War as They Knew It - Nate Schuur

If you have not already seen, Michael Rosenberg's book War as They Knew It was reviewed in today's New York Times Book Review. We on the staff like the book (and its author). Come in and check it out!
- Nathan Schuur

Judging Books by Their Covers

Sometimes book covers demand that you open them up and take a look at what's inside. But who would have thought that some of the best covers would show up on the classics? I've been raving about the covers that Penguin came out with for a handful of classic reads like Frankenstein, The Three Musketeers, and Candide. I want to give Penguin a big hug, not just for creating hilarious comic strip renditions of the tales inside, but for devoting their design efforts to older literature that often gets overlooked among the zillions of new reads that make their way onto store shelves. It's great to see these stories get revived covers; I don't know why people think that "classic" books should have oil paintings on the cover. Come on, these books are still great - that's why they're called "classics" (though I know different people have different definitions of what constitutes a classic. But that's a different topic altogether).
Anyway, the comic covers are fantastic in and of themselves. When you combine them with a great read, it's a winning combination. These are some of the best ever!

Love,war and potato peel pies

I've just finished reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Fiery Barrows and Mary Ann Fiery. If you've heard good things about this book, they're all true. I was sorry to reach the last page and say goodbye to all the characters that I had come to know. Told in correspondence between a writer and the inhabitants of Guernsey, the book takes place in 1946 while Britain and the world are still recovering from the devestation of WWII. It starts out relatively light in content and feeling, but as the letters grow longer and true friendships are formed, more is revealed about life under German occupation in Guernsey for those who stayed on the island and for those unfortunates sent off to camps. If you're looking for a book that is a pure pleasure to read, I highly recommend this one.
Also, if you have read this book and enjoyed both the format and tone, I'd also recommend 84 Charing Cross Road. One of my favorites.

Indignation - Nathan Schuur

Every few months, I encounter a book that simply defies being put down. Try as I might, I must read until I have either finished the book or collapsed with exhaustion. Today (yesterday, actually), I discovered that Philip Roth's latest book, Indignation, is one of those books. I started it at 2:30, read until the moment class started at 3:30, picked it back up again at 5:00, pried myself away from it again at 6:30 and pretended to be interested in the various German possessive adjectives, picked the book back up the second class ended at 9:00, and only now am I able to do anything else.
It is brilliant. There are few other ways to describe what I mean and most of those involve me shouting at the top of my lungs. Beautiful. Wonderful- the kind of wonderful where I think I might need to read it again tomorrow (today, in fact).
Writers like Philip Roth- who even after 29 novels has not run out of things to say- are rare and books like Indignation, which have a 224-page buildup to an elegantly delivered punch-in-the-gut conclusion that leaves the reader in total awe are doubly so.

reading ahead

One problem we might run into doing a blog about the books we're reading, is that very often the books we're reading aren't out yet. Publishers send out advance copies of books to booksellers so that we can read them ahead and be ready to recommend them when they hit the shelves. So I may be reading a really great book that comes out next Febuary. Oh wait, I just did. I've just read Jonathan Barnes' upcoming book, The Domino Men. It's a gritty fantasy. And while set in modern London, it has the feel of an earlier time. I also enjoyed his previous book, The Somnambulist which is coming out in paperback in January. This one actually is set in an earlier London. So when you ask us what's the last book we've read that we really liked, you may have to wait a while to read them for yourself.

Did I really just cook a meal more complex than spaghetti? - Nate Schuur

One of my favorite ways to kill time during the three-and-a-half hour break between classes is browsing the McSweeney's blog. The current post, Ulysses reimagined in a few ways that have probably set James Joyce spinning in his grave, is absolutely excellent.

On Friday, I discovered what I consider to be the best cookbook ever printed on this earth. It's Freshman in the Kitchen by Max and Eli Sussman. I'm a pretty typical teenage male, so the fact that I am offering my praise to-- of all things-- a cookbook, should give some indication of how excellent a cookbook this is. The recipes are extraordinarily easy to follow and quite delicious. I particularly recommend the recipe for stuffed green peppers on page 76. I bought the only copy in the store, but if you check back in a few days, you should be able to find it.

Stay tuned for more.

What It Is, pt 2

What It Is is a fantastic book. At first, I didn't really have any interest in it, but once I started looking through it I realized that even though it's primarily directed at a fiction writing audience, there are plenty of exersizes that I can use in my class. Actually, this book is the inspiration for a large part of the first essay my students have to write.

writer's block

So I was reading Jacks blog, hi Jack, and he mentioned having writers block which put me in mind of a book, of all things. This is Jessie by the way. The book that came to mind is Lynda Barry's What It Is. Lynda Barry is a brilliant (in my opinion) writer who uses drawings and a collage style in her books. What It Is is all about unlocking what's in your mind and getting it down on paper. It's full of short excersises to get your creative juices flowing. Anyone can write. You don't have to make a living at it or even do it particularly well. Just start doing it. Even if no one ever sees a page of it. You can do it just for you, and Lynda can help you get started. I would also recommend her book 100 Demons. Did I mention she's brilliant?

Life is too short to read bad books.

Of course, what constitutes a bad book is a matter of opinion, and some of the best arguments can be had about books that have made different impressions on different people. But, in the interests of open communication, and of living up to what we said we would do, how about a few books we did not care for (to put it mildly), books that have received lot of hype in other quarters.
One of our best examples is "Glass Books of the Dream Eaters" by Dahlquist. Closely followed by the book that has caused so much fuss recently "Jewel of Medina" the fictional biography of Mohammed's fourth wife. We read advance copies and were distinctly underwhelmed.
We operate a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on books at Nicola's. If you ask us our opinion, we will offer it, good or bad, but we won't push our opinion on you if you don't wish for it!
Then, just to balance it up, here are a few books we really like, that may be under the radar for you. "Jewel Trader of Pegu" by Hantover - an exquisite little book, all in letters from a nephew in the Far East back to his uncle in Venice set in around 1600. Nigel Slater's "Toast" a memoir of his childhood and particularly, his mother's cooking, and the cooking of England on the 60's and 70's., not exactly its heyday - his memories fit exactly with mine - and his examples are perfect.

okay let try this again

Okay so there I am staring at the tyranny of the blank page with a mild case of writers block
and I dunno all of a sudden the stupid computer said I had successfully posted a blog. I was kinda of happy (hey good job!) and in total disbelief. I hadn't even gotten started. So my name is Jack and you probably know by now that I am somewhat of a Luddite. Anyway again I say welcome and we thought we would tell you all about the book world. Books that we want to recommend. Insider gossip of the book business. What kind of events we are having and how they go. We hope there is an audience for this project and would like to hear from you.

There is a new book that I really liked. The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti. Basically think Charles Dickens in early 19th century New England. Young Ren is an orphan (of course) who one day is rescued from the monastery by his long lost brother Benjamin Nab. Ren was the victim of an Indian raid and his family all died except for him and Benjamin. The adventure begins! Filled with colorful characters and mysteries to be solved this is a great fast read. It's an American novel so its a lot shorter than Dickens. It just came out in hardcover and is twenty five dollars

So I'll be back tomorrow with something else to say. I want to look up a story about Dashell Hammett. I'm pretty sure he had writers block for years. But every day would get up and stare at his typewriter with a blank piece of paper in it

What's it all about?

Welcome!

Oh, the potential . . .

We're excited about our new blog! This is our space to talk about the books we are reading and thinking about and discussing amongst ourselves. Our goal is to add content weekly, though we appreciate your patience and understanding while we get this new project off the ground. If you have feedback we would love to read your comments. However, as this site is affiliated with our store, we reserve the right to remove posts that we feel are inappropriate.

We can't wait to write about the books we love, the books we hate, and whatever else strikes our fancy