The Storm We Made (fiction – hardbound) by Vanessa Chan
How wonderful to start off the year with what will probably be one of the best novels of 2024! The Storm We Made is a unique and insightful exploration of a little-known aspect of World War II and the victims who became resilient survivors. This spellbinding, sweeping novel features a Malayan mother who becomes an unlikely spy for the invading Japanese forces during WWII—with shocking consequences for her family, and her country. Spanning years of pain and triumph, told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made is a dazzling debut novel about the horrors of war, the fraught relationships between the colonized and their oppressors, and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake.
We Should Not Be Friends (nonfiction/memoir – hardbound) by Will Schwalbe
By the time Will Schwalbe was a junior at college, he had already met everyone he cared to know. He also knew exactly whom he wanted to avoid: the jocks. All this changed dramatically when Will collided with Chris Maxey. Maxey was physically imposing, loud, and a star wrestler who was determined to become a Navy SEAL. Thanks to the strangely liberating circumstances of a little-known secret society at Yale, the two forged a bond that would become a mainstay of each other’s lives as they repeatedly lost and found each other and themselves in the years after graduation. We Should Not Be Friends is a warm, funny, irresistible memoir that follows an improbable and life-changing college friendship over the course of forty years—from the best-selling author of The End of Your Life Book Club.
How To Fight Anti-Semitism (nonfiction – paperback) by Bari Weiss
For most Americans, the massacre at Tree of Life, the synagogue where Bari Weiss became a bat mitzvah, came as a shock. But anti-Semitism is the oldest hatred, commonplace across the Middle East and on the rise for years in Europe. So that terrible morning in Pittsburgh, as well as the continued surge of hate crimes against Jews in cities and towns across the country, raises a question Americans cannot avoid: Could it happen here? This book is Weiss’ answer.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, January 17 @ 6 pm (free – Corte Madera store) Joan Gelfand, author of Outside Voices
Outside Voices reports the ups and downs of finding one’s way as an artist, living with a women’s band, forging an independent Jewish identity, founding a women’s restaurant, and becoming a published writer and songwriter while exploring the limits of sexuality and spirituality. The story includes road trips to music festivals in the woods, beaches in Mexico, concerts in Southern California, and a retreat in the Pacific Northwest.
Saturday, January 20 @ 3 pm (free – San Francisco store) Gemini Wahhaj, author of The Children of This Madness and Anoop Ahuja Judge, author of Mercy and Grace
In The Children of This Madness, Gemini Wahhaj pens a complex tale of modern Bengalis, one that illuminates the recent histories not only of Bangladesh, but also America and Iraq. Told in multiple voices over successive eras, this is the story of Nasir Uddin and his daughter Beena, and the intersection of their distant, vastly different lives. In Mercy and Grace the reader goes from India to America in this powerful tale by the author of No Ordinary Thursday.
Sunday, January 21 @ 4 pm (free – Corte Madera store) Grace Hawthorne, author of Make Possibilities Happen Turn your vision into reality! Transform what if into what’s next! Discover how to make your ideas work for you with this transformative guide from Stanford University adjunct professor Grace Hawthorne. Possibility is the ability to see something in your imagination and materialize it in real life. You already possess (almost) everything you need to make things happen—Make Possibilities Happen helps you find your way. Discover tools and strategies for overcoming the hang-ups that prevent you from getting things done or even starting. Learn exercises for building the creative capacity of your brain. https://www.bookpassage.com/
Top of Your Stack – Recommendations from Book Passage
Published on January 11, 2024
Recent Comments