Staff Picks
By Cassiopeia BooksGood Night, Irene
Luis Alberto Urrea
$30.00 $27.90Wow--historical fiction that wasn't mawkish, sentimental, or focused on women who were powerless. These women were powerful--strong, loving, filled with loyalty to each other and the duty of the mission--to provide comfort to troops who were headed to or coming from battle in WWII. The descriptions of the danger they were in, which sounds so authentic and is likely true given Urrea's mother's personal experience and his research, were so frightening. It made me feel for all of the women currently in warzones--either serving or as civilians watching their worlds being bombed out of existence. Yes, it showed how badly women were treated by the Red Cross and some soldiers, but also how the majority of soldiers stood up for them, protected them, and loved them. It also takes a look at whether/if/how non-combatants can remain non-combatants in a war, especially when they have lost so much. It is just great, and made me late for the bookstore the next day because I stayed up reading till I finished it.
The Salt Grows Heavy
Cassandra Khaw
$21.99 $20.45What a bizarre fantasy novella on the myth of the mermaid. Very good.
Fractal Noise: A Fractalverse Novel
Christopher Paolini
$28.99 $26.96Good sciencey science fiction, as opposed to fantasy. I enjoyed it--especially the shout-out to the Hudderites in space--demonstrating the author's Montana roots.
Witch King
Martha Wells
$28.99 $26.96A great fantasy novel, lots of cool worldbuilding with the concepts of witches, demons, and humans. I especially liked that it could be a stand alone or she could be planning future books.
How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space
Janna Levin
$17.95 $16.69I love her books--A Mad Man Dreams of Turing Machines, Black Hole Blues--Jenna Levin is such an amazing teacher that she makes me feel I could have some understanding of physics. The intermixing of her personal memoir only adds to the charm of this book--I'm so glad it was reissued.
Wildoak
C. C. Harrington
$18.99 $17.66Another middle-grade book that reminds me why and and how I learned to love reading. A wonderful book, set in the early 60's in the UK, when Harrods could sell wild animals, kids could be sent to institutions simply for stuttering, but where grandfathers and oak trees and wonderful forests will always try to help. Thanks for the recommendation, Montana Book Co. Cheers!
Companion Piece
Ali Smith
$28.00 $26.04I thought this was brilliant, an exploration of the pandemic in how people treated each other, came apart, and came back together. This layered story centers around Sandy, the narrator. Her father has a a heart attack during the pandemic and she recollects their relationship; a college acquaintance contacts her after many years to get her opinion about an event, which leads to her family barging into Sandy's life; and a parable about a girl who trains as a blacksmith in the 16th century, during another plague. How Ms. Smith brought it all together in such a beautiful way was fantastic.
A Ghost in the Throat
Doireann Ní Ghríofa
$16.95 $15.76Wonderful. The story of the author's exploration of Eibhlin Dubh Ni Chonaill's poem lamenting and praising her husband, upon finding him murdered. The author tracks her own childbearing, her own obsession (?) with being a child bearing mother with her search for and exploration of Eibhlin Dubh. The language is just exquisite.
Unfollowers
Leigh Ann Ruggiero
$19.95 $18.55I enjoyed this book so much because it was about grown-ups, although like all of us they begin as children. It never resolved to cliche and dealt with adult issues—of religion, missionary work, family, and tragedy in many forms. Who we love, how we love, leaving us to think about why we love.
The Sentence
Louise Erdrich
$30.99 $28.82A great book about a bookseller, a bookstore, a ghost, the pandemic, and Minneapolis in the aftermath of George Floyd. I will easily confess I am not quite the bookseller Tookie is, please don’t judge me.
The Beatryce Prophecy
Kate DiCamillo and Sophie Blackall
$19.99 $18.59A first chapter/middle grade novel that I finished in an afternoon—because I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. It has kings, a queen, an evil counselor, heroes, good friends, a bee, and an uncompromising goat. The characters are brave, or become brave, or begin to recognize that they are brave, even if they don’t feel it. There is danger, death, and the cruelty of a world where only certain people are taught how to read. I loved it!
Fools Crow (Revised)
James Welch
$17.00 $15.81This is an amazing book about the coming of age of a young Blackfeet man in the 1870’s, when his way of life in Montana was slowly coming to an end. Written in 1986, I found it to be endlessly modern in its transitions through time, events, and the characters’ minds. The youth, White Man’s Dog, moves from being a youth who lacks self-confidence to a man who is respected within his family and his community, becoming Fools Crow. He takes difficult journeys in life, in his dreams, meets many guides, and we are fully able to go with him. James Welch brings the other characters in the book to life in a meaningful way as well. People have flaws, they make mistakes, they cause pain; some recover from those mistakes, and some don’t. Fools Crow won the American Book Award, has been the object of some efforts at banning, and is a great read! Cheers.
Plain Bad Heroines
Emily M. Danforth and Sara Lautman
$20.00 $18.60I loved this book! Pbh links montana, mary maclane, hollywood, and rhode island. It goes back and forth in time, between making a movie, writing a book, and starting a girls’ school. It is a queer gothic horror novel and i put it down late one night when it got way too scary, so be forewarned! Also, maybe not a book for you if you have a fear of wasps.