Five Book Friday!

“There are such a lot of things that have no place in summer and autumn and spring. Everything that’s a little shy and a little rum. Some kinds of night animals and people that don’t fit in with others and that nobody really believes in. They keep out of the way all the year. And then when everything’s quiet and white and the nights are long and most people are asleep—then they appear.”
― Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter

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By Tove Jansson. Clearly, I must be part Moomin.

Happy Friday, beloved patrons!  It is the end of the school semester for some, and a ridiculously lovely winter weekend for many, so we shall err on the side of brevity today.  Some of us, who see cold and snow as nature’s invitation to stay home and read in our pajamas are deeply offended by this weather, but we shall, no doubt, have our snow days soon enough.  In any event, I wish you a safe and pleasant weekend, and good reading, whether you’re cozy inside, or in defiant short sleeves outside!  Here are some of the new books that have made their way to our shelves for your browsing pleasure:

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3658386Conquerors : How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
Roger Crowley has made his career telling big, sweeping histories of seafaring empires, and post-Crusades encounters of East-meeting-West.  This newest release focuses on the small country of Portugal that, for a time, ruled the largest empire on earth.  Using eyewitness accounts and personal papers, Crowley describes some of the gutsy, clever navigators who brought Portuguese ships farther than any other, and brought back spices and tales of far-flung adventures.  This is no triumphant tale–at least not entirely.  Crowley also deals with the brutality of these adventurers towards the natives they encountered, and the destruction they wrought on the hunt for mythical treasures.


3695487Perchance to Dream : Selected Stories
Charles Beaumont may have made his name writing scripts for The Twilight Zone, but his imagination was simply too big, and his storytelling instinct too strong to stay bound by one form of writing.  These stories are a giant mish-mash of genres, from straight science fiction to horror, to noir-ish tales of suspense and weird pulp magazine thrillers.  Robots and aliens creep across the page beside lions and even the Devil himself, offering what may be the most comprehensive “escape read” to hit the shelves this season (and the cover is like a fever-dream in and of itself!).  NPR raved about this collection, saying “Twist endings get a bad rap in our oh-so-sophisticated millennium, but in Perchance to Dream, they’re in the hands of a master…Throughout the book, Beaumont challenges perception, norms, and our smug reliance on appearances, using supernatural and science-fictional elements to drive home his points — sometimes gently, sometimes jarringly…[Beaumont’s] imagination, as Perchance to Dream amply shows, was more than most writer’s enjoy in the longest of lifetimes.”


3637437City on Fire
Garth Risk Hallberg’s debut is making waves amongst reviewers, publishers, and readers alike.  Set in 1976, this story swirls around a shooting that took place in Central Park, and the tangential connection that a group of people may or may not have to the crime.  Though the mystery itself is enough to keep you on the edge of your seat, the events that occur during the blackout of July 13, 1977, sets this story apart, bringing it into the realm of the unforgettable.  The list of rapturous reviews for this book is considerable, but I’ll leave it to the New York Times to have the last word here: “[In] Hallberg’s XXL tool kit as a storyteller: a love of language and the handsprings he can make it perform; a bone-deep knowledge of his characters’ inner lives that’s as unerring as that of the young Salinger; an instinctive gift for spinning suspense. He also possesses a journalistic eye for those telling details that can trigger memories of the reader’s own like small Proustian grenades . . . A novel of head-snapping ambition and heart-stopping power—a novel that attests to its young author’s boundless and unflagging talents.”


3621540Brown-Eyed Girl
Lisa Kleypas finished off her Travis series with the story of wedding planner Avery Crosslin and the wealthy Joe Travis, whom she mistakenly assumes to be the photographer for her latest project.  Joe is happy to play along, so long as it means spending some more time with Avery, but she is not about to let her guard down, especially when she realizes who he is–and what loving him could mean for her.  Kleypas’ historical romances are the stuff of legends, but her contemporary romances are also highly recommended, with Booklist giving this installment a starred review, and saying, “When it comes to delivering a pair of perfectly matched protagonists whose heart-melting romance is fueled by an abundance of smoldering sexual chemistry, Kleypas is a class by herself, and the conclusion to her Travis Brothers quartet deserves an A+.”


3703937The River Cottage Booze Handbook
: John Wright makes the often-intimidating process of home-brewing seem easy in this easy, well-written instructional book.  These tips on home-brewing your own ciders, beers, wines, liqueurs and spirits may help you with your winter projects, and the hangover-cure recipes included in each chapter may very well prove useful afterwards….