McIntyre’s Fine Books

Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love

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Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
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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

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

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How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
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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

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby

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All Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby
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A June 2023 Read This Next! Title

Mr. Cosby has upped the ante once again! Instead of down at the heel ne’er do wells searching for something better he has segued to a sheriff fighting the ills permeating the air of his small town. Bad air that wasn’t know until a school shooting that opens up a veritable Pandora’s box of evil and depravity. Written in his inimitable style, strong yet compassionate, he gets deep into the heart and soul of his characters and makes them come alive like no one else writing today.

All Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby, (List Price: 27.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250831910, June 2023)

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

Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder

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Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder
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I’ve read almost everything Tracy Kidder has written and was inspired, again, by Rough Sleepers. For five years, Kidder followed Dr. O’Connell, who’s been providing compassionate, respectful healthcare to the homeless in Boston for decades. Rough Sleepers brings tough statistics to vivid life and shines light on a complex and often overwhelming subject.

Rough Sleepers by Tracy Kidder, (List Price: $30, Random House, 9781984801432, January 2023)

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

Spine Poems by Annette Dauphin Simon

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Spine Poems by Annette Dauphin Simon
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I love that the concept of this book seems so simple, but author and creator Annette Dauphin Simon turned it into something complex and spectacular. What fun it is to have these facts and quotes accompany the poems, especially with the beautifully composed photos. Spine Poems is funny, delightful, informative, and even touching at times. I can’t wait to put this book into the hands of every book lover I know!

Spine Poems by Annette Dauphin Simon (List Price: $27.99, Harper Design, 9780063208223, September 2022)

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

Project Namahana by John Teschner

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Project Namahana by John Teschner
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This is the best mystery/thriller I’ve read yet set in Hawaii. Instead of concentrating on Honolulu and all the other touristy places Mr. Teschner takes us into the out of the way places, the homesteads and small towns, where the locals live and depend on jobs offered by big corporations who put profit before people everyday. He introduces us to the people, their patois and, most of all, their closeness as they rely on each other, in this case after three boys die swimming in a supposedly clean stream, to do what the authorities won’t.

Project Namahana by John Teschner, (List Price: $27.99, Forge Books, 9781250827197, June 2022)

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

Riding with Evil by Ken Croke

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Riding with Evil by Ken Croke
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This glimpse into the brutal world of outlaw bikers is not sugar coated with flowery language. But, despite its “just the facts ma’am” style, it delves into the emotional strain of being an undercover agent in a way that I’ve not really experienced before. So, if you’re a true crime buff and want to read something compelling that isn’t about a serial killer- here it is!

Riding with Evil by Ken Croke (List Price: $28.99, William Morrow, 9780063092402,  March 2022)

Reviewed by Billy McCormick, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina

Five Decembers by James Kestrel

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Five Decembers by James Kestrel,
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What a great cinematic story, starting with a double murder in Honolulu just before Thanksgiving 1941 which eventually took the investigating Detective to Hong Kong where he arrived on December 8th, December 7th in Hawaii, before ending Five Decembers later. Utterly enthralling.

Five Decembers by James Kestrel, (List Price: 22.99, Hard Case Crime, 9781789096118, October 2021)

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


Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby

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Razorblade Tears
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S.E Crosby is the real deal. He is rejuvenating the mystery scene in a way not seen since Elmore Leonard during his prime. And his new novel is the perfect example of how. This story of two ex-cons, fathers, seeking answers to the murders of their married sons has it all. Fast-paced and relentless, it is an excellent look at our culture wars through the eyes of a parent who can’t understand his child’s choices. Super smart, incredibly entertaining, and all-around satisfying this is a book no one should skip!

Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby (List Price: $26.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250252708, 7/6/2021)

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

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

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The Book of Accidents
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This is one freaky book, scary as all get out, and really, really, hard to put down! I was reading late the night (3pm) and the story was cresting on one of the many waves that keep the plot roiling when out of the corner of my eye I saw my bedroom door slowly begin to creak mournfully open. Needless to say I thought I was going to have a heart attack. Turns out it was just my cat stretching out but that incident just shows how immersed I got into this creepy good book.

The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig, (List Price: 28.99, Del Rey, 9780399182136, July 2021)

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

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

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The Killing Hills
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A Spring 2021 Read This Next! Title

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt
Grove, June

This was a blast! Hill country Kentucky noir with characters that both repulse and endear. A tough combo that works well with the plot of familial vengeance that piles up the bodies without understanding the cause that makes the blood boil so hot. Superb.

–Pete Mock from McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, NC

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker

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The First Day of Spring
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This was pretty intense. Right from the get-go, you’re plunged into the life of a very troubled 8 year girl who manipulates, steals, and cheats her way through life until she is sent off to reform school until she’s 18. Now she’s trying to put here life together. She has a young girl of her own who she loves her with a passion her own mother never felt but forces are conspiring against her, her past rising to trip her up unless she fights back with all her will. This is a real knuckle-biter!

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker (List Price: $27, Riverhead Books, 9780593191569, 5/18/2021)

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

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt

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The Killing Hills
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This was a blast! Hill-country Kentucky noir with characters that both repulse and endear. A tough combo that works well with the plot of familial vengeance that piles up the bodies without understanding the cause that makes the blood boil so hot. Superb.

The Killing Hills by Chris Offutt (List Price: $26, Grove Press, 9780802158413, 6/15/2021)

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

The Plot by Jean Hanff

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What a fascinating and eclectic novel this is! It starts out as a sardonic look at the writing life, the trials and tribulations that all but the biggest best sellers face. Our guide is Jake Bonner, erstwhile golden, now a down on his luck teacher at a third rate MFA program. That is until he meets a student who has an idea that will storm the literary world. An idea that dies with the student shortly after until Jake resurrects it and changes his life forever. From there it morphs into thriller land while exploring such themes as cultural appropriation, the ethics of borrowing, and what is an idea and who does it belong too, as whiffs of Stephen King (Misery), John Boyne (A Ladder to the Sky) trail through the pages while she name drops Marilynne Robinson and others. This is going to be a fun one to talk with others about and I can’t wait.

The Plot by Jean Hanff (List Price: $39.99, Celadon Books, 9781250790767, 5/11/2021)

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

Picnic In the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen

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picnic in the ruins
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What a great away to start the new year! Take a dollop of Hiaasen, add some Hillerman, grind it all up with a Craig Child pestle (my favorite naturalist writer and historian), and you end up with a great metaphysical mishmash of cultures, places, of history and who does it belong too, all under the wide open Southwestern skies and the stoic remains of a people long since disappeared. I can’t wait to share this utterly entertaining novel with people!

Picnic In the Ruins by Todd Robert Petersen (List Price: $16.95, Counterpoint, 9781640093225, 1/5/2021)

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

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