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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
Aaron Paul Lazar has commented on (5) products
Divide by Zero
by
Sheila Deeth
Aaron Paul Lazar
, March 25, 2013
Divide by Zero by Sheila Deeth offers a unique perspective on community. Like a human patchwork quilt, this dramatic family novel provides intimate glimpses into the minds of dozens of characters. Some are sweet and submissive, like Mary. Others obsess over with “not being their fathers” (abusers), and end up fighting genetics their entire lives, like Peter. And yet others are innocent children, like the autistic girl Amelia, who appears in the last third of the book. Of all the characters, my favorite was the white cat, Garnet. Mystical and fundamental to the plot(s), she was quite endearing. As a writer, I have never undertaken presenting so many points of view in one story. I marveled at how well Ms. Deeth told each distinctly different story with such authenticity. There were moments of pure poetry within the pages. Here are a few of my favorite passages: When speaking about a classroom, she wrote: 888 Sounds washed the room like paint brushes in water, muted with background blue, giving shade but no texture. 888 Here’s a passage from the autistic girl’s mind: 888 Amelia stretched her arms to feel the touch of air and drifting cobwebs, bark-dust singing, butterfly wings. Red sunshine warmed the lids of her closed eyes as she started to spin. Her feet scuffed earth, where stones or skeletons of leaves slipped into socks and caught between her toes. She moved as fast as thought while the air, pine-scented, grew earthy and cloudy, scratching in her throat till she fell down. Like ripples in a pond, as events unfold"mundane or horrific"they propagate and touch every individual in unique and extraordinary ways. 888 This is not a book you will zoom through. It's not a page turner, or high action suspense. I actually read it slowly, over the course of several months. Beware, you may be lulled into a false sense of security by the vignettes that show each character undergoing his or her unique trials. But I guarantee you will never forget the characters or the horrific act that takes place very near the end of the story, and the spider web of connectivity that draws all characters into the human fabric of the tale.
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Divide by Zero
by
Sheila Deeth
Aaron Paul Lazar
, March 25, 2013
Divide by Zero by Sheila Deeth offers a unique perspective on community. Like a human patchwork quilt, this dramatic family novel provides intimate glimpses into the minds of dozens of characters. Some are sweet and submissive, like Mary. Others obsess over with “not being their fathers” (abusers), and end up fighting genetics their entire lives, like Peter. And yet others are innocent children, like the autistic girl Amelia, who appears in the last third of the book. Of all the characters, my favorite was the white cat, Garnet. Mystical and fundamental to the plot(s), she was quite endearing. As a writer, I have never undertaken presenting so many points of view in one story. I marveled at how well Ms. Deeth told each distinctly different story with such authenticity. There were moments of pure poetry within the pages. Here are a few of my favorite passages: When speaking about a classroom, she wrote: Sounds washed the room like paint brushes in water, muted with background blue, giving shade but no texture. Here’s a passage from the autistic girl’s mind: Amelia stretched her arms to feel the touch of air and drifting cobwebs, bark-dust singing, butterfly wings. Red sunshine warmed the lids of her closed eyes as she started to spin. Her feet scuffed earth, where stones or skeletons of leaves slipped into socks and caught between her toes. She moved as fast as thought while the air, pine-scented, grew earthy and cloudy, scratching in her throat till she fell down. Like ripples in a pond, as events unfold�"mundane or horrific�"they propagate and touch every individual in unique and extraordinary ways. This is not a book you will zoom through. It's not a page turner, or high action suspense. I actually read it slowly, over the course of several months. Beware, you may be lulled into a false sense of security by the vignettes that show each character undergoing his or her unique trials. But I guarantee you will never forget the characters or the horrific act that takes place very near the end of the story, and the spider web of connectivity that draws all characters into the human fabric of the tale.
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Trust Your Life: Forgive Yourself and Go After Your Dreams
by
Noelle Sterne
Aaron Paul Lazar
, June 08, 2012
In Noelle Sterne’s new inspirational book, TRUST YOUR LIFE, she offers us a fresh opportunity to examine our lives and embrace our suppressed dreams. How many people do you know who lament about their unfound dreams, who wish they’d tried their hand at painting (for example), but “knew” they weren’t good enough? Do you know people who brood about the thought of opening their own bakery, or any other business, and don’t because they’re certain they just don’t have what it takes? Dreams like this abound on every street corner, in every office, in every home, and probably in every heart. Yet many people resign themselves to an unfulfilled life, feeling incapable of change. TRUST YOUR LIFE is an outgrowth of Ms. Sterne’s twenty-eight-year consulting and editorial practice, in which she serves clients pursuing graduate degrees and in other spheres of academia, as well as business and creative projects. With a Ph. D from Columbia University, Ms. Sterne offers a wealth of knowledge and experience not only from an academic perspective but from a spiritual aspect as well. With her insightful, motivational examples, Ms. Sterne lovingly guides us in easy-to-read, step-by-step methods to help us believe and achieve our lifelong dreams. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 10, “Take the Leap: Believe in Your Dream and Deserve It”: Many years ago, during my typing years, in a session with a psychic (the only time I ever went), I sobbed, “All I ever do is type. How can I ever get out of this and start writing in earnest?” Jean’s answer has stuck with me for decades and makes ultimate sense: “Accept where you are now. However hard it is, impossible, love it. Love it 100% and more. The more you love it, the sooner you’ll shoot out from it.” At her words, the image burst into my mind of a large, strong bird fluttering its wings and emerging from a leaf-covered nest. It spread its wings and soared into the sky. Can you love where you are? This is part of your lesson and discipline. Focus only on loving it, despite all the gripes, impossible duties, demands, people, schedules. The sooner you start loving where you are, the sooner you’ll no longer need it and the faster you’ll soar from it. Well-researched and chock full of delicious quotes from Thoreau to Jesus, this spiritual and grounded guide will connect with the hearts of people who toil in unhappy circumstances, or feel they are victims of God’s frivolous will. Ms. Sterne addresses these misconceptions with head-on confrontation and plenty of self-bolstering techniques. As an author, professional, and family man, I feel motivated by uplifting words such as these, and I believe readers of this book will as well. Ms. Sterne’s personal stories, her own and those of many others, are easy to relate to and present wonderful testimonies that set examples for all of us. I’m confident that TRUST YOUR LIFE will birth or bring along a host of talented artists and dancers, farmers and singers, potters, bakers, and horsemen. This book will help them�"and all of us�"take hold of the dreams we yearn for, follow them, and fill our new lives with moments of delirious joy. It will show us that our dreams are, indeed, infinitely achievable. Recommended by Aaron Paul Lazar, mystery author and columnist, Lazarbooks.com
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View of the Lake
by
Beryl S Bissell
Aaron Paul Lazar
, August 02, 2011
A View of the Lake, by Beryl Singleton Bissell, is a vibrant collection of reflective essays centered on the North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota. Each slice-of-life chapter transports the reader into Ms. Bissell’s life in this majestic country, as well as connecting us to her gentle spirit. Sometimes thoughtful, often humorous, and ever delightful, the work spans topics dealing with the life of “newcomers” in the town of Schroeder to an intimate and stirring connection with the great outdoors. From encounters with bear, moose, deer, and rare bird species, to a private viewing of the Northern Lights, to poignant experiences with neighbors, this assortment of day-in-the-life type stories will charm the most jaded reader. Take, for example, this excerpt from “Historical Society”, when the author joined the Schroeder group to help document stories of the residents. Oftentimes the locals lamented not having recorded stories from their parents and grandparents, and expressed a sadness over this loss. “There were times when, as I sat taping others’ memories, I experienced this loss personally. My mother died before I was wise enough to ask questions. I now hold only fragments of her life, each piece bristling with questions, each piece weighted with the unknown. We are born. We die. We do what others do. Some of the elders wondered why I wanted to know about their lives when they’d been so uneventful. In the telling, they came to a fresh appreciation of themselves and the community in which they’d lived for such a long time. Like a musical score played over and over again, the sound, timing, and interpretation are never quite the same.” Who among us hasn’t experienced such thoughts? Universal themes such as this loss of family history, this common plight among man, resonate throughout the book. I often find myself up against the same dilemma. Even now, fourteen years after the death of my father and last remaining grandmother, a question about our heritage pops into my mind, and I reach to pick up the phone to call one of them, before realizing once again, it’s too late. Ms. Bissell’s themes resonate with this reader on a rare and special frequency. But Beryl Singleton Bissell’s book is not all sadness and longing. No, on the contrary, it is filled with the spirit of adventure, love for fellow man, a passion for and connection with each and every tiny aspect of nature, and most of all, the embracing of life. Ms. Bissell frequently shares philosophical gems, such as this excerpt from the chapter named “Shrike Attack”. “Winter focuses a harsher light on North Shore living, reminding me that nature, while beautiful, caters to no one and no thing; beauty is not always benevolent.” Each of the chapters is enjoyable, and although filled with literary gold, the book remains entirely readable, broken into small chapters that can be enjoyed in a sitting or in a full-fledged marathon as I did while flying overseas to Germany last week. I longed to join this author at her side as she bent over emerging flowers in the spring, slogged through snowy trails, or watched the wonders of the sky, as in this segment from “Northern Lights.” “…I bounded into the bedroom to wake Bill. Together we rushed out into the subzero temperatures dressed only in our pajamas and robes. Together we stood on the deck and entered ground zero of an incredible light show that shuddered around us like fireworks behind gauzy veils. It rippled and spun and folded; it expanded and dissolved; it burst and flared. I felt a searing joy.” Although her readers may never physically see the Northern Lights, in their minds they’ll never forget this dazzling show. Ms. Bissell has been through some incredibly tough times in life (see her first book, The Scent of God), but it’s her faith in God, her indomitable spirit, and her ability to enjoy the little things in life that carry her through, in addition to her devotion to her wonderful husband, Bill. But I believe it’s her ability to commit all of this to the written page that may have helped her purge her spirit of those sufferings best of all, and which will continue to inspire us all. The process is sublime, for writer and reader, and I for one thank her for taking the time to share these gem-like stories with the rest of the world. I’d like to finish with one last quote from A View of the Lake, taken from the chapter entitled “A Night of Shooting Stars.” In this essay, the author has just witnessed the Leonid meteor showers. “Small, vulnerable, and intensely alive at that moment, I gave thanks for the incredible universe that sustains and enlivens all creatures. I was no longer sipping from the cup of life, I’d become one with it.” Very highly recommended by Aaron Paul Lazar. Buy it here.
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Night Corridor
by
Joan Hall Hovey
Aaron Paul Lazar
, June 01, 2011
Caroline Hill, a fragile woman who’s seen more than her share of heartbreak, has just been released into the “real” world by the Bayshore Mental Institution, an aging facility recently doomed to closure. Trembling with fear after nine years of incarceration, at the age of twenty-six Caroline is armed only with a handful of memorized phrases from her psychiatrist and a small bag of hand-me-down clothing. She shows up as pre-arranged to a rooming house with a nosy landlady and her marginally challenged nephew, Harold. Once settled, Caroline makes her entrance at Frank’s, a local diner in the small town of St. Simeon, Canada where a dishwashing job awaits her. Although the Bayshore institution offered safety and familiarity, Caroline is determined not to fail. The last thing she wants is to return to the place where she shared a room with a woman who clicked imaginary knitting needles 24/7. Caroline’s timing is unfortunate, because the day she arrives in town, a serial killer has left yet another victim for police. And it so happens, the first victim-an aspiring actress on the verge of a breakthrough-lived across the hall from Caroline’s new room. Police and neighbors wonder, could the killer be someone in the rooming house? How did he gain access to the facility? How did he know the first woman? And the second? Both victims were pretty young ladies with brunette hair and blue eyes, Caroline’s exact appearance. The mystery and suspense in this novel is outstanding, truly top notch, in the vein of Mary Higgins Clark, but-dare I say-even better? What really struck me as brilliant was Ms. Hovey’s ability to paint the picture of an innocent, a woman who’d been raised by an institutional staff since the age of seventeen, when a horrendous event tore her heart out and separated her from reality. Caroline’s inner thoughts, her hesitant and sometimes awkward speech, the turmoil she feels with each simple step toward freedom, her frail courage…each of these felt real and authentic. I grew incredibly fond of this protagonist, and with each brave step she took, I found myself cheering her on. When Caroline notices a man following her, she wants to tell someone, but what ex-mental patient wouldn’t be afraid to share this news, knowing they’d probably classify her as paranoid and maybe send her back to Bayshore? She squares her shoulders and fights through the fear, soldiering on. Against the backdrop of Caroline’s painful yet courageous re-entry into society, the low growling drumbeat of violence escalates. More women die, and the pattern heats up. We are given glimpses inside the mind of a seriously sick killer, and realize his delusions stretch far into his past. When Caroline becomes embroiled in the middle of the killer’s elaborate and insane plot to return to a chapter in his history where he was once happy, the action escalates and takes us on a heart-pounding rollercoaster ride to a satisfying finish. Joan Hall Hovey has written yet another winner. I highly recommend it to any lover of suspense, mystery, romance, or thriller. You’ll not only race through this book, but clamor for more works by this talented and polished author.
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