Packing (Books) for a European Vacation
For the purposes of this list, there are two important things to know about my mother. First, she has an unquenchable desire to vacation with her grandchildren. Second, she believes both her children must be treated equally. These two facts have come together to vastly improve my summer, because this year, my retired parents have decided to take a big international vacation with the grands. That means my sister, her husband, and both of her children will go along; and it means my wife Niki (whom you know as your Parnassus events and marketing director) and I get to go, too. Read the rest of this entry »
“I’d much rather hang out with the dysfunctional families” – Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
It makes perfect sense that bookseller Kathy Schultenover fell in love with Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s novel, The Nest. As our Parnassus book clubs manager, Kathy can always spot a crowd-pleasing novel that combines great writing, interesting characters, and discussion-worthy plot. No wonder she adored this contemporary tale of the Plumb family — four adult siblings and their spouses, lovers, and children — dealing with the fallout after one of them blows through the family inheritance. It’s funny and light, relatable and insightful. Read the rest of this entry »
Question: What Makes a “Beach Book”? (Plus 44 Suggested Answers)
Here’s a topic we’ve been chatting about in the back room at Parnassus: What exactly is a “beach read”? Lately we’ve realized that we — booksellers and customers — use the term to mean different things. Read the rest of this entry »
Reconnaissance: Your Top-Secret Report on the Latest Espionage Thrillers
Those of us on staff here at Parnassus would like to assure you that our store manager, Andy Brennan, is probably not some kind of secret agent / CIA operative / undercover-something. We’re not absolutely positive he’s not a spy, mind you . . . but we’re pretty sure. We suspect the reason he knows so much about espionage has nothing to do with any sort of training as an elite double-crossing intelligencer, but instead with how many spy books he reads. (Still, if we were you, we wouldn’t tell Andy any secrets. Loose lips sink ships, you know?) Read the rest of this entry »
Inviting Richard Russo to “Fool” Us Again
If you loved Nobody’s Fool by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Russo, expect to feel reunited with old friends in Everybody’s Fool, which catches up with the stubborn but lovable “Sully” Sullivan and his neighbors in North Bath, New York, 10 years after we last left them. Read the rest of this entry »
Notes from Ann: Ode to Joy
I loved dear Lindsay Lynch’s recent piece on the books that made her cry. Sometimes a good sob is just what a reader needs. Lindsay’s choices engendered a great deal of back office conversation among the staff at Parnassus. We reminisced about what books had caused us to mist up and what books made us cry so hard we couldn’t see the pages. Read the rest of this entry »
A Town Washing Away, A Girl Growing Up: Siobhan Vivian’s Heart-Stopping Story
This is what’s going on in Siobhan Vivian’s The Last Boy and Girl in the World: It’s raining in the little riverside town of Aberdeen, and it won’t stop. That’s why the city is sinking and why the government insists the whole community must leave. But high school senior Keeley doesn’t want to go. As the evacuation deadline approaches and her town begins to disappear beneath the floodwaters, Keeley’s feelings about her friends, her longtime crush, and her family come into urgent focus and she must decide what to do. Read the rest of this entry »
