Monday, May 21, 2012

Classics anyone?

With all the Nordic hoopla of Viking Fest now under your belt, you're probably thinking: let's lay off the lutefisk for a few days and just take it easy: a nice beach chair, some pita chips, and the smell of recently ignited charcoal. Digesting all that lutefisk takes time, right?

Well yes. You're right. But right now's also a great time to catch up with (and dig through) that dusty pile of books you've had sitting under your bedside table since Perot was on the ballot. That's right: The Classics. And here are two of our favorites!

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (Vintage, 288 pgs, $11.20) -- You don't know the South (and by contrast, The North) until you've met the fiction of Bill Faulkner. Funny, harrowing, and always soulful, anything written by the great Southern artist stands out as fantastic, but As I Lay Dying distinguishes itself as one of his absolute best. A lively (and darkly hilarious) account of the Bundren family as they journey across Mississippi to bury their mother and wife, it's a book that's more than worth the trouble of learning the idiosyncrasies of  Faulkner's world and writing. A true favorite. 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Penguin, 392 pgs, $8.80) -- One of the greatest (and not to mention, best loved) British novels of all time, you'll find it difficult to be anything by enthralled by this oft-revisited favorite. Unbelievably witty, wonderfully romantic, and entertaining without pause, Pride and Prejudice is not only eminently readable but downright devourable. Suzanne's favorite! ALSO: Join the Teen bookclub in reading Pride and Prejudice in August; including an outdoor viewing of the movie on the first Sunday in August.


LASTLY: We'd also like to give a big thank you to all of those customers buying ebooks from us! As always, come in on Friday mornings for help setting up the IndieReader App. Thank You!





Monday, May 7, 2012

1Q84

So I've finally gotten around to reading 1Q84, Haruki Murakami's latest tome, and I've got to say: it's everything I thought it was going to be and more. Think of taking a trip to the dentist after one has ingested a handful of hallucinogens and you're on your way.

Bizarre. Right?

As a 'novel,' the whole thing is pretty straightforward -- on the face of anyway. Man meets girl, falls in love with girl (who loves him, too), world tears them apart, and somehow or another finds a way to get them back together. There are no gimmicks in plotting, narration, etc., and not one psychedelic passage stands out. Restraint is paramount. Which brings me to how excitingly weird the book is. Think of a filthy joke told dead-pan by a zen master, and you're on top of the thing. The love story, as simple as it is, takes place in the midst of two realities -- one has two moons, is laden with inch-tall Little People (these mystical beings, who may or may not control this alternate reality), and the other is the world which we know. Like a tea bag in a hot cup of water, the dream only intensifies with the passing of time, though thanks to Murakami's (and his translators') gift concise, plain language this is a dream which we feel to be our own. DO NOT miss this book if you've got the time.