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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
Louisekf has commented on (12) products
Hidden Palace A Novel of the Golem & the Jinni
by
Helene Wecker
Louisekf
, June 12, 2021
WOW is all I can say! I’ve been waiting for so long for this sequel to The Golem and The Jinni (along with many other readers) and it’s finally here. I read the whole thing as soon as it was published. And it did not disappoint. There is, naturally, further development of the two main characters (Chava, the golem, and Ahmad, the jinni) along with some other returning favorites such as Anna, Arbeely, Maryam and Sophia. There are also some new intriguing characters, Toby and Kreindel, along with a couple of surprises that I wish the publisher didn’t give away in its description of the book. For anyone who hasn’t read the first book, the author, Helene Wecker, does a good job of bringing people up to speed on the background, but of course, as with most series/sequels, you get a richer experience if you’ve read the first book. The setting is early 20th century New York City and what was then part of the Ottoman Empire but is generally referred to now as Syria. Urban fantasy is what I might call these books, with our not-humans (Jewish-based legend of the golem and Arab-based legend of the jinni) living among ordinary citizens. Wecker has really done her research and the book is filled with folklore and wonderful descriptions of early 20th century NYC, including the construction of the still-mourned Penn Station, and several historical events that impact the plot. There are a lot of different threads in this book, but Wecker brings it all together beautifully.
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The Golem and the Jinni
by
Wecker, Helene
Louisekf
, June 12, 2021
I just re-read The Golem and The Jinni in anticipation of the long-awaited sequel which just published. I loved the book as much as I did the first time around, if not more so. It has all the features that I love: New York City history (both physical and social), fabulous descriptions of places I’ve been and places I’ve never been, interesting characters, a great story line and a touch of the paranormal. There are quite a few threads in the story, and eventually they do all come together, so be patient as the author jumps around. Chava (the titular golem) and Ahmad (the titular jinni) make such a fascinating pair. The side characters are wonderful also, from Arbeely, the tinsmith who accidentally sets the jinni free of his flask to “Ice Cream Saleh” (whose backstory is particularly touching) to the wealthy Sophia Winston to the various rabbis that populate Chava’s Lower East Side. When I first read this book (in 2016, recommended by staff at Powell's!), I discovered a (vanished) part of Lower Manhattan that I hadn’t known to exist: Little Syria. This neighborhood was apparently demolished due to the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, which my parents drove through every time we drove to Manhattan. That thought makes me sad for all the neighborhoods everywhere that have been demolished in the name of progress. I’m so glad I revisited some of my favorite characters and now I’m more than ready for Wecker’s next book, The Hidden Palace!
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The Kitchen Front
by
Jennifer Ryan
Louisekf
, February 26, 2021
If you’re looking for a feel-good story based on World War Two, look no further. The Kitchen Front takes place in the midst of WWII in England, but its emphasis is on the war’s effects on the civilian population. Overall themes include friendship and sisterhood, the challenges due to food rationing, and the prospect of social change in a very stratified society. The main focus of the story is on food rationing and the difficulties of obtaining and cooking tasty, nutritious food. Apparently, there really was a radio show on the BBC called The Kitchen Front and this inspired Ryan’s novel. There are four main characters, each of which are drawn individually, (although there are some stereotypical aspects to the women): Audrey (war widow with three growing boys), Gwendoline (her sister who married a rich man), Zelda (an accomplished chef from an impoverished background), and Nell (a kitchen maid who grew up in an orphanage). The author was very talented in how she drew you in to both the story and the characters - sometimes you were led to dislike some of the women and later on you wound up rooting for them all. These four women develop an amazing friendship despite having to compete with each other in a contest to co-host the Kitchen Front radio show. The author includes a lot of recipes, some of which would work well today under “normal” circumstances, and others which show the ingenuity of home cooks during very difficult time. Heartwarming!
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Love at First
by
Kate Clayborn
Louisekf
, February 26, 2021
Love At First was a delightful read. It was a combination of the love-at-first-sight trope and the enemies-to-lovers trope, but with twists. Both main characters, Will and Nora, had not-so-typical childhoods and are still dealing with their emotional baggage (they are around age 30). Both sets of parents were very wrapped up in each other in different ways and didn’t have a whole lot of time or emotional space left for their children. The additional characters from Nora’s Chicago apartment building are well-defined, diverse, and non-stereotypical. In addition, Will’s boss, Dr. Gerald Abraham is terrific and I loved seeing the progression of Will’s relationship with this man. Kate Clayborn lets you into the inner thoughts of both main characters, which was a nice change of pace from many romances. The book drives home the message that family isn’t always your blood relatives. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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Finlay Donovan Is Killing It A Mystery
by
Elle Cosimano
Louisekf
, February 07, 2021
I loved this book right from the opening sentences, which will resonate with any mother of young children - or anyone who has ever spent time around young children. I laughed out loud at many points in the story about a struggling author of suspense novels who is a single mom (divorced). The setup: Finlay has a meeting with her agent at a local Panera, after a disastrous start to her day due to the above-mentioned children. A woman overhears their conversation, sees bloody items in Finlay’s diaper bag and completely misreads the situation, thinking she’s a “hit woman.” She slips her a note saying she’s willing to pay her a lot of money to get rid of her husband. Craziness ensues. I loved Finlay and her babysitter/sidekick Vero. In some ways, the book reminded me of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, but this one seems a bit less ridiculous than the situations Stephanie always seems to find herself in. Looks like a great start to a series! Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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Daylight
by
David Baldacci
Louisekf
, November 19, 2020
Daylight is the third book in the Atlee Pine series by David Baldacci but the first one I’ve read. He provides plenty of backstory so I didn’t feel lost (although I’m sure it would’ve been better to read the first two books before this one), as Atlee’s backstory drives a LOT of the story in this one. Kidnapping, blackmail, corruption, murder, missing persons, drugs, underage sex, dysfunctional families - the action never stops in this book! I found it interesting that he chose to have a “crossover” with John Puller, the hero of a different series of Baldacci books (of which I’ve read just one) and his brother Robert Puller. The two story lines came together and provided a lot of tension and excitement. Baldacci absolutely kept my interest throughout. I thoroughly enjoyed that the setting of the book was often concentrated in the Trenton, New Jersey area and Manhattan, both of which I know pretty well. It’s always fun to read books set in places you know. There’s a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of the book re Atlee’s sister, but enough loose ends were tied up to satisfy me. Atlee Pine is a great main character and I look forward to reading more about her. P.S. Not important but after finishing the book, I’m still not sure why the title is Daylight. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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Without a Brew A Sloan Krause Mystery
by
Ellie Alexander
Louisekf
, November 12, 2020
This is the fourth book in the Sloan Krause series but the first I’ve read. The author does a great job of giving you plenty of backstory information so you don’t feel lost at all if you also haven’t read the other books in this series. I really enjoyed the story, which had me guessing. In addition to the book’s central murder, there are several different threads which added to the depth of the story: Sloan’s background as a child of the foster system, her pending divorce, the beer-making process, and so forth. The Bavarian-style town of Leavenworth, Washington is actually a character in itself, and I would love to visit there on my next trip to the Pacific Northwest. The main character, Sloan Krause, is not your typical busybody of so many cozy mystery series, which added to my enjoyment. April, the local real estate agent and town publicity person, made me laugh with her crazy outfits and mangled German phrases. I will definitely check out the rest of this series, as it has totally caught my interest. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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Cobble Hill
by
Cecily von Ziegesar
Louisekf
, November 12, 2020
3.5 stars. This book is about an interesting assortment of people who live in a “cool” part of Brooklyn called Cobble Hill. Having lived not too far from that neighborhood back in the 1970s, and having grown up in a completely different part of Brooklyn, I was immediately attracted to this novel. I’m not sure how to describe how I feel about the book, however. There were a lot of different people to keep track of (and I was reading this during “election week” so was quite distracted much of the time) but eventually I kept them all straight. At first, there didn’t seem to be any characters I could really like, but as I read on, many of them grew on me. I particularly wound up liking the character of Roy Clarke, an English novelist with writer’s block, who moved to Brooklyn with his wife (a native New Yorker) and their youngest daughter, a teenager. There’s a recurring lice situation which rang true, having had the horrid experience when my sons were in elementary school in New Jersey. Elizabeth, the performance artist, was extremely odd, and Mandy really annoyed me. And yet, by the end of the book, somehow I had grown fond of the whole bunch. Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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Murder in Old Bombay A Mystery
by
Nev March
Louisekf
, November 12, 2020
It took me a while to get into the book but eventually I was hooked. The story takes place in India in the 1890s, when it was under British rule. The main character is half English and half Indian, medically retired from the Army in India, having sustained terrible injuries during a battle in Karachi. His mixed status often puts him in awkward positions, as Indian society was very class-conscious and religion-conscious and didn’t know what to make of him. While recuperating, he reads about a trial where the death of two young women from a wealthy Parsee family were ruled a suicide and he decides to follow up on the case. He winds up becoming a close friend and confidant of the family, the Framjis. This forms the basis of the entire book, which follows his adventures as he tries to uncover the truth, emulating his hero, the fictional Sherlock Holmes. His efforts take him all over India and what is now Pakistan. The publisher states that this story is based on a true story. Recommended. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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First Date: An absolutely jaw-dropping psychological thriller
by
Sue Watson
Louisekf
, October 18, 2020
First Date was a gripping story but it was like watching a slow-motion train wreck. You see the red flags but Hannah doesn’t. This isn’t my usual kind of book, but fellow NetGalley readers kept raving about it so I was happy that I got a chance to read it. The author makes you wonder why Hannah doesn’t see through Alex, but she also lets you see Hannah’s thoughts and you understand how someone can be taken in like she is. I kept shaking my head at Hannah; she was so easily manipulated. As a social worker, she should have been a bit more sophisticated about the world but perhaps her broken upbringing made her the way she is. She uses her background to help her in her work as a social worker with troubled teens. The end has a whopper of a twist, one that I definitely didn’t see coming. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
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My Husband's Daughter: An absolutely heartbreaking and gripping emotional page-turner
by
Emma Robinson
Louisekf
, October 13, 2020
This was a terrific story. The blurb explains the setup, so it’s not a spoiler - a woman shows up at a married couple’s house with a four-year-old girl in tow, explaining that the girl. Sophie, is the man’s daughter. An additional twist is that the married couple were in agreement that neither of them wanted to have children and raise a family, so this turn of events threatens to utterly and completely up-end their lives. Rebecca, the wife, is a super-organized professional event planner, the kind who loves to make a to-do list and check things off, so having her life turned upside down is not the easiest thing for her. The story is told in short chapters, alternating between Rebecca’s point of view and Cara’s point of view (the mother). Emma Robinson’s writing pulled me in immediately and I didn’t want to put the book down! The characters felt very real, not stereotypical “types” and the situation absolutely tugged at my heart. If you’re like me, have some tissues handy while you read. All is not dark and dreary, however. There are some rather comical situations which Rebecca has to handle as part of her event planning business. Will Rebecca learn that “sometimes it’s the stuff you don’t plan for that brings you the most happiness”? I will definitely be looking for more books by Emma Robinson. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the chance to read an advance readers copy of this wonderful book. All opinions are my own.
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A Borrowed Life
by
Kerry Anne King
Louisekf
, October 02, 2020
“A Borrowed Life” pulled me in from the first page and didn’t let go until I’d finished the book in a single day. I can’t remember the last time that happened. Elizabeth/Liz is a pastor’s wife who is suddenly widowed. She has allowed herself to essentially disappear over the years of her marriage to Thomas. Thomas was manipulative, misogynistic and an archetype of the traditional conservative Christian patriarchy, quoting biblical verses to justify what he wanted done (or not done). I got angrier and angrier at Thomas as I kept reading. Eventually I realized, along with Liz, that she was at least partially responsible for the situation, having allowed his wants and needs to erase hers and her daughter’s. Even before Liz is widowed, she is straining against her boring life and I loved “listening” to her thoughts and reading her journal entries. Liz’s daughter, Abigail is a nurse who always wanted to be a doctor. She and Abigail have a strained relationship, partly due to the father’s influence and her upbringing. Their relationship ups and downs form a good portion of the novel. I loved Liz’s journey and enjoyed the various supporting characters: Val, Lance, Tara, Bernie and more. Abigail annoyed me though! This is the first book of Kerry Anne King’s for me and it won’t be the last.
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