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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
Christian Sweeney has commented on (3) products
Chinese Handcuffs
by
Chris Crutcher
Christian Sweeney
, September 15, 2009
Sasha Petkovic Period 5/saunter 9/15/09 Book Review Chinese Handcuffs is all about making mistakes then picking up the pieces. After Dillion’s brother Preston tragically commits suicide Dillion has to deal with all of his consequences and some of his own as well. Dillion first hand saw when his brother killed himself, so even two years later he still taunts himself with the “what if” questions. While Preston was still alive a girl named Stacy was completely head over heels for him, but while Stacy eyes were only for Preston, Dillion could never keep his eyes off Stacy. Now that Preston is gone Dillion falls hard for yet another girl, Jeniffer Lawless. Jen is a hardcore basketball player, the best there is. But what no one knows is that she works so hard in basketball to escape the reality that awaits her at home. It comes late at night, when her mom is not home, and creeps into her bedroom. She realizes very soon that she can never tell anyone about these late night visits because in doing so will only make increase the problems for her and her family. She eventually ends up confesses her problem to Dillion, and without her knowing he fixes everything he can. What he will never be able to fix though, is her emotional scars from what happened. With everyone still suffering from Preston’s death many problems arise, and it seems that the harder they try to fix them the worse the circumstances become. Thus, the title “Chinese Handcuffs.” I found this book to be extremely helpful and something I will commonly refer to in my life. It captures all of the horrific topics that teenagers, or really anyone could face. This includes drugs, revenge, sexual abuse, parental neglectance, and early parenting. All though through this book not all of the problems are completely solved, but they are confronted with personal strength and knowing when you need to ask for help. The big moral from this life changing story was that everyone makes mistakes, but what makes you a better person opposed to those who don’t is when you apologize. This is one of Chris Cruthcher’s best, and a novel that everyone should read.
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The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
by
Mark Haddon
Christian Sweeney
, September 15, 2009
If someone told you that a book was about an autistic kid, you may think that it is not going to be an interesting book. This is what I thought at first, and then I read the book. I was surprised at how interesting the book was, and I am glad that I chose this book to read. The main character of the story is Christopher. He is a fifteen year old autistic boy who is emotionally connected to his math. The book starts off with Christopher in his neighbor’s backyard, holding their poodle. There is a fork through its body, and it is dead. Christopher is wrongly accused of killing the dog, and is determined to figure out the real killer. He begins a long journey to find out who killed the dog, with many unexpected twists and turns along the way, some of which are vital to Christopher’s life. This is a very interesting book, and I would recommend it to anyone that would be interested in reading it. Overall, I would give this book a 9.5/10. It flowed well, and it was an interesting story, filled with many events. One thing about the book stood out to me the most. The moral of the story is that you can do anything if you set your mind to it. This book explains this extremely well. Christopher undergoes many challenges along the way, which are difficult for him to overcome. All of the events have drastic endings, and are all connected to the book. Without these things happening, I do not know if the book would have been as great as it is. In the book, there is an interesting quote. It says “I see everything”. I found this interesting because it is not true. What he was actually meaning, is that he can remember everything he sees. This is a very interesting feature of a person, and he is lucky that he has this feature.
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Life of Pi
by
Yann Martel
Christian Sweeney
, September 15, 2009
Meet Pi Patel, a simple teenage boy, but not quite what anyone would call normal. He and his family own a zoo, which he displays with his great knowledge on all things zoological. But beyond that, he thrusts himself into a world full of philosophy and religion. When he embarks on a journey to “find God” as he says, he becomes active in three popular world religions: Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. He shows curiosity beyond any person you will have ever met, and actively pursues each individual religion passionately and enthusiastically. However, when his family is forced to move to Canada because of rising costs, Pi is lost. Literally. While traveling over the Pacific Ocean, his boat is sunk by an unknown catastrophe. Pi is left alone with a variety of animals, the most relevant being a full grown Bengal Tiger. The tiger, named Richard Parker, is eager to show his dominance and control in the twenty foot lifeboat that has become their prison. If Pi desires to live past this tragedy, he must quickly show the tiger that he, Pi Patel, is the dominant creature in the boat. However, that proves to be a bigger problem than it first appears, as the tiger slowly, one-by-one, picks off the other animals in the boat. As the reader continues through this book, he will learn a lot about the true nature of humans, and find his perspective on animal-human similarities constantly changing. This book is definitely going to require an amount of thinking and reflecting not found in other books. Anyone who reads this book will add it to their favorites list for years to come. Even if you are not a normally philosophical person, this book will change you. It is impossible to read this book and leave without philosophically debating ideas you had never considered before, with opinions you never expected to have. The author must be a genius, to have written the book as he did. Also, the message the reader will leave with, while most likely perplexing and unclear, will cause the reader’s perspective to be changed permanently.
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