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Louise's Reviews

Louise has been working at Bookshop Santa Cruz since 2012, and is now Head of Receiving. When she's not absorbed in a book (be it a law dictionary or a biography) she likes to play strange games with her cat Heyhey and discuss the more refined aspects of Star Trek. Louise is a transplant from the Central Valley of California, where she spent a lot of time developing a hay allergy and sitting on the edge of her bed playing guitar.

Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin by Phil Cushway & Michael Warr

Of Poetry and Protest is a testament to the power of the written word to heal and connect. Some of America’s most treasured poets write candidly, sometimes with sadness, about anti-blackness in their lives. This is a really solid collection of poetry that makes an important addition to the Black Lives Matter movement, one that celebrates art as a medium for change and healing.  —Louise

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Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin By Phil Cushway (Compiled by), Victoria Smith (Photographs by), Michael Warr (Editor) Cover Image
By Phil Cushway (Compiled by), Victoria Smith (Photographs by), Michael Warr (Editor)
$21.95
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ISBN: 9780393352733
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - June 21st, 2016

Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda by Pablo Neruda

Pablo Neruda’s work is famous for its beauty and sensuality, and this translation of Then Come Back is all the more enjoyable because of the amount of detail it offers. I haven’t seen a translation done with such care and forgiveness since Anne Carson’s Fragments of Sappho.  —Louise

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Then Come Back: The Lost Neruda By Pablo Neruda, Forrest Gander (Translator) Cover Image
By Pablo Neruda, Forrest Gander (Translator)
$23.00
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ISBN: 9781556594946
Published: Copper Canyon Press - May 3rd, 2016

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang

I had a conversation with some booksellers about the term “literary science fiction.” I’m reluctant to separate this book from the genre for fear of being a pretentious snob. To me—an outsider who laments reading hours that are not spent nose-deep in epic fantasies and unsettling futures—literary sci-fi like Chiang’s is akin to the writing of a less-manic David Foster Wallace but has more traditional sci-fi elements than George Saunders would use, though Chiang has the level of mastery of both of those writers.  —Louise

 

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Stories of Your Life and Others By Ted Chiang Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781101972120
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage - June 14th, 2016

Bitch Planet by Deconnick Kelly

Books like The Handmaid's Tale and Herland make clear we're living out the apocalyptic follies they describe, and Bitch Planet does the same thing with pulpy goodness and enthralling action. Maybe we don't have our own version of Bitch Planet (a.k.a the Auxiliary Compliance Outpost) but if we did, I'm sure I'd be sent there in a heartbeat for some form of Non-Compliance.

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Bitch Planet Volume 1: Extraordinary Machine By Kelly  Sue DeConnick, Robert Wilson IV (By (artist)), Taki Soma (By (artist)), Valentine De Landro (By (artist)) Cover Image
By Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robert Wilson IV (By (artist)), Taki Soma (By (artist)), Valentine De Landro (By (artist))
$9.99
ISBN: 9781632153661
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Image Comics - October 20th, 2015

Born with Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

Kate Mulgrew's search for her daughter given up for adoption is a long thread in the book that ties itself around the heart of her memoir. Mulgrew really dives into her past and in that way I can appreciate her performance as Captain Janeway all the more. She is a true master of the English language, a gift nurtured by her love of poetry and dedication to the art of acting. A fine memoir that will resonate strongly with women.

Trace by Lauret Savoy

In 2015, we have seen the release of many talented authors making connections across disciplines. Writers like Rebecca Solnit and Ta-Nehisi Coates are flanked by the great American voice of Lauret Savoy. In Trace, Savoy laces geography, geology, and critical race and ethnic studies into a meaningful and felicitous dialogue. We are shown that the landscape of the body and mind can mirror Earth’s faults and craters.

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Trace: Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape By Lauret Savoy Cover Image
$25.00
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ISBN: 9781619025738
Published: Counterpoint LLC - November 10th, 2015

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson

Usually when our buyer brings me a book on contemporary queer theory I have to prep myself by brushing up on my vocabulary and pronunciation skills (it's pronounced Foo-ko, Louise, not Full-calt). Nelson doesn't condescend by oversimplifying her critiques and theories; her approach is practical and lucid, and her arguments about identify politics are fresh to death.

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The Argonauts By Maggie Nelson Cover Image
$23.00
This item may be available from the publisher! Give us a call or send us an email to find out.
ISBN: 9781555977078
Published: Graywolf Press - May 5th, 2015

Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

Okparanta’s first short story collection, Happiness, Like Water, is a perfect example of the power of prose. Her stories shook me in places I thought myself durable beyond doubt. This new work centers around a young Nigerian woman unfortunately blossoming under the chaos of civil war; a fateful friendship with another displaced girl transforms into love, which must be hidden at all costs. If Udala Trees is written with the same clarity that has become Okparanta’s signature, a Lambda Award nomination will surely be hers.  --Louise

Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe

A book is a block of paper bound together by cardboard, filled with words that entertain and/or inform the reader. An example of a book is Thing Explainer, written by a person named Randall Munroe (What If?). He is a former NASA roboticist, which is a fancy way of saying he’s highly qualified to explain the intricacies of science-y things like a rocket ship (Up Goer Five) and the food-heating radio box (microwave).  —Louise

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Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words By Randall Munroe Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9780544668256
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Dey Street Books - November 24th, 2015

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