New in Hardback
Dietland: A Novel by
The diet revolution is here. And it s armed. Plum Kettle does her best not to be noticed, because when you’re fat, to be noticed is to be judged. Or mocked. Or worse. With her job answering fan mail for a popular teen girls magazine, she is biding her time until her weight-loss surgery. Only then can her true life as a thin person finally begin. Then, when a mysterious woman starts following her, Plum finds herself falling down a rabbit hole and into an underground community of women who live life on their own terms. There Plum agrees to a series of challenges that force her to deal with her past, her doubts, and the real costs of becoming beautiful. At the same time, a dangerous guerrilla group called Jennifer begins to terrorize a world that mistreats women, and as Plum grapples with her personal struggles, she becomes entangled in a sinister plot. The consequences are explosive.
Loving Day by Mat Johnson
From the author of the critically beloved Pym ( imagine Kurt Vonnegut having a beer with Ralph Ellison) comes a ruthlessly comic and moving tale of a man discovering a lost daughter, confronting an elusive ghost, and stumbling onto the possibility of utopia. A frequently hilarious, surprisingly moving story about blacks and whites, fathers and daughters, the living and the dead, Loving Day celebrates the wonders of opposites bound in love.“Hilarious, sometimes discomforting, always brilliant, Loving Day tackles with heart and sly humor identity, family, and finding that elusive place where you belong. This is an awesome, viciously witty novel.” – Roxane Gay, author of Bad Feminist. Mat will be speaking and signing Loving Day in our store on June 1 at 7PM.
The Rocks by Peter Nichols
Set against dramatic Mediterranean Sea views and lush olive groves, The Rocks opens with a confrontation and a secret: What was the mysterious, catastrophic event that drove two honeymooners apart so suddenly and absolutely in 1948 that they never spoke again despite living on the same island for sixty more years? And how did their history shape the Romeo and Juliet like romance of their (unrelated) children decades later? Centered around a popular seaside resort club and its community, The Rocks is a double love story that begins with a mystery, then moves backward in time, era by era, to unravel what really happened decades earlier. The result is a bittersweet, intelligent, and romantic novel about how powerful the perceived truth can be as a bond, and as a barrier even if it’s not really the whole story; and how one misunderstanding can echo irreparably through decades.
If You Feel Too Much by Jamie Tworkowski
In 2006 Jamie Tworkowski wrote a story called “To Write Love on Her Arms” about helping a friend through her struggle with drug addiction, depression, and self-injury. The piece was so hauntingly beautiful that it quickly went viral, giving birth to a non-profit organization of the same name. Nine years later, To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) is an internationally-recognized leader in suicide prevention and a source of hope, encouragement, and resources for people worldwide. If You Feel Too Much is a celebration of hope, wonder, and what it means to be human. From personal stories of struggling on days most people celebrate to offering words of strength and encouragement in moments of loss, the essays in this book invite readers to believe that it s okay to admit to pain and it’s okay to ask for help. Jamie will be speaking and signing If You Feel Too Much in our store on June 5 at 7PM.
Make Something Up: Stories You Can’t Unread by Chuck Palahniuk
A compilation of 21 stories and one novella (some previously published, some not),this is a collection that will disturb and delight. Take “Zombies,” in which the best and brightest of a high school prep school become tragically addicted to the latest drug craze: electric shocks from cardiac defibrillators. Or “Knock, Knock,” the story of a son who hopes to tell one last off-color joke to a father in his final moments. In all, the absurdity of both life and death are on full display. “For the first time, Palahniuk collects his short stories, which feature his signature humor, horror, and grit. [The] other stories deal with fire, bodily fluids, malfunctions, critiques of material society, bestiality, a bewitched tennis ball, and a murder at a Burning Man-type retreat. The collection is essential for Palahniuk fans and will likely win him some new ones.”—Publishers Weekly
Gumption: Relighting the Torch of Freedom with America’s Gutsiest Troublemakers by Nick Offerman
To millions of people, Nick Offerman is America. Both Nick and his character, Ron Swanson, are known for their humor and patriotism in equal measure. After the great success of his autobiography, Paddle Your Own Canoe, Offerman now focuses on the lives of those who inspired him. From George Washington to Willie Nelson, he describes twenty-one heroic figures and why they inspire in him such great meaning. The subject matter will also allow Offerman to expound upon his favorite topics, which readers love to hear areas such as religion, politics, woodworking and handcrafting, agriculture, creativity, philosophy, fashion, and, of course, meat. Nick Offerman will be speaking and signing Gumption in our store on June 3 at 7PM.
New in Paperback
You Deserve A Drink: Boozy Misadventures and Tales of Debauchery by Mamrie Hart
According to Jan:
“A boozy memoir full of hilarious misadventure that will leave you drunk on your feet. Mamrie Hart is the older sister you always wanted. (You think your spring break was crazy? Did you spend it at an all-nude gay resort?) And like her YouTube show of the same name, Hart delivers recipes for delicious–I’m dead serious–DELICIOUS cocktails and also contains its own built-in drinking game (how many other memoirs can claim the same?) Ladies and gents, Mamrie fxxxing Hart is in the building, bless her heart. Cheers!”
We can’t wait to have Mamrie in our store! Join us June 2nd at 7PM.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Novel by David Shafer
Three young adults grapple with the usual thirty-something problems–boredom, authenticity, an omnipotent online oligarchy–in this darkly comic thriller and emotionally truthful tale about the struggle to change the world in and outside your head. The Committee, an international cabal of industrialists and media barons, is on the verge of privatizing all information. Dear Diary, an idealistic online Underground, stands in the way of that takeover, using radical politics, classic spycraft, and technology that makes Big Data look like dial-up. Into this secret battle stumbles an unlikely trio: Leila Majnoun, a disillusioned non-profit worker; Leo Crane, an unhinged trustafarian; and Mark Deveraux, a phony self-betterment guru who works for the Committee.The characters and premise are as up-to-the-minute as an online news feed but as classic as the counterculture rebellions once evoked by Edward Abbey and Ken Kesey.
The Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently by Sunni Brown
A fearless guide to awakening your mind using simple visual language. What do Einstein, Edison, Richard Feynman, Henry Ford, and JFK have in common? Like virtually all heavy-hitting thinkers, they looked beyond just words and numbers to get intellectual and creative insights. They actively applied a deceptively simple tool to think both smarter and faster: the doodle. And so can the rest of us-zero artistic talent required. Visual thinking expert Sunni Brown has created The Doodle Revolution as a kick-starter guide for igniting and applying simple visual language to any challenge. The instinctive and universal act of doodling need only be unleashed in order to innovate, solve problems, and elevate cognitive performance instantly.
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