From Helen:

Jon Meacham visits with The Soul of America In The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels (Random House $30), Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham stops you in your tracks on page after page. He quotes past presidents, politicians and authors saying things about racism, immigration, and inequality that sound like the news today. Strom Thurmond, yelling against integration in Charlottesville in 1948, sounds like the protestors there last year. Georgia governor Clifford Walker, at a Klan rally in 1924, calls for building "a wall of steel as high as Heaven" to keep out immigrants. But in a powerful, optimistic conclusion, Meacham gives five ways to win the battle for our better angels and proves history is revelant!  (Jon Meacham will be here to discuss the book next Wednesday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m. See our website about attending this Reserved Seating event.)

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STAFF PICKS

From Ken: In his new novel, Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr (Saga $28.99), John Crowley, with his usual linguistic dexterity, tells the story of Dar Oakley, the Crow, symbol and psychopomp of so many stories in so many cultures, from his role as companion to harbinger. The reader comes to know Dar Oakley through a human narrator who is nursing Dar Oakley back to health in a desolate future. Dar Oakley tells him of his first experience of People, of his many lives and trips to the land of the dead, of his migration to North America, and of his fateful encounter with the Coyote. Mythically rich and graceful in language, this novel reveals how our stories, with symbol and myth, and everything else attached, make us human and as close to immortal as we can get.

From Kaley: Though I grew up loving sci-fi and fantasy, as an adult, I think it can be hard to find books that avoid the outdated, exclusionary pitfalls common to the genre. It's also unusual to pick up one of these books and realize it's completely different from anything else you've ever read. Remarkably, Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft (Orbit $15.99), is able to do both--without tooting its own horn. The settings leap off the page, and each character, no matter how minor, has the depth and complexity of a real person. I can't wait to jump into the next installment in this 4-book series.

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SIGNED COPIES

Spring by Karl Ove Knausgaard (Penguin $27). "In the third of four memoirs addressed to his youngest daughter, Knausgaard returns to form, and to ruthlessness, writing to fight a familial legacy."—NY Times

Autographed books make great gifts; find more of our collection here. Limited quantities are on hand. To reserve, call us, email or order online.

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NEW IN PAPERBACK

The Graybar Hotel: Stories by Curtis Dawkins (Scribner $16). "Dawkins is a flat-out great writer who is also incarcerated for life in a Michigan prison for a drug-related homicide. The stories he tells here are small masterpieces of the daily dramas of prison life, reminiscent of John Cheever or Raymond Carver."—Sarah
Sing, Unburied, Sing: A Novel by Jesmyn Ward (Scribner $17). A National Book Award winner. "...perfectly poised for the moment. It combines aspects of the American road novel and the ghost story with a timely treatment of the long aftershocks of a hurricane and the opioid epidemic devouring rural America."—NY Times
Grief Cottage: A Novel by Gail Godwin (Bloomsbury $16)."Takes on the voice of a bereaved 11 year old boy in this, a gentle ghost story with understated humor and appealingly unorthodox characters, set on a South Carolina barrier island."—Sarah
Glass Houses by Louise Penny (Minotaur $16.99). A Chief Inspector Gamache novel. "You won't want Louise Penny's latest to end.... It takes nerve and skill--as well as heart--to write mysteries like this."—The Washington Post
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (Vintage $16.95). "Thrilling...[Roy's] luminous passages span eras and regions of the Indian subcontinent and artfully weave the stories of several characters into a triumphant symphony."—Minneapolis Star Tribune
Mister Memory: A Novel by Marcus Sedgwick (Pegasus $15.95). In Paris at the end of the nineteenth century, a man with a perfect memory murders his wife. A dazzling psychological puzzle that connects memory and fate.
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman (Wm Morrow $16.99). These marvelous creations showcase the invention and storytelling brilliance--and the terrifyingly entertaining wit--of the incomparable Neil Gaiman. Includes the story "How to Talk to Girls at Parties."
Coach Wooden and Me: Our 50-Year Friendship On and Off the Court by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Grand Central $17.99). On one of the most enduring and meaningful relationships in sports history.

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WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED FOR MOTHER'S DAY AND GRADUATIONS!

Mother's Day and Graduate Gifts

Make QRB your one-stop destination for Mother's Day (this Sunday, May 13) and Graduation Day gifts. Our staff can quickly recommend books for your recipients, and you'll also find:

If you need to ship books, we've recently lowered our USPS Media rates to $3.95 for the first book plus 50 cents for each additional one. With online book orders of $50 or more, Media Mail shipping is free! Giftwrapping is always free.

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE QRB ONLINE WISH LIST

Did you know that you can use the QRB online Wish List to let your family and friends know which books you'd like as gifts? And when you know the email address someone has used to establish their Wish List, you can purchase books for them, and the Wish List keeps track. Teachers, moms, grads, and dads can make it easy for others to know what to buy, and the gift giver can have the book shipped, or specify in-store pickup (and giftwrapped for free!). Wish List is also great if you just want to keep a list of books you'd like for yourself. Get started at QuailRidgeBooks.com/WishList.

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AWARDS

E. Annie Proulx, author of works including the acclaimed novel The Shipping News and the short story "Brokeback Mountain," has won the Library of Congress American Fiction Prize for 2018. The annual prize is meant to honor an American literary writer whose body of work is distinguished not only for its mastery of the art but also for its originality of thought and imagination. Proulx is also a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner. Read more at LibraryofCongress.gov.

The Edgar Awards for mystery writing were announced last week. The prize for Best Novel went to Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke, and the Best Fact Crime award went to Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann. See all the winners at TheEdgars.com.

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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN FOR KIDS' SUMMER BOOK CLUBS

We are currently registering kids for our three summer book clubs. The Summer B.I.R.D.S. book club for kids ages 5–7 (Beautiful Independent Readers Developing Soon), will meet on Tuesday's 4:00–5:00 p.m. for five weeks from July 10–August 7. The fee is $20 for the first child in a family, then $10 per child.

Two book clubs for older children will meet every other Monday from June 18–August 13 (five meetings). The Page Turners, for ages 8–10, meets 5:00–5:45 p.m., and The Around the Clock Readers, for ages 11–14, meets 6:00–6:45 p.m. The fee for each child is $10, and a light snack will be provided at each meeting.

Parents receive a 21% discount on the books purchased for clubs. To register, visit us in the store, or call 919-828-1588. Find more details at QuailRidgeBooks/SummerBookClubs.

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NC BOOKWATCH ON UNC-TV

Thursday at 5:00 p.m., D. G. Martin talks to Stephanie Elizondo Griest with All the Agents and Saints: Dispatches from the U.S. Borderlands. Sunday at 11:00 a.m., D. G.'s guests are Cindy Waszak Geary and LaHoma Smith Romocki, with Going to School in Black and White. The authors call the book "the story of how we, Cindy and LaHoma, one of us white and one of us black, come of age in the midst of 1970s' court-ordered school desegregation--and what this experience means to us now." Find the full Bookwatch schedule and a link to watch online here.

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QRB EVENTS

FRIDAY, MAY 11, 7:00 p.m. Jes Baker, Landwhale: On Turning Insults Into Nicknames, Why Body Image Is Hard, and How Diets Can Kiss My Ass. In conversation with Jessamyn Stanley. From a gutsy heroine of the body positivity movement comes a new, intimate memoir about being a fat woman in today's society. Building upon her previous book, Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls, Jes Baker talks growing up, dating, and living life while fat with Jessamyn Stanley, author of Every Body Yoga.

MONDAY, MAY 14, 7:00 p.m. Deborah Harkness, The World of All Souls: The Complete Guide to A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. For fans of the All Souls Trilogy, here is a fully illustrated guide packed with rich sources of inspiration for these bewitching novels. Bursting with the history, science, character bios, maps, fascinating facts, and dazzling artwork, this is the essential handbook for longtime fans or eager newcomers. Click here for information on attending this reserved seating event.

TUESDAY, MAY 15, 7:00 p.m. Steve Mitchell, Cloud Diary. Mitchell is a writer of fiction and co-owner of the independent Scuppernong Books in Greensboro. His new novel is the story of Doug and Sophie, characters who discover the shattering and transformative power of intimacy. Steve will be in conversation with Kim Church, Raleigh author of Byrd, who calls Cloud Diary "A beautiful, bittersweet novel about first love—how it forms us, how it settles in us and lingers, consoling us even to the end of our days." The book is being lauched in conjunction with the Cloud Diary Music Project, which collects music and spoken word recitings inspired by the story. Kim Church and saxonphonist Laurent Estoppey will perform their original works at the event.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 7:00 p.m. Jon Meacham, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham offers a way to help understand present American politics and life by re-examining critical times in our history when, as Abraham Lincoln put it, the "better angels of our nature" overcame divison and fear. Filmmaker Ken Burns says of the book, "Rather than curse the darkness, Jon Meacham, with his usual eloquence and surpassing knowledge of our history, has offered us all the sublime and calming reassurance that as threatening as so much of the present moment seems, Americans have weathered such storms before and come out on the other side with fresh and progressive horizons." Click here for information on attending this reserved seating event.

Readers' Club graphic FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY, MAY 18–21. Come shop the Spring Readers' Club Sale! Readers' Club members take 20% off most books, magazines & merchandise; 15% off music CDs. Shop in-store, by phone, by email, or shop online. Not a member? Join now and enjoy the sale, then save for a full year. Annual RC membership is $15, but is complimentary to those age 60 or better, and to educators preschool–12th grade. The regular RC discount is 10%, and members always take 30% off current NYTimes bestsellers. We're stocked with the best titles of this publishing season, and giftwrapping is always free.


FRIDAY, MAY 18, 7:00 p.m. Lessa Cross-Smith, Whiskey & Ribbons. Set in contemporary Louisville, Cross-Smith's mesmerizing first novel surrounds the death of a police officer, and is a requiem for marriage, friendship and family. Author Roxane Gay calls Cross-Smith "a consummate storyteller," and several journals and magazines have named Whiskey & Ribbons one of the most anticipated novels of 2018. Join us for a discussion of the book.

SATURDAY, MAY 19, 10:30 a.m. A Special Costumed-Character Storytime With Elephant and Piggie, who will help us read The Itchy Book by LeUyen Pham, in a special Saturday morning Under the Tree Storytime. Join us to hear this new story, to take photos with these huggable characters, and to enjoy your other favorite Elephant and Piggie books.

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BOOK CLUBS & MEETINGS (Everyone welcome)

THURSDAY, MAY 10, 7:00 p.m. LITERARY HORROR, Bird Box by Josh Malerman.

SUNDAY, MAY 13, 2:00 p.m. WRITERS COFFEEHOUSE, Every writer of any kind at any stage in their writing career is welcome to join this discussion and networking group. No set agenda, no fees, no registration, no publishing requirements. Not a peer review/critique group.

MONDAY, MAY 14, 7:00 p.m. NOT FOR MEN ONLY, meeting at Whole Foods Ridgewood. The Blood of Emmett Till by Tim Tyson.

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 7:00 p.m. FOREVER YOUNG: YA FOR ADULTS, The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar.

SATURDAY, MAY 19, 10:00 a.m. SINGLES, Bel Canto by Ann Patchett.

SUNDAY, MAY 20, 4:30 p.m. LITERARY PURSUITS, Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.

THE FREAKIN' AWESOME BOOK CLUB, for young adults with developmental disabilities, meets Sundays at 4:45 p.m. at QRB or in members' homes. Currently reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling. Contact facilitator Marlyn Wells at marlynwells@gmail.com for more information.

TEEN WRITERS COLLECTIVE: Meets at Whole Foods Community Room in Ridgewood Shopping Center, usually on the first, third and fifth Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 p.m. Suggested entry level is rising high school freshman+. Contact Cris Crissman at criscrissman@gmail.com for more information.

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Quail Ridge Books
33 Years of Independent Bookselling
919-828-1588
QuailRidgeBooks.com

“You're never going to kill storytelling, because it's built into the human plan. We come with it.”~~Margaret Atwood

For inquiries concerning QuailMail contact editor Kent Bryant at kent@quailridgebooks.com.

Links to browse or shop the books:
The Soul of America by Jon Meacham
Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
Ka: Dar Oakley in the Ruin of Ymr by John Crowley
Spring by Karl Ove Knausgaard
The Graybar Hotel: Stories by Curtis Dawkins
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Grief Cottage by Gail Godwin
Glass Houses by Louise Penny
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy
Mister Memory by Marcus Sedgwick
Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman
Coach Wooden and Me by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann
Going to School in Black and White by Geary and Romocki
All the Agents and Saints by Stephanie Elizondo Griest
Landwhale by Jes Baker
Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls by Jes Baker
Every Body Yoga by Jessamyn Stanley
The World of All Souls by Deborah Harkness
Cloud Diary by Steve Mitchell
Byrd by Kim Church
Whiskey & Ribbons by Leesa Cross-Smith
The Itchy Book by LeUyen Pham
Political Tribes by Amy Chua
The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks
Bird Box by Josh Malerman
The Blood of Emmett Till by Tim Tyson
The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling