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Weekly Words about New Books in
Independent Bookstores
September 16, 2018
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Thoughts on Modern-Day Challenges and Presidential Leadership from a Pair of Renowned Historians
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari. Israeli historian Harari, author of the bestselling Sapiens and less bestselling Homo Deus, now offers up an investigation into today's most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory
of the future. Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive. And while the title teases it, the author is less interested in providing answers than in identifying challenges and how to think about them in the context of life today and in the future. It's not a fun book, but it's a thoughtful and important one.
Harari has a lot of fans, including Microsoft's Bill Gates, who reviewed the book for The New York Times. This excerpt provides a good description of the book and Harari's intentions: "The trick for putting an end to our anxieties, he suggests, is not to stop worrying. It's to know which things to worry about, and how muc
h to worry about them. As he writes in his introduction: 'What are today's greatest challenges and most important changes? What should we pay attention to? What should we teach our kids?' These are admittedly big questions, and this is a sweeping book."
Leadership In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Noted presidential historian Goodwin is perhaps best known for Team of Rivals and her Pulitzer-  winning No Ordinary Time: Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. She has researched and written the most about four presidents in particular, and in her new book, Goodwin draws upon the four - Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) - to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, readers encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope.
Interestingly, no common pattern describes the trajectory of the four's
leadership, set apart as they were in background, abilities, and temperament. However, Goodwin argues that they all shared a fierce ambition and a deep-seated resilience that enabled them to surmount uncommon hardships. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose, and at moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents and further the opportunities and lives of others. Leadership will certainly appeal to anyone interested in American history, but it should find a broader audience as well - although (unfortunately) probably not all the way to Washington D.C.
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It's Not an Act - Tom Hanks Can Write Too
Uncommon Type: Some Stories by Tom Hanks. This collection, now in paperback, comprises 17 short stories that are by turns  whimsical, touching, and just plain funny. Some feature the same characters, and in all of them a typewriter makes an appearance. And while Hanks won't make anyone forget Alice Munro or even William Trevor, he proves himself a legitimate and entertaining writer. Characters are realistic and often moving, and, not surprisingly, the actor has a nice ear for dialogue.
Among the good reviews the book received last Fall upon publication were these words on NPR: "
Uncommon Type
offers heartfelt charm along with nostalgia for sweeter, simpler times - even if they never really were quite so sweet or simple... Even when Hanks writes about somber subjects like the durable distress of combat or the high stakes for immigrants fleeing persecution, he finds a sweet spot."
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WHERE TO FIND
AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE
Many of you already have a favorite local bookstore, but for those of you without such a relationship, you can click here to find the
nearest indie bookstore by simply entering your postal code.
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WHY THE COLUMN?
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Hi, I'm Hut Landon, and I work as a bookseller in an independent bookstore in BerkeIey, California.
My goal with this newsletter is to keep readers up to date about new books hitting the shelves, share what indie booksellers are recommending in their stores, and pass on occasional news about the book world.
I'm not into long, wordy reviews or literary criticism; I'd like HUT'S PLACE to be a quick, fun read for book buyers. If you have any friends who you think might like receiving this column,
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