We're well aware that our shoppers are frustrated wtih not being able to stroll around Literati's tables and shelves to see what's new, what's recommended, and what Literati staff are reading. Though the store has been closed to the public — but open online 24/7 for delivery and curbside pickup — Literati staff have been busy reading advanced reader copies of soon to be published books. Carla, Julia, Shannon, and Vicki are happy to share with you some of the July and August new releases they're really excited about.
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There is no shortage of novels about the legal profession in the U.S., but this book feels both original and authentic. Set in the world of "BigLaw," it tells the story of first year associate Alexandra (Alex to her friends, Al to her boyfriend) as she sets her sights on "matching" with the Mergers and Acquisitions department at her firm, a notoriously male bastion of lawyers who bill the most and behave the worst. The frat party atmosphere of booze and drugs encourages sexism and sexual harassment; the round-the-clock hours and sleep deprivation comes with a great cost to families and relationships. Will Alex match with M&A, and will her new found rampant materialism and ethical lapses cause her to lose her soul? Filled with great workplace details and well-delineated characters, it entertains as it makes the case for more women partners.
— Carla
I'm a fan of Wizenberg's prior memoirs. I stumbled upon "Delancey," about opening a Seattle neighborhood restaurant with her husband, and then went back to read her earlier book "A Homemade Life." Food is not the focus of this third volume. Instead it's about coming to grips with her evolving sexual identity in middle age, and what happens to her marriage. She is a polished writer and a careful reader, who shares her own research to help her (and her readers) understand her personal dilemma.There are all the elements of a good story here: drama, romance, eureka moments, catharsis, and acceptance. I found it both delightful and moving.
—Carla
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Some of my favorite novels appear to be the most autobiographical. This is a first novel about a University lecturer in Southern California who was born in India, and moved here as a young man, written by an author who was born in India, teaches in Santa Barbara, etcetera. It's a testament to how good this book is, that I haven't spent much time wondering about how many of the events in the book have happened to the author, because they are so specific and universal at the same time. Raj Bhatt is in trouble with his tennis club for mindlessly blurting out loud an offensive rap lyric during just the wrong time at a new members selection committee meeting. And the very next day, some students in Raj's popular cultural anthropology course decide to label him anti-Christian and demonstrate to have him fired. As his very bad week humorously unfolds from crisis to crisis, we all ask with him: how far are we ''from our own moment of communal violence?"
—Carla
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"While nineteenth-century girls used their diaries to write about their goals for character improvement, girls at the end of the twentieth century wrote almost solely about the ways they wanted to improve their bodies." Author Burton grew up in small town Michigan and in Boulder, Colorado in the mid-80s and writes movingly about her battles with binge eating (a newly designated separate disorder from bulimia) and anorexia. As a student at Yale in the early 90s, she could only find two books about eating disorders in the entire library, and the shame prevented her from being able to share her situation for decades. Many women and men in the US have suffered from food compulsions, myself included, and I think this memoir will surprise some who thought they were the only one with that particular behavior or outcome. It should help others get help or just reconcile with the impact it had on their past.
—Carla
Confession: I don't follow any Instagram "Influencers," but I easily stuck with this novel about a Goopy company ("Richual" LMAO!) and its young female co-founders (the smart but sloppy one, the self-absorbed one, the underrated one). It's a fun edition to both the beach read and the business novel genre. And its satisfying boardroom conclusion, more than made up for learning a bit too much about cleanses and detoxes.
—Carla
Move over "Twilight," there are new werewolves in town! Romina Garber’s "Lobizona" is a wonderful blend of Argentinian witch and werewolf lore, a magical school setting, and contemporary commentary on immigrant justice. Its unique magic system acts as the perfect setting to explore themes of belonging, love, family legacy, and what it means when we call a person illegal. This richly told story will entice young readers who’ve enjoyed Harry Potter, Shadow and Bone, and more. I can’t wait for readers to connect with this epic story!
—Julia
"The Groom Will Keep His Name" is absolutely THE BOOK—as in, the book I want all of my friends to read ASAP, and quite possibly my favorite book of the year! Matt Ortile’s collection of essays is full of brilliant and witty and sensual commentary on being gay, being Filipino, being an immigrant, the city of New York as aspirational, the process of decolonizing identity and the American Dream, and navigating a multitude of identities in various spaces. There are essays here that feel especially relevant in this specific moment, particularly the one about how we relate to history by rewriting and sanitizing it, but every essay touched me. This is a collection of essays but also a wildly smart and sharp manifesto. I cannot highly recommend it enough!
—Julia
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This should be required reading in the lead up to the 2020 election. Zerlina Maxwell clearly and eloquently analyzes where our politics are right now, and where they need to go. This book so perfectly articulates the need for progressive identity-based politics that aren't white politics, and she looks at all of the major and minor political players to make her case. Maxwell's perspective on electoral politics will definitely invigorate readers and voters, SO register to vote and then go pick up this book!
—Julia
We have all heard 'less is more.' In this new book, Hamblin takes this belief on in ways you wouldn't expect. He opens the book by telling the reader he stopped showering, which I admit, almost made me put the book down. I'm glad I heard him out and I think you will be too. The journey Hamblin takes to discover what our skin really needs will surprise you and save you tons of money in the long run. I loved this book!
—Shannon
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What would you do if you've moved to India with your new husband — and your mother-in-law just shows up out of the blue....to stay...“forever”? For Rachel, it’s so foreign she’s not sure what to do. A rich and detailed novel of friendship, family, and culture clash that ends up being an amazing can't-put-down adventure, full of unexpected discoveries!
—Shannon
I simply couldn't put this memoir down. It's a debut unlike any other. If you think this is a medical career memoir you'll be wrong and pleasantly surprised. Michele brings to light what is often forgotten in the medical shows: first you become a doctor and then you discover how to become a healer.
—Shannon
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I've been a fan of Ursula Hegi's writing since reading "Floating in My Mother's Palm," just one of her many novels that take a unique look at mother/daughter relationships. Her writing is exquisite, her storytelling captivating. I was immediately drawn into the tragic beginning of "The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls," finding St. Margaret's Home for Pregnant Girls to be a sweet distraction from the story's start. Hegi is adept at building and intertwining characters, and at realistically presenting women in a womens world.
—Vick
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Pulitzer Prize awarded Hector Tobar culled together vagabond world-traveler Joe Sanderson's lifetime of writing in "The Last Great Road Bum." Joe's journey began in Mexico City in 1960 at the age of 18. He spent the next 22 years traveling to war-torn countries from Vietnam to Nigeria and everywhere in between, in his quest for a life worth writing about. Joe died in El Salvador, writing about and fighting side by side with the guerilla rebels during the Salvadoran Civil War. Tobar has posthumously created Sanderson's great American novel taken verbatim, and with extrapolation, from the two decades of writing about Sanderson's world travels and experiences as a road bum, as well as interviewing the people across the globe who Joe wrote about in his journals. I predict this epic novel will be a Big Book in 2020. I can't recommend it highly enough.
—Vick
There couldn't be a more timely novel to read during the world-wide coronavirus crisis. "Room" novelist Emma Donoghue has written an eye-opener of a story about midwife Nurse Julia Power on the frontline of the devastating 1918 flu epidemic in the maternity ward of the Dublin hospital where she works. Riveting no-holds-barred descriptions of birthing, and life and death scenarios, this is a deeply compassionate book of hope and courage against all odds.
—Vick
Naturalist writer Helen MacDonald shares her deep love for birds and nature in this new essay collection of her observations of the world of birds. Each piece is a delicate vignette of minute, sensitive discoveries in the natural world. I so admire Helen MacDonald for her heatfelt appreciation of all the things in nature that pull at my own heart. I nominate her "Queen of Nature Writing."
—Vick
Bestselling author Christina Baker Kline does it again! The prolific author of "Orphan Train" and "A Piece of the World" has written another compelling and emotional historical novel. "The Exiles" follows the horrific overseas journey young imprisoned women, many pregnant, of 19th century London are forced to take when they are moved away from the UK to a penal colony in Australia. Revealing the oppression, sexism, hardship, and hope of three women’s lives who intersect on the ship, it was eye-opening to read Christina Baker Kline's take of the vile treatment of underprivileged women. I highly recommend this book that is a sad reminder of misogyny that continues to exist yet ends with hope and faith that good people do exist.
—Vick