Josie's Staff Picks

If Beale Street Could Talk (Vintage International) By James Baldwin Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780307275936
Availability: Click the TITLE to view store availability
Published: Vintage - October 10th, 2006

Who but James Baldwin could write so beautifully about racism, love, prison, family, and social injustice? This is a story about all of those, told through the lives of young lovers Tish and Fonny in 1970s Harlem. Through it was originally published in 1974, Baldwin's social commentary and exceptional writing style remain powerfully relevant. If Beale Street Could Talk is simultaneously sweet and painfully sad -- a novel that is honest, moving and just wonderful.


The Old Child: & Other Stories By Susan Bernofsky, Jenny Erpenbeck Cover Image
$15.95
Temporarily Unavailable
ISBN: 9780811216081
Published: New Directions - October 17th, 2005

A strange and slow collection of dark stories about memory from a fantastic German author. Creepy in a good way.


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The True Deceiver By Tove Jansson, Ali Smith (Introduction by), Thomas Teal (Translated by) Cover Image
By Tove Jansson, Ali Smith (Introduction by), Thomas Teal (Translated by)
$16.95
ISBN: 9781590173299
Availability: Click the TITLE to view store availability
Published: NYRB Classics - December 8th, 2009

This is an excellent book to read in late autumn or winter. The dark and complex characters in The True Deceiver perfectly compliment both the setting (small town Scandinavian winter), and Jansson's writing style. The result is an engrossing novel that can be read in one sitting (as I did) or savored over a few days -- either of which will leave you feeling contemplative and satisfied. A great book.