[readers-advisory] Bookstore Picks

[Alan Nichter]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Inkwoodbks at aol.com 
To: undisclosed-recipients: 
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 4:13 PM
Subject: Inkwood's Unchained Choices - April

Inkwood Books 

Here are your favorite bookstore's APRIL 2005 STAFF PICKS 

CITIZEN VINCE by Jess Walter "Vince Camden is a small-time thief in a witness protection program who suddenly finds himself the target of a killer. The plot is great, fast- moving, funny, and full of politics, scams, and of course a love interest or two. Set in the fall of 1980, against the backdrop of the Carter-Reagan campaign, Citizen Vince offers a new look at that time gone by, and in spite of all that happened then, and last fall, leaves the reader feeling oddly hopeful. Walters has written two earlier highly praised novels, and this one is certain to get notice." Leslie. Regularly $24.95; our price $19.96

CIGAR ROLLER A NOVEL by PABLO MEDINA "Confined by a stroke to his nursing home bed, an elderly Cuban immigrant recalls the triumphs and failings of his youth in the cigar factories of Havana and Tampa.  Described with remarkable vitality, the title character's musings blur the boundaries of present and past in navigating the passionate (if wayward) course of a life." - Anthony. Regularly $21; regularly $16.80.

UTTERLY ME, CLARICE BEAN by LAUREN CHILD - "One of my favorite children's characters makes her middle reader debut here.  Clarice Bean, the heroine of a couple of great picture books, now finds herself a little older but no less precocious. With a book project due in days, the only books Clarice is interested in are mysteries that her teacher hates.  Also, a real life mystery has unfolded with the disappearance of the school trophy.  Worst yet, one of her best friends is the suspect!  Can Clarice turn to her fictional hero, Ruby Redfort, for the advice she needs to put the clues together?" - Stephen. Regularly $5.99; our price $4.79.

UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld -"Tally is 'ugly'- but she won't be for long because everyone undergoes plastic surgery when they turn sixteen and then they join the 'pretties'. What could be better than living in a vacation paradise where the only responsibility you have is to attend parties with other beautiful people and have fun? Tally can't wait to shed her ugly body and enter into the hedonistic lifestyle that her older friends are experiencing but hits a snag when someone close to her decides to run away in order to escape the surgery. Soon she learns that the surgery could have devastating consequences. Tally must decide what matters more- living the rest of her life as an 'ugly' with her friend, or becoming 'pretty'. This is the first book in a new trilogy that is expected to continue every six months in paperback." Laura. Regularly $6.99; Our Price $5.59.
 

SCORPIA by Anthony Horowitz - "This is a great spy novel for young adults, filled with action, deception, and adventure. Alex Rider works for a British Intelligence Agency called MI6 and must infiltrate an international terrorist organization in order to prevent a disaster that will affect the entire world. For Alex, a day of work involves everything from base jumping off a mountain to dismantling an ingenious device that could spell disaster for everyone." Laura. Regularly $17.99; Our Price $14.39.


PLEASE BURY ME IN THE LIBRARY by J. Patrick Lewis - "These short and entertaining poems are fun to read aloud and all focus on book-themed topics. The mystical illustrations will grab young readers' attention and help to pull them into the world of poetry." Laura. Regularly $16.00; Our Price $12.80.
 

OPEN SHUTTERS: POEMS by Mary Jo Salter "This is my favorite sort of poetry: intellectual, yet accessible, and able to encompass the familiar in unexpected ways. From the universal experience of School Pictures ("Nobody wants them, not even Mom and Dad/ Not even at thirteen could we look that bad.") to the personal losses of a therapist in a biking accident or the horror of 9/11 ("...that the future is newly lost/ to an unfocused dread/ of what may never happen/ and nobody can stop."), Salter enriches us all with her perfectly chosen words. This is a wonderful way to celebrate spring...with Open Shutters." Leslie. $15.00; our price $12.00 
 

CONFINEMENT by Carrie Brown "Brown is the author of two of my favorite books, The Hat Box Baby and Lamb in Love, and in Confinement she has once again used her elegant, graceful prose in a tale of love and loss. The story of Arthur Henning, immigrant from Vienna, who, with his young son, Toby, arrives in America to work for a wealthy New York banker, Confinement tells of love across the barriers of both class and age, of love lost and found again in the unlikeliest of places. Arthur's relationship with Aggie, the banker's daughter, evolves as Aggie is sent to a home for unwed mothers. Brown's novel is rich in both character and historical details, and she is gifted in describing the difficult choices and heart-breaking consequences her  characters must face." Leslie. Regularly $14.00; our price $11.20.


OUR TREE NAMED STEVE by Alan Zweibel, illustrated by David Catrow "This is a wonderful story of a family's life and the strong old tree that shared it. Called "Steve" because the smallest child couldn't say "tree", Steve was spared by the family when they cleared the lot to build their home. Catrow's hilarious pictures of the family and Steve over the years take what could be a sappy tear-jerking story, and transform it into a wonderful tale of friendship and familiarity, and the inevitability of loss. This is my favorite sort of kids' book, one where the message doesn't ruin the charm of the story. " Leslie. Regularly $14.99; our price $11.99.

 
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE by JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER - "Everything is Illuminated, Foer's first novel, was a hauntingly sad yet very funny look at the horrors of the Holocaust, and the human loss associated with it - told on a very personal level.  This time, the backdrop for the human loss is the September 11th terrorist attacks, and where previously our unreliable narrator was a Ukrainian teenager, this time we are introduced to Oskar Schindler, a nine year old Manhattanite whose father was killed in the collapse of the Twin Towers.  The humor is brought down a peg here - we get instead an adventure tale, so to speak. Oskar has discovered a key in his father's closet and sets about the five Burroughs in search of the lock it was made for.  He is seeking answers from the strangers of New York in the same way the sufferers of the tragedy seek answers from their neighbors." - Stephen. Regularly $24.95; our price $19.96.

BOUND TO PLEASE: AN EXTRAORDINARY ONE VOLUME LITERARY INTRODUCTION: ESSAYS ON GREAT WRITERS AND THEIR BOOKS.  By MICHAEL DIRDA - "The title says it all, doesn't  it?  Michael Dirda is a book reviewer for the New York Times and renowned essayist.  Here are collected Dirda's most engaging essays, all intended to introduce readers to the great authors and their works.  There is a humor and great deftness of touch to his writing - a great read for anyone who has holes in his/her reading history -  a call to arms for re-discovering the great works, and a do-able path with which to achieve it." - Stephen. Regularly $35; our price $28."

BREAK BLOW BURN: CAMILLE PAGLIA READS FORTY-THREE OF THE WORLD'S BEST POEMS by CAMILEE PAGLIA - "Camille Paglia's career has turned on focusing her considerable intellectual vigor to questions of cultural criticism.  Here, she collects forty three poems from in (and out) of the English canon for close reading, and the resulting collection of poems and essays read like a one-woman poetry salon.  Whether you agree with any or all of her interpretations, one can't help feeling engaged and invigorated the works she's collected, and passion with which she approaches them." Anthony. Regularly $20; our price $16.

 Inkwood Books 
216 S. Armenia Ave.
Tampa FL 33609-3310