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What is Rebekah Rine reading?

Rebekah is a jack of all trades, a lightning bolt, a quicksilver image at the edge of perception. When she reads, it's like a wildfire on the prairie. She's worked in the bookstore since 2004.

 

 

Summer 2010

 

Hairstyles of the Damned by Joe Meno.

I'm back into Meno, one of my favorite authors (as of last year when I read two of his books). Here we have a nerdy kid and his chubby punk-rock almost-girlfriend on the South Side of Chicago. She beats up her Catholic school girl classmates, and he fantasizes about the ultimate rock band. We'll see what becomes of these two renegades.

 

Spring 2010

 

Dance, Dance, Dance by Haruki Murakami.

I love Murakami, and I love this book. This is an older novel, from 1995, and it's typical Murakami. An ordinary man gets sucked into a supernatural world and encounters a cast of characters who all connect unexpectedly. This time it's The Dolphin Hotel, The Sheep Man, an actor, some call girls, and a thirteen-year-old girl who shift our hero into self-realization. All he's got to do is dance! (And make romance...)

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep & Never Had To by D. C. Pierson.

This was a really fun read. Two outcast high school boys set out to create the most awesome mega sci-fi graphic novel/movie/television series. The titular kid is special. More special even than we've come to expect. There's a heavy dose of nerd-dom, teenage sex, awkwardness, and plenty of wicked shit going down.

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall.

I finished this book about a month ago, and have been trying to decide what to say about it. It's been getting lots of good buzz from the press, but I'm not so hot-to-trot on it. I guess the writing is solid - it kept me engaged despite not caring a whole lot about most of the characters or plot... Basically, polygamy doesn't do anyone any favors. Check. Not the man, not the women, and definitely not the children. Check. Polygamists may not be bad people, inherently, but the whole situation is ridiculous. Check. Even so, Udall did end up breaking my callous heart a few times (spoiler alert: he has 28 kids, so some of them are bound to kick it).

Beatrix Potter Figurines: Read review

 

 

Winter 2009

 

The Boy Detective Fails by Joe Meno.

The writing style in this one reminds me of "Pushing Daisies" or The Royal Tennenbaums: Child geniuses grow up, go insane, then off themselves...

Novel Gift Recommendations: Read picks


 

Autumn 2009

 

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano.

This book comes out in March, and I loved it. From chilling childhood experiences to awkward and unrequited adulthood, following the characters' struggle through life was my delight. The book balances an adequate amount of blood, psychosis, and heart--just my kind of story.

 

Summer 2009

 

Rebels With Attitude: Subversive Rock Humorists by Ian Ellis: Read review

 

Then We Saw the Flames by Daniel Hoyt: Read review

 

The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno.

I like this one so far. A college professor is on the search for the prehistoric giant squid, which he thinks is still surviving. And he has to take medication to prevent him from having seizures at the sight of any cloud. He has a wife, two teenage daughters, and now his family is falling apart...

 

April 2009:

 

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larson: Read review

This was a good read. Twelve-year-old T. S. spends his days on the family ranch in Montana making intricate maps (diagrams, really) of everything he can observe. He maps insect antennae, how to shuck corn, the pattern of his father's whisky drinking, the sound waves of shotguns which killed his brother in their barn... And these maps are all drawn in the book's margins - so that's fun. Then he is offered the Baird Award from the Smithsonian. They don't know he's a child. So he hops a train hobo-style to Washington D.C. and adventure ensues.

 

April 2008:

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk.

Pharmakon by Dirk Wittenborn.

 

March 2008:

The Willowbys by Lois Lowry.

 

December 2007:

Boomsday by Christopher Buckley.

The author of "Thank You For Smoking" once again revisits the world of the spin doctors. Straight-A student Cassandra Devine can't accept her admittance to Yale because her father spent all her tuition money on a dot-com start up. Instead, she joins the military, winding up in a mine explosion/sexual scandal.
 
A decade later, Cassandra finds herself working PR in Washington for a Senate campaign, and devoted to her catastrophe-prediction blog. The nation is facing a social security crisis, and Cassandra is keeping herself up all night blogging and hopped up on Red Bull & No-Doz…when she casually suggests that young people stand up and revolt against retired baby boomers.
 
Buckley feeds our curiosity when his novel shows us the possibilities of what could happen if we took stronger action in the shaping of government policies.
 

October 2007:

I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

This is the gift of ultimate truthiness for your sardonically-hard-to shop-for college students and Hipsters, funny friends and co-workers, or anyone you know who follows the news with an eyebrow quizzically raised.

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta

This book is for people suspicious and frustrated about religious groups worming their way into public society. A high school health teacher makes a frank remark about sexuality, causing a flood from a church-sponsored abstinence “education” group which barnstorms the public school curriculum.  It also explores the world of tenacious religious groups from an insider’s perspective. Great for liberal high school teachers!

An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke

Perfect for everyone. It’s a funny, smart story about empathetic characters ruining their own lives. Classic literature lovers will remember when a certain author made them twitch, and self destructors will remember when reaching for another big beer led to an extra load of laundry.

 

April 2007:

Pierced by Ryu Murakami.

 

August 2005:

Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham: read review

 

June 2005:

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell: read review

 

Favorite 2004 Picks:

Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans from McSweeny's. 

This is the greatest book ever. McSweeny's latest collection of humorous essays, short stories, and hilarious lists has something everyone will love. 

 

Magical Thinking by Augusten Burrough. 

Rebekah's favorite book of the 2004. If you love David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, and the entire sardonic essay writing bunch, then you will hop on this one fast. 

 

Hepcat by William Bramhall. 

Second greatest book ever, next to McSweeny's. Get 'em both. This children's book follows one cool cat on a musical journey as familiar artists, like The Beatles, give him the courage to perform. 

 

 

 

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