From Sarah:
Like you, we are bracing for Hurricane Florence, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. We will be open normal hours today (9 a.m. to 9 p.m.) and plan to be closed early afternoon Thursday and into Friday, but will update our website and social media regularly as we know more. We're disappointed to have to cancel our author events for tonight, Thursday, and Friday and are waiting to see about the author events, book club meetings, and storytime for Saturday and Sunday. Meanwhile, remember that books are the perfect technology for times like these, and, as someone once said: "Books will get you through times without electricity better than electricity will get you through times without books." Ok, maybe that was just me a minute ago. We all wish you safe passage through the storm.
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STAFF PICKS
Two from Amber: Vox, flash-fiction writer Christina Dalcher's debut novel (Berkley $26), is a stand-out in the recent wave of feminist dystopia literature. It takes place in a horrific near-future where women are restricted from speaking more than 100 words a day, with the added risk of being electrocuted or hauled away if there is no compliance. More terrifying than The Handmaid's Tale (though in the same league to be sure), because it feels so much closer, so much more imminent. I hope it energizes women the way Jean was energized, wishing she had voted, wishing she had marched, wishing she had fought harder for women everywhere. 
Kill the Farm Boy: The Tales of Pell by Kevin Hearne and Delilah S. Dawson (Del Rey $27) was pretty much everything I was promised and hoping for: Princess Bride meets Monty Python with all the crudeness and social commentary. If you enjoy picking out the pop culture and fairy tale tropes, this will be a ton of fun for you.
From Kaley: "Recently, I happened across it again, by chance – if you believe, which I do not, that stories ever come to you by chance." In The Enchanted Life: Unlocking the Magic of the Everyday (Ambrosia $17.95), Sharon Blackie explores the philosophical and psychological history of disenchantment, and how Western society came to be so thoroughly and determinedly disenchanted with the world. In the face of the trauma this has caused (in the form of increasing rates of depression, anxiety, and physical manifestations of stress), she offers up an alternative: enchantment, or falling in love with the world and all its complexities. Don't underestimate this work. Blackie has a strong background in neuroscience and doesn't hesitate to dive into academic texts spanning psychology, philosophy, and folklore.
From Matt: Notes from the Fog: Stories by Ben Marcus (Knopf $26.95). My favorite book of this year so far. I've read critiques calling this book "fun". It's terrifying! Even the simplest stories here start from a place of fundamental altered reality, throwing me seriously off balance. I simply must praise to the highest "The Trees of Sawtooth Park", a psychopharmacological first-person nightmare; it's vivid and deeply upsetting. I bet the adventurous among you can handle it.
From Mamie: In her new novel, Heartbreaker (Random House $26), author Claudia Dey took me to "the territory," a retro community stuck in the eighties. A young girl, Pony Darlene Fontaine, is dealing with the disappearance of her mother, a difficult father, her first crush (a guy named Supernatural), and the quirky cult she lives in with a few hundred other people. She's the wisest person around (along with her dog, who has his own section of the book). Where this territory is in relation to real time and space, I'm not sure, but "out there" holds a special attraction for Pony. I will not reveal what happens at the end, but I will say that those of you who like a novel with substance and a happy outcome will be perfectly delighted with this one!
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NEW IN PAPERBACK
Be Free or Die: The Amazing Story of Robert Smalls' Escape from Slavery to Union Hero by Cate Lineberry (Picador $17). "Lineberry elevates Smalls...showing him to have been as courageous and inspirational as Harriet Tubman...and Booker T. Washington."—Publishers Weekly
Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine by Joe Hagan (Vintage $17). "A useful, engaging, mirror-smashing exposé, highly recommended.—Matt
Logical Family: A Memoir by Armistead Maupin (Harper $16.99). The Raleigh native and Tales of the City author recalls his life-changing experiences as he ventured beyond his biological family.
American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time (Graywolf $14). A remarkable chorus of voices selected and introduced by U. S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith.
In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende (Atria $17). Three very different lives intertwine in this sweeping novel that journeys from present-day Brooklyn to Guatemala in the recent past to 1970s Chile and Brazil.
The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, and the End of Baseball's Golden Age by Sridhar Pappu (Mariner $16.99). In 1968, two astounding pitchers would dominate the game as never before.
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PRE-ORDER SPECIALS ON UPCOMING RELEASES
Forthcoming bios of legendary music groups Led Zeppelin and the Beastie Boys join our collection of pre-order specials for new books coming out this fall. When you pre-order the book from QRB, it will arrive with a gift item related to the book, like a lapel pin or poster, or the book may be signed by the author. Click here to check them out. Quantities are limited, so pre-order soon!
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STILL TIME TO PIG OUT FOR A GOOD CAUSE
The Binc Foundation (Book Industry Charitable Foundation) is the only non-profit that provides financial assistance to bookstore employees who have a financial need arising from an unexpected hardship and/or emergency circumstance. Help raise funds for Binc, and own a piece of literary history by bidding on one of over 100 piggy banks decorated by your favorite authors, illustrators, and celebrities, from James Patterson to Ann Patchett to Celeste Ng to Jon Scieszka to Al Roker to Brad Paisley. Click here to bid. Bid often and bid high! Bidding closes at noon on Saturday, September 15.
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CROOK'S CORNER BOOK PRIZE
Given annually to the best debut novel set in the American South, Crook's Corner Book Prize has announced its shortlist of three novels for the 2019 award. Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage is this year's judge for the $5,000 prize, sponsored by Crook's Corner Café and Bar in Chapel Hill. The winner will be announced January 7. The shortlist is:
The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard (Melville $16.99). "For sheer reading pleasure Ladee Hubbard's original and wildly inventive novel is in a class by itself."—Toni Morrison. "The Talented Ribkins is a charming and delightful debut novel with a profound heart, and Ladee Hubbard's voice is a welcome original."Mary Gaitskill
A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (Counterpoint $16.95). This luminous and assured first novel shines an unflinching, compassionate light on three generations of a black family in New Orleans, emphasizing endurance more than damage."—NYT Book Review, Editors' Choice
How to Survive a Summer by Nick White (Blue Rider $26). "If Tennessee Williams's 'Suddenly Last Summer' could be transposed to the 21st-century South, where queer liberation co-exists alongside the stubborn remains of fire and brimstone, it might read something like this juicy, moving hot mess of a novel."—Tim Murphy, The Washington Post * * *
NC BOOKWATCH
NC Bookwatch with host D.G. Martin airs on UNC-TV on Thursdays at 5:00 p.m and Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Coming up, D.G.'s guests are Ed Haag with Charlie Soong: North Carolina's Link to the Fall of the Last Emperor of China, and Heather Bell Adams with her novel Maranatha Road, set in the N.C. mountains where two women battle over the memory of a man each loved. Find the full cable schedule and a link to watch online here.
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QRB EVENTS
CANCELED: TONIGHT, SEPT. 12, 6:30 p.m. For children (and adults!), join author-illustrator duo Drew Daywalt and Scott Campbell, for a special pre-bedtime event. Their new picture book Sleepy, The Good Night Buddy features a little boy and his bedtime pal who will do anything they can to avoid going to sleep. We hope to reschedule this event.
CANCELED: THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 7:00 p.m. Robert W. Turner II, Not for Long: The Life and Career of the NFL Athlete. Drawing on his own football experience as well as interviews with over 120 National Football League players, Turner looks at what it means to be an athlete in the NFL, and why so many players struggle with life after football. He is Assistant Professor at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Science, and a Research Scientist in the Center for Biobehavioral Health Disparities at Duke University. We hope to reschedule this event.
CANCELED: FRIDAY, SEPT. 14, 7:00 p.m. Craig Johnson, Depth of Winter, a new Sheriff Walt Longmire mystery. This event will not be able to be rescheduled but we will be getting signed bookplates for all of you who pre-ordered a copy. An international hit man and the head of one of the most vicious drug cartels in Mexico has kidnapped Walt's daughter, Cady, to auction her off to his worst enemies, of which there are many.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 15, 4:00 p.m. Frank Harmon, Native Places, Drawing as a Way to See. Harmon, FAIA, has designed sustainable modern buildings across the Southeast for 30 years. Native Places is a collection of 64 watercolor sketches paired with mini-essays about architecture, landscape, everyday objects, and nature. Raleigh author Angela Davis-Gardner will introduce Harmon. This is a reserved seating event; click here for information about attending.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 16, 2:00 p.m. Mary Davila, Grandpa's Tent. Written by two Episcopal priests and mothers, this book is a companion for families with children ages 5–10 as they experience death, perhaps for the first time. Grandpa's Tent explains what the Bible says about death--and life after death--and walks gently and honestly through the process of saying goodbye, attending the funeral, and grieving a loved one. The Rev. Mary Davila is Assistant Rector at Christ Church (Episcopal).
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19, 7:00 p.m. Scott Westerfeld, Impostors. In conversation with Christopher Ruocchio, Raleigh author of Empire of Silence. Impostors, book one in a new quartet for teens 13 and up, returns to the dystopian world of Westerfeld's bestselling Uglies series. Amid threatening technology, power plays, and dictatorships, Frey, twin sister of Rafi, has just one purpose: to protect her sister by playing impostor whenever her powerful father insists the danger is too great for Rafi. Keeping a secret so big is nearly impossible.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 20, 7:00 p.m. Patrice Gopo, All the Colors We Will See: Reflections on Barriers, Brokenness, and Finding Our Way, a poetic and courageous collection of essays. Gopo will be with Durham writer, speaker, and activist Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, in a conversation about race and faith in the New South. Mawethu Ncaca will moderate and David Potorti will introduce the participants. "Gopo has a special talent for weaving her story into the narratives of Scripture and for guiding the reader through some of the difficult realities of race, immigration, and identity in America with wisdom and grace."—Rachel Held Evans.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 21, 7:00 p.m. Omid Safi, Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition. In conversation with essayist and author Krista Bremer. At a time when the association of Islam with violence dominates headlines, this beautiful collection offers us a chance to see a radically different face of the Islamic tradition. It traces a soaring, poetic, popular history that celebrates love for both humanity and the Divine as the ultimate path leading back to God. Safi is Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University, and Director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center, and he has a podcast on the Be Here Now Network.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 22, 3:00 p.m. Lee Zacharias, Across the Great Lake. Professor Emerita of English at UNC-G, Zacharias joins us to share her new novel in which an 85-year-old woman recounts a childhood memory and reveals a secret from the trip she and her father took across Lake Michigan in the brutally cold winter of 1936. "This book is a bookseller's dream: one that will appeal to every person who asks for a recommendation. It is historical, and the main character will win your heart from the first page. Even the curmudgeonly characters have something to love about them. The book has one of the most beautiful endings I've ever read, heartbreaking, but perfect for this flawless novel."—Mamie.
MONDAY, SEPT. 24, 7:00 p.m. James Ponti, Trapped! Middle school is hard. Solving cases for the FBI is even harder. Doing both at the same time, well that's just crazy. But that doesn't stop Florian Bates! In this hilarious third novel in the Framed! series for ages 8+, Florian must save a friend from being framed for a crime he didn't commit. Along with his best friend Margaret (Watson to his Sherlock), Florian's making the case that kids can do anything.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 25, 7:00 p.m. Kathryn Schwille, What Luck, This Life. In conversation with Elaine Neil Orr, Raleigh author of Swimming Between Worlds. The Columbia space shuttle and its contents rain down on the people of Kiser, Texas in Schwille's imaginative debut novel that opens six weeks before the invasion of Iraq. Evoking the novels Winesburg, Ohio and Olive Kitteridge, What Luck's unforgettable characters struggle with family upheaval and mortality's grip, and a luminous story emerges filled with heartache, beauty and warmth.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26, 7:00 p.m. Beth Revis, with Give the Dark My Love, fantasy fiction for ages 12+. In conversation with Raleigh author Kati Gardner (Brave Enough). North Carolina author Beth Revis explores just how far a young alchemist is willing to go to find a cure to save her family from a deadly plague. "Readers will be instantly addicted to this wickedly thrilling adventure."—Kerri Maniscalco
THURSDAY, SEPT. 27, 7:00 p.m. Pam Kelley, Money Rock: A Family's Story of Cocaine, Race, and Ambition in the New South. With Pastor Belton Platt, formerly known as Money Rock, in conversation with John Drescher of the News and Observer.
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BOOK CLUBS & MEETINGS (Everyone welcome)
CANCELED: THURSDAY, SEPT. 13, 7:00 p.m. LITERARY HORROR, We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 15, 10:00 a.m. SINGLES, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 16, 4:30 p.m. LITERARY PURSUITS, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
MONDAY, SEPT 17, 7:00 p.m. UNDERSTANDING THE MIDDLE EAST, Ghost Wars by Steve Coll, chapters 1–16 (final chapters discussed on Oct. 15).
THURSDAY, SEPT. 20, 7:00 p.m. FOREVER YOUNG: YA FOR ADULTS, Seafire by Natalie C. Parker.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 22, 7:00 p.m. TRIANGLE ORIGAMI FOLDERS UNITED (TOFU). Open to any skill level.
MONDAY, SEPT. 24, 7:00 p.m. CONTEMPORARY FICTION, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.
THURSDAY, SEPT. 27, 7:00 p.m. SCI-FI/FANTASY, Borderline by Mishell Baker. The club's selections include a focus on strong female protagonists and diverse themes such as gender.
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 Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling. Contact facilitator Marlyn Wells at [email protected] for more information.
QRB TEEN WRITERS COLLECTIVE. Always meets virtually and usually meets physically at the NC State University Club on the first, third and fifth Wednesdays of the month at 7:00 p.m.; email [email protected] for more information.
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Quail Ridge Books
33 Years of Independent Bookselling
919-828-1588
QuailRidgeBooks.com
“I wondered about the science of storms and how sometimes it seemed that a storm wanted to break the world and how the world refused to break.”~~Benjamin Alire Sáenz, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
For inquiries concerning QuailMail contact editor Kent Bryant at [email protected].
Links to browse or shop the books:
Vox by Christina Dalcher
Kill the Farm Boy by Hearne and Dawson
The Enchanted Life by Sharon Blackie
Notes From the Fog by Ben Marcus
Heartbreaker by Claudia Dey
Be Free or Die by Cate Lineberry
Sticky Fingers by Joe Hagan
Logical Family by Armistead Maupin
American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time edited by Tracy K. Smith
In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende
The Year of the Pitcher by Sridhar Pappu
Led Zeppelin by Led Zeppelin
The Beastie Boys Book by Diamond and Horovitz
TheTalented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard
A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
How to Survive a Summer by Nick White
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
Charlie Soong by Ed Haag
Maranatha Road by Heather Bell Adams
Sleepy, The Goodnight Buddy by Daywalt and Campbell
Not For Long by Robert W. Turner II
Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson
Native Places by Frank Harmon
Grandpa's Tent by Davila and Gaventa
Impostors by Scott Westerfeld
All the Colors We Will See by Patrice Gopo
Radical Love by Omid Safi
Across the Great Lake by Lee Zacharias
Trapped! by James Ponti
What Luck This Life by Kathryn Schwille
Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis
Money Rock by Pam Kelley
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
Seafire by Natalie Parker
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
Borderline by Mishell Baker
Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets by J. K. Rowling