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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
malcolmrcampbell has commented on (7) products
Havah
by
Tosca M Lee
malcolmrcampbell
, August 02, 2009
Tosca Lee follows her stunning debut novel "Demon: A Memoir" with her richly imagined, scripturally based "Havah: The Story of Eve." In her first moments in the Garden of Eden, Havah (Eve) hears a whisper in her ear, then within her mind: "Wake." So begins her brief moment in paradise, the mere blink of an eye in her 1000-year lifespan. Whether one believes in a literal Garden of Eden on earth, Adam and Eve as entities in another dimension, or a figurative story of paradise from the realm of archetype, Lee's "Havah" retains the spirit of the mythic stories we know of the Garden before and after the fall of man. Told from Eve's perspective, Lee's story explores the joy of those first moments and the loving perfection of the world before the serpent lures the first woman and the first man to the forbidden fruit. Some of the book's most powerful images arise from this event, from the immediate transformation of the perfect garden into the world of death and tooth and claw we know. "I felt laid bare, a fruit split open to reveal only moldering inside. I turned away from the adam, unable to look at him. I had cleansed myself to no avail; I felt like a thing ruined." As might be expected, the fruit and how they came to eat it, haunts Eve for the rest of her life. Adam finds it difficult to forgive her. She finds it difficult to forgive herself as year upon year, and generation upon generation of joys and deaths and plagues go by with the expectation that some day the "One" (God) will return and they might find their special Garden again. Eve and Adam are, by the novel's perfect ending, the patriarchs of the race, the old ones who, while rich in wisdom, find themselves more more out of touch with scope of humanity, the regional gods and beliefs, and their connection with the perfect world where life began. Tosca Lee has taken great risks and challenges undertaking such a novel. But as with "Demon: A Memoir," she succeeds admirably while proving her skills and vision are more than equal to the task.
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The Dawn of Saudi: In Search for Freedom
by
Homa Pouragari and Homa Pourasgari
malcolmrcampbell
, July 25, 2009
Pourasgiri’s powerful romantic mystery “The Dawn of Saudi” focuses on the lives of two young women who meet while attending college in Barcelona, Sahar Al-Hijazi of Saudi Arabia and Dawn Parnell of the United States. Sahar, whose travels have given her a taste of freedom, fights her family’s attempts to force her into a loveless marriage with Husam. Dawn, however, doesn’t heed her best friend’s warnings and marries a Saudi man whom she believes is a progressive thinker and finds herself trapped instead within a hopeless world. “They buried her in an unmarked grave,” the novel begins. “Only in death did Saudi women and men receive equal treatment.” On the next page readers learn that Sahar collapsed on her wedding night, went into a coma, and died within an hour of an aneurysm. In California, Jason Crawford worries over the news of Sahar’s death because he has business ties to the families involved and doesn’t want to see a pending merger with Crawford Enterprises jeopardized. Subsequently, Dawn Parnell begins work as a housekeeper at the grand Crawford estate. While the house has a large staff, Dawn catches Jason’s attention even though she’s definitely not the eye-candy type of woman he usually dates and discards. Among other things, he notices that her intelligence, skills and interests greatly exceed those normally expected in a maid placed by an employment agency. How, for example, can she be an expert skier and horsewoman? Since Dawn won’t talk about her past, Jason can only wonder what she is hiding and why she hides it so fiercely. Pourasgari’s inventive plot and strong characters not open a wide window onto Saudi oppression of women, but make for a very strong story with the poignant moments of well-told romance and the twists and turns of page-turning mystery. Both the oppression and the fear associated with it are aptly shown from a woman’s perspective through Dawn and Sahar. Jason’s silver-spoon lifestyle and love-them-and-leave-them approach to women stands out in start contrast to Dawn’s and Sahar’s experiences, and this adds greatly to the depth of the story. “The Dawn of Saudi” is a very satisfying novel with unforgettable characters who must fight through a labyrinth of western apathy and frightening conservative Islamic beliefs in a search for freedom. The novel is both an education and an oasis for the human spirit.
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Saara's Passage
by
Karen Autio
malcolmrcampbell
, March 10, 2009
Two days before her twelfth birthday, Saara Mäki became one of only four children to survive the May 1914 sinking of the RMS Empress of Ireland in Karen Autio's acclaimed debut novel "Second Watch." (2005) Now, the beautifully written "Saara's Passage" picks up the story during the months after her ordeal in the dark, cold waters of the St. Lawrence River. Saara, who is suffering through graphic nightmares about the tragic end of the family's dream trip to see her grandparents in Finland, faces the disruption of her schoolgirl world as a new ordeal appears: her Aunt Marja has been stricken with tuberculosis, and Marja's baby Sanni needs a caretaker during Marja's lengthy stay in the TB sanatorium. Times are difficult as Canada begins sending troops off to fight in World War I. Can Saara's uncle, father and mother--who are desperately trying to earn a living--take on childcare duties? Or, can Saara step in and become an adult over night and look after the child and also do the associated housework? When the Empress of Ireland sank, 68% of the passengers died. Saara wondered why she was spared. During the early 1900s, 45% of those with TB died. Aunt Marja may never come home, and if she does, she will probably be too contagious and weak to care for her baby. Saara is asking herself if she survived for Marja and Sanni. Saara faces a new passage, one of heartbreak and loss and purpose. This rich, wonderfully detailed historical novel opens a wide window into the world of Canada's Finnish immigrants almost 100 years ago. Facing challenges of their own, today's young readers will discover in "Saara's Passage," a timeless story that remains inspiring and relevant for all generations.
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Peeper
by
Paul Chandler
malcolmrcampbell
, March 07, 2009
Andrew Ash and Ray Duncan are expert corporate merger and acquisitions specialists. They make millions of dollars a year because they have a secret. Andrew's a mind reader. He knows what the negotiator across the table will say before he says it. In a field where precise and timely information is essential, Andrew's skills go far beyond mediums who speak in symbols and riddles and TV-show police psychics whose on-again/off again impressions provide facts that, while interesting, always seem to fall short of the clues detectives need most. Andrew knows everything. He can peep inside your head and read you like a book. Everyone who has wondered what it's like to read minds will find vicarious pleasure peeping on Andrew as he wields his special information like a sword to back down greedy corporate executives, aggressive lawyers, and the hired guns who are attracted to large quantities of easy money. Paul Chandler is very good at what he does and his exciting novel shows what it's like. Andrew's secret creates challenges. First, if the secret gets out, Andrew and Ray are out of business. Yet, in the regulated world of mergers and acquisitions, they're providing information that appears to have been illegally obtained. How does Andrew viably explain how he knows what he knows? Men like Paul Trask, the powerful CEO of Micro-Delta Corporation, don't care where the information comes from as long as they get what they want and don't get caught. After a lucrative Micro-Delta business deal, Trask wants more, and he has a Rolodex full of unsavory characters who will ensure Andrew and Ray keep doing their magic. But Andrew has other things on his mind. The popular talk-show host David Martin has been accused of murdering his wife and daughters. The prosecution has a good case, but in the media frenzy surrounding the trial, one thing is clear. The jury likes David Martin and will probably vote for acquittal. Angered that such a monster might go free, Andrew steps into the court room and learns the truth. But once again, how he knows what he knows creates challenges. Can he help put a murderer behind bars without giving away his secret? More importantly, if he accurately describes the graphic details of a murder nobody could have seen, won't he be accused of committing the crime? Paul Chandler's well-written "Peeper" delivers savvy good guys and savvy bad guys fighting for survival in a high-stakes battle with no brakes on it. Even Andrew doesn't know in advance how it's going to end up. So, chances are you won't have a clue either. If you like action and suspense, it's better that way.
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Women Of Magdalene
by
Rosema Poole Carter
malcolmrcampbell
, February 02, 2009
âItâs easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out,â New York World reporter Nellie Bly wrote in her âTen Days in a Mad Houseâ expose about the poor conditions and mistreatment of patients at Blackwellâs Island asylum in New York in 1887. Deplorable by todayâs standards, the approach to mental health then wasnât far removed from the days when professionals considered the insane to be those suffering Godâs punishment or the Devilâs possession. The fictional Magdalene Ladies Lunatic Asylum in Rosemary Poole-Carterâs darkly beautiful novel fits perfectly into a time period when the treatment of female mentally ill patients was likely to be neither moral nor effective. Confinement was often a matter of convenience for the families of women viewed as domestic failures who were best kept out of sight and out of mind. When young Civil War surgeon Dr. Robert Mallory arrives at the Louisiana institution for employment as general practitioner after the war, he soon sees that God and the world have forgotten the women of Magdalene, and the only devils on the premises are the asylumâs owner Dr. Kingston, his former assistant Dr. Hardy, and their dictatorial matron. When Robert questions Kingston about the inhumane treatment of the women housed in the former plantation mansion, Kingston discounts Robertâs competence to judge what is right and proper in the realm of mental illness. Later, Robert will ask why no women are ever cured and allowed to leave the facility. Cures? There are no cures, only what Kingston describes without noticeable guile as âsanctuary.â In Poole-Carterâs haunting, yet gritty prose, Magdalene floats almost dreamlike within a misshapen world of malaise and mist that will ultimately claim all who remain there--and for a high price. Robert, like the women, arrives at the asylum having been harmed by the world and with a growing expectation that he will be injured further by the methods and practices within the shelter of Magdaleneâs walls. This novel casts multiple spells over its readers and its characters. Readers with a growing understanding that the abuses at the fictional Magdalene were drawn from the world of standard abuses of the times, wonât be able to forget what they see there. As for Robert Mallory, in spite of his resolve, heâs not sure he can complete his personal journey out of the past and cure what ails Magdalene before he becomes yet another shadow alongside the old plantationâs dark river.
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Unplugged: How to Disconnect from the Rat Race, Have an Existential Crisis, and Find Meaning and Fulfillment
by
Nancy Whitney-Reiter
malcolmrcampbell
, July 19, 2008
If your career and your life aren't quite what you expected, much less wanted, consider getting away (unplugging) from the daily rat race for three to six months and rediscovering yourself. A 9/11 survivor, Whitney-Reiter uses her unplugged experience and her knowledge of the travel industry to show you how to get away in a mature and logical manner, and that includes just how you're going to return to the world you know after the experience is over. The book includes stories of others who unplugged and a lot of practical resources whether you unplug in a far corner of the world or your own backyard.
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Journey to the Heart
by
Nora Caron and Caron Nora
malcolmrcampbell
, July 18, 2008
Lucina, a 25-year-old computer professional from Montreal travels to Oaxaca Mexico on the advice of her therapist. After a series of terrible relationships with men, a nagging neurotic mother and a total burn out, she feels dead inside. Her doctor believes the energy and sunshine of Oaxaca will counteract Lucina's preoccupation with darkness and death. On her first day in town, a wise healer named Senora Labotta tells her she will have a much better vacation camping in a tent on her property than staying at the hotel. Though Lucina thinks it's a crazy idea from a complete stranger, she moves into the tent and begins helping the healer around the house. As it turns out, Senora Labotta and her son Teleo know more about the reasons for Lucina's fears than Lucina knows and offer clues and a supportive environment for re-discovering her "Journey to the Heart." It's a difficult road, one that many readers of this well-written and rewarding book will truly identify with.
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