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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
egogrif has commented on (27) products
Making Comics: Storytelling Secrets of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels
by
Scott McCloud
egogrif
, September 30, 2011
This is the type of advice that is completely obvious and intuitive...but only after you read it. I could hardly get ten pages in without wanting to rush off and draw something. I will keep this book next to my workstation as a reference for whenever I'm feeling stumped or have "artists block." And besides all the help it gives, it's just plain fun to read!
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Scarlet Pimpernel
by
Emmuska Orczy Orczy
egogrif
, August 15, 2011
I had to go find this book after watching (and falling in love with) both of the major film version. The source material did not disappoint. It's a very light and light-hearted story, despite taking place during the dark times of the French Revolution, when so many French aristocrats, including children, met their end beneath the blade of Madame Guillotine. Baroness Orczy doesn't dwell on this, but uses it as the backdrop for her dashing and carefree English hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel. I loved the book's peculiar lexicon, particularly its late 18th century "oaths," and before long couldn't help thinking "Zounds!" or "Odd's life!" as I went about my day. The characters are not especially deep, except for Marguerite, but the story is charming and unpredictable. As soon as I reached the end, I had to go back and reread certain sections just for the enjoyment of them. A fun book set during the Reign of Terror? Yes, it's possible!
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Wuthering Heights
by
Emily Bronte
egogrif
, July 21, 2011
I wish I had not waited so long to read this classic. Something in the gloomy title put me off. But it's been around so long for a good reason--it's a wonderful book! The story is tightly interwoven, told more as a story within a story within a story. All of the action takes place in one confined little patch on the moors, which makes the emotions of the characters seem all the more intense and claustrophobic. Towards the end I was setting down the book with frustration, so angry at Heathcliff's connivings, but then I had to keep reading to see what would happen next. Although Bronte wrote this in 1845, her language is easy and approachable. I did not have to read this with a dictionary on my lap, as with most Victorian novels!
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White Masai My Exotic Tale of Love & Adventure
by
Corinne Hofmann
egogrif
, July 21, 2011
When I started reading this, I soon put aside everything else to finish it. It is a gripping story, not easy to put down! At its heart it is a tale of domestic violence, but the settings are strange and wonderful. Corinne Hofmann does a fine job of balancing the narrative with her own musings, memories, and inner turmoil. I found myself really cheering for her, and frightened for her as the story progressed. I am currently reading one of the two follow-up books she wrote to this one.
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Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
by
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
egogrif
, July 21, 2011
I came at this book half-heartedly, but it didn't take long to win me over. By the end of the second chapter I was hooked and laughing out loud. It was fun to try to figure out which bits were devised by Gaiman and which by Pratchett, but impossible to do--the book is so nicely interwoven that I never noticed any change in tone. Especially hard to put down towards the end. This is the first thing I've read by either author, and it certainly makes me want to pick up more of their stuff.
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Married to a Bedouin
by
Marguerite Van Geldermalsen
egogrif
, March 25, 2011
I love stories like this. Here something that seems so strange, poetic, and romantic - the Bedouin lifestyle - is described in all its mundane, everyday detail through the eyes of Westerner who has married into it. Marguerite's stories are so familiar, yet so not: visiting the neighbor's cave for tea, going grocery shopping beneath 2000 year-old ruins, upgrading transportation from a donkey to a mule in preparation for a new baby. If this were a fictional book, its premise would be laughable, that a New Zealander on vacation would instantly fall in love with a Bedouin man who invites her to visit his cave for the night. But it's a true story, and extremely sweet. Marguerite handles everything that's thrown at her with grace, wit, and wide-eyed fascination, whether the gunfire at her wedding, the scorpions in her house, or a visit from the Queen of England. Her narrative just goes to prove that no matter how foreign the culture, there is a common thread of humanity that we all can relate to.
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Learn Latin: The Book of the Daily Telegraph QED Series
by
Peter Jones
egogrif
, March 05, 2011
Illum librum lege! Read this book! If you have ever had any curiosity at all about Latin, if you ever regretted not taking it, if you took it but forgot everything you learned, if you want to learn just enough to say a few simple phrases to impress your friends and family . . . this book will open doors for you. It is fun and easy to read, scattered throughout with amusing comics and bits of Peter Jones' very British humor. (He continuously echoes what you are thinking, for instance, the ridiculous nature of sentences made from your first 20 vocabulary words.) His lessons are easily manageable, and he rewards you instantly by helping you read real Latin - snippets of the Vulgate, Medieval works, and the Classics. I began with this book . . . several months, two classes, and one addiction later I am reading straight from Virgil! Dicere Latine est laetari!
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Just So Stories
by
Rudyard Kipling
egogrif
, March 05, 2011
I adored these stories as a kid. They are short and fun to read, rich with exotic imagery that swept me away to the jungle (although not all the stories are set in India) and with amusing, often slightly disturbing surprises. Who doesn’t cringe at the thought of Crocodile pulling on Elephant’s stubby nose, or the grate wedged painfully in Whale’s mouth? The inventiveness of each story is fantastic, every one ending with a bit of an “aha!” moment. This collection is even more approachable for a young reader than “The Jungle Book,” and for me began a lifelong love of Kipling.
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One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
by
Ken Kesey
egogrif
, March 05, 2011
Such a great book. It slaps you in the face from the very first chapter. You don’t just read the story about one small group of men in one mental institution at one moment of time – you are drawn into it. Kesey tampers with your emotions. He knows how to make you feel, like his characters, the sense of entrapment, of emasculation, of unbearable dictatorship. He builds an aggravating tension between Nurse Ratched's cage and McMurphy’s songbird singing. If you can bear the rough ride, it'll reward you with grand triumph of the human spirit, not exactly a happy ending, but a question: who won - McMurphy or the Nurse? The best of Kesey's works, and a hard book to put down without finishing!
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Down and Out in Paris and London
by
George Orwell
egogrif
, February 21, 2011
I started reading a battered little copy of this book when I couldn't find anything else lying around to read. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop. It's very real and gritty, the sort of story you don't think you want to hear but can't stop listening to, the same way you might ogle in fascination at a train wreck. The author, quasi-autobiographically, plunges deeper and deeper into the ruined fringes of the civilized world, barely scraping together a living, describing every dreck and dive in intimate detail until you feel like you need to go take a shower. (It helped that my own copy was so dusty.) Yet no matter how pathetic his plight becomes, there is always the slightest tinge of humor, the hope that rock bottom has been hit at last. A memorable story; I don't think I will easily eat in a Parisian restaurant after reading this book!
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My Book About Me By Me Myself
by
Dr. Seuss
egogrif
, February 20, 2011
My goodness, this book is still in print? I remember opening my copy when I was just old enough to grasp a pen, five, maybe six years old. I would fill it out little by little, shouting out questions to my parents: "What's gramma's name? What's the name of our state? How tall am I?" For each question they would help me find the answer, which I would eagerly chronicle on the appropriate line. There are places in here for self-portraits, dreams, likes/dislikes, and such that make it a treat to read now as an adult, like a time capsule back into my childhood. As usual, Dr. Seuss knows just which questions matter the most to kids. And of course the Seussian whimsy makes it fun to reread no matter how old I am!
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Lusty Life Of Loon Lake Lloyd
by
Ellen Keeland
egogrif
, February 19, 2011
This is one of my favorite books that no one’s ever heard about. Loon Lake Lloyd is a real-life version of Hank Stamper (the strong, proud logger from Ken Kesey’s “Sometimes a Great Notion”) and this book is a collection of short stories from his life, dictated to his wife, who typed and illustrated them. The stories capture a time when logging and salmon were king on the Oregon Coast, when people were living a near-pioneer existence in the forgotten backwoods that relied on boats, bars, and backbone. The stories in this book are true, although some are so fantastic that they might easily slide into the realm of tall tale. The one about the Fetching Contest between a pet dog and pet otter is still told around Loon Lake today. Sometimes politically incorrect, often humorous, always entertaining, the stories combine to make a picture of backcountry life as it was, rich and raw. Because I am from this area, this book is particularly special to me. (I have met both Lloyd and Ellen, and they are both wonderful people.) But anyone who wants to really understand Oregon history, especially the history of the rural coast, should read this. The days of Loon Lake Lloyd have faded along with the timber industry, and although you can still hear old-timers tell stories like these over coffee in the undiscovered breakfast dives of the Oregon Coast, this is the only book I know that has captured them for posterity. Reading it is like discovering a treasure – our history – that was never buried to begin with.
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Morrow Guide to Knots for Sailing Fishing Camping Climbing
by
Mario Bigon
egogrif
, February 06, 2011
I've tried a lot of books on knot tying, but this is the best one I've found. It uses photographs for each step, and so unlike other books you don't have to decipher cryptic text-only instructions to figure out what to do next. The knots are classified according to their basic types, which means that even if the knot you want isn't in here - and because of the space given to photographs, the Morrow Guide isn't comprehensive - you will at least be able to learn a related knot, or something that will do the same job. I especially appreciate the fact that the book gives the purpose of each knot, whether it will move or stay fast, and how to untie it. I have used this book for sailing, camping, yardwork, and just for keeping my hands busy when I'm bored!
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Giant Jam Sandwich
by
John Vernon Lord
egogrif
, January 31, 2011
When I saw this on the shelf I was suddenly awash in fond childhood memories. This is one of the few books that I remember vividly from visits to my grandparents' house. How could any kid forget it? Giant sandwiches and swarms of bugs? It is both delightful and disturbing. I immediately bought a new copy for my niece.
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Do You Think You're Clever?
by
John Farndon
egogrif
, January 16, 2011
This book offers more than amusing questions and unexpected, well-rounded answers. (Example: "If you're not in California, how do you know it exists?" is answered by reverting to Plato's three ways of knowing.) It inspires new ways of thinking in the reader. Before reading this book I would have answered these questions quickly without much thought, but afterwards I learned to really think about the question at hand, examine each component (such as, "What does it mean to exist?"), and take the time to consider alternative answers. It also taught me that sometimes the best answer is not simply yes or no, but the one that explores every side of the issue carefully, leaving open the possibility that sometimes the answer is in fact "yes and no." Besides that, the answers in the book are also full of fascinating bits of poetry and trivia!
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Alaska Sourdough
by
Ruth Allman
egogrif
, December 15, 2010
A local who actually knew Ruth Allman recommended this cookbook to me while I was traveling in Alaska. It's been a great find. The recipes vary from very easy to moderate, and so far every one I've tried has been a winner. Besides great recipes the book is filled with little anecdotes and Alaskan lore, stories about sourdough and dog sledding, sourdough and hard winters, sourdough and moose, and tips about how to keep your sourdough happy. It's a cookbook you can curl up with next to a fire just to read the stories!
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Mr Revere & I
by
Robert Lawson
egogrif
, October 01, 2010
The author Robert Lawson might be better known for his books "Rabbit Hill" and "Ben and Me," but this book was one of my favorites as a kid. It is both an entertaining and historically informative tale of Paul Revere's horse, who sticks her head into the silversmith's house to comment on the flurry of events surrounding the Revolutionary War. I've always found it somehow more charming and intelligent than his similar story of Benjamen Franklin and the mouse...but maybe that's because I like Paul Revere better! If you enjoy animal POVs and want a little education to go along with your tea party, give this one a try.
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Boat Who Wouldnt Float
by
Farley Mowat
egogrif
, September 30, 2010
This introduced me to the rest of Farley Mowat's works, yet still remains my favorite! Best read aloud in a group of friends, if you can swing it - the accents of the characters add so much flavor to the story. You just can't go wrong with this little book. I laughed myself silly the whole way through! I continue to read it again and again, just for kicks.
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Prague A Travelers Literary Companion
by
Paul Wilson
egogrif
, September 29, 2010
Through a wide variety of short stories and snippets from larger ones, this book manages to capture the essense of a city almost too fluid to capture - Prague, land of Bohemians, Nazis, Communists, and the modern-day capitalistic glitz left in the wake of the Velvet Revolution. It is a book best read in Prague itself, perhaps over a hearty bowl of goulash and dumplings, but will also be dear to anyone who has already been to the city or longs to go there. The best part of these stories is that so many of the places described within can actually be visited. The city preserves itself layer upon layer, making even the older stories - hiding a sword from the Nazis, Kafka walking along the river at night - seem as though they might have just happened. This collection is a traveler's treasure.
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How to Talk about Jesus Without Freaking Out
by
Karen Covell
egogrif
, September 28, 2010
I received this book as a gift, and I'm so glad I did. After reading it I immediately turned around and gave copies to all of my friends! For Christians who want to openly explain and share their faith but aren't quite sure how to do it, this book provides indispensable advice about tactfulness, confidence, and above all God's love. Covell's title deserves a place on the bookshelf next to C.S. Lewis, Lee Strobel, Yancey, and other modern Christian authors.
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Art of Animal Drawing Construction Action Analysis Caricature
by
Ken Hultgren
egogrif
, September 27, 2010
I keep this book among my favorite art reference books. It is filled with dramatic black and white illustrations that provide as much insight into the movement and attitude of animals as it does anatomy. It is not a drawing book for beginners. Complex forms are not broken down into their basic shapes, nor does it take you step-by-step on which line you should draw next. What it does do is provide anatomical transparency, layering images of bone over muscle to better show why each animal moves and looks as it does. It separates the animals by type - cats, bears, rodents, etc - and I find that even if I need to draw a specific critter not shown, there is at least one close relative of it shown in this book, which is usually enough to get me started. It is a slender but indispensible resource!
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Centennial
by
Random House
egogrif
, September 25, 2010
This is one of my all-time favorite books. It's the story of one small spot in Colorado from the dawn of time until present day. If that sounds daunting, never fear - each chapter follows just a few characters intimately, making it feel like you have an insider's perspective as you tour through time. The characters are vivid - the Chicanos, the sheepmen, McKeag the mountain man, Little Beaver, even the dinosaurs encountered early on. Michener lets them drift in and out of the frame while keeping the reader rooted to the spot, yet never loses the line of continuity that connects these individual stories together. There is simply no other book like this one. A warning though - the first chapter, one of my favorites, features the land itself as the main character; the mountains shift and upheave as though filled with life, setting the stage for the rest of the book. Some people get bored with this geology and never read on. But keep reading. You'll be glad you did!
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Tom Brown's Field Guide to Wilderness Survival
by
Tom Brown and Brandt Morgan and Heather Bolyn
egogrif
, September 23, 2010
I took a day class taught by a student of Tom Brown, and learned so much about wilderness survival in just a couple of hours that I had to go chase this book down. It has held a permanent place next to the nature books on my shelf ever since. Not only can you take it outside and stay busy for days constructing simple traps and shelters, but thanks to Tom Brown's interesting anecdotes it makes for fine reading while simply sitting in your comfy chair with a cup of hot cocoa! I'll probably never need to build an emergency snow cave or collect water in the desert or make rope from grass...although it gives me a nice smug feeling that I know how if I ever need to! Note - Making a fire with sticks? Much harder than it looks!
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Clan Of The Cave Bear
by
Jean M Auel
egogrif
, September 21, 2010
"The Clan of the Cave Bear" is a gripping story full of interesting factual tidbits and characters worth caring about. It creates a prehistoric world of such detail that you will remember it long after you finish reading. However the writing can be a bit poor at times, and some of the sexual and violent content seems unnecessarily graphic for the story, detracting from what is otherwise a very enjoyable read.
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The Water-Babies: A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby
by
Kingsley, Charles
egogrif
, September 20, 2010
This is one of the strangest, most delightful little stories you will ever read! Like a literary version of a Victorian "cabinet of curiosities," the story is full of oddities and surprises and characters that are not easily forgotten. It will leave you scratching your head, to be sure...and make Alice in Wonderland seem tame by comparison! I couldn't put it down. I never knew what sort of strange things would happen to poor little Tom next!
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Kon Tiki Across the Pacific by Raft
by
Thor Heyerdahl
egogrif
, September 18, 2010
I first read this book when I was actually living on an island in the middle of the ocean. Despite my own fantastic surroundings, the story of Kon-Tiki swept me away with thoughts of adventure, isolation, amazement, quite nights with the stars reflecting in the water, sea beasts rising up out of the deep, and the idea that anything is possible if you are brave (or foolish) enough. This book will provide fodder for your imagination for years to come!
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Saints & Madmen Psychiatry Opens Its Doors to Religion
by
Russell Shorto
egogrif
, September 17, 2010
A fascinating read about the hazy line that separates the supernatural from the psychological, external inspiration from internal delusion, spirituality from madness. Shorto shifts back and forth to show how these two states of mind can both differ and overlap. Each chapter addresses the issue from a completely different perspective, incorporating small real-life stories to enliven the text and drawing on the works of philosophers and psychologists both ancient and modern. The book struggles to make a definitive point because of this, and sometimes Shorto's own bias drifts in and out of the text, but despite all it is still extremely engaging and definite pick for anyone interested in psychology, philosophy, or religion.
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