Big news is that I have finally cleaned off and organized the big table! That meant also reorganizing the shelves of used Michigan books. So now the fiction is all on the table (hardcover on one side, softcover, children's, and poetry on the other), and the shelves are all nonfiction.
Karen Casebeer’s third book, the latest in her Northwoods Mystery series, is a sure-fire winner. Set in northwest lower Michigan, with action stretching from the Platte River in the south to Cathead Bay in the north, and featuring various parts of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Wayfinding is a tight, cohesive story of a few months in the life of forensic detective Quinn Macarthy.
On medical leave following a traumatic incident with career criminals, Quinn rents an A-frame cottage on Sleeping Bear Bay, planning to rest, hike with her dog, and take time to heal, but her plan is interrupted when her dog, Ruby, trained in search and rescue as well as drug detection, discovers a human hand in the dunes, uncovered by an overnight storm. Will Quinn be able to remain uninvolved as the mystery of the skeleton’s identity and cause of death are investigated? (What do you think?)
Jim Harrison was born December 11, 1937, in Grayling, Michigan, and spent his boyhood in Reed City before the family moved south to Haslett. Online searches turn up a wealth of writing about Harrison's life and work, often by people who knew Jim only through his work--but then, that is the way Jim wanted to be known, and it makes sense.
Here is an example I found this morning from a literary journal. Another thoughtful reflection turned up in a blog post. I especially appreciate the latter admirer advising people to forget the myth and read the work.
I'll add, if you really want to know Jim Harrison, read the poetry. Todd Goddard, however, did an excellent job writing a biography of Harrison, Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life.
The first copies of Isabela's Way are here today, too. (See Kristen Rabe's review here.) And I am here but only until 3 p.m. this Thursday, September 18. Friday and Saturday hours will be 11 to 5.
Marilyn J. Zimmerman's novel, In Defense of Good Women, a legal thriller for mature audiences, will officially be released next Tuesday, June 10, and we will mark the occasion with a launch here in Northport. Marilyn will give a short reading, take questions from the audience, and sign books for customers. Light refreshments will be served. The hours is scheduled to run from 5 to 7 p.m.
So mark your calendar! Put a reminder on your phone! Don't forget!
We in Northport are very proud of Marilyn's accomplishments (the book being one among many) and are eager to celebrate with her. Please join us!
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| The book itself! |
When I post a photograph of a table of new books in my shop, with other tables and shelves in the background showing more books (new and used), beautiful notecards, and cool Michigan jigsaw puzzles, and my caption for the photo reads, “The gifts you need to find are here,” I’m not kidding. Be more specific? Okay, I can do that, too.
Robin Kimmerer’s third book, Serviceberry, is THE book of the season, bar none. If you loved Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss, you will love Serviceberry.
Readers in Michigan and around the world have fallen in love with Bonnie Jo Campbell’s latest novel, The Waters, a luxuriously immersive reading experience, out in paper in time for the holidays.
James, by Percival Everett, the well-known Huckleberry Finn story told by Jim, the man who ran away from slavery, is on everyone’s lists for best books of 2024. (I love these reworkings of familiar novels, with the “same” events seen through another’s eyes. Sarah Shoemaker’s Mr. Rochester and Jo Baker’s Longbourn are other novels that give us new perspectives on old classics.) Other novels big novels of the year include Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner and Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, the latter set in Traverse City’s cherry-growing country.
North Woods, by Daniel Mason, one of my stepdaughter’s favorites this year, is a book I may give myself as a gift. It is the story of a house through successive owners, which must be more exciting than that capsule summary makes it sound, because my stepdaughter said when she finished the last page, she was ready to turn back to the beginning and start reading it again immediately.
Poetry! How about poetry by Jim Harrison, Fleda Brown, John Kropf, Michael Delp, and others, and also some new, tempting collections? You Are Here: Poetry in the Natural World, edited and introduced by Ada Limon; Dog Songs, by Mary Oliver; and Eat the World, by Marina Diamandis, all invite you to take the plunge. Another book of poems, entitled The Smell of Wet Dogs (see top image again) is one for the whole family to enjoy together.
The foregoing are only a very few selections from my new book section, with lots, lots more available in the shop. Also, as you know, used books here range from signed first editions and matched sets of beautifully bound volumes to all manner of surprises in a wide variety of categories. (Hint: If you aren’t sure what your friend or family member would choose, a gift certificate is a good idea for locals or regular Northport visitors.)
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| You can't go wrong with Jerry Dennis |
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| or signed Jim Harrison |
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| or classic Dickens tin beautiful bindings. |
Also, whether you are a year-round local or far from northern Michigan in winter, remember you can follow me not only on this blog (where I don’t post as often as I should), but also on Books in Northport, my discursive, free-form blog that covers books and a whole lot more.
Thank you for visiting today!
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Do you ever wonder why we need a Black History Month? Or a Women’s History Month? Isn’t it all American history? Indeed it is. Having one month of the year focused on Black American history (and, in my bookstore, literature) is not a denial of more inclusive American history but an acknowledgement that parts of American history have been swept under the rug for too long and that we don’t make a better future by pretending the past didn’t happen. As Isabel Wilkerson has written, those of us alive in America today did not build our national “house,” but we’re here now, living in it, all of us, and it’s up to us to do the necessary repairs and maintenance.
Besides, you wouldn’t want to miss some of these fantastic writers!!! Biography, fiction, poetry! The essay collection Black Joy: Stories of Resistance, Resilience, and Restoration, compiled by Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts, challenges the idea that all of Black life is just hardship and trauma, while Aaliyah Bilal’s Temple Folk, a National Book Award Finalist, brings us masterful and diverse stories about members of the Nation of Islam. And/or, have you read a novel by Jesmyn Ward or Colson Whitehead yet? If not, maybe now is the time.
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| Have you asked this question? The author answers it. |
There’s more already here, and I’ll have additions to the front table next week, too. Come browse!
Although the total numbers of titles published is smaller, there is as much variety in Native American books as there is in the book world at large. Today we’ll peek at a few offerings in the new book section of my store (used books, our original mission in 1993, still predominate Dog Ears Books inventory), titles that are definitely on my must-read list for 2024.
From National Book Award winner Ned Blackhawk (Western Shoshone) comes The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History (Yale University Press, 2023). Blackhawk offers a synthesis of Native and non-Native histories of our country, from early Spanish explorers in the 1600s to the late 20th century. The first 445 pages are text, followed by extensive notes and the all-important (to any book of history) index of names and subjects.
History is not only for adults, however, and Traci Sorell (Cherokee) and Frané Lessac, illustrator, creators of the 2018 We Are Grateful, subsequently put Native American history into an attractive children's picture book, We Are Still Here! Native American Truths Everyone Should Know (Charlesbridge, 2021), with twelve young people giving presentations to other students and their parents at Indigenous People’s Day. Each two-page spread highlights an important concept in a history that is still ongoing, emphasized by the repeated “We are still here!” at the end of every topic. The book is designed for children 7-10 of age, but many parents and teachers will learn from it, also.
A 50th anniversary edition of God Is Red: A Native View of Religion (Fulcrum Publishing, 2023; orig. pub. Putnam, 1973), by Vine Deloria, Jr. (Standing Rock Sioux), with introduction by Philip J. Deloria, includes critical essays by Philip J. Deloria, Suzan Shown Harjo, Daniel Wildcat, and David E. Wilkins. The author was named by Time magazine as one of the greatest religious thinkers of the 20th century. Why was I not introduced to this book when studying religion at the university level, why did I continue to be ignorant of its existence for so long after? If you need further motivation to read the book, here is an interview with Philip Deloria by Foreword magazine reviewer Kristen Rabe.
Survival Food: North Woods Stories by a Menominee Cook (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2023) is a second memoir from Thomas Pecore Weso (Menominee), whose first was Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir. The book comprises essays that combine memory and food, from those hunted, fished, and gathered to commodity foods distributed by the government – all of it “survival food.” Wild rice, maple syrup, and twice-baked cheesy potatoes are all here. And stories!
From memoir to poetry, we come to Living Nations, Living Words: An Anthology of First People’s Poetry (Norton, 2021), collected and introduced by Joy Harjo (Mvskoke Nation, also known as Creek). Harjo was the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate and gathered the contemporary Native voices in this book together in the form of a map. Open this book anywhere. I’m not kidding.
A novel for young people, Eagle Drums (Roaring Brook Press, 2023), is by Nasugraq Rainey Hopson (Inupiaq). Angeline Boulley (and you read her Firekeeper’s Daughter, didn’t you?) says that Hopson, who also illustrated her story, “has accomplished something truly monumental” with this book. I’m happy to report that she also says it is for “readers of all ages,” although the target audience is middle grades. More than a young man’s vision quest, Eagle Drums is a retelling of a creation myth. Kidnapped by golden eagles, the protagonist must learn lessons (where his two older brothers failed) in making drums, singing and dancing and writing his own songs, building large sod gathering halls, and bringing small, isolated groups together to form a community and a people.
I will stop here today with these six titles, only because I have a lot of reading to catch up on, only adding only a quick reminder that Bonnie Jo Campbell’s long-anticipated new novel, The Waters, is also now on sale at Dog Ears Books.
A couple books have been bestsellers ever since they first appeared. Trails of M-22 is one such (I’m glad to note that the author doesn’t stop at the top of the M-22 loop but comes through Northport and clear up to the lighthouse), and another is the Lake Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide.
Suttons Bay, Peshawbestown, and Bingham Shores, the second of Kathleen Firestone’s monumental “Meet Me at the Dock” trilogy, is here now, and you won’t want to miss it. Perfect for the local coffee table to get visitors reading about the area's history.
The public clamoring for another Robert Underhill murder mystery is in luck this summer: Bob's new novel, One Cold Coffee, is here now!
Anne-Marie Oomen’s Michigan Notable As Long As I Know You: The Mom Book, is her latest memoir, and I have a few signed copies on hand, along with two signed copies of an older Oomen memoir, Pulling Down the Barn.
The first speaker in this year’s Summer Author Series sponsored by the Leelanau Township Friends of the Library is Dave Dempsey, and I have his Great Lakes for Sale now, ahead of his presentation at the Willowbrook, which will be July 11 at 7 p.m.
Dr. Bill Blair, of the Johns Hopkins University Space Telescope Science Institute, Department of Physics & Astronomy, is this year’s speaker in the Belko Peace Lecture series at Trinity Church. Dr. Blair, whose presentation will take place on Saturday, July 29, at 7 p.m. at Trinity, recommends Dacher Keltner’s Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life.
Finally, just in time for July 4th, I have Amanda Gorman’s inauguration poem, The Hill We Climb. Not banned in Northport!!!
These are but a small taste of the treasures, new and used, awaiting you at Dog Ears Books, 106 Waukazoo Street in Northport, celebrating its 30th anniversary this July. I’ll be sharing more book news throughout the season. For meandering thoughts on books, language, and my Up North world, see “Books in Northport”; for images that catch my eye, “A Shot in the Light”; and for random rants and musings from your Up North bookseller, “Lacking a Clear Focus.”
Summer bookstore hours are posted here on this blog.
Happy 4th, everyone! There will be a reading of the Declaration of Independence on the post office steps in Northport at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the 4th of July.
