Heather's Picks

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness (Paperback)

By Sy Montgomery

$17.99

ISBN: 9781451697728

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Published: Atria Books - April 5th, 2016

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True story: Inky, the octopus, recently escaped from a New Zealand Zoo. Octopuses are amazing escape artists. Naturalist Montgomery invites us into their world. While an octopus has no central nervous system, it can recognized objects 30 yards away with amazing chemoreceptors in its tentacles. It can squeeze a ten foot body through a two and a half inch opening.  Clever, playful and curious, octopuses, Montgomery asserts, deserve respect as "conscious" beings. This book is more than an anthropomorphic study.

Everything I Never Told You: A Novel (Paperback)

By Celeste Ng

$17.00

ISBN: 9780143127550

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Published: Penguin Books - May 12th, 2015

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When the Lee's teenage daughter is found dead in a nearby lake, Ng holds us spellbound to find out what has led to her death. Ng explores issues of race and gender, personal histories of the characters that precede Lydia's disappearance while holding us close to the idea of family. She makes us ponder what is given, what is withheld and what can never be known. We feel their grief.

My Brilliant Friend: Neapolitan Novels, Book One (Paperback)

By Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein

$18.00

ISBN: 9781609450786

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Published: Europa Editions - September 25th, 2012

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Set in Naples in the 1950s, My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante is the first in a series about the friendship of two working class young women, Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo. The women depend on each other to confront life's challenges even though friendship is not a perfect shelter from hardship. The author shows a city and a nation undergoing change. This series would appeal to readers who like a sense of place and complex character development. Fans of Downton Abbey or Mr. Selfridge would gravitate to this story.

Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay: Neapolitan Novels, Book Three (Paperback)

By Elena Ferrante, Ann Goldstein (Translated by)

$18.00

ISBN: 9781609452339

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Published: Europa Editions - September 2nd, 2014

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The third book in Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan novels.

Blue Horses: Poems (Hardcover)

By Mary Oliver

$24.95
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ISBN: 9781594204791

Published: Penguin Press - October 14th, 2014

In her most recent collection of poems, Oliver again captures my attention. Her poems are like meditations.  She encourages us to be still, to know nature and our relationship to it. She helps us to treasure small moments.

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End (Hardcover)

By Atul Gawande

$32.99

ISBN: 9780805095159

Availability: Not in stock. At Our Partner Warehouse: Usually Ships in 4-7 Days

Published: Metropolitan Books - October 7th, 2014

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A professor at Harvard Medical School, Gawande shows how modern medicine counters the realities of aging and death.  By including research on nursing homes and   hospitals and by telling the stories of his own patients and hi own family, Gawande reveals the suffering that this dynamic has created.  His book is hopeful as he shows the ways that doctors, family members and patients can hard the hard conversation to make sure that they do not sacrifice what people care about in their lives. A book we all should read for those we love and for ourselves.

Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening: How I Learned the Unexpected Joy of a Green Thumb and an Open Heart (Hardcover)

By Carol Wall

$25.95
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ISBN: 9780399157981

Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons a Member of Penguin Group - March 4th, 2014

This memoir shows how a magnetic man from Kenya, who is skilled at gardening, transforms the life (and garden) of a middle-aged woman.  By putting assumptions aside, each one of them develops a caring bond for the other.  Moving, uplifting, gently rendered story of love.