Susan

Susan's Book Recommendations
Cage Days

Cage Days

$15.00
Model: 9781257634965
You may notice that I share the same last name with Lee Skirboll, the author of Cage Days. That’s because he’s my brother. My family is from Pittsburgh and Cage Days is set in one of its iconic bars, The Squirrel Hill Café (colloquially known as the Cage). Now, when your brother writes a book, you have to read it. But you don’t have to like it. Luckily, not only did I really like it, I liked it so much, I wanted Politics and Prose to carry it so that you could read it too. I was impressed by the way Lee constructed a complete novel out of vignettes, digressions, rants and observations. I laughed out loud several times. He’s a good storyteller, just like a bartender at the local dive should be. You won’t be disappointed.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin (Hardcover)

By Erik Larson
$26.00
ISBN-13: 9780307408846
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Crown, 5/2011
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Nazi Germany remains a deep well of untold stories. With In the Garden of Beasts, Erik Larson provides a fresh look at pre-war Berlin from the perspective of an “average” American Family. The family in question is that of William Dodd, who accepted the post of ambassador to Germany at a time when no one else would take it. Dodd was unlike almost all other ambassadors in that he was not rich or from a well-known family, he was a college professor. Dodd and his family go to Germany with a certain bright-eyed naïveté: Dodd thinks he can bring American reason to Nazi leaders and Margaret, his daughter, is impressed by the trappings of life in the “New Germany.” Slowly, inevitably, they come to see Hitler’s Germany for what it really is. Larson has a talent for making history read like fiction. Even if you know a lot about the period, you will find this book thought-provoking and engrossing.

Fingersmith (Paperback)

By Sarah Waters
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9781573229722
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Riverhead Trade, 10/2002
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When the holidays are over, you need a good book to get you through the bleak midwinter. Grab yourself a comfy chair, a blanket, something good to drink and open up Fingersmith. Sue Trinder, a poor girl in Victorian London, is raised by a family of thieves. She is persuaded to pose as the maid of Maud Lilly, rich young woman in order to help steal her inheritance. But as Sue gets to know Maud, she finds that she has second thoughts about going through with the plot. What follows is an intense story of female friendship and betrayal, complete with exciting twists, turns, and unexpected revelations. WARNING: This book may cause late night reading and sudden cases of unputdownedness - approach with caution.

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name (Paperback)

By Vendela Vida
$13.99
ISBN-13: 9780060828387
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Harper Perennial, 1/2008
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Clarissa is a young woman who finds that she cannot return to normal life after her father dies. He has kept a secret from her that throws her life into disarray. To find out who she really is, she travels to Lapland. Vendela Vida’s straightforward prose is to the point, but never lacking in insight or emotional depth. Besides, how many novels take you to Lapland? It is a part of the world I knew nothing about. The mood of the book seems to echo the landscape in which it takes place. Mostly though, this is a book about seeking the truth and about overcoming the past.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Paperback)

By Jeannette Walls
$16.00
ISBN-13: 9780743247542
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Scribner, 1/2006
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Simply put, this is one of the most compelling books I’ve read all year. It is the fascinating story of perhaps the most unconventional family ever! From the first paragraph of the book, when Walls sees her mother picking through a dumpster on the streets of New York, you know you’re in for an unusual ride. Walls tells her story in a simple, straightforward style that belies the gravity of what she and her siblings experienced. Are Jeannette’s parents criminally negligent or just untameable free spirits? That she managed not only to survive, but thrive and become a successful journalist, is truly amazing. • Susan Skirboll

The Nobodies Album (Hardcover)

By Carolyn Parkhurst
$25.95
ISBN-13: 9780385527699
Availability: Special Order - Subject to Availability
Published: Doubleday, 6/2010
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Smart, suspenseful and full of fascinating characters, The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst is a literary page turner. Octavia Frost, a moderately successful author, has just put the finishing touches on her new novel (a compilation of her previous novels but with new and different endings). She is in Times Square about to deliver the manuscript to her publisher when she looks up at the news ticker and sees her son, a famous rock star, has just been arrested for murder. The beauty of Parkhurst’s prose drives this complex story of murder, motherhood, loss and reconciliation.