Gorgeous illustrations and sweet story about a mother and child who grow a winter garden. Complete with instructions of starting your own winter garden. Love this one!
Wintergarden by Janet Fox, (List Price: $18.99, Neal Porter Books, 9780823451012, November 2023)
Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
Jointly, The Farmer’s Wife and The Shepherd’s Life (written by Helen’s husband James), provide a unique look at both the travails of small farm life and married life. On its own, The Farmer’s Wife reminded me of Laurie Colwin with deep insights into daily life and the joys of cooking good food. Thoughtful, challenging with delicious recipes and beautifully illustrated, this will be a go-to gift book for me.
The Farmer’s Wife by Helen Rebanks, (List Price: $29.99, Harper Horizon, 9780785290483, September 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
Land once again takes readers into the lived experience of poverty and class divides. She calls out the emotional and physical cost of being a single parent and a student and the bizarre barriers courts and agencies throw up. An education in inequality and perseverance, you will never think of resilience in the same way again.
Class by Stephanie Land, (List Price: $28, Atria/One Signal Publishers, 9781982151393, November 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
Children (and their adults) will love reading about Scaredy Squirrel’s approach to the holidays! Once again, Melanie Watt gives us a way to treat a child’s nerves with gentleness and humor. We love displaying our Scaredy Squirrel books alongside the plush stuffed animal at Main Street Books!
Scaredy Squirrel Gets Festive by Melanie Watt, (List Price: 12.99, Random House Graphic, 9780593307618, October 2023)
Reviewed by Jessica Nock, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
This middle grade novel follows the life of Avalyn, an asthmatic girl who loves to spell words, read X-men comics, and spend time with friends. The bane of her existence is a group of bullies, known to her and her two friends, Nan and Dillon, as the Meanie Butt Band. Bryden, Valerie, Emma, and Carlos love to make fun of her and her friends, call them cruel names, and just be plain evil to her and the rest of the school. One regular day, a dust storm rolls in from the middle of nowhere, bringing with it a quiet boy named Adam, who may just turn out to be even bigger and scarier than he seems. The theme(s) of this book: friendship, self-acceptance, and helping people in need.
Dust by Dusti Bowling, (List Price: 16.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316414234, August 2023)
Reviewed by Eliza Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
Alma y cómo obtuvo su nombre trata sobre una niña a la que no le gusta lo largo que es su nombre, y su padre que le cuenta la historia de quién viene. Una gran historia del legado que cada niño lleva consigo y la historia que solo ellos pueden contar sobre sus propias vidas. ¡Altamente recomendado!
Alma y cómo obtuvo su nombre por Juana Martinez-Neal, (List Price: $8.99, Candlewick, 9781536220438, septiembre 2023)
Reseña escrita por Jessica Nock, Main Street Books en Davidson, North Carolina
Incredibly earnest, honest account (in graphic novel form!) of a teenage theatre kid navigating the move to public high school from an unschooling/homeschool education in a smallish city in the Pacific NorthWest. I love Phoebe Wahl’s art and children’s books (she illustrates and writes), and I adored her peek into the boy-obsessed, music-loving, art-driven world she creates from her own teenage diaries. I laughed out loud, cringed, cried, and cheered. If you loved Judy Blume’s Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, you’ll love Phoebe’s Diary.
Phoebe’s Diary by Phoebe Wahl, (List Price: 19.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316363563, September 2023)
Reviewed by Adah Fitzgerald, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
Beautifully evocative, Stowe’s memoir captures the emotional and physical pull of open waters in a visceral and compelling way. A book that can be read on many levels– memoir, a natural history guide, a call to care–with it’s strength in the intersection of all. If you love oceans, women explorers and artists, or just a book to challenge your mind and soul, this one is for you.
Move Like Water by Hannah Stowe, (List Price: 24.95, Tin House Books, 9781959030102, September 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
A good cookbook needs inviting recipes and clear instructions. A great cookbook goes beyond to provide context, history, and a singular voice. Still We Rise is a great cookbook that elevates the humble biscuit while paying homage to African-American chefs and home cooks and expanding American foodways history. Council writes with sass, reassurance, and authority. Her introductory section on ingredients and tools made me both laugh and believe I could bake these gems. Great recipes (for fillings and butters as well as biscuits), beautiful and functional photographs, and historical notes make this a kitchen shelf essential.
Still We Rise by Erika Council, (List Price: 26, Clarkson Potter, 9780593236093, August 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
This was a nostalgic punch to the gut for me as a former American Apparel gal, reminding me of when I wore Lycra and bodysuits to work, had my picture taken every day, then finally snapped, saying I was not a model and quitting, taking the last vestiges of my dignity along with me. I feel seen. More seen than when I was wearing spandex and lamé. This was a validating read for me, but will also be interesting to those who came of age in the 2000s, for every Millennial who cut their teeth on celebrity culture and came away wanting more.
Strip Tees by Kate Flannery, (List Price: 27.99, Henry Holt and Co., 9781250827289, July 2023)
Reviewed by Aimee Keeble, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
A fresh adaptation of Pride and Prejudice set in Chinatown, NYC in the 90s. Elizabeth Chen is the heroine we know and love—unyielding in her beliefs and self-reliant. This book both nails the retelling and holds its own with themes exploring class, identity, family dynamics, and community.
Good Fortune by C.K. Chau, (List Price: 29.99, HarperVia, 9780063293762, July 2020)
Reviewed by Andrea Jasmin, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
A July 2023 Read This Next! Book
A miserable, beautifully written swan song to the happy life- to freedom, to creativity. Our heroine descends into black hole darkness while trying to navigate her increasingly insane amount of responsibilities at her Silicone Valley startup. Be careful, this will refresh your feelings on whether or not you’re prepared to stay at your 9 – 5…
Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter, (List Price: $25, Scribner, 9781668011638, July 2023)
Reviewed by Aimee Keeble, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
Beautiful coming of age story that follows a teenager in Harlem as she copes with questions around family, religion and relationships through finding herself in poetry.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, (List Price: 15.99, Quill Tree Books, 9780062662811, March 2020)
Reviewed by Melissa Summers, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
What an elegant, joyful, and open reflection on living fully. Who opens a bookstore in a tiny (180 people) remote village? A wise and adventurous women, ready to return to her family roots while casting out a wide net for new friendships. Her daily entries are thoughtful lessons in seeing beauty, cultivating connections, facing loss, and celebrating the writers and stories that shape our worlds. A gift of a book to book lovers.
Diary of a Tuscan Bookshop by Alba Donati, (List Price: 17.99, Scribner, 9781668015568, June 2023)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
A quiet yet fierce meditation on birth and creation. Hall pulls us into her own private darkness- the losses of children and fear of death, the loss of the self, the unknowable countries upon which women set off for once they become mothers. All compared artfully to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; another story of God-power and chaos, love and despair. Freedom and choice.
Reproduction by Louisa Hall, (List Price: 30, Ecco, 9780063283626, June 2023)
Reviewed by Aimee Keeble, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
