This from my favourite NYC bookstore which I am hoping to visit in September.
As
we eagerly anticipate the arrival of warm weather and longer days, we look back
on the wonderful books that have enriched our past few months and taken us
far away from the freezing temperatures and icy winds. We hope they bring
you a similar pleasure - and escape. Wishing you many happy hours of
reading!
~ Recent Staff Favorites ~
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara
It's
hard to do justice to this beautiful, profound book in a few sentences, but
it's the novel that everyone will be (should be) talking about in the coming
months. The story of four friends - Jude, Willem, Malcolm, and JB - in
New York City over the course of their adult lives as they struggle with their
pasts, relationships, and careers, A Little Life is a masterpiece - a
book that neither shies away from some of the darkest corners of humanity nor
leaves you stranded there without hope or redemption. So cancel your
plans for the week, and prepare yourself for one of the most powerful,
rewarding reading experiences you've had in years. (Doubleday)
The Buried Giant
Kazuo Ishiguro
Ishiguro's
decidedly odd new novel set in Arthurian England, of an older couple embarking
on a journey to find the son who left home years earlier, is, nonetheless, a
moving reflection on our use, and avoidance, of memory and our unease at
finding succor in the unknown. The well-rendered account of a long and
loving relationship speaks to the invariable passion and heartache of a lengthy
partnership. Despite a head-scratch or two over she-dragons, ailing
ogres, and a shifty Sir Gawain, the novel resonates long after the turn of the
final, affecting page. And do take a look at the gorgeous book, itself; a
tip of the hat to the book designer, Peter Mendelsund. (Knopf)
H is for Hawk
Helen Macdonald
Shattered
by the sudden death of her father, Helen Macdonald finds a surprising strategy
for coping with her grief: raising and training a goshawk named Mabel. In
exquisite, detailed prose, Macdonald chronicles her triumphs and setbacks with
her new companion in the lush English countryside outside Cambridge and offers
a searing account of bereavement and mourning. Published to great acclaim
in the UK last summer and just out in the U.S., H is for Hawk is
the best kind of memoir meets nature writing meets paean to the human-animal
bond. (Grove)
The Whites
Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt
It’s
always fun to dig into a new Richard Price book (regardless of what he’s
calling himself!), and The Whites is no exception. Set in the South
Bronx, the narrative follows two of NYPD’s “finest” as they pursue their own
“white whales” of unsolved crimes. And Then It Gets Personal. Great, crackling
dialogue enliven this smart insider take on dark and thrilling stuff where
ethics and passions collide. Good times. (Henry Holt)
Welcome to Braggsville
T. Geronimo Johnson
The
swagger and style of this book are like little I’ve read before. Centered on a
diverse group of friends who meet their freshman year at UC Berkeley and decide
to spend spring break upstaging a Civil War reenactment in one friend’s small
southern hometown, it rings with the strong, modern voice of Junot Diaz and the
nuanced racial understanding of Toni Morrison. The friends’ best-laid plans to
protest the reenactment go awry, of course, and Johnson’s take on what happens
after is both unflinchingly honest and unceasingly funny. The way he mixes plot
with cultural reference and social satire is something to marvel at. (William
Morrow)
The Door
Magda Szabo
The
essential New York Review Books has republished a novel by one of Hungary's
most important twentieth century writers – and promises to publish another in
2017. The two-page introduction, by Ali Smith, will entice you as this
brief review cannot, and I urge you to come in and read it. Hugely stimulating
both emotionally and intellectually, The Door explores the power of love
between women to transcend differences in class, status, politics, religion and
history – and the power of pride both to enhance and (possibly?) threaten that
love. (New York Review Books Classics)
Mr. Mac and Me
Esther Freud
In
1914, as the war in Europe approaches, artist and architect Charles Rennie
Mackintosh arrives with his wife in a coastal English town and takes up long
solitary walks along the shore. Through the eyes of the thirteen-year-old he
befriends and mentors, the life of the village and its residents is gradually
revealed. Freud, in an arresting mix of fact (Mackintosh’s time in
Southold, England) and fiction, uses a light, skillful hand to portray the war’s
toll on the villagers and their dawning realization that their boys “won’t be
home by Christmas.” (Bloomsbury)
Outline
Rachel Cusk
For
readers interested in spare, concise prose by a masterful writer of great skill
and intelligence, this is the book for you. It’s so much fun to get a
peek into such an astute observer’s brain! Warning, though: you’ll need
to pick up a non-fiction book or a mystery when you’re done. It’s a
pretty bumpy adjustment to another writing style! (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
The First Bad Man
Miranda July
A
fan of Miranda July’s films, which beautifully observe the mundane quirks of
everyday life, I was instantly curious about her first novel. I can say with
delight that it met all of my expectations. The story of a 40-something single
woman named Cheryl who has mastered the art of living alone, The First Bad
Man is full of July’s signature humor, intelligence, and sincere
quirkiness. When Clee, the 20-year-old daughter of Cheryl’s bosses at the
self-defense workout video company she’s helped create, moves into Cheryl’s
single household, things go from funny to weird to absolutely heartbreaking.
Clee is overbearing, messy, and drop-dead gorgeous, and July presents her
evolving relationship with Cheryl with a sharp eye for detail and a real sense
of the warmth we can only find in other people. Read this one with an open
mind, and you’ll come away feeling newly appreciative of life’s crazy whims.
(Scribner)
How to Be Both
Ali Smith
Smith’s
playful and experimental novel can be read two ways: one version starts with an
eccentric, ghostly Renaissance painter recounting her past; the other version
begins with George, a teenage girl living outside of London with her younger
brother and father after the death of her intellectual and politically
subversive mother. Regardless of the order in which you read them, the stories
of these two curious characters intersect to create a brilliant, funny
exploration of art and gender. Abstract as this premise may sound, How to Be
Both manages to be wonderfully human and alive throughout. (Pantheon)
Preparation For the Next Life
Atticus Lish
Initially
suspicious of the over-the-top raves for this book, the first by the son of the
well-known editor, I was won over from page one. This is a dynamic, propulsive
read written in sure, powerful, and authentic prose. A young woman of
Afghani and Chinese descent and enormous inner strength is determined to make
it as an undocumented worker in the United States. A deeply scarred Iraqi
vet with three tours of active duty under his belt and a duffel bag filled with
prescription drugs – and a gun – makes it to New York City, and they meet.
Their unlikely love story, in the underbelly of Queens, is harrowing, lovely,
and unforgettable. (Tyrant Books)
Just Mercy
Bryan Stevenson
At
once a moving story about an innocent man on death row and an in-depth portrayal
of our broken criminal justice system, Just Mercy is a page-turner
written with immense compassion. There is a great deal to learn in this
book about vitally important issues, and the facts are presented in fluid and
always compelling prose. Stevenson will break your heart only to show how that
break connects us all. (Spiegel & Grau)
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Marie Kondo
When
this little book came in, we all immediately ordered a copy for ourselves! What
a delight it is. And what sensible advice Kondo gives, despite how undeniably
wacky she can sometimes seem. The wackiness adds to the book’s charm and keeps
the task from feeling too overwhelming. And yes, it really is true:
decluttering (and learning how to think about doing so) CAN be another route to
improving the quality of your life. (Ten Speed Press)
~The Three Lives & Company Bestseller List~
1.
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald (Grove)
2.
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Europa)
3.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (Scribner)
4.
The Whites by Richard Price writing as Harry Brandt (Holt)
5.
Girl in a Band by Kim Gordon (Dey Street)
6.
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf)
7.
10:04 by Ben Lerner (Faber & Faber)
8.
The First Bad Man by Miranda July (Scribner)
9.
In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman (Picador)
10.
The Door by Magda Szabo (New York Review Books Classics)
11.
Sunday Pasta by Edwin Garrubbo (Guida Garrubbo)
~ Staff Favorites Now in Paperback ~
Fiction
Fourth of July Creek by Smith
Henderson (Ecco)
A Legacy by Sybille Bedford (New York Review
Books Classics)
Every Day Is for the Thief by Teju Cole
(Random House)
Redeployment by Phil Klay (Penguin)
In the Light of What We Know by Zia
Haider Rahman (Picador)
The Orenda by Joseph Boyden (Vintage)
Family Life by Akhil Sharma (Norton)
The Days of Anna Madrigal by Armistead
Maupin (Harper)
All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu (Vintage)
Astonish Me by Maggie Shipstead (Vintage)
Nonfiction
Five Came Back by Mark Harris (Penguin)
Inside a Pearl by Edmund White (Bloomsbury)
My Life in Middlemarch by Rebecca
Mead (Broadway)
Danubia by Simon Winder (Picador)
In Exile from the Land of Snows by John
Avedon (Vintage)
~ Signed Editions ~
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (Knopf)
Crow Fair by Thomas McGuane (Knopf)
Lucky Alan by Jonathan Lethem (Doubleday)
A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler
(Knopf)
The Big Seven by Jim Harrison (Grove)
A Small Indiscretion by Jan Ellison (Random House)
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell (Random House)
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)
Sea of Hooks by Lindsay Hill (McPherson)
Three
Lives & Company, Booksellers
154
W 10 Street
New
York NY 10014
212.741.2069
Hours:
Monday
and Tuesday 12n-8pm
Wednesday-Saturday
11am-8:30pm
Sunday
12n-7pm
subway:
A/C/E
or B/D/F/M - W 4th St
1
- Christopher St/Sheridan Sq
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