Significant Historical Cracks in the Land and Among People

Carriage Return, week of 8/8/2017

Literati Bookstore
Aug 8, 2017 · 5 min read
Photo by Kelsey O’Rourke

Carriage Return is The Ribbon’s round-up of recent Literati Bookstore staff favorites, as well as an occasional place for useful links and news from around the literary web regarding upcoming events at the store.


Harper (8/8/2017)

“Lately I’ve been interested in big novels that incorporate several plots,” writes Keith Taylor : “In the most intriguing ones, the moments of intersection are often small details, even tiny physical objects, that at first glance seem barely memorable. They might not seem resonant enough to stitch together big stories, yet they live in my imagination.”

For Taylor, “Molly Patterson’s first novel, , is a wonderful example.”

These fleeting days of summer offer a chance to tackle this fully immersive, much anticipated debut, a . Preview it for yourself when Molly Patterson reads .


Recent Staff Favorites (in Hardcover)

Crown (8/8/2017)

, by Henry Fountain

The July 1964 issue of National Geographic had a photo of the world’s tallest tree on the cover. I don’t remember that story, but their illustrator, Pierre Mion, imagined Mrs. Lowell Thomas, Jr.’s first person account of being almost swallowed by a crack in the earth in Anchorage during the “Good Friday” earthquake on March 27th. That illustration was so powerful, that I mistakenly assumed for decades that buckling buildings and caved in landscapes, and not drowning, were what killed most earthquake victims. Much of today’s knowledge about earthquakes, and important confirmation for the theory of plate tectonics, came from the fieldwork that government geologist George Plafker did in coastal Alaska, just days following the quake. Author Fountain focuses on Plafker and the unlikely path that he took to geology, as well as the personal stories of Alaskan families, many from tiny tribal fishing villages, who were the most affected. The Great Quake is both accessible earth science and a dramatic history. — Carla

Recent Staff Favorites (in Paperback)

Penguin Books (8/8/2017)

, by Tana French

I can never get enough of Tana French. I’m always especially obsessed with detective Antoinette Conway (a.k.a. bad ass lady cop) and her penchant for never taking anyone’s shit. The Trespasser is no exception. I could not stop reading this haunting and atmospheric book and I was blown away by its ending. A must-read. — Claire

Vintage (8/8/2017)

, by Robert Kanigel

Foremother of new urbanism, Jacobs is best remembered for Death and Life of Great American Cities, and for her showdown with the imperious Robert Moses, one that that halted construction of a Detroit style expressway, that would have eviscerated lower Manhattan. Writer first, but self taught scientist, planner, and economist, Jacobs left New York City in 1968, along with her family (including 2 draft eligible sons). Her activism against urban “renewal” projects continued for another four decades. A marvelous and surprising look at a thinker whose ideas were often disparaged by the established city builders in their day, but are now orthodoxy. — Carla

Riverhead (8/1/2017)

, by Nadja Spiegelman

“Spieglman’s breathtaking debut, a memoir of girlhood, motherhood, and all that fills the spaces in between, absolutely devastated me. I found myself lying in bed, wide awake, lines of her poetic prose echoing inside me like a singing gong. The title alone was enough to conjure up images of my own mother, body curled around mine like a question mark, comforting me after a bad dream. She weaves a stunning tapestry of narratives, focusing on the most poignant points of intersection. Her prose expertly captures those sharp, inconspicuous moments of hurt that radiate through one’s life — each telling their own story like a childhood scar. Her memoir purports no objectivity, instead opting to embrace the variance in recollections in order to allow each woman to reveal her own truth. With impeccable grace and absolute beauty, Nadja Spieglman invites us to peer inside the heart of a mother and pay homage to the girl still housed within. — Tara

Del Rey (6/27/2017)

by Katherine Arden

This book begins with the tale of the Frost demon, told on a cold winter evening by the grandmotherly Dunya. Nothing could better set the tone for this novel, as reading it feels much like settling in for a folktale around a warm fire in the dead of winter. Arden’s storytelling is enchanting, full of an old, wild kind of magic raging in the Russian wilderness. Vasya is a fierce protagonist with powerful gifts, and I reveled in seeing her learn to trust herself against the ancient spirits that threaten everything that she holds dear. This is a highly original take on the fairy tale told in a beautiful voice. — Kelsey

The Ribbon

A blog from Literati Bookstore, downtown Ann Arbor, MI. ThAuthor interviews, book news, staff reviews, and a whole lot more.

Literati Bookstore

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An independent bookstore in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established 2013.

The Ribbon

A blog from Literati Bookstore, downtown Ann Arbor, MI. ThAuthor interviews, book news, staff reviews, and a whole lot more.

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