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Greetings from your local angelic troublemakers! Here's what's shaking at the shop this month:
- February's book club pick is Emily Ruskovich's Idaho! We'll meet to discuss this stunning novel on Monday, March 5th at 6:30PM. Join us!
All in-store events are FREE and open to the public. Can't wait to see what we've got brewing in months to come? As always, you can find our full events listings by visiting
our website.
Simply looking for a new book? Scroll down to peruse our latest recommendations.
See you soon!
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We're always eager to hear how we can be the best neighborhood bookstore we can be. We're super nice and very approachable and LOVE talking about books. Pick your favorite technology to contact us or stop by today!
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This month's newest titles are picked, as always, from the fevered minds of the employees at Unabridged. Comments always appreciated. Email the store at
unabridged@unabridgedbookstore.com or call us at 773.883.9119.
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OUR BOOK OF THE MONTH
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Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
First of all, I loved
Lincoln in the Bardo. It is a Dante-esque tour thru a Georgetown cemetery teeming with spirits(the "bardo" a sort of Buddhist limbo where souls temporarily reside between death and the next life). I loved the novel's unique narrative form - a kaleidoscope of seemingly fragmented voices, a collage of short testimonies, that forma tapestry of grief centering on the death of Abraham Lincoln's young son Willie. It is a novel set in the past, but surprisingly timely (and funny!), with a lot here to think about - mortality, grief and the way memory lingers; the whole notion of unfinished business; and our stubborn, nostalgic attachment to life, the tenuous, existential state shared by us all.
Lincoln in the Bardo is profound, vital and stylistically creative. Read it and see for yourself!!
Ed loved and highly recommends!
In paperback, fiction, 17.00; Random House Trade.
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FEBRUARY'S BOOK CLUB PICK
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Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
This stunning novel explores mysterious familial pasts and the erosion of memory in psychologically incisive and haunting ways. Propelled by elegiac language that is pure poetry, Ruskovich creates both a lush and rugged landscape of Idaho that is as emotional as it is geographical. With shifting perspectives and alternating time periods,
Idaho makes demands of the reader and doesn't offer easy answers, but to surrender to its power and eerie magic is like being trapped in a nightmare so enticing that you never want to wake from it.
Shane recommends!
In paperback, fiction, 17.00; Random House Trade.
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WINTER by Ali Smith
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Winter, the second volume in Ali Smith's seasonal quartet, is, like
Autumn, brimming with humanity and wisdom. It is inventively constructed, playing with time, playing with memory, and playing with language (puns and clever word play). And, like
Autumn,
Winter is Smith's consoling and inspiring artistic response to "this mad and bitter mess" of the present. In a modernist style that crackles with energy, and with a writerly lens that is both telescopic and microscopic, Smith's characters navigate politics, family relationships and affairs of the heart all while thoroughly grounded in the contemporary moment we now face. This novel is both entertainment and solace for our uncertain modern times. After WINTER, I am eagerly awaiting SPRING!
Ed LOVED and HIGHLY RECOMMENDS!!
In hardcover, fiction, 25.95; Pantheon Books.
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THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by A. J. Finn
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Fans of the genre, rejoice!
The Woman in the Window is a well-executed and thoroughly enjoyable suspense novel that delivers on the thrills with the best of them. Anna is a woman haunted by her past. She suffers from agoraphobia, and has a drug and alcohol problem too. From a window in her home, Anna witnesses a murder. Or does she? Great plot, solid characters, claustrophobic atmosphere, and thrills to spare. Terrific for a train or a plane or at night.
Owen recommends.
In hardcover, fiction, 26.99; William Morrow & Company.
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THE LARGESSE OF THE SEA MAIDEN by Denis Johnson
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The second and last story collection by the late Denis Johnson is as gritty, funny, and sad as his seminal work,
Jesus' Son. It's also remarkably different, reflecting, surely, Denis' preoccupation with aging and death at this point in his writing (and life). Some of the stories here are better than others - some of them feel like Denis is trying to fit too much in these pages. But even his stories that don't quite work hold brilliance - and serve, to me, as a fascinating culmination of a life's work. The story "Triumph Over the Grave" is worth the price alone.
Tim recommends.
In hardcover, fiction, 27.00; Random House.
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MRS. CALIBAN by Rachel Ingalls
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Rachel Ingalls' sophisticated novel (originally published in 1983 and now lovingly reissued by the good folks at New Directions) has drawn numerous comparisons to Guillermo del Toro's
The Shape of Water. While plot-wise the two certainly share DNA (woman aids misunderstood amphibious monster on the lam, woman falls in love with misunderstood amphibious monster, sexiness ensues), that is where the similarities end.
Mrs. Caliban opens on Dorothy, a shell-shocked suburban housewife estranged from her husband and reeling from the loss of two children. Enter Larry, a 6'7" frog-man on the run from his captors who appears in Dorothy's kitchen one evening in need of asylum. As romance blooms between housewife and fugitive, Dorothy attempts to explain human society to Larry only to discover she herself finds it largely inscrutable. Larry discovers a bottomless appetite for avocados. Acutely philosophical, gently melancholic, and wickedly funny,
Mrs. Caliban is a true gem.
Katharine highly recommends.
In paperback, fiction, 13.99; New Directions Publishing Corporation.
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PERFECT by Rachel Joyce
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In
Perfect, 11-year-old Byron is gripped with a kind of existential dread (brought on by the addition of two seconds to the calendar), and his fear of disorder is soon all too justified. The novel is very atmospheric, parts of the story fraught with a gothic dread. There are two distinct story lines, told in alternating chapters, and a whole array of well-drawn characters that will keep your interest to the end. Once again, like in her previous
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, the story gets darker as it proceeds, and deals with the crushing restrictions of class and the stigma of mental illness.
Ed highly recommends!
In paperback, fiction, 16.00; Random House Trade.
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HISTORY OF WOLVES by Emily Fridlund
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Now in paperback!
This book made me uncomfortable. For starters, I had no idea where this novel was going, from one chapter to the next. I had trouble reading the complicated loner, Linda, who we follow in her teenage years. Her relationships are troubled, her perspective skewed by her early years in a chaotic commune. She befriends a "seemingly ideal" family living across the lake, but is it really a friendship? What is everyone really after?
Did I mention that I loved this book? Or that not knowing where this story was going was a thrilling experience? By the end of Fridlund's debut novel, I was floored, unsettled. I was left with more questions than answers - and, in this case, I loved it!
Tim recommends!
In paperback, fiction, 16.00; Grove Press.
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HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
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With the sheer abundance of new books responding to our current political crisis, it's difficult to distinguish between those that are just cashing in on the chaos versus those that are truly relevant.
How Democracies Die is the latter. In it, professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt show how democracies have collapsed throughout history, creating a framework to draw parallels to the United States and Trump. They also reveal what we can learn from countries where autocracy has risen out of the ashes of democracy. This demise of democracy, they argue, rarely happens with a bang, but instead happens incrementally, and relies on the normalization of these overt and covert changes. Trump is merely a symptom and not the cause, they believe, and democracy can only survive and thrive with the active engagement and participation from its citizens. This work may be scholarly, but it is not written for academics. It's written for concerned citizens. Insightful, provocative, accessible, and sometimes downright disturbing, this book is essential for anyone looking to make sense of this mess. There are no easy answers, and this book doesn't pretend to have them. But it's a great place to start.
Shane recommends!
In hardcover, non-fiction, 26.00; Crown Publishing Group.
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HOW WE GET FREE: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective edited by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
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If you are having trouble wrapping your mind around the recent outpouring of criticism of white feminism, you may want to pick up a copy of How We Get Free. This remarkable book tracks the development of the Combahee River Collective, a Black feminist lesbian organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980. The text includes the Combahee River Collective statement, a powerful document from which the phrase "identity politics" originates and which also articulated the notion of intersectionality years before Kimberlé Crenshaw came along. Also included are interviews with the statement's three authors, Barbara Smith, Beverly Smith, and Demita Frazier, as well as #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Alicia Garza, and historian and activist Barbara Ransby. All of this situates the CRC statement in a rich historical and theoretical framework crucial to understanding the development and continued importance of the Black feminist movement.
Katharine can't recommend this book highly enough.
In paperback, non-fiction, 15.95; Haymarket Books.
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TO MY TRANS SISTERS edited by Charlie Craggs
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To My Trans Sisters by activist Charlie Craggs is an important collection of dozens of letters from trans "elders" imparting pearls of wisdom and experience to other trans people at various points on their journey. In addition to being a wonderful tool for the trans community, Craggs' book also provides a solid avenue of understanding for all readers.
Owen recommends.
In paperback, non-fiction, 18.95; Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
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INSIDE/OUT by Joseph Osmundson
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The ever-reliable Sibling Rivalry Press has delivered the goods again with Joseph Osmundson's daring Inside/Out. This fusion of memoir and poetry utilizes the traditional "break-up" narrative in new and exciting ways, exploring interracial relationships, sex, identity, longing, and loss. Osmundson's writing is fresh and candid, cleverly imbued with nuances of queer theory, and intimate in a way that lends weight and relevancy to the insights revealed. Vulnerability is a powerful thing, and Osmundson exposes it with a keen eye for brutality and beauty. This evocative little book will nestle in a dark corner of your heart and stay there.
Shane recommends!
In paperback, non-fiction, 17.00; Sibling Rivalry Press.
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HOPE IN THE HOLLER by Lisa Lewis Tyre
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A middle grade story that's
packed with lovable characters and heartstrings-tugging emotion.
Wavie's life was turned upside-down when her mother passed away and now she must live with a long-lost, and not very kind, aunt she has never met. Things start looking up when Wavie befriends some kids in her neighborhood who show her the compassion she has been missing. A moving, well-penned story about family, friendship, and hope. I experienced all sorts of emotions reading this...From anger (those scheming relatives!) to
pure joy!
IANNI'S PICK
In hardcover, fiction, 16.99; Nancy Paulsen Books.
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S.T.A.G.S. by M. A. Bennett
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If Donna Tartt wrote a season of Pretty Little Liars she might have come up with this psychological thriller set at St. Aidan the Great School, or S.T.A.G.S., a prestigious English boarding school for the elite ruled by a wealthy, glittering clique called the Medievals.
When Greer, a lonely scholarship transfer student gets suddenly invited to an exclusive weekend retreat she...YIKES! This is a riveting, twisty tale and an interesting take on privilege, class, morality, and technology with a clever, chatty protagonist and an engaging secondary cast.
IANNI'S PICK
In hardcover, fiction 18.99; Delacorte Press.
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THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE by Leslie Connor
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A moving, sensitively written book that broke my heart and put it back together. Leslie Connor draws you into Mason's story within a page or two and you will fall in love with him, his new quirky best friend and his struggling family. Although it deals with some difficult issues (bullying, learning disabilities, and death) it's not a dark novel. Instead it's a poignant and humorous story about resilience, redemption, love and hope for a brighter future for all. Oh, there's also a sweet, loving dog!
IANNI'S PICK
In hardcover, fiction 16.99; Katherine Tegen Books.
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