Mailbox Monday: Box of Books from Powell's

A box of books from Powell's Books was the highlight of my week last week! What new books came to your house?

Do any of these catch your fancy? There was a reason I picked each one:

A Crime in the Neighborhood by Suzanne Berne. Berne won the 1999 Women's Prize for Fiction (then called the Orange Prize) for this debut novel. I'm working my way through the winners of the Women's Prize.

Theory of War by Joan Brady. Brady won the Costa Book of the Year Award (then called the Whitbread BOTY Award) in 1993 for this novel about the American Civil War. I'm also reading the winners of this prize.

The Cat Who Went to Paris and The Cat Who'll Live Forever by Peter Gethers. These are for my mom and sister, who just finished Gethers's other book about Norton the Cat, A Cat Abroad.

Bamboo by William Boyd. I'm working my way through all of Boyd's books, including this collection of essays and criticism.

Powell's Books is Portland's – and the world's – largest independent bookstore. It is a book-lovers' Mecca, general tourist attraction, and the cultural heart of downtown Portland. Known as Powell's City of Books, Powell's downtown store is a labyrinth of new and used books.

Like most retail stores, Powell's has been closed for almost two months now because of coronavirus. Portlanders have rallied around our favorite shops and restaurants, including Powell's. I've been trying to buy as many books from as many local bookstores as I can, including Powell's. I ordered Easter books for my grandkids and ordered a batch of used books for myself. Powell's offers free shipping on orders over $25.

Lots of local bookstores are offering curbside pickup or even local delivery these days. If there is no local bookshop where you live, you can also order from Bookshop.org and it will find the nearest independent bookstore or your favorite book shop and that store will get a percentage of the proceeds from every order.

Mailbox Monday is  a weekly "show & tell" event to share the books you acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught Our Eye the prior week.

Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Martha of Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf host Mailbox Monday.

Teaser Tuesday: Larry's Party by Carol Shields

He hums his thoughts out on the air like music; they’ve got a disco beat: My name is Larry Weller. I’m a floral designer, twenty-six years old, and I’m walking down Notre Dame Avenue, in the city of Winnipeg, in the country of Canada, in the month of April, in the year 1977, and I’m thinking hard.

-- Larry's Party by Carol Shields. Larry’s Party won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 1998, now called the Baileys Women’s Prize. The story follows Larry from his mid-20s to late 40s, through two marriages, fatherhood, and a successful career making garden mazes. Yes, garden mazes.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by The Purple Booker, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Holiday Monday

What books came into your house last week? I got a funny book for a birthday present and a couple for myself.



Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat by William Braden. I love Henri's videos, so the book has me laughing from page one.

I love the Friends of the Library store at the main Salt Lake City library and try to stop there whenever I am in town for work. I found these two books when I was there for depositions in one of my sex abuse cases.



May We Be Forgiven by A. M. Holmes. This won the 2013 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize for Fiction).



Bread and Chocolate: My Food Life In and Around San Francisco by Fran Gage. Published in 2002, some (not all) of the restaurants and vendors she writes about are gone, but I moved to San Francisco in 2002 so the book captures the city where I lived for five years. And the recipes are great, no matter if the restaurants that inspired them are gone.

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday, a weekly "show & tell" blog event where participants share the books they acquired the week before. Visit the Mailbox Monday website to find links to all the participants' posts and read more about Books that Caught our Eye.

Mailbox Monday is graciously hosted by Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, and Vicki of I'd Rather Be at the Beach.

Book Beginning: The Glorious Heresies

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

He left the boy outside its own front door.

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney. Winner of the 2016 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. So far, I am loving this rollicking story about Irish street life, although drugs, prostitution, and murder are not my usual cup of tea.

I'm probably feeling feisty because I just today settled a huge sex abuse case in Montana against the Boy Scouts involving girls abused in Explorer Scouts in the 1970s.

So apologies for the  somewhat late post -- my team has been out celebrating!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

List: The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction - OLD VERSION

The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction is the now the name for the award formerly known as the Orange Prize for Fiction. The prize is awarded to the woman who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best, eligible full-length novel in English.

I am particularly interested in reading reviews of these books, so if anyone is working on this list, please leave a comment with the link to your reviews or progress posts and I will include your link in this post.

Those I have read are in red; those on my TBR shelf are in blue.

2018 Kamila Shamsie, Home Fire

2017 Naomi Alderman, The Power

2016 Lisa McInerne, The Glorious Heresies

2015 Ali Smith, How to be Both

2014 Eimear McBride, A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing

2013 A.M. Homes, May We Be Forgiven

2012 Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

2011 Téa Obreht, The Tiger's Wife

2010 Barbara Kingsolver, The Lacuna

2009 Marilynne Robinson, Home

2008 Rose Tremain, The Road Home

2007 Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half of a Yellow Sun

2006 Zadie Smith, On Beauty (reviewed here)

2005 Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin

2004 Andrea Levy, Small Island (reviewed here)

2003 Valerie Martin, Property

2002 Ann Patchett, Bel Canto (reviewed here)

2001 Kate Grenville, The Idea of Perfection (reviewed here)

2000 Linda Grant, When I Lived in Modern Times

1999 Suzanne Berne, A Crime in the Neighborhood

1998 Carol Shields, Larry's Party

1997 Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces

1996 Helen Dunmore, A Spell of Winter

NOTE

Last updated on December 31, 2018. I'm no longer updating this version and have re-posted a brand new version of this list. Please go to the new post, here. 

OTHERS READING THE WINNERS

If you are reading these books, please leave comments with links to related posts and I will list them here.