Hello Readers,
An amazing 250 individuals registered for our Battle of the Books event earlier this week. In case you missed it, you can check out the replay
here. While gathering as a community on a virtual platform doesn't replace the in-person interaction we miss so dearly, it did remind us what an incredible community we live in while giving us faith that people do still believe in the power of independent bookstores and what we bring to the community beyond physical books. We remain grateful for your continued support.
This week we're bringing you staff picks by way of the Friday Five. And we're always around to connect with you on
Instagram ,
Facebook, and
Twitter. One more thing: Libro.fm continues to offer a tremendous deal to all those who make the switch from Audible to
Libro.fm by gifting new customers with three audiobooks for the price of one. I'm currently listening to
Dirt (see below in New on the Shelf) and it is tremendously fun. Every time I pop in my earbuds, I'm transported to France. Not as good as being there in person but armchair travel at its finest.
Stay home, stay safe, be well.
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Virtual Luncheon with Juliet Grames
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Friday, May 22
12:30PM
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Please join us for a virtual luncheon with author Juliet Grames as we celebrate the paperback release of her beautiful novel,
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna! From Calabria to Connecticut this book is a sweeping family saga about sisterhood, secrets, Italian immigration, the American dream, and one woman's tenacious fight against her own fate.
There is no cost for the book discussion. Our friends at Four Forks have designed a delicious menu to accompany the discussion, available for pick up on Friday morning. Four Forks will accept orders between Sunday, 5/17 (evening) and Thursday, May 21. Your lunch will be ready to pick up beginning at 10AM on 5/22.
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MENU
Grilled Octopus and Summer Veggie Salad with Lemony Italian Vinaigrette
Fusilli with Roasted Tomatoes, Zucchini and Basil
Caprese Crostini
*scroll to Friday to order above menu items
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Richard Haass
in conversation with Kevin Peraino
Tuesday, June 4
7:30 PM
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Please join Barrett Bookstore and our friends at the Darien Community Association as we present Dr. Richard Haass in conversation with Kevin Peraino to celebrate the release of Haass's newest book
The World.
The World is an invaluable primer that will help anyone, expert and non-expert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders. It's an invaluable text designed to provide readers of any age and experience with the essential background and building blocks they need to make sense of this complicated and interconnected world.
Tickets include a hardcover copy of
The World. Books will be available for back door pick-up and out-of-town delivery.
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We're back with a new Friday Five and this week it's all about staff picks. To be honest, we're trying to be positive and continue to put on a brave face but isolation is hard. We dearly miss talking with you, hearing about what you're reading and sharing our thoughts. So this week, we're pretending that we're back behind the counter and you've wandered in looking for a good weekend read.
Robin recommends Anne Enright's
Actress,
a triumphant work of literary fiction that chronicles the relationship between Katherine, a successful/frustrated actress, and the daughter raised in her shadow. Under Enright's pen, the complex mother/daughter relationship is revealed in moments of dark hilarity and downright depressing heartbreak as it showcases what happens when people are thrust into the spotlight, willingly and not.
Dorothy added the
The Glass Hotel
to the list.
It's quite a departure from
Station Eleven (another wildly popular Barrett Bookstore staff pick). St. John Mandel has shifted gears dramatically, offering up a novel set in two disparate locales - New York City and a remote corner of Vancouver Island. The reader travels back and forth as a major Ponzi scheme slowly unravels and the woman at the center of the action disappears. An engaging, transportive read.
Brian Doyle was a writer's writer, the author of several works of fiction and non and until his death in 2017, the editor of
Portland Magazine. His final work,
One Long River of Song, Notes on Wonder tops Cheryl's list. Gone too soon, Doyle left the world due to complications from a brain tumor at age 60. The essays in this book chronicle a life well-lived and beautifully examined. Meditations on mercy, relationships, and grace are balm to weary souls. I can't think of a more perfect read for the time we find ourselves living in.
Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital
from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Oshinsky is acutely pertinent for this moment in time argues Children's Specialist Brianna. Oshinksy chronicles not just the history of one of the most famous public hospitals but also New York City and the medical practice in both the United States and America. The book examines how Bellevue dealt with everything from Yellow Fever to the Spanish Flu, Prohibition, AIDS, and Hurricane Sandy. Readers will learn about the critical role public health played in caring for the underserved through past crisis. Brianna is hopeful that Oshinsky will return to tell the stories of COVID-19 when this time has passed.
Finally, on the lighter side of things, the perfect book for a weekend when temperatures look like they may top out at 80 degrees (we deserve it folks, snow last weekend?!). Yvette recommends throwing
Oona Out of Order in your beach bag and heading for a socially distanced reading session at a recently re-opened park or beach. You'll have great fun following Oona as she lives her life in mixed up manner, each birthday bringing a surprise of which year of her life she'll live.
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