March 2024 | Rooted in Community | |
No one can resist used books |
Tsundoku, Stack One (New Books)
Tsundoku is Japanese for the act of acquiring reading materials and letting them pile up in one’s home. We thought it a perfect heading, so much so that we have two stacks, one for new books and one for used. If you’re like us, tsundoku is a constant state of being.
The Darkness Manifesto, Johan Eklof, $18
There's such an allure to the combined poetic rhythm of "darkness" with "manifesto," and while we often long for the longer days of sunlight, there's reason to celebrate the dark, too. The book's subtitle keeps the balance of poetry and environmentalism going: On Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms That Sustain Life. Add the fact that the author is a Swedish bat scientist, well, come on; this book practically demands that we flick the lights off and go dancing in the dark (yes, that is a Springsteen reference).
Come and Get It, Kiley Reid, $29
Published at the end of January of this year, this is Kiley Reid's sophomore novel, following the success of Such a Fun Age. The story's gravitational pull is the University of Arkansas in 2017: two characters meet, Millie and Agatha, one a student and resident assistant, the other a professor and journalist. From there, Reid and her impeccable precision for characterizing detail spin the world of the story into orbit. Tense and propelling.
Martyr!, Kaveh Akbar, $28
This is the debut novel for Kaveh Akbar, although he's published several poetry collections. I think I've said it before but I'll say it again--I love when poets write novels; you just know the text is gonna crackle differently. Besides that, there's something about putting an exclamation mark in the title of your book. It's a bold move. And this is a book about a drug addict poet obsessed with martyrs, working as a medical actor who dies regularly, for $20 an hour, 15 hours a week. All signs point to a bold book. Bold!
The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year, Margaret Renkl, $32
Renkl's love for the natural world is so quietly understated that it starts to feel loud, like a whisper cutting the din of a crowded room. As the title states, Renkl is tracking the natural world from the vantage of her backyard, so you get a sense of stillness balancing with motion, and sometimes against motion: a spider weaving in a houseplant, a violet growing in a dead tree. There are 52 chapters to match the weeks in a single year, and also artwork by the author's brother to accompany the text, so the layers to be found here are rich, and many.
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What is wrong with old? Age isn't a disease. We all grow old, even books. But are you, is anyone, worth less, or less important, because they've been around for longer?
—Nina George,
from The Little Paris Bookshop
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Tsundoku, Stack Two (Used Books)
This portion of our Tsundoku section plays by different rules, since it deals in used books rather than new. With new books, we have a general sense of what we order and stock, but our used books are totally free range, flowing in and out of the store on their own mysterious tides. So while a book may get mentioned here, it could be gone in a heartbeat. But maybe you'll get curious...
Seedtime: On the History, Husbandry, Politics, and Promise of Seeds, Scott Chaskey, $8.00
A few Sundays back we had a very cool book-buy: a young(ish) man selling several boxes of land ethic/permaculture/philosophy books; this book arrived with that sale (it was also a Colorado library book in a past life. this book has seen some things). As I peruse the book's prologue, I'm seriously tempted to keep the book for myself, it's so rich with the poetry of the earth, but I'm leaving it for you, I promise.
Insects of the World, Walter Linsenmaier, $55
This book also came in with the Very Cool book-buy, and it's a pricey one, but the illustrations are so gorgeous that you should know it exists, especially if you're entomologically inclined. It's green, it's high on a shelf, and it's above the nature section. See the delightful picture below to get a taste of Linsenmaier's incredible attention to detail. The whole book is of such caliber (and it's copyright is 1972, so AI didn't do it).
Home Ground: A Guide to the American Landscape, edited by Barry Lopez & Debra Gwartney, $10
Someone sold us this one in the early blur of February, when it was 50 degrees weird outside. I kind of can't get over it; Lopez and Gwartney are wonderful nature writers, so their pair-up is one thing. The book's design as a weighty, gorgeous guide book is another. And then there's the extensive reference within: 500 pages of words that describe the topography of the United States, based on the compiled contributions from a variety of fantastic authors. Be still, my heart; this book is truly a gem.
The Street Beneath My Feet, Charlotte Guillain and Yuval Zommer, $12
This picture book is too cool in its design, content, and construction; it's a delight for all ages. The story takes the reader to the Earth's core and back again, which is a visual feast of a journey, as well as an informative one. The Earth's depths are emphasized with the accordion-style pages that fold out and out, becoming one contiguous illustration that drops out from the center of the book. Three cheers to the whole conceptualization of this one.
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There is a newish fun fad that we are pleased to see happening at Pearl Street Books - the placement of random "Easter Eggs" on our shelves. This is not the traditional plastic or decorated egg. Instead, it is a little treasure placed by someone with the aim of providing a bit of pleasure to all who find it while browsing. Best practice is to snap a picture and leave it for the next person to enjoy. Below are a few of the "Easter eggs" hanging out at Pearl Street Books. | |  |
Customer Corner: Andrew Conklin | |
I am a bit of a cartoon character in human form. Kindness, and inspiring curiosity are passions of mine, and I try to pursue them both as verbs: actively. You might find a dinosaur or two around the store shelves, roar! I put these out for children, and anyone who might need a dinosaur to brighten up their day.
Several years ago I started to work towards becoming an author, and my relationship with Pearl Street Books has been a boon on my odyssey. The suggestions, events, conversation, and the books themselves have all contributed to my growth as an author, and my healing as a human being.
I have drawn particular inspiration in my writing from Mary Shelley, William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, and Jorge Luis Borges, who's ability to craft a story as short as a paragraph, yet with a depth to plumb the human experience, is singular.
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