Ask a Bookseller: ‘Sour Cherry’ by Natalia Theodoridou
On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.“There are books that you can't put down. And then there are books that, even when you put them down, they just stay with you," says Katherine Nazzaro of Porter Square Books, with stores in Boston and Cambridge, Mass. The book in the latter category — which she’s still talking about months after reading — is “Sour Cherry” by Natalia Theodoridou.Nazzaro calls it an unorthodox retelling of Bluebeard. The story of Bluebeard involves a young bride who is told by her husband (Bluebeard) never to enter one room in their home. When she inevitably does enter, she finds the room is filled with the bodies of his previous dead wives. This novel takes a different tack: the novel starts with a woman, Agnes, who raises Bluebeard after the death of her child.“It sort of asks the question, who was Bluebeard before the fairy tale? You have all of these dead wives that he's collected, but somebody had to be the first dead wife. And what was life like for her before he was this fairy tale monster?”Trigger warning: domestic violence is a main theme in this novel, whose events also include the death of a child.Nazarro doesn’t classify this novel as horror. “In my opinion, as a big horror reader, it doesn't get scary enough. It never really delves into horror. But it's a sort of lyrical literary gothic fiction. I really did feel like it was like a physical presence with me while I was reading it.”
--------
2:15
--------
2:15
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The Pretender’ by Jo Harkin
David Burton of novel, a bookstore in Memphis, Tenn., recommends his favorite book of the year so far: “The Pretender” by Jo Harkin, which he calls “historical fiction at its very best.”
--------
2:16
--------
2:16
Ask a Bookseller: ‘Old School Indian’ by Aaron John Curtis
On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.Anne Holman of The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, recommends the novel “Old School Indian” by Aaron John Curtis.Holman calls it a powerful coming-of-age story, when you come of age later in your life in an important way.The novel follows Abe, who, like the author, is an enrolled member of the Mohawk tribe. We first meet Abe at age 43 when he is very ill, returning to his family after having lived away for his entire adulthood. The story flashes back to Abe as a college student, falling in love with a young woman named Alex and reinventing himself to appeal to her. Holman continues, “When he gets sick and goes home, he re-discovers the power of family, and especially his Uncle Budge, who is a healer and lives really, really off the grid and and helps Abe figure out a few important things about himself.” Holman appreciates the dark humor of the book, the narrator who pops into the story to add his perspective, and the poetry interspersed within the chapters, which she calls “some of the most beautiful poetry I’ve ever read.”
--------
2:13
--------
2:13
Ask a Bookseller: ‘No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding’ by Catherine Mack
On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now.School is out (or soon-to-be-out) across Minnesota, and that means it’s time for summer reads! But just because you bring a book to the lake, that doesn’t mean it can’t be smart as well as a fun escape. To that end, Julia Green of Front Street Books in Alpine, Texas recommends the lighthearted whodunit, “No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding” by Catherine Mack. Readers might recognize this title as the second in Mack’s Vacation Mysteries series, the first being the USA Today bestseller “Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies,” but Green says you don’t need to have read the first to dive right into the second. Mystery writer Eleanor Dash is on set to see her best friend Emma star in the movie adaptation of Dash’s first novel, after which the entire cast and crew head to a nearby island to celebrate Emma’s wedding. There is a storm on its way, and soon they are trapped on the island with a dead body. Of course, the writer of mysteries feels the need to step in to solve the case, as does the method actor who played a policeman on film. As Green tells it, “There are lots of shenanigans. It’s very funny. It’s silly, but it’s not superficial, and it’s not trivial. It’s a wonderful homage, if a little light-hearted, to Agatha Christie.”“[The book] has smart characters who don’t make idiotic mistakes. It’s not stressful. And when you pick up this book, you know that you’ve got a few peaceful, really entertaining hours ahead of you. You’re going to sit there and you're going to get sunburned because you're not going to want to get off the beach because you don't want to stop reading!”
--------
2:11
--------
2:11
Ask a Bookseller: ‘The River Has Roots’ by Amal El-Mohtar
On The Thread’s Ask a Bookseller series, we talk to independent booksellers all over the country to find out what books they’re most excited about right now. Sarah Jackson of The Book and Cover in Chattanooga, Tenn., says she was immediately hooked and fully delighted by Amal El-Mohtar's fantasy novella, “The River Has Roots.” Readers may recognize El-Mohtar as the sci-fi and fantasy columnist for the New York Times and as co-author of the award-winning novel “This is How You Lose the Time War.” This book is her solo debut. “I love a story that is about sisters, and I love a story that asks questions about belonging, both in terms of physical place--where do we belong? — but also to whom do we belong? Who belongs to us?” says Jackson. The two sisters, Esther and Ysabelle, sing to the trees, which filter the magic out of the river. Esther has a relationship with a Fae folk from the kingdom of Faerie, while Ysabelle falls for a mortal who distrusts the wild, untamed Faerie realm. There are darker elements to the story that reminded Jackson of Grimm tales. It’s a lyrical narrative filled with song and poetry, with a magic system built upon the transformative power of words. For another fantasy novel in which language quite literally has power: Ask a Bookseller: ‘Babel’ | MPR News
Looking for your next great read? Ask a bookseller! Join us to check in with independent bookstores across the U.S. to find out what books they’re excited about right now.
One book, two minutes, every week.
From the long-running series on MPR News, hosted by Emily Bright. Whether you read to escape, feel connected, seek self-improvement, or just discover something new, there is a book here for you.
Ireland