Open Monday–Saturday 9 am–9 pm
•
Sundays 10 am–6 pm
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Divisive party politics is nothing new, and in
The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality
(Viking $35), authors Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein show how parties first arose in our young republic, centered around popular leaders. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were virtually alone in fiercely resisting alignment with party, and both suffered for "not playing the game." Their admonitions ring fresh today.
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Another excellent recent book on the subject is
If We Can Keep It: How the Republic Collapsed and How it Might Be Saved
by Michael Tomasky (Liveright $27.95). This is a lively look at partisanship from the nation's founding onward. Tomasky argues that the 50 years after WWII were actually a rare dip in partisan politics, but that the brand of partisanship we've returned to now is uniquely virulent. He constructively offers a 14-point plan to help us reduce this polarization.
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* * *
Our
Take Ten
Staffer for May: Sandra Griffin
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From Mamie:
Sandra applied to be a seasonal bookseller at Quail Ridge Books in 2003 but was turned away for applying too late. The next summer she asked about a position early on, got the job, and has never left. She no longer works on the sales floor but takes care of the consignment books that the store receives. She also speaks to groups who want to know about the store and get information about new books. And no, she doesn’t just talk about books set in Paris! As a former educator, Sandra loves to entice others into enjoying her favorite pastime.
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Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy (Canterbury $16.99). After seeing the movie
Doctor Zhivago
as a teenager, I had a great need to read anything set in Russia. So why not start with what some say is the greatest novel of all time? The complexity of the story and its many characters had me intrigued through multiple readings. Perhaps I’ll make it my summer read!
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Rabbit Run
by John Updike (Random House $17). I love most everything that John Updike wrote, and this book probably started that admiration for me. The angst of twenty-something Harry Angstron, the main character, might even be relatable to millennials today. I remember devouring all the sequels.
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Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
by Tom Robbins (Bantam $17). I laughed my way through this book. My copy is yellowed with age and has many dog-eared pages. Who could come up with a character who hitchhikes across the country using her enormous thumb? It was the perfect novel for the late seventies, especially for this wanna-be hippie.
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The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
(Riverhead $16). In this autobiography and tribute to his mother, James McBride weaves an amazing story of his chaotic life growing up as one of twelve siblings of a white Jewish woman and an African American father and stepfather. I admired the grit of this woman and her desire to provide a good education for all her children. I was thrilled to meet McBride when he came to Quail Ridge Books.
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Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett (Harper $16.99). Once my sons got to be teenagers, I was able to return to more frequent reading of novels. Thanks to the late Nancy Olson’s “paperback boat” at the front of her Wade Avenue store, I found great books, including this strange and terrifying tale of guns and music set somewhere in South America.
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The Namesake
by Jhumpa Lahiri (Mariner $15.99). Though she had won a Pulitzer Prize for her book of short stories, this was the first novel written by Ms. Lahiri. The theme of the immigrant experience of the Indian-American characters helped me understand my own background as a grandchild of Polish and Lithuanian immigrants. After this book, I make sure I read anything written by Lahiri.
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Half of a Yellow Sun
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Anchor $16.95). My older son was an English major in college, and I always wanted to know about the books he was reading. After hearing about how much he liked
The Purple Hibiscus
, I was excited to report to him that the author had a new book,
Half of a Yellow Sun.
Any of her books could have been one of my Take Ten selections.
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Plum Wine
by Angela Davis-Gardner (Dial $16). North Carolina is a treasure trove of amazing writers, and Raleigh is lucky to have Ms. Davis-Gardner. I enjoyed getting to know her as a customer of QRB, so naturally I wanted to read her novel set in Japan, the country where she began her teaching career. I loved this romantic story with an intriguing plot crafted by thorough research into a culture unknown to most Americans.
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The Paris Wife
by Paula McLain (Ballantine $17). No, I don’t read every new book that’s set in Paris, but I try! After my first visit to the City of Lights, I was thrilled to find this new book about Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley Richardson, and the time they spent living as the “it” couple in the Latin Quarter of my favorite city during the Jazz Age.
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My Brilliant Friend
by Elena Ferrante (Europa $17). This book caught my eye in the international section of the store when it was first published. I picked it up and started reading immediately. I loved this story of an intense female friendship set in Italy. I anxiously awaited each book in the series of four as the girls became women and Italy became a unified country.
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Come Shop The Spring Readers' Club Sale!
Friday, May 3 – Monday, May 6
Mother's Day is May 12, and we've got cards and gifts for Mom, as well as for graduates and teachers! Shop for books, literary-themed totes, t-shirts and prints, booklights, games, puzzles, candles, socks, scarves and more. Giftwrapping is always free.
During the 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.
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Call Me Zebra
by Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi has won the
2019 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
. The judges wrote, "Once in a while a singular, adventurous, and intellectually humorous voice appears that takes us on an inescapable journey. [The novel] is a library within a library, a Borges-esque labyrinth of references from all cultures and all walks of life."
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Check out the winners of the 2019 Edgar Awards for mystery writing
here
.
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Previously known as the Orange Prize, or Baileys Prize, The Women's Prize for Fiction is now called just that. The 2019
shortlist
is in, and half have been QRB staff picks!
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Visit the QRB Blog, where our staff discusses books, authors, publishing news, current events, and more. It's over at
QuailRidgeBooks.Wordpress.com
.
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This week on
Bookin'
, QRB Marketing Manager Jason Jefferies is joined by both Dr. Robert W. Turner II, author of
Not for Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete
, and Ron Rice, former NFL player and Chairman of the Board of the NFL Alumni Association. They discuss the three factors (injury, indiscretion, and illness) that work against athletes who aspire to a long and profitable career in the NFL.
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Tonight, May 1, 7:00 PM
MATT LEE AND TED LEE
Hotbox: Inside Catering, the Food World's Riskiest Business
In conversation with Raleigh chef and restaurateur Ashley Christensen
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The Lee brothers are the authors of bestselling cookbooks and have won six James Beard and IACP Awards. Known for their modern take on Southern cooking, they steeped themselves in the catering business for four years.
Hotbox
reveals the real-life drama behind cavernous event spaces and soaring white tents, where cooking conditions have more in common with a mobile army hospital than a restaurant. Matt and Ted will be in conversation with Ashley Christensen, Beard Award winner and author of
Poole’s: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner
.
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Thursday, May 2,
6:00 PM
ADAM RUBIN,
High Five
An interactive picture books for ages 3+
Priority signing line tickets available
From the creators of the bestseller
Dragons Love Tacos
comes a rollicking, rhyme-tastic, interactive high five competition--starring YOU! Discover the lost art of the high five and improve your slapping skills just in time for the annual high five contest. From hand-limbering stretches to lessons on five-ing with finesse, readers are guided through a series of interactive challenges, each goofier than the next. Rubin and illustrator Daniel Salmieri have dreamed up another one-of-a-kind, laugh-out-loud book that kids will beg to read again and again.
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Friday, May 3, 7:00 PM
JACQUELINE L. JACKSON
with JESSE JACKSON, JR.
Loving You, Thinking of You, Don't Forget to Pray: Letters to My Son in Prison
Reserved seats and priority signing line tickets available
Jacqueline Jackson promised her son, Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr., that she would write him every day during his 30-month incarceration in federal prison. This book is an inspiring and moving selection of those letters. The two will discuss what writing and receiving these letters meant to each of them. The conversation will be lead by
April Smith
, local marketing agent, friend and former NC A&T University classmate of Jessie Jackson, Jr.
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Saturday, May 4, 10:30 AM
A Special
Under the Tree
Storytime
Meet our hilariously grumpy friend Bruce the bear! You may know him from the Mother Bruce picture book series by Ryan T. Higgins. Bruce the bear (costumed character) will be here to help celebrate Children's Book Week. Come take pictures, enjoy some stories, and celebrate the magic of books. Fun for all ages! (*Author Ryan Higgins will not be here.)
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Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 PM
MARY KAY ANDREWS,
Sunset Beach
Reserved seats and priority signing line tickets available
We welcome back the Queen of Beach Reads with a new novel! In
Sunset Beach
, Drue Campbell's life and career have recently been derailed, and the only thing she has left is the ramshackle beach bungalow her mother left her. But when her larger-than-life father offers her a job at his law firm, her attention is caught by a suspicious murder case and Drue finds herself entangled in a decades-old mystery that may have dire consequences for her and the people she loves. A compelling ride, full of MKA's signature wit, heart, and charm.
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Wednesday, May 8, 7:00 PM
The Open Discussion Project
Meeting monthly on second Wednesdays, the goal of this discussion group is to foster dialog and better understanding between people with differing political viewpoints. Book selections will range across the political spectrum and meetings will have dedicated facilitators. May's book is
The Inclusive Economy: How to Bring Wealth to America's Poor
by Michael D. Tanner. Receive a 21% discount when purchasing the book for club attendance.
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Saturday, May 11, 2:00 PM
MICHAEL MATROS,
Slipstone Rill: A Gothic Mystery
Down from Slipstone Village's old chapel, across the rill and deep in the woods, live the remnants of a reclusive family of carpenters and violin makers. Two generations earlier, their treasured ring of spruce trees, whose wood is necessary for the distinctive tone of their violins, was poisoned by a girl who had been raped by one of the family. Now, with threats and violence, the last of those craftsmen looks to regain the secret of the trees' regeneration. Michael Matros was born in Asheville.
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Book Clubs and Groups - Everyone Welcome!
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Mystery
Monday, May 6
7:00 PM
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Open Discussion Project
Wednesday, May 8
7:00 PM
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Literary Horror
Thursday, May 9
7:00 PM
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Not For Men Only
Monday, May 13
7:00 PM
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OLLI
Tuesday, May 14
2:30 PM
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Find the schedule for all of our groups
here
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Mondays -Saturdays - Sundays
10:30 AM
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For Young Adults with
developmental disabilities.
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QRB Teen Writers Collective
for info.
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Quail Ridge Books
34 Years of Independent Bookselling
919-828-1588
“
I read my eyes out and can't read half enough…. The more one reads the more one sees we have to read.
”~~
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams
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