Countdown 1945 by Chris Wallace – Countdown 1945 is the story of an untested new president confronting a decision that he knows will change the world forever. Truman’s journey during these 116 days is a story of high drama: from the shock of learning of the bomb’s existence, to the conflicting advice he receives from generals like Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Marshall, to wrestling with the devastating carnage that will result if he gives…
Continue readingMake Good Art by Neil Gaiman – In May 2012, Neil Gaiman delivered the commencement address at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, in which he encouraged the fledgling painters, musicians, writers, and dreamers to break rules and think outside the box. Most of all, he encouraged them to make good art and fantastic mistakes. Order online here. This is Water by David Foster Wallace – Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk…
Continue readingThis year more than any other we all feel grateful for the mothers in our lives. They’ve kept us educated, fed, cared for and clean these last two months and this Sunday is a great day to show them how grateful you are. Below find a few books and gifts we think she’ll like. Great news: we are now a Bookshop.org affiliate, which means you can buy books online and 25% of the sale goes to us…
Continue readingThe Hope of Glory by Jon Meacham – Beginning with “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” and ending with “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,” Meacham captures for the reader how these last words epitomize Jesus’s message of love, not hate; grace, not rage; and extraordinary mercy rather than vengeance. For each saying, Meacham composes an essay on the origins of Christianity and how Jesus’s final words created a foundation for oral and…
Continue readingTightrope: American Reaching for Hope by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn – The Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of the acclaimed, best-selling Half the Sky now issue a plea—deeply personal and told through the lives of real Americans—to address the crisis in working-class America, while focusing on solutions to mend a half century of governmental failure. Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg – In Tiny Habits B.J. Fogg brings his experience coaching more than 40,000 people to help you lose weight, de-stress, sleep better, or achieve any goal of your choice. …
Continue readingThe Gift of Being Transported Elsewhere (aka a GOOD NOVEL): The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – A richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. Colette, Susan and I all loved this one. Great for women with strong attachments to the home of their childhood and siblings. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – A timeless love story set in a secret underground…
Continue readingOlive, Again by Elizabeth Strout – Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout continues the life of prickly, wry, resistant to change, ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic Olive Kitteridge. The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes – Based on real events and set in Depression-era America, The Giver of Stars is the story of five women hired to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious…
Continue readingThe Dutch House by Ann Patchett – Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship…
Continue readingTrick Mirror by Jia Tolentino – In nine essays, Tolentino writes about our current cultural prism: the rise of the nightmare social internet; the advent of scamming as the definitive millennial ethos; the literary heroine’s journey from brave to blank to bitter; the punitive dream of physical optimization. A true book of our time! Inland by Tea Obreht – In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold in this sweeping but little-known history that subverts and reimagines…
Continue readingThere’s something about a new year that stirs the desire to be wiser, healthier and more fulfilled. Come by and check out new books and journals to help you on your journey—be it spiritual, domestic, physical or psychological—we have something to help make 2019 a year of growth and gratitude. We are pleased to introduce our new YA Guru, Pei Pei Martin. Pei Pei took the Goodreads 100 books in a year challenge in 2018 and nailed it. Here…
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