Open Monday–Saturday 9 am–9 pm
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Sundays 10 am–6 pm
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From René:
Etaf Rum's debut novel
A Woman Is No Man
(Harper $26.99) is the story of three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn who are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture. It is a fascinating, horrifying, unvarnished glimpse at their world. (The author was raised by Palestinian immigrants in Brooklyn so writes with authority.) I became completely immersed in the lives of these women and I left them with a better understanding of who they are. In her letter to the reader Etaf hopes that people from both inside and outside her community will read this book and see "the strength and resiliency of our women." I certainly did.
Etaf Rum will discuss the book at QRB this Tuesday, March 5 at 7:00 p.m. Read D.G. Martin's column comparing the book to Betty Smith's A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
here
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* * *
Our
Take Ten
Staffer for February: Caroline Talton
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From Mamie:
Caroline was born and raised in Raleigh and has been coming to QRB since she was teething on board books. She’s one of those people who struggles to think of any hobbies outside of reading books, writing books, and generally just talking about books to anyone who makes the mistake of pausing long enough to hear her. She is, however, incredibly passionate about hot chocolate, the city of London, museum gift shops, and the 1998 version of
The Parent Trap
. Here are her top ten books:
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Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott (Little Brown & Company $24.99). I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read this book: the story of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy just feels like home to me.
Little Women
is a love letter to sisterhood, the world of women, and individuality.
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Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
(Penguin $30). Mary Oliver’s poetry, an extended love letter to the natural world and the humanity in everyone, is like a balm for the soul.
Devotions
collects poems from her decades-long career. I recommend reading one before bed each night.
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On A Sunbeam
by Tillie Walden (First Second $21.99). An epic journey through space and time, this graphic novel is a gentle, character-driven story set against the most breathtaking backgrounds. The stunning art showcases found family and first love in two different timelines.
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The Names They Gave Us
by Emery Lord (Bloomsbury YA $9.99). A girl on the verge of losing her mother to cancer begins working at a camp for troubled kids in this book about faith, both having it and losing it. One of the most moving and honest books I’ve ever read, centered around a vibrant group of characters with distinct, memorable voices.
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The Goose Girl
by Shannon Hale (Bloomsbury USA Childrens $9.99). Ani is a princess, but when her title is stolen and she is left for dead, she must transform herself into a poor goose girl in order to survive. An empowering twist on a classic tale, this is a book that sweeps you away.
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Bejamin Alire Sáenz (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers $14.99). Two lonely Mexican-American teens dealing with familial and personal change become best friends over the course of two summers in the mid-1990s. Sáenz writes with raw emotion in absolutely breathtaking prose, and I feel like Aristotle and Dante are two of my oldest friends.
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Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Women Writers
by Taisia Kitaiskaia, illustrated by Katy Horan (Seal $20). This gorgeously illustrated nonfiction book reimagines famous women writers from history as witches. An example: Toni Morrison as the “Queen of Miracles, Generations, and Memory.”
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Lunch Poems
by Frank O’Hara (City Lights $8.95). O’Hara’s poetry captures, with warmth and affection, the soul of an average day in New York City in the 1950s, with all of its vitality, diversity, and novelty. Favorites include: “The Day Lady Died,” an elegy for Billie Holiday, and “Adieu to Norman, Bon Jour to Joan and John Paul,” which includes a stunning refrain about life and how it must go on.
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Virginia Woolf is my absolute favorite writer, and
To the Lighthouse
(Mariner $14.95)
is everything that is amazing about her. Experimentally constructed, with incredible descriptions of the natural world and complex characters, this book grips you from start to finish.
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Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel (Vintage $16.95). Set after a mysterious sickness wipes out the majority of the population, this book is about a Shakespeare troupe that spends its time traveling between the remaining pockets of civilization in a post-apocalyptic America. The novel asks what the place of art, music, and literature would be if the world as we know it ended.
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Reader Reviews
Flights
by Olga Tokarczuk (Riverhead $26). If you’re going to travel in 2019, take this novel with you. One reviewer said that every hotel ought to put a copy of it on the bedside table in every room. It is about traveling, curiosity, and improving how you observe and learn.—
Ran Coble
Find more of Ran Coble's Best of 2018 Books, Movies and Music
here
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NEW IN PAPERBACK THIS WEEK
Find these and more
here
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Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin on this week's
Bookin'
Ian Rankin pens the
Inspector Rebus
mystery series set in and around Edinburgh, Scotland. His awards have included the Edgar and the Diamond Dagger.
In A House of Lies
is his latest
Rebus
novel, and Rankin joins
Bookin'
host and QRB Marketing Manager, Jason Jefferies, to discuss the series' evolution and its Scottish setting.
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NC Bookwatch
on UNC-TV
, with host D.G. Martin, airs on Sundays at 11:00 a.m. and Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. This week's
guest is Kenneth Robert Janken with
The Wilmington Ten: Violence, Injustice, and the Rise of Black Politics in the 1970s
. Watch
NC Bookwatch
episodes online at
UNC-TV.org
.
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Tonight, March 1, 7:00 PM
NINA LACOUR,
We Are Okay (
paperback release)
For ages 14+, an achingly beautiful novel about grief and the enduring power of friendship, that will leave you urgent to reach across any distance to reconnect with the people you love. Winner of the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature. "A beautiful, devastating piece of art."—
Bookpage
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Saturday, March 2, 10:00 AM
ANNELIES M. GENTILE,
From Chaos to Calm: Leading Change from the Inside Out
Cultivating resiliency in changing times requires skills and wisdom. In this part personal story, part philosophy book, part guidebook, you'll learn useful nuggets for life, leadership and well-being. To regain a sense of peace, even in chaotic times, we need to begin within. Join this Raleigh author for conversation, bagels and coffee.
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Sunday, March 3, 2:00 PM
SUNDRY POETS
PAM BAGGETT, JOAN BARASOVSKA, and VALERIE NIEMAN
Join us as we welcome three poets reading from their works. From Cedar Grove, N.C,
Pam Baggett
brings us her collection
Wild Horses
.
Joan Barasovska
tells the story of a woman from childhood to late age simply and beautifully in
Birthing Age
.
Valerie Nieman
is a writer, teacher, and editor whose work emerges from her Appalachian roots; she will share
Leopard Lady: A Life in Verse
.
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Tuesday, March 5, 7:00 PM
ETAF RUM,
A Woman Is No Man
Three generations of Palestinian-American women living in Brooklyn are torn between individual desire and the strict mores of Arab culture in this powerful debut novel. A heart-wrenching story of love, intrigue, courage, and betrayal that will resonate with women from all backgrounds, and one that gives voice to the silenced and agency to the oppressed. Rum teaches college English literature in North Carolina.
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Wednesday, March 6, 7:00 PM
SCOTT HULER,
A Delicious Country: Rediscovering the Carolinas along the Route of John Lawson's 1700 Expedition
In conversation with Tom Earnhardt
In 2014, Raleigh's Scott Huler decided to leave city and family for his own journey by foot and canoe, faithfully retracing 1700s explorer John Lawson's route through the Carolinas. This is the chronicle of that unlikely voyage, revealing what it's like to rediscover your own home. He will be in conversation with
Tom Earnhardt
of UNC-TV's
Exploring North Carolina
. This event is in association with the Piedmont Laureate program, and 2019 Laureate
David Menconi
will introduce Huler and Earnhardt.
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Thursday, March 7, 7:00 PM
JACOB TOBIA,
Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story
In conversation with Reverend Nancy Petty
From the moment a doctor in Raleigh put "male" on Jacob Tobia's birth certificate, everything went wrong. This is a heart-wrenching, eye-opening, yet humorous memoir about what it's like to grow up when you're not quite sure if you're a girl, a boy, something in between, or all of the above. Jacob revisits their childhood and calls out the stereotypes that each of us has faced, and invites us to rethink what we know about gender. They will be in conversation with
Rev. Dr. Nancy E. Petty
, Pastor, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church.
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Saturday, March 9, 2:00 PM
JULIE HEDGEPETH WILLIAMS
Three Not-So-Ordinary Joes: A Plantation Newspaperman, a Printer’s Devil, an English Wit, and the Founding of Southern Literature
Williams presents the fascinating story of three guys named Joe who stuttered and staggered their way into starting Southern literature--almost by accident. "Williams quite delightfully traces a narrative about the unpredictable, often byzantine connections that thread their way from one literary generation to another."—
Christian Science Monitor
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Book Clubs and Groups - Everyone Welcome!
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Mystery Book Club
Monday, Mar. 4
7:00 PM
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Writers Coffeehouse
Sunday, Mar. 10
2:00 PM
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Not For Men
Only
Monday, Mar. 11
7:00 PM
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OLLI
Tuesday, Mar. 12
2:30 PM
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The Open Discussion Project
Wedneday, Mar. 13
7:00 PM
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Find the schedule for all of our groups
here
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Mondays and Saturdays
10:30 AM
Beginning March 3:
Stories on Sunday
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
“
What is reading, but silent conversation.
”~~Charles Lamb
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