Staff Top 5s of 2009

Kevin

1. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned
   by Wells Tower

   The long-awaited debut collection by Wells Tower did not disappoint. Full of masterful tales, brilliant humor, and soul-shattering pathos, Tower's work should place him at the forefront of American storytellers.

2. Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt
3. Everything Was Fine until Whatever by Chelsea Martin
4. Big World by Mary Miller
5. The Adderall Diaries: A Memoir of Moods, Masochism, and Murder by Stephen Elliott

Kevin Sampsell has worked at Powell's for over 12 years. In 2008, he edited Portland Noir for Akashic Books. His memoir, A Common Pornography, is due out January 2010 from Harper Perennial.

Paul

1. Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi
   by Geoff Dyer

   It's got sex. It's got death. It's got drugs. Good observations about art and writing. It's funny, and it's sad.

2. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
3. Livability by Jonathan Raymond
4. My Abandonment by Peter Rock
5. Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong

Frances

1. Lit
   by Mary Karr

   The best way I can describe this work is to say that it's absolutely delicious. More than a mere memoir, this fascinating jewel contains universal truths, with delicate and elegant phrasing, and, despite the subject matter, there's no sense of frivolous belly-button gazing. Some of the vignettes seem as if they came from a wildly good contemporary novel, while others resonate with a reader's remembrances of his or her own triumphs and disgraces. Karr's latest is not only her best work, but one of the best journeys in the genre.

2. I See Rude People by Amy Alkon
3. BabyCakes: Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery by Erin McKenna
4. Engaging the Muslim World by Juan Cole
5. Portland Noir by Kevin Sampsell, ed.

Frances is in her 10th year working for Powell's. In her spare time she likes to read historical fiction, biographies, and cookbooks; however, she rarely follows the recipes.

Adrienne

1. The Lost City of Z
   by David Grann

   A true-life, amazing Amazon adventure-mystery. David Grann, mild-mannered reporter, treks into the Amazon to retrace the path of the legendary (and seemingly super-human) British explorer Percy Fawcett. Skillfully researched and written, The Lost City of Z is a fascinating read.

2. The Bolter by Frances Osborne
3. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
4. A Mercy by Toni Morrison
5. Homer and Langley by E. L. Doctorow

Adrienne takes phone orders and answers the many calls that come through Powell's switchboard. Her favorite books are contemporary literature and translated and international fiction and nonfiction, especially Middle Eastern, Chinese, and African-American novels.

Kelly

1. Cake Wrecks: When Professional Cakes Go Hilariously Wrong
   by Jen Yates

   In this day and age, any book that can make me laugh out loud earns top o' the list. Some of the pictures in this book are hilarious in themselves, but Yates adds captions with humor ranging from subtle to over-the-top. Keep this one handy for when you need a little lift.

2. The Signal by Ron Carlson
3. Naming Nature: The Clash between Instinct and Science by Carol Kaesuk Yoon
4. Ask Me about My Divorce: Women Open Up about Moving On by Candace Walsh
5. 7 Poets, 4 Days, 1 Book by Christopher Merrill, ed.

Kelly Lenox works in Powell's marketing department.

Rachel C.

1. There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby: Scary Fairy Tales
   by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya

   Regarded as one of Russia's most talented contemporary writers, Petrushevskaya's collection of vignettes are far beyond the macabre, with characters who desperately cling to the past while living discreetly painful lives. Their souls dangle on the precipice of vacancy, and an unwavering sadness consumes them. The worlds of life and those of death are often blurred, while giving no time or place in which the stories occur. Given all of that, I find much comfort in these tales, as many of them point to a central theme in life: that nothing is as it seems.

2. Oh!: A Mystery of "Mono No Aware" by Todd Shimoda
3. Bodies by Susie Orbach
4. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa
5. Against Happiness: In Praise of Melancholy by Eric G. Wilson

Rachel is a sorting maven at Powell's City of Books. Much of her free time is spent shopping for yarn, befriending all the stray kitties in the neighborhood, and fantasizing about moving to New Zealand. Or Iceland — that would be fine, too.

Dennis

1. Ghanavision
   by Thibaut de Ruyter, intrd.

   This is my only book for Powell's Staff Top 5s 2009, so you can be sure it really is my top pick. Ghanavision is a slim volume of hand-painted movie posters from Ghana. A lot of the movies I hadn't heard of, but the posters promise things I would love to see in films: turtles with human heads eating (or regurgitating?) money and people with turtles crawling on their turbans. Skewed perspectives and bodies with disproportionate heads, hands, and feet add to my sense of wonder. There's not a lot of long-winded blow-harding, either; too bad more books aren't like that. Highly recommended. Get it while you can.

Dennis is a fallen monkeyman whose very presence anywhere enhances the place. A discriminating person (remember when that was a desirable quality?), he never just goes along with anything. [Editor's note: That includes submitting a Top 5 list.]

Gloria

1. Under the Dome
   by Stephen King

   The King has returned with an epic tale that has a lot of the qualities of his best work The Stand. Under the Dome includes a large cast with great character development, clashes between good and evil, and edge-of-your-seat suspense throughout its 1,075 pages. I was amazed how fast I read this huge book — it's indeed a page-turner.

2. The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan
3. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
4. The Likeness by Tana French
5. Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain

Gloria is an assistant manager at the City of Books. While an avid reader of books from many rooms in the store, she has a soft spot for kids' books and horror (they go together so well). Reading and watching movies are two of her favorite activities.

Megan Z.

1. Garden Anywhere
   by Alys Folwer

   Garden Anywhere is an apartment-dwelling wannabe-horticulturalist's dream. With easy-to-follow instructions and super-creative container garden ideas — like making window boxes out of wine crates and growing potatoes in feed sacks — this book is perfect for the DIY urban homesteader. It inspired me to plant a lettuce garden in a dresser drawer. 'Nuff said.

2. Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon
3. Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting by Michael Perry
4. Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials by Jeannine Stein
5. Big Sur Bakery Cookbook by Michelle and Philip Wojtowicz

Megan Zabel works in marketing for Powell's. She can switch out a bike tube in six minutes, but unfortunately can't whistle or perform a legitimate cartwheel. You can follow her often misguided adventures at www.marthazinger.com.

Cheryl S.

1. Ghost Ocean
   by S. M. Peters

   Like all the best works of horror, this modern novel is populated with a cast of varied, well-drawn characters, innocent and/or villainous, who are each tested in pivotal plot points. While there is certainly a great deal of ghastly ambience, spine-tingling terror, and, of course, evil, Ghost Ocean is among the best literature in the way it leaves you pondering the power of choice and exactly what it means to be human.

2. Iodine by Haven Kimmel
3. School of Fear by Gitty Daneshvari
4. Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
5. What Cats Are Made Of by Hanoch Piven

When she's not working at the bookstore, Cher likes to imagine she can train mammals smaller than herself, such as dogs and elementary-school-aged children.

Jill S.

1. When You Reach Me
   by Rebecca Stead

   When You Reach Me is like one of those great books where it's truly best if you know as little as possible before you start reading. I will say this: if you love A Wrinkle in Time, New York neighborhood stories, and coming-of-age novels, are scientifically (or science-fictionally) inclined, and, most importantly, adore untangling threads of a mystery, you will fall in love with this book.

2. Around the World with Mouk by Marc Boutavant
3. NurtureShock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
4. Liar by Justine Larbalestier
5. Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco Stork

Jill S. has been a children's bookseller for 10 years. She specializes in teen angst and pickles.

Kara

1. Green
   by Jay Lake

   Immaculate world-building, lush landscapes, and colorful, complicated characters all contributed to Green being the most worthwhile fantasy I read in 2009. Green's world possesses the beauty and intricacy of Jacqueline Carey's Terra D'Ange while Green herself proves a fascinating and complicated character with a stubborn and unbreakable will rival to no other fantasy character I've read. Comparisons to the Kushiel series and Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind are not unfounded, but Lake's vision is uniquely his own.

2. The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins
3. A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
4. The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
5. My Swordhand Is Singing by Marcus Sedgwick

Kara Rae Garland works at Powell's Books at the Portland International Airport where she pushes the SubGenius agenda on the gift and genre-fiction teams. In her spare time, she likes to find Waldo, spin flaming things in circles, and blog about the occult.

Alexis

1. Handmade Home
   by Amanda Blake Soule

   My favorite craft book of the year! Amanda Blake Soule doesn't just want you to get crafty, she wants you to think differently about the objects in your life. Soule's projects are no-fuss but classy, always incorporating reusable and found materials. An added bonus: Soule contributes her own photographs which lend the book more sincerity, intimacy, and charm than other craft books.

2. Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
3. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
4. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
5. For Just One Day by Laura Leuck

Alexis is on the kids' team at the City of Books. She is the author of the novel Glaciers, forthcoming from Tin House Books.

Jeremy

1. Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone
   by Eduardo Galeano

   In Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone, Eduardo Galeano continues his poetic illumination of the forgotten, offering his most sweeping, cohesive, and empathetic effort to date. Written in the singular style that has come to characterize all of his previous books, Mirrors is composed of some 600 beautifully crafted vignettes. Galeano, in a dazzling display of literary prowess, recollects 5,000 years of human history, from the early civilizations of the ancient Near East through the emergence of the 21st century. The grace, humor, and compassion with which Galeano writes set his works far beyond the realm of his contemporaries.

2. The Fat Man and Infinity by António Lobo Antunes
3. Jerusalem by Gonçalo M. Tavares
4. Summertime by J. M. Coetzee
5. The She-Devil in the Mirror by Horacio Castellanos Moya

Jeremy Garber is a used book buyer at Powell's City of Books. In addition to the printed word, he has a lasting affinity for vinyl records, alphabet hotels, hummingbirds, fresh berries, and baseball (Go, Phils!). He believes José Saramago is deserving of a second Nobel Prize.

Christian

1. Windup Girl
   by Paolo Bacigalupi

   This is an important book for science fiction. Just as Neuromancer defined cyberpunk, Windup Girl will serve as a rallying point for a number of speculative novels set amidst ecological collapse and bioterrorism. I can't say enough good things about this book. Read it, and discover for yourself.

2. Transition by Iain M. Banks
3. Johanes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
4. House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds
5. Boneshaker by Cherie Priest

Drew

1. It Is Daylight
   by Arda Collins

   Part of Louise Gluck's power squad of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, Arda Collins dominated my poetry world this year. Both lonely and comical, Collins plays with God much like, dare I say, Berryman does in The Dream Songs. Collins shows me a place that I'm simply unable to go to on my own. Poetry fans, keep her on your radar, in the middle of it.

2. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower
3. Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya
4. Don't Cry: Stories by Mary Gaitskill
5. Planisphere: New Poems by John Ashbery

Drew Swenhaugen works in the literature section at Powell's Books on Hawthorne. He and his section-mate Lance are busy working on a brand-new translation of The Kama Sutra in Spanish Braille.

Rachael

1. Sprout
   by Dale Peck

   This is simply a stunning book — it's beautifully written, with a realistic teen voice and possibly the most heartbreaking depiction of grief and need I've ever read.

2. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
3. Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life
4. Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan
5. The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

Dehlia

1. Lush Life
   by Richard Price

   Among his other literary credits, Richard Price was one of the writers for the excellent HBO series The Wire, and this book provides a similar multifaceted view of a story, in this case set in New York's Lower East Side. Price has an amazing ear for voices, and his dialogue pops and crackles. The plot moves at a fast clip and contains genuine surprises, and the characters are flawed and believable. I could almost imagine the story unfolding on a screen as I was reading; this book would make a fantastic film. After finishing it, I went in search of more books by Richard Price. I also recommend Samaritan and Clockers.

2. The City and the City by China Miéville
3. Drood by Dan Simmons
4. The Likeness by Tana French
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Dehlia is a used book buyer at the City of Books and a grad student in book publishing at Portland State University. On her breaks, she can often be found lurking in the Gold Room.

Serra

1. A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table
   by Molly Wizenberg

   This one combines my favorite elements: memoir, travel writing, food writing, recipes, a beautiful love story, and quirky family anecdotes, along with all the things that make the Orangette blog one of my online obsessions. Molly Wizenberg weaves together personal stories with innovative recipes that will change the way you look at dinner. She has an inspiring reverence for fresh ingredients, and the simplicity of many of the recipes makes them accessible. The Winning-Hearts-and-Minds chocolate wedding cake is heavenly and incredibly worth taking the time to bake; it quickly became my best dinner-party trick.

2. The Sartorialist by Scott Schuman
3. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher
4. The Likeness by Tana French
5. Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession by Julie Powell

Serra enjoys growing, eating, cooking, and thinking about food in Portland, Oregon.

Miriam

1. Let the Great World Spin
   by Colum McCann

   McCann chooses to describe one day in the life of New York City, the day in 1974 that the aerialist walked between the not-quite-finished Twin Towers. The chasm between rich and poor, the joy of connection, and the inevitability of our mortality are told through the lives of six different New Yorkers, including the incredible man dancing on that thin wire who epitomizes joy and triumph, if only for a short and precarious time. If you love New York, read this book. If you love the human journey towards the possible, you've got to read this book.

2. Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín
3. Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City by Anthony Flint
4. Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson