Dear Reader,
Welcome to the August edition of the Book Beat newsletter!
We hope you have been enjoying the summer thus far and the month of the blue supermoon (August 30/31). Here at Book Beat we have plenty of recommended summer reads and guides for you to discover the astrological significance of the blue supermoon and your lunar cycle!
As we look ahead to the start of a new school year, it’s the perfect time to get caught up on required reading or pick up books on your college reading lists.
Happy reading!
– Cary, Colleen, and the Book Beat staff
UPCOMING EVENTS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 11: PETER WERBE AT EDO RAMEN
Friday, August 11 from 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM Peter Werbe will be doing a reading and signing at Edo Ramen in Royal Oak. His books Eat the Rich and Summer on Fire will be available to purchase at the event. Plus, there will be music by Jimmy McBroom. Read more about the event here.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30: BOOK BEAT READING GROUP
The reading group selection August is The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald. The Blue Flower is a work of historical fiction about a key figure in German Romanticism, Friedrich von Hardenberg, also known as Novalis. It won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1997, and in 2012 The Observer named it one the ten best historical novels. Our discussion will be held Wednesday, August 30 at 7:00 PM online via Zoom. The Zoom link will be sent the afternoon of the meeting to anyone interested in attending. Email bookbeatorders@gmail.com to sign up. Books are in stock now and discounted 15%. Read more at our reading group selection for August.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30: BLUE MOON ANNIVERSARY SALE
Join us for our Blue Moon Anniversary Sale, Wednesday, August 30, 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM, here in the store In honor of 41 years of Book Beat!
Featuring:
• Author signings
• 20% all new hardcovers, new paperbacks, jigsaw puzzles, 2024 calendars, AND sale books
• Light snacks and refreshments in the evening
• Extended store hours
Authors attending include the following local authors! Children’s book author Kelly DiPucchio (MOUSE & GIRAFFE, the OONA series) Young Adult Author Rebecca Mix (THE ONES WE BURN, THE MOSSHEART’S PROMISE***) & Young Adult Author Meriam Metoui (A GUIDE TO THE DARK, her debut YA novel)!
***SPECIAL NOTE: Rebecca Mix’s new title, THE MOSSHEART’S PROMISE, has a release date of 9/5/23. Due to this, we can put a signed copy on hold for you in advance, but cannot release physical copies in advance of the event date (with our special permission from the publisher.) Thank you for your understanding!
Please check back on our website on the day of the event for the finalized list of authors attending, for any schedule changes and/or updated list of attending authors (TBD!) Come celebrate another year of Book Book and this stellar cosmic event!
SAVE THE DATE! THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5: COLLEEN CAMBRIDGE AND DIANNE FREEMAN AT HUNTINGTON WOODS LIBRARY
Thursday, October 5, from 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM, the Huntington Woods Library and Cultural Center will be hosting Michigan authors Colleen Cambridge and Dianne Freeman for an evening of historical mystery! Cambridge and Freeman will be signing their books, including their newest books Murder by Invitation Only and A Newlywed’s Guide to Fortune and Murder. Ask us about Cambridge and Freeman’s other titles in these mystery series available right now in the store!
SLEEPER ALERTS AND RECENT ARRIVALS
Detroit Research Volume 3: /On Sound
Edited by Michael Stone-Richards
Detroit Research
Detroit Research is a journal on Detroit culture edited by Michael Stone-Richards. The latest issue is guest-edited by Adam and Nicola Miller of the band ADULT. It features writings on Lun*na Mench, Suzy Polling, Michael Gira, John Cage, Jimbo Easter, Yuri Suzuki, and Brian Eno, among others. Copies are available in-store signed by Michael Stone-Richards. A free digital version is available online at DetroitResearch.org
Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters
by Allyson McCabe
University of Texas Press
The latest in University of Texas’s Music Matters series, Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters is a much-needed biography that not only examines Sinéad O’Connor’s story but also addresses the ways that the media unambiguously distorted and undermined issues of mental health and feminism, and attempted to silence O’Connor throughout her career. This is a thought-provoking look at the artist and critique of the music industry.
I hope this book is read by those who don’t know Sinéad’s story, and those that do will gain insight into the pain and punk ethos she still stands for. Allyson McCabe makes us all want to ask Sinéad for forgiveness and, one hopes, ask ourselves how we can do things differently. –Sharon Van Etten
[O]ur protagonist emerges from Why Sinéad O’Connor Matters as a conquering hero; having weathered abuse, cruelty, and prejudice, not to mention the usual unreasonable expectations too often placed on female artists, the courageous nonconformist emerges wounded but wiser. Ultimately—and most importantly—she is redeemed. –Aquarium Drunkard
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store
By James McBride
Riverhead Books
From the acclaimed author of The Color of Water and The Good Lord Bird comes “a novel about small-town secrets and the people who keep them.” The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is McBride’s newest novel and was named a must-read for the summer by The New York Times, Time, The Washington Post, and others.
A compelling novel, compellingly written, and not to be missed…McBride takes a mash-up of plots and over a dozen main characters, each with his or her own history, and weaves them together seamlessly with humor, empathy, and a determined sense of justice. . .[He] ends the novel with so much poignancy and heartfelt sympathy for his characters that readers will be hard-pressed not to be moved. –Library Journal
Funny, tender, knockabout, gritty, and suspenseful, McBride’s microcosmic, socially critiquing, and empathic novel dynamically celebrates difference, kindness, ingenuity, and the force that compels us to move heaven and earth to help each other. –Booklist
The Skull
by Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press
Author and illustrator Jon Klassen is best known for children’s books like I Want My Hat Back and This is Not My Hat. His latest, The Skull, is an adaptation of a traditional folktale. A humorous and haunting tale for readers of all ages.
Caldecott medalist Klassen’s signature style is brought to bear on a Tyrolean tale imbued with equal parts comfort and creepiness. . . . One can only hope that children will tell and retell this reinterpretation many times to themselves throughout the years. Employing his customary pitch-perfect tonal gymnastics, only Klassen could inspire readers to want craniums as pals. –Kirkus Reviews
Jon Klassen brings his droll humor and just the right amount of spine-tingling creepiness to this retelling of a Tyrolean folktale. . . . Klassen uses his spare text to great effect and the mostly monochromatic illustrations provide just the right eerie echo. This is a book sure to be read over and over and over again. Even the most reluctant reader will be eager to keep these pages turning. –The New York Journal of Books
In the Act
By Rachel Ingalls
New Directions
In the Act by Rachel Ingalls is the latest in a new series of books from New Directions, Storybook ND. The series, curated by Gina Alhadeff and designed by the great Peter Mendulsund, “aims to deliver the pleasure one felt as a child reading a marvelous book from cover to cover in an afternoon.” In the Act is a humorous and eccentric novella from the author of Mrs. Caliban.
In the Act swivels toward the cruder shades of heterosexuality, but it too rejiggers a common science-fiction device to explore the murkier truths of marriage. In some ways, Ingalls, who died in 2019, had a talent for restoring cliché to the profundities of its origins. –The New York Times
Some writers make me laugh out loud; Rachel Ingalls makes me cackle. –Ed Park, Village Voice
Kick Out the Jams
By Dave Marsh
Simon & Schuster
Kick Out the Jams: Jibes, Barbs, Tributes, and Rallying Cries from 35 Years of Music Writing is the new anthology of writing from music critic Dave Marsh, an original editor of Creem magazine. Selected from over thirty years of music journalism, Kick Out the Jams is a great read for those interested in pop, politics, and the history of rock and roll.
Dave Marsh has always been vociferously a champion of equal rights in music writing and of viewing music outside of the segregationist categories formed by the music industry and too often the music press. He’s just a great writer. —Ann Powers, author of Weird Like Us and Good Booty
Throughout [Kick Out the Jams], Marsh’s deep passion for the music and the artists he writes about provides a bassline of energy and excitement. The author breathes new insight into well-known artists and provides avenues of discovery for new music while maintaining humor and heart…Heartfelt and often amusing, these essays will have you reaching into your record collection to listen with fresh ears. —Kirkus Reviews
Read small press book reviews, author interviews, and indie recommendations from our resident bibliophile Tom Bowden in his latest June column i arrogantly recommend…
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Thank you! Happy summer!
Best wishes,
~Cary c/o Book Beat