Day 24: Time to Go Home

It's the final day of our 2010 version of 24 Days of Books -- Christmas eve!! It's been rocking and rolling, hopping and popping in the store this past week; we're having more fun than is probably legal in several states -- come join us! I've got cookies coming out of the oven as we speak.

 Four our 24th book, I get to talk about the book that moved me the most this year: Let's Take the Long Way Home, by Gail Caldwell. This is a beautifully written story by a Pulitzer-prize-winning journalist about the friendship between two women: both writers, both recovering alcoholics, and both devoted to their dogs, written by the one who had to carry on after her friend died way too young from lung cancer.

"It's an old, old story," writes Caldwell. "I had a friend and we shared everything, and then she died and so we shared that, too." Caroline Knapp, her friend, was probably best known for her books Drinking: A Love Story and Pack of Two, about people's relationships with her dogs. The Merry Recluse is a collection of columns she wrote for the Boston Phoenix, published posthumously. [One column I recall from the book was about the annoyance of shopping for clothes in catalogs, and how much more convenient it would be if the UPS driver would wait on the front porch while she tried on her new clothes and just took away what didn't work for her, saving her another trip to ship them back.]

Caldwell's book is gorgeous and moving and heartbreaking without being treacly. You will laugh, you will cry. But mostly you will be moved, deeply, by the fiercely honest portrayal of friendship and loss. Here's my favorite line (among many) from the book: "Finding Caroline was like placing a personal ad for an imaginary friend, then having her show up at your door funnier and better than you had conceived."

If you are a dog lover, then you truly MUST read this book. But I'm a cat person myself, and I still adored this book. When you finish with this one, you should try Caldwell's first book, A Strong West Wind (a memoir) and Caroline's books. They're all terrific.

Day 23: On the High Seas

Welcome to Day 23 in our 24 Days of Books! Christmas is two days away, and we're feeling oceanic. Let's start by talking about Simon Winchester's new book, Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. As you can tell from the subtitle, the book covers much ground (ok, water, actually) and offers many exciting tales from the S-shaped body of water that covers 33 million square miles.

Winchester calls the book a "biography" of the ocean, borrowing an organizational device from Shakespeare's As You Like It in which Shakespeare presents the seven ages of man. Winchester tells the story of the Atlantic ocean from its geologic origins to today's struggles with pollution and overfishing, delving into early explorers such as the Vikings and Christopher Columbus and modern-day events such as oil spills, and even looks toward the likely future of the ocean.

Winchester is the author of several very popular books, including The Professor and the Madman and his most recent, The Man Who Loved China. Once again, his writing and storytelling in his latest book is top-notch, earning my highest praise of "unputdownable." Just start out reading the introduction and you'll know what I mean. (And the end papers are terrific!)

Here's what The Oregonian had to say about the book.

As long as we're talking about the ocean, I must give a shout-out to one of my favorite books of the year, The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean, by Susan Casey, a beautiful piece of narrative nonfiction. Here's a little bit I wrote about the book earlier in the year.

One last book, sticking with the oceanic theme, is by Geoffrey Wolff: The Hard Way Around: The Passages of Joshua Slocum. Slocum grew up in coastal Nova Scotia under the thumb of a strict father. At the age of 16, he escaped to the sea. In 1895 he set sail -- by himself -- in the small sloop "Spray." More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that would not be replicated for another quarter century. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made Slocum famous. A decade later, he set off alone once more and was lost at sea. Wolff intentionally kept this biography on the shorter side (240 pages, versus the massive tomes of many of the other biographies out now) because he wants to encourage people to read Slocum's original narrative in conjunction with this bio. Here's the NYT's take on the book, with a review by a fabulous writer in his own right, Nathaniel Philbrick.

I've always been particularly fascinated by and, frankly, a bit in love with, our planet's oceans. These are all three great reads for anyone in a similar boat (ha ha).

Day 22: The Last Boy

It's Day 22 in our 24 Days of Books, and our minds are mostly on football (especially a certain upcoming bowl game) and a little bit on basketball (for instance, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, which just set a record for longest win streak -- they haven't lost since April 6, 2008, or the Trail Blazers, who keep finding ways to win despite injuries to half the team. I have three friends who in the past week have had, respectively knee surgery, ankle surgery, and hip surgery; perhaps they could be named honorary Blazers!). But today we're going to talk baseball -- and not my poor hapless Seattle Mariners, who can't seem to climb out of their seasons-long slump (talk about your bad case of S.A.D.) -- specifically, Mickey Mantle, the childhood hero of thousands of young girls and boys (and, let's just admit it, lots of grown-up ones as well), as we present The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood, by Jane Leavy.

Mickey Mantle, who died of cancer in 1995 at age 63, was a baseball legend. He played in twelve World Series in his first fourteen seasons and still holds World Series records for home runs, RBIs, runs, walks, extra-base hits, and total bases. In her new biography of "The Mick," Jane Leavy tackles the legend and the man. "So how do you write about a man you want to love the way you did as a child but whose actions were often unlovable? How do you reclaim a human being from caricature without allowing him to be fully human?"  Drawing on more than five hundred interviews with friends and family, teammates and opponents, and weaving in a weekend she spent interviewing Mantle for the Washington Post in 1983 (during which he wasn't on his best behavior), Leavy has produced the definitive biography of the man and the athlete, written from the mixed perspective of fan, journalist, and personal acquaintance.

Mantle led the New York Yankees to seven world championships and was voted the American League's Most Valuable Player three times. "'His aura had an aura,' said his teammate Eli Grba." Beset with injuries and an unbelievable level of expectations, his not-unfamiliar mode of "coping" was with the aid the alcohol and sexual profligacy.

Leavy, who spent much of her childhood in the shadow of Yankee Stadium, is an award-winning former sportswriter and feature writer for the Washington Post and the author of the New York Times bestseller Sandy Koufax

Reviewers have this to say about her book: "Leavy comes as close as perhaps anyone ever has to answering 'What makes Mantle Mantle?'” "A masterpiece of sports biography." "She's hit a long home run." (you knew that cliche was coming, right?) Here's a review that Steve Duin wrote in the Oregonian about the book.

It's definitely the season of the Big Boy Biography. If sports isn't your bag, we've got biographies of George Washington, T.E. Lawrence (as in of Arabia), Teddy Roosevelt, Bob Dylan, Ken Kesey, Grant Wood, and Jim Thorpe (ok, we're back to sports again), among others, and the biography of Raymond Carver by Carol Sklenica just came out in paperback. Any would make a wonderful gift.

More Honors for Rebecca Skloot

I don't think there's a scientific or literary organization around that hasn't paid homage to Rebecca Skloot and her wonderful and amazing book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. And now The Washington Post has named Rebecca one of the Five Surprising Leaders of 2010. Way to go, Rebecca!

Here's an interview with Rebecca by Tasha Cotter for The Rumpus. And yeah yeah she was born in Illinois, but she grew up right here in Portland.

If you're still shopping for the perfect gift for the reader in your life, you can't go wrong with this engrossing book.

Day 21: D'oh! What a Great Gift!

It's Day 21 in our 24 Days of Books, and we'd just like to say "D'oh"! This year marks the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons, the landmark TV show invented by Portland native Matt Groening. (He attended Ainsworth Elementary School, Lincoln High School, and The Evergreen State College.)  We've got -- dare I say -- the perfect gift for the Simpsons fan in your life: Simpson's World: The Ultimate Episode Guide to Seasons 1-20.

This 1200-page compendium opens with an introduction to each of the main characters, followed by a two-page (at least) spread for every single episode since the series began, including screen shots and favorite quotes and quips. The book concludes with an Episode Index and eleven separate indices covering such topics as "Celebrity Guest Stars."

The critically praised series has won 24 Emmy Awards, having been nominated 63 times. It is watched in more than 60 countries, in 20 different languages, averaging more than 60 million viewers per week worldwide. Originally brought to life in 1987 for The Tracey Ullman Show, "The Simpsons" was Groening's introduction into the animation world. Previously, he was best known for his "Life in Hell" cartoon strip, an irreverent portrayal of broken life that debuted in 1977. He drew the characters' names for "The Simpsons" from his own family members (with the exception of Bart which was chosen -- at least this is what I've heard -- because it is an anagram of the word brat).


The book is a full-color cloth book enclosed in a slipcase box. For a mere $150, you can lock up the ideal gift for the Simpsons fan in your life, and you will be forever adored.

Day 20: Another Terrific Photo Book from National Geographic

It's Day 20 in our 24 Days of Books (tick tock....), and we're moving on! The annual journeys of wild species who travel in large groups during certain times of the year to find food, to avoid inclement weather, to procreate, or simply to return to their beginnings has been studied by scientists for hundreds of years, and photographed for decades. In a world of changing global conditions on land and in the sea, these annual journeys become astonishing tales of strength and the sheer will to survive.


The National Geographic Society is the entity we always look to for the best explanations and photographs of naturally occurring phenomena. The society's newest book, Great Migrations, is a wonder to behold. The photographic story of migrations around the globe, from butterflies to zooplankton to salmon to nomadic army ants to elephants to whales to fruit bats to walruses and more, this book also contains a penetrating text by K.M. Kostyal . Casting light on a toping of increasing relevance for our times, this book delivers the latest findings convering the impact of habitat loss, overexploitation, and climate change on animal migration – as well as new discoveries in wildlife science that help us understand a world in constant motion.

This gloriously photographed and insightfully written look at animal migration is a companion volume to the National Geographic Channel’s show. What a beautiful - and surprisingly affordable at $35 – gift!

Day 19: Let's Eat!

Today is Day 19 in our 24 Days of Books, and we're just a little bit hungry and thirsty! (Must have been reading about all those fabulous cookbooks yesterday.) Here are a handful of books that would make great gifts for people in your life who want to partake of the multitude of edible goodies Portland has to offer.

First, there's the new 2011 edition of the Portland Happy Hour Guidebook, which -- as the title implies -- provides a guide to many of the great happy hours in the Portland area -- drink specials and food specials, along with important-to-know information. This pocket-size book is a perfect stocking stuffer.

Second is the new edition (2nd) of Breakfast in Bridgetown: The Definitive Guide to Portland's Favorite Meal, by Paul Gerald. I love this guide -- partly because breakfast is my favorite meal to eat out, but also because Paul is so thorough in his research. For each establishment, he not only tells you the usual basics -- describing the menu, hours, location, and payment options -- but also some intriguing extras, such as what kind of coffee they serve (LOVE this feature!), whether or not they have WiFi, and what wait times tend to be. Those of us lucky enough to live in northeast Portland are blessed with a plethora of delicious breakfast options.

Finally, there is the new book about the hot-hot-hot food cart craze in Portland, Cartopia, by Kelly Rodgers and Kelley Roy. We just talked about this new book last month, so I'll just link to the posting here.

You can always pair any of these books with the recently published Food Lover's Guide to Portland, by Liz Crain, last year's Fearless Critic Portland Restaurant Guide, or the newest edition of Best Places Portland, to provide a little broader overview of what the Portland food community has to offer. The Food Lover's Guide to Portland offers the ultimate guide to Portland producers and purveyors -- the folks who create, produce, bake, distill, gather, and sell the things that make good eating and drinking possible.

We've got lots of great NW guidebooks -- hiking, eating, history, and more -- in the store; just ask us for suggestions!