Dan's Picks

Enjoy these picks from Dan, owner of the bookstore.

The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry By Wendell Berry Cover Image
$15.95
ISBN: 9781582430379
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Counterpoint - August 6th, 1999

Far and away, this volume is my favorite collection of poems. For over 10 years, I have always thrown my dog-eared copy into my travel bag whenever I am leaving home for an extended trip. Berry’s Selected Poems always ground me and bring me home no matter where I wander! If you doubt me, please read The Sycamore on p. 27.

 


The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad and the Trojan War By Caroline Alexander Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780143118268
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Penguin Books - September 28th, 2010

One of my favorite non-fiction titles of this past year. In this remarkable and insightful book Alexander dons her scholarly detective cap to dig beneath all the layers of myth built up over the centuries on top of Homer's epic poem. What she reveals is nothing less than Homer's breathtaking struggle to find a meaning within the meaninglessness of war, whether that war is his Trojan War, or the wars that have plagued our species from before the dawn of history right down to our struggle in Afghanistan today.

In the course of this book's 225 pages, Alexander breathes new life into Homer's Iliad for the contemporary reader. I heartily recommend this book for your summer reading list.


Let Me Finish By Roger Angell Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780156032186
Availability: Available From Our Distributor -- Usually Ships in 1-5 Days
Published: Mariner Books - June 4th, 2007

 

 


The Last Painting of Sara de Vos: A Novel By Dominic Smith Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781250118325
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - April 4th, 2017

I love novels with paintings, and painters, and art world types packed into the narrative. Dominic Smith's book is a well done example of this subgenre. I love the shifting time focus, back and forth between the years 1631, 1957, and 2000. And there is a particularly wonderful description of an abandoned village seaside near Amsterdam. All these elements, and so much more makes this book so satisfying! 

 


One Man's Meat By E B. White Cover Image
$16.95
ISBN: 9780884481928
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Tilbury House Publishers - June 1st, 2003