SALVADOR
House by Diane Keaton
“Often when I hear about actors following their other interests I don’t think they’ll be very good at them. Diane Keaton however has created a beautiful book. Her curation of houses is amazing, which only makes me believe she naturally has a great eye for design. For each house Keaton writes an essay and includes multiple photographs, and detail shots. The book is gorgeous, it’s one I’d love to own.”
FLIPPO
Lionel Asbo by Martin Amis
“This is yet another book on my long list of British reads. I’m about half way through and so far I’m liking it. Desmond is a sensitive boy who has been orphaned. He is forced to live with his uncle Lionel Asbo (last name self given after Anti-Social Behavioral Disorder) who has been in and out of jail his whole life. When Lionel wins the lottery he only becomes worse. It’s a gritty story about lower class family dynamics with some pretty funny twists. If you liked Ben Brooks’ Grow Up, you’ll really enjoy Lionel Asbo.”
STEPHANYA
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
“Probably 90% of BookPeople staff read the passage last year and loved it! So I jumped at the chance to read the second book in Cronin’s highly literary zombie trilogy. Zombie stories are usually not my thing at all but Cronin’s writing is so engaging, and the characters so fully formed I couldn’t help but devour these books.”
JOE
Go-Go Live: The Musical life and Death of a Chocolate City by Natalie Hopkinson
“Go-go is a form of music that pretty much only exists in Washington DC, it is a close cousin to Hip Hop but it mostly retains 70s funk’s reliance upon live instrumentation. This book uses the history of the music to tell the story of the rise and if not quite fall- the most definite decline of African American domination of DC. It’s an interesting book about an awesome form of music that very few people are aware of. I highly recommend it, now go listen to some trouble funk.”
EMILY
Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson
“Lost at Sea is about a variety of things humans believe, and why we believe them. It’s written as a series of essays that all tie into that idea. From the idea of the North Pole where Santa lives, and all of the letters that are sent there for him to the many UFO sightings and encounters- Jon travels the country investigating different beliefs. What I personally like about the book is he lets you the reader decide whether or not you believe. He doesn’t try to disprove anything, in the end his presentation of so many different people all believing in something made them all the more similar. Believing in seemingly unexplainable, or even foolish things then becomes a human trait. I just love Jon Ronson anyway, he has such a unique writing style. He really keeps you on your toes.”
BookPeople 