New GM at Copperfield’s, “Shark Week” at Petaluma’s Word Horde

There has been a lot to report in literature in recent weeks. Disturbing allegations against author Neil Gaiman, horrific accusations against the late Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro, and the arrest of frequent James Patterson co-author Brendan DuBois have all made headlines recently.

However, since our focus here is on the local level, here are some news items worth knowing.

Patty Norman, Copperfield’s Children’s Events Director, and her Bookstormer events were recently featured in Publisher’s Weekly’s “The Future of Children’s Bookselling” article, which highlighted the innovative ways community leaders like Norman are getting books into the hands of eager young readers. Great job, Patty!

Union officials at Copperfield’s Books say they are still at loggerheads with management over wages, health insurance and other issues. Most bookstore employees, including professionals with decades of experience, still earn minimum wage.

Copperfield’s recently brought on board a new general manager: RM Horrell, CEO of the deaf-owned Pizzeria Mozzeria (which operates a restaurant in Washington DC and food trucks in the Bay Area) and president of Sonoma CAN. That sounds like a lot of responsibilities, although I understand Horrell is a big book collector and is very active at the store level. Horrell replaces the recently departed GM Aubury Doherty.

A new horror publisher is coming to Northern California: Graveside Press of Humboldt County. After a recent conversation with the publishers, I’m excited to see what’s coming and to carry their books at the Emporium, especially their anthologies “Bite” and “Howl.” I’ve also heard that Graveside Press is accepting submissions of novels if you’d like to purchase. You can find them online at Graveside-press.com.

The biggest news at the Word Horde Emporium is that we’ve extended our Independence Day sale on books from small and independent publishers through the end of July. We also recently set up our traditional Shark Week display of beach reading. And I’m reading a couple of great books right now: I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones, which comes out this week, and Space Oddity by Catherynne M. Valente, which hits stores September 24th.

On to the top books of this week!

Fiction and non-fiction for adults

1. ‘Checkmate in Berlin: The Cold War showdown that shaped the modern world” by Giles Milton – Set in the post-World War II era, this 2021 historical fiction novel describes the division of Berlin by the Allies following the Yalta Conference in 1945, setting in motion the international chess game that would become the Cold War.

2. ‘A courtyard of thorns and roses“by Sarah J. Maas – A deadly hunter, a vengeful beast, and a cabal of immortal fairies who once ruled the world are at the heart of this 2015 erotic, fairytale fantasy love story. First book in a five-part series of increasing intensity.

3. ‘All four‘ by Miranda July – When a 45-year-old semi-famous artist interrupts her planned cross-country drive to check into a nondescript motel, a very different journey begins. Time describes the novel as an “intimate, fearless and sexy coming-of-age story.”

4. ‘The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime and a Dangerous Obsession“by Michael Finkel – A true-life portrait of French art thief Stéphane Bréitwieser, who brazenly stole over 200 works from museums across Europe between 1995 and 2001. Remarkably – and perhaps out of compassion – Bréitwieser did not sell any of the stolen artworks, but displayed them as a private collection in his attic bedroom.

5. ‘Morning and morning and morning“by Gabrielle Zevin – A story of college students who start a video game company and develop a blockbuster game called Ichigo, based on Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa. It’s all about love, video games as art, and the power of fiction.

Fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults

1. ‘The hate you give“by Angie Thomas – 2017 Printz Honor-winning young adult novel about Starr Carter, a 16-year-old girl from a poor neighborhood who attends an elite private school across town. Starr witnesses the shooting of her childhood friend by a police officer and becomes an outspoken activist.

2. ‘Grumpy Monkey‘ by Suzanne Lang, illustrated by Max Lang – Jim Panzee is in a bad mood. Other animals try to cheer Jim up, but all their advice only leads to a nervous breakdown. Sometimes a monkey just has to be in a bad mood.

3. ‘Dog Man: The Scarlet Coat Change“by Dav Pilkey – Canine superhero Dog Man returns in this twelfth graphic novel adventure. This time, Dog Man must contend with being sprayed by a skunk, finding his fur dyed red by tomato juice, and dealing with AI robots.

4. ‘The sun is also a star“” by Nicola Yoon – award-winning 2016 young adult novel about two immigrant teenagers in New York City who meet in a record store while waiting for appointments and spend the next few hours discussing love, fate, and science.

5. ‘Goodnight, National Parks“by Jen Taylor – An interactive board book that explores 9 different national parks at night. Watch shooting stars, count fireflies, hoot like owls, and howl like wolves as you read along.

Hot in the Word Horde Emporium

1. ‘Horror movie‘ by Paul Tremblay – Our weird book of the week. See the sidebar for more information.

2. ‘Conan: City of the Dead“by John C. Hocking, illustrated by Richard Pace – Few characters define sword and sorcery fantasy quite like Robert E. Howard’s Conan, and while Howard pastiches have historically evoked mixed feelings, Hocking understands the Cimmerians better than most. This book’s two tales, “Conan and the Emerald Lotus” and “Conan and the Living Plague,” mix action-packed fantasy with Lovecraftian weirdness.

3. ‘The Queen of No Tomorrows“by Matt Maxwell – The first book in Maxwell’s Hazeland series combines cosmic horror with hard-hitting noir. Librarian and occult book forger Cait MacReady creates a dreamlike magic book, the Smoking Codex, as a minor mishap, but soon discovers that an apocalyptic cult has its sights set on the book and knows far more about it than they do.

4. ‘Leather & Lark“by Brynne Weaver – The second book in Weaver’s dark romantic comedy Ruinous Love Trilogy, following the TikTok sensation Butcher & Blackbird. In it, a hitman turned leatherworker and an indie singer-songwriter fake marriage so he can help her track down a murderer. Needless to say, a morose/cheerful, hate-to-love, juicy romance ensues.

5. ‘Jaws – 50th Anniversary Edition“” by Peter Benchley – Just in time for Shark Week, this new anniversary edition of Benchley’s bestselling classic (and source of the Stephen Spielberg film) features an exclusive foreword by the author’s widow and additional extras.