|
Home
Author Events
About the Odyssey
Searching for Books
Booklovers' Program
Gallery
Staff Picks
On the Air
Book Group page
First Editions Club
Used/Remainders
Mysteries
Literary Links
Directions
Employment
Contact Us
Read Our Blog
MHC Books & Gifts
MHC Textbook Center
 The
Odyssey Gallery
Pictures of recent events
The Odyssey Bookshop is one of five independent
bookstores participating in WAMC's Roundtable on Tuesday mornings,
just after the 10:00 news. People from the Odyssey will be on about once a
month, talking about our favorite books.
Click
here to see the list of the books we have talked about.
The Odyssey Bookshop
9 College St.
S. Hadley, MA 01075
413-534-7307
800-540-7307
fax 413-532-3654
email odysseybks@aol.com
|
Meredith's Picks
Click on any title to
order
Back to staff
list
 Cherry
& Olive by Benjamin Lacombe.
This is such a sweet story and gorgeously illustrated! Cherry is a
shy, lonely plump girl who finds a friend in Olive, a new dog in her
father's animal shelter. Through the dog, Cherry finds courage to
stand up to others and the solace of friendship. But who are Olive's
owners and will they come to get their dog?
 Glass
Slipper, Gold Sandal by Paul Fleischman.
Most of us are familiar with the French telling of Cinderella,
however, this fairy tale is much older than the 18th century version
Disney made popular. It is thought to originate from 9th century
China. In this delightful book, Cinderella finds voice in different
cultures of the world-- China, Iran, Zimbabwe, France, Russia,
Indonesia and Mexico, to name a few. Beautifully illustrated, this
book pays homage to the universality and longevity of the Cinderella
story.
 The
Memory Keeper's Daughter, by
Kim Edwards
In this redemptive novel about the pitfalls and triumphs of humanity,
Edwards explores how unresolved painful experiences of the past can
manifest themselves and affect an individual's present and future in
astounding ways. Her poignant first novel begins on a snowy winter's
night in 1964, when Dr. David Henry must deliver his twins. When he
recognizes that his daughter has Down's syndrome, he sends her away to
an institution with the nurse and tells his wife that she died. The
novel follows the characters over 25 years as they struggle to accept
and come to terms with all that happened that night... A real treat for
all lovers of literature!
 The
Brothers Karamazov
, by Fyodor
Dostoevsky, translated by Pevear
and Volokhonsky
Dostoevsky's stunning final work is about three very different
brothers – the dramatic Dmitri, coldly intellectual Ivan and innocent,
spiritual Alyosha – and the murder of their sensationalist buffoon of
a father, Fyodor. This novel is a story of patricide and of a love
triangle, but it also a courtroom thriller, a satire, a meditation on
Christian faith and an exploration into the depths of human nature.
Writing with insight into the human psyche and the Russian culture at
the time (ca. 1850s), Dostoevesky delivers a powerful must-read for
everyone.
 A
Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City
(Anonymous)
This diary is a rare find amongst the volumes of literature regarding
the fall of Hitler's Third Reich and the end of World War II in Berlin.
Published anonymously, this diary thoroughly chronicles the end of Nazi
Germany: from the anticipation of the Soviet invasion until the Soviet
military administration in the city. With an astute eye from years
working as a journalist, the thirty-something author meticulously
records all that happens to her, her friends and neighbors,
contextualizing these events and experiences within history and the
larger society. Of great importance, is the detailing of the mass rapes
when the Soviets arrived and -keen insights into how civilians coped and
adapted when the war's destruction was brought to their front doors.
 Post
Secret:
compiled
by Frank Warren
What began as a community art project, turned into a national and
international phenomenon. In this original Post Secret classic,
the secrets related to varied topics-- spirituality, sex/sexuality,
family, marriage, money, pets and self-- and even a few guilty pleasure
secrets, like eating a dozen donuts in one sitting! The art and
creativity of the post cards that convey the secret and intertwined
emotions is astonishing and as varied as the secrets themselves.
 The
Secret Lives of Men and Women:
compiled by Frank Warren
The latest Post Secret book takes after its predecessor, My
Secret, in that it is a compilation of secrets from a specific
demographic: men and women. These secrets relate predominately to
marriage, children, affairs, careers. The art is largely collage-style
or created from photographs, adding a unique personal and intimate touch
to the secret and the identity of its bearer.
 My
Secret:
complied by Frank Warren
The follow-up to Post Secret, My Secret is a
compilation of postcard-secrets from teens and college students around
the world. These secrets are raw and often express the inner and social
turmoil this demographic experiences as they transition from child- to
adulthood. Their secrets are about growing up, forming an identity of
oneself, sex/sexuality and friendships. The art in this Post Secret book
is largely hand-drawn or created from altered photographs, offering a
glimpse into the lives of the secret-bearers.
 Suite
Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
Nemirovsky's last and tragically unfinished novel chronicles several
families and individuals leaving Paris in anticipation of the Nazi
invasion of the city and their lives a year later as they live with and
try and cope with German occupation. This novel is stunning
in the details of Parisian life and character interaction on all levels,
nuanced in a way that only someone in that period could write about;
stunning also in the delicate balance between depth and breadth
achieved, that is at once distinctively French and Russian in style.
 Blue
Like Jazz by Donald Miller
"I used to not like jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve.
But sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can
love it yourself ... I used to not like God because God didn't resolve.
But that was before any of this happened." Part memoir, part
meditation on Christian faith and spirituality, Donald Miller's book is
humorous, yet insightful. As he converses with the reader about his
distant alcoholic father, house mates, living in the woods and
befriending people radically different from himself, thoughts on love,
grace and redemption emerge, making the Christian experience and
spirituality accessible and understandable to readers of all
backgrounds. I can't seem to hold on to my copy-- I've lent or given it
away so frequently!
 Astrid
& Veronika by Linda Olsson
When Veronika moves to a tiny rural
village in Sweden, an unlikely friendship begins with her elderly
neighbor, Astrid. Both women have a tragic memory buried deep in their
hearts. As their friendship unfolds, memories are unearthed; joy is once
again experienced and healing transforms the pain in the past. It is a
novel of landscapes: the rural village in Sweden, the novel's main
setting, the characters' childhood landscapes (New Zealand, and the same
rural village more than fifty years earlier), their familiar landscapes,
the landscapes of memory and the human heart, and most of all, the
landscape of friendship.
 Plan
B: Further Thoughts on Faith
by Anne Lamott In her sequel to Traveling
Mercies, Lamott returns with her trademark sarcastic wit and
"tell-it-as-it-is" approach to life. Her evolving relationship
with her teenage son, Sam, anchors the book, while she talks about
dealing with the death of her beloved dog, Sadie, learning how to love
President Bush, and mending family ties. Characteristically Lemott, gems
of spiritual truth are scattered throughout the stories and life
lessons, making this book a delight to read.
 Night
by Elie Wiesel
Wiesel's classic Holocaust memoir about his teenage years in Auschwitz
and Buchenwald--two of the Nazi's most infamous camps in their Final
Solution program-- is as gripping and profound in this new translation
as it was when the first translation came out in 1958. The account of
Wiesel's ordeal in the camps is as sharp as the barb wire depicted on
the book's cover. This story of survival, of loss, of hope, of a father
and son's love for each other and their determination to live for one
another serves as a lone, powerful voice in a world, deaf from continual
violence. Night is, quite simply, a must read for everyone.
 WAR
AND PEACE: Contemporary Russian Prose edited by Natasha Perova
(Glas $15.95). These stories by well-known contemporary
Russian authors explore ordinary Russian life, on the front lines
and at home. The War section exposes the grimness of armed
conflict and the struggles, such as the food shortage and health
problems, that face the soldiers in Chechnya; Peace tells the
story of the women and their challenges, such as finding a husband. I
highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in contemporary
Russia.
 THE
GHOST AT THE TABLE by Suzanne Berne
(Algonquin $23.95). Suzanne Berne crafts another potent novel. This one
looks at events that shape family histories, and the damage inflicted
upon individuals through the lies and misunderstandings created through
these events. A suspenseful book that keeps you going from the
first chapter. ~ Meredith
|
