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DISCOVER YOUR NEXT GREAT BOOK
DEC 2019
e n o y r e v e Gifts for
Also inside 100 Best Books of 2019
Comfort & Joy
Holiday Romance
Best fiction, nonfiction, mystery & more
Laura Weir shares the secrets to coziness
Mistletoe magic, all wrapped up in a bow
2
BookPage
®
DECEMBER 2019
cover story Holiday Gift Guide 4
features 22
Books for everyone on your list
26
meet the author
27
Nathan W. Pyle 29
29
Laura Weir The queen of cosy
Gift books: pop culture For the culture vulture who’s seen everything
Yuval Zommer 39 Meet the author-illustrator of The Tree That’s Meant to Be
30
33 34 35
14 15
Gift books: inspiring women For trailblazers and sisters-in-arms
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Gift books: Hanukkah For the mensch with the most
32
Gift books: hiking For the nature lover planning their next adventure
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39
columns
Gift books: stressed out For your most frazzled friend
31
reviews
Whodunit Well Read Audio Book Clubs Romance Lifestyles
Gift books: homebodies For those who are secretly glad when plans get canceled
Meet the author-illustrator of Strange Planet
Fiction Nonfiction Young Adult Children’s
Best of 2019 Editors pick the year’s best books
Gift books: young adult For teens who can’t wait to see how the story ends
37
Gift books: kids For curious young minds
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Holiday picture books Seasonal books to make spirits bright
16 17 19 20 Cover image credit Adobe iStock/jennylipmic.
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER Michael A. Zibart
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephanie Appell
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CHILDREN’S BOOKS Allison Hammond
PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Trisha Ping
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CONTRIBUTOR Roger Bishop
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EDITORIAL INTERN Prince Bush
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SUBSCRIPTIONS Katherine Klockenkemper
EDITORIAL POLICY
SUBSCRIPTIONS
BookPage is a selection guide for new books. Our editors evaluate and select for review the best books published in a variety of categories. BookPage is editorially independent; only books we highly recommend are featured.
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B O O K P A G E • 2 1 4 3 B E L C O U R T AV E N U E • N A S H V I L L E , T N 3 7 2 1 2 • B O O K P A G E . C O M
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Fiction
$16
’Tis the season for love and laughter . . .
9781501191
602
The Guardians
Warrior of the Altaii
A small-town lawyer locks horns with a ruthless, powerful syndicate determined to keep a wrongfully accused man behind bars in John Grisham’s electrifying new thriller.
Fantasy legend Robert Jordan’s never-beforepublished first novel is exciting for fans of the #1 bestselling The Wheel of Time® series, as well as a great entry point for new readers.
Tor
$16
Doubleday $29.95
9781250247650
9781982102
036
$27.99 9780385544184
$16
Home for the holiday
54 9781982105
9
Get your jingle boots rocked this holiday season with page-turning reads that celebrate the “home” in down-home.
Kensington 9780786044023
$7.99
9781496721303
$15.95
9781420145618
$7.99
9781501197
420
$16
Mistletoe kisses and more
Fill your Christmas with stolen kisses, second chances and unexpected love from today’s most beloved romance authors.
Give someone (or yourself!) one of these sparkling stories.
Zebra
9781496720283
$15.95
9781420146080
$8.99
9781420145892
$15.99
Gallery
5
Ninth House
Great book club reads
From bestselling author Leigh Bardugo comes a mesmerizing tale of power, privilege and dark magic set among the Ivy League elite.
There’s something for every book club (and book club friend): historical romance, a genre-bending literary debut and an acclaimed classic of dystopian fiction.
Flatiron $27.99
Forever 9781538764893
$10.99 9781538745823
9781250313072
Chills for the holidays
$27
9781538732182
$16.99
$10.99–$27
Murder, mayhem and Christmas cozy mysteries
Three blockbuster authors return with pulse-pounding novels that beg to be read close to the fire.
Grand Central $16.99–$30
9781496723604
$21.95
9780316526883 $29
9781538761601
9780316530415
9781538731338 9781496718457
9781496726926
$20
$12.95
Kick back with something sweet and indulge in these holly jolly Christmas capers from bestselling cozy mystery authors! 9781538748442
Finding Chika Bestselling author Mitch Albom returns to nonfiction for the first time in over a decade to celebrate Chika, a young Haitian orphan whose short life would forever change his heart.
Harper
$24.99
9780062952394
Kensington
$16.99
Santa brought you a gift of two Cross detectives
A brilliant killer is trying to assassinate Alex Cross. Ali Cross is searching for his missing best friend. There are plenty of signature Cross thrills and action for readers of all ages.
Little, Brown
6
Nonfiction
Me In his first and only official autobiography, music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life, from his roller-coaster lifestyle to becoming a living legend.
Holt $30
9781250147608
Grit & Grace
Wild Game
Women
From country music legend and Billboard chart-topper Tim McGraw comes a one-of-a-kind celebrity lifestyle book that melds personal story with advice to transform your life.
This is a brilliant memoir of a daughter living in the thrall of her magnetic, complicated mother, and the chilling consequences of her complicity. “Gorgeous, addictive, unflinching.” —J. Courtney Sullivan
National Geographic opens its century-old collection of 64 million photographs to reveal and honor the lives of women from around the globe.
Harper Wave $29.99
National Geographic $50
HMH $27
9780062915931
9781426220654
9781328519030
9780764357992
Celebrate 35 years of Transformers! All of Which I Saw
Transformers: A Visual History, the most comprehensive compilation of Transformers artwork ever assembled, is the definitive collectible for fans of all ages.
Viz Media
“Belongs on the shelf of anyone who wants to know the reality of what America did in Iraq.” —Quil Lawrence, former Baghdad Bureau Chief, NPR
$49.99
Schiffer Military
9781974710584
$34.95
Woodstock: 50 Years of Peace and Music
Southern Women This collection of original interviews, essays and portraits from 100 groundbreaking Southern women paints a progressive portrait of the region today. $32.50
In this stunning visual history book, custom maps tell the story of World War II from the rise of the Axis powers to the dropping of the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Woodstock: a single weekend in August 1969 that defined a generation. Open this book and go back to those three magical summer days.
Harper Wave 9780062859365
World War II Map by Map
9781623545314
Imagine $29.99
9781465481795
DK $40
Zoology: The Secret World of Animals
Almanac 2020
Six Ingredients With Six Sisters’ Stuff
Whether 12 years old or 112, readers with an itch to know more about the world will be addicted to this high-energy book packed with new discoveries.
Whether you’re interested in specific animal groups, such as mammals or birds, or simply have a passion for wildlife photography, this beautiful book will delight, fascinate and surprise.
The eighth cookbook from the popular familyfriendly bloggers includes easy meals and “Kid Favorite” recipes—each using just six ingredients.
National Geographic $19.99
DK
9781465482518 9781426220524
$21.99
Atlas Obscura, 2nd Edition
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier
The #1 New York Times bestselling guide to the most unusual, curious, bizarre and mysterious places to visit is now updated with 120 new entries and a pullout map.
Celebrated National Geographic photojournalist Joel Sartore continues his Photo Ark quest, photographing species around the world that are escaping extinction thanks 9781426220593 to human efforts.
Food Network favorite Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, cooks up exciting new favorites from her life on the ranch.
Workman $37.50
National Geographic
9780062561374
$40
The Complete Baking Book for Young Chefs
Full Circle Laugh, reminisce and discover the inspiring story of fame, resilience and the reboot of a lifetime, all chronicled in a memoir from the woman behind Kimmy Gibbler, the zany neighbor from “Full House.”
This is the riveting story of how Bill Marriott grew the family business from a root beer stand to the largest hotel chain in the world.
Shadow Mountain
For the first time, America’s Test Kitchen is bringing their baking expertise to children— with the must-have baking cookbook for every kid chef!
Citadel
$29.99
$27 9781629726007
9780806539881
CBD
Guitar
This essential book on cannabis as medicine explains how Cannabidiol (CBD) can safely treat many health conditions with remarkable results, as well as low to no psychoactivity or negative side effects.
This lushly photographed book, presented in an irresistible slipcase, features 200 instruments in stunning detail. It’s a glorious gift for every guitar lover.
9781492677697
Sourcebooks Explore $19.99
How to Raise a Reader This is an indispensable guide to welcoming children—from babies to teens—to a lifelong love of reading, written by Pamela Paul and Maria Russo, editors of the New York Times Book Review.
Workman $35
North Atlantic
William Morrow Cookbooks $29.99
9781523506484
Bill Marriott: Success Is Never Final
9781629725994
Shadow Mountain
$50
The Photo Ark Vanishing
7
Workman
$21.95 9781523505302 9781623171834 9781523507726
$19.95
8
The Umbrella Academy Library Editions
Fun Choices
The inspiration for the Netflix hit! Each oversize book collects an entire story arc, plus previously uncollected short stories and extensive sketchbook sections with creator commentary.
Dark Horse Comics $39.99 each 9781506715483
9781506715476
Pop culture picks for everyone on your list Be a gift-giving legend with these delightful and unexpected books.
Dark Horse Comics $12.99–$24.99
9781683691556
$19.99
9781683691228
$14.99
9781683690429 $24.99 9781683690948
9781683691495
$12.99
$14.99
White Bird
Knopf
9780593105191
9780525639336
$25
$27.50
R.J. Palacio, #1 bestselling author of Wonder, makes her graphic novel debut with an unforgettable story of the power of kindness and unrelenting courage in a time of war. $24.99
9780525590460
9781984843265
$25
$15
9780525645535
Give yourself the gift of audio
Whether you’re home for the holidays or heading out on the road, great storytelling on audio helps to make the season bright.
Random House Audio $15–$27.50
A Trick of Light Stan Lee delivers a novel packed with pulsepounding, breakneck adventure and the exuberant invention that defined his career as the mastermind behind the Marvel universe.
HMH
$28 www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com
9780358117605
9
Three manga masterpieces
Dragonwatch 3: Master of the Phantom Isle 582696
1 978142
$9.99
978142
159712
6
$9.99
$27.99
9781421561325
From a masterpiece of horror to a macabre orphanage to a superpower-filled adventure, these three classic manga series are the perfect gifts for lovers of Japanese art.
Shonen Jump
In the third entry to the #1 New York Times bestselling Dragonwatch series, we leave the leafy woodlands of Fablehaven and enter an entirely new world: a fantastical aquatic dragon sanctuary.
Shadow Mountain
$9.99–$27.99
$18.99 9781629726045
The Secret Commonwealth
Beverly, Right Here
Dear Evan Hansen
Return to the parallel world of His Dark Materials and discover what comes next for Lyra, dubbed one of fantasy’s most indelible heroines by the New York Times Magazine.
Revisiting once again the world of Raymie Nightingale, two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo turns her focus to the tough-talking, inescapably tenderhearted Beverly.
From the creators of the hit Broadway show comes the groundbreaking, bestselling novel.
Knopf
Poppy $18.99
Candlewick
$22.99
$16.99 9780763694647
9780553510669
9780316420235
Join the Explorer Academy adventure
This thrilling new series combines spellbinding storytelling with cool science and is based on the real adventures of National Geographic explorers. “A fun, exciting and action-packed ride that kids will love.” —J.J. Abrams, filmmaker
National Geographic
$9.99–$16.99 9781426338106
$9.99
9781426333040
$16.99
9781426334580
$16.99
10
Kids C Jumped Over Three Pots and a Pan and Landed Smack in the Garbage Can 9780764357954
“A nifty caper showcasing teamwork, letter recognition and word formation.” —Kirkus Reviews
Schiffer
An Elephant & Piggie Biggie Volume 2!
Unlimited Squirrels: Who Is the Mystery Reader?
Spark early readers’ imaginations with a fivebook, bind-up series that includes I Am Going!, We Are in a Book!, I Broke My Trunk!, Listen to My Trumpet! and I’m a Frog!
Mo Willems, creator of the revolutionary, awardwinning Elephant & Piggie books, presents book two in the breakout Unlimited Squirrels series for early readers.
Hyperion 9781368045704
$16.99
9781368046862
$14.99
Hyperion $12.99
Must-have picture books from Magination Press
9781433830884 $14.99
9781433830280 $16.99
9781433830334
9781433830891
$16.99 9781433830303
$17.99
9781433830211
$16.99
Celebrate the combined powers of psychology and literature! These books make navigating life’s challenges a little easier for children, parents and caregivers.
Magination $14.99–$17.99
$14.99
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Entertaining books for the littlest reader in your life Pack your little bookworm’s shelves with choose-your-fate graphic novels, nostalgic picture books and more.
Quirk
$9.99–$19.99
9781683691365
$18.99
9781683690573
$9.99 9781683691136
Dr. Seuss’s Horse Museum
9781683691624 $19.99
9781683690559
$9.99
Outback
The Kids’ Book of Paper Love
Embark on an eyeopening adventure in the land Down Under, and see eight creatures in astounding motion in the latest from the New York Times bestselling series.
The never-beforepublished Dr. Seuss book about creating and looking at art is like a visit to a museum—with a horse as your guide!
Brimming from cover to cover with projects and paper surprises, this book begs to be folded, cut up, collaged, doodled on and shared.
Workman
Random House
$26.95
$18.99
$14.99
9781523508235
Workman
$19.95 9781523508143
9780399559129
The inspiring book-to-movie A Dog’s Purpose series by W. Bruce Cameron continues! This season, #1 bestselling author W. Bruce Cameron has books for every dog lover in the family. 9781250163516
$26.99 9781250213518
$16.99
9780765388414
$7.99
Forge
$7.99–$26.99
The Night of His Birth Poetic text by Newbery Medalist Katherine Paterson reveals the intimacy of that unforgettable night long ago, when the mother of Jesus was the first to welcome him into a world he would change forever.
Flyaway
$18
9781947888128
12
Inspiration 100 Days to Brave Deluxe Edition
The Last Man at the Inn This fictional account of Jesus is seen through the eyes of a Jew who witnesses moments in Jesus’ life and wonders if he is truly the Messiah.
Dare to spend the next 100 days discovering that you are braver than you know and stronger than you thought possible. Now in a beautiful leathersoft cover. 9780310454496
$17.99
Zondervan $19.99
9781629726038
Chicken Soup for the Soul $14.95
$16.99 9781400203 77
2
9781400213023
$24.99
$49.99
9781400214
693
9780310453338
Get your Christmas spirit on! Who wouldn’t love these happy, heartwarming and sometimes hilarious tales of holiday joy?
$49.99
Chicken Soup for the Soul: It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
345
9781496433824
$49.99
9780310453
Knox
27 9780785229
8
$26.99
This is the Bible for all times, regardless of life phase or circumstance. Study notes, Scripture application and in-depth features bring eternal truth into everyday life.
$18.99
Inspirational gifts for everyone on your list
NLT Life Application Study Bible, 3rd Edition
9781611599916
Shadow Mountain
You can check everyone off your holiday shopping list with these great new releases! With something for all age groups, these titles will lift their spirits during the season and all year long.
HarperCollins Christian $16.99–$49.99
13
9780785226376
$26.99
Overcomer movie resources for the whole family
9781535949880 $12.99
9781535948920 $22.99
9780785224501 9781535949859 $12.99
9781535949873 $12.99
From bestselling authors Alex Kendrick, Stephen Kendrick, Priscilla Shirer and Amy Parker come four books inspired by the feature film.
B&H
$25.99
9780310351726
Soul-Stirring
’Tis the season for a great read, whether it’s an unexpected romance, a historic Southern novel or a holiday gift that Narnia lovers will treasure.
Thomas Nelson $17.99–$26.99
Find holiday inspiration
Two books touch the heart! Discover the story behind the million-selling song “Redeemed” by Mike Weaver, singer for Big Daddy Weave. Pastor Robert Morris will inspire you to experience true rest and make it a priority in your life.
Gratitude, giving, togetherness and a touch of holiday magic . . . 9781496715845 $20
$12.99–$22.99
FaithWords $22 each
97815460335859
$17.99
9781546010166
9781496721907 $22.95
9781496717832 $15.95
Give heartwarming reads this Christmas season.
Kensington
$15.95–$22.95
whodunit
by bruce tierney Murder at the Opera
There’s no shortage of conflict to test amateur sleuth Atlas Catesby in D.M. Quincy’s Murder at the Opera (Crooked Lane, $26.99, 9781643852355). Catesby finds himself at the murder scene of a well-known London chanteuse/courtesan. The likeliest suspect is the victim’s lover, the same titled gentleman suspected of having killed Catesby’s sister years before. Couple that with the fact that the second-likeliest suspect is a former lover of Catesby’s, a competitive lass whose lucrative singing job was on the verge of being usurped by the murder victim. Further down the suspect list is Catesby’s estranged nephew, Nicholas, son of the primary suspect and heir presumptive to a title and fortune if his father is found guilty. The novel is set in 1815 London, where class distinctions mean everything and aristocrats can literally get away with murder. Catesby, however, is ably assisted in his investigation by Lady Lilliana Sterling Warwick, a thoroughly modern (in 1815 terms) young widow with the nose of a private investigator and the social connections to open some regal doors. It’s easy to picture the pair as a Regency Nick and Nora Charles— urbane, yet with a strong undercurrent of “get ’er done.”
The Second Sleep We go 350-odd years further back in time for Robert Harris’ thriller The Second Sleep (Knopf, $26.95, 9780525656692)—to 1468, to be precise. Consider other terrific medieval mysteries as Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose or Ross King’s Ex-Libris, and get ready for an exceptionally intricate tale that will take you in unexpected directions and then pummel you when you get there. Cleric Christopher Fairfax is called upon to officiate at the interment of a parish priest. It’s a simple enough task: Write a few words of banal praise and read the appropriate scriptures to usher the man to his final resting place. But Fairfax doesn’t sleep well the night before and instead visits the dead man’s library, where he happens upon all manner of heretical books that have been banned by church and state alike. Contrary to his upbringing, training and better judgment, Fairfax begins to read. At this point in the review, I am torn between revealing any more or just letting the reader unearth surprise after surprise until they begin to get a glimmering of what is really transpiring here. So, after some consideration, I will just leave you with this quote: “the ultimate symbol of the ancients’ hubris and blasphemy, an apple with a bite taken out of it.” Chew on that for a while . . .
Impossible Causes With her latest work, British young adult author Julie Mayhew turns her hand for the first time to adult suspense fiction. The resulting Impossible Causes (Bloomsbury, $26, 9781635573251) is atmospheric and downright creepy, with boarding school intrigue, paganism and unexplained death. The action takes place on remote Lark Island—remote thanks to the fog that rolls in and sticks around for seven months without a break. It’s just the sort of eerie atmosphere to send high school girls running for the hills to fantasize about forbidden sexual liaisons and to play at summoning evil spirits. But let’s not forget about the aforementioned unexplained death, around which the suspense spins. The person who claims to have found the body is Viola, a teenage expat out walking her dog (because isn’t it always the dog walker who happens upon the dead body?). When the explanation finally does arrive, it is quite different from what you might expect. Impossible Causes channels The Wicker Man (the original one with Edward Woodward and Christopher Lee) quite successfully without being in any way derivative: lonely island, check; upstanding protagonist, check; strange animistic local goings-on, check; sexual deviancy, check; mounting sense of dread, check. And even though a number of the main characters fall into the young adult age range, the book is in every respect geared toward a fully adult audience.
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H How the Dead Speak Val McDermid’s latest installment in the Tony Hill/Carol Jordan series, How the Dead Speak (Atlantic Monthly, $26, 9780802147615), is a bridge novel. Although not specifically required, it helps to have read the past few books in the series, particularly 2017’s Insidious Intent. As that book ends and this one begins, Hill and Jordan are nursing their disparate wounds in remarkably different ways. Hill, in prison for manslaughter, is putting his energy toward writing a book on forensics, and Jordan, no longer with the Bradfield Police department, is trying to eke out a living as a private investigator of sorts. They don’t have much interaction any more, as Hill feels that his presence in Jordan’s life exacerbates her PTSD. But a large cache of skeletons has been found in a closed Catholic home for children, and Hill and Jordan’s old unit has been put in charge of the investigation, a political hot potato due to recent years’ media coverage of pedophile priests and sadistic nuns. There is the distinct possibility that a serial killer is at work, or the even more disturbing possibility that the serial killer, if indeed one exists, might be a member of the clergy. As always, the narrative is tight and marvelously paced, the characters are flawed but enormously sympathetic, and the suspense factor is simply off the charts.
Bruce Tierney lives outside Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he bicycles through the rice paddies daily and reviews the best in mystery and suspense every month.
well read | by robert weibezahl
Elizabeth Bishop still inspires An admiring new biography enshrines the great American poet’s formidable work and complex life. When Elizabeth Bishop died 40 years ago, she was a respected poet with a small core of devotees, says Thomas Travisano, author of the new biography Love Unknown: The Life and Worlds of Elizabeth Bishop (Viking, $32, 9780525428817). In the ensuing years, Bishop has come to be recognized as a significant American writer of the 20th century, whose precise, sometimes elusive work is built on technical mastery and filled with lyrical, singular observations. Travisano, founding president of the Elizabeth Bishop Society, is an unabashed fan of the poet, but his study, while admiring, is hardly a blind-eyed hagiography. An impressive blend of erudition and enthusiasm, Love Unknown offers an insightful, engaging look into this complex woman’s life and work. Travisano suggests that much of what came to define Bishop— including her shyness, her chronic health problems, her drinking and, one would surmise, her poetic talent—grew out of two defining events from early childhood: her father’s death when she was only 8 months old and her mother’s subsequent mental breakdown, which essentially rendered young Elizabeth an orphan at age 5. Her upbringing was placed in the hands of both her paternal family in Massachusetts and maternal relatives in Nova Scotia, and this rootless shuttling back and forth most likely played a role in her lifelong wanderlust. As a child, Bish-
op was chiefly a loner, yet despite the emotional remove of those early years, she became an engaging, if retiring, adult. The portrait Travisano paints is one of a likable woman in control of her own destiny, good to her friends, comfortable in her own skin and certainly not apologetic about her eccentricities. Love Unknown is not a juicy tell-all, for Bishop’s life was not scandalous or scabrous. Even her lesbian identity in a less-accepting age seems to have been a fact she accepted and absorbed with little turmoil. Travisano has spent decades immersed in Bishop’s work, and he beautifully incorporates her poetry and other writings throughout the narrative, finding both its sources and significance. Exploring Bishop’s seminal relationships with other poets, including Marianne Moore and Robert Lowell, Travisano considers their reciprocal influences and places Bishop squarely in the context of her time, solidifying her place in the midcentury literary canon. Another friend and poet, James Merrill, famously remarked that Bishop “gave herself no airs. If there was anything the least bit artificial about her character and her behavior, it was the wonderful way in which she impersonated an ordinary woman.” Bishop was anything but ordinary, as Love Unknown reminds us. And like the poet herself, the peerless poetry she left behind is also anything but ordinary.
Robert Weibezahl is a publishing industry veteran, playwright and novelist. Each month, he takes an in-depth look at a recent book of literary significance.
ANYONE A NOVEL BY
CHARLES SOULE AUTHOR OF THE ORACLE YEAR
“A breakneck thriller that will have you riveted until the very last twist.” —PENG SHEPHERD, AUTHOR OF THE BOOK OF M
“An intense, superbly crafted, edge of your seat thrill ride.” —SYLVAIN NEUVEL, AUTHOR OF SLEEPING GIANTS
ftIT @harperperennial Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com
15
★★★★
Based on the incredible true story of the secret raid
GENERAL PATTON later described as “the ONLY MISTAKE I made during the war.”
audio
by anna zeitlin
H Medallion Status In his laugh-out-loud new memoir, Medallion Status (Penguin Audio, 8.5 hours), John Hodgman navigates his new life as a former celebrity, as he discovers that he’s less famous than a pair of Instagram dogs. He explores his obsession with achieving higher levels of loyalty status to his favorite airline and shares the private spaces he’s been admitted to, including a party where a man who walked on the moon feels unworthy of attending, a top-secret lounge at the airport and his favorite fancy Hollywood hotel. He also shares places he’s been prohibited from entering, including a Scientology center said to contain a bottomless pit and Mar-a-Lago. In this excellent memoir full of astute moments of nuanced observation, Hodgman explores his myriad interests, from extinct hockey to ska, which inform his unique perspective. This is definitely one you’ll want the audiobook for, as Hodgman’s delivery really helps his jokes land. There’s also one line in the memoir that Hodgman can’t bear to read aloud; you need to hear the A-list celeb he brings in to read it.
Make It Scream, Make It Burn Leslie Jamison’s essays in Make It Scream, Make It Burn (Hachette Audio, 9 hours) cover a wide range of topics. In the opening essay, “52 Blue,” she talks about a whale whose call is twice as loud as all other whales in the ocean, and about his human devotees who have ascribed their own meanings to his call, projecting loneliness or heartbreak onto the whale and creating stories about his life. In other essays, Jamison learns about people living through the video game Second Life, about a photographer who spends 20 years traveling to Mexico to photograph the same family and about her own experience of becoming a stepmother and buying the wrong Frozen doll. Jamison reads in a direct, matter-offact voice, underscored with a tinge of longing. Her narration emphasizes the melancholic but hopeful tone of the book.
Available Everywhere Books Are Sold
Now You See Them
Inspired by HISTORICAL EVENTS
DURING WWII, bestselling author JAMES D. SHIPMAN weaves a POWERFUL, ACTION-PACKED tale of the LONG-BURIED SECRETS and UNENDING COSTS OF WAR. ENSINGTONBOOKS.COM
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Detective Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto return in Elly Griffiths’ fifth Magic Men mystery, Now You See Them (HMH Audio, 8.5 hours), set in mid-1960s England amid battles between gangs of mods and rockers. When an American matinee idol comes to town and one of his biggest fans goes missing, Detective Stephens is on the case, but his wife, a former detective, gets ideas of her own for how to solve it. As more young women disappear, the race is on to find the kidnapper in this light mystery with a fun setting. With a background in British theater, James Langton brings his acting chops to the narration. His proper English accent is well suited to the material.
Anna Zeitlin is an art curator and hat maker who fills her hours with a steady stream of audiobooks.
book clubs
by julie hale
H The Paragon Hotel Reading groups will enjoy untangling the threads of Lyndsay Faye’s historical whodunit The Paragon Hotel (Putnam, $17, 9780735210776). In 1921, Alice James, who’s been mixed up with New York mobsters, comes to Portland, Oregon, bearing a bullet wound. Alice, who is white, takes shelter at the Paragon Hotel—a sort of safe house for the city’s African American population, which has been harassed by the Ku Klux Klan. When Davy Lee, a multiracial boy who’s a favorite at the hotel, disappears, Alice pretends to be a journalist researching his case. Along the way, she crosses paths with a wide cast of characters, including Blossom Fontaine, a nightclub singer with a questionable past; wealthy Evelina Vaughan, a white woman with stakes in the boy’s disappearance; and an assortment of belligerent cops and racist thugs. Faye’s smart, stylish and suspenseful tale tackles timeless topics of race and gender.
BOOK CLUB READS SPR TER ING FOR WIN THE OTHER WINDSOR GIRL by Georgie Blalock
“A fascinating portrayal of Princess Margaret and the many scandals that surround her. Perfect for fans of The Crown .” —HAZEL GAYNOR,
New York Times bestselling author
THE CLERGYMAN’S WIFE by Molly Greeley
“A compelling, beautifully rendered view into the soul of Pride and Prejudice ’s Charlotte Collins.” —SHANNON WINSLOW, author of The Darcys of Pemberley
Black Is the Body by Emily Bernard Vintage, $16, 9781101972410 In her powerful collection of personal essays, Bernard reflects upon her experiences as a black woman in America, sharing poignant reminiscences of her Southern childhood and insights into her life in the place she now calls home—the predominately white state of Vermont.
North of Dawn by Nuruddin Farah Riverhead, $17, 9780735214255 This piercing novel finds Somalian immigrant Mugdi living a quiet life in Oslo until his troubled son, Dhaqaneh, commits suicide. When Dhaqaneh’s strict Islamist widow and children come to live with Mugdi and his wife, the process of assimilation changes them forever.
The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh Anchor, $16, 9780525562832 In this dystopian tale, Lia, Grace and Sky live apart from society on an island with their parents. They receive no outsiders except for women in need of a ritual that protects them against the world’s poisons.
FAMILY TRUST by Kathy Wang
“Astute…[Wang] brings levity and candor to the tricky terrain of family dynamics, aging, and excess.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review
WE MET IN DECEMBER
by Rosie Curtis
“Gorgeously festive and romantic.” —ROSIE WALSH, New York Times bestselling author
Last Stories by William Trevor Penguin, $17, 9780525558125 Last Stories is a stunning final collection from the beloved Irish author (1928–2016). Trevor’s unembellished prose stands in striking contrast to the weight and complexity of the ideas he explores, including mortality and the nature of love.
A BookPage reviewer since 2003, Julie Hale selects the best new paperback releases for book clubs every month.
t @Morrow_PB
t @bookclubgirl
f William Morrow I Book Club Girl
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From Tots to Teens, a Book for Every Young Reader on Your List!
romance | by christie ridgway
Naughty and nice holiday romances It takes a special blend of cozy holiday magic and realistic romantic tension to stand out from the yearly haul of Christmas love stories. These five romances deserve to be at the top of your wish list.
The Highlander’s Christmas Bride Christmas in the highlands turns romantic in The Highlander’s Christmas Bride (Zebra, $7.99, 9781420147032) by Vanessa Kelly. After the man she’d been promised to chooses someone else, Donella Haddon retreated to a convent. But the sisters don’t want her as a nun either, so a handsome stranger is sent to serve as her escort home. Widower Logan Kendrick and his young son make Donella reconsider her plan to find a new religious retreat, and soon she is immersed in family and seasonal celebrations. With the attraction she and Logan feel for each other, Donella acknowledges she may have found a new direction in life—if old secrets and clan gossip don’t get in the way. Kelly’s charming characters make every page feel like a party, and a dash of suspense adds spice to this enjoyable historical tale.
The Merry Viscount A few days before Christmas, a snowstorm forces stranded stagecoach riders to lodge with a Regency aristocrat known as “Lord Devil” in The Merry Viscount (Zebra, $7.99, 9781420146721) by Sally MacKenzie. Caroline Anderson leads the beleaguered group to the residence, as the owner was her childhood friend. But years have passed, and the man who opens the door is not the boy she remembers. Nick intended to spend the unwelcome holiday with friends, and he’s displeased that the orgy he planned is interrupted by the newcomers. But he soon finds himself captivated by Caroline. The lightness of this holiday romp is anchored by the emotional baggage of the leads— Caro with her well-earned trust issues and Nick’s memories of unhappy holidays past. Steamy bedroom scenes in which Nick proves to Caro that her fears of intimacy are unfounded are complemented by those giving the viscount a new understanding of his painful family history. The Merry Viscount is bawdy and romantic fun.
Puppy Christmas A dog trainer explores her fun side in Lucy Gilmore’s Puppy Christmas (Sourcebooks Casablanca, $7.99, 9781492671688). Lila Vasquez, the responsible oldest of three sisters, helps prepare a single dad and his daughter for life with a service dog. Ford and his 6-year-old daughter instantly warm to Lila, who in turn is surprised by Ford’s charm and chatty nature. Soon they’re trading spicy quips and saucy banter. Though Lila regards herself as a “fun sponge,” she loosens up and begins to reveal another side of herself. Ford realizes he’s going to have to drop his flirtatious mask and risk getting real with Lila if he wants her in his life. Readers will enjoy Lila’s sisters, Ford’s neighbors, the cute kids and cuter puppies—this book leaves no doubt that Christmas is the cuddliest time of year.
The Christmas Dare Childhood summer sweethearts find a second chance in Lori Wilde’s The Christmas Dare (Avon, $7.99, 9780062468314). Twilight, Texas, is known for its romantic Christmases. When Kelsey James is left at the altar, she goes there with her BFF Tasha on what was supposed to be her honeymoon. It’s Tasha’s idea, because there’s always been that one “what if” guy in Kelsey’s life: Noah MacGregor, who now lives in Twilight and runs a small hotel there. The pair meet again and sparks fly, but there’s their unhappy past breakup to get over and Kelsey’s domineering mother waiting in the wings. Can Noah give Kelsey reason to sever toxic family ties? The Christmas Dare is full of heart and holiday fun as the couple seeks their happily ever after while enjoying imaginative Christmas-themed festivities.
H A Christmas Home You can almost smell the Christmas cookies while reading A Christmas Home (Berkley, $7.99, 9781984803191) by Marta Perry. After a decade away from Promise Glen, helping her widowed father raise her siblings, Sarah Yoder returns to the Amish community of her birth. She hopes to live a fulfilling and independent life surrounded by her extended family. Her grandmother already has an idea for Sarah’s employment—working as a bookkeeper for neighbor Noah Raber’s furniture-making business. Noah’s wife ran off years ago and left him with twin boys, now 6 years old, who quickly clamor for Sarah’s attention and capture her heart. Noah finds his way there, too, even though there’s seemingly no hope for him and Sarah to wed, as Noah is technically still married. In A Christmas Home, love becomes an end unto itself, something to be celebrated even though its complete promise might never be fulfilled. But this is a romance novel after all, and Perry writes a deeply felt and deeply pleasurable kisses-only story in perfect keeping with the season.
Christie Ridgway is a lifelong romance reader and a published romance novelist of over 60 books.
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lifestyles | by susannah felts
Cooking up a snowstorm If giving cookbooks to my friends for the holidays (in hopes that they’ll invite me to dinner) is wrong, I don’t want to be right. These five guides stand out from the pack for their innovative angles, spellbinding designs and accessible recipes for cooks of all levels of expertise.
Mixtape Potluck Is there anyone more creatively connected than Questlove? The musician-DJ-writerideas guy has friends in every corner of the arts and entertainment industry, and he assembles them in Mixtape Potluck (Abrams, $29.99, 9781419738135) as contributors to what might be the most fabulous party ever. Questlove asked each of the roughly 60 notable figures—including Carla Hall, Padma Lakshmi, Q-Tip and Amy Poehler— for their “super-special secret recipe,” resulting in a staggering range of dishes, from Fred Armisen’s plantains two ways to Martha Stewart’s grape focaccia. But it’s not just a celebrity hodgepodge. Questlove gives each friend a song as inspiration, noting that “the songs and the dishes do not have a direct relationship.” All the songs are listed at the end, along with smart tips for hosting a potluck and cuing up your own party jams. Bold photography by Marcus Maddox makes its own noise, with a distinctly 1970s vibe. You and your coolest friends need this book; there’s really no quest ion.
Skillet Love My husband, head chef in our house, uses a cast-iron skillet nearly daily, so I couldn’t wait to show him Skillet Love: From Steak to Cake (Grand Central, $30, 9781538763186). The result? “This one’s a keeper,” he proclaimed after we made picadillo-stuffed peppers, skillet salmon and pound cake. (Yes, pound cake. In fact, that’s the recipe that begot this book.) Or how about a massive chocolate chip cookie, gooey in the middle? If the humble workhorse that is the cast-iron skillet is new to you, Anne Byrn provides an overview on care, seasoning and the many tricks a skillet can pull off, from stir-frying and dry-roasting to searing, frying, baking and even pan-grilling. “There really isn’t anything on your dinner list that the skillet can’t accomplish,” Byrn writes, and this book is beautiful evidence of that.
The Little Women Cookbook “What exactly would the March sisters have eaten?” That’s what librarian authors Jenne Bergstrom and Miko Osada asked themselves about their favorite novel, before making it their mission to explore Victorian-era cooking and share the best of it in The Little Women Cookbook (Ulysses, $19.95, 9781612439433). Each sister gets a chapter, with subheadings like “Amy’s Little Artistic Fête,” at which Proper Roast Chicken and Elegant Raspberry Ice Cream is served, or “Jo’s Standing Joke of a Dinner,” with Lobster Salad and Plenty of Potatoes. Along the way we learn historical tidbits about the era and read short excerpts from Little Women. What fun it would be to read the classic novel with family or friends over the course of several months, whipping up dishes from this book along the way.
South The late, great writer and Southern-food expert John Egerton would probably look fondly upon what chef Sean Brock is doing for Southern and Appalachian cuisine these days, lovingly sharing the gospel of the region’s traditions with a new generation. Though the concept of seasonal, local eating may seem like a trend worn thin, it’s anything but that for Brock; it’s the correct (and most delicious) way to live and eat. In South: Essential Recipes and New Explorations (Artisan, $40, 9781579657161), you’ll find everything from fried bologna and tomato-okra stew to spring lamb with rhubarb butter. There aren’t too many lengthy ingredient lists amid these simple but deeply considered preparations for vegetables, grains, meats and fish. Brock shares tips for cooking up a big pot of greens and selecting fireplace cookery and fills in the gaps with plentiful background on the region that gave birth to these dishes. And tucked within, too, are Egerton’s Beaten Biscuits.
H The Forest Feast
Mediterranean
It’s hard not to feel a little bit envious of Erin Gleeson. The bestselling cookbook author spent three months traveling with her family through France, Portugal, Spain and Italy to research The Forest Feast Mediterranean: Simple Vegetarian Recipes Inspired by My Travels (Abrams, $35, 9781419738128). It’s as gorgeous as her previous books, awash in watercolor illustrations and bright vegetarian dishes that leap off the page into your sunniest kitchen dreams. Images of Gleeson and her family star alongside scenic shots from the region that inspired this book, but of course the real heroes are its 100 recipes, which include mouthwatering salads, decadent pastas and small shareables like caponata, a burrata bar, bruschetta, tartines, tartlets, tortilla espanola and pintxos, which are appetizers on long toothpicks, unique to the Barcelona bar scene. Best of all, there’s a travel guide in the back in case you’re hungry to follow in Gleeson’s picturesque footsteps— and you will be.
Susannah Felts is a Nashville-based writer and co-founder of The Porch, a literary arts organization. She enjoys anything paper-related and, increasingly, plant-related.
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best of 2019
100 best books of 2019
Twelve issues wrapped. More than 1,300 new books reviewed in print and online. The editors have read so much that we’re all going to have to update our glasses prescriptions. But here they are: BookPage’s 100 best books of 2019.
best romance #1 R ED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE by Casey McQuiston
#2 G ET A LIFE, CHLOE BROWN by Talia Hibbert
#3 TEACH ME by Olivia Dade
best mystery #1 H EAVEN, MY HOME by Attica Locke
#3 C ONVICTION by Denise Mina
#4 E VVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER by Linda Holmes
#4 B AD AXE
#5 THE BRIDE TEST by Helen Hoang
#6 THE ROSE
“If Nora Ephron wrote a Hallmark movie, it would be just like this.” Savanna, Assistant Editor
by Tiffany Reisz
#7 THE WALLFLOWER WAGER by Tessa Dare
#2 A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE
“Rich characters and a pitch-perfect postwar setting—fans of Jacqueline Winspear or Helen Simonson shouldn’t miss it.”
COUNTY
Trisha, Publisher
by John Galligan
#5 T HE RIGHT SORT OF
MAN by Allison Montclair
#6 T ELL ME EVERYTHING by Cambria Brockman
#8 REVERB by Anna Zabo
#7 PAPER SON by S.J. Rozan
#9 A PRINCE ON
#8 THE LAST by Hanna Jameson
PAPER
by Alyssa Cole
#10 D EVIL’S
DAUGHTER
by Lisa Kleypas
#9 T HE BONE FIRE by S.D. Sykes “Complex, compelling characters find love in a modern, escapist royal world.” Savanna, Assistant Editor
22
#1 G IDEON THE NINTH by Tamsyn Muir
#2 L ADY IN THE LAKE by Laura Lippman
best sff
#10 T HE LOST MAN by Jane Harper
by Arkady Martine
#3 W ANDERERS by Chuck Wendig #4 T HE PRIORY OF THE ORANGE TREE
by Samantha Shannon
#5 N INTH HOUSE by Leigh Bardugo
#6 T HE DRAGON REPUBLIC
by R.F. Kuang
“Moreno-Garcia’s prose is drop-dead gorgeous in this 1920s-set fairy tale.”
#7 LENT by Jo Walton
Savanna, Assistant Editor
#8 G ODS OF JADE AND
SHADOW by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
#9 A CHOIR OF LIES
by Alexandra Rowland
#10 T HE STARLESS SEA by Erin Morgenstern
best of 2019
best fiction
best nonfiction
#1 THE NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead
#1 IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado
#2 FLEISHMAN IS IN TROUBLE by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
#2 TRICK MIRROR by Jia Tolentino
#3 LATE IN THE DAY by Tessa Hadley
#3 UNDERLAND by Robert Macfarlane
#4 T HE SHADOW KING by Maaza Mengiste
#5 THE TENTH MUSE by Catherine Chung
“This debut is a total riot, scorching Tinder profiles everywhere and eviscerating journalistic bias against women.”
Cat, Deputy Editor
#4 SAY NOTHING
by Patrick Radden Keefe
#5 INHERITANCE by Dani Shapiro
“This memoir is exquisitely strange, but in a way that draws you in rather than alienating you. It’s brilliant.” Christy, Associate Editor
#6 OLIVE, AGAIN by Elizabeth Strout
#6 THE END OF MYTH by Greg Grandin
#7 T HE TESTAMENTS by Margaret Atwood
#7 THE BRITISH ARE COMING by Rick Atkinson
#8 O N EARTH WE’RE BRIEFLY
#8 HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES by Saeed Jones
GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong
#9 LOT by Bryan Washington #10 THE DUTCH HOUSE by Ann Patchett
“Against the odds, Atwood created a satisfying sequel to her beloved classic.”
#11 NAAMAH by Sarah Blake
Trisha, Publisher
#12 NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney #14 DISAPPEARING EARTH by Julia Phillips #15 10 MINUTES 38 SECONDS IN THIS STRANGE WORLD by Elif Shafak
#17 MIRACLE CREEK by Angie Kim #18 INLAND by Téa Obreht
#10 THREE WOMEN by Lisa Taddeo #11 THE PLATEAU by Maggie Paxson #12 FIGURING by Maria Popova #13 ORDINARY GIRLS by Jaquira Díaz
#13 THE OLD DRIFT by Namwali Serpell
#16 THE NEED by Helen Phillips
#9 LATE MIGRATIONS by Margaret Renkl
“A slow buildup led to the best ending of the year.” Cat, Deputy Editor
“I stayed up until 3 a.m. to finish this book, then I couldn’t fall asleep because I couldn’t stop thinking about it.” Katherine, Subscriptions
#14 M AKE IT SCREAM, MAKE IT BURN by Leslie Jamison
#15 MAMA’S LAST HUG by Frans de Waal #16 THE HEARTBEAT OF WOUNDED KNEE by David Treuer
#17 WILD GAME by Adrienne Brodeur #18 ONCE MORE WE SAW STARS by Jayson Greene
#19 THE NIGHT TIGER by Yangsze Choo
#19 THE YELLOW HOUSE by Sarah M. Broom
#20 THE OTHER AMERICANS by Laila Lalami
#20 NO VISIBLE BRUISES by Rachel Louise Snyder 23
best of 2019
best picture books #1 MUSIC FOR MISTER MOON by Philip C. Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead
by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Sarah Jacoby
#1 LALANI OF THE DISTANT SEA by Erin Entrada Kelly
“This might be the most brilliant picture book biography I’ve ever read.”
#2 LOOK BOTH WAYS
Steph, Associate Editor
by Ashley Bryan
#2 THE IMPORTANT
THING ABOUT MARGARET WISE BROWN
best middle grade
HEART by Patricia C. McKissack,
illustrated by April Harrison
#5 BEVERLY,
RIGHT HERE
#4 ANOTHER by Christian Robinson
by Kate DiCamillo
“I laughed out loud so many times, I lost count!” Steph, Associate Editor
#6 SATURDAY by Oge Mora
#7 THE LINE TENDER by Kate Allen
#7 HOME IS A WINDOW
#8 THE MIGHTY HEART OF
by Stephanie Parsley Ledyard, illustrated by Chris Sasaki
#8 THE BELL RANG
“All my favorite ingredients in one book!” Allison, Children’s Books
by James E. Ransome
#9 HOME IN THE WOODS
SUNNY ST. JAMES
by Ashley Herring Blake
#9 ALL THE GREYS ON GREENE STREET
by Laura Tucker
by Eliza Wheeler
#10 MY HEART by Corinna Luyken 24
#4 LAURA DEAN KEEPS
BREAKING UP WITH ME
by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell
#5 WE CONTAIN
MULTITUDES
OTHERS by Renée Watson
by Sydney Smith
#10 EVENTOWN
by Corey Ann Haydu
Steph, Associate Editor
#3 LOVELY WAR by Julie Berry
#6 SOME PLACES MORE THAN
#5 SMALL IN THE CITY
“Contains one of the best literary kisses.”
by Akwaeke Emezi
#4 PAY ATTENTION,
#3 W HAT IS GIVEN FROM THE
WOLVES BEHIND THEM ALL
#2 PET
#3 INFINITE HOPE
by Gary D. Schmidt
#1 T HIRTEEN DOORWAYS, by Laura Ruby
by Jason Reynolds
CARTER JONES
best young adult
“Bound to spark many conversations.” Katherine, Subscriptions
by Sarah Henstra
“Terrifyingly contemporary.” Cat, Deputy Editor
#6 T HE DOWNSTAIRS GIRL by Stacey Lee
#7 INTERNMENT by Samira Ahmed #8 FRANKLY IN LOVE by David Yoon
#9 SORCERY OF THORNS by Margaret Rogerson
#10 T HE LAST TRUE POETS
OF THE SEA by Julia Drake
gift books
For homebodies who are secretly glad their plans got canceled If you can’t convince your introverted friends to come out to your holiday party, just leave one of these comfy, cozy, beautiful books on their doorstep instead. I was not surprised when BookPage asked me to write their gift guide for homebodies. I work from home. I have been known to go a few days without speaking aloud to anyone but my cat. One of the most satisfying endeavors of my year was redecorating my house in the endlessly comfortable style of a 1940s absentminded Oxford professor, creating an atmosphere that I would never, ever want to leave. If you have a recluse in your life who is dear to you, upon whose doorstep you intend to leave a gaily wrapped package expressing your affections, I am the expert called in to help. While the love of books doesn’t belong exclusively to those who are quiet and inward, it’s true often enough that Nina Freudenberger’s Bibliostyle: How We Live at Home With Books (Clarkson Potter, $35, 9780525575443) is a safe bet. Pages upon pages of towering, impressive personal libraries, alongside interviews on reading habits and cataloging techniques from their owners, are enough to move any bookworm to tears. I was awed by these aspirational collections and comforted to learn that the endless to-be-read list is a universal problem. And as an object itself, Bibliostyle is lovely. A weighty tome in dark green with gold lettering on the cover, it sits very seriously and beautifully on my coffee table, marking me as a literary sophisticate who is deeply serious about her books. Of course, I would only be noted as such by those select friends who chanced to see it. Yes, reader, I do sometimes host a little gathering. As any homebody will tell you, such evenings call for a board game, and when you aren’t discussing strategy over your game of choice, you can wow your guests with the encyclopedic knowledge of games you picked up from Ian Livingstone’s Board Games in 100 Moves: 8,000 Years of Play (DK, $19.99, 9781465485755). Fill your cozy evening in with conversations about
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what the games we have played through time say about humankind (Germany, for example, lost their taste for war- and battle-based games after World War II), and keep the interesting conversation flowing. That, however, is only for the rare social night. Most nights of the week, my most constant companion is a sentient piece of black fluff named Jonas (in homage to author Shirley Jackson). Cats are often found living alongside introverts. They share a distaste for loud noises and a fondness for watching the neighbors through the windows. For the homebody who shares their home with a familiar of the feline variety, Girls and Their Cats (Chronicle, $24.95, 9781452176796) by BriAnne Wills cannot be more fervently recommended. Cat lovers are known for being somewhat obsessive in their devotion, and here is a book filled with like-minded people (and their cats!) telling their “how we met” stories. It’s also a handsome book in its own right, with a velvet spine that’s almost as nice to pet as your cat. Homebodies are always in pursuit of an ideal: of a dream of quiet, of peaceful evenings in the bath or under blankets, of restorative reflection, of (as our friends across the pond term it) “cosy.” In Cosy: The British Art of Comfort (HarperOne, $19.99, 9780062948168), Laura Weir moves to take back the simple pleasures of a Sunday in one’s pajamas or a long evening walk, especially now that interior designers have savaged the Danish notion of hygge. There’s no need to whitewash your floorboards or purchase a sheepskin rug. After all, decorating all in white inevitably leads to more cleaning, when you could be relaxing under something woolen with a book and a nice piece of cheese instead. Gently dragging us back from the wild-eyed edge of consumerism, Weir reminds us that simply taking the time to cook a meal can be enough. Forget giving this one for Christmas, actually. Give it before. We’ll all need it. —Anna Spydell Image © Ruslana_Vasiukova/Shutterstock
interview | laura weir
The queen of cosy
Laura Weir distills all her wisdom about how to be comfortable, contented and snug.
“British cosy has an eccentricity to it which is like a patchwork quilt. And obviously there’s tea.”
U.S. or back in England with Brexit on the horizon, certainly the sentiment moves away from risk-taking and towards wanting reassurance.” But cosiness isn’t found only in solitude. There’s often a relational quality to it, a desire to share that safe space with the important people in our lives. Weir shares her space with her young daughter, trying to re-create for her the sort of simplified childhood Weir had. “My parents were never preoccupied with what other people thought. They never kept up with the Joneses. My memories are very much just being with my mum and my dad and my sister, camping and going sledging, and there always being a fire on. Probably because we didn’t have central heating!” Cosiness may seem like a light and frivolous concept, but it offers reprieve from worries about an uncertain future. As Weir so gently reminds us, cosy is being in the moment, enjoying everything that remains precious and beautiful about life and sharing it with people we love. —Anna Spydell © GABRIELLE COOPER
“I’m an 84-year-old granny!” Laura Weir says with a laugh, but if that were true, she’d be the most posh granny you’d ever met. Weir is the editor-in-chief of the London Evening Standard’s weekly magazine, a former senior staffer at British Vogue and the author of Cosy: The British Art of Comfort, a book for anyone who worships at the altar of wool blankets, rain on roofs and noses in books. (And that’s cosy with an s, mind you, as the queen intended.) Despite her impressive resume, Weir feels like your most engaging and comfortable friend, the one you curl up with on the couch, glass of wine in hand and a movie on the television to half-watch as you laugh and chat into the night. As we settle into our Facetime conversation over the Atlantic, she’s loose-limbed and relaxed, throwing her elbows onto the table in front of her and resting her head on one hand. “I always thought I was quite lazy, really, and I just liked staying in,” Weir tells me. “But to actually repackage it and reframe it as a cosy sensibility allowed me to draw upon a lot of knowledge that I didn’t know I had.” This propensity toward so-called laziness seems at odds with the outward life of a busy writer and editor. How did someone with days that move as quickly as Weir’s come to write such a charming book about lying around and taking country walks? “It’s exactly that,” Weir says, leaning in and nodding enthusiastically. “I have such a busy life. But I feel like I’ve always been the queen of cosy. When I’m not working, I’m at home on the sofa or in bed with my cat, just to switch off.” Realizing this might feel familiar to others with hectic lives, Weir wrote a column about this lesser-seen part of her life for the Evening Standard. A book publisher read the column and agreed with Weir, and the rest is warm and candlelit history. This isn’t the first time the concept of comfort and well-being has moved to the forefront of the world’s consciousness. It would have been difficult to miss the rise of hygge, the Danish equivalent of cosiness that sparked an onslaught of books, candles and Pinterest boards only a few years ago. “Hygge is actually very authentic, and it takes a lot of effort,” Weir says, pondering the differences between the Danish and British ideas of comfort. “Nowadays, hygge has been cultured as very stylish, where I think that the British cosy has an eccentricity to it which is like a patchwork quilt.” She pauses. “And obviously there’s tea.” As any cosy acolyte will attest, tea is a serious thing. “It’s about this idea of having a moment,” Weir says. “We’re all seeking those moments to have a bit of time to ourselves. When you’re making a cup of tea, that’s literally the only time that so many people have to stop, and think, and take a breath.” Despite her packed hours, Weir is clearly in no mood to make anything in her personal life move any faster. Mentioning that she is in the process of remodeling her kitchen, she shudders at the notion of adding a convenient hot-water tap. “What’s so wrong with filling a kettle?” she says. One of the largest trends over the last few (politically fraught) years has been, in essence, to retreat back to our dens and wrap ourselves securely in blankets, burrowing away from the outside world—cosiness as anesthetic. “The more turbulent the climate, the more we seek solace in the things that we can control,” Weir says. “Whether you look at the political climate in the
Cosy HarperOne, $19.99, 9780062948168
Lifestyles 27
New and Classic Reading perfect for the Winter Season
Longlisted for the National Book Award
“A spellbinding parable of art, history, and human loneliness.”
“Lyrical.... Will break your heart even as it makes you laugh.”
—O, The Oprah Magazine
—O, The Oprah Magazine
A box set of Stephen King’s early works, including three #1 bestsellers: Carrie, ’Salem’s Lot, and The Shining
“A gripping, sinister fable!” —Margarent Atwood, via Twitter
“Fragrant, refreshing, and soothing as a cup of—well, you know what.” —Kirkus Reviews
V I N TA G E
Now a Major Motion Picture Winner of the Whitbread First Novel Award “ Delightful.” —The Telegraph (London)
N OW IN PAPERBAC K AND EBOOK READ EXCERPTS AND MORE AT READINGGROUPCENTER.COM
ANCHOR
gift books
For the friend who’s seen everything Why choose between the page and the screen? These books are great for culture vultures who want to enjoy the two together. Food on film can be as memorable as any character. What would Harry Potter be without butterbeer? Or “Seinfeld” without soup? In the vast universe of YouTube chefs, Andrew Rea stands out with his unique conceit: cooking dishes from TV and film to eat in real life. His channel’s millions of subscribers watch him prepare dishes like the Krabby Supreme from “Spongebob Squarepants,” cheesy blasters from “30 Rock” and even “the grey stuff (it’s delicious!)” from Beauty and the Beast. Rea’s new cookbook, Binging With Babish (HMH, $30, 9781328589897), compiles many of these recipes for the home cook. It includes serious dishes, such as creme brulee from Amélie and cannoli from The Godfather. But there are also plenty of not-so-serious recipes, such as Buddy’s pasta from Elf (spaghetti with M&Ms and a crumbled fudge PopTart, anyone?). Each recipe comes with Rea’s tips for preparation and a verdict on its edibleness.
We all know one film aficionado who remembers bits and bobs about movies long after everyone else has forgotten them. This person can be tricky to shop for, as they’ve seen every movie already and have plenty of opinions about them. Enter Movies (and Other Things) (Twelve, $25, 9781538730195) by Shea Serrano, author of The Rap Year Book. Over the course of 30 essays, Serrano dives deep into topics that movie nerds love to debate, with a focus on famous films since the 1980s. Who are the members of the perfect heist movie crew? Who gets it the worst in Kill Bill? Movies is illustrated by Arturo Torres and, as a whole, feels internet-y in its composition, as it contains charts, listicles, a yearbook and even a script. There’s a distinctly masculine feel to the essays, with only a handful addressing films starring women. Nevertheless, any cinephile will find this a fascinating read—and for everyone else, it’s a fun coffee table book. —Jessica Wakeman
meet NATHAN W. PYLE Describe your book in one sentence.
Many people have a zombie apocalypse plan. Do you have an alien invasion plan?
Who is your favorite pop culture alien?
Which comics artists have inspired your work?
If real think?
Is the truth actually out there?
found your comics, what would they
How strange do average, everyday tasks suddenly sound without the human colloquialisms that make our lives seem perfectly normal? This is the premise of Nathan W. Pyle’s hilarious Strange Planet (Morrow Gift, $14.99, 9780062970701), based on the popular web comic of the same name. Visit @nathanwpylestrangeplanet on Instagram for more wry observations about these cute extraterrestrial beings’ day-to-day lives.
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gift books
For your most stressed-out friend The world is a tad intense these days. While books can’t make everything better— well, actually, who says they can’t? This holiday season, don’t hesitate to give your loved ones (or yourself) a helping hand in the form of these surefire finds. Some years ago, poetry enthusiast William Levinas, Epicurus and Heidegger may not solve Sieghart developed a project in which passthese problems per se, but they can give you ersby could share a topic of concern and be refreshing insight, and sometimes that’s all you “prescribed” a poem in response. The Poetneed. “Philosophy should make our lives more ry Pharmacy, as it was known, was a huge hit. meaningful,” Robert says, and this down-to“Suffering is the access point to poetry for a earth book paves the way. Pair with a gift card lot of people: that’s when they open their ears, to a favorite coffee shop and a new journal. hearts, and minds,” Sieghart writes in The PoFor some, mornings are best when started etry Remedy: Prescriptions for the Heart, with a bang—a three-mile run or a vigorous Mind, and Soul (Viking, $20, 9780525561088), yoga class. Others wake happily with quiet time which brings the pharmacy home. In it, he gathers poems for numerous struggles of the human spirit, from loneliness and glumness to social overload, one-sided love and everything in between, each with a brief introduction. With this book on your shelf, you’ll never be at a loss for comforting words. Pair with herbal tea and a comfy blanket. Is there any consolation quite like finding your modern-day woes reflected in the writings of ancient minds? We can’t help but feel less isolated when the ancient teachings of Spinoza, Plato and others seem to speak directly to our innermost questions. In Marie Robert’s Image from Good Mornings by Linnea Dunne. Used with permission from Gaia Books. slim, digestible When You Kant Figure It Out, Ask a Philosopher: Timeless Wisdom for Modern Dilemmas (Litamong plants and furry friends. No matter your tle, Brown Spark, $20, 9780316492522), she personal preference, thinking carefully about presents typical bummers and sticky situasmall daily rituals and fine-tuning them can tions, then reveals how philosophy can help be a step toward a healthier self. Linnea Dunne you reframe and move on. Got a super-surly helps us see the potential for ritual everywhere teen? Squandering your life on social media? (Face-washing? Yep. Journaling? Of course) and Had to part with a beloved pet? The words of shares ideas for creating a valuable sense of
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ritual in your mornings, whether you’re “timerich” or “time-poor,” in Good Mornings: Morning Rituals for Wellness, Peace and Purpose (Gaia, $16.99, 9781856754019). There’s no onesize-fits-all approach to rituals. The trick—and pleasure, particularly with this pretty book as your guide—is in discovering which rituals are meant for you. Pair with a basket of fresh fruit and granola, facial cleanser and a Turkish towel. From the department of “Why Is This Just Now a Thing?” comes the coloring book to end all coloring books—The Official Bob Ross Coloring Book: The Colors of the Four Seasons (Universe, $16.95, 9780789336811). The coloring book trend may be on the down slope, but there will never not be room in our hearts and on our coffee tables for Bob Ross and his happy little trees and clouds. With this book, you can forgo painting technique, if that sort of thing stresses you out, and simply create green trees, blue skies and brown cabins to your heart’s content. Best of all are the Ross quotes on every other page. To wit: “Anything we don’t like, we’ll turn it into a happy little tree or something, because as you know, we don’t make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.” Or: “Let’s put a few little highlights in here to make them little rascals just sparkle in the sun.” Or: “Let’s just dance in a happy little sky today.” Don’t you feel better just reading those words? Pair with colored pencils, CBD oil and a forest-scented candle. —Susannah Felts
gift books
For trailblazers and seekers of inspiration It’s always a delight to celebrate the women who make us laugh, who have shaped popular culture and politics and who have defined (and redefined) aging. The League of Extraordinarily Funny Women: 50 Trailblazers of Comedy (Running Press, $20, 9780762466641) is a small coffee table book that’s a treat to explore. Sheila Moeschen provides thumbnail biographies of comics ranging from Moms Mabley to Tig Notaro, capturing a little of what makes each woman unique. Categories include “Snarky, Sassy, Super Smarties” and “Courageous, Creative, Character Comics.” (It’s a crime that Madeline Kahn is not among the comics included, but what’s a list without some controversy?) Artist Anne Bentley’s full-color illustrations bring Kate McKinnon’s feline grin and Robin Thede’s laser brilliance to life. If you’re a comedy fan, there’s a good chance you’ll discover some new favorites while connecting with women you already admire in this era-spanning celebration. New York Times columnist Gail Collins looks at the ways aging has both limited and liberated women in No Stopping Us Now: The Adventures of Older Women in American History (Little, Brown, $30, 9780316286541). Lots of nuggets here are hilarious in hindsight, like a women’s magazine from the 1800s asserting that a woman is considered young at 17 but a “snubbed, spinster governess” at merely “nine-andtwenty.” Collins goes through four centuries of history, and doesn’t shy away from ugliness, such as
the virulent racism of many early feminists. She tells the stories of still-famous women who achieved great things later in life (Sojourner Truth and Sandra Day O’Connor) as well as those who have faded into obscurity (Gilded Age actress Eileen Karl and Wild West stagecoach driver Mary Fields). The suffrage movement in particular found older women coming into their own both socially and politically. This account is a moving tribute of the power and persistence of American women. Vanity Fair’s Women on Women (Penguin Press, $30, 9780525562146) delivers exactly what the title suggests: 28 essays profiling women who stand out in politics, pop culture and society at large, all penned by women. A trio of first lady profiles—Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama—is a study in contrasts, offering views from inside and outside the White House. Royalty abounds, both British (Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II), and American (Lady Gaga, Meryl Streep). A section of essays by women “In Their Own Words” includes an analysis of the meaning of #MeToo by Monica Lewinsky. A particular delight is “Emily Post’s Social Revolution,” in which Laura Jacobs profiles the woman whose notions of etiquette still guide us today. Don’t miss this deep and dishy collection. —Heather Seggel
For the mensch with the most The nights are getting longer, the weather is getting colder, and Hanukkah is just around the corner. Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, celebrates both an ancient military victory and the flame of a tiny oil lamp miraculously lasting for eight days. It’s a chance for families to light candles in a menorah, say blessings, exchange gifts . . . and read books! Two new offerings are perfect for Hanukkah gift-giving. The hosts of Tablet magazine’s “Unorthodox” podcast branch out into book format with The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia (Artisan, $36, 9781579658939), a compendium of all things Jewish, covering everything from bagels to the Book of Life, Shabbat to “Seinfeld.” Alternately irreverent and profound—but always informative—entries range from single sentences (“chutzpah: What it takes to think you can write an encyclopedia of Jewish life”) to four-page spreads (check out the sections about Jewish gangsters and Jewish Hollywood). Photographs of Jewish people and places abound, and quick-reference sections about holidays answer such questions as “What do we do?” and “Anything good to eat?” The Newish Jewish Encyclopedia is a great gift for the Jewish maven in your life who’d relish quoting facts about the history of the garment industry or brushing up on their Yiddish curses.
You can never have too many cookbooks, and The Jewish Cookbook by Leah Koenig (Phaidon, $49.95, 9780714879338) is one you’ll pull off the shelf over and over again. Sections for standard cookbook fare, such as soups and stews, are joined by Jewish-specific chapters (“Dumplings, Noodles, and Kugels” is a go-to), and symbols indicate when a recipe is gluten-free, vegan or meets other criteria for ingredients or prep time. Dozens of photographs show Ashkenazi favorites like braided challah, fruit-drenched blintzes and crisp pickles alongside curried fish balls from South Africa, coconut rice from India and beloved Middle Eastern desserts like sweet egg meringue and sufganiyot (jelly donuts). You’ll find recipes from chefs at renowned restaurants and for food-specific holidays like Passover. Best of all, every recipe begins with a story: where the recipe comes from, what traditions surround it and how it can best be accompanied. Give The Jewish Cookbook to a Jewish cook who wants to combine the tastes of their childhood (wherever it may have been) with adventurous forays into Jewish cooking around the world. —Jill Ratzan
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gift books
For the person who’s always planning the next hike Find your way home with these special books. The cold and dark of winter can lead to neglected boots and seriously unrequited wanderlust for trekkers of a certain latitude. Although they might not fit into an ultralight pack, these five books will inspire the avid hiker in your life to plan their next adventure. Any outdoor lover will appreciate the lush and comprehensive National Geographic Atlas of the National Parks (National Geographic, $65, 9781426220579). Former ranger Jon Waterman profiles 60 national parks, from the Gates of the Arctic to American Samoa’s jungles, with detailed maps, photographs and plenty of stories of the parks’ histories and ecosystems that are perfect for omnivorous readers. The information is practical for planning a visit, but more importantly it’ll make you itch to see them all. It’s hard to read a book like this without being awed by the enormous treasure these parks represent. (Send copies to your elected officials.) There’s no substitute for visiting, but this atlas is a fine alternative. Sarah Kaizar’s unique Hiker Trash (Mountaineers, $21.95, 9781680512182) is neither a guidebook nor a personal memoir, but rather a collage of the places and personalities along the Appalachian Trail. Although it celebrates the beauty of the landscapes with Nicholas Reichard’s photographs and Kaizar’s graceful illustrations of the trail’s iconic shelters, the real star of the book is the community of tired, inspired hikers who have built a network of communication through the shelters’ trail logs. Through their handwritten messages, this eclectic group of modern nomads (with trail names like Food Truck and Dr. Pickles) tell their stories: jokes, lamentations, triumphs, shout-outs to friends ahead and behind. Evocative scenes of hikers in repose—with Sawyer filters, socks and snacks—feel instantly relatable to anyone already seasoned on long-dis-
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tance trails, but these images will also resonate with anyone looking for a glimpse into a sometimes smelly, always fascinating hiking subculture. The digital community She Explores (Chronicle, $24.95, 9781452167664), created by author Gale Straub through her website and podcast of the same name, comes into gorgeous, tangible form in a new book. With personal vignettes by outdoorswomen and stirring photography, Straub curates stories that challenge the one-size-fits-all archetype of what it means to be “outdoorsy.” Nomads, entrepreneurs, mothers, activists and artists all share space in these pages. Tucked between their anecdotes are tips on skills from solo hiking to how to stay creatively inspired. Unlike outdoor narratives that focus on elite extremes, She Explores feels accessible, inspiring and affirming that the outdoors is for all. You’ll find yourself wanting to connect with these women and write your own story, too. Spend too long with a group of outdoor nuts, and talk will inevitably turn to gear. You’ll watch a dreamy look come into someone’s eyes as they wax poetic about the weight of their favorite tent. British explorer Ed Stafford’s fascinating Expeditions Unpacked (White Lion, $45, 9781781318782) details the stories of 25 adventurers and their famed expeditions by analyzing their gear. Poring over beautiful flatlay illustrations for each expedition, armchair travelers can compare the kits of pioneers like Roald Amundsen, Amelia Earhart and Thor Heyerdahl, as well as lesser-known adventurers like Clärenore Stinnes, the first woman to circumnavigate the world by car. In each chapter, Stafford examines how the chosen
Illustration by Sarah Kaizar, from Hiker Trash. Used with permission from Mountaineers Books.
gear impacted the expedition. The minutiae of the selections reveals not only the hazards of their journeys but also the explorers’ personalities, as with Percy Fawcett’s accordion in the Amazon and contemporary balloonist Fedor Konyukhov’s religious icons. Curious outdoor lovers of any stripe will find something to inspire them here. U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s An American Sunrise (Norton, $25.95, 9781324003861) is an important companion for the thoughtful hiker ready to wrestle with complex questions of land ownership and stewardship. Harjo, the first Native American laureate, synthesizes history, memory and contemporary issues in her collection of poetry that laments the treatment of Native peoples and sings tribute to her Muscogee Creek heritage and ancestors. The legacy of the Trail of Tears and its echoes in today’s political landscape weave together with her personal experiences, benedictions and exhortations for us to care for the earth—and to listen. Leave the other books on your nightstand; this one is slim but powerful, with plenty of complexity to unravel as it keeps you company on a solo trail. It deserves to be appreciated in the wild spaces that Harjo celebrates: “for even the land is a singer, a lover of poetry.” —Megan Reardon
reviews | fiction
H This Is Happiness By Niall Williams
Literary Fiction Imagine a single sentence worthy of its own page. This Is Happiness (Bloomsbury, $28, 9781635574203) opens with such a line, reporting that it has stopped raining. Why, you wonder, does this declaration deserve its own page? Especially in a novel about an ordinary Irish village called Faha. Things have not gone irreversibly wonky in Faha, nor is the town enchanted like Brigadoon. It rains a lot in this village, because (to adapt James Joyce’s words) rain is general all over Ireland. When the rain stops, it’s news. The narrator of the tale is Noel Crowe, called Noe. An old man when we meet him, Noe is
The Glittering Hour By Iona Grey
Historical Fiction Set in London and alternating between 1926 and 1936, The Glittering Hour (Thomas Dunne, $28.99, 9781250066794) is the story of Selena Lennox. Having lost her beloved brother during World War I, Selena understands too well the brevity of life and intends to live every moment to the fullest. Selena and her lively companions are collectively known as the Bright Young People. To the dismay of Selena’s staid, upper-class family, her world is an unending series of fast cars, beautiful dresses, wild parties, crazy games and the latest dances, all fueled by alcohol and drugs and documented by photographers. Then one night, Selena meets the totally unsuitable Lawrence Weston, a struggling artist from poor beginnings who bears his own grief. Their encounter will eventually open Selena’s eyes and force her to make a choice that will change their lives. The Glittering Hour is an exceptional novel about choosing how to live amid powerful grief and true love. Iona Grey, author of Letters to the Lost, has written a moving story that
looking back on a stretch of surprisingly rainless days from when he was a teenager in the late 1950s or so. At that time, Faha was clamoring about its new electricity, and Noe befriended one of the workers, an elderly man named Christy who was lodging with Noe’s kindly grandparents. The beauty and power of Irish author Niall Williams’ writing lies in his ability to invest the
quotidian with wonder. A truly peerless wordsmith, he even makes descriptions of gleaming white appliances and telephone wire sing. Readers will never forget the scene in which Christy and Noe get drunk in a pub and try to ride home on their bikes, nor Noe’s first kiss in the balcony of a movie house, an experience he endures from the fast-living sister of the girl he has a crush on. The book is hilarious among its many other virtues. Buy, rent, get your hands on this book somehow and savor every word of it. Its title says it all: Plunging into This Is Happiness is happiness indeed. —Arlene McKanic
makes readers feel bereft to leave Selena and Lawrence behind at the book’s end in the way that only the best novels can do. Grey’s eye for descriptive detail gives a sumptuousness to almost every scene, and the delicious recklessness of 1920s London comes alive on the page. She is also masterful at using flashbacks and letters to slowly tease out the influences and motivations of her characters—and those of an entire postwar generation. For readers looking for a tremendously entertaining, emotionally charged story, look no further. The Glittering Hour is just the ticket. —Annie Peters
Scrooge and his partner Jacob Marley’s sordid business. But whereas Dickens’ novel is ultimately uplifting—our stingy protagonist wholly embraces the lessons learned from ghostly visitations and immediately sets about amending his ways—Marley is anything but. It’s darkly haunting in its own way, but also devilishly fun reading. There are good reasons for the heavy chains wrapped around Jacob Marley’s ghost when he visits Scrooge that fateful Christmas Eve, and author Jon Clinch spares no detail as he depicts Marley in this prequel as a harsh, uncaring, coldly calculating, deceitful individual, showcasing his malevolent influence on Scrooge. The novel follows the pair from their first meeting at Professor Drabb’s Academy for Boys in 1787—where Marley immediately extorts money from Scrooge—to Marley’s deathbed in 1836. Throughout, Marley’s obsession with money motivates every waking moment of his life. While Scrooge crunches the numbers (or cooks the books, if you will), Marley carries on the nastier businesses of cons, smuggling and slave trading, using various aliases and dummy corporations along the way, even going so far as to keep secrets (and cash) from Scrooge. Marley is, for want of a better phrase, more of a scrooge than Scrooge. Clinch—who pulled a similarly remarkable feat with his first book, Finn, about the father of Huckleberry Finn—has successfully added a layer of depth and intrigue to Dickens’ beloved characters. Rereading Marley each Christmas may become as much of a tradition as rereading A Christmas Carol. —G. Robert Frazier
Marley By Jon Clinch
Literary Fiction Before reading Marley (Atria, $27, 9781982129705), I dug out my Bantam Classic paperback of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and reread it. As if I needed such an excuse: It’s one of my favorite books, and Ebenezer Scrooge’s story of greed and selfishness never gets old. I was equally excited to read Marley, which promised to deliver the untold origin story of
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reviews | nonfiction
H The Season By Kristen Richardson
History When she was 17, Kristen Richardson was invited to become a debutante. The prospect of being on display held no interest for her, but as Richardson attended the ritualized “coming-out” parties of friends, she became fascinated by the enduring upper-class ritual, which has been largely overlooked by historians. In The Season: A Social History of the Debutante (Norton, $26.95, 9780393608731), Richardson argues that if we dismiss such traditions, “we miss a key part of women’s history, and of the history of marriage as well.” Readers of Jane Austen and Regency romances are, of course, familiar with the role that “the season” played in early 19th-century England. For middle-class families with marriageable daughters, a season involved considerable preparation, expense and sacrifice: renting a house in London, scrambling for ac-
What It Is
By Clifford Thompson
Memoir Until 2016, writer Clifford Thompson felt like an American first and foremost. Following Trump’s election, Thompson was shaken to see how differently his fellow Americans seemed to understand the world. He found himself reflecting on his American identity—where it came from, how it developed over time and what it means to be “rooted” in a certain set of experiences. For Thompson, that set of experiences includes the all-black neighborhood outside of D.C. where he spent his childhood; an undergraduate career at a predominantly white liberal arts college in Ohio; and an adulthood in New York, where he raises two daughters alongside his white wife. After the election, Thompson wanted to break out of his bubble and understand how others were rooted. He flew to other parts of
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ceptance at Almack’s assembly rooms, getting a suitable wardrobe. And there was always the pressure on debutantes to make a “successful” marriage. What makes Richardson’s account of debutante rituals so fascinating is her exploration of how the practice was exported to the United States, with dancing masters in demand in cities like Charleston and Philadelphia in the 1740s. Blending research and vignettes, she expertly traces the practice through old New York, the antebellum South and into the Gilded Age, when girls outside the tightknit structure of New York society went abroad to seek a husband or a title. (Think Cora, the Countess of Grantham, in “Downton Abbey.”)
Richardson brings her chronology up to modern times, revealing how presentations, sometimes organized by closed secret societies, continue in cities like Charleston, New Orleans, St. Louis and San Antonio. There’s even an explosion of debutantes in China and Russia. One chapter explores African American debutantes and social clubs, where events have often included a charitable aspect with a focus on community service and education. The debutante ball, it turns out, isn’t a thing of the past at all. Sometimes young women use it to create a persona or promote a personal brand. But as Richardson reminds us in this engaging and thought-provoking history, the use of daughters to cement power and wealth is very hard to give up. —Deborah Hopkinson
the U.S. to interview Trump supporters and try to understand how they see Trump, themselves and the rest of the country, especially regarding race. What he heard and saw only confirmed his sense of division, even alienation. In What It Is (Other, $19.99, 9781590519059), the reader experiences, via Thompson’s plaintive and disillusioned voice, the discomfort of personal recalibration. Thompson explores the world as it is and carefully thinks through how each of us can find our place within it. —Kelly Blewett
bookstore in Berlin. She returned to Paris in 1939, fleeing the Nazis. She made several attempts to escape to Switzerland and eventually succeeded. But if Frenkel hadn’t written a memoir, she would likely be completely unknown. Rien où poser sa tête (No Place to Lay One’s Head) was published in Switzerland in 1945, sold a few copies and quickly sank into collective forgetfulness. Then a copy was found in 2010 at a sale for a French charity, and it’s now republished as A Bookshop in Berlin (Atria, $26, 9781501199844). It’s interesting the way a title can affect a reader’s perception of a book. The title No Place to Lay One’s Head draws attention to Frenkel’s personal hardships, to the terror and cruelty she encountered. There is plenty of suspense as Frenkel describes her brushes with disaster— but the title A Bookshop in Berlin instead emphasizes her improbable bookstore, illuminating a deeper truth about Frenkel’s experiences. Like a bookstore, Frenkel’s memoir contains not one story but many. There is, of course, her own odyssey to safety—but there’s also the heroic tale of M. and Mme. Marius, Frenkel’s friends and saviors; the comedy of the glamorous refugee who hoodwinked the Germans into saving her son; the tragedy of the young man accused of murdering his wife; the melodrama of hardened prison guards; and ultimately, a story of liberation and redemption. —Deborah Mason
A Bookshop in Berlin By Françoise Frenkel
Memoir Like many Europeans who lived through World War II, Françoise Frenkel led an eventful life. A Polish Jewish woman born in 1889, she studied literature in Paris. In 1921, she opened a French
reviews | young adult
H Where the
World Ends
By Geraldine McCaughrean
Historical Fiction A harrowing story of survival based on an actual 18th-century event is brought to life by British author Geraldine McCaughrean, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for The White Darkness. As in that book, which was set in Antarctica, Where the World Ends (Flatiron, $18.99, 9781250225498) takes place in a harsh, unfamiliar landscape: the St. Kilda archipelago, a cluster of islands northwest of Scotland. The novel follows nine boys and three men who are taken, by boat, from their village and
Crying Laughing By Lance Rubin
Fiction Comedy nerds and curious newbies alike will LOL at the improv-infused Crying Laughing (Knopf, $17.99, 9780525644675). Winnie Friedman finds herself highly amusing, but the aspiring comedian has sworn off performing after bombing at her bat mitzvah. When she’s invited to join a comedy troupe, however, Winnie decides to give the stage another shot. Then she learns that her father, a former comedian, has been diagnosed with ALS. He’s been keeping it from her and downplaying it with others, to her mom’s frustration. Winnie doesn’t want to take sides—at home or at school, where her best friends are in conflict—but she’s stressed out. On top of all this, she also has to read Tess of the d’Urbervilles, “which doesn’t seem funny at all,” and figure out the rules of improv games like Nameball, Zip-Zap-Zop and Harold. Thanks to his own comedy chops, Lance Rubin (Denton Little’s Deathdate) expertly
dropped off on Warrior Stac, “a rock whale pitching its whole bulk into the sky, covered in barnacles, aiming to swallow the moon,” where they will hunt birds for several weeks before being picked up and returned to the village. Quill has been fowling on the stac before. Although he usually enjoys the challenge of hunting, this year, as the boat leaves, he strains to catch a glimpse of Murdina, the girl with whom he has fallen in love. Hunting birds on the cliffs is treacherous. Quill and his friends are tested from the very beginning, but then the unthinkable happens:
The boat does not return for them. Weeks go by, then months. One boy has a vision that their loved ones have all gone up to heaven, while they have been overlooked, left behind on the rock. The seasons change, the birds leave their cliff nests, and each day is fraught with peril as the members of the party struggle to stay alive and sane. There are surprises and tragedies, and while all the characters are tested (the adults fail miserably), it is Quill’s trials that will keep readers riveted. Although no one in this book escapes sorrow and heartbreak, the story ends with a glimmer of hope. McCaughrean’s storytelling is as dramatic and harsh as the island landscape. She includes a helpful glossary, a historical note and sketches of the marvelous seabirds that appear in the book. Already a classic in the U.K., where it won the prestigious Carnegie Medal, Where the World Ends is a stunning literary achievement. —Deborah Hopkinson
explains the aforementioned games as Winnie masters them. Readers will cheer her on even as they cringe-laugh sympathetically. Crying Laughing offers insight into why it can be good to be unfunny, and gently but firmly advocates for facing up to feelings, even scary ones. Winnie’s rapid-fire internal voice and awkward dating experiences are a hoot, and her relationships are infused with compassion and nuance. This sweet and appealing story celebrates kindness, wit, perseverance and “the most passive-aggressive grocery unpacking of all time.” Ha! —Linda M. Castellitto
A Thousand Fires (Tor Teen, $17.99, 9781250301994), a quick-moving thriller set in a slightly dystopian future. The gangs in A Thousand Fires don’t face off over colors or turf. Instead, their fights are about gentrification and urban development, and their thugs are as likely to be children of the elite as progeny of the dispossessed. While Price keeps the gangs’ goals hazy, her heroine Val’s desires are crystal clear. Ever since her little brother was gunned down, Val has been waiting to turn 18 so she can join the Herons with her boyfriend, Mike, and take vengeance against whoever killed her brother. But no one gets to choose their gang; the gang chooses you. When Val is recruited by the Stags, the Herons’ rival gang, she’s torn. The Stags promise to help her avenge her brother, but if she joins, Mike will become her sworn enemy. Risking her life, Val hedges her bets, joining the Stags but staying in surreptitious contact with Mike. She complicates matters further by falling for Jax, the Stags’ attractive but dangerous leader. In Val, Price offers an engaging, conflicted protagonist. Though Price’s knack for intrigue and fast-paced plotting will hook readers, it’s her compelling first-person narration and strong characterization that will linger. Price will have readers who prefer their action spiced with a dash of romance and a pinch of speculative fiction eating out of her hand. —Jon Little
A Thousand Fires By Shannon Price
Thriller What if the tech boom brought more than money and hipsters to San Francisco? What if it brought gang warfare? Those questions forms the premise of Shannon Price’s debut novel,
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gift books
For teens who can’t wait to see how the story ends (or continues!)
More great series reads
Any bookish teen who’s been reading along with some of the most popular YA series would be overjoyed to find one of these titles in their stockings. Just make sure they’re all caught up on the previous volumes first! Devoted fans of Holly Black’s bestselling Folk of the Air series have been buzzing with nervous energy over what will become of frenemies Jude and Cardan. Rest assured, Black doesn’t disappoint with The Queen of Nothing (Little, Brown, $19.99, 9780316310420). Jude and her twin sister, Taryn, are humans who have been raised in the faerie kingdom of Elfhame. Although humans are often victims of faerie cruelty, Jude has been trained as a warrior. But after treating King Cardan like a pawn in a game of political chess, Jude has been exiled to the human realm, where she works dangerous jobs for faeries—until Taryn shows up, seeking Jude’s help. Jude risks her life as she pits herself against old friends and new enemies, including her stepfather, who has his eyes on the crown. But survival in the faerie court is fraught with political gambles, disloyal spies and impending war, not to mention confusion about where Jude stands with Cardan. When a curse threatens the kingdom, Jude is forced to make a heartbreaking choice. Black’s writing flows like honey as she injects intoxicating chemistry into romantic tropes. Jude is clever, cunning and empowered, while Cardan is deliciously flawed and imbued with Black’s biting wit. The Queen of Nothing is a satisfying, if bittersweet, conclusion to this successful trilogy. In his Arc of a Scythe trilogy, National Book Award winner Neal Shusterman has created a futuristic world as complex and ambiguous as our own. Tackling morality, ethics, life and death, Shusterman’s work is hefty—the entire trilogy clocks in at around 1,500 pages—but ultimately it’s a masterpiece of allegory and plot twists that transcends genre and age. In a post-mortal age, an omniscient supercomputer called the Thunderhead has relieved the world of disease, violence and destruction. Humans now live for centuries, creating a problem the Thunderhead cannot address: death. In order to control population growth, some humans are drafted as “scythes” and tasked with murdering citizens efficiently and compassionately. Unfortunately, not every scythe abides by the commandments, and Scythe Goddard’s corruption is undoing all of the Thunderhead’s progress. But Goddard comes up against formidable opponents, including Citra and Rowan, two teens determined to destroy Goddard and his new
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order, and the Toll, a religious figurehead who can speak to the Thunderhead. When Goddard’s ambitions result in large-scale tragedy, the Thunderhead accelerates its plans for humanity’s survival. But a supercomputer and three humans may be no match for one man intent on bringing the world to its knees. The Toll (Simon & Schuster, $19.99, 9781481497060) culminates with star-crossed lovers Citra and Rowan deciding whether to make the ultimate sacrifice for each other. After all, what good is immortality without someone by your side to share it? Gift The Toll to any ardent reader, whether they’re 18 or 80. Readers have eagerly awaited Call Down the Hawk (Scholastic, $19.99, 9781338188325), the first book in bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater’s spinoff trilogy starring the Raven Cycle’s beloved Ronan Lynch. Ronan, who can manifest objects from his dreams into reality, is struggling to adapt to life after high school. His boyfriend, Adam, is away at college, leaving Ronan bored and purposeless. He’s able to keep his dreams under control as long as he stays close to home, but the longer he goes without dreaming, the more disastrous the outcomes. No one understands this better than Hennessy, a thief and con artist who never learned to control her dreams; consequently, they’re slowly killing her. Hennessy has a doppelgänger, Jordan, who works as an art forger and whose path intersects with Declan, Ronan’s straight-laced older brother. Declan has spent his whole life lying to protect his family from a covert sect who believe killing dreamers will avert an apocalypse—and Ronan and Hennessy are their next targets. Call Down the Hawk represents a tonal shift from its predecessors. It feels darker and headier as Stiefvater stretches the confines of her magical constructs and raises the stakes beyond the Raven Boys’ old prep school. This change feels organic to the narrative; as the characters mature and graduate, so must the story. But loyal readers needn’t fear. Beloved characters from earlier books make a few cameos, Adam and Ronan’s relationship has plenty of romantic breathing room, and Stiefvater’s lyrical writing style is a gift in itself. Readers new to the story should start with The Raven Boys, but everyone else will want this on their bookshelf, dog-eared, until the next book in the series arrives. —Kimberly Giarratano
Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell Wednesday, $19.99 9781250146076
The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman Knopf, $22.99 9780553510669
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi Holt, $19.99 9781250170996
gift books
For curious young minds Brimming with eye-opening information and hands-on activities, these innovative books will inspire readers to think, create and collaborate. No screens or devices required! Mythologica: An Encyclopedia of Gods, Monsters and Mortals From Ancient Greece (Wide Eyed, $30, 9781786031938, ages 10 to 14) is sure to ignite young imaginations. Classicist Steve Kershaw chronicles the exploits of gods, goddesses and the humans with whom they become entangled in this mesmerizing volume. Brief yet detailed encyclopedic entries explain the background and notable traits of Greek mythology’s players from Athena to Zeus. Kershaw’s snapshots of these fascinating figures communicate the drama and adventure that give the myths their perennial appeal, and artist Victoria Topping’s fantastical collages create a dazzling dreamscape that suits the gods’ larger-than-life deeds. Mythologica is an outstanding introduction to ancient stories and a volume to be treasured. Another eye-opening pick that’s perfect for holiday giving is Paper World: Planet Earth (Big Picture, $24.99, 9781536208542, ages 8 to 12) by Bomboland, the Italian illustration studio of cut-paper artists Maurizio Santucci and Elisa Cerri. The book’s ingeniously engineered flaps, cutouts and illustrations teach readers about the diverse topographies and ecosystems that exist across the globe. Movable tabs reveal Earth’s hidden wonders: tectonic plates, deep-sea marine trenches, underground caves and more. Easy-to-follow descriptions complement the book’s impressive visuals, and the authors have included related sections on weather forecasting and storms, along with a helpful glossary. Their vibrant cut-paper replicas of soaring mountain ranges, snaking rivers, explosive volcanoes and mighty glaciers are designed to delight. This inventive geological journey will transform the way children view the great outdoors. New ways of seeing also abound in Make Your Own Optical Illusions: 50 Hands-On Models and Experiments to Make and Do (QEB, $19.95, 9781786038623, ages 7 to 10). In this beguiling book, author Clive Gifford investigates different types of optical illusions and equips his audience with need-to-know information on vision and perception. Through clear, accessible explanations of how our brains process color, motion and other stimuli, he sets the stage for an amazing magic show. Nifty projects with clear instructions appear throughout the book. Paper punch-outs allow aspiring illusionists to create spinning tops, a 3D dog and other objects. With helpful illustrations and interactive elements contributed by artist Rob Ives, the book gives readers every-
thing they need to explore new modes of perception. Get ready for some visual trickery! The creativity continues—in the kitchen—with United Tastes of America: An Atlas of Food Facts and Recipes From Every State! (Phaidon, $29.95, 9780714878621, ages 8 to 11). Food writer Gabrielle Langholtz serves up 54 dishes in this delectable book—one for each state, plus Washington, D.C., and the three U.S. territories—and her simple instructions cater to the kiddos. Featuring favorites like Wisconsin stovetop macaroni and cheese, along with outof-the-ordinary menu items like Ohio buckeye candies, United Tastes delivers a mouthwatering overview of America’s culinary culture. Photographer DL Acken presents the completed dishes as works of art that are clean and simple. The atlas also offers a state-by-state survey of food-related trivia, with encyclopedic spreads beautifully illustrated by Jenny Bowers. Break out the aprons! Little cooks will love this terrific book. America’s heritage is also the focus of David Miles’ The Interactive Constitution (Bushel & Peck, $21.99, 9781733633529, ages 8 to 12). The sturdy pages in this bold, colorful book have flaps, tabs, windows and wheels—inviting elements that inform readers about political science, American history and the U.S. Constitution. The book’s welcoming text provides important information about the Founding Fathers, the three branches of government and the system of checks and balances, as well as deep dives into important facets of the Constitution, including its famous Preamble and the Bill of Rights. Albert Pinilla’s vivid artwork is filled with standout infographics and plenty of surprises, such as a lift-the-flap portrait gallery of presidents. This immersive title is certain to inspire the leaders of tomorrow. There’s more hands-on fun to be found in Carolyn Sloan’s Welcome to Jazz (Workman, $24.95, 9781523506880, ages 4 to 8), featuring three felines (yes, these cats are cool!) who drop in to a club to see a band. The musicians kick off their set with “When the Saints Go Marching In,” a song that Sloan uses to riff on the subject of jazz. Breaking down the tune’s components, Sloan covers significant instruments, including the saxophone, trumpet and trombone, and defines musical concepts such as improvisation. Readers can listen to “Saints” and sample musical sounds via the book’s press-and-play audio panel. Jessica Gibson’s energetic illustrations capture the spirit of the proceedings, making this a five-star performance from start to finish. —Julie Hale
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feature | holiday picture books
Seasonal books to make spirits bright Whether you’re waiting for Santa or the winter solstice, these four picture books capture the excitement, wonder and joy of the holiday season. Collectors of Christmas tales mustn’t miss Dasher (Candlewick, $17.99, 9781536201376, ages 4 to 8), Matt Tavares’ exhilarating chronicle of how Santa went from a single horse to a team of flying reindeer pulling his sleigh. Determined Dasher is the star of this show, escaping from a difficult life in a traveling circus and doggedly finding her way to the North Pole. Tavares excels at Christmas stories (Red & Lulu, The Gingerbread Pirates), and young readers are apt to inhale every word of this yarn. As an illustrator, Tavares is a master of dramatic light, emotion and mood, as well as deep, vibrant color, whether he’s depicting Dasher’s family penned in at the circus or Santa’s sleigh magically lifting up into the air. Dasher is sure to join the stacks of enduring Christmas favorites read by families year after year. Kids are always trying to outsmart Santa, but young Freddy Melcher hopes to finally succeed in The Great Santa Stakeout (Arthur A. Levine, $17.99, 9781338169980, ages 4 to 8). After all, he’s obsessed with St. Nick, dressing in a Santa suit for every holiday—even Talk Like a Pirate Day! This #1 Santa fan is sure he’s got a failsafe plan for capturing a selfie with his idol, and his plan seems thorough, complete with meticulous preparation and blueprints. Betsy Bird’s snappy text enlivens this rollicking, action-packed tale, while Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat’s illustrations dramatically capture Freddy’s wide-eyed excitement. This modern Santa caper will keep the magic alive for young readers counting the days until the big guy shimmies down their chimneys. On a more serious note, Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story From the Border (FSG, $17.99,
9780374303730, ages 3 to 6) is a poignant story set at the wall separating Tijuana and San Diego. Young María and her little brother are traveling with their mother by bus. Their destination is an annual day when Border Patrol officials allow groups of people to gather in an area called the enforcement zone to talk and touch fingertips with those on the other side of the border. María and her family are going to see their Abuela, whom they haven’t seen for five years. “For a moment,” María notes, “the fences are invisible”—until she realizes her brother can’t give Abuela the drawing he made for her. Mitali Perkins’ story is a perfect introduction for children to how borders separate families, delicately embracing the reunion’s joy and enduring sadness. Sara Palacios’ illustrations cheerfully capture the love among separated families as well as the realities of the border wall. This superb picture book is a holiday story that deserves to be a yearround read. While some things are designed to keep people apart, others draw them together. One snowy morning, Bear wakes to a new star on the horizon and knows it’s time to begin his annual search for a special tree in The Bear and the Star (Greenwillow, $17.99, 9780062660374, ages 4 to 8). Bear soon finds a majestic evergreen on top of a windswept hill, and as “his call echoed through canyon and valley, between boulder and butte, across prairie and lake,” he summons living creatures far and wide. Lola M. Schaefer’s spare but mesmerizing text invites inclusiveness, as “People put down hammer and hoe, grass and thatch, knife and rice, shield and sword.” Bethanne Andersen’s snowy scenes, reminiscent of Eric Carle’s Dream Snow, beautifully depict the rich reds of the desert, the warmth of tropical fields, a menagerie of species and a glorious array of people. The Bear and the Star is a stunning and universal tribute to peace, joy, love and winter celebrations. —Alice Cary
reviews | children’s
A Talent for Trouble By Natasha Farrant
Middle Grade How do you deal with a beloved parent who repeatedly fails you? That’s the question facing 11-yearold Alice Mistlethwaite in Natasha Farrant’s adventurous tale for middle grade readers, A Talent for Trouble (Clarion, $16.99, 9781328580788, ages 10 to 13). Alice’s adoring mother dies, and her animated but n’er-do-well father is largely absent, prompting her Aunt Patience to sell the family estate and send Alice off to Stormy
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Loch Academy in the wilds of Scotland. Of her bookish, solitary niece who is always writing stories, Patience says, “She needs a new story—not to write, to live.” Indeed, Alice finds just that, in a setup reminiscent of Harry Potter, complete with a wee hint of magic. There’s a lonely train ride to a new school; a patient, all-knowing headmaster (a collector of “lost souls”
and “waifs”); and a trio of new friends who slowly discover their own talents and power for friendship. Alice is thrown together with athletic Jesse and genius Fergus as they enter the school’s Great Orienteering Challenge, using it as an excuse to embark on their own dangerous mission. The story really takes off when the three students set out on their secret quest to meet Alice’s father, Barney Mistlethwaite, who seems to be in trouble. Their adventure results in a memorable showdown. British author Farrant keeps the tone jaunty and light, often addressing readers directly with both warnings and reassurances. Amid great danger and excitement, Alice learns to stand up for herself and confront her father’s neglect. An old-fashioned tale that tackles a timeless concern, A Talent for Trouble is full of daring exploits and essential lessons. —Alice Cary
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Yuval Zommer’s The Tree That’s Meant to Be (Doubleday, $17.99, 9780593119679, ages 3 to 7) is the heartwarming story of a crooked little evergreen embraced by forest creatures after no human family chooses to take it home for Christmas. Zommer’s illustrations teem with color and detail, capturing the vibrant life in the forest through all four seasons. Zommer worked as a creative director in advertising before embarking on a career creating highly acclaimed books for children.
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