My take on this bittersweet book is that it is about quality time. For that reason, it is a particularly nice book to keep in your tote bag and read on a park bench. And for that reason, I believe that it is also an excellent gift to give to somebody who could use a quiet little winter reset.
Really an amazing document and a pleasure to read.
Down Home Music tells the story of Chris Strachwitz and his Arhoolie Records, the independent record label that brought to wider prominence much of the roots music at America’s lesser-seen proletariat core. From the blues of Lightnin’ Hopkins, to the zydeco of Clifton Chenier, to the conjuntos of Flaco Jiménez, this book, through personal stories and Strachwitz’s own photographs, offers a captivating glimpse into the beautiful music and lives of these artists and the label that helped to share their work. Recommended for fans of Arhoolie Records and the documentaries of Les Blank, as well as lovers of timeless, good music.
Get your butts into gear!
Talk about bleeding through the pages! This book BLEW my mind when I was a teenager and I have held it close ever since.
I fell headfirst into this book about a couple of rose bushes and really loved the experience. It surprised me how much I cared to keep reading. This is an excellent pick if you're looking for something that is both important and enjoyable.
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.
Possibly out of print. Email or call to check availability and price.
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.
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.
Reads like the best horror novel because it is filled with that feeling of WHATSGOINGTOHAPPEN, but it is not freaky-scary.
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.
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.
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!