Books for a Spring Garden Party

Oh, hello there. Please sit and have a cup of tea. Jeeves is readying the crustless cucumber sandwiches now and the crumpets are fresh from the oven.

So, what did you think of the latest Jodi Picoult? A bit macabre for my tastes? What do you suppose we should read for our upcoming fancy book club?

Oh, you know I quite agree that we should get multiple copies of books at a low cost from the Used Book Cellar at Brookline Booksmith. Quite right. Here's what they have on their ever-so-popular Book Club Picks shelf currently:

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. A beloved pick for book groups
 missing Downton Abbey. A widower and retired major of the super-traditional British stripe strikes up a friendship with a Pakistani shopkeeper in his sleepy village. Their relationship sparks gossip as it develops into something more.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake. Set in coastal Franklin, Massachusetts in 1940, a lady has taken the postal duties of her town over while the men are at war. But on one fateful day she KEEPS A LETTER, reads it and DOESN'T DELIVER. But rest assured this book will deliver on drama, suspense and juicy historical details.

The Pickup by Nadine Gordimer. A woman's car breaks down in South Africa and a young Arab mechanic comes to her rescue. Their ensuing relationship is weft through taught political and social intrigue in one of Gordimer's best.

Cattier Book Titles

After this gem of a found item in a used book:

...we recommend you check out these catty works of Great Literature:

The Great Catsby

The Blow-Up by Catazar

The Sound and the Furry

Cats-22

Enjoy your weekend!

Inside Jokes

So these are some cool books that are in the UBC. Basically, they're awesome. They're sitting around waiting for a home. And I bet you a ka-trillion dollars that if you bought one, had it wrapped, and gave it as a gift it might work as an inside joke or it could even become one. Or maybe all the books together create some sort of inside joke, a wink perhaps, to a certain husband of the blogger who's turning 30 on Sunday. Just sayin' 'zall.

For your consideration: 

Ennui To Go, or, for $8 a collection of quotes from awesome people throughout the ages on the subject of ennui, published by Seattle publishing house Sasquatch.

F in Exams, or for $5.50 an exciting collection to prepare tomorrow's professor.

Copernicus: Philosophy and Science. For $9.50, a cool catalogue for an exhibition of prints, engravings and manuscripts. A perfect gift for the philosopher or historian of science. Lotsa words in here, too.

Or, my personal favorite, Space Shuttle. $3.50 FOLKS! Cross-sections, illustrations and facts from a bygone era. This book was written by a Ph.D., so you KNOW it's legit.

In closing, Happy Birthday to all you Aquarians born on the same day as Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin who like the movie Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy, dark chocolate and coffee and whose favorite athlete is Maru.


Also: happy laughing to people who have friends and share jokes.

Gratuitous Cat Pictures!

So sales have been good in the UBC lately (thanks times infinity!) so my original idea for this post--awesome author photos found on the back of books--has to be postponed because all of my favorites have found homes. BUT. Do not despair, because what I have for you is a hybrid of awesome writers (found frequently in the UBC) and CATS.

Observe, culled from the marvelous blog Writers and Kitties:

Camus! (We just got in L'etranger in! En francais!)

Julio Cortazar (you HAVEN'T read Hopscotch yet? Or Blow-Up? There's a short story in it about a guy who can throw up bunnies! We got 'em both in the UBC)

Tove Jansson! Of Moomin fame!

And staff favorite Yukio Mishima! Even samurai can love kitties!