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Staff Picks
Authors, readers, critics, media — and booksellers.
Archive for the 'Staff Picks' Category
Posted by Dianah, January 22, 2012 1:02 pm
Filed under: Shelf Talkers, Staff Picks.
In this bleak tale of a community gone awry, a group of schoolboys are stranded on a deserted island. The untenable situation soon devolves into chaos and horror. The ending is surprising and satisfying. Golding's creepy story is amazing!
Posted by Billie Bloebaum, July 29, 2011 3:03 pm
Filed under: Contributors, Staff Picks.
I read a lot. I also give away a lot of books, otherwise I'd end up being one of those people you read about who died but it took forever for someone to notice because he/she was buried under a giant pile of books. What this means is that I have to be very selective about what I keep once I've finished reading it. Sometimes it's an individual book or sometimes it's everything by a specific author.
 Jennifer Crusie has a spot on my "keeper shelf," as do Jill Shalvis and Jill Mansell (and a number of non-romance authors, like Neil Gaiman and John Scalzi and Ian Rankin). The really sad thing is that I'm starting to run out of room but keep adding authors and books that I really love. And, now, two of my keeper-shelf authors have compounded my dilemma by publishing new works this summer.
Loretta Chase has been keeper material for a while now, and her newest, Silk Is for Seduction, was just another reminder as to why she's earned that coveted spot. It's full of Chase's trademark wit and ...
Posted by Gigi Little, April 8, 2010 12:18 pm
Filed under: Shelf Talkers, Staff Pick, Staff Picks.
It's a tall order, setting out to write a satire chock full of aliens as an homage to Kurt Vonnegut, but Evan Mandery pulls it off brilliantly in First Contact. It's a zany narrative full of pop references, Woody Allen tributes, and hilarious asides by the author, all made funnier by Mandery's deadpan delivery. But under all its perfect wackiness is some very timely, important stuff about politics, love, and the future of life on our planet. And Bundt cakes.
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 12, 2009 1:33 pm
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries by Naomi Wolf
My favorite book for 2007 was Naomi Wolf's The End of America, and Wolf tops my list again for 2008 with Give Me Liberty. While The End of America explained how and why we lost our liberties, Give Me Liberty presents us with the tools to reclaim them. Wolf's passionate and clear voice is refreshing amongst the plethora of books denouncing the Bush Administration's crimes. She reminds us that it is not enough to "hope" for change but that it is our duty to be active participants in the work necessary to restore our democracy to what our Founding Fathers intended.
[Read Naomi Wolf's posts on the Powells.com blog.]
2. The Way of the World: A Story of Truth and Hope in an Age of Extremism by Ron Suskind
3. The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme Novels) by Jeffery Deaver
4. Continue »
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 10, 2009 2:04 pm
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock
I had a feeling when I first read this book (back in 2007, before it was actually published) that it would be my favorite book of 2008, and nothing I read in the interim has dislodged it. Visceral yet humbling, the nasty and brutish short-story collection Knockemstiff is not for the fainthearted. However, the courageous reader can be assured at discovering a searingly original voice in Donald Ray Pollock.
2. X Films: True Confessions of a Radical Filmmaker by Alex Cox
3. The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng
4. Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko by Blake Bell
5. The Crow Road by Iain Banks
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Gerry Donaghy is the New Book Purchasing Supervisor for Powell's City of Books. His highlights for 2008 include these books, the election, Joachim Trier's film Reprise, and ...
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 9, 2009 4:00 pm
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. The Good Prince: Fables #10 by Bill Willingham
Fairy tales are adult again — noirish, literary, ironic, and in graphic-novel form. When a new Fables collection comes out, I rush home, set it facedown on the coffee table, and reread the back cover blurb. Then I plan for time — I schedule enough time to read it through uninterrupted, though I'm just as likely to suddenly set it down to save for later, or flip back to the beginning to start afresh. I'm easily entertained and perpetually overexcited, it's true, but these are drastic measures even for me.
2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
3. Shakespeare's Wife by Germaine Greer
4. Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman
5. Devil's Brood by Sharon Kay Penman
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Suzanne saves time by reading at stoplights and while walking. She is ...
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 8, 2009 10:47 am
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. 2666 by Roberto Bolaño
Amongst the most keenly anticipated and highly acclaimed literary releases of 2008, 2666 is as vast in its ambition as it is in volume. Comprising characters and stories in the hundreds, utilizing several genres, and abounding with literary and cultural references, Roberto Bolaño's posthumously published masterwork is a compelling read, global in outlook and unflinching in its gaze.
2. The Book of Chameleons by José Eduardo Agualusa
3. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
4. The Waitress Was New by Dominique Fabre
5. Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya
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Chris P. works in the Powell's Books Contact Center by day, and at night he dreams of opening a cornish pasty food cart. He likes long walks, Margaret Rutherford, and B. S. Johnson.
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 7, 2009 10:41 am
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. Firmin by Sam Savage
This story about a book-addicted rat will make you contemplate writers, bookshops, and life in general. It will break your heart even as it makes you smile. Firmin is definitely a book to be thoroughly savored.
2. State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey
3. The Economist Book of Obituaries by Keith Colqhoun
4. Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook by Martha Hall Foose
5. Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo
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After 13 years with Powell's, Robin Fruitticher can confidently say she was lied to in her interview: her addictive need to possess the books she loves has not decreased in any way with the constant exposure that comes with working for a bookstore. She can only limit the addiction by spending most of her work week ...
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 6, 2009 4:41 pm
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. Lush Life by Richard Price
Richard Price is a professional. His genius is in, among other things, the vernacular — he does his research and knows his lingo. Overall, this is a top-notch New York cop novel: scenes are tight, the plot is well crafted, and the characters come to life.
2. The Night of the Gun by David Carr
3. The Alcoholic by Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel
4. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
5. Portland Happy Hour Guidebook 2009 by Cindy Anderson
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Carson Smith shelves dictionaries for a living. He's been flossing twice a day since Thursday.
Posted by 2008 Top 5s, February 5, 2009 3:10 pm
Filed under: Staff Picks.
 1. The Wilde Women by Paula Wall
This book is a delightful romp through the lives of two sisters who defy both convention and stereotype in depression-era Tennessee. While the townspeople's attitudes toward these women may be predictable, Pearl and Kat never are. Wall can really twist a phrase, and she achieves poignancy, hilarity, and grace. The Wilde Women is laugh-out-loud funny from the very first sentence.
2. Factory of Tears by Valzhyna Mort, translated by Elizabeth Oehlkers Wright and Franz Wright
3. The Lazarus Project by Aleksandar Hemon
4. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
5. The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
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Kelly Lenox helps phone customers track down the books they want (to see a photo, click on the 800 number at the top left of the page — she's third from the right). When not taking calls, she's a poet who ...
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