I first read a Josephine Tey book in 1962 and it changed my life. I became a huge fan of British history especially in the period from King Arthur to Richard III. I took a tour of the Tower of London castle/prison in August 1962. It was just before I began my junior year in …
My 20th reading of this existential classic (I read it once a year). A story whose narrator rides waves of sorrow, dread, and sometimes joy. Ultimately empty, but with hope. Exploring and explaining a world that both makes sense to human probing, but denies it at the same time. Favorite quote: “My memories are like …
Having seen the trailer for the upcoming movie with the same title, I learned it was a book first published in 1973. A great yarn filled with spooky and magical elements that many 8-12-year-olds love to read. Lewis Barnavelt, an orphan, comes to live with his uncle Jonathan and discovers a world totally new to …
I couldn’t tell you who won last year’s World Series, because I don’t follow baseball. But this sports book has earned a sterling reputation as a classic that transcends the game. Author/knuckleball pitcher Jim Bouton has the humorist’s eye for telling, pithy detail, and the memoirist’s courage in sharing honest and sometimes unflattering anecdotes about himself …
Dawn is complex, deeply compelling, and endlessly thought-provoking in its meditations on what it means to be human, who gets to be considered human, and what’s at stake in these categorical distinctions. Set in a dystopian future, Dawn’s chilling, unsettling narrative reminds us how the words we use and distinctions we make so urgently matter …
The headline to a review I wrote of this book when it came out in 2004 read, “Caribou Hair Everywhere,” and I can’t think of three words that better describe it. Raised by a father who moved from the Midwest to a sod igloo in remote, northwest Alaska, young Cutuk grows toward an inevitable choice …
This is a little book, written in a modest style, but its claims are large. Despite her title, Ginzburg wants us to set aside the “little virtues” of frugality, caution, and tact for the greater ones of love, courage, and generosity. The essays were written between 1944 and 1962 in the wake of personal and …
Outlander is a timeless tale about Claire Randall — a 1946 WWII nurse who travels back in time through a circle of stones in the Highlands of Scotland. The year is now 1743: English soldiers hunt Highlanders and Claire lands in the hands of Clan Mackenzie, and is forced to marry the young Jamie Fraser for …
Sit down. Right here in the aisle is fine. Get your phone, put in earbuds. Go to YouTube. Watch Li-Young Lee read his poem”This Room and Everything in It.” Buy this book. –Shawn, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA Immerse yourself in poetry at Elliott Bay Book Company and other independent bookstores.
It all started with Sara Crewe. Not even book (A Little Princess) Sara Crewe, but Shirley Temple-movie Sara Crewe in “The Little Princess” (1939). That was when I first fell in love with the idea of boarding school, even if I may not have thought of it in that way at the time. That’s not …
