A Spindle Splintered (Sci Fi) by Alix E. Harrow
As author Katherine Arden puts it, “A Spindle Splintered is a vivid, subversive, and feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty, where implacable destiny is no match for courage and sisterhood.” In this version, it’s Zinnia Gray’s 21st birthday and the last she’ll ever have. As such, her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens. There is a lot to appreciate about this book, including the look of it, but what really makes it special is the queer feminist take on a misogynistic classic.
The Sentence (fiction) by Louise Erdrich
November is Native Heritage Month, so if you’ve never availed yourself to the prose of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Louise Erdrich, now is a good time as her latest book, The Sentence, was just released. In it, she creates a humorous ghost story, mixed in with a tale of passion, a complex marriage. The story’s protagonist has landed a job in an indie bookstore in Minneapolis after years of incarceration. She also lands a shift that is haunted by a recently deceased customer, Flora, the store’s most annoying customer. If all that weren’t strange and engaging enough, most of the story takes place between November 2019 and November 2020, with the murder of George Floyd and rise of the Black Lives Matter movement as backdrop.
Billy Porter Unprotected (memoir) by Billy Porter
From the incomparable Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner comes a powerful and revealing autobiography about race, sexuality, art, and healing. It’s easy to be yourself when who and what you are is in vogue. But growing up Black and gay in America has never been easy. Before Billy Porter was slaying red carpets and giving an iconic Emmy-winning performance in the celebrated TV show Pose; before he was the groundbreaking Tony and Grammy Award-winning star of Broadway’s Kinky Boots; and before he was an acclaimed recording artist, actor, playwright, director, and all-around legend, Porter was a young boy in Pittsburgh who was seen as different, who didn’t fit in. At five years old, Porter was sent to therapy to “fix” his effeminacy. He was endlessly bullied at school, sexually abused by his stepfather, and criticized at his church. Porter came of age in a world where simply being himself was a constant struggle.
Upcoming Events
Saturday, November 27 @ 4 pm (in-store/Corte Madera) Dave Eggers, Author of The Every
From the award-winning, bestselling author of The Circle comes an exciting new follow up. When the world’s largest search engine/social media company, the Circle, merges with the planet’s dominant ecommerce site, it creates the richest and most dangerous—and, oddly enough, most beloved—monopoly ever known: The Every. Studded with unforgettable characters, outrageous outfits, and lacerating set-pieces, this companion to The Circle blends absurdity and terror, satire, and suspense, while keeping the reader in apprehensive excitement about the fate of the company—and the human animal.
Thursday, December 2 @ 6 pm (online ticketed event) Ann Patchett, Author of These Precious Days
The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both.
Published on November 18, 2021
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