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Katherine Catmull is one of our favorite Austin writers. Her first middle grade novel, Summer and Bird, was a huge staff favorite and one of our bestsellers. Consuelo, one of our managers and an early fan of Summer and Bird, described it as, “The story of two sisters each trying to find her own way … Continue reading Top Shelf in January: THE RADIANT ROAD by Katherine Catmull
Falling in love is a mind-bending experience. All at once, your future opens before you in a sherbet-tinged horizon of everlasting bliss. Every question in this long, wandering life finds its answer in the miracle face that is suddenly smiling at you in the morning, delivering coffee, staring deep into your eyes because yes, it’s … Continue reading Top Shelf in July: The Hand That Feeds You by A. J. Rich
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan Review by Meghan G. “Your fate is not yet sealed. Even in the darkest night, a star will shine, a bell will chime, a path will be revealed.” In fairy tales, innocents must often venture into the shadows of the forest armed (if they’re lucky) with some breadcrumbs, a magical … Continue reading Top Shelf in May: ECHO by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Y'all might recognize this month's Top Shelf pick from The Colbert Report (and from recent posts right here on this very blog). California by Edan Lepucki is a debut post-apocalyptic novel coming out this month from Hachette Book Group, a publisher locked in a highly publicized struggle with an online retailer that has resulted in restricted access to Hachette's titles. Stephen Colbert … Continue reading Top Shelf in July: CALIFORNIA by Edan Lepucki
Top Shelf in June: The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey Reviewed by Joe Once again it is the month of June, the time when summer kicks in and the heat in Texas becomes nigh unbearable. It’s the time for tubing and swimming, watering holes and greenbelts. When we’re out, we want shade … Continue reading Top Shelf in June: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen Part of me is tempted to sum up this book as: “What would happen if John Hodgman wrote a novel.” I don’t pay this book that complement just because it includes a chart of hobo signs and their meanings, although that did contribute. It’s mostly because … Continue reading Top Shelf for May 2009
You've already heard us mention Philipp Meyer's new novel American Rust when he was coming to the store last month, but we liked the book so much we made it our Top Shelf pick for April. Kester Smith, our New & Noteworthy Book Club leader, had this to say about American Rust. I have been … Continue reading Top Shelf of April
The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry Diving into a really good debut novel is one of my favorite experiences as a reader. Sure, there's excitement when a tried and true favorite puts out the novel he's been working on for years, but there's an unparalleled feeling of discovery when you realize that a person … Continue reading Top Shelf for March 2009
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson In May, I attended a meeting of independent booksellers in Indianapolis. At the beginning of the meeting we performed one of those annoying icebreaker exercises that are so common in both classrooms and boardrooms. Being booksellers, our icebreaker exercise was to introduce ourselves and then tell … Continue reading Top Shelf Pick for September
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