Posted: Thursday, January 1, 2009 12:00 am
For far too many of us it has been months now, perhaps even years, since we cracked one open. We all have our excuses, but now is really the perfect time to reconnect with a good story - the craziness of the holidays has passed, television is mired in mid-winter reruns and generally lousy weather pervades the mid-valley.
But where to start? Here are some suggestions from the local professionals that live and breathe books all year long n bookshop employees and librarians.
Take a look at their favorite reads of the last year and find the time to lose yourself in a new novel, rediscover some history or expand your horizons with a nonfiction selection this January. Happy reading!
Albany Main Library
1390 Waverly Drive S.E., Albany; 917-7583 or library.ci.albany.or.us. Branches: Downtown Carnegie Library, 302 Ferry St. S.W., Albany; 917-7585.
The pro: Librarian Lynn Kauffman and the rest of the staff.
Staff suggestions:
• "The Rose Labyrinth" by Titania Hardie. The bestselling British author of guides to charms, spells and other white magic makes her fiction debut with a religious caper about a young woman who receives a transplanted heart - and a mysterious legacy from Elizabethan alchemists. (Laurel L. Technical Services Librarian)
• "Into the Wilderness" by Sara Donati. In this ambitious and vibrant sequel to "The Last of the Mohicans," Elizabeth Middleton, a well-educated spinster of 29, journeys from her home in England to her father's lands in upstate New York in 1792.
• "Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest" by Gregg Olsen. In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, came to a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary "fasting treatment" of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters. But within a month of arriving at what the locals called Starvation Heights, the women were emaciated shadows of their former selves, waiting for death.
• "Twisted Triangle: A Famous Crime Writer, A Lesbian Love Affair, and the F.B.I. Husband's Violent Revenge" by Caitlin Rother. Though readers might pick up this title hoping to find out more about the private life of bestselling novelist Patricia Cornwell, the real protagonist is FBI agent Margo Bennett, who struck up a brief affair with Cornwell in 1992 after the author visited the training center where Bennett worked. When Margo's husband, also a Bureau agent, finds out about his wife's liaisons, he exacts a horrifying, meticulously plotted revenge, covering his tracks with lies and working the system against her.
• "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini. It's difficult to imagine a harder first act to follow than "The Kite Runner": a debut novel by an unknown writer from Afghanistan that has gone on to have over 4 million copies in print worldwide.
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" brings Hosseini's compassionate storytelling and his sense of personal and national tragedy to a tale of two women with great success.
The Book Bin
215 S.W. Fourth St., Corvallis; 752-0040 or 926-6869 or www.bookbin.com.
The pros: Book buyers Jon Munster, Mark Lee Allen and others.
• "Hank Williams" by Colin Escott. Escott traces the triumphant and tragic career of the legendary country star, who died at 29 from a drug overdose. "Probably one of the best country western books I've ever read," Mark Lee Allen said.
• "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. Setterfield's erudite first work of fiction has all the hallmarks of a classic gothic novel, including the creepy ruined house, long-kept secrets, a madwoman in the attic and a dabbling of ghosts, Set in present-day England, it has drawn comparisons to novels by the likes of Daphne du Maurier, Wilkie Collins and Charlotte Bronte.
• "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. Mitchell's third novel weaves history, science, suspense, humor and pathos through six separate but loosely related narratives. Like Mitchell's previous works, "Ghostwritten" and "number9dream," this latest foray relies on a kaleidoscopic plot structure that showcases the author's stylistic virtuosity. "Really bizarre -. but it all ties up in the end," Jon Munster said.
• "Prancing Lavendar Bunnies" by Paul Turner. Irreverent stories about running an alternative, locally owned, independent movie theater in Corvallis; appreciations of fiercely loyal patrons; and rants about the peculiar business of dealing with movie studios. Turner also writes about his earlier experiences running movie theaters, some of which are now gone forever, and his forays into the American West, as seen from the seat of his motorcycle. You can find it on the check-out counter at the Book Bin.
Borders Books
777 N.W. Ninth St., Corvallis; 738-0580 or www.borders.com. Albany location: WaldenBooks, 2165 14th Ave. S.E., Albany; 928-0003 or www.borders.com.
The pro: Sales manager Pamela Moeller, who suggested Borders' top five holiday sellers:
• The Twilight Saga, by Stephenie Meyer. It's a great series for adults as well as teens, and has been a popular read with most of our staff.
• "Tales of Beedle the Bard" by J.K. Rowling. With the conclusion to the Harry Potter series, fans are eager for any tidbit they can get their hands on. This is the publication of a book referenced in the series.
• "Team of Rivals" by Doris Goodwin. A lot of new books have been published about Abraham Lincoln in the last few months, but this one from a few years ago has been a big seller. Barack Obama has made reference to it, and it's a great selection for his fans as well.
• "Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat who Touched the World" by Vicky Myron. This is a great book for people who loved Marley & Me, and for people who prefer cats to dogs.
• "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski." A great novel, and another great idea for people who love dogs. I'd like to think that Oprah alone can not be credited with the success of this book. (It was an Oprah book club selection.)
Browsers' Bookstore
121 N.W. Fourth St., Corvallis; 758-1121 or www.browsersbookstore.com. Albany location: Browsers' Bookstore Vol. II, 1425 Pacific Blvd. S.E., Albany; 926-2612.
The pro: Shipper/shelver Carol Purdy.
• Old mystery novels by Ingram, Fletcher, Dean and various others such as the "The Free Fishers" by John Buchan, "And Then There We're None" by Agatha Christie and"Murder on the Yachat" by Rufus King.
• Old children's books: such as "How to Find Happyland" by Jasmine Stone Van Dresser. "They just knew how to make the covers look like you wanted to be there. I think that's what I look for in books - escape and fantasy," Carol Purdy said.
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
645 N.W. Monroe Ave., Corvallis; 766-6793 or www.thebestlibrary.net. Branches: Philomath, Monroe, Alsea.
The pro: Reference librarian Lisa Tattersall and the rest of the staff.
Staff suggestions:
• "The Blood of Flowers" by Anita Amirrezvani. If you like stories with strong central characters set in richly drawn historical settings, then I strongly recommend this book. Set in medieval Iran, this is the story of a young woman with an independent spirit. She is poor in her circumstances, but rises to a unique level of independence through her gift of rug making. The story itself becomes like a tapestry as the main narrative is interspersed with Iranian folk stories. This is a great book for the cold weather.
• "A Beautiful Blue Death" by Charles Finch. The detective in this debut mystery is Charles Lenox, a Victorian gentleman. Lenox is asked to investigate the death of a friend's servant girl, an apparent suicide. Lenox believes it was murder by poison. However, the case grows more complicated when another person turns up dead at the most anticipated social event of the season.
• "Alex & Me: How a Scientist and a Parrot Discovered a Hidden World of Animal Intelligence - And Formed a Deep Bond in the Process" by Irene Pepperberg. This is a memoir by an animal cognition specialist, all about her relationship with Alex, a parrot she worked closely with for 30 years. A book that makes readers think differently about the animals in their lives, and the amazing possibilities of animal intelligence.
• "The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater" by Nigel Slater. Slater, a British food writer, gives us a year-long look at his grocery shopping and cooking, all guided by his belief that the "right food, right place, right time . is the best recipe of all." This great collection of seasonal recipes is rounded out by beautiful photographs and wonderful anecdotes about food life in London.
• "A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary" by Anonymous. I read this book in one sitting, though it is by no means an easy read. This is a personal account written anonymously by a female journalist, and it gives a compelling look at what life was like for women in Berlin as the city fell to the Red Army, at the end of the Second World War.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 S.W. Second St., Corvallis; 754-7668 or www.grassrootsstore.com.
The pro: Co-owner Jack Wolcott .
• "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein (Portland author). If you've ever wondered what your dog is thinking, Stein's third novel offers an answer. Enzo is a lab terrier mix plucked from a farm outside Seattle to ride shotgun with race car driver Denny Swift as he pursues success on the track and off. Enzo, frustrated by his inability to speak and his lack of opposable thumbs, watches Denny's old racing videos, coins koanlike aphorisms that apply to both driving and life, and hopes for the day when his life as a dog will be over and he can be reborn a man.
• "Bearing the Body" by Ehud Havazelet (Corvallis author and Oregon Book award winner). Growing up in early 1970s Queens, Nathan Mirsky idolizes his older brother, Daniel, a student antiwar activist at Columbia University, but after Daniel moves to the West Coast and begins a downward spiral into addiction, the brothers grow apart. Twenty years later, Nathan, a medical resident in Boston, receives a letter from Daniel mailed the same day Daniel was murdered. Their father, Sol, a widower and Holocaust survivor compiling an archive of Holocaust stories, accompanies Nathan to San Francisco to learn more about Daniel's death.
• "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri. The gulf that separates expatriate Bengali parents from their American-raised children - and that separates the children from India - remains Lahiri's subject for this follow-up to "Interpreter of Maladies" and "The Namesake." In this set of eight stories, the results are again stunning. In the title story, Brooklyn-to-Seattle transplant Ruma frets about a presumed obligation to bring her widower father into her home, a stressful decision taken out of her hands by his unexpected independence.
• "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Sheffer. The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet's name in a used book and invites articulate - and not-so-articulate - neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book's circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories.
• "2666" by Roberto Bolaño. "2666," the 898-page novel Roberto Bolaño sprinted to finish before his early death in 2003, again shows his mesmerizing ability to spin out tale after tale that balance on the edge between happy-go-lucky hilarity and creeping dread.
• "Islands of Divine Music" by John Addiego. The Islands of Divine Music is a novel of five generations of an Italian-American family finding its place in the New World. Against a backdrop of Immigration, Prohibition, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the new millennium, five generations of the Verbicaro family make their way from Southern Italy to San Francisco as each character brushes up against some aspect of the divine.
OSU Bookstore
2301 S.W. Jefferson Ave., Corvallis; 737-4323, 800-595-0357 or www.osubook
The pro: Books General Manager Brent Steeleand the staff.
• "Supercontinent: Ten Billion Years in the Life of Our Planet" by Ted Nield. Great book, great science, great history, easy to read but very indepth.
• "Merle's Door: Lessons From a Freethinking Dog" by Ted Kevasote. Incredible insights into dog behavior and intelligence.
• "Modoc" by Ralph Helfer. The true story of the greatest elephant that ever lived.
• "Atonement" by Ian McEwen. Excellent read, makes seeing the movie even more enjoyable.
• "Six Word Memoirs" edited by Smith Magazine. It's amazing what you can say about a life in just six words.
• "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. Amazing, scary, thought-provoking.
Religious bookstores
Christian Science Reading Room, 468 S.W. Madison Ave., Corvallis; 753-5840.
Christian Supply-Rainbow West, 2230 Santiam Highway S.E., Albany; 926-8201.
Parable Christian Stores, 916 N.W. Kings Blvd., Corvallis; www.parable.com or 754-9295.
Top 10: Albany
The following titles were the top 10 fiction books at the Albany Main Library in 2008, according to library staff:
1. "The Appeal" by John Grisham.
2. "Guilty" by Karen Robards.
3. "Mummy Dearest: a Claire Malloy Mystery" by Joan Hess.
4. "Plum Lucky" by Janet Evanovich.
5. "Resolution" by Robert B. Parker.
6. "Santa Fe Dead" by Stuart Woods.
7. "Zapped: a Regan Reilly Mystery" by Carol Higgins Clark.
8. "Stranger in Paradise" by Robert B. Parker.
9. "The Shack: A Novel" by William P. Young.
10. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel" by David Wroblews
Top 10: Corvallis
The following titles were the top 10 most checked out adult fiction books at the Corvallis-Benton County Library in 2008, according to library staff:
1. "Water for Elephants," by Sara Gruen.
2. "The Memory Keeper's Daughter," by Kim Edwards.
3. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen.
4. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini.
5. "Killer Heat" by Linda Fairstein.
6. "Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett.
7. "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee.
8. "The Almost Moon" by Alice Sebold.
9. "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
10. "Protect and Defend" by Vince Flynn.
Top 10: Northwest
The following titles were the top 10 hard cover fiction best sellers the week before Christmas according to the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association.
1. "The Eleventh Man" by Ivan Doig.
2. "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer.
3. "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski.
4. "A Mercy" by Toni Morrison.
5. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein.
6. "The Hour I First Believed" by Wally Lamb.
7. "The Private Patient" by P.D. James.
8. "Unaccustomed Earth" by Jhumpa Lahiri.
9. "The Christmas Sweater" by Glenn Beck.
10. "A Most Wanted Man" by John le Carré.