Greetings Dear Readers,

It's a dangerous world out there. Our two events this week bring that danger front and center, whether you're traipsing through jungles and war-torn countries, or find yourself lost at sea, one hundred miles from the Alaskan shore. Lucky for us we can bear witness to these life-threatening moments from the comfort of your couch, your beach chair, or friendly neighborhood bookstore. Read on for details about our upcoming events, and some recommendations to help you beat the heat.

Events!

Thursday, July 8th at 7pm
KALEE THOMPSON
author of
Deadliest Sea:
The Untold Story Behind the Greatest Rescue in Coast Guard History

A gripping new book by Kalee Thompson recounts the tragic sinking of the Alaska Ranger and one of the most remarkable rescue missions in maritime history.

Well before dawn on Easter morning in 2008, a fishing trawler called the Alaska Ranger was out in the Bering Sea -- more than 100 miles from land -- when it began to take on water. Over the next few hours the entire crew of 47 abandoned ship and the 200-foot trawler sank beneath the frigid waves. Though some had made it into a life raft, most of the fisherman were adrift in 36 degree water, battling snow storms, gale-force winds, 20-foot seas, and total darkness. The Coast Guard was their only hope.

In this riveting, true-life survival story, Kalee Thompson recreates the extraordinary events of that Easter morning, introduces the people on both sides of the rescue who survived that harrowing day, and pays tribute to the courage, tenacity, and skill of dedicated service people who risk their lives to save others.

"Books about disaster in the Alaskan fishing industry are common, but titles as good as this one are rare... This extraordinary book... may well keep [readers] up all night."
- Booklist

Kalee Thompson is a magazine writer focused on science, environmental, and travel stories. She was formerly a senior editor at National Geographic Adventure and Popular Science magazines, and has contributed to publications including Women's Health, Wired, and Popular Mechanics. She lives in Los Angeles, CA.

From the author of Bicycle: A History comes an account of Frank Lenz, a young cyclist who tried to ride around the world, and disappeared forever.

Author David Herlihy will be at the store on July 9th to discuss the incredible true story of Frank Lenz. In The Lost Cyclist we meet Lenz, a Pittsburgh native whose love affair with the bicycle led him to attempt an ambitious around-the-world tour in 1892. Armed with the latest technology (new safety bicycles, with a lower profile and pneumatic tires, had recently replaced the earlier high-wheel bikes), Lenz set out to document his travels and adventures for Outing Magazine. Two years later, after a series of sometimes harrowing encounters, Lenz reached Turkey, on his way to Europe for the last leg of his journey. He was never heard from again.

"Makes for fascinating history [as] Herlihy combines an admirable talent for sleuthing with the narrative skills of a first-rate storyteller..."
- Library Journal

David Herlihy is the author of Bicycle: The History and his work has been featured on NPR and Voice of America and in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Boston, and Historic Preservation. In 1999 Herlihy received the McNair History Award from the Wheelmen, the preeminent American association of antique bicycle collectors.

Want a signed copy? Can't make the event? We've got your back. Call (772-4045) or email to reserve a copy.

Our Summer Pick

Father of the Rain
by Lily King (Atlantic Monthly, $24)

Stuart and Chris rarely agree on books, but Father of the Rain is one of their favorite reads in a long time. King's new novel was also chosen as an IndieBound Favorite and an Oprah Magazine Best Summer Read.

Early in Father of the Rain, 11-year-old Daley experiences a moment she'll treasure for decades: "My father grinning his biggest grin and looking at me like he loves me, truly loves me...." Never mind that he's high on martinis and the thrill of pulling a stunt that humiliates his wife and insults her dinner guests. Lily King's luminous novel centers on a child's blinding hunger for a parent's affection. King makes this well-worn theme seem fresh with her vividly drawn characters—especially Daley's father, Gardiner, a narcissistic alcoholic with an ugly temper and a magnetic charm—and a clear eye for the details of their singularly messed-up relationships. Set in the affluent East Coast seaside town where Gardiner was raised, in a world of Wasp privilege he takes for granted, the novel covers three decades starting in the mid-'70s. Daley's mother leaves Gardiner, but Daley can't give up hoping he'll change. "You want the daddy you never got," her boyfriend says. Obvious? Maybe to us. The uplifting ending comes as Daley finally sees for herself what's been clear all along. - O, The Oprah Magazine

“Lily King’s Father of the Rain is one of the most richly satisfying and haunting novels I've read in a long time.”
- Richard Russo

Perfect for the Beach!

Lit
by Mary Karr (Harper, $14.99) Now in Paperback!

Mary Karr has won awards for both her poetry and her prose, garnered widespread acclaim from critics, and published several bestselling books - but success didn't come easily. In Lit, Karr's third memoir after The Liar's Club and Cherry, she illuminates her life struggles (family, marriage, motherhood, alcohol) the way only she can.

"Mordantly funny, free of both self-pity and sentimentality... A master class on the art of the memoir."
- New York Times

Eating the Dinosaur
by Chuck Klosterman (Scribner, $15) Now in Paperback!

As usual, Klosterman's work defies description, but it's safe to say this is more of the oddball writing you've come to expect from Chuck. Witty, incisive and irreverent essays on the strange and ever-changing world of popular culture. This book will make you think. And laugh. And laugh some more.

"Klosterman's relentlessly thoughtful prose makes a case that our arts and entertainment are more suffused with meaning than ever before. Even as he's fretting over the direction of the culture, his writing stands as an eloquent defense of it."
- Wall St. Journal

The Anthologist
by Nicholson Baker (Simon & Schuster, $15) Now in Paperback!

Maine author Nicholson Baker has some pretty eclectic interests, as his literary catalogue (Vox, Mezzanine, Human Smoke, etc) will attest. His novel The Anthologist unleashes Baker on the world of poetry, as he follows an old poet, Paul Chowder, charged with introducing a major new anthology. Luckily for the reader, Chowder is hopelessly distracted by a string of engaging tangents that make for a memorable reading experience.

"Baker writes like no one else in America."
- David Gates, Newsweek

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It
by Maile Meloy (Riverhead, $15) Now in Paperback!

Chosen by the New York Times in 2009 as one of the Ten Best Books of the Year, Meloy's latest story collection wowed readers and critics alike. Set primarily in her home state of Montana, Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It takes on a diverse group of characters who share that all-too-human dilemma: choice, and its consequences.

"After two well-received novels, Meloy returns to the short story, the form in which she made her notable debut and to which her lucid style is arrestingly well suited."
- The Atlantic

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $8.99) Now in Paperback!

The first book in Collin's young adult series has become a cult favorite for the 12-and-up crowd. In Hunger Games, the not-too-distant future stars a nation in disrepair, and the annual Hunger Games where each region sends two children to compete in a nationally televised battle for survival. You can expect to be fully engrossed in Collin's alternate future, so here's the good news: Mockingjay, the third and final installment of the series, is due out at the end of August.

"Collins's characters are completely realistic and sympathetic as they form alliances and friendships in the face of overwhelming odds; the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing."
- School Library Journal, Starred Review

"Impressive world-building, breathtaking action and clear philosophical concerns make this volume, the beginning of a planned trilogy, as good as The Giver and more exciting."
- Kirkus

In Books We Trust,

Chris & Co.
Longfellow Books