Winter Reads
If you’re looking for a current buzz-worthy book, The Marriage Plot is the newest release by Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer Prize winner for his book Middlesex.
Image credit: Courtesy Macmillan
December can be a great time to find a new book and become the quintessential picture of holiday cheer, curled up reading next to a roaring fire with some cookies and eggnog. Or if you’re scrambling to find last minute presents for friends and family this holiday season like the rest of us, who doesn’t love the gift of a good book? Whatever your seasonal needs, here are some of our winter favorites on our bookshelves.
+ Every winter the Minnesota Center for Book Arts chooses a book by a prominent Minnesota writer to make into a gorgeous handmade collectable work. This year’s Winter Book is Come and Get It by Minnesota favorite Kevin Kling and illustrator Michael Sommers. MCBA will offer the book in three limited handcrafted editions and will host a publication party on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Open Book starting at 6 p.m.
+ Paul Metsa’s memoir Blue Guitar Highway tells the story of his transformation from young boy on the Iron Range to a veteran local musician, performing with music icons such as Bruce Springsteen and Pete Seeger. Published by University of Minnesota Press, it's also a telling chronicle of the Minneapolis music scene. Metsa will read from his book and perform some of his music at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4 at Mayday Books.
+ Eager to snuggle up with some new poetry? Graywolf Press’s new release The Rest of the Voyage by Bernard Noël is a collection of beautiful poems and the first English translation of this eminent French writer’s poetry. Eléna Rivera’s translation was also the winner of the National Poetry Series’ Robert Fagles Translation Prize.
+ For something lighter and wittier, check out the amusing Little Dickens: A Droll and Most Extraordinary History by Tom Hegg, illustrated by Kevin Cannon. In this book from Nodin Press, Hegg throws several of Dickens’ most famous characters into Charles Dickens’ own life, creating a wonderful tale told in clever verse. Hegg and Cannon will also appear at the downtown Minneapolis Barnes & Noble at noon on Thursday, Dec. 8.
+ If you’re looking for a current buzz-worthy book, The Marriage Plot is the newest release by Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer Prize winner for his book Middlesex. Named one of Publisher’s Weekly Top 10 Books of 2011, The Marriage Plot is the story of three college friends at Brown University in the early 1980s and traces the ups and downs of their lives after graduation in this coming-of-age novel.
+ For thriller-lovers, there’s Umberto Eco’s newest book The Prague Cemetery, newly translated into English and already a worldwide bestseller. The book is a fast-paced tale of conspiracy, assassinations and controversy seen through the eyes of the fanatical Captain Simonini, based on true events in late nineteenth-century Europe.
+ Everyone loves a new take on a classic. The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales takes children’s book author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg’s 1984 book The Mysteries of Harris Burdick and has 14 talented and famous authors tell new stories from the book’s pictures. The original intent of Allsburg’s book was for readers to create their own stories from Harris Burdick’s mysterious illustrations, and the new book features tales from authors such as Stephen King, Lemony Snicket and Minnesota’s own Kate DiCamillo, which will delight all ages.
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