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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
Brandon Sanford has commented on (3) products
Tigerman
by
Nick Harkaway
Brandon Sanford
, October 26, 2015
After a long career in the military, Sergeant Lester Ferris faces retirement and the need to adjust to civilian life. More than that, he desperately seeks human connection and a new purpose. This desperation is what makes him fit in so well with the other people living on the island of Mancreu. The bowels of the island bubbles with toxicity: a ticking time bomb left by former corporate overseers. The people of the island now face fiery judgment by an international community afraid of what might develop in that toxic witches brew. Some islanders flee, but many stay, holding on to their homes for as long as possible. Without a functioning government, though, and with the constant threat of destruction, the civil balance is fragile at best. When the life on the island tips toward madness, Ferris is the one person who might be able to make a difference. But if Ferris does become a hero, he'll do it not for the island, but for his best friend, a brilliant street kid who has the potential to be Ferris' new purpose in life. Tigerman, by Nick Harkaway, is a slow read, but it is the slowness of something to be savored. The writing is dense but sweet, like candy, each sentence painstakingly crafted, each word chosen with care. The characters read at first glance like caricatures, but their flamboyant natures are intentional, reflecting the larger-than-life sensibility of comic books. As the novel progresses, each character reveals more sides and depths, expanding into realism without ever losing their comic-book shine. Harkaway uses the same sort of slow reveal with the narrative, beginning with ambiguity and resolving into complicated clarity. The beginning of the novel may be the most frustrating for readers, as Harkaway introduces several details without explaining their presence; while all relevant, their relevance is exposed later. While this is uncomfortable, Tigerman is part mystery, and it is perhaps unavoidable that Harkaway introduces plot points without their context. The situation of the island also remains unclear till the end of the first chapter; instead of giving the readers a firm grasp on the setting, Harkaway instead gives the readers a firm grasp of his characters. His characters are, after all, the stars of the novel. But Harkaway's references to leaving and the doom of the island, without explaining how the island is doomed, is confusing. If the reader can accept the initially bumpy ride, soon the flow of the narrative becomes easy, the island familiar, and the characters old friends. Tigerman borrows from graphic novels and detective novels, and might be a good fit for fans of either genre, but instead of using pictures, Harkaway paints lavishly with words, and Ferris is not so much a hardboiled cynic as he is armored. Ferris is also charming, honorable, and awkward, and his journey and desperation will easily be felt by the reader, who will cheer for him, feel joy for him, and ache for him.
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California
by
Edan Lepucki
Brandon Sanford
, April 14, 2015
I have always enjoyed post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction ever since reading the Tripod trilogy in school. At their best, these sub-genres allow novels to critically analyze society in a way that other genres cannot. The brilliance of post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels is that they force us to look at our end: not our individual ends, but the destination our path as a race will lead us to. The terror of these novels is knowing that the grisly future depicted, if the novel is done well, could all too probably happen. The reverberations of these distant oracles echo back into our present, point to the slow poisons brewing in our midst, and try to shake us out of our laziness to do something about it. California by Lepucki does not incite this kind of passion. Lepucki's oracle speaks vaguely of catastrophes that have no discernible root in the present--"an impotent government and environmental disasters with no given causes--"and so lacks any connection to reality. It is a detached future wholly concerned with its own fictions, rather than relating to its readers. Its plot, if it can be called that, is merely an exploration of the scene, pages upon pages of world building with no direction. It is a character study exploring made-up people in an unrelatable world. Part of the problem is that the characters seem more like caricatures than people. They each clearly have a role to play, and are never drawn from their assignments by their own motivations. Frida, the female protagonist, seems to exist merely to cause trouble; she wonders at her own unreasonable and changeable decisions, but fails to grow from her irrational behavior, brushing off her irrationality as "capriciousness." Lepucki does have a rich imagination and the supplied descriptions are vivid: perfect details decorate the landscape seamlessly. She exhibits a true competency of writing on the level of the line; she just gets lost when it comes to the bigger picture. If she becomes less enamored of her own creations and focuses more on telling an honest, meaningful story, she will be an authorial force to watch out for.
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Forgive Me If I've Told You This Before
by
Karelia Stetz-Waters
Brandon Sanford
, January 21, 2015
I am of the same generation as Triinu; reading her story is like reading my own story. There is the opportunity for nostalgia: Remembering what it was like to go to a gay club for the first time (for me, it was Klub Z, a future incarnation of the City Nightclub featured in the book). Remembering the first time you realize there are other gay people besides you in the world (this is a true revelation; the first time I went to a gay Pride parade I was shocked by how many gay people there were just in one city). The first love. 80s music (which for me might also qualify as my first love). Not all the memories are pleasant, of course. I grew up in a conservative Christian household and had a lot of issues about my sexuality. There's a reason I still get uncomfortable talking about my partner with anyone I don't know well and why I still play the pronoun game sometimes (yes, I do have a significant other, they're really awesome). I remember getting called faggot while walking through a mall (hell, I still get called faggot sometimes). I remember crying sitting on the shower floor at home, praying for God to take the gay away from me. I remember the thought of legal marriage being unthinkable: when they mention in the book the hope that one day it might, I cried. Because who would have thought then that we would get that right? I think it's a good thing to be reminded of the unpleasant past. It makes me appreciate the present. It also reminds me not to be complacent. Strides have been made, but friends of mine are still beaten and sent to the hospital. Other demographics lack the same rights and courtesies gay people have now achieved. Forgive Me If I've Told You This Before speaks to these issues; indeed, Stetz-Waters does a remarkable job paralleling the struggle of Estonians with Triinu's personal journey, illustrating that equality is not the possession of any one group; we all need social equality or it doesn't exist.
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