For the coworker or casual acquaintance, the road user, the bipedal human. Bicycles are a common denominator. This is a biography of the bicycle as tool, toy, necessity, amusement, weapon, alternative. In the same way that bicycling down the road gives the rider a slow focus and room to think, reading this full-length exploration of a single thing is a refreshing antidote to fast information.
For the nonfiction reader, good listener, the caring Californian. At the intersection of so many, shall we say, hot topics are the female inmate firefighters of Southern California—read their stories and you’ll never look at Malibu quite the same way again.
For the people who are being crushed with exhaustion, ground down by everything, who could use a moment, this book is a collection of moments that can pull them away from a blinding screen and the noise and the dust. The author is a longtime friend of this bookstore and I am always thrilled to see how her work resonates with people.
For the moon lover, the cat friend, the kid who drifts into sweet dreams while you read to them. Chirri & Chirra encounter the most yummy and magical things in the natural world on their bicycle adventure. Theirs is a friendly, open, and sharing community.
"This is amazing, that this exists." Amy, pg. 28
I'm going to use this space to share a blurb from Fernanda Melchor, who cuts straight to what I was fumbling to say when I sat down to write a recommendation: "Anna Seghers was an admirable woman in many ways, but above all she was a remarkable humanist: she became a model of cultural resistance and ideological struggle who cut across borders, and who, still today, thanks to her work, transcends time and lives on in our memory. Anna Seghers’ novels don’t only recount stories of terror, escape, and oppression; they are a call to compassion and solidarity."
A glance at the life of a historic figure, German expressionist painter Paula Moderohn-Becker who lived - LIVED - in Paris and in an artists’ colony Worpswede. When she stood up, only to die, after childbirth, her dying her word was schade (a pity).
An ode to a passionate literary figure and bookshop in Algiers, this book serves as a reminder of the importance of the printed word and the great lengths people have gone to throughout history to create, preserve, and share books under occupation.
Moving graphic journalism that portrays some seriously underrepresented people with dignity and compassion.
I love this glimpse into the life and art of Yoko Ono, through the spectacles of a young person, with a focus on the major positive impact she has had on the world.
A happy picture book that celebrates ingenuity and community and food, by one of my very favorite illustrators and quilters. The movement in the artwork really highlights the fun of the activities happening in the story—cooking with what you have available, taking pleasure in collaborating, making sure that everybody is taken care of, and cleaning together after a meal.
Don't let Bezos ruin outer space for you! Let Nnedi Okorafor dance you through it, in a three-for-the-price-of-one paperback that you purchase from an independent bookstore here on damaged Earth.
I composed several different recommendations for this book while on my bike commute during the week that I was reading it, but those have escaped me like a dream disappears after you wake up. I know that I wanted to say something about the nature of this book, and I also know that last night I had a dream about a baby bear boogie-boarding.
I am recommending The Sentence sight-unseen, because I couldn’t get my hands on a copy before this catalog went to print. I did read a whole stack of books by Louise Erdrich this year, and loved every single one of them. I am excited to get to read her newest and share it during this intense gift-giving season.
Reads like the best horror novel because it is filled with that feeling of WHATSGOINGTOHAPPEN, but it is not freaky-scary.
Is there anything more delightful than this?
I've been focusing on softness in my visions of the future. This book realizes that vision and offers a sharp critique. A fun, fast, smart read.
You get to take two full courses in Berlin with lecturer Audre in full warrior mode, and have conversations with uses of the erotic Audre, and it is all intense and divine.
This was my favorite read of 2020. It offers a level of honesty and friendship, a sense of time, and a glimpse at radical existence that is so resonant. It is also a celebration of snail mail, and I think it would be an excellent gift to recceive via USPS with some nice stamps on the package.
Everything I had hoped it would be!
A profound, balanced story of trial-and-error compassion, action, and protest. This novel will complement all of the hard nonfiction you're compelled to read right now.
Please don't murder me for saying this, but The Taiga Syndrome is a million times better than Twin Peaks!
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
