McIntyre’s Fine Books

In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod

In the days before caustic masculinity was recognized as such, when men could be men, and women could be, well, dismissed, abused, and ignored, along with so many other choice words. Thankfully, though, the public-school systems and Universities taught us to think for ourselves, and, with the help of our mothers, sisters, and friends, we were able to see past that dark tunnel of masculinity. But our fathers were still our fathers, and we loved them regardless of their foibles as this elegant and elegiac memoir shows. Tom Junod took me back to my childhood, and I saw my father, and with an honesty I don’t have, shares with us his father warts and all.

In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)

Reviewed by Pete, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

What a good book! Beautifully written and so forcefully told, this story of the power of corporations over people and governments. And the setting! So alien from what we’re used to, but at the same time recognizable from our own small town battles with corporate malfeasance. A very thought-provoking book that will be great for book clubs and one that reminded me of how I reacted to Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, (List Price: $18, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 9780593132449, March 2021)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho

This book was a perfect change of pace for me! Ocean’s Godori is a space opera set in future post-unification Korea. To me, the world-building was both totally unique and also super inviting. Each character perspective starts independent from the others and then eventually entwines as the plot thickens. I’m excited for more after this excellent debut from Elaine U. Cho!

Ocean’s Godori by Elaine U. Cho, (List Price: $18, Zando – Hillman Grad Books, 9781638932840, June 2025)

Reviewed by Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh

Eddie’s back, and he’s better than ever! Eddie Flynn, conman turned defense lawyer, tears it up in this rip-roaring caper that has him defending a doctor accused of murdering his neighbor. Weaving in multiple plot lines that in lesser hands would leave a reader dazed and confused, Steve Cavanaugh pulls the greatest sleight of hand magic of his already superb career.

Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh, (List Price: $29.99, Atria Books, 9781668049372, March 2025)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Good Golden Sun by Brendan Wenzel

I can’t wait to share Good Golden Sun at storytime for the first days of summer or bright sunny days! Brendan Wenzel has a talent for creating new verses that roll off the tongue like classic nursery rhymes. And it’s always wonderful to have a new book full of his gorgeous illustrations to share with readers!

Good Golden Sun by Brendan Wenzel, (List Price: $19.99, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316512633, February 2025)

Reviewed by Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle

This might sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but nobody does dysfunctional family crime like William Boyle. And this is a perfect example of that. One moment in time, a fatal reaction, that festers like a boil for decades until it bursts and even more lives are ruined. Brooklyn noir at its best!

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle, (List Price: $28.95, Soho Crime, 9781641296403, February 2025)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

Geraldine Brooks’s memoir of her life with writer Tony Horwitz and the aftermath of his sudden death in 2019 is an intimate, gut-wrenching, funny, and inspiring tribute to their life together and to his writing. It will take its place alongside other powerful memoirs of love and loss, like Joan Didion’s Year of Magical Thinking (about which the two of them strikingly disagreed). With her well-honed journalistic skills, Brooks describes the brutally bureaucratic way America handles sudden death alongside her own journey through grief’s landscape while capturing Horwitz’s exuberant personality and adventurous spirit. Having read and loved most of her work, I now can’t wait to read his.

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks, (List Price: $28, Viking, 9780593653982, February 2025)

Reviewed by Sarah Goddin, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Love, Leda by Mark Hyatt

I think Love, Leda is a delightful and emotional read that is perfect for anyone interested in 20th-century gay literature, a la John Rechy or David Wojnarowicz. You can tell that Hyatt was a poet, and some parts of this book are beautifully lyrical and etch their way into your brain. Absolutely gorgeous and heartfelt.

Love, Leda by Mark Hyatt, (List Price: $16.95, Nightboat Books, 9781643622453, October 2024)

Reviewed by Tyler de Bose, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Brown Girl, Brown Girl by Leslé Honoré

Cozbi Cabrera’s beautiful illustrations really make this poem by Leslé Honoré sing! This will be a book that all ages can enjoy; as a read aloud for littlest listeners, as a shared read for older kids who can also enjoy the details in the artwork, and as a lovely gift for adults.

Brown Girl, Brown Girl by Leslé Honoré, (List Price: $18.99, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 9780316314039, November 2024)

Reviewed by Johanna Hynes, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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A Really Strange and Wonderful Time by Tom Maxwell

Oh man, did this bring back memories! Having grown up in Chapel Hill I pretty much recognize everyone mentioned, especially in the first half, which I overlapped (my heyday was REM, The Replacements, The B-52’s, and the rest of that first wave of Indie bands) until I pretended to become an adult and a responsible person with all the dull early nights that entailed. And while this is THE Chapel Hill scene, it will still be enjoyable to anyone who cares about music and its magic within a community, especially a supportive community which is what Chapel Hill was and still is. Two thumbs and two big toes, up!

A Really Strange and Wonderful Time by Tom Maxwell, (List Price: $30, Hachette Books, 9780306830587, April 2024)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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What Love Looks Like by Laura Obuobi, Anna Cunha (illus.)

What Love Looks Like will make an excellent bedtime story or a way to stretch your imagination and practice mindfulness. Each spread takes Papa and Afia to a new place where they imagine all the things they can see and feel. And with every new place, they imagine they share what love can feel like. Perfect for readers who love Grace Lin & Kate Messner’s Once Upon a Book or Micha Archer’s Daniel Finds a Poem; I can’t wait to share this one with kids and grownups too!

What Love Looks Like by Laura Obuobi, Anna Cunha (illus.), (List Price: $19.99, HarperCollins, 9780063222434, June 2024)

Reviewed by Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

In We Are Okay Nina LaCour carefully reveals Marin’s grief and coming of age with depth and clarity. LaCour’s work is striking and memorable, with a singular attention to detail and arresting emotional honesty. This novel is beautifully executed and will resonate with every one of its readers.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, (List Price: $17.99, Dutton Books for Young Readers, 9780525425892, February 2017)

Reviewed by Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Gator Country by Rebecca Renner

I was totally sucked into this compulsively readable story about Alligator poaching in Florida that does for these scaly critters what Susan Orleans did so many years ago for orchids with her seminal The Orchid Thief. The author immersed herself in the culture of the Everglades, interviewing everyone from state game officials to poachers themselves, all while not losing her empathy for the people affected, especially those who have lost their generational ability to live off the land due to government rules and regulations forcing them to break the law while laughing in the face of those chasing after them. This is another great addition to the genre I call “kooky, kooky, Florida.” Think Carl Hiaasen, Tim Dorsey, along with the aforementioned Susan Orleans, and any edict from Ron Desantis.

Gator Country by Rebecca Renner, (List Price: $29.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250842572, November 2023)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

A beautiful and light-hearted story for every kind of fanciful and imaginative kid! Jessica Love’s illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and so easily portray Julian’s wish to be a magical creature. This is a delightfully simple story that explores gender expression and individuality. Careful details also help communicate Julian’s fear of revealing his identity to his Abuela, an important representation that kids need for all kinds of situations.

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love, (List Price: $17.99, Candlewick, 9780763690458, April 2018)

Reviewed by Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

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How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

What a good book! Beautifully written and so forcefully told this is a story of the power of corporations over people and governments. And the setting! So alien from what we’re used too but at the same time recognizable from our own small town battles with corporate malfeasance. A very thought provoking book that will be great for book clubs and one that reminded me of how I reacted to Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar.

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue, (List Price: $28, Random House, 9780593132425, March 2021)

Reviewed by Pete Mock, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue Read More »

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