John's Picks

John Hugo
By Khaled Hosseini
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781594483851
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Riverhead Trade, 11/01/2008

No sophomore slump for Hosseini — after the stunning success of Kite Runner I was worried his second book might fail to please. No worries — this is also a moving, well written, sad, and wonderful novel examining life in Afghastan from the female point of view. Not to be missed!


By Pascal Mercier, Barbara Harshav
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780802143976
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Grove Press, 10/01/2008

For those who loved my pick, Shadow of the Wind, this translated novel is sure to please — a mysterious novel about a boring classics teacher who has a chance encounter with an interesting and beautiful woman on a rainy bridge — failing to get so much as her name, he is mesmerized by her presence. In a moment of madness he leaves a few nights later for Portugal with nothing so much as a letter to his school and a small bag. He takes off to examine his life and chase down the history of the enigmatic woman. A treat!


Five Skies (Paperback)

By Ron Carlson
$15.00
ISBN-13: 9780143113461
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Penguin (Non-Classics), 05/01/2008

Tightly written, sparse story of three troubled men who meet in the Rocky Mountains and embark on an odd job in Southern Idaho. Profound yet utterly simple writing give this story its voice and power. Great book for those who loved Peace Like River and To the Wedding.


By Ferenc Mate

ISBN-13: 9780920256589
Availability: Out of Print
Published: W. W. Norton & Company, 11/01/2008

Light and fun — wouldn’t we all like to have the cash and the time to renovate a 16th century monastery and create world class wines. Even if we’ll never get there — Máté takes us on his own personal journey to wine lover’s heaven. Bonus recipes in the back are also excellent!


By Jay Asher
$9.99
ISBN-13: 9781595141880
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Razorbill, 10/01/2009

I started this book at 6pm and did not stop till I turned the last page in the wee hours of the morning. A high school girl commits suicide and leaves 7 audiotapes with 13 sides explaining the reasons why she killed herself. As the tapes are passed to each of those involved the suspense and impact of personal actions is immense and potent. This book give me shivers just thinking about it. AMAZING!


By Annie Barrows, Mary Ann Shaffer
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780385341004
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Dial Press Trade Paperback, 05/01/2009

This is a charming, light summer read written in letters about a little known island located between England and France called Guernsey. Takes place just after the German Occupation of WWII ends and Europe is trying to put itself back together. Interesting characters, good history, and a love story to round it all out — nice!


The Little Book (Hardcover)

By Selden Edwards
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9780525950615
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Dutton Adult, 08/01/2008

What a book, very unique! Historical fiction meets prep school memoir, meets time travel, meets great literature characters. I loved this book so much I wrote a long personal fan letter to the author.


Sacred Games (Paperback)

By Vikram Chandra
$16.95
ISBN-13: 9780061130366
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Harper Perennial, 12/01/2007

In the genre of Sacred Boy and Shantaram, Chandra take us through the epic odyssey of a young boy coming up in the Mafia underbelly of Bombay where everything comes at a cost. Told with wonderful and deep descriptions and from different characters’ lives — this is a modern masterpiece — just set some time aside to pick up the pace and get to know who’s who.


By Margaret Sayers Peden, Arturo Perez-Reverte
$14.00
ISBN-13: 9780812977301
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 03/01/2009

As many of you know, Perez-Reverte is my current favorite novelist. I have read all of his translated works and this latest is wonderful. A retiring war photojournalist haunted by bad memories has enclosed himself in a tower to paint his artistic visual interpretation of battle. But, a man shows up he has only seen once before — when he took his picture for a Pulitzer-winning battle photograph many years before in Croatia. Asking the soldier of his purpose, the man replies “because I’m going to kill you…” Thus begins an amazing novel.


By Brock Clarke
$13.95
ISBN-13: 9781565126145
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 09/01/2008

This a quirky New England read about a bumbling idiot who accidentally kills two people when he burns down the Emily Dickinson House. After serving 10 years in prison and rebuilding his life after incarceration — other famous writer’s homes begin to burn. The police are after Sam and in the spirit of Confederacy of Dunces — he just can’t seem to do the right thing. Very different — very enjoyable.


On Chesil Beach (Paperback)

By Ian Mcewan
$13.95
ISBN-13: 9780307386175
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Anchor, 06/01/2008

This is almost the too short to be called a novel — it’s more of a great “novella.” A young couple just married in the early 1960s — honeymooning on Chesil Beach in a small hotel, both are virgins on the brink of their first night together. One filled with nervous excitement — the other pure dread. McEwan masters the moment in this sad but moving vignette.