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JUST ANNOUNCED!
JASON REYNOLDS AT LANEY COLLEGE
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If you've stopped by Mrs. Dalloway's any time in the last 10 years, you've probably interacted with Hut Landon. Whenever Hut is behind the counter his cheerful demeanor positively fills the shop. Our cadre of loyal customers know his name and trust his stellar mystery book recommendations. The staff at Mrs. Dalloway's value Hut's revelry in exciting new projects, deep industry knowledge, steadfast good humor, and light-up-the-room smile.
So it is with much emotion that we announce that Hut will retire from day-to-day bookselling at Mrs. Dalloway's on September 28th. While you won't find him behind the counter anymore, Hut will continue to work a bit behind the scenes, editing the store's weekly newsletter and providing web services remotely.
Before becoming a career bookseller and champion of Indie bookstores, Hut kicked off his career as the assistant publisher of the Pacific Sun, an alternative weekly newspaper based in Marin. He founded Landon Books (1984 - 1999), an independent bookstore and cafe, based first in Novato and then Mill Valley. He went on to serve as Executive Director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) from 1999 to 2015, during which time he helped to create Book Sense, a regional marketing campaign for indies which became a national branding program—renamed Indiebound—for more than 2000 independent bookstores. Hut also oversaw the 2014 creation of California Bookstore Day and its national expansion a year later to Independent Bookstore Day. Following his retirement from NCIBA, he joined Mrs. Dalloway's, where he has worked part-time for nearly a decade.
Hut will continue ("for at least a while") to write and publish the free online book column, Hut’s Place: Weekly Words About New Books in Independent Bookstores.
Stop by on 9/28 (10am-4pm) to wish Hut well on his last day! There will be festivities in the store, we'll have a card to sign, and you can get your final book recommendation from Hut.
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The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave. Dave's newest book is a slow-burn mystery, a family drama and a love story rolled into one. Nora reluctantly partners with her estranged brother Sam to unravel the unsettling circumstances surrounding their father Liam's death, and the two discover that his life was more compartmentalized and secretive than they realized. Present-day action alternates with a decades-old timeline spanning both coasts, and the descriptions of neuroarchitecture (a new concept for me) created an atmosphere that added depth to the story. - Carolyn
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We Solve Murders by Richard Osman. This new mystery series from the jovial creator of The Thursday Murder Club features an unlikely but engaging detecting duo. Steve Wheeler is a retired cop living a quiet life in a small English village while his daughter-in-law Amy Wheeler is an adrenaline-fueled bodyguard to high-end clients. Amy is on the job protecting a world-famous author when a series of murdered online influencers unexpectedly make her a target as well. She enlists the help of a reluctant Steve, and with the additional aid of her eager and well-connected client, the trio set out on a jet setting search for a well-hidden murderer. The plot is outlandish at times but zany characters make for great fun. Osman also finds a humorous use for AI; he has the murderer conceal his identity by asking ChatGPT to write his email correspondence in the style of a friendly English gentleman. - Hut
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Sunderworld Vol. 1: The Extraordinary Disappointments of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs . This young adult series starter from the author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is an action-packed, fast-paced thrill ride that had me hooked from the first page. Leopold Berry is about as average as they come, except that he has visions of inexplicable, magical things that aren’t there…or are they? When Leopold discovers that the televised fantasy world he was obsessed with as a kid is right under his fingertips in Los Angeles, his entire world is turned upside down. This book is perfect for fans of Lev Grossman’s The Magicians and Netflix’s Stranger Things. - Michael
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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros (now in paperback). I devoured this book, a fast-paced, plot-driven romantasy about bookish young woman Violet Sorrengail, who is forced by her mother to enter Basgiath War College and must train to become a DRAGON RIDER. You'll get a spicy dose of enemies-to-lovers romance, a cutthroat academic setting, and grumpy dragons. Super fun and sexy... and did I mention DRAGONS?! - Hannah
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The School For Wicked Witches by Will Taylor (in paperback). In the land of Oz, children with magical abilities are sent to one of four schools to hone their skills. But when Ava Heartstraw’s magic is deemed wicked, she is sent to the ominous fifth school–The School for Wicked Witches. Certain she’s been wrongly transferred, Ava and her new friends are determined to prove that magic is more complicated than being good or evil. This series starter from award-winning author Will Taylor is perfect for fans of Witchlings and The School for Good and Evil. And, it’s the perfect kid-friendly read for fans of Wicked! - Michael
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Crushing It by Erin Becker. I loved this sweet, earnest story about Mel and Tory, two ex-friends who must find a way to get along for the sake of their soccer team. This book is full of friendship drama, identity exploration, self-expression, and poetry. Becker expertly navigates a secret crush that kept me racing to the next page. This book is perfect for soccer fans and anyone looking for more LGBTQ+ representation in middle grade. - Michael
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The Examiner by Janice Hallett. Written in epistolary format, we are introduced to the students (and "examiners") of a Masters of Arts program through text messages, letters, and homework assignments. We become modern-day sleuths, "reading between the lines" of their correspondence. Surprising discoveries, plot twists, and suspicious characters make this mystery a page-turner that I literally couldn't put down. - Jessica
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First in the Family by Jessica Hoppe. “Recovery is a process of narration” writes Jessica Hoppe in her piercing memoir of addiction and recovery. In the genre of "quit lit" (i.e. books about quitting alcohol and drugs and getting sober), a space occupied mainly by white writers, Hoppe's sharp-witted and gutsy book sets itself apart. Hoppe takes a deep dive into the drunken haze and chaos of her late teens and 20's to tell the story of waking up with no memory of what happened the night before, what it means to quit as a Latinx woman, how inherited familial trauma is passed down, what it does to a girl or woman's psyche to not be believed, and how addiction to the "model minority" myth can sometimes be as corrosive to the spirit as a jug of tequila. I'm not gonna lie, this is a serious book about serious shit. I'm so glad Jessica Hoppe carved out the space within sobriety to process all the hard, scary, serious shit, in order to write her story into the world. - Hannah
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Class: A Memoir of Motherhood, Hunger, and Higher Education by Stephanie Land (now in paperback). In Class, Stephanie Land continues her story of her struggles living in poverty as a young mother (Maid), through her college years, and the start of her writing career. Food and housing insecurity are a constant concern. Land also tells of the expectations and roadblocks put up along the way. She’d always wanted to be a writer but “who the **** was I to get a BA in English?” And applying for an MFA in Creative Writing? Many ideas emerge from reading this book - who has the right to create art? Who has the right to go to college? What kind of work is valued in our culture? Through all the challenges, Land shows that she can persevere with wit, strength, and love for her daughter and for herself. - Heida
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Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward (now in paperback)."Let us descend now into the blind world," wrote Dante in Inferno: Canto IV, and Ward resuscitates that descent, conjuring the harrowing coming-of-age journey of Annis, torn from her mother's side and uprooted from one life of enslavement into a deeper Hell. Sold from one "master" to the slave market in New Orleans and into the hands of another, Annis' story is told with an arduous immediacy, the luminous poignancy of Ward's writing in stark contrast to the cruelty on the page. Gripping and powerful. - Hannah
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I Loved You in Another Life by David Arnold (now in paperback). This magical, speculative young adult novel follows two teens, Shosh and Evan, who are inevitably drawn to one another through mysterious songs that only they can hear. Peppered throughout are allusions to other couples across time who have also been brought together by this beautiful "night bird". Brilliant writing, snappy dialogue and well developed characters kept this story of loss, healing, and love humming right along. - Carolyn
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Deadly Game by Michael Caine (now in paperback). Yes, that Michael Caine, and he's delivered a diverting British spy thriller. When a box of weapons-grade uranium goes missing in a small English town, DCI Harry Taylor and his team are assigned the case. The two primary suspects are an aristocratic English art dealer and an ex-KGB Russian oligarch - polar opposites but bitter rivals. Caine creates a series of memorable cat-and-mouse meetings between Taylor and the bad guys and keeps readers guessing as the race to secure the prized bomb fuel attracts additional villains. Deadly Game won't make you forget LeCarre, but it's more than respectable escapist entertainment. - Hut
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Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachael Lippincott (now in paperback). I'm a sucker for a time travel story and this young adult sapphic romantic comedy does not disappoint. Audrey is a struggling art student in 2023 Pittsburgh who finds herself literally dropped into a field in 1812 England. She's discovered by Lucy, a proper young woman of her time who's about to be married off to a horrible man by her equally horrible father. Wonderful supporting characters, well-meaning suitors, sparkling dialogue and terrific pacing had me engaged to the very last page. - Carolyn
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Whalefall by Daniel Kraus (now in paperback). I couldn’t put this book down! The suspense and tension grows consistently throughout as protagonist Jay physically and mentally struggles with having been swallowed by a whale. Impressive, intertwining storylines of the physical present moment juxtaposed against emotional memories of the past and tumultuous family relationships. We enter the guilt-ridden, oxygen-deficient mind of Jay through this excruciatingly tense, life-changing ordeal. Is it all a metaphor? Brilliant! - Jessica
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NEW OFFSITE LOCATION - JOIN THE WAIT LIST
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1
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NEW DATE!
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5
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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3 - Offsite Event
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Celebrate Latine/x Heritage Month with children’s books! Here are some of our favorites for celebrating Latine/x authors, illustrators, characters, and culture, every month of the year! Click HERE to find your next read. | |
Help start a library for a young reader in your life with Mrs. Dalloway’s Little Library subscription service! Every month for the length of your subscription, we'll gift wrap and send your recipient a book that fits their age and interests. Our experienced staff selects titles from our ever-changing inventory of new titles and rediscovered hidden gems. To find out more and sign up, click here.
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LISTEN UP!
Audiobooks from Libro.fm
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We're delighted to be offering our customers an independent source for audiobooks, offered through our partnership with Libro.fm. Here's a little about the company, in its own words:
"By choosing Libro.fm over other audiobook services, you support your local bookstore and invest in your local community. We offer over 125,000 audiobooks via our premium platform (which we built with love from scratch) and give you bookseller recommendations for great audiobooks. And when you contact us, you'll hear directly from one of our team members who will ensure your listening experience is unmatched."
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