| Page (1) | 2 | |
 |
CLAUDIA Claudia put down roots in Tempe alongside her husband well over twenty years ago. Settling in the Sonoran Desert to raise a family inspired her love of Southwestern-themed books — whether they're literary fiction or essays, art, children's picture books (especially those that are biliingual or feature Hispanic themes), home design, or gardening. She also enjoys reading untranslated Spanish literature with her book group, "En Español." Claudia is always on look out for beautiful books with delightful composition, those filled with tales well-told in black and white, or those that (of course) showcase the splendor of nature. |
Email or call for price.
That long petal of sea and snow, in the words of Neruda - Chile - is roiling today, like never before, and Allende’s new novel arrives in time to raise up that hope that Chile embodied, in 1939, in the face of fascism, when a poet led the operation to rescue over two thousand Spaniards fleeing from their civil war and persecution, and took them across the oceans to the land that would welcome them, Chile. Today, seventy years later, a new conflict plays out in Chile, between building a new and more just nation, or, the opposite, a series of grave and shattering errors and crimes. I don’t doubt Allende is documenting the unprecedented current events in Chile, in order to plunge her quill into them, and all her soul, just as she has done in these pages. The Long Petal of the Sea is the story that completes a circle opened by The House of the Spirits and which brings us almost up to date with the country the author so loves. As we enjoy the story Allende articulates so well, with her usual heart-and-soul-felt affection and in finest form, I feel certain a future novel will pick up where this one leaves us, in the timeliest way.
If you can finish this book without your breath suddenly catching, your heart pounding a little harder, your eyes glistening, without hugging this book... Well, let's just say, I don't think you can. It's LOVE.
Newly-weds have honeymoons, new parents have babymoons! The quietly bursting tenderness nestled between these pages perfectly illustrates this precious phase in life. A beautiful gift for expectant and new parents.
Laila Lalami’s voice, whether in her novels or through her essays and opinion pieces appearing frequently in the Los Angeles Times, The Nation, The New Yorker and others, eloquently addresses the issues at play in our current world, between generations of immigrants and changing societies. The Other Americans, set in California’s Mohave Desert, weaves this familiar theme into the complex story around a sudden death. Told in the alternating voices of its cast of characters, Lalami’s newest underscores the web of tensions our society seems trapped by, and the mastery of craft of a writer determined to be our witness.
Email or call for price.
This travelogue sparkles with love of exploration and cycling, and rocks with the strength, integrity and verve of the two young explorers, Kate and Mel. As they cycle the ancient Silk Road, I was transported too, not only on breathtaking adventure, but into deep and poetic musings on history and the human spark that propels humanity.
This book is a trip! Yet, an uneasy true story, also. Told with the ultimate goal of bringing her luminous friend back into the right light, Rebecca Fish Ewan's deep caring and dedication to her friend Luna is the vital energy that infuses her words and line drawings with movement and truth. Unconventionally honest, and one of the greatest acts of friendship ever turned book.
His birth name, Neftali Reyes, is not as widely recognized as his pen name, Pablo Neruda; the name he gave his only child, Malva Marina Trinidad Reyes, is lesser known yet. Born with a grave disorder, she died a child, far from her father, and voiceless.
But the voice and musings given to Malva’s ghost, in this disarming novel by the Dutch poet Hagar Peeters (whose own father perished in an act of Chilean political violence), as well as the companions Malva finds in the beyond, lifted me across oceans and decades, effortlessly.
The tumultuous decades, the pain turned poetry, are eased for us through Malva’s sweetness; Peeters gives her such life, one can only be grateful.
We know that bonding with babies, whether human or other animal babies, can elevate our feelings of well-being and joy. This beautiful book can also do that! Give it to a child (or yourself) and watch the magic of tenderness and good vibes instantly begin: it’s inevitable <3
At the same time, the animal lover in you will be helping to pass the torch to a new generation. A book to treasure and keep.
When Spanish-speaking Mexican residents of the Southwest became citizens of the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, we find Spanish in state and territorial session laws, on state constitutions, on election materials, in schools; we find that its instruction was even endorsed and encouraged by federal agencies. Lozano’s examination of the deep, rich history of Spanish in the U.S. is a superb new resource.
Un estudiante mexicano, de Guadalajara, de nombre Juan Pablo, parte a Barcelona para realizar un doctorado en literatura. Hasta allí, las coincidencias con el autor de esta novela no son casualidad, pero la historia inverosímil que se desenvuelve posteriormente, es pura ficción. Crimenes, corrupción, racismo, todo podría ser real, pero la maestría de Villalobos es regalarnos, a través del humor negro, mucha risa para diluir las atrocidades de un mundo muy creíble.
Plenty of other people have spoken up for Johann Hari’s book, as you’ll see all over its jacket and in the media. Like you, I decided to find out for myself; like so many other readers, I applaud Hari’s extensive investigation, illuminating interviews and sincere search for answers as to why so many people all over the world are facing this soul-draining condition.
After all, at its most basic physical definition, a “depression” can be described as a “sunken place” or a “hollow” - something obviously missing or removed. Lost Connections is all about the many essential pieces of life, which, when missing, leave very real holes.
“....So many of the poems we heard tonight felt a little like our own stories, like we saw and were seen, and how crazy would it be if I did that for someone else?”
After attending her first poetry slam, fifteen year-old Xiomara realizes that the worlds of words that fill her mind and her journals do have a place, and a powerful mission she will no longer doubt. Her story is young and hopeful, as youth is meant to be!
Additionally, listening to The Poet X as an audio-book (find it at our partner for site, Libro.Fm), read by the National Slam champion author herself, was the crowning delight of this powerful debut that burns passionately with love of language and self-expression.
“One day, Julia and Simca had an idea of how to fix things for themselves and the grown-ups they knew. They would makes recipes for growing young.”
This charmingly told and illustrated tale of two young girls who love to cook together is neither the life of a famous chef nor a cookbook, yet feeds us with its flavors of friendship, fancy, fun, and the importance of slowing down to share a meal and the company of our fellows.
Do you remember how fun it is to be a child pretending to prepare a feast to feed some special grown-ups? This sweet story seems to me to capture that powerfully nourishing feeling.
If you read only one Arizona book from 2017, let it be Pure Land.
Journalist Annette McGivney’s decade of researching the life and death of traveler Tomomi Hanamure- murdered in May of 2006 in the Grand Canyon-, led to her writing this extraordinary book. Tenacious and talented, McGivney’s skill in weaving the individual stories of her subjects into the greater fabric of our collective history as society has resulted in a work that is as deep and impactful as the Canyon itself: strata of stories and history, damage and consequences. This book will shake you, and show you Pure Land.
I treasure this gem of historical fiction and lyrical prose! Berry’s novel breathes ardent life into this little-known period, in a loving and compelling rendering. Dolssa is a young, thirteenth-century mystic in the south of France, secure in her faith, revered by those she heals and helps, but persecuted by the Church as a heretic. Anyone who aids or harbors her is equally suspect, but the three resourceful sisters who rescue and protect her will not abandon her.
Beautiful and suspenseful, this novel will enthrall young and adult readers alike.
For anyone who grew up returning to The Little Prince time and again, - that all-ages allegory, written and illustrated -with now universally recognized figures-, by Antoine de Saint Exupery, and first published in 1943, - this is a must read.
SaintEx was a French pilot and writer, around whose figure there remains some mystery, including the fact that he never returned from his final flight, not long after the story of the “little man” appeared. Did he, like his little prince, somehow return to be among the stars?
Today, French child psychologist Pierre Lassus analyses SaintEx’s life through his only book for children. The words of the “little man” himself resounded in my mind when I came to the end: “The secret of the desert is that, somewhere, it hides a well.”
The secret of a life is that, everywhere, it hides stories. Merci, Monsieur Lassus, for uncovering hidden tales and wisdom in our tender petit prince.
When Stephen Greenblatt (Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University) writes, the angels of the Humanities still their songs and listen, enthralled, emerging more learned on the ways of humankind. Greenblatt is a genius storyteller and scholar. Read all or any of his works, but please don’t miss The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (2011; winner of 2012 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction), or his latest, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve (2017). No need to waste more time reading my words now; Greenblatt awaits!!
When Stephen Greenblatt (Cogan University Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University) writes, the angels of the Humanities still their songs and listen, enthralled, emerging more learned on the ways of humankind. Greenblatt is a genius storyteller and scholar. Read all or any of his works, but please don’t miss The Swerve: How the World Became Modern (2011; winner of 2012 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction), or his latest, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve (2017). No need to waste more time reading my words now; Greenblatt awaits!!
A field guide to the Sonoran Desert’s life forms, written by a collection of local poets and essayists, one could say it is also a field guide to the most salient luminaries in Arizona’s current poetic literary universe, plus a few initiates from beyond. This beautiful book delights me, not only with its choir of voices, appreciation of flora and fauna, sweet pencil drawings scattered throughout, but, perhaps mostly, because its flesh is crafted of science and art, all senses attuned to this extraordinary place on the planet.
The art of British illustrator Helen Oxenbury captivated me decades ago, when my own children were little; her newest project revives my admiration and introduces me to the work of Timothy Knapman, who writes in many genres, including musicals. While the pictures made me look, the song in this book filled me with happiness.
A strange sound is coming from deeper in the forest. Little listeners may first be wary and worried as they wander with Alice and Jack among the trees, wondering too, should they turn home? But the delightful ending will help you sing down the evening and send those little listeners smiling into their goodnight dreams.