January Newsletter from Book Beat

Chinese New Year woodcut by Tom Carey

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the new year!

After some much needed hibernation with books and hot tea, we are back with our first newsletter of 2023. Sorry for our tardiness.

We now find ourselves in need of trimming our subscription list, so if you are not a regular reader or haven’t opened a newsletter in a long time, please drop us an email and we’ll make sure to keep you on the subscriber list.

One of our popular newsletter features are the monthly reviews by Tom Bowden who brings to light many under-appreciated small press books. Exposing these interesting but lesser-known titles helps us fill a needed place between the publishing world and readers. Bowden’s column I arrogantly recommend… has become a newsletter staple. Please check it out.

For those in our monthly reading group, we are sorry that THE OPPERMANNS reprint is still delayed. We will announce the book at a future date. January’s selection is now THE YEARS by Nobel Laureate Annie Ernaux, and our meeting will be on Tuesday January 31st at 7:00 PM. If you are interested in joining us, please send us your name and email and we’ll add you to our reading list subscription. Books are available in-store at a 15% discount.

Our February selection is the novel PROPERTY by Valerie Martin, “an eerily mesmerizing inquiry into slavery’s venomous effects on the owner and the owned.” This was recommended by reading group member Shirley T., a 96-year-young retired educator. The book is now in reprint but is available and in stock now at the store.

Sandra, from the reading group recently recommended David Baddiel’s JEWS DON’T COUNT. It’s a fast, humorous, and heart-breaking read, with dozens of incidents and crimes linking racism to antisemitism in our time, and why a huge increase of these racist incidents are happening around the world. Baddiel is a British actor and comedian who contends that antisemitism is passed over us as a “lesser” form of racism and reveals how “in our time of heightened awareness of minorities, Jews don’t count as a real minority; and why they should.” The book was part of an essay series published by the TLS from London, UK.

The legendary music producer Rick Rubin has written his first book: THE CREATIVE ACT: A WAY OF BEING. The book is aimed at artists of all types and persuasions, and for anyone interested in creativity. For Rubin, art is a healing act between the artist and the audience. If you’re interested in humanities and culture, you’ll find yourself rereading this book often. It is both simple, haunting, deep, and open ended in a way that is firmly opposite of most other “self-help” books. It’s outside the genre, a misfit book that doesn’t fit neatly into philosophy, religion, mysticism, mental health, or criticism, yet touches on them all.

THE CREATIVE ACT is a spiritual work on the art of being, “a call to arms” for the new year that Rubin explains to Malcolm Gladwell in his podcast interview series Broken Record. “The book originally began as a “how to” book about creativity,” said Rubin, “primarily meant for visual artists and musicians — and expanded into a book about how all creative decisions are made… not only does that include the visual arts, but it includes starting a new business, a new recipe you’re making as a chef, the architectural choices you might make, solving a problem in life where you want to have better communication… how to be in the world and to allow creativity to happen, solves a lot of issues.” The book is laid out in 72 brief chapters on working with creative actions in life, each chapter is like a meditation or interior conversation. Chapter titles include; The Source of Creativity, Awareness, The Unseen, Self-Doubt, Nature as Teacher, Inspiration, Success, Listening, Patience, Tuning Out, Play, Why Make Art? and Harmony. Rubin has made a soulful book of collected meditations filled with insight that is pure inspiration and a rewarding look into Rubin himself.

The 2023 Michigan Notable Book awards went to an outstanding group including several we promoted during the past year; CHEVY IN THE HOLE, LOVE RADIO, and FERNE, (all in fiction).  DILLA TIME, and HADHA BALADUNA, are notable non-fiction titles. Congrats to the entire list!

Thanks for your continued support of Book Beat. We could not be here without you. As we look forward to the new year, we wish you peace, prosperity, and good health!

Warm wishes,

~Cary, Colleen and the Book Beat staff

PS Books mentioned in our newsletter are linked to our affliate page on Bookshop.org or the Book Beat gallery, and are also available in our store.

PSS New Book Beat 40th Anniversary Hoods and new Book totes have arrived and are available in store or online in the Book Beat gallery.

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“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
–C. S. Lewis