Grace's Five Books That Make (or Will Make) Stellar Television

Why was it abhorrent to watch Harry Potter movies without reading the books, but so few of us have read A Song of Ice and Fire (the Game of Thrones series)? Why does no one seem to know that HBO's incredible TV series The Leftovers is based off a book? What is Outlander and why do people keep posting about it on Facebook? These are the questions that haunt me.

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta (Griffin, $15.99)

A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (Bantam Books, $9.99)

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon (Bantam Books, $18.00)

Dead Until Dark (True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse #1) by Charlaine Harris (Ace Books, $15.00)

The Walking Dead (Compendium #1) by Robert Kirkman (Image Comics, $59.99)

Grace Gordon, August 2014

Grace's Five Best Big Blue Books

So you're looking for a book...and you can't remember the name, or the author, or what it was about. But wait! You are pretty sure the book was blue. I definitely don't know what book you're looking for, but I can recommend all of these big, blue books.

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick (HarperCollins, $25.99)
Matthew Quick's novel The Silver Linings Playbook was a Philadelphia book that took Hollywood by storm when the movie adaptation entranced viewers all over the world. Now, Quick has done it again with this quirky, hilarious, and absolutely heartwrenching story that takes place in Philadelphia, with the bonus of a road trip to Canada. Topics such as bipolar disorder, Richard Gere, cute librarians, and aliens are all addressed in this wonderful coming-of-age tale about a 38 year old man navigating life without his mother.

How To Disappear Completely: On Modern Anorexia by Kelsey Osgood (Overlook Press, $26.95)
Kelsey Osgood's book is a special one. The memoir serves as not only a commentary on eating disorder memoirs themselves, but also a genuinely good criticism of recovery culture and modern anorexic life.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Dutton, $17.99; paperback forthcoming!)
The Fault in Our Stars is the sort of book you immediately start from the beginning again after you finish it. Interwoven with romance, tragedy, illness, and hope, this book is an honest portrait of young people with cancer. Author John Green always manages to make his characters very real, and they will stay in your heart even after you finish the book (twice). Join the YA book club and discuss this amazing book in May 2014!

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (Tor, $7.99)
This epic fantasy novel is the beginning of a fourteen book series that outlived the author himself. I first received this 800 page book when I was nine years old, and immediately tore through it and what else was released in the series. Note: NOT a children's series.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (Bantam Books, $9.99)
You've heard of it. Maybe you've seen the show. But have you read the books? Spoiler alert, they're REALLY GOOD. Join the Read the Movie book club to discuss this amazing book, and also watch the premiere of Season 4, on April 9th at 7:00pm.

Grace Gordon, April 2014

(Some other blue books: Blue book display
from Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston, Texas!
-- Jen)

Grace's Five Books Mentioned in Cheryl Strayed's Wild

To celebrate Wild's place as #1 bestseller at this store in 2013, I've decided to make a list of some of the great books Cheryl Strayed mentions in her memoir. On her hike from the Mojave Desert all the way to Washington State, Strayed collects books to read in her tent, and against her spiritual judgment, she burns each one after finishing it to reduce the weight of her hiking pack. (Don't try this at home!)

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (Vintage Books, $14.00)

The Dream of a Common Language by Adrienne Rich (W W Norton, $14.95)

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Vintage Books, $15.95)

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor (Farrar Straus & Giroux, $18.00)

The Ten Thousand Things by Maria Dermout (New York Review of Books, $14.95)

Grace Gordon, February 2014

Grace's Five Books to Awaken Your Artist Within

[More belated staff picks from September. Note that our October promotion is 15% off books with staff pick stickers! Come in and check out what else we're reading!]

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron (J P Tarcher, $16.99)

Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon (Workman, $10.95)

Art & Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles (Image Continuum, $12.95)

Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman (William Morrow & Co., $12.99)

Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brande (J P Tarcher, $13.95)

Grace Gottschalk, September 2013

Grace's Five Most Exciting Books-to-Be-Movies

Although film adaptations are almost never as wonderful as the books they are based on, it is still pretty exciting to head to the movies and see your favorite characters on screen. Some of these movies are almost in theaters, and others are still in development, but whichever you see I must advise you...read the book first!

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card (Starscape, $5.99)

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (Scribner, $15.00)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Laurel Leaf, $6.99)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (Square Fish, $6.99)

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $18.99)

Grace Gottschalk, May 2013

Grace’s 5 Books About Women with Mental Illness

Madness: A Bipolar Life by Marya Hornbacher (Mariner Books, $15.95)

Life Inside: A Memoir by Mindy Lewis (Washington Square Press, $22.99)

An Unquiet Mind by Kay Redfield Jamison (Vintage Books, $15.95)

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson (Speak, $9.99)

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen (Vintage Books, $14.95)

Grace Gottschalk, February 2013

Grace's Five Books About Post-Apocalyptic Worlds

In the past couple years we have faced many predictions for the end of the world. These books are great examples of worst case scenarios in post-apocalyptic societies; from children sent into a battle to the death for the government’s entertainment in The Hunger Games, to a father and son on a journey to find hope and shelter in The Road. However, every book on this list is about more than violence and strife: they are really about love and resilience in hard times.

The Giver by Lois Lowry (Laurel Leaf, $6.99)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, $10.99)

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage Books, $15.00)

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Dial Press, $15.00)

1984 by George Orwell (Signet Classic, $9.99)

Grace Gottschalk, January 2013