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Powell's Staff:
Five Book Friday: In Memoriam
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Every year, the booksellers at Powell’s submit their Top Fives: their five favorite books that were released in 2023. It’s a list that, when put together, shows just how varied and interesting the book tastes of Powell’s booksellers are. I highly recommend digging into the recommendations — we would never lead you astray — but today...
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Brontez Purnell:
Powell’s Q&A: Brontez Purnell, author of ‘Ten Bridges I’ve Burnt’
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Rachael P.:
Starter Pack: Where to Begin with Ursula K. Le Guin
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Customer Comments
S Griffin has commented on (6) products
Railsea
by
China Mieville
S Griffin
, January 01, 2013
China Miéville might be a genius. His amazing talent certainly shines through in RAILSEA (2012, Del Rey Books), his YA mash-up of Fantasy / Science Fiction / Steampunk / Dystopia. The story follows young Shamus ‘Sham’ Yes ap Soorap in a revision of the MOBY DICK quest, first as a doctor’s assistant on a moletrain, and later on a journey to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Mr. and Mrs. Shroake, a husband and wife explorer team. Miéville's re-imagination of MOBY DICK is awesome. There is the ship now turned into a train, the same captains, and the sea now turned into soil, yet its an entirely different world. “& as passersby passed by & the light continued to leak from the sky, Sham was certain the man’s presence was not coincidence.” Sham’s world consists of hunters, scavengers, and pirates, who ride along a vast expanse of railways. To fall off onto the land besides the tracks ensures that you will be eaten by creatures that live on and under the caustic soil. The moletrain Medes’ narrow-focused Captain Naphi is seeking her ‘philosophy’ by hunting a certain moldywarpe by the name of Mocker-Jack. The general public lives on safer ‘islands’ of higher ground. Along the way Sham seeks two reclusive children, gets betrayed, acquires a pet, and witnesses battles with the strange, dangerous creatures in his world. Besides the Great Southern Moldywarpes, there are Burrowing Tortoises, Antlions, Blood Rabbits, Tundra Worms and more (Miéville has even included his own sketches of each!) “Above them flew something nothing like a plane.” Here is the genius of RAILSEA: the language Miéville uses. He substitutes some words and makes up a lot of others. They weave together melodically as the sentences trip across your tongue. They’re playful and fun and magical. People with names like Boyza Go Mbenday and places with names like Manihiki. There may be some sort of message in this tale, about society or religion or whatnot, but I prefer to take this book as purely a high-fueled adventure. I don’t want to overthink it; it’s just too much fun to read. “& if,” he said, & his voice was suddenly chill & bony & metal & like the scuttling of a very bad insect, “you’d like not to be cut open & dangled over the side of this train & dragged along with your legs on the ground spilling blood everything under the flatearth can smell while we go slow enough for long, long miles that they can rise & eat you from the toes up & from the inside out, you know what you could do for me, Sham? “Tell me where the Shroakes are going.” The only tiny, tiny weakness I found was that I do wish we had a little more personality in the Shroake children, Caldera and Dero. Sham, on the other hand, is a typical youngster; he isn’t certain just who he wants to be and he makes his decisions as questions come up. To be sure, this results in a life of adventure. Again, the strength lies in Miéville’s imagination and the way in which he plays with words: “Out of the east & south the train came. It howled, it whistled, en route through & out of the known railsea. It breathed diesel breath. An everyday moletrain, transmogrified by urgency & peculiar direction into something more than itself, something grander, buckling of more swashes.” I believe this is a considerably more entertaining book than MOBY DICK and highly recommend RAILSEA for all readers age 12 and up
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5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth & Other Useful Guides
by
The Oatmeal and Inman, Matthew
S Griffin
, January 01, 2012
Face it, 2011 was a pretty crappy year. That's why 5 VERY GOOD REASONS TO PUNCH A DOLPHIN IN THE MOUTH is the best book I read all year. Michael Inman's comics make me laugh, even if they are sometimes rude. This new book is a great collection and a book I will never part with! Anytime you need a pick-me-up, crack it open!
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All Gods Children Inside the Dark & Violent World of Street Families
by
Rene Denfeld
S Griffin
, September 04, 2011
In 2003, Jessica Williams was murdered in one of the most horrific ways imaginable. James, or “Thantos” as he liked to be called, was the “father” of a street family in Portland, Oregon. Denfeld shows us that kids are duped into thinking they are safe in a street family, when the truth is that even a made-up transgression can get them killed. The descriptions of torture and murder in this book, as given by witnesses, are matter-of-fact but VERY disturbing. I chose to skip reading most of the killing of Jessica because it bothered me so much to know that there are such cruel and disturbed people out there on the streets. I think Denfeld’s intention was to wake us up to the reality of what’s going on in these families. I really came to care about Jessica and am heartbroken to read how she died. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered, “Why are those kids just hanging out there?”
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Crashers
by
Dana Haynes
S Griffin
, January 01, 2011
A thriller that will keep you turning the pages, CRASHERS, by Oregon author Dana Haynes, follows NTSB investigators as they try to solve the cause of an airplane crash just minutes after it leaves the Portland International Airport. This book is great for the arm-chair detective as the FBI becomes involved in the investigation after it is determined that the plane was sabotaged, because one of them may be a mole. There is plenty of technical jargon for geeks and Haynes does a good job of building believable characters. Throw in an Irish radical group and a former Israeli intelligence agent and you have one who-do-you-trust classic. A very minor flaw is that there are a couple of situations where you have to suspend your disbelief at the coincidences but otherwise there is so much excitement and surprises I’m willing to overlook this. My jaw actually dropped when I read the last sentences of the first chapter. There are other places where I had to wail, “Noooo!” You can never tell what is going to happen next. If you like a fast-paced thriller, I highly recommend CRASHERS!
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Amazing Story Of Quantum Mechanics
by
James Kakalios
S Griffin
, November 26, 2010
This book is at the top of my wish list!! Can't wait to read it! Then maybe I can speak like Sheldon on THE BIG BANG THEORY! ;)
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The Book Thief
by
Markus Zusak
S Griffin
, January 01, 2010
Mark Zusak's writing truly captures the essence of his residents of Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, during WWII. It is at times brilliant. Some passages will be permanently etched in my brain, such as Death's description of a slow-moving group of starving Jews being marched down a road towards a concentration camp: " ...for many of them would die. They would each greet me like their last true friend, with bones like smoke and their souls trailing behind." Aimed at a Young Adult audience, this book transcends age-definition and is worthy of being read by everyone young or old. While not preachy or patronizing, it brings us closer to understanding the lives of Germans living in Germany at that brutal time of our history. I loved this book because by the end I had come to care much more about the characters than I had anticipated. The ending was so moving I could not avoid tears, and I'm not one to shed them lightly!
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