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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
Janna Mauldin Heiner has commented on (3) products
The Girl Who Drank the Moon
by
Kelly Barnhill
Janna Mauldin Heiner
, October 13, 2017
Let me start off by saying I don't read a lot of fantasy. Most of it seems to float the same plots and stock characters in a bloated river of overused words. But in _The Girl Who Drank the Moon_, Kelly Regan Barnhill gives us a story full of the unexpected--fresh characters, real humor, surprising story, and words sometimes so beautiful I wanted to read the same sentence more than once. It's hard to write about this book without giving something away. There's a witch. There's a girl. There's a place in the woods where they meet. There's a community ruled by fear and an echo of Shirley Jackson's _The Lottery._ There's a powerful evil, but unlike most fantasy, it's a plain unmagical one, not unfamiliar in our own world; and there's a great compassion housed in a humble heart, who dares to face the evil armed with simple magic and powerful love. Love will always win. A wonderful book to read aloud or savor in solitude. I'm 51 and loved it; my two 8-year-old boys can't wait to read it with me after hearing a couple of snippets. There are powerful female characters that make it perfect for girls just entering the confusing tween years. There are good conversations to be had--about bullying, about truthfulness, about sacrifice, and about empathy and kindness. Highly, highly recommended.
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The Hike
by
Drew Magary
Janna Mauldin Heiner
, September 30, 2016
_The Hike_ is a heroic quest; but it's not like any heroic quest ever published. It's fantasy; but you won't find wise elves or enchanted crystals in these pages. It's an exploration of philosophy and metaphysics in which the reader will be hard-pressed to say definitively what questions are being explored or what answers offered, even as she reads the final unexpected twist. Meet Ben. He's just a regular guy, with a wife and kids he loves and a job that requires him to be away from them. He's had a long day and he just wants to check into his hotel and burn off some tension with a short run. He's happy to discover that, despite what he was told, there is a nice trail behind the hotel. And that's the last normal thing that happens to Ben. The trail won't let him go, even as it throws unsettling, obnoxious, sometimes horrifying obstacles at him. The hotel has disappeared, and the only way home is to keep hiking. A fascinating tale for those who can tolerate it, _The Hike_ is like nothing I've ever read. I'd call it quirky, but the shadows are too deep.
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Girl Waits with Gun
by
Amy Stewart
Janna Mauldin Heiner
, November 18, 2015
_Girl Waits With Gun_ by Amy Stewart is a fascinating story woven in perfect language. It's about the Kopp sisters, historical figures almost no one's ever heard of; Constance Kopp was one of the nation's first female deputy sheriffs. One thing I often dislike about historical novels is that the language is often a caricature of what the real language of the time probably was, a romanticized, re-imagined version of how people spoke. Constance's voice is charming, but it doesn't drown in itself. Stewart never forgets that Constance is telling a story, not representing the best of feminine expression of her age. And what a story she tells! It begins with three sisters, a road accident, some thugs, hints of a dark family mystery, and a brick thrown through a window. From there, it just gets better and better. If you could completely re-imagine the hardboiled genre to have originated in a feminine voice and style, this might be it. Tight, but also delightful; gritty noir with a vase of flowers on the desk and stylish curtains at the window.
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