What We’re Reading This Week

~ JOHN G
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

“This is really good. It’s mysterious and dark. The pictures do really add something and make the story stand out. Granted, the story is really good, too. Even without the pictures, the story would still be superb. The characters are great — each child with his or her peculiar ability really shines individually. The setting is cool — it’s set on this remote island off the coast of Great Britain. Riggs just does a great job of setting the mood with the help of that backdrop. Everything about this book is good.”

Ransom Riggs will be in the store on Tuesday, Jan 21 at 7PM speaking and signing Hollow City: The Second Book of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children. Click here to pre-order your signed copy.

~ ABBY
Reading Magnum: A Visual Archive of the Modern World by Steven Hoelscher & Geoff Dyer

“This is the beautiful coffee table book filled with the largest archive of photographs in the world. And, many of these fine photos are housed at the Harry Ransom Center right here in the ATX. This book is a sampling of the most incredible Magnum database that includes advertising photography, historical documents, and art photographs. It’s perfect for any art lover or lover of beautiful things. It’s a great way to learn about photographers you’ve never heard of and go more in depth in your love for them. Some of my favorite photographers I’ve found by just looking at one image of theirs in the Magnum archive. And, it’s a great way to spend your BookPeople holiday gift card. Give yourself a Merry Christmas.”

~ ANDREW B.

The Complete Stories by Flannery  O’Connor

“This is my ‘winter break’ book. I hadn’t read any O’Connor before, and this was a great way to see the progression of her writing. The stories are in turn hilarious and grotesque, with deeply flawed and deeply human characters. I don’t know why I waited so long to pick up this book!”

~ WIL

Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud

“I definitely hope this is the start of a series so that there will be more. It’s all about ghost hunters in England — specifically 3 young and unsupervised Ghost Hunters dealing with the infestation of ghosts that reside within London. Though not always on their best behavior, when these hunters are not burning down houses, they’re making London safe for everyone. They venture out armed with iron salt and utilize all the intricate systems in place within the city to deal with their ghost problem. The world this author thought up is amazing. It’s this really cool system with all their technology geared towards fighting ghosts. The whole city is geared up with ghosts lights that stay on all throughout the night. There are tributary systems running through the city because ghosts hate passing over water. Every home comes equipped with iron lined lentils and window frames because “the visitors” — the city’s vernacular for ghosts — hate crossing iron just like a vampire would stereotypically hate being near garlic. It’s so much fun and I can’t wait for more.”