Three great virtual book events in one week!
Our event schedule is bursting this week. The author of the hit novel The Night Birds and Little Wolves is back with a suspenseful new thriller. Two biographers meet to discuss the life and work of John Steinbeck. And David Leavitt talks about his sharp satirical novel Shelter in Place.
We've also got book clubs and poetry readings coming up soon. Details and links are below.
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Thomas Maltman talks about his latest novel The Land In Conversation with fellow author Benjamin Percy --Tuesday, October 13, 7:00pm
Recovering from a terrible auto accident just before the turn of the millennium, college dropout and hobbyist computer-game programmer Lucien Swenson becomes the caretaker of a house in northern Minnesota. Shortly after moving in, Lucien sets out to find a woman with whom he had an affair, who vanished along with money stolen from the bank where they had worked together.
His search will take him to Rose of Sharon, a white supremacist church deep in the wilderness, where a cabal of outcasts await the end of the world at a place they call The Land. Lucien is visited at the house by a mysterious guest, who may not be who she claims, as well as a vast flock of violent ravens out of an apocalyptic vision. At once a mystery and spiritual noir, The Land explores the dark side of belief, entrenched white supremacy in the Heartland, the uniquely American obsession with end times, and the sacrifices we make for those we love.
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William Souder discusses Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck with Brian Jay Jones--Wednesday, October 14, 7:00pm
The first full-length biography of the Nobel laureate to appear in a quarter century, Mad at the World illuminates what has made the work of John Steinbeck an enduring part of the literary canon: his capacity for empathy. Pulitzer Prize finalist William Souder explores Steinbeck’s long apprenticeship as a writer struggling through the depths of the Great Depression, and his rise to greatness with masterpieces such as The Red Pony, Of Mice and Men, and The Grapes of Wrath.
Angered by the plight of the Dust Bowl migrants who were starving even as they toiled to harvest California’s limitless bounty, fascinated by the guileless decency of the downtrodden denizens of Cannery Row, and appalled by the country’s refusal to recognize the humanity common to all of its citizens, Steinbeck took a stand against social injustice—paradoxically given his inherent misanthropy—setting him apart from the writers of the so-called "lost generation."
Steinbeck remains our great social realist novelist, the writer who gave the dispossessed and the disenfranchised a voice in American life and letters. Eloquent, nuanced, and deeply researched, Mad at the World captures the full measure of the man and his work.
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David Leavitt talks about his new novel Shelter in Place in Conversation with NCB Bookseller David Enyeart--Thursday, October 15, 7:00pm
"Shelter in Place chronicles the upper middle upper upper crust of New York City society. In the months following the election of Donald Trump, they are plunged into uncertainty and doubt. Eva, the group’s north star, copes by buying an apartment in Venice. Her husband embarks on an affair. It’s hard to imagine a softer target for satire, but Leavitt’s verve and wit make this novel a joy to read. Shelter in Place is a classic six of a novel, fully furnished with bon mots and apercus."— David (Manager NCB)
A comic portrait of the months immediately following the 2016 election, Shelter in Place is also a meditation on the unreliable appetites-for love, for power, for freedom-by which both our public and private lives are shaped.
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The Literature Lovers' program hosts authors Lin Enger and Thomas Maltman
Tuesday, October 20, 12:00pm
If you just can't get enough of him, the Literature Lovers' Program will also be hosting Thomas Maltman in collaboration with Next Chapter Booksellers, this time in conversation with Lin Enger.
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Next Chapter Book Club discusses Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry--Sunday, October 25, 4:00pm
In the dark waiting room of the ferry terminal in the sketchy Spanish port of Algeciras, two aging Irishmen—Maurice Hearne and Charlie Redmond, longtime partners in the lucrative and dangerous enterprise of smuggling drugs—sit at night, none too patiently. The pair are trying to locate Maurice’s estranged daughter, Dilly, whom they’ve heard is either arriving on a boat coming from Tangier or departing on one heading there.
This nocturnal vigil will initiate an extraordinary journey back in time to excavate their shared history of violence, romance, mutual betrayals, and serial exiles. Rendered with the dark humor and the hardboiled Hibernian lyricism that have made Kevin Barry one of the most striking and admired fiction writers at work today, Night Boat to Tangier is a superbly melancholic melody of a novel, full of beautiful phrases and terrible men.
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Outside the Margins: A Speculative Fiction Book Club discusses The Scapegracers by Hannah Abigail Clarke--Tuesday, November 3, 5:00pm
An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process.
Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends. But when the three most popular girls pay her $40 to cast a spell at their Halloween party, Sideways gets swept into a new clique. The unholy trinity are dangerous angels, sugar-coated rattlesnakes, and now–unbelievably–Sideways’ best friends.
Rich with the urgency of feral youth, The Scapegracers explores growing up and complex female friendship with all the rage of a teenage girl. It subverts the trope of competitive mean girls and instead portrays a mercilessly supportive clique of diverse and vivid characters. It is an atmospheric, voice-driven novel of the occult, and the first of a three-book series.
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The Willies: Poems by Adam Falkner--Tuesday, November 10, 7:00pm
"Adam Falkner is a poet with a heart of gold and a spine of steel. We need his prophetic voice in these bleak times."--Dr. Cornel West
The Willies, Falkner's first full-length poetry collection, offers a sharp and vulnerable portrait of the journey into queerhood in America. Departing from a more familiar coming out narrative he centers the stories of dueling selves. Masquerading white boy. Child of an addict. Closeted varsity athlete. Drifting seamlessly between the scholarly and conversational, Falkner's poems showcase a versatility of language and a courageous hunger, unafraid of depicting the costumes we use to hide legacies of toxic masculinity.
Through snapshots both tragic and humorous, merciless and humane, Falkner offers powerful new ways of understanding the intersectional linkage that binds queer shame to cultural appropriation. At its core, The Willies asks us to consider who we will become if we do not grapple with what scares us most.
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Shop early to get the books
you want for the holidays
It's time to start making your list and checking it twice.
For a number of reasons--consolidation in the printing industry, safer slower warehouses, shipping disruptions--bookstores are going to have a challenging time keeping hot titles in stock during the coming holiday season. More than ever, it's important that you buy your December must-haves now. Preorder a book now, and there shouldn't be any problems getting it in time to put under the tree. Leave things until the last minute, and you might need to give a gift certificate instead of an actual book.
To help you find the right book for everyone on your list, we'll be featuring some of the year's big titles. Here's a selection to get you started. We'll have more in future newsletters, on our social media feeds, and on our website in the weeks ahead.
And we always enjoy making more personalized recommendations. Call us at 651/225-8989 Monday to Saturday between 10am and 3pm to talk to a bookseller.
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Thanks for reading all the way to the end.
We've got lots more great books in the store. We hope you'll talk to us soon for a recommendation. Follow us on social media for the latest news. We’re Next Chapter Booksellers on Facebook; we’re @nextchapterbooksellers on Instagram; and we’re @NextChapterMN on Twitter.
--all of us at Next Chapter Booksellers
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