From Belinda:
A powerful novel that takes on a polarizing topic, I found A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult (Ballantine $28.99) to be so compelling that I skipped meals and sleep to read it. Hostage negotiator Hugh McElroy is outside of the only women's health clinic in Mississippi that performs abortions, trying to engage with a gunman who has already shot several people and still holds hostages. As bad as the situation is for everyone involved, for Hugh the clinic is his entire world--his daughter is among those inside. Unflinching, the story exposes the conflicting views and wrenching factors that brought all of these people together on this day, in this place. Picoult has masterfully woven a riveting story that led me to compassionately see views that differ from my own.
(Jodi Picoult discusses the novel with John Grisham at Meredith College tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 4th at 7 p.m. Tickets are available with purchase of the book.)
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OUR TAKE TEN STAFFER FOR OCTOBER: KALEY LOWMAN
From Mamie: Kaley is a Ravenclaw, a history lover, and a tea connoisseur. Her best friend is her black cat (and witch's familiar in training), Scotch. When she grows up, she wants to live in a Hobbit hole. Here at QRB, she takes turns bookselling, working in the receiving department, and posting on the store's social media.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Ravenclaw edition) by J.K. Rowling (Bloomsbury $25.50). This book came out when I was 3 years old, and I read it not too long after. The series still plays a huge role in my life today, and I can never go more than a year without rereading all seven books. This Ravenclaw edition contains bonus information.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien (Mariner $20). Tolkien was the ultimate master of world-building, and I never run out of new lore to explore! There is such a solid culture associated with every society in these books, even their own languages, which makes each character feel even more real, and contextualizes the events. And everyone loves a good Hero's Journey.
The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of Everyday by Sharon Blackie (Ambrosia $17.95). This book came to me at just the right time in my life. Blackie explores the philosophical and psychological history of disenchantment, and how Western society came to be so thoroughly and determinedly disenchanted with the world. She offers up an alternative: enchantment, or falling in love with the world and all its complexities.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Penguin Classics $8). This book is lesser known than Pride and Prejudice (which is also a favorite), but dear to me nonetheless. Unlike Lizzy Bennet, who is fiery and overconfident, Elinor Dashwood has a quieter strength, a no-nonsense attitude, and a complex inner world that touches my heart.
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (Anchor $15.95). This novel should be required reading. Every time you think something is unbelievable, gratuitous, or unrealistic, remember that Atwood made a point of only including things that had taken place in the real world. Decades old, it's eerily relevant to the present day.
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft (Orbit $15.99). Though I grew up loving sci-fi and fantasy, as an adult I think it can be hard to find books that avoid the outdated, exclusionary pitfalls common to the genre. It's also unusual to find a book that is different from anything you've ever read. Senlin Ascends provides both these things.
Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves (Rick Steves $19.99). You know Steves from his PBS travel documentaries, where he's a goofy, lighthearted tourist sharing Europe's finest sights. In this book, his approach is more serious, and he discusses the way his travels (outside cozy Western Europe) have informed his politics.
If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home by Lucy Worsley (Bloomsbury $18). Though I do enjoy broader types of history, I am most fascinated by accounts of how people lived on a day-to-day basis. BBC historian Worsley takes us on a room-by-room tour of homes throughout history to explore what life was really like for our forebears. (There's an accompanying documentary that's worth checking out.)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Vintage $16). Ishiguro is a master at transporting readers viscerally into his settings, and this book is no exception. It's dreary and haunting, brooding and intimate; and the nonchalance with which he presents the biggest twist of the novel is quite jarring.
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (HarperCollins $7.99) This book has made me happy since I was little. I love the atmosphere (a rainy Yorkshire moor) and the language; and I don't care what my English professors would have to say about him, Dickon Sowerby is one of my favorite characters in classic literature. Provided you can ignore the imperialist bits, this story still has a meaningful message for children and adults today. * * *
READER REVIEW
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (G.P. Putnam's Sons $26). Wonderful. Very suspenseful. Pulled lots of emotions. Life is so much tougher when we avoid compassion and empathy! Great book for nature lovers. Also good for those who like a literary book that is also a subtle thriller.—Martha
If you'd like to share a review of what you're reading, email to us at [email protected].
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AUTOGRAPHED COPIES
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis (Norton $26.95). What are the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works? Tom Wolfe says of Lewis's writing, "Saturation reporting, conceptual thinking of a high order, a rich sense of humor, and talent to burn."
Gone So Long by Andre Dubus III (Norton $27.95). Dubus's first novel in a decade is a masterpiece of thrilling tension and heartrending empathy.
War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell (Harper $28.99). The epic story of the making of England continues in this next in the Saxon Tales series. "Perhaps the greatest writer of historical adventure novels today"—Washington Post
Limited quantities are on hand. See more of our signed books here.
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NEW IN PAPERBACK
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster $22). "Beneath its diligent research, the book is a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it...."—The New Yorker
Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II by Liza Mundy (Hachette $16.99). Their efforts shortened the war, saved countless lives, and gave them access to careers previously denied to them.
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas (Back Bay $16.99). In this ferociously imaginative novel, five women navigate a future where abortion is once again illegal in America. "Undeniably gorgeously written....Indispensable."Chicago Tribune
Fresh Complaint: Stories by Jeffrey Eugenides (Picador $17). The first collection of short fiction from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex.
Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat into Victory by Michael Korda (Liveright $18.95). Korda, himself one of the evacuees, evinces the drama of this miraculous military rescue mission with "great narrative skill and superb delineation."—David McCullough
Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin Young (Graywolf $18). Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction. "Unexpectedly essential."—Marlon James
Freeman's: The Best New Writing on Power (Grove $16). Featuring work by David Mitchell, Margaret Atwood, Édouard Louis, Aminatta Forna, Julia Alvarez, and more.
The O. Henry Prize Stories 2018 edited by Laura Furman (Anchor $16). From a mix of established writers and emerging voices, these winning stories are accompanied by essays from the eminent jurors on their favorites.
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NOBEL PRIZE FOR LITERATURE IN CRISIS
A sexual harrassment and assault case has unfolded into an even wider crisis within the Swedish Academy, and The Nobel Prize in Literature will not be awarded this year, and possibly not in 2019. A nonprofit called the New Academy composed of independent Swedish publishers, editors, and academes has stepped in to fill the void, nominating 47 authors including Don DeLillo and Elena Ferrante for "The New Prize in Literature". The New Academy has also taken into account more than 30,000 online votes, and the list of finalists was narrowed to four: Maryse Condé, Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami and Kim Thúy. Murakami withdrew his name from consideration, and several of the founding jurors of the New Academy will name the winner from the remaining three on October 12th in Stockholm. Read more at TheGuardian.com.
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NC BOOKWATCH
UNC-TV's NC Bookwatch with host D.G. Martin continues its special primetime shows on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. during October, featuring North Carolina authors whose books have been chosen for PBS's series The Great American Read. Regular programming this week will feature author Stephanie Elizondo Griest with All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands, about returning to South Texas and finding it so changed. Find the full Bookwatch schedule and a link to watch online here.
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QRB EVENTS
TONIGHT, OCT. 3, 7:00 p.m. Bridging the Divide Book Club discusses former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu's book, In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History. Leading the discussion will be Rupert Nacoste, NCSU Professor of Psychology and author of Taking On Diversity: How We Can Move From Anxiety to Respect. The club's goal is to foster dialog and better understanding between people with different political viewpoints and to provide a space for civil discourse on controversial or divisive topics. As with all of our in-store book clubs, participants receive a 21% discount on the discussion book; just let us know at the counter when you purchase it.
THURSDAY, OCT. 4, 7:00 p.m. Jodi Picoult, A Spark of Light. Ticketed event at Meredith College, Jones Auditorium. Picoult will be in conversation with John Grisham discussing her provocative new novel which follows one day in the lives of those who are involved when a gunman enters a women's reproductive health clinic and begins shooting, taking everyone inside hostage. Tickets are required to attend this event. Visit our website for full details and tickets. Co-sponsored by Meredith Friends of the Library. John Grisham will not be able to sign books or take photos.
FRIDAY, OCT. 5, 7:00 p.m. Ally Condie, The Darkdeep. This first book in a new, darkly suspenseful series for ages 8+ by bestselling authors Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs is told in alternating points of view of two of the four characters. Nico, Tyler, Ella, and Opal discover a hidden island where an ancient thing has awakened, drawing them deeper into the unknown. Join us for some slime-making fun!
SATURDAY, OCT. 6, 11:00 a.m. Raleigh's Justice Theater Project discusses Brotopia by Emily Chang, an extraordinary new book that looks at the male-dominated history of Silicon Valley. Justice's resident dramaturg Sara Thompson will lead the discussion. The theater chose the book to go along with its edgy new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House being performed October 1228, a part of the S/HE IS: Becoming Whole season of plays.
SUNDAY, OCT. 7, 2:00 p.m. Sundry Poets: We welcome three North Carolina-based poets reading from their works. Former Hillsborough Poet Laureate Barbara Kenyon brings us Well, It Happened, a collection of poems unified with art and photography. Family doctor and geriatrician in Elkin, N.C., Bill Griffin serves on the Board of the N.C. Poetry Society as Treasurer, and will read from Crossing the River, his first full-length collection. Valerie Macon has won the Gilbert Chapel Distinguished Student Poet award, and The Shape of Today is her fourth book of poetry. Poet Jo Taylor will moderate.
TUESDAY, OCT. 9, 7:00 p.m. Richard Munson, Tesla: Inventor of the Modern. Drawing on letters, technical notebooks, and other primary sources, Munson pieces together the magnificently bizarre personal life and mental habits of the enigmatic Nikola Tesla. While recognizing the inventor's brilliant practical achievements, he'll also tell us how Tesla he lived outside of his time, ushering in a future that others could not yet see.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 10, 7:00 p.m. Tena Clark, Southern Discomfort: A Memoir. Tena Clark is CEO/Chief Creative Officer of DMI Music and has worked with some of the biggest stars in music, including Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, and Natalie Cole. Born in 1953 in a tiny Mississippi town, the legacy of slavery and racial injustice permeated every aspect of life. Her childhood looked like a fairytale, but her life was chaotic, and she understood from an early age that she didn't want to be a beauty queen—she wanted to marry one. Like The Glass Castle and The Help, this profoundly moving memoir is about the times, people and places that shape who we are.
THURSDAY, OCT. 11, 7:00 p.m. James Mustich, 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List. "If you're a reader this is a book you will keep handy and pick up when you have a few minutes to spare and then end up missing appointments, skipping meals, not hearing your phone....No surprise that Mustich is a bookseller: 1,000 Books is like the best of bookstores where discovery lies on every page."—Sarah
FRIDAY, OCT. 12, 7:00 p.m. Michael J. Gerhardt. Impeachment: What Everyone Needs to Know. In an accessible question-and-answer format, this book offers a comprehensive explanation of the impeachment process and examines the scope of impeachable offenses. Gerhardt is a professor of constitutional law at UNC Chapel Hill and a scholar-in-residence at the National Constitution Center. He was the only joint witness in the impeachment of President Clinton, and here he also explores a question that has been askedwill Donald Trump be impeached?
SATURDAY, OCT. 13, 11:00 a.m. Introducing Made 4 Me, a local organization that builds custom adaptive furniture for people with special needs, and which is the new recipient of our bag conservation program. We always ask our customers if they want a bag for their purchases. Now, each time you bring your own bag, or just decline one, we'll donate a nickel to Made 4 Me! The founders of Made4Me will visit and talk about their work, and will have examples for us to see. Find out more at Made4Me.org.
SUNDAY, OCT. 14, 2:00 p.m. Albert Earle Gurganus, Kurt Eisner: A Modern Life. At the end of the First World War, German Jewish journalist and political activist Kurt Eisner led a nonviolent revolution in Munich that deposed the monarchy and established the Bavarian Republic. Eisner was shot by a protofascist aristocrat, plunging Bavaria into political chaos from which Adolf Hitler would emerge. Gurganus will share with us this first comprehensive biography of Eisner written for an English-language audience.
MONDAY, OCT. 15, 7:00 p.m. James Scott, Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila. Driven from the Philippines at the beginning of World War II, General Douglas MacArthur famously vowed to return. From extensive new research, this is the untold story of the liberation of Manila, which resulted in its catastrophic destruction, and the brutalization of its civilians, by Japanese forces. Scott will recount for us this heartbreaking chapter of Pacific War history; he is a 2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist and the author of Target Tokyo.
TUESDAY, OCT. 16, 7:00 p.m. Therese Anne Fowler, A Well-Behaved Woman: A Novel of the Vanderbilts. This is a Reserved Seating Event. The bestselling author of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald now brings us a riveting novel of Alva Smith, the woman who became Alva Vanderbilt and eventually led not only New York's Gilded Age high society, but also the women's suffrage movement. Click here for tickets and more information.
Find our full calendar of events here.
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BOOK CLUBS & MEETINGS (Everyone welcome)
TONIGHT, OCT. 3, 7:00 p.m. BRIDGING THE DIVIDE, In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu.
SATURDAY, OCT. 6, 10:30 a.m. CAROLINAKINDER GERMAN STORYTIME. Introduce children ages 4–7 to German language and culture with stories, songs, games and crafts.
MONDAY, OCT. 8, 7:00 p.m. NOT FOR MEN ONLY, Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult.
TUESDAY, OCT. 9, 2:30 p.m. OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute), When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
THURSDAY, OCT. 11, 7:00 p.m. LITERARY HORROR, Hell House by Richard Matheson.
SUNDAY, OCT. 14, 2:00 p.m. WRITERS COFFEEHOUSE, Every writer of any kind at any stage in their writing career is welcome to join this discussion and networking group, and there is no set agenda. Not a peer review/critique group.
MONDAY, OCT. 15, 7:00 p.m. UNDERSTANDING THE MIDDLE EAST, Ghost Wars by Steve Coll; finishing the book, discussing chapters 17–end.
THE FREAKIN' AWESOME BOOK CLUB, for young adults with developmental disabilities, meets Sundays at 4:45 p.m. at QRB or in members' homes. Currently reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. Contact facilitator Marlyn Wells at [email protected] for more information.
QRB TEEN WRITERS COLLECTIVE. Always meets virtually and usually meets physically at the NC State University Club on the first, third and fifth Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 p.m.; email [email protected] for more information.
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Quail Ridge Books
34 Years of Independent Bookselling
919-828-1588
QuailRidgeBooks.com
“There is an art of reading, as well as an art of thinking, and an art of writing.”~~Isaac D'Israeli
For inquiries concerning QuailMail contact editor Kent Bryant at [email protected].
Links to browse or shop the books:
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Travel as a Political Act by Rick Steves
If Walls Could Talk by Lucy Worsley
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
Gone So Long by Andre Dubus
War of the Wolf by Bernard Cornwell
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
Code Girls by Liza Mundy
Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Fresh Complaint: Stories by Jeffrey Eugenides
Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk by Michael Korda
Bunk by Kevin Young
Freeman's on Power
The O. Henry Prize Stories 2018 by Laura Furman
All the Agents and Saints by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
In the Shadow of Statues by Mitch Landrieu
The Darkdeep by Ally Condie
Brotopia by Emily Chang
Well, It Happened by Barbara Kenyon
Crossing the River by Bill Griffin
The Shape of Today by Valerie Macon
Tesla by Richard Munson
Southern Discomfort by Tena Clark
1,000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich
Impeachment by Michael J. Gerhardt
Kurt Eisner by Albert Earle Gurganus
Rampage by James Scott
A Well-Behaved Woman by Therese Anne Fowler
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Hell House by Richard Matheson
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J. K. Rowling