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New Book of the Week
Queen of Spades
by Michael Shou-Yung Shum
Why is this novel so absurdly entertaining? Shum, who was a casino dealer in Lake Stevens before getting his English PhD, loosely bases his story on an old gambling tale by Pushkin, but it has a seemingly effortless liveliness all of its own (I say "seemingly" because that kind of effortlessness takes a lot of work to pull off). The book wears everything lightly: the fateful turns of cards, the odd presence of magic, the setting in Snoqualmie in the aerobicized '80s, and a cast of characters who each spring immediately from the page into life. It reminds me of another enjoyable and strangely compelling favorite, The Queen's Gambit (about a different royal game). What a surprising treat! —Tom
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Old Book of the Week
Sister Carrie
by Theodore Dreiser
No one ever accused Theodore Dreiser of being an elegant writer, but nearly every sentence in this book howls with things that elegance alone can't provide: desire, drive, hunger, power, exhaustion, and—always—the counting and clinking of money. Dreiser's great characters—the driven, desirable, desiring Carrie, the doomed Hurstwood—are the crossroads for these forces, and at times may seem almost impersonally so, but they are fully inhabited, and you may find yourself inhabited by them in turn, as I still am twenty years after I last read this novel. It's a period piece that feels as modern as ever. —Tom
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Kids' Book of the Week
Where's Halmoni?
by Julie Kim
A mysterious new doorway in their grandmother's room and some equally mysterious paw prints lead Joon and Noona into a land of mischievous and snack-loving animals, and into the world of the traditional Korean folk tales Seattle's Julie Kim heard as a child. Her retellings (and her exquisitely beautiful illustrations) combine the magic and mischief of those stories with a modern goofiness that fits their mood perfectly (in my favorite image, a giant dokkebi goblin happily sips from Joon's tiny juice box). I hope that wily, unassuming grandma (or Halmoni, in Korean) has some more tales up her sleeve. (3 and up) —Tom
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Non-Book of the Week
Jabberwocky Diagrammed
What better way to demonstrate the pleasures (yes, fellow nerds—the pleasures) of diagramming sentences than by using that sensible tool on total nonsense: Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky"? We rarely bring posters into the shop to sell (we can never figure out where to display them), but this item from Washington's own Paper Hammer we could not resist.
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Link of the Week
It's Official: We're Literary
I'm not sure what it means, but after a process kicked off five years ago by novelist Ryan Boudinot (who did not survive, institutionally, to see the promised land), UNESCO (yes, the same UNESCO the US just pulled out of) has named Seattle one of 20 or so world "Cities of Literature." Is it a boondoggle? A lovely honor? A useful development that will lead to international cultural exchanges, better storytelling, and more recognition for our fabulous storytellers. I have no idea, but people are excited and have worked hard for this, so congratulations!
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Cover Crop Quiz #72
The folks at Liveright Publishing are celebrating the 100th birthday of their imprint, so I'll celebrate by cropping my favorite of their books, which sold very few copies when it was published with this cover in 1933. (One further hint: a different edition has already been a crop quiz subject.)
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Last Week's Answer
Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, which shared the 1992 Booker Prize with Barry Unsworth's Sacred Hunger. (By the way, Ondaatje has a new novel, his first in seven years, coming out in May!)
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Phinney Books
7405 Greenwood Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98103
206.297.2665
www.phinneybooks.com
info@phinneybooks.com
Facebook page
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As I have mentioned, Liz has, for a variety of reasons, been reading Russia nonstop, from Turgenev to Masha Gessen and seemingly everything in between. And now, with Halloween over, we've replaced the book-built pumpkin in our window with an all-Russia display, with lots of good stuff from the 19th-century literary greats to hundredth-anniversary histories of the revolution to Putin-era journalism that continues to be alarmingly relevant. Many riches from that large and complicated country!
We've enjoyed our busy week of events here at the store, and are now looking forward to our next one, another Dock Street Salon on Friday, November 10, at 7 pm. We'll be hosting Greg Vandy, whose name and voice you may know from his Wednesday-night roots-music show on KEXP, "
