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books tagged “friendship”
books tagged “friendship”
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All Quiet on the Western Frontby Erich Maria Remarque, A. W. WheenISBN 0783882599 (0-7838-8259-9)
Hardcover, G K Hall & Co
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B Is For Betsyby Carolyn HaywoodISBN 0785750495 (0-7857-5049-5)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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Be a People Personby John C. MaxwellISBN 0781449065 (0-7814-4906-5)
Softcover, Victor Books
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Between Friends/Entre Amisby Lorraine Monk, National Film Board of Canada, National Film Board of Canada Still PhotISBN 0771067186 (0-7710-6718-6)
Hardcover, Firefly Books Ltd
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Big Dog and Little Dog Go Sailingby Selina YoungISBN 0778708918 (0-7787-0891-8)
Softcover, Crabtree Pub Co
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Blindnessby Jose Saramago, Giovanni PontieroISBN 0786218347 (0-7862-1834-7)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Blindness'Book summary:In an unnamed city in an unnamed country, a man sitting in his car waiting for a traffic light to change is suddenly struck blind. But instead of being plunged into darkness, this man sees everything white, as if he "were caught in a mist or had fallen into a milky sea." A Good Samaritan offers to drive him home (and later steals his car); his wife takes him by taxi to a nearby eye clinic where they are ushered past other patients into the doctor's office. Within a day the man's wife, the taxi driver, the doctor and his patients, and the car thief have all succumbed to blindness. As the epidemic spreads, the government panics and begins quarantining victims in an abandoned mental asylum--guarded by soldiers with orders to shoot anyone who tries to escape. So begins Portuguese author José Saramago's gripping story of humanity under siege, written with a dearth of paragraphs, limited punctuation, and embedded dialogue minus either quotation marks or attribution. At first this may seem challenging, but the style actually contributes to the narrative's building tension, and to the reader's involvement.
In this community of blind people there is still one set of functioning eyes: the doctor's wife has affected blindness in order to accompany her husband to the asylum. As the number of victims grows and the asylum becomes overcrowded, systems begin to break down: toilets back up, food deliveries become sporadic; there is no medical treatment for the sick and no proper way to bury the dead. Inevitably, social conventions begin to crumble as well, with one group of blind inmates taking control of the dwindling food supply and using it to exploit the others. Through it all, the doctor's wife does her best to protect her little band of blind charges, eventually leading them out of the hospital and back into the horribly changed landscape of the city.
Blindness is in many ways a horrific novel, detailing as it does the total breakdown in society that follows upon this most unnatural disaster. Saramago takes his characters to the very edge of humanity and then pushes them over the precipice. His people learn to live in inexpressible filth, they commit acts of both unspeakable violence and amazing generosity that would have been unimaginable to them before the tragedy. The very structure of society itself alters to suit the circumstances as once-civilized, urban dwellers become ragged nomads traveling by touch from building to building in search of food. The devil is in the details, and Saramago has imagined for us in all its devastation a hell where those who went blind in the streets can never find their homes again, where people are reduced to eating chickens raw and packs of dogs roam the excrement-covered sidewalks scavenging from corpses.
And yet in the midst of all this horror Saramago has written passages of unsurpassed beauty. Upon being told she is beautiful by three of her charges, women who have never seen her, "the doctor's wife is reduced to tears because of a personal pronoun, an adverb, a verb, an adjective, mere grammatical categories, mere labels, just like the two women, the others, indefinite pronouns, they too are crying, they embrace the woman of the whole sentence, three graces beneath the falling rain." In this one woman Saramago has created an enduring, fully developed character who serves both as the eyes and ears of the reader and as the conscience of the race. And in Blindness he has written a profound, ultimately transcendent meditation on what it means to be human. --Alix Wilber [via]
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The Boat Who Wouldn't Floatby Farley MowatISBN 0770423094 (0-7704-2309-4)
Softcover, McClelland & Stewart Ltd
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Chronicles of Avonleaby L.M. MontgomeryISBN 077042161X (0-7704-2161-X)
Softcover, Bantam Books
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Circle of Graceby Penelope J StokesISBN 0767921283 (0-7679-2128-3)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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Cybil Warby Betsy ByarsISBN 0785750363 (0-7857-5036-3)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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Dean & Me: A Love Storyby James Kaplan, Jerry LewisISBN 0767920872 (0-7679-2087-2)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dean And Me: A Love Story'Book summary:They were the unlikeliest of pairsa handsome crooner and a skinny monkey, an Italian from Steubenville, Ohio, and a Jew from Newark, N.J.. Before they teamed up, Dean Martin seemed destined for a mediocre career as a nightclub singer, and Jerry Lewis was dressing up as Carmen Miranda and miming records on stage. But the moment they got together, something clickedsomething miraculousand audiences saw it at once.
Before long, they were as big as Elvis or the Beatles would be after them, creating hysteria wherever they went and grabbing an unprecedented hold over every entertainment outlet of the era: radio, television, movies, stage shows, and nightclubs. Martin and Lewis were a national craze, an American institution. The millions (and the women) flowed in, seemingly without endand then, on July 24, 1956, ten years from the day when the two men joined forces, it all ended.
After that traumatic day, the two wouldnt speak again for twenty years. And while both went on to forge triumphant individual careersMartin as a movie and television star, recording artist, and nightclub luminary (and charter member of the Rat Pack); Lewis as the groundbreaking writer, producer, director, and star of a series of hugely successful movie comediestheir parting left a hole in the national psyche, as well as in each mans heart.
In a memoir by turns moving, tragic, and hilarious, Jerry Lewis recounts with crystal clarity every step of a fifty-year friendship, from the springtime, 1945 afternoon when the two vibrant young performers destined to conquer the world together met on Broadway and Fifty-fourth Street, to their tragic final encounter in the 1990s, when Lewis and his wife ran into Dean Martin, a broken and haunted old man.
In Dean & Me, Jerry Lewis makes a convincing case for Dean Martin as one of the greatand most underratedcomic talents of our era. But what comes across most powerfully in this definitive memoir is the depth of love Lewis felt, and still feels, for his partner, and which his partner felt for him: truly a love to last for all time. [via]More editions of Dean & Me: A Love Story:
Desolation Islandby Patrick O'BrianISBN 0786219262 (0-7862-1926-2)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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Don Quixote of the Mancha: Harvard Classics 1909by Miguel De Cervantes, Thomas SheltonISBN 0766181804 (0-7661-8180-4)
Softcover, Kessinger Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Don Quixote of the Mancha: Harvard Classics 1909'Book summary:Edited by Charles W. Eliot. Contents: The First Part of the Delightful History of the Most Ingenious Knight. The present volume contains the whole of the first part of the novel, which is complete in itself. The second part, issued in 1615, the year before his death, is of a nature of a sequel, and is generally regarded as inferior. In writing his great novel, Cervantes set out to parody the romances of chivalry. With reference to the fiction of the Middle Ages, it is a triumphant satire; with reference to modern novels, it is the first and the most widely enjoyed. [via]
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Dragonsingerby Anne McCaffreyISBN 0783884990 (0-7838-8499-0)
Hardcover, G K Hall & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dragonsinger'Book summary:Pursuing her dream to be a Harper of Pern, Menolly studies under the Masterharper learning that more is required than a facility with music and a clever way with words. Sequel to Dragonsong. [via]
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Emily's Questby L. M. Montgomery, P. K. PageISBN 0771099819 (0-7710-9981-9)
Softcover, McClelland & Stewart
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Emily's Quest'Book summary:The third and final volume of Lucy Maud Montgomerys celebrated Emily trilogy, Emilys Quest is a vigorously drawn study of a woman coming to terms with love and her own ambition. In no other novel did Montgomery explore more fully the beauty, complexity, and wonder of love. In every detail, this mature novel, by one of the worlds best-loved authors, captures the drama and confusion of a young life on the brink.
Along with Emily of New Moon and Emily Climbs, Emilys Quest is an honest and poignant portrait of a singular woman. [via]More editions of Emily's Quest:
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Enduring Loveby Ian McEwanISBN 0786214473 (0-7862-1447-3)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Enduring Love'Book summary:Joe Rose has planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside to celebrate his lover's return after six weeks in the States. To complete the picture, there's even a "helium balloon drifting dreamily across the wooded valley." But as Joe and Clarissa watch the balloon touch down, their idyll comes to an abrupt end. The pilot catches his leg in the anchor rope, while the only passenger, a boy, is too scared to jump down. As the wind whips into action, Joe and four other men rush to secure the basket. Mother Nature, however, isn't feeling very maternal. "A mighty fist socked the balloon in two rapid blows, one-two, the second more vicious than the first," and at once the rescuers are airborne. Joe manages to drop to the ground, as do most of his companions, but one man is lifted sky-high, only to fall to his death.
In itself, the accident would change the survivors' lives, filling them with an uneasy combination of shame, happiness, and endless self-reproach. (In one of the novel's many ironies, the balloon eventually lands safely, the boy unscathed.) But fate has far more unpleasant things in store for Joe. Meeting the eye of fellow rescuer Jed Parry, for example, turns out to be a very bad move. For Jed is instantly obsessed, making the first of many calls to Joe and Clarissa's London flat that very night. Soon he's openly shadowing Joe and writing him endless letters. (One insane epistle begins, "I feel happiness running through me like an electrical current. I close my eyes and see you as you were last night in the rain, across the road from me, with the unspoken love between us as strong as steel cable.") Worst of all, Jed's version of love comes to seem a distortion of Joe's feelings for Clarissa.
Apart from the incessant stalking, it is the conditionals--the contingencies--that most frustrate Joe, a scientific journalist. If only he and Clarissa had gone straight home from the airport... If only the wind hadn't picked up... If only he had saved Jed's 29 messages in a single day... Ian McEwan has long been a poet of the arbitrary nightmare, his characters ineluctably swept up in others' fantasies, skidding into deepening violence, and--worst of all--becoming strangers to those who love them. Even his prose itself is a masterful and methodical exercise in defamiliarization. But Enduring Love and its underrated predecessor, Black Dogs, are also meditations on knowledge and perception as well as brilliant manipulations of our own expectations. By the novel's end, you will be surprisingly unafraid of hot-air balloons, but you won't be too keen on looking a stranger in the eye. [via]
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The English Patientby Michael OndaatjeISBN 0771068867 (0-7710-6886-7)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The English Patient'Book summary:Haunting and harrowing, as beautiful as it is disturbing, The English Patient tells the story of the entanglement of four damaged lives in an Italian monastery as World War II ends. The exhausted nurse, Hana; the maimed thief, Caravaggio; the wary sapper, Kip: each is haunted by the riddle of the English patient, the nameless, burn victim who lies in an upstairs room and whose memories of passion, betrayal, and rescue illuminate this book like flashes of heat lightning. In lyrical prose informed by a poetic consciousness, Michael Ondaatje weaves these characters together, pulls them tight, then unravels the threads with unsettling acumen.
A book that binds readers of great literature, The English Patient garnered the Booker Prize for author Ondaatje. The poet and novelist has also written In the Skin of a Lion, Coming Through Slaughter and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid; two collections of poems, The Cinnamon Peeler and There's a Trick with a Knife I'm Learning to Do; and a memoir, Running in the Family. [via]
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Evening Classby Maeve BinchyISBN 0783881134 (0-7838-8113-4)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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Faerie Warsby Herbie BrennanISBN 0765356740 (0-7653-5674-0)
Softcover, Tor Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Faerie Wars'Book summary:Faerie Wars, by Herbie Brennan follows in the footsteps of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl with its tale of fairy-folk and derring-do. But whereas Colfer's little people have a thoroughly modern edge throughout, Brennan comes at them from a slightly different angle in a highly original novel that weaves modern science with a good, old-fashioned fantasy story.
Henry, an ordinary boy, is thrown into turmoil when his mother apparently has an affair with his father's secretary and it looks as if his hitherto safe, if a little dull, world is about to fall to pieces. To avoid the arguments and the tense silences he heads for the haven of Mr Fogarty's house to spend time with the old man whose passion lies in scientific experiments and the accompanying paraphernalia.
Meanwhile, on an altogether different plane, Pyrgus Malvae, son of an emperor, has fallen out with his father and sets about making mischief. What he doesn't realise is that there are greater forces at work than his teenage tantrums, and not only his life, but that of his family's, is under serious threat. To save his life he transports, accidentally ending up in Mr Fogarty's back garden (where he appears as a tiny fairy--bizarre but true!). Before long, Pyrgus Malvae, Henry and Mr Fogarty are trapped in battle between distant worlds and dark forces, the result of which will change all their lives forever.
The aforementioned Eoin Colfer reckons that Herbie Brennan is a master of mythology, science and fantasy. Indeed he is, and despite a few hiccups in the handling of Henry's situation which seem somehow ill at ease with the rest of the book, he pulls off his first major work of fiction with admirable poise in a pleasingly challenging fantasy for older readers. (Includes some strong language and subject matter). Recommend for ages 11 and over. --Susan Harrison [via]
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Find Us Faithfulby Bob RussellISBN 0784703078 (0-7847-0307-8)
Softcover, Standard Pub
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The Fortune of Warby Patrick O'BrianISBN 0786219270 (0-7862-1927-0)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Fortune of War'Book summary:Captain Jack Aubrey, R.N., arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Royal Navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a dispatch vessel, but the War of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes where Stephens past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance. [via]
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Fresh-Brewed Life: A Stirring Invitation to Wake Up Your Soulby Nicole JohnsonISBN 0785267042 (0-7852-6704-2)
Softcover, Thomas Nelson Inc
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The Friend Who Got Away: Twenty Women's True-Life Tales of Friendships That Blew Up, Burned Out, or Faded Awayby Jenny Offill, Elissa SchappellISBN 0767917197 (0-7679-1719-7)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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Friends Are Friends Foreverby Michael W. SmithISBN 0785271899 (0-7852-7189-9)
Hardcover, STL
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Further Chronicles of Avonleaby Lucy Maud MontgomeryISBN 0770421628 (0-7704-2162-8)
Softcover, Bantam Books of Canada Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Further Chronicles of Avonlea'Book summary:It was a beautiful night; the full moon was just rising over the wooded hills, and her light fell through the poplars into the garden before me. Through an open corner on the western side I saw the sky all silvery blue in the afterlight. The garden was very beautiful just then, for it was the time of the roses, and ours were all out--so many of them--great pink, and red, and white, and yellow roses. [via]
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The Garden of Friendship: Celebrating the Blessing of Loved Onesby Thomas KinkadeISBN 0785268456 (0-7852-6845-6)
Hardcover, Thomas Nelson Inc
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The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishingby Melissa BankISBN 0786221690 (0-7862-2169-0)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing'Book summary:Jane Rosenal, the narrator of The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, is wise beyond her years. Not that that's saying much--since none of her elders, with the exception of her father, is particularly wise. At the age of 14, Jane watches her brother and his new girlfriend, searching for clues for how to fall in love, but by the end of the summer she's trying to figure out how not to fail in love. At twice that age, Jane quickly internalizes How to Meet and Marry Mr. Right, even though that retro manual is ruining her chances at happiness. In the intervening years, Melissa Bank's heroine struggles at love and work. The former often seems indistinguishable from the latter, and her experiences in book publishing inspire little in the way of affection. As Jane announces in "The Worst Thing a Suburban Girl Could Imagine": "I'd been a rising star at H----- until Mimi Howlett, the new executive editor, decided I was just the lights of an airplane."
Bank's first collection has a beautiful, true arc, and all the sophistication and control her heroine could ever desire. In "The Floating House," Jane and her boyfriend, Jamie, visit his ex-girlfriend in St. Croix, and right from the start she can't stop mimicking her beautiful competitor, in a notably idiotic fashion. "I'm like one of those animals that imitates its predators to survive," she realizes--one of several thousand of Bank's ruefully funny phrases. But even as Jane clowns around, desperately trying to keep up appearances, she is so hyperaware it hurts. Again and again, the author explores the dichotomy between life as it happens and the rehearsed anecdote, the preferred outcome. In The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing, even suburban quiet has "nothing to do with peace." Bank's much-anticipated debut merits all its buzz and, more to the point, transcends it. --Kerry Fried [via]
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The Giverby Lois LowryISBN 0786200553 (0-7862-0055-3)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Giver'Book summary:In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community's Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price. [via]
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The Glass Lakeby Maeve BinchyISBN 0783811187 (0-7838-1118-7)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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The Golden Gobletby Eloise Jarvis McGrawISBN 0785794697 (0-7857-9469-7)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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The Golden Roadby L.M. MontgomeryISBN 0770000770 (0-7700-0077-0)
Hardcover, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd
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The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott FitzgeraldISBN 0783812221 (0-7838-1222-1)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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H.M.S Surprise: Library Editionby Patrick O'BrianISBN 0786219343 (0-7862-1934-3)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'H.M.S Surprise: Library Edition'Book summary:The stakes are high as HMS Surprise opens, and actor Robert Hardy's sterling reading never lets you forget them. Hardy makes Patrick O'Brian's third novel of high-seas adventure--written in 1973 and set mainly in 1805 on the waters surrounding India and the Orient--seem as immediate as an overdrawn checking account. Money plays a big role, and Captain Jack Aubrey stands to make a lot of it. All he has to do is find Napoleon's fleet--and take their gold away from them. (Running time: three hours, two cassettes) --Lou Schuler [via]
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The Halloween Treeby Ray Bradbury, Joseph MugnainiISBN 0785796126 (0-7857-9612-6)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Storiesby Alice MunroISBN 0771065256 (0-7710-6525-6)
Hardcover, McClelland & Stewart
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories'Book summary:Readers know what they are going to get when they pick up an unfamiliar Alice Munro collection, and yet almost every page carries a bounty of unexpected action, feeling, language, and detail. Her stories are always unique, blazing an invigorating originality out of her seemingly commonplace subjects. Each collection develops her oeuvre in increments, subtly expanding her range.
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage is, of course, no exception. It is a fairly conservative collection of nine stories, none of which move far beyond Munro's favored settings: the tiny towns and burgeoning cities of southern Ontario and British Columbia. There are glimpses of youth here--in the title story, an epistolary prank by two teenage girls leads to a one-sided cross country elopement and, seemingly, a happy marriage, and in "Nettles," disrupted childhood affection fleetingly returns through a chance meeting--but most of these pieces are stories of aging women and men, confronting the twin travails of death and late love. As is always the case with Munro, their plots are too elegantly elaborate to summarize, and their unsentimental power is a given; baroque praise would be futile. Read these stories--it is the only way to really understand the miracles that Munro so regularly performs. --Jack Illingworth [via]
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Hearts in Atlantisby Stephen KingISBN 078388737X (0-7838-8737-X)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Hearts in Atlantis'Book summary:Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war -- and the protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis, King's newest fiction, is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War.
In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror.
In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast.
In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives.
And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him.
Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave. [via]
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Horseplayby Judy Reene SingerISBN 0767918673 (0-7679-1867-3)
Softcover, Broadway Books
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How I Paid For College: A Novel Of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theaterby Marc AcitoISBN 0767918541 (0-7679-1854-1)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'How I Paid For College: A Novel Of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater'Book summary:Columnist and first-time novelist Marc Acito has been called the "gay Dave Barry." But don't expect to find riffs on bad traffic, pirate-speak, and all-writer rock bands in Acito's debut, How I Paid for College: A Novel of Sex, Theft, Friendship & Musical Theater. As stated in the title, this book finds humor and adventure mainly in those topics that would most appeal to a stereotypically gay audience: musicals, piano bars, and sex, sex, sex.
Did I mention the sex? By the end of the book, the teenage characters are so liberated that they'd probably find an evening at Studio 54 slightly mundane. All kinds of interesting scenarios arise when Ed Zanni, a bisexual high-school drama club star from suburban New Jersey, is denied tuition to Julliard by his well-to-do father and wicked step mother. Fortunately his close friends, Paula (ample of body, unlucky in love), Kelly (Ed's cheerleader girlfriend), Doug (his football player love interest), Natie (a nerd with a gift for white-collar crime) and Ziba, (a regal, Middle Eastern beauty), are very willing to engage in fraud, forgery, and blackmail to help him pay for drama school. Ah, high school.
Despite the naughty bits, How I Paid for College is actually rather sweet. Set in high school as it is, Acito's book is somewhat reminiscent of young adult fiction. Yes, there's a lot more homoerotica than the Sweet Valley High series could have prepared readers for, but still it reminds one of those early days--full of tragedy and disappointment--and yet safely nestled in a time of life before real tragedy and disappointment usually set in. It's easy to forget this is a book for adults... until the three-ways commence. And a fast-moving, light-hearted story with three-ways? Well, entertainment-wise, readers could do a lot worse. --Leah Weathersby [via]
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Icy Sparks: Library Editionby Gwyn Hyman RubioISBN 0783895100 (0-7838-9510-0)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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The J.A.P. Chronicles: A Novelby Isabel RoseISBN 0767918371 (0-7679-1837-1)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The J.A.P. Chronicles: A Novel'Book summary:Sex and the City meets Jane Austen in a wickedly funny, razor-sharp novel about the fortunes and misfortunes, expectations and regrets of seven women who shared long-ago summers at an elite Jewish girls camp.
Anyone whos ever wondered what happened to the girls in the exclusive cliques of adolescence will delight in The J.A.P. Chronicles. With the wry wit and keen eye and ear of a latter-day Jane Austen, Isabel Rose (herself a scion of a prominent New York family) provides the ultimate insiders look at the glamorous upper-crust society that even Carrie Bradshaw would give her Jimmy Choos to join.
When seven former bunkmates at Willow Lake Camp reunite for the camps one hundredth anniversary, the event brings more than just a revival of the old camp spirit. Ali Cohen, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker and former camp outcast, plans to make a documentary about her former bunkmates. The ugly duckling turned successful self-made swan secretly hopes that that her teenage tormentors will have grown into adult losers.
As each woman steps into focus, however, it becomes clear that it is not quite that simple. Sure, Arden cant keep a job (even as a nanny!), Jessica is stuck in regional theater, and Dafna has lost both her job and her $20,000 per month stipend from her father. But Laura is apparently flourishing as a Los Angeles superagent, and Beth has found happiness by throwing over her dull but successful fiancé for her wedding photographer. Even Wendy, golden girl turned Short Hills housewife, has managed to skirt around old regrets and long-stifled urgesuntil seeing an old acquaintance stirs them up again.
Funny, smart, and ultimately moving, The J.A.P. Chronicles opens a whole new perspective on the girls from the best families and on the money, culture, and expectations that define their lives. [via]More editions of The J.A.P. Chronicles: A Novel:
Jane of Lantern Hillby L.M. MontgomeryISBN 0770423140 (0-7704-2314-0)
Softcover, Bantam Books of Canada Ltd
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Jemima Jby Jane GreenISBN 0767905180 (0-7679-0518-0)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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Little Chick's Friend Ducklingby Mary Deball KwitzISBN 0785761039 (0-7857-6103-9)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Little Chick's Friend Duckling'Book summary:While wondering if they will remain best friends after Broody Hen's six eggs hatch, Little Chick and Duckling investigate several big, scary things on the farm. [via]
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Little Rose of Sharonby Nan Gurley, Tim JonkeISBN 0781430313 (0-7814-3031-3)
Hardcover, Chariot Victor Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Little Rose of Sharon'Book summary:When all the world was new, a little rose grew and bloomed. Her colorful petals caught the sun and pleased the Creator Himself. Yet soon she would discover that true beauty lies not in the outer appearance, but in a heart of sacrifice and giving.
Created for you to read and enjoy again and again, Little Rose of Sharon is a modern-day parable which brings to light its message of compassionate love for readers of all ages.
You are invited to enter into the wonder of earth's beginning through Nan Gurley's inspiring text and Tim Jonke's evocative illustrations.
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Local Girlsby Alice HoffmanISBN 0786220090 (0-7862-2009-0)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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London Holidayby Richard PeckISBN 0786216352 (0-7862-1635-2)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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The Man in the Brown Suitby Agatha ChristieISBN 0766194140 (0-7661-9414-0)
Softcover, Kessinger Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Man in the Brown Suit'Book summary:1924. How odd, Anne Beddingfeld thought, that the stranger caught her eye, recoiled in horror, and fell to his death on the rails of Hyde Park Underground Station. Odder still was a doctor in a brown suit who pronounced him dead and vanished into the crowd. Due to the age and scarcity of the original we reproduced, some pages may be spotty, faded or difficult to read. [via]
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Men in Groupsby Lionel TigerISBN 0765805987 (0-7658-0598-7)
Softcover, Transaction Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Men in Groups'Book summary:When Men in Groups was first published in l969, the New York Times daily critic titled his review "The Disturbing Rediscovery of the Obvious." What was so obvious was male bonding, a phrase that entered the language. The links between males in groups Tiger describes extend through many other primate species, through our evolution as hunters/gatherers, and cross-culturally. Male bonding characterizes human groups as varied as the Vatican Council, the New York Yankees, the Elks and Masons the secret societies of Sierra Leone and Kenya.áThe power of Tiger's book is its identification of the powerful links between men and the impact of females and families on essentially male groups. While the worldáhas changed much, the argument of the book and its new introduction by the author suggest that a species-specific pattern ofámale bonding continues to be part of the human default system. Perhaps one day concrete evidence of its location will emerge from the startling work on the human genome, just as the elaborate and consequential sex differences to which Men in Groups drew such pioneering attention have already become part of the common wisdom. Meanwhile, Men in Groups remains a measured andáresponsibleábut intrepid inspection of a major aspect of human social organization and personal behavior. The book was controversial when it first appeared, and often foolishly and unduly scorned. But itáhas remained a fundamental contribution to the emerging synthesis between the social and natural sciences. "The most creative contribution to the social sciences since David Riesman's The Lonely Crowd."--Robert Ardrey, Life Magazine "[Tiger's] enquiry into male bonding is an important step towards the possibility of discovering a genuine human dimorphismà"--James Hamilton-Paterson, New Statesman "The implications of Men in Groups are manifold. We should all be grateful to Dr. Tiger for drawing our attention to a neglected aspect of human behavior."--Anthony Storr, Times (London) Lionel Tiger is the Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He is the author of The Decline of Males, Optimism, The Pursuit of Pleasure, and, with Robin Fox, The Imperial Animal, available from Transaction.
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Mistress Patby Lucy Maud MontgomeryISBN 0770422462 (0-7704-2246-2)
Softcover, Bantam Books of Canada Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mistress Pat'Book summary:When she was twenty, nearly everyone thought Patricia Gardiner ought to be having beaus--except of course, Pat herself. For Pat, Silver Bush was both home and heaven. All she could ever ask of life was bound in the magic of the lovely old house on Prince Edward Island, "where good things never change." And now there was more than ever to do, what with planning for the Christmas family reunion, entertaining a countess, playing matchmaker, and preparing for the arrival of the new hired man. Yet as those she loved so dearly started to move away, Pat began to question the wisdom of her choice of Silver Bush over romance. Was it possible to be lonely at Silver Bush?
From the Paperback edition. [via] 
Mother of Pearlby Melinda HaynesISBN 0786221828 (0-7862-2182-8)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mother of Pearl'Book summary:Oprah Book Club® Selection, June 1999: Twenty-eight-year-old Even Grade is a black man who was orphaned as a child; 15-year-old Valuable Korner is a white girl who might as well have been. Petal, Mississippi, circa 1956, seems an unlikely spot for these two to connect, but it soon becomes apparent in Mother of Pearl that a friendship across race lines is just one of many miracles waiting to happen in this small Southern town. Melinda Haynes's remarkable debut novel begins in a hot August, when young Val's lifelong friendship with Jackson McClain is starting to change into something more profound, and Even is falling crazy in love with Joody Two Sun, a mixed-race woman with amazing powers.
Woven in and around these two central love stories are myriad other characters, other tales. There is 16-year-old Joleb Green, for example, whose mother was incapacitated by a stroke when he was born, and who was raised by the black housekeeper, Grace. There is Even's friend Canaan, an older black man who spends his time reading Greek tragedy and writing his work "The Reality of the Negro"; Valuable's mother, Enid, the town whore; and Neva and Bea, a lesbian couple who have helped to raise the girl. Until this year, blacks and whites have occupied separate universes, for the most part; then Joleb Green suffers a terrible accident, and it is Joody Two Sun who saves his life and Grace who restores his soul. At the same time, a pregnant Val arrives on Joody and Even's doorstep, hungry for the understanding and acceptance she cannot find at home. Though at first Even is resistant, Val's humanity soon transcends her color in his mind:
Even chuckled and shook his head, happy for a reason he couldn't distinguish other than at that moment of Canaan's near-perfect cast, all seemed right with the world, as right as a thing can be what with a white girl camped out in the middle of the Quarter with no plans of leaving.
Gradually, without really intending it, Joleb, Val, Even, Joody, Grace, and Canaan form something that looks suspiciously like a family--a relationship that will soon be tested to the limit when Val's baby is born.Melinda Haynes has taken on a Herculean task, crafting a multicharacter story that reaches across racial barriers to encompass an entire community. She doesn't shy away from the ugliness in life--bigotry of every stripe, mean-spiritedness, betrayal, thoughtless cruelty, and death--but what interests her is the potential of the human heart to find space within itself for the most unexpected people. With its strong, lyrical language and fully realized characters, Mother of Pearl is a fine novel and a terrific introduction to a new literary voice. --Alix Wilber [via]
Orphans of Chaosby John C. WrightISBN 0765349957 (0-7653-4995-7)
Softcover, Tor Books
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A Particular Friendshipby Dirk BogardeISBN 077159965X (0-7715-9965-X)
Softcover, Macmillan of Canada
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Pat of Silver Bushby L.M. MontgomeryISBN 0770422470 (0-7704-2247-0)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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People You'd Trust Your Life To: Storiesby Bronwen WallaceISBN 0771087918 (0-7710-8791-8)
Hardcover, McClelland & Stewart
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Perilous Powerby E. Rose SabinISBN 0765347601 (0-7653-4760-1)
Softcover, Tor Books
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Poisonwood Bibleby Barbara KingsolverISBN 0783884680 (0-7838-8468-0)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Poisonwood Bible'Book summary:Oprah Book Club® Selection, June 2000: As any reader of The Mosquito Coast knows, men who drag their families to far-off climes in pursuit of an Idea seldom come to any good, while those familiar with At Play in the Fields of the Lord or Kalimantaan understand that the minute a missionary sets foot on the fictional stage, all hell is about to break loose. So when Barbara Kingsolver sends missionary Nathan Price along with his wife and four daughters off to Africa in The Poisonwood Bible, you can be sure that salvation is the one thing they're not likely to find. The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. To say that he and his family are woefully unprepared would be an understatement: "We came from Bethlehem, Georgia, bearing Betty Crocker cake mixes into the jungle," says Leah, one of Nathan's daughters. But of course it isn't long before they discover that the tremendous humidity has rendered the mixes unusable, their clothes are unsuitable, and they've arrived in the middle of political upheaval as the Congolese seek to wrest independence from Belgium. In addition to poisonous snakes, dangerous animals, and the hostility of the villagers to Nathan's fiery take-no-prisoners brand of Christianity, there are also rebels in the jungle and the threat of war in the air. Could things get any worse?
In fact they can and they do. The first part of The Poisonwood Bible revolves around Nathan's intransigent, bullying personality and his effect on both his family and the village they have come to. As political instability grows in the Congo, so does the local witch doctor's animus toward the Prices, and both seem to converge with tragic consequences about halfway through the novel. From that point on, the family is dispersed and the novel follows each member's fortune across a span of more than 30 years.
The Poisonwood Bible is arguably Barbara Kingsolver's most ambitious work, and it reveals both her great strengths and her weaknesses. As Nathan Price's wife and daughters tell their stories in alternating chapters, Kingsolver does a good job of differentiating the voices. But at times they can grate--teenage Rachel's tendency towards precious malapropisms is particularly annoying (students practice their "French congregations"; Nathan's refusal to take his family home is a "tapestry of justice"). More problematic is Kingsolver's tendency to wear her politics on her sleeve; this is particularly evident in the second half of the novel, in which she uses her characters as mouthpieces to explicate the complicated and tragic history of the Belgian Congo.
Despite these weaknesses, Kingsolver's fully realized, three-dimensional characters make The Poisonwood Bible compelling, especially in the first half, when Nathan Price is still at the center of the action. And in her treatment of Africa and the Africans she is at her best, exhibiting the acute perception, moral engagement, and lyrical prose that have made her previous novels so successful. --Alix Wilber [via]
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Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionaryby Simon WinchesterISBN 0783885008 (0-7838-8500-8)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary'Book summary:The compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, 70 years in the making, was an intellectually heroic feat with a twist worthy of the greatest mystery fiction: one of its most valuable contributors was a criminally insane American physician, locked up in an English asylum for murder. British stage actor Simon Jones leads us through this uncommon meeting of minds (the other belonging to self-educated dictionary editor James Murray) at full gallop. Ultimately, it's hard to say which is more remarkable: the facts of this amazingly well-researched story, or the sound of author Simon Winchester's erudite prose. Jones's reading smoothly transports listeners to the 19th century, reminding us why so many brilliant people obsessively set out to catalogue the English language. This unabridged version contains an interview between Winchester and John Simpson, editor of the Oxford dictionary. (Running time: 6.5 hours, 6 cassettes) --Lou Schuler [via]
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Rainbow Valleyby L.M. MontgomeryISBN 0770422683 (0-7704-2268-3)
Softcover, Bantam Books of Canada Ltd
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Rainbow Valley'Book summary:Anne Shirley is grown up, has married her beloved Gilbert, and is the mother of 6 children. [via]
Reboundby Eric WaltersISBN 0773733035 (0-7737-3303-5)
Hardcover, Stoddart Pub
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Return to Harmonyby Janette Oke, T. Davis BunnISBN 0783882203 (0-7838-8220-3)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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Robinson Crusoeby Daniel DefoeISBN 0766607666 (0-7666-0766-6)
Hardcover, Modern Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Robinson Crusoe'Book summary:Son of a middle-class Englishman, Robinson Crusoe takes to the sea to find adventure. And find it he does when on one of his voyages he is shipwrecked on a deserted South American island for thirty-five years. After scavenging his broken ship for useful items, he had only his skills and ingenuity to keep him alive as there was to be no one else on the island for the next twenty-four years. In the middle of that twenty-fourth year he rescued a native about to be eaten by cannibals who were using his island for a place of feasting. Crusoe named this man Friday, after the day of his rescue. Friday became his faithful servant and friend, even returning with him to England after their deliverance by an English ship. Listeners will enjoy Crusoe's determination for survival against all odds and admire the spirituality that gave him the strength to survive. A hero through the ages, he richly deserves the admiration that has endured over three centuries. [via]
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Runaways 1by Brian K. Vaughan, Takeshi Miyazawa, Adrian AlphonaISBN 0785118764 (0-7851-1876-4)
Hardcover, Marvel Enterprises
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Runaways 1'Book summary:In Pride & Joy, six young friends discover their parents are all secretly super-powered villains! Finding strength in one another, the shocked teens run away from home and straight into the adventure of their lives - vowing to turn the tables on their evil legacy. In Teenage Wasteland, the Runaways find a kindred spirit in a daring young stranger and welcome him into their fold. But will this dashing young man help the teenagers defeat their villainous parents... or tear them apart? Plus: who do you send to catch a group of missing, runaway teenage super-heroes? Marvel's original teen runaway crimefighters, Cloak and Dagger, make their first major appearance in years! In The Good Die Young, the world as we know it is about to end, and the Runaways are the only hope to prevent it! Our fledgling teenage heroes have learned how their parents' criminal organization began, and now they must decide how it should end. As the Runaways' epic battle against their evil parents reaches its shocking conclusion, the team's mole stands revealed, and blood must be shed. Which kids will still be standing when the smoke finally clears? [via]
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Sir Vidia's Shadowby Paul TherouxISBN 0771085060 (0-7710-8506-0)
Hardcover, McClelland & Stewart Ltd
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Snow Gooseby Paul GallicoISBN 0771032501 (0-7710-3250-1)
Softcover, McClelland & Stewart Ltd
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Tara Roadby Maeve BinchyISBN 0786218371 (0-7862-1837-1)
Softcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Tara Road'Book summary:Oprah Book Club® Selection, September 1999: Against all odds, two newlyweds manage to buy the house of their dreams. In 1982, property speculation is beginning to be a big, big thing in Dublin--and their street is very much in an up-and-coming part of town. "They laughed and hugged each other. Danny Lynch from the broken-down cottage in the back of beyond and Ria Johnson from the corner house in the big, shabby estate were not only living like gentry in a big Tara Road mansion, they were actually debating what style of dining table to buy." But for its various inhabitants, the street is to become a boulevard of dreams--some broken, others created anew. Maeve Binchy has long proved herself a secure hand at multiple story lines, and over the course of 500 satisfying pages she focuses on Ria; her best friend, Rosemary Ryan, a beautiful, endlessly selfish career woman; Gertie, the battered wife of a drunkard; and several other intriguing women, each of whom has secrets not to be shared. There is even an all-knowing fortune teller who early on hints that Ria will travel and start a successful business--two things she knows are definitely not in the offing.
Yet after our supposedly happy housewife and mother of two is confronted by some inexorable home truths, a chance phone call from America will change her life, forcing her to discard her illusions about men, women, and marriage and start all over again. At the same time, the Connecticut caller, Marilyn Vine, has her own lessons to learn when she and Ria swap houses for the summer. Yet there's nothing remotely preachy about this novel--even the bad guys (and yes, they're usually guys) and beautiful mistresses get to maintain some appeal. Instead, Tara Road is a stirring look at the reality behind our consuming fantasies, and a page-turner to boot. --Siobhan Carson [via]
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The Things They Carriedby Tim O'BrienISBN 0767902890 (0-7679-0289-0)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Things They Carried'Book summary:"They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing--these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight. They carried shameful memories. They carried the common secret of cowardice.... Men killed, and died, because they were embarrassed not to."
A finalist for both the 1990 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, The Things They Carried marks a subtle but definitive line of demarcation between Tim O'Brien's earlier works about Vietnam, the memoir If I Die in a Combat Zone and the fictional Going After Cacciato, and this sly, almost hallucinatory book that is neither memoir nor novel nor collection of short stories but rather an artful combination of all three. Vietnam is still O'Brien's theme, but in this book he seems less interested in the war itself than in the myriad different perspectives from which he depicts it. Whereas Going After Cacciato played with reality, The Things They Carried plays with truth. The narrator of most of these stories is "Tim"; yet O'Brien freely admits that many of the events he chronicles in this collection never really happened. He never killed a man as "Tim" does in "The Man I Killed," and unlike Tim in "Ambush," he has no daughter named Kathleen. But just because a thing never happened doesn't make it any less true. In "On the Rainy River," the character Tim O'Brien responds to his draft notice by driving north, to the Canadian border where he spends six days in a deserted lodge in the company of an old man named Elroy while he wrestles with the choice between dodging the draft or going to war. The real Tim O'Brien never drove north, never found himself in a fishing boat 20 yards off the Canadian shore with a decision to make. The real Tim O'Brien quietly boarded the bus to Sioux Falls and was inducted into the United States Army. But the truth of "On the Rainy River" lies not in facts but in the genuineness of the experience it depicts: both Tims went to a war they didn't believe in; both considered themselves cowards for doing so. Every story in The Things They Carried speaks another truth that Tim O'Brien learned in Vietnam; it is this blurred line between truth and reality, fact and fiction, that makes his book unforgettable. --Alix Wilber [via]
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Till We Have Facesby C. S. LewisISBN 0783802757 (0-7838-0275-7)
Hardcover, G K Hall & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Till We Have Faces'Book summary:At once more human and more mythic than his Perelandra trilogy, Lewis's short novel of love, faith, and transformation (both good and ill) offers the reader much food for thought in a compact, impressively rich story. Less heavy-handedly Christian-allegorical than Narnia, Till We Have Faces gives us characters who remind us of people we know facing choices and difficulties we recognize. This deceptively simple book takes on new depth with each rereading. [via]
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The Voyage of the Narwhalby Andrea BarrettISBN 0786217510 (0-7862-1751-0)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Voyage of the Narwhal'Book summary:In Andrea Barrett's extraordinary novel of Arctic and personal exploration, maps are deceitful, ice all-powerful, and reputation more important than truth or human lives. When the Narwhal sets sail from Philadelphia in May 1855, its ostensible goal is to find the crew of a long-vanished expedition--or at least their relics--and be home before winter. Of course, if the men can chart new coasts and stock up on specimens en route, so much the better. And then there's the keen prospect of selling their story, fraught with danger and discovery, to a public thirsting for excitement. Zeke Voorhees, the Narwhal's young commander, is so handsome that he makes women stare and men "hum with envy"--perhaps not the best qualification for his post--but he seems loved by all. Only his brother-in-law-to-be, a naturalist, quietly mistrusts him, though he's determined to stand by the youth for his sister Lavinia's sake. At 40, eternal low-profiler Erasmus Darwin Wells has one disastrous expedition behind him and is praying for another scientific chance. He is, however, familiar with the physical risks they're taking, as well as the "long stretches when nothing happened except that one's ties to home were imperceptibly dissolved and one became a stranger to one's life."
And what of the women left behind? Lavinia knows little of the dangers of ice (though she's well schooled in isolation) and lives only for Zeke's return. Her companion, Alexandra Copeland, is less sanguine. Even after she's been given a secret career break--ghosting for an ailing engraver--she knows how invisible she is and how threatening her family's "dense net of obligations" will always be. Though they get less page time, Barrett is in fact as concerned with these women as she is with her seafarers. Like the heroines of her National Book Award-winning
There is tyranny on board the Narwhal as well, as Zeke alternates between good will and paranoia, his closest companion an arctic fox he has "civilized" and who sits on his shoulder "like a white epaulet." (Alas, Sabine, like many of the men, is not to survive the journey.) Encounters with the Esquimaux--who might know more about the lost expedition than they're willing to share--not having gone according to plan, Zeke determines in late August to head for Smith Sound rather than home, despite the crew's protests. By mid-September, however, the craft is ice-locked, and it's clear they'll have to "winter over." At first the men make the best of their situation, magically sculpting cottages, castles, palaces, even a whale--and offering informal seminars in butchery, Bible studies, and basic navigation. However, as the weather worsens and Zeke grows increasingly despotic, morale plummets.
Barrett excels in both physical and social description, writing with a naturalist's precision and a passionate imagination. With quick strokes (backed up by intense research), she can fill us in on some sensible but threatening Esquimaux footgear: "All five were dressed in fur jackets and breeches, with high boots made from the leg skins of white bears. The men's feet, Erasmus saw, were sheltered by the bears' feet, with claws protruding like overgrown human toenails. Walking, the men left bear prints on the snow." The author also shines in panoramic scenes--her descriptions of the Arctic can only be called magnificent--and in small, precarious, personal moments. When Erasmus eventually returns to Philadelphia, minus his toes and his future brother-in-law, a grieving Lavinia takes to her bed. Eventually, however, she relents: "Lavinia stared straight ahead. Straight at Erasmus, her right hand tucked in her lap while her left turned a silver spoon back to front, front to back, the reflections melting, re-forming, and melting again.... Lavinia said softly, 'I forgive you.' Everyone knew she was speaking to Erasmus."
The Voyage of the Narwhal is full of blood-freezing surprises, a score of indelible characters, and heart-stopping mysteries. As Erasmus watches Alexandra draw landscapes he has seen before but missed something in, each pencil stroke is "like a chisel held to a cleavage plane: tap, tap, and the rock split into two sharp pieces, the world cracked and spoke to him." Readers of Andrea Barrett's novel will experience this sensation again and again. Packed with harsh truths about the not-always-true art of discovery, it is also among the most emotionally wrenching, subtle works of the century. --Kerry Fried [via]
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A Walk in the Woodsby Bill BrysonISBN 0767902521 (0-7679-0252-1)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Walk in the Woods'Book summary:Your initial reaction to Bill Bryson's reading of A Walk in the Woods may well be "Egads! What a bore!" But by sentence three or four, his clearly articulated, slightly adenoidal, British/American-accented speech pattern begins to grow on you and becomes quite engaging. You immediately get a hint of the humor that lies ahead, such as one of the innumerable reasons he longed to walk as many of the 2,100 miles of the Appalachian Trail as he could. "It would get me fit after years of waddlesome sloth" is delivered with glorious deadpan flair. By the time our storyteller recounts his trip to the Dartmouth Co-op, suffering serious sticker shock over equipment prices, you'll be hooked.
When Bryson speaks for the many Americans he encounters along the way--in various shops, restaurants, airports, and along the trail--he launches into his American accent, which is whiny and full of hard r's. And his southern intonations are a hoot. He's even got a special voice used exclusively when speaking for his somewhat surprising trail partner, Katz. In the 25 years since their school days together, Katz has put on quite a bit of weight. In fact, "he brought to mind Orson Welles after a very bad night. He was limping a little and breathing harder than one ought to after a walk of 20 yards." Katz often speaks in monosyllables, and Bryson brings his limited vocabulary humorously to life. One of Katz's more memorable utterings is "flung," as in flung most of his provisions over the cliff because they were too heavy to carry any farther.
The author has thoroughly researched the history and the making of the Appalachian Trail. Bryson describes the destruction of many parts of the forest and warns of the continuing perils (both natural and man-made) the Trail faces. He speaks of the natural beauty and splendor as he and Katz pass through, and he recalls clearly the serious dangers the two face during their time together on the trail. So, A Walk in the Woods is not simply an out-of-shape, middle-aged man's desire to prove that he can still accomplish a major physical task; it's also a plea for the conservation of America's last wilderness. Bryson's telling is a knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud funny trek through the woods, with a touch of science and history thrown in for good measure. (Running time: 360 minutes, four cassettes) --Colleen Preston [via]
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A Walk in the Woods : Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trailby Bill BrysonISBN 0767902513 (0-7679-0251-3)
Hardcover, Broadway Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Walk in the Woods : Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail'Book summary:Bill Bryson has made a living out of traveling and then writing about it. In The Lost Continent he re-created the road trips of his childhood; in Neither Here nor There he retraced the route he followed as a young backpacker traversing Europe. When this American transplant to Britain decided to return home, he made a farewell walking tour of the British countryside and produced Notes from a Small Island. Once back on American soil and safely settled in New Hampshire, Bryson once again hears the siren call of the open road--only this time it's a trail. The Appalachian Trail, to be exact. In A Walk in the Woods Bill Bryson tackles what is, for him, an entirely new subject: the American wilderness. Accompanied only by his old college buddy Stephen Katz, Bryson starts out one March morning in north Georgia, intending to walk the entire 2,100 miles to trail's end atop Maine's Mount Katahdin.
If nothing else, A Walk in the Woods is proof positive that the journey is the destination. As Bryson and Katz haul their out-of-shape, middle-aged butts over hill and dale, the reader is treated to both a very funny personal memoir and a delightful chronicle of the trail, the people who created it, and the places it passes through. Whether you plan to make a trip like this one yourself one day or only care to read about it, A Walk in the Woods is a great way to spend an afternoon. --Alix Wilber [via]
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A Walk on the Beach: Tales of Wisdom from an Unconventional Womanby Joan AndersonISBN 0767914759 (0-7679-1475-9)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Walk On The Beach: Tales Of Wisdom From An Unconventional Woman'Book summary:Shortly after arriving on Cape Cod to spend a year by herself, Joan Andersons chance encounter with a wise, playful, and astonishing woman helped her usher in the transformations and self-discoveries that led to her ongoing renewal. First glimpsed as a slender figure on a fogged-in beach, Joan Erikson was not only a friend and confidante when one was most needed, but also a guide as Anderson stretched and grew into her unfinished self.
Joan Erikson was perhaps best known for her collaboration with her husband, Erik, a pioneering psychoanalyst and noted author. After Eriks death, she wrote several books extending their theory of the stages of life to reflect her understanding of aging as she neared ninety-five. But her wisdom was best taught through their friendship; as she sat with Anderson, weaving tapestries of their lives with brightly colored yarn while exploring the strength gathered from their accumulated experiences, Joan Eriksons lessons took shape on their small cardboard looms as well as in her friends revitalized life.
In writing about their extraordinary friendship, Anderson reveals a need she didnt know she had: for a mentor to help navigate the transitions she faced as she grew beyond middle age. And when Joan Erikson had to face her husbands death and the growing limitations of her own body, Anderson was able to give back some of the wisdom she had gleaned. To this poignant, joyful account, Joan Anderson brings the candor and sensitivity that have made her an acclaimed speaker and writer on midlife and its possibilities. A Walk on the Beach is an experience to savor and treasure, a glimpse of the exuberant spirit that can be sustained and passed on in all our friendships. [via]More editions of A Walk on the Beach: Tales of Wisdom from an Unconventional Woman:
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White Fangby Jack LondonISBN 0766612104 (0-7666-1210-4)
Hardcover, Modern Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'White Fang'Book summary:Jack London's classic companion novel to Call of the Wild is now available through Buki Editions! With a fully functioning table of contents. [via]
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Wilderness Tipsby Atwood, Margaret AtwoodISBN 0771008198 (0-7710-0819-8)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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Winnie-The-Poohby A. A. MilneISBN 0771058918 (0-7710-5891-8)
Softcover, McClelland & Stewart Ltd
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The Winning Attitudeby John MaxwellISBN 0785275355 (0-7852-7535-5)
Softcover, Thomas Nelson Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Winning Attitude'Book summary:Struggling with an ingrained negative attitude? There's real hope for you! In The Winning Attitude John C. Maxwell shows you how you can change and become a winner. You can develop the attitude of mind which brings peace, courage, and success! [via]
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The Wizard of Ozby L. Frank BaumISBN 0766607712 (0-7666-0771-2)
Hardcover, Modern Pub
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Wizard of Oz'Book summary:Classic Literature adapated for young readers by Amber D. Smith [via]
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The Wizard of Oz: Easy Pianoby Carol CuellarISBN 0769200958 (0-7692-0095-8)
Softcover, Alfred Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Wizard of Oz: Easy Piano'Book summary:Dan Coates applies his popular Easy Piano arrangements to the delightful score from this timeless movie classic. Here's a collector's item for players of all ages. Songs include: Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
* If Only I Had a Brain
* If I Were the King of the Forest
* Over the Rainbow
* We're Off to See the Wizard and more. [via]More editions of The Wizard of Oz: Easy Piano:
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Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plagueby Geraldine BrooksISBN 0783896824 (0-7838-9682-4)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague'Book summary:Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders describes the 17th-century plague that is carried from London to a small Derbyshire village by an itinerant tailor. As villagers begin, one by one, to die, the rest face a choice: do they flee their village in hope of outrunning the plague or do they stay? The lord of the manor and his family pack up and leave. The rector, Michael Mompellion, argues forcefully that the villagers should stay put, isolate themselves from neighboring towns and villages, and prevent the contagion from spreading. His oratory wins the day and the village turns in on itself. Cocooned from the outside world and ravaged by the disease, its inhabitants struggle to retain their humanity in the face of the disaster. The narrator, the young widow Anna Frith, is one of the few who succeeds. With Mompellion and his wife, Elinor, she tends to the dying and battles to prevent her fellow villagers from descending into drink, violence, and superstition. All is complicated by the intense, inexpressible feelings she develops for both the rector and his wife. Year of Wonders sometimes seems anachronistic as historical fiction; Anna and Mompellion occasionally appear to be modern sensibilities unaccountably transferred to 17th-century Derbyshire. However, there is no mistaking the power of Brooks's imagination or the skill with which she constructs her story of ordinary people struggling to cope with extraordinary circumstances. --Nick Rennison, Amazon.co.uk [via]
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Zeke and Nedby Larry McMurtry, Diana OssanaISBN 0783880944 (0-7838-8094-4)
Hardcover, Thorndike Pr
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LA Mariquita Malhumorada/Grouchy Ladybugby Eric CarleISBN 078579896X (0-7857-9896-X)
Hardcover, Bt Bound
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› Find signed collectible books: 'LA Mariquita Malhumorada/Grouchy Ladybug'Book summary:Eric Carle's ever-popular Grouchy Ladybug is as irresistible as ever in this newly revised Spanish language edition. Join her as she picks fights and makes a ruckus wherever she goes, delighting another generation of readers.
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