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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
JohnLee has commented on (23) products
Complaints
by
Ian Rankin
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
This book give the perspective of the hunter being hunted and when you turn the tables on those that investigate how they use their skills to assist in finding the truth. The truth turns out to be buried very deep and when he finds it even Foxy is shocked by how this all got started. Ian Rankin loves a good mystery and the reason I know that he in the flawless way he writes it. You never know who is doing what or what door leads to the clue until the moment he wants you to.
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All She Ever Wanted
by
Rosalind Noonan
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
I highly recommend this book. I highly recommend this author. At the end of the book, there is a Q & A with the author who after her first baby, felt much the same as most new mother's do. Also, the author mentions that although this is a work of fiction, abduction and murders made her more aware of these types of cases reported in the media. She also goes on to mention two high profile celebrities who at one point 'came out' with their stories; Marie Osmond and of course, Brooke Shields. I'm sure, like me, you all read those stories, too. Without a shadow of a doubt, I know I'll be reading more of Rosalind Noonan's work.
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Last Summer
by
Judith Kinghorn
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
Absolutely beautiful book. Romantic, tragic, extremely compelling. It's wonderfully written: the descriptions are so rich, it was just as though I was seeing a film at times. It's hard to stop reading and it will stay with me long after I've finished it. I read the audiobook version and I was completely blown away by Jane Wymark's incredible narration. She did a fantastic job, I believed the narration 100 per cent. By far, the best audiobook I ever heard.
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The Last Season
by
Roy MacGregor
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
the best hockey book i have ever read...a must read for anyone interested in what is was like to be a player in the 70's,before the big money came along...touched on things that later came out about eagleson and the players pension...this book will make you laugh as well as angry...no one in this book comes out looking good ,they all need a good kick in the ass...read it you won't be sorry
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Seven Locks
by
Christine Wade
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
I really enjoyed the setting of the book. Most of it takes place in upstate New York in the late 1700s, which was a very interesting time for anyone in America of course. Judith's family is Dutch and it was interesting to see how Judith's mother still clings to the Dutch way of life while Judith says several times how excited she is to be an American Daughter. Historical fiction fans will definitely enjoy that aspect.
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The House on Paradise Street
by
Sofka Zinovieff
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
This book spoke to me of experiences I have lived, taught me about Greece and what it is to be Greek. I enjoy learning about different European cultures. We all rub shoulders here in Europe. It is important to understand each other. History is the key. Another extremely moving and informative book about the Greek Civil War, which I highly recommend
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Spilt Milk
by
Chico Buarque, Alison Entrekin
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
Just as bossa nova had borrowed from samba and West Coast jazz, so Buarque borrows from Samuel Beckett, Gabriel García Marquez and others. In a now-famous book of 1928, Manifesto Antropófago, Brazil’s leading modernist poet Oswald de Andrade had defined Brazilian literature as anthropophagic, or cannibalistic, “eating” other forms of European and African writing. Spilt Milk, brocaded with a range of literary influences, conforms to the ideal beautifully.
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After the Rain
by
Karen White
JohnLee
, January 03, 2013
I am such a huge fan of Karen White. Whenever I pick up a Karen White novel, I know I am in for a great few hours of reading, living vicariously through vividly drawn characters and their crazy Southern-fried lives. After the Rain takes us back to the small town from Falling Home, little Walton, Georgia. Not only do we return to Walton, but we are smack dab in the middle of the lives we left in Falling Home. I still remember the moment I finished Falling Home and how I was laughing and crying at the same time! Such a fabulous book!
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Bring Up the Bodies
by
Hilary Mantel
JohnLee
, January 02, 2013
What I particularly enjoyed was how Mantel made her characters interesting by baring to us both their internal struggles as well as their external issues. She seems do this by first second-guessing how her characters would react to a given situation. Then she followed this with the character giving us his/her stream-of-consciousness narration to reveal his/her inner thoughts. Mantel finished this off by allowing her characters in that situation their acute observations and incisive remarks. This cycle seems to have worked wonderfully by making each of her major characters like we are watching them in a 3D or IMAX theater. This style also made this historical fiction come alive by making the reader an active participant in the story. This book is just wonderful. My first book finished this year. What a way to start 2013! What a book!
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Turn Coat: Dresden Files 11
by
Jim Butcher
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
I often have a difficult time reviewing books in a series, so I'll just say this one thing: I'm continually thrilled by the fact that every event in the Dresden Files series is relevant to the struggle in Turn Coat. So many authors miss the "why?" - why start a series at a certain point in time? Why is the main character the focal point, how are they special? Why does anything happen? Jim Butcher has an answer for each question and I want to hug him for it. Once again, he serves up sacrifices and tough blows along with the victories, and it's become clear to me that Butcher and Joss Whedon have a lot in common.
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Sandman The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie
by
William Joyce
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
I have to admit here that this was my first William Joyce book, yes, I read the first two books in The Guardians of Childhood series backwards. My kids found this one at the grocery store and were so excited because they had seen the Sandman in the movie trailer for The Guardians so I was told we had to get the book. I read it to them that night and finished with a tear in my eye. This is a beautiful story about protecting our children from the darkness & all the things they are afraid of.
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Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty
by
Andrew Bolton
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
This book is so beautifully produced and the cover is really original and amazing. McQueen's clothes are inspiring and beautiful. It amazes me how much detail there is in his designs. This book was published as a catalogue of the exhibition with the same name. This is why all the photos in the books are of dresses modelled on mannequins. I think that's a real shame because McQueen designed his clothes to look amazing on women. Movement, stature and posture play an essential role. Modelled on mannequins, they just look dead and lifeless...
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Moby Dick in Pictures
by
Matt Kish
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
This is a beautiful companion to Moby Dick, full of inpired drawings and graphic work, one based on every page of the book. It's the kind of thing only someone who really loved the book could do, and that's what makes it all the more beautiful, the ekphrastic homage! It was touching in that way, where you see how Moby Dick really lives within this artist.
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Sweet Tooth
by
Ian McEwan
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
Ian McEwan is an extraordinary author. His characterizations and his writing cadence are extraodinary. This book was really not what I expected. I was expecting a spy thriller book with earth-shattering and catastrophic segments. There is nothing life-threatening or dangerous about this book even though the element of surprise and the fear of the unexpected are both there for the reader. I have to admit that Serena Frome was probably one of the most unlikeable protagonists that I've ever read. She was very well portrayed and that is not why I didn't like her. She is just not a woman that I would be drawn to at all if I was to meet someone like her. She vacillates and can't seem to make a decision to save her life. She's insincere and a bit of a snob actually. She moves through her life and her main goal is to make no waves, stand for nothing and just drift. Having said that, I found the minor characters in the book were wonderful and very real. I especially liked Serena's sister and father. Although we don't see them much in the book, I found them very easy to picture and imagine. There's a lot about love, desire, deceit, creativity (in the form of the written word). Without giving away anything of the plot, there is even an evil character. A character that doesn't loom that large in the narrative, but one whose deception is actually behind the whole story. McEwan does such a good job of laying bare human deceptions and exposing all the cracks and breaks under the gloss of the human facade. It seems to come up and hit you as you read his books.
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The Tangled Bank: Writings from Orion
by
Pyle, Robert Michael
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
This collection of 52 essays written by Pyle for the Orion magazine over 10 years are challenging, fun and just a pleasure to read. I discovered this NW author several years ago and intend to read all he has written. How can you not like a guy who loves butterflies, slugs, wildflowers, birds -- in fact most living things and has spent his life doing something about it. From Oregon University Press, which publishes wonderful books like this.
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Redshirts
by
Scalzi, John
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
The premise is marvelously clever, and the story is filled with throwaway gags and fandom shibboleths that go some way toward lightening the comic tone, especially once the hapless ensigns manage to end up in Los Angeles in 2012. And while the adventure part of the book is fun, the heart of the story lies in its three tie-in "codas," which include a first-person freak-out by a guy who writes for a science fiction show figuring out how to treat his characters respectfully, a second-person medical mystery, and a third-person Cloud Atlas-esque love story. The good thing about the codas is that they explore the motivations and fears of people who are minor characters in the story, which is an effective way for the author to put his money where his mouth is, regarding seeing characters as actual people with lives and hopes and dreams. The bad thing about the codas is that they make you realize that the primary narrative is pretty slight.
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Devil in Silver A Novel
by
Victor Lavalle
JohnLee
, December 19, 2012
The Devil in Silver is a literary horror novel. It is literature, horror and also a bit of social commentary as well. It even manages to include a brief romance. It is really an amazing book. The monster - is it minotaur or man? Is it the devil that some patients claim? But that's not the only monstrous thing going on in the book. I found the story to be mostly unpredictable and really unlike anything I've read before. I enjoyed reading it. As with the novella Lucretia and the Kroons also by Victor LaValle and also classified as literary horror, I ended up reading the book twice. It really is an excellent book.
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Heads in Beds A Reckless Memoir of Hotels Hustles & So Called Hospitality
by
Jacob Tomsky
JohnLee
, December 18, 2012
I really enjoyed this book: It's funny and you get an exclusive insight in the hospitality industry. Some anecdotes, especially in section of house keeping, are quite disgusting and should be running under the heading: 'What you never wanted to know'. Still, it's written in a style that you can relate to the character and I often thought back to my own behavior in similar situations. The description of the upgrading and punishing system for cooperation / annoying guests was enlightening and I think everyone who has stayed his/her fair share in hotels will testify to its truth and to the power of the front desk agent. Besides funny stories, you get to know the quirks of bellmen, doormen, front desk agents and housekeeping staff, and also a little on the terminology used in the hotel industry, which is quite interesting. Definitely a good read for everyone who wants to know more about hotels and especially about the people who work there and how to work with them in a way that makes you both happy.
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Dark Tower Wind Through the Keyhole
by
Stephen King
JohnLee
, December 18, 2012
A wonderful entry into the Dark Tower series that King supposedly completed in 2004. After Glass and before. As Roland tells the tale of hunting a shifter in a small town, King then takes it further and tells a story WITHIN the story, that of a boy who must attempt to save his mother's life. It's this middle story that takes up the bulk of the book and it too was just gorgeously written. A great Dark Tower series.
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Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
by
Lois McMaster Bujold
JohnLee
, December 18, 2012
A thoroughly charming and highly amusing adventure starring Ivan "You Idiot" Vorpatril and his supposedly temporary wife of convenience as they navigate Komarr, Barrayar, and goodly number of people who want to kill them. This works well enough as a stand-alone book, though you will cackle easily three times as much if you've read the other books in Bujold's Vorkosigan saga, even though the famous Coz gets little screen time, and his formidable parents never actually make an appearance. This is for the better, as it forces Ivan to rely on his wits (stop that sniggering) and finally figure out what most readers will have figured out on page 40, but getting there, in this case, is definitely more than half the fun. Overall it is a good book.
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Modernist Cuisine at Home
by
Nathan Myhrvold, Maxime Bilet
JohnLee
, December 18, 2012
The book doesn't stop with just introducing new methods to achieve or improve existing recipes though. It encourages experimentation and suggests many ways to create entirely new experiences, made possible by new tools and materials. Myhrvold manages superbly to convey the spirit of curiosity and exploration that lead to the creation of this book, and his application of the scientific method to cooking. Through investigation and improved understanding of cooking processes the cook is liberated to focus on the creation of new dishes. The gorgeous graphics and signature cutaway pictures of equipment underline this approach by highlighting that investigation can itself be made into an art. I feel inspired to try out new things, already looking at long-loved, tricky recipes with new eyes and excited for the things to come
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Thin Pink Line
by
Laur Baratz Logsted
JohnLee
, December 18, 2012
A single British woman, working in publishing and on a quest for parenthood �" at first sight, this seems to be yet another book in an endless and repetitive stream of chick-lits, as well as being the ideal tag line for this book. That’s not the case. Through the lies and deceptions of a somewhat needy, calmly selfish and immature young woman, readers are taken on a journey, albeit fraudulent, through the life of a pregnant woman. Baratz-Logsted couches the resultant dramatic change in attitude, in not just the expectant mother herself but also in those around her, in a cuttingly humorous way. The smugness, the mood swings, the showers and the "what to expect.." pregnancy-bible books �" all come to life in the author’s hands. Jane’s charade is simultaneously pathetic - for she craves attention and love more than a child itself - and comical, besides being suspenseful. Acerbic, humorous, honest and unpredictable �" The Thin Pink Line demands understanding without preaching and provides countless hours of gratuitous amusement besides.
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A Thousand Morons
by
Quim Monz�
JohnLee
, December 18, 2012
Monzo’s strange delicacies reflect the geography and history of the city itself as much as they do the plight of contemporary humanity, full of absurdity and humor, heartbreak and despair, and in the end, full of beauty
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