives of these people Yellowstone. F F intersect. Page 10 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Lara’s Recommendations

Lara joined the Boulder Book Store team in 2016 as a bookseller, and is now our Assistant Sidelines Buyer. As our resident chocolate guru, she relishes pairing the perfect treat with her favorite fantasy, sci-fi, mythology, philosophy, or current

affairs books.

The Power In the Shadow of Statues by Naomi Alderman by Mitch Landrieu

The Power is a vicarious You may remember thrill ride through a total Landrieu as the Mayor of shift in gender norms. New Orleans who Revel in the joy that ordered the removal of comes from a patriarchy four confederate statues. crumbling at the Whether you agree or electrified hands of disagree with his women…and then decision, this book is well despair as the reality of worth a read for its human nature hits you examination of the full in the face. Read shadow that slavery for the wish fulfillment, casts. Landrieu also then reread for astute confronts his own societal observations. assumptions around Paperback avail. F H Southern NF H 1/8/19 history.

From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty

From Here to Eternity compares all the bizarre and fascinatingly gruesome ways that we handle death. Starting right here in Colorado with the nation's only open air pyre, this book’s descriptions of our treatment of the dead highlight numerous ways we approach the human condition. Paperback avail. 10/9 NF H Page 11 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Arsen’s Recommendations

The Locals by Jonathan Dee

Arsen has A chorus of voices tells worked at the story of Howland, Boulder Book Massachusetts, a dying New England town, in Store since 1992 this expertly crafted and has been novel. Philip Hadi, a buying the new billionaire who moved to titles since 1997. town after the 9/11 He runs the attacks, has taken over bookstore's as mayor. The story told from a dozen different poetry group, points of view The Living Poets illuminates the struggles Society. of America that are playing out in our F public life.

The Autobiography of White Plains Miss Jane Pittman by David Hicks by Ernest J. Gaines Flynn is a young man This powerful depiction who makes all the of the life of a woman wrong moves. He born into slavery who marries the wrong lives to see the Civil woman and abandons Rights movement is a his kids and career. The remarkable feat of joy in this book is how storytelling. Miss Jane Flynn gradually pieces Pittman survives the his life back together depredations of violent again. It’s a novel told in Rebel soldiers, white stories and it is deeply supremacists, and satisfying as Flynn plantation owners to learns to stop blaming become a beacon for her others for the mess he’s community as they F made of his life. F fight segregation.

Home Fire Improvement by Kamila Shamsie by Joan Silber

This retelling of Improvement is a wide Antigone set in ranging novel told in contemporary England stories that connects gives us a look into how people through time a western raised Muslim and place to one tragic could be seduced by the accident. Kiki, a free- message of Jihad spirited young adult of fanaticism. Two sisters the 1970s turned wised desperately trying to woman, is the novel's save their brother from lodestar. Silber his rash miscalculation masterfully pulls connive their way to the together the threads of highest echelons of lives in places both as British politics. remote as rural Turkey Paperback avail. and as common as F H F 9/4 New York City. Page 12 Between the Covers – Bookclub Night Summer 2018 Bookclub Resources

Here are some great resources for bookclubs, complete with tips, recommendations, and discussion questions. Please note that some of these sites link to chain stores — If you find something you like, remember that we can order it for your bookclub at a discount. Support the community where your bookclub lives!

LitLovers: www.litlovers.com Book Club Girl: www.bookclubgirl.com Oprah's Bookclub: www.oprah.com/app/books.html Jewish Book Council: www.jewishbookcouncil.org/bookclub/ Reese’s Book Club: hello-sunshine.com/book-club Reading Group Choices: www.readinggroupchoices.com Mother/Daughter Bookclub: www.motherdaughterbookclub.com BookBrowse: www.bookbrowse.com/bookclubs/ IndieBound for Reading Groups: www.indiebound.org/reading-group-indie-next-list Read It Forward: www.readitforward.com

Here are some great guides from the publishers: Macmillan: us.macmillan.com/reading-group-gold W.W. Norton: books.wwnorton.com/books/reading-guides-list.aspx?tid=3288 Penguin Random House: penguinrandomhouse.com/book-clubs/ Simon & Schuster: simonandschuster.com/bookclubs HarperCollins: harpercollins.com/browse-reading-guide Knopf Doubleday: knopfdoubleday.com/reading-group-center/ Penguin Classics: penguin.com/static/pages/classics/readingguides.php Bloomsbury: bloomsbury.com/us/communities/reading-group-guides/

A key to the symbols in this guide: F — Fiction NF — Non-Fiction H — Hardcover P — Poetry G — Graphic Novel

Local Authors: The following are local authors who may be interested in visiting your bookclub. The contact these authors through their websites.

Elisabeth Hyde, Erin Blakemore, BK Loren, Eleanor Brown, Dan Baum, Gail Storey, Rivvy Neshama, Kayann Short, Katherine Harmon Courage, Jonathan Waldman, Scott Carney, Erika Krouse, Sarah Elizabeth Schantz, Richard Martin, Laura Pritchett, Tiffany Quay Tyson, Edward Hamlin, Marah Hardt, Joanna Walters, Waylon Lewis, Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Thomas Murphy, Bob Litwin, Bari Tessler, Katherine Marlowe, Susan Casey, Nuanprang Snitbhan, Michael Brownlee, Scott G. Bruce, Paul Levitt, Laird Hunt, Peter Heller, Leonard David, Jeffrey Bennett, John Gierach, Erik Weihenmayer, David Hicks, Eugene Buchanan, Lennard Zinn, Marc Bekoff, Andrew Schelling, Jon Bassoff, Philip Fernbach, Silvia Pettem, Douglas Light, Ramona Ausubel, Scott Jurek, David Haskell, Karen Auvinen, Anne Waldman, Jeanne Winer, Diana Byington, Marcia Douglas

Good luck & happy reading! Page 13