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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
zac has commented on (8) products
All That Is
by
James Salter
zac
, May 17, 2013
My own twenty-first century prejudices were built on the groundwork of a feminism that demands compelling, fully formed female characters. If I set that aside, by the conclusion of the novel it is easy to recognize that a protagonist need not inform a novel as a whole. Empathy does not necessarily a good book make, and when Bowman remarks that “all powerful women cause anxiety” by the end of the novel, it’s clear that this is, in its own way, a period piece, a story of a man who moves from one misogynistic age to one that is slightly less so. And while Bowman may not have recognized the complexities of the women in his life entirely ��" the women who mark the chapters of his life and his own personal development in ways he may not even realize ��" Salter has. This novel may not have been written for the type of reader who found much of Hemingway entirely unpalatable, still it is easy to recognize Salter’s talent, and All That Is as a novel worth reading.
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Carrion Birds
by
Urban Waite
zac
, May 17, 2013
Good thriller! Very quick paced and exciting! The plot moves right along! At first I had an uh-oh moment, when I felt like the main character, Ray, was just a copy of Clint Eastwood's character in Unforgiven, even saying things like, "I'm not like that anymore." But that passed quickly, and Ray got to business! His path of revenge and its connection with his cousin make for a rollicking ride through dusty roads and ranch lands of New Mexico. Love the vengeance and the brutality of the actions of the gunmen and the drug cartel. Urban Waite really brought it with this book!
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Red Moon
by
Benjamin Percy
zac
, May 17, 2013
Just beautiful writing! While very transparently a metaphor��"for Muslims and the fear of Islamic terrorism, and racial segregation, and the sort of discrimination that those with AIDS have to deal with, for almost any sort of hot-button discrimination/segregation topic of which you can think��"the lycans in this book are also a very distinct people, once segregated (as people of color once were) but now integrated��"as long as certain conditions are met. Being drugged. Not transforming. Reporting their existence and being on a database... You see the idea forming. As one of the characters discovers, “Plagues don't just kill people��"and that's what lobos is, a plague��"they kill humanity.” In the end, that is mostly what this book is about. It is about how hatred causes people to split when they should work together, it is about how people let their fear take over rather than truly seeking a solution, rather than realizing that people are people and need to be taken at individual, face value.
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Flamethrowers
by
Rachel Kushner
zac
, May 17, 2013
I absolutely recommend this big, sprawling, hardback treasure of a book. It’s a great inspiration for writers and if you’re truly hungry for great writing, its length isn’t an obstacle at all. Prose like this can be consumed greedily and in haste, the way a well-oiled engine sucks in air and petrol and spews out a great whooshing tongue of flame.
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Middle C
by
William H Gass
zac
, April 30, 2013
An extraordinary and brilliant novel, if only for its both demanding and playful use of language. Then there are the breadth of its themes and the richness of its variations. Somewhere out there is a literature professor with a musical bent who can teach this with Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus." Odd that neither of the literary reviews of "Middle C" that I've come across mentioned Mann's novel, given the parallels: Schoenberg, the nature of evil, the question of identity and more. Anyway, that professor could include Richard Powers' "The Time of Our Singing," perhaps Toni Morrison's "Jazz," another novel/story that's escaping me and oh what a meta-time the students would have. It would mean a lot of pages and many hours of head scratching, but a music professor with a literary bent could ease the pain and make it all that much more rewarding. Listen up, people. Read up, people.
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Interestings
by
Meg Wolitzer
zac
, April 30, 2013
I just finished the galley of this book and if I could give it 100 stars, I would. I tell people it reminds me a little of The Corrections meets The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay but, truthfully, it's better than both. The story begins with six friends who meet at a summer camp for the arts in the mid-seventies and follows them throughout most of their lives. It touches on pretty much every important issue of the decades it covers-from drugs and the folk revolution to the AIDS crisis to 9/11 to the political landscapes of our times....all without feeling contrived or info-dumping. You care about these characters, and you're frustrated by them, and you pity them and root for them. It's seriously an astonishing book. Worth everyone of the many minutes it'll take you to read it. (Because, yes, it's long. And I was happy that it was!)
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Dandelion Hunter: Foraging the Urban Wilderness
by
Lerner, Rebecca
zac
, April 30, 2013
I got hooked right away with the endearing cast of characters. The stories are entertaining, but also impart lots of info and food for thought. Although Dandelion Hunter is non-fiction, it is good story telling while also sharing lots of interesting ponderable points. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was a great, fast read. Lately I havent been able to stay focused with a book but this one was a very easy read. It has shades of "A Walk in the Woods" by Bryson- meets Silent Spring or Onmivores Dilemma. . I just finished it and I think it gave me quite a bit to think about. It was a very good read, thoroughly entertaining with substance.
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Deep Down
by
Deborah Coates
zac
, April 30, 2013
This is a series that you don’t want to miss and Urban Fantasy that will have you on the edge of you seat until the very last word. Fans of Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series and Kim Harrisons’ The Hollows series will want to get their hands on this second installment Deep Down by Deborah Coates.
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