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.
