I Love a Broad Margin to My Life
Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007–2010
Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas
Where the God of Love Hangs Out
Stories of Your Life and Others
We Have Met the Enemy
Nothing to Envy
Parrot & Olivier in America
Inside of a Dog
Bookshop Santa Cruz recommends:
I Love a Broad Margin to My Life
by Maxine Hong Kingston
In her singular voice—humble, elegiac, practical—Maxine Hong Kingston (“The Woman Warrior”) sets out to reflect on aging as she turns 65. The spirit of this wonderful book gives a sense of doors opening wide onto an American life of great purpose and joy.
Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007–2010
by Adrienne Rich
Acclaimed poet Adrienne Rich’s new collection addresses relationships—partings/reconciliations, solidarities/ruptures, trust/betrayal, and exposure/withdrawal. Rich has said, “I believe almost everything I know, have come to understand, is somewhere in this book.”
Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas
by Rebecca Solnit
“Infinite City,” Solnit’s brilliant and super-cool reinvention of the traditional atlas, examines the many layers of meaning in one place: San Francisco. “At last a field book with the sense of San Francisco—the non sense, the real sense, the mysteries of the microclimates, gays and butterflies, gangs, boulevards and mysterious alleys. All here!” says Michael McClure.
Where the God of Love Hangs Out
by Amy Bloom
This book broke our hearts in the sweetest way possible. Two quartets of interlocked short stories lend the collection the satisfying feeling of a novel. This is a gem of a book that is truly beautiful and should not be missed.
Capitola Book Café recommends:
Stories of Your Life and Others
by Ted Chiang
This collection of short stories deserves constant re-introduction. Ted Chiang narrows the broad line between fiction and science fiction by taking a scalpel to “normal,” transforming it in ways that will blow your mind and challenge your beliefs. It’s a breathless ride.
We Have Met the Enemy
by Daniel Akst
In a world where distraction and indulgence come tailor-made to meet our immediate desires, how do we look the donut in the face and say no? Daniel Akst guides us through the minefield of temptation with fresh perspective and a keen sense of just how much it takes to step away from an impulse. Oh, the humanity.
Nothing to Envy
by Barbara Demick
Barbara Demick’s impeccable and provocative reporting allows us an unusual glimpse into a place that has, up until now, remained well hidden away. But what sets her work apart from most prior resources about North Korea is its profound sense of humanity. These are everyday stories of people making their way under staggeringly brutal circumstances. An eye opener.
Parrot & Olivier in America
by Peter Carey
A crowded, boisterous historical odyssey through the landscape and idea of America, Peter Carey’s expansive novel holds us up to ourselves in grand, comic, and sometimes tragic fashion. His characters eagerly embody the American potential even as they expose the great gaps that still split our relatively new democracy.
Inside of a Dog
by Alexandra Horowitz
A refreshing book in the never-ending sea of dog books, mainly because it’s actually about dogs, not how they capture our hearts or save our marriages, but how they think and smell and perceive the world around them. Stop projecting your personal issues onto Fido and walk a mile in his paws. It’ll do you good.
