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Weekly Words about New Books in
Independent Bookstores
April 5, 2020
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An Orderly Life Turned Topsy Turvy and a Gutsy Female Spy in WWII Paris Make For Stress-Free Reading
Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler. Another compassionate, occasionally rueful study of human connections from Tyler, who writes about a routine-bound man whose circumscribed life is thrown thrown totally off-kilter by 
unexpected events. Micah Mortimer is a creature of habit - a self-employed tech expert and superintendent of his Baltimore apartment building who is content with his life. But one day his routines are blown apart when his woman friend (he refuses to call anyone in her late thirties a "girlfriend") tells him she's facing eviction, and a teenager shows up at Micah's door claiming to be his son. Can a meticulously ordered man find a way to see his world with new eyes?
A review by Donna Seaman in Booklist said, "Tyler's warmly comedic, quickly read tale, a perfect stress antidote, will delight her fans and provides an excellent 'first' for readers new to this master of subtle and sublime brilliance... If Tyler's large-cast, many-faceted novels are symphonies, this portrait of a man imprisoned by his routines is a concerto."
Three Hours in Paris by Cara Black. The author of the popular mysteries featuring Parisian detective Aimee Leduc takes a break from her series to offer up a page-turning World War II thriller featuring a sharpshooting female spy who's in co
nstant peril and on the run in Paris after a blown mission. In 1940, recently widowed Kate Rees, a
young American markswoman, is recruited by British intelligence and
offered a seemingly impossible assignment - assassinate the Führer. She takes the job, gets some quick and dirty spy training, and then is shipped off to Paris where she gets her shot at Hitler - and misses. What follows is a terrific cat-and-mouse chase through the war-torn streets of the City of Lights, with the nervy Kate staying one step ahead of a dogged German officer as she navigates the maze of the French Resistance with its allies and traitors. Thr
ee Hours in Paris is an atmospheric and propulsive thrill ride that should keep readers turning pages to the end.
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Now in Paperback, City of Girls Explores Love and Lust in 1940s NYC
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert. She's best known for enlightening non-fiction books like
Eat Pray Love and
Big Magic, but Gilbert has
 proved she can also write fiction with
The Signature of All Things and this
scandalous and lusty love story. It's set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s and narrated by an 89-year-old woman looking back on her youth with both pleasure and regret (but mostly pleasure). The rollicking plot explores themes of female sexuality and promiscuity, as well as the idiosyncrasies of true love.
synopsis: "
City of Girls is a champagne cocktail, a tonic for anything that ails you, and the summer read you can't miss! Vivian Morris, an upper-class, 19-year-old college dropout, finds herself in the chaotic New York City theater world of the 1940s. What ensues is a story full of sex, glamour, and witty one-liners that spans decades. All those who led a heedless youth or wish they had will fall for this book about growing into the person you've always wanted to be. Gilbert has written a glittering piece of fiction that subtly delivers wisdom about the nature of human connection and leaves the reader braver, freer, and, at least for the moment, happier."
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Caroline McGregor, Books & Books, Coral Gables, FL
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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, simply click on "Forward
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COMMENTS, FEEDBACK
I always love hearing from folks, so please feel free to let me know what you're reading, make a comment, or ask a question.
Email me
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