What should you read next?

Big book that reads fast!

 

Every American should read Robert Reich’s new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America. Every American, from yellow dog Democrats to MAGA Republicans—and also all Independents and disaffected voting dropouts. Every American. Much more than a memoir, the book is American political history from postwar 1950s to the present day. Not from someone running for office or married to a political party or in bed with large corporate interests, either! Robert Reich may be smarter than you and me (he’s certain smarter than I am), but his head is not in the clouds. I have the hardcover book in my shop, and the audiobook is available through libro.fm. If your library doesn’t have it, they need to get it. Read the book! Then share your thoughts with me, please, whatever those thoughts may be.

Naturally, I have many other recommendations, fiction and nonfiction. Or just stop in and look around:

Hours through August

Monday, 11-5

Tuesday, 11-3

Wednesday-Saturday, 11-5

Sunday, CLOSED

The Topic Will Be CHANGES!

 

It’s next Wednesday, August 13, that Tim Mulherin will be at Dog Ears Books with his presentation on This Magnetic North: Candid Conversations on a Changing Northern Michigan. See my Books in Northport post for July 11 to learn more about the book between now and next week.

We will convene at 7 p.m., and I hope you will be able to join us then for a diversity of views and what it bound to be stimulating conversation.

As always, this is a free bookstore event, but you may want to get here a little early to be sure of a good seat.

Too-Good-for-Only-One-Round Books

Thanks to David R. Godine for this reprint.

David R. Godine, a small house in Boston founded 55 years ago, is one of my favorite publishers. Besides discovering new authors and works, they bring back into print titles that deserve another go-round. Such a one is certainly Clémentine in the Kitchen, which I read years ago and have regretted ever letting out of my hands. Now there is another chance for me and a first chance for you, if you have yet to discover this wonderful story. 

It was mere coincidence that, just after my order from David R. Godine brought me two copies of a reprint of Clémentine in the Kitchen, by Samuel Chamberlain, from another quarter came a first edition from the World War II era, Respectfully Yours, Annie, by Sylvia Brockway. The coincidence is dual: Clémentine was published in 1943 and tells the story of an American family leaving France in 1939 and bringing back with them their French cook. Annie was published in 1942 and is a series of letters, with introduction by the author of record, from an American family’s London charwoman-cook, who stayed with their house when the mother and children went back to America in 1939. So, Clémentine, French; Annie; English. Clémentine comes to the U.S., Annie remains in England. Both women cook for their employers, and both win the hearts of the families who employ them. Among the differences, the Clémentine book includes recipes, and Annie's does not.

Other books newly arrived in my order from David R. Godine:

Sorry to have to tell you that both copies of a reprinted Donald Hall memoir, String Too Short to be Saved, sold right off the stack on my desk before I could figure out a "better" display. (Apparently, the displayed stack was all it took.) If people knew Clémentine as I know Clémentine--and ditto with Rosie--those books would be gone already, too. As for The Last of the Hill Farms, if I have more time to spend with that before it flies to a new home, you'll hear no complaints from me. Eventually, however, it should go to a photographer or at least someone who loves photography. 

Friday visit from gentleman dog Brady

"What are your hours?"

I've been cagy about hours this year and haven't posted any since Memorial Day, but now I'm ready to commit.

Monday, 11-5

Tuesday, 11-3

Wednesday-Saturday, 11-5

Sunday - CLOSED

The reason for shorter hours on Tuesdays is that in July, beginning on the 8th, I'll be selling books in the evening at the Friends of Leelanau Township Library Summer Author Series events, and I need to go home and give my dog a break before heading back to Northport. 

Summer FOLTL guest authors are as follows:

July 8 - Karen Mulvahill, The Lost Woman

July 15 - Hayward Draper, The Colony

July 22 - Jenny Robertson, Hoist House

July 29 - Aaron Stander, Smoke and Mirrors

All these events will be held at the Willowbrook, 201 Mill Street, and will begin at 7 p.m.

See more discursive book ramblings here. 

For Your Summer Leelanau Dreaming

Summer is a time for dreaming, and for many of us those dreams are of what we like to think (though perhaps mistakenly) were simpler times. What would it have been like to spend your summer vacation on an island in Lake Michigan? You can look into that past reality and dream about it on your own porch swing with Stepping Off the Boat: Stories from North Manitou Island, by Susan Hollister Wasserman. Family photographs treasured for generations were the inspiration and provide the illustrations for this beautiful volume from Leelanau Press, a treasure for future generations as well as today's. 

A somewhat similar book from the same publisher, set here on the Leelanau peninsula (rather than offshore), is "Perfect Omena Day!": Selections from the Summer Diaries of Rebecca L. Richmond, 1907-1920, edited by M. Christine Byron. Diary excerpts from Rebecca's daily summer life over 100 years ago are accompanied by vintage postcards and photographs from the same era. 

Coming back to the present but remaining in beautiful Leelanau County, we have Art of Sleeping Bear Dunes, the perfect summer souvenir and/or keepsake. Edited by Linda Young, with essays by Jerry Dennis and Kathleen Stocking, Art of Sleeping Bear Dunes features work by 108 contemporary artists from a juried show that opened at the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City on October 12, 2013, and ran until January 5 of the following year. Yes, David Grath is in the book.

Tuesday is the day, 4 o'clock is the time

 

Poet Jennifer Clark

Jennifer Clark is coming to Northport again from Kalamazoo! This will be her third appearance at Dog Ears Books, and I guarantee a good experience for all who attend. 

Jennifer's saints are not your grandmother's stained glass or plaster or painted wooden icons. They are surprisingly relatable figures—imperfect, flawed, and very much like us. Some are cranky, dour, and humorless, while others are kind, brilliant, and even funny. I think there is a lot of the poet herself in her saints (kind, brilliant and funny, that is, not cranky, dour, and humorless!). You'll know what I mean when you meet her on Tuesday, June 24, at Dog Ears Books.

There are always surprises here.

You never know what you will find on a treasure island of previously owned books. This is only one day's tiny sample.