When not helping customers in the shop or attending author readings we are madly trying to make our way through an ever-growing stack of must-reads. Occassionally we dig ourselves out long enough to give you an idea of what we have been enjoying....
Age of Insight - The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present By Eric R. Kandel Random House (ISBN 978-14000-68-715) $46.00 Nonfiction
This book contains a wealth of information and fascinating connections between past and present, art and science. Eric Kandel is a neuroscientist and Nobel laureate in medicine. The first half of the book focuses on five prominent figures in turn-of-the-century Vienna: artists Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoshka and Gustav Klimt; writer Arthur Schnitzler; and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. The second half of the book looks at the development of neuroscience since 1900 and the increased interest in brain science. All of this makes for a fascinating read. I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed The Vertigo Years, or Proust Was a Neuroscientist.
Recommended by Tracey
Above All Things By Tanis Rideout McClelland & Stewart (ISBN 978-0-77107-6350) $29.99 Fiction
Coming Soon!
Although Tanis Rideout is known for her poetry and connections to Canadian music, she will soon be known as an emerging Canadian novelist. Above all Things is a fictional account, on two levels, of the final attempt by George Mallory and Sandy Irvine to reach the summit of Mt. Everest in 1924. The outcome of this expedition has been well documented in various media. In this novel, however, two stories alternate chapters: Mallory's long months of hardship and endurance on the mountain are set against chapters that recount one day in the life of his wife waiting in England for news of his success and return. The fact that their realities and accounts are different in every way makes the narrative very taut and character driven. I kept hoping that, just this once, the adventure would end differently.
Recommended by Tracey
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce Random House (ISBN 978-0-38-567761-9) $29.95 Fiction
This terrific novel deserves to be a big hit with readers. The premise of the story is fairly simple: Harold Fry receives a letter from Queenie Hennessy, a former colleague and friend, informing him that she is near death. He decides, for various reasons, to walk the more than 600 miles to Queenie in the hope of saving her life. Along the way he is forced to confront the realities of his life. The reader feels that this experience is Harold's first real attempt to engage with life and those who inhabit the world around him. There are moment of hilarity, greatsadness and deep satisfaction in the reading of this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Uncommon Reader.
