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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
Kelly A has commented on (18) products
Potty Mouth at the Table
by
Laurie Notaro
Kelly A
, December 17, 2014
When my best friend asked for a book of short stories that were funny with no tales of children in peril and other depressing topics, I had to look no further than Laurie Notaro's hilarious tales ripped from every day activities like grocery shopping and leaving the house. The last story could possibly be considered depressing but I found a friend's courageous and superfunny response to a brain tumor a reason to close the book with a smile.
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The Signature of All Things
by
Elizabeth Gilbert
Kelly A
, October 24, 2014
Just what I would expect a Great American Novel would look like in Gilbert's capable hands. Her character development and ability to establish a sense of place are fantastic. And it is positively brimming with strong, interesting and different from each other female characters.
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Nature Girl
by
Carl Hiaasen
Kelly A
, October 17, 2010
I've always suspected a trip to Florida would be like going to another planet and this tale would seem to support that theory. The characters are nutty and/or mean and/or devious and/or smart but not over the top. One might run into ( or have your dinner interrupted by a call from) someone very similar. And Hiaasen rewards the reader by making it pay off to root for the right people.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
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Loving Frank
by
Nancy Horan
Kelly A
, July 07, 2010
A work of fiction that tantalizes by its basis on a real story and real people with an ending I did not see coming. And an illustration of how life can be so complicated and simple at the same time.
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How to Make Love Like a Porn Star
by
Jenna Jameson
Kelly A
, July 04, 2010
It was sort of hard to tell truth from fiction but maybe that's the point: that Jenna's life has been so crazy it all has to be true. And the graphic descriptions definitely take away any delusions of glamour about the porn industry. I didn't appreciate the shot at Gloria Steinem, one of my personal heroes. And it sad knowing the happy ending that concludes the book didn't stay that way. But it also nice to know her latest chapter included having the children she has wanted for so long. It is hard to imagine two little boys who are loved more.
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The Saving Graces
by
Patricia Gaffney
Kelly A
, June 10, 2010
Loaned to me by a member of my women's group, I thought it looked a little "chick litty" but I could not put it down, turned off Judge Judy to finish it. A touching and funny depiction of friendship that is similar to Sex and the City without the product placement. And it led me to look up the word "meretricious." I even composed a sentence using it, "Some criticize Sex and the City by calling it meretricious but one wonders if they also take some guilty pleasure in the foursome's adventures."
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Tattoos On The Heart
by
Gregory Boyle
Kelly A
, May 29, 2010
More of a series of essays about ministry to gangs in Los Angeles, Father Greg Boyle uses language much...um...saltier than I remember my Jesuit professors using. I get lost a little when it sounds too much like a sermon but I laughed out loud..several times and was brought to tears several times. There were lots of great quote sprinkled throughout, my favorite was: "We are put on earth for a little space that we might learn to bear the beams of love."
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Committed A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
by
Elizabeth Gilbert
Kelly A
, May 25, 2010
This is NOT "Eat, Pray, Love the Sequel" Thank God. I would be honored to be added to the list of 27 women Gilbert considered her readers for this book. After finishing it, much quicker than "Eat, Pray" I feel I just had a great conversation with a well-educated friend who is working on a really interesting research project. The tidbits of data are sprinkled throughout the main tale that served as the main thread of the book: the path to a life together with "the Brazillian."
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Helter Skelter The True Story of the Manson Murders
by
Bugliosi, Vincent and Gentry, Curt
Kelly A
, May 07, 2010
If nothing else, read this book for the opening line, one of the best...ever. And the reader feels they are living in Los Angeles as the Summer of Love is ending and a scarier, uglier time is beginning. And it should be required reading for aspiring prosecutors.
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Womans Worth
by
Marianne Williamson
Kelly A
, April 30, 2010
Williamson's feminism is one that embraces women's power and unique gifts while welcoming men into that world. A gentle, not overwhelming introduction to A Course in Miracles illustrates how the concepts can be used to see the world in a different way.
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Kiss
by
Kathryn Harrison
Kelly A
, April 19, 2010
Searing is the best adjective for this book. The imagery is completely unblinking and the reader is powerless to look away. It inhabits acres of gray on the subject that is very easily seen in black and white, right or wrong terms.
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White Oleander
by
Janet Fitch
Kelly A
, April 15, 2010
The characters in this book are real and deliciously contradictory, embodying Walt Whitman's statement that he can contain multitudes. No one is all bad or all good and the "victim's" story does not stop there or end predictably with vindication. The portrait of Los Angeles is fascinating enough to make the city itself one of the characters.
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Skinny Dip
by
Carl Hiaasen
Kelly A
, April 11, 2010
A fun fast read with interesting characters who are so strange they have a ring of truth. And Hiaasen manages to be affectionate in his portrayal of Florida as the Land of the Weird. And like Larry McMurty, Hiaasen is a male writer who does a good job writing from a female perspective.
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(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)
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The World Without Us
by
Alan Weisman
Kelly A
, April 09, 2010
A very interesting look at how much of our infrastructure is propped up, constantly, by human intervention. The natural history got a little textbooky for someone without that background. And it is as I suspected: Cats can survive quite nicely without us, they have just trained people to create kitty lives of leisure.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
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Brothers Karamazov A Novel in Four Parts with Epilogue
by
Dostoevsky, Fyodor
Kelly A
, April 07, 2010
That's a summer of reading I will never get back! The scenes at the very beginning in the monastery would have made a good short story.
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(4 of 7 readers found this comment helpful)
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Of Wolves and Men
by
Barry Lopez
Kelly A
, April 06, 2010
A skillful tour through the wolf's reputation (earned or not) throughout history, ending in modern times, placing the animal right in the middle of the battles over natural resources that continue to rage in the American West. I was led to this book when the ban on wolf hunting was lifted and am grateful for it.
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(1 of 1 readers found this comment helpful)
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Columbine
by
Dave Cullen
Kelly A
, April 03, 2010
The best thing about this book is the skillful choices Cullen makes; what he leaves out to tell the best story. He had me at a passage early in the book describing the principal at a gathering the week of the shooting there is now way a photo could have illustrated this image better: Mr. D buckled at the waist. He clutched his stomach and staggered around, turning his back to the audience, sobbing uncontrollably. His torso was parallel to the floor, shaking so hard it was visible from the last row.
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(1 of 5 readers found this comment helpful)
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Deception Point
by
Dan Brown
Kelly A
, March 30, 2010
Entry for Daily Dose: Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life by Carol Sklenicka A long-time fan of Raymond Carver, I was intrigued by a biography written by someone outside Carver's circle and without cooperation from Tess Gallagher. It led me to one of the best reading experiences I have had in a long time. This week, I surrounded myself with all my copies of Raymond Carver books, using Sklenicka's guidance to compare all the different versions of the stories. As I feared, I came away liking Carver less after getting a glimpse of "Bad Ray." And I hoped for a happier ending for Maryann, the first Mrs. Carver.
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