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Thank
you everyone for making our holiday season so successful.
As always, we were appreciative of and energized by all the
hustle and bustle that Christmas and Hanukkah brings. We hope
you had a relaxing and fun December, but if last month was
tense and fast, we have just the remedy for repose. May your
January be filled with the entertainment of good books and
good friends. For blustery days and bitter nights, we have
many suggestions that will keep you cozy. Here are just a
few of our recent favorites and old stand-bys…
Dede
writes: Many people like to watch their favorite movie
over and over again—whether it is “It's a Wonderful Life”
or “Dr. Zhivago” or “Austin Powers.” Many people also like
to re-read their favorite books, and it is always a wonderful
book that bears re-reading. A person can suit their mood and
revel in remembered pleasures. I like to re-read Willa Cather
and Laurie Colwin every few years. I just re-read Charming
Billy (038533334X)  by
Alice McDermott and found it even more moving than the first
time. Michael Malone's Foolscap (1570717575)
is
as entertaining as ever when revisited. Some snowy day, run
your fingers over the books in your bookcase, and you will
find an old favorite to re-read. Delicious. There is one problem:
many times our favorites have been loaned or given away, and
we pine for that particular book. My copy of Renoir,
My Father by celebrated filmmaker Jean Renoir has disappeared,
and it makes me so cross to think that I might never have
a chance to re-read that splendid biography!
In the
new year, there will be many new books that will quickly become
old favorites. If you have not read On Beauty
(1594200637) by
Zadie Smith or Saturday (0385511809)
by Ian McEwan, now is the time. Set in New England
and Britain, On Beauty delves into how families work
and is a send-up of academia, liberals and conservatives.
With vividly drawn characters, I am awed by her ear for language.
Saturday takes place during one day in the life of
a man in London. He is a happy man—father, husband and gifted
neurosurgeon—and, in a minute, his life changes. This book
is deeply philosophical and, at the same time, a thrilling
page-turner.
Alice
writes: In November, the National Book Award recipients
were announced. The winners were Joan Didion’s The Year
of Magical Thinking (140004314X)
for nonfiction and William T. Vollmann’s Europe Central
(0143036599) for
fiction. I have not yet read either, but I have delved into
the winner in poetry: W. S. Merwin’s Migration:
New and Selected Poems (1556592183).
The book jacket describes him as “arguably the most influential
American poet of the last half-century…”, but he’s new to
me, and I think he’s very good. While he’s not as approachable
as my favorite Mary Oliver, I think that he’s got flowing
rhythm, an ear for language and a good range of spiritual
and evocative poems. One poem I liked was titled “The Unwritten:”
“Inside this pencil/crouch words that have never been written/never
been spoken/never been taught/they’re hiding/they’re awake
in there…and it’s all we need/it’s here in this pencil/every
pencil in the world/is like this” Check him out, all you poets!
Imagine the possibilities of your pencil…
I just
finished reading Elliot Perlman’s The Reasons
I Won’t Be Coming (1573223212),a
collection of stories from an Australian lawyer who received
great reviews for his last novel, Seven Types of Ambiguity
(1594481431). I
must say that I liked his novel far more than his latest book,
but there were some great stories in this new hardcover. From
this collection, it is easy to see that he has a very direct,
simple style that is appealing and readable. However, as I
said, I liked his novel more, and it was just released in
paperback. At more than 600 pages, it’s a good selection for
the cold, long nights of January. Divided into sections with
six different narrators, Perlman unravels the story of a lonely
teacher who tries to win back the love he lost ten years before.
In this story of unrequited love, we are introduced to a string
of characters affected by Sam Heywood’s pursuit.
Last month
Dede handed me an advanced reader’s copy of a book due this
month and told me to read it, saying that I would like Dara
Horn. She was born the same year as I, but she’s finished
two novels: I’ve got to get cracking. In her new novel, The
World to Come (0393051072), Horn
interweaves the story of modern-day Benjamin Ziskind and a
painter from the early-20th century, Marc Chagall.
Ziskind, a 30-year-old quiz-show writer, steals a Chagall
painting from a cocktail party at a museum, believing that
the painting belonged to his family. With poignancy and humor,
Horn combines history, theology and human pathos in a story
about an art heist and a grown-up child prodigy.
Finally,
for book group on Tuesday, January 10th from
7-8 p.m., we will discuss Mindy Friddle’s The
Garden Angel (0312424965). In
this Southeastern Bookseller’s Association Bestseller, Cutter
Johanson is hoping to save her ancestral home in the face
of siblings who would prefer the money over the property.
All seems lost until she, a gruff tomboy working two jobs,
makes an unexpected friend, a modest and vulnerable academic
named Elizabeth. In turn for Elizabeth’s monetary help, Cutter
frees Elizabeth from her sense of being an invalid recluse,
a character in the mold of Emily Dickinson (about whom Elizabeth
has been writing a dissertation for many years). The book
reminded me of Richard Russo’s Empire Falls
(0375726403), and
it’s appropriate that a quotation from him adorns the cover.
In a story about marriage and love, about the shifting alliances
of family and friendship and about the needs of the human
soul, Friddle is at once funny and heartfelt in her first
novel.
FROM THE CHILDREN’S ROOM:
Marilyn
writes: In Fancy
Nancy (0060542098) author
Jane O’Connor introduces Nancy, a little girl who believes
that when it comes to fancy, more is always better.
In this funny, charming picture book, Nancy transforms her
ordinary family for an extraordinary evening together.
Reviewer
Perry D., aged 13, tells us that Avalon High
(0060755865)
is “yet another enjoyable book written by Meg Cabot,
author of The Princess Diaries. I was excited to see
it, and I liked it a lot. Elaine is basically a normal girl—as
normal as you can be when your crazy parents have named you
after some lady who killed herself in medieval times and when
you're being forced to move hundreds of miles away from home
for a year. But what Elaine finds at her new school, Avalon
High, is definitely not as normal as it first seems. Strange
things are happening at the school, things which bear a bizarre
resemblance to the story of King Arthur and his court. Could
it be a coincidence, or not? And what part will Ellie play?”
For ages 12 and up.
For
the same aged readers, Nicole, 11, enjoyed Julia Bell’s
new book, Massive (1416902074).
She wrote, “Massive is one of the best books I ever
read. Told from the point of view of a young teenager, this
book sounds just like a 14-year-old talking. It is about a
girl named Carmen. Her mom is obsessed with being thin. She
is always on a diet, and she encourages Carmen to do the same.
Carmen’s mom seems to think that thin=happy. Then Carmen gets
an eating disorder, and her mom becomes thin to a point where
her body starts eating organs she needs to live. Will Carmen
go down the same road? I really recommend this book.”
Alyssa,
aged 13, enjoyed a new book for high school students by Suzanne
Weyn, The Night Dance (1416905790). She
wrote, “This book is the perfect fairy tale. It combines the
old folktale of the twelve dancing princesses with the legends
of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. A short,
easy read, it tells the story of a father who locked his daughters
up to protect and make them happy, but the whole family was
only happy after the girls found a way to escape every night.
The book was delightful…and of course (being a fairy tale)
had a happy ending.”
Isabel
writes: A Heart Divided (0440228409)
by
husband and wife writers Cherie Bennett and Jeff
Gottesfeld is a great book for middle school readers that
begs the question: Is the Confederate battle flag a racist
symbol or a proud reminder of Southern heritage? When Kate's
liberal-minded family moves from the suburbs of NYC to a small
town near Nashville, Kate is convinced her life is over. Redford
is everything Kate thinks it will be—Confederate flags wave
on flagpoles everywhere, grits are a staple on every menu
and country music dominates the radio. When a petition to
remove the school’s Confederate flag is passed around, Kate
steps in, not afraid to attack what she sees as offensive.
She makes enemies along the way, including her new friend
Jack. Soon her family and his are embroiled in a bitter controversy
not just about the flag but about what it means to be an American.
Chopsticks
(0375833099) is
a wonderful new picture book by John Berkeley. In this
beautifully illustrated story, we meet a tiny gray mouse named
Chopsticks who lives in Hong Kong and only comes out at night.
His friend, a wooden dragon, lives in a floating restaurant
and wishes he could fly. On the night of the full moon, during
Chinese New Year, they share a high-flying adventure with
the help of Old Fu, the dragon's creator.
Soft
House (0763616974) written
by Jane Yolen and illustrated by the beloved illustrator
of Cynthia Rylant’s The Cobble Street Cousins, Wendy
Anderson Halperin, is a charming new picture book. A sister
and her younger brother are fighting boredom one rainy day
by building a fort from blankets and cushions. Constructing
their soft house, the siblings stop being irritable and begin
to work together. It’s fun to pass a rainy afternoon in the
Soft House with Halperin’s richly detailed pencil and
watercolor illustrations.
Cool
Stuff and How it Works (0756614651) is
new from the publishers who always produce the best nonfiction
titles for kids. From iPods to robots, this fun new book teaches
readers about the technology we use everyday but seems to
work by magic! With bright and interesting photographs throughout,
we learn about man-made inventions that mimic nature and about
our daily conveniences—cell phones, MP3 players, refrigerators—which
we take for granted with little thought of their inner-workings.
Summed up with a technology time line, biographies of groundbreaking
inventors and a glossary of “techno terms,” this is a “cool”
book.
Judy
H. writes: Looking for a good mystery for a high school
aged teenager? Blue is for Nightmare (0738703915)
by Laurie Faria Stolarz is a great choice. Stacey Brown,
a junior in a coed boarding school, has certain “magical powers.” She
is having nightmares about a murder: her roommate's! A few
years before, Stacey experienced the same type of nightmares,
and a young girl she knew was found killed. Will Stacey
be able to save her roommate Drea and find the potential killer
through her magic? Read Stolarz’s thriller to find out how
Stacey solves the mystery.
Pat
writes: If January finds kids waist high in snow,
there are wonderful picture books to read inside where it
is warm and cozy. The 1963 Caldecott winner, The Snowy
Day by Ezra Jack Keats (0140501827),
is a wonderful adventure of a young lad who awakens to find
the world covered in snow. After putting on his snowsuit,
he sets out discovering the many things one can do in the
snow. After he makes tracks in the snow, knocks snow
off bushes and trees and builds a snowman, he heads home with
a snowball in his pocket. The next day he wakes up to discover
the snowball gone, but the snow is still outside, and another
day of adventure awaits.
Another
winter title to add to any child's collection is Snow
(0374468621) by
Uri Schulevitz. A young boy and his dog wander
through the city as snowflakes begin to gently fall. No one
thinks the snowflakes will amount to much, but the boy has
different hopes, and the transformation of the city is a beautiful
sight. The spare text makes this a perfect book to read
to a young child with its lively watercolor illustrations.
Snowflake
Bentley (0395861624)
is the 1999 Caldecott winner by Jacqueline Briggs Martin.
Beautiful, unique and very delicate snowflakes had fascinated
Wilson Bentley ever since he was a boy growing up in Vermont.
He thought of ice crystals as small miracles and was determined
that one day his camera would capture their extraordinary
beauty. His story, brought to life with the beautiful
woodcuts of Mary Azarian, makes the story about Bentley a
pleasure to read.
559 Main Street Winchester, MA
01890 (781) 721-5933
www.bookendswinchester.com M-F 9-8 Sat. 9-6 Sun 12-5
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