Station Eleven (Paperback)

By Emily St. John Mandel

$16.00

ISBN: 9780804172448

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Vintage - June 2nd, 2015

Pure magic. Shakespeare, comic books, Star Trek, and the apocalypse all swirl together into one of my favorite books of the year. Mandel deftly weaves us through multiple characters in the past and present in this strangely real yet fantastically imaginative tale. And unlike many of its fellow world-ender novels, Mandel paints us a future full of hope and new beginnings. 

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (with bonus content): A Novel (Paperback)

By Michael Chabon

$18.00

ISBN: 9780812983586

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Random House Trade Paperbacks - June 12th, 2012

One of the most influential novel's I've ever read. The comic book aspect drew me in, but I the depth of the characters gave it the lasting impact. We are all searching for oursevles. We all have a secret identity. We are all trying to escape something. We all want to change the world. Chabon's characters struggle along with the rest of us with the medium of comic books as their backdrop. One of the most impressive feats is Chabon's ability to verbally paint for us what his characters are painting in their own fictional world within world. They say that readers of fiction have a greater ability to empathize with the people. You can't read this book without feeling empathy. You can't help but realize how much you and these people share in your own ways. "Forget about what you are escaping from. Reserve your anxiety for what you are escaping to."

 

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists Who Taught Me to Live for Taste (Paperback)

By Bianca Bosker

$17.00

ISBN: 9780143128090

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Penguin Books - March 28th, 2017

*Whether you are a sommelier, a boxed-wine drinker, a rose fanatic, or just wondering what the heck the buzz is about, Bianca Bosker delivers with Cork Dork!

Bianca Bosker co-founded The Huffington Post’s tech section and served as the site’s Executive Tech Editor until 2014 when she handed herself over to the life of wine.
Cork Dork is that story: all at once a hilarious memoir, an instructional guide to drinking wine, and a window into the history, science, and philosophy of living for taste.
With writing that is both informative and laugh-out-loud hilarious, Cork Dork makes wine accessible. It shows you how to be present in the experience. To savor each sip, letting it play over your senses and your memories. And for civilians like me, it makes you want to participate:

While learning the proper routine of blind-tasting, I attempted to “blind” taste the GoT red blend.
While reading about the neuroscience of smell, I tried to better appreciate my pineapple coconut smoothie.
And while sitting in a very quiet cafe, I laughed out loud at the image of corks flying and exploding bottles of red wine.

READ. THIS. BOOK. 

The One-Eyed Man (Hardcover)

By Ron Currie

$26.00

ISBN: 9780670025350

Availability: Special Order

Published: Viking - March 7th, 2017

The One-Eyed Man is provocative and exasperating. 
Ron Currie has presented readers with a unique insight on the human condition. Is our narrator painfully honest or unreliable to a fault? After the death of his wife and a moment of enlightenment, K. has found the ability (or so we are lead to believe) to see without bias and speak without filter. Grief and pain are irrelevant. But by "liberating" himself, K. may have doomed those around him. Is it better to drown in delusion or to be ripped apart by awareness? 
In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king of his own mind until the blind revolt.
Incredibly well done.

Sweetbitter: A novel (Hardcover)

By Stephanie Danler

$25.00

ISBN: 9781101875940

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Knopf - May 24th, 2016

Savory and delicious--with a hint of cocaine and a strong note of self-discovery (and maybe a tinge of regret).

The kind of book that keeps you up until 2am screaming THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. My favorite book of the year so far.

--Liz

A Gentleman in Moscow: A Novel (Hardcover)

By Amor Towles

$27.00

ISBN: 9780670026197

Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 Days

Published: Viking - September 6th, 2016

I love Russian novels -- give me Tolstoy or Dostoevsky and I'll be entertained for days. It's hard to adapt/capture the feelings evoked by these classic Russian novels in the 21st centure, let alone by the hand of an American author.  Towles came damn close, through this tale of a count sentenced to life in the Metropol Hotel, which is across from the Kremlin in Moscow.  Recounting days spent and lives lived in this swanky hotel, this book offers a great escape. Highly recommend!