Here is a list of the most popular books sold last month at Books Inc. in the Marina:
HARDCOVER FICTION
1. Funny Story, by Emily Henry
2. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
3. The God of the Woods, by Liz Moore
HARDCOVER NON-FICTION
1. The Art of Power: My Story as America’s First Woman Speaker of the House, by Nancy Pelosi
2. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness, by Jonathan Haidt
3. In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife, by Sebastian Junger
PAPERBACK FICTION
1. The Fiance Dilemma, by Elena Armas
2. Tomorrow & Tomorrow & Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
3. The Ex-Vows, by Jessica Joyce
PAPERBACK NON-FICTION
1. Life Span, by Molly Giles
2. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, by Michael Finkel
3. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, by J.D. Vance
YOUNG READERS
Young Adult: Dance Of The Starlit Sea, by Kiana Krystle
Middle Readers: The Wild Robot Escapes, by Peter Brown
Picture Book: The Very Busy Spider’s Favorite Words, by Eric Carle
NEW AND NOTABLE RELEASES
Playground, by Richard Powers
“Powers is a master of taking important topics of our times — from threats to our oceans and climate change to AI — and turning them into riveting and fiercely relevant books imbued with psychological insight and a deep awe for nature. This eloquent dance of the scientific and emotional makes him one of our finest storytellers. ‘Playground’ is brilliant, captivating, and important — and the best book I’ve read this year.”
– Andrea Wulf
The State of Fire: Why California Burns, by Obi Kaufmann
Fire is an essential part of California’s ecology. Humans have been using it to shape the California landscape for thousands of years. But today many Californians’ relationship to fire is one of fear. Obi Kaufmann, author of the best-selling ‘California Field Atlas,’ now asks: How do we live with fire? What makes fire essential to a healthy and biodiverse Golden State, and how do we benefit from its teachings? Packed with Kaufmann’s signature watercolor maps and paintings, ‘The State of Fire’ confronts one of California’s most pressing social and ecological challenges. From this maelstrom Kaufmann emerges to share a deepened love for the natural world — and a refreshingly hopeful vision of California’s future.
America First: Roosevelt vs. Lindbergh in the Shadow of War, by H.W. Brands
“Brands’s elegant account of the political faceoff between Franklin Roosevelt and Charles Lindbergh could not be more timely. This book sheds fascinating new light on Roosevelt’s battle against the tenacious efforts of the America First movement to keep the United States far away from World War II. In so doing, it provides critical historical insight into the heated debate currently building between internationalists and today’s America First isolationists.”
– Charles A. Kupchan, Georgetown University and Council on Foreign Relations
Intermezzo, by Sally Rooney
Bestseller Rooney returns with a boldly experimental and emotionally devastating story of estrangement. After their father dies, brothers Peter and Ivan Koubek drift further apart. Rooney crosscuts between their perspectives as they ruminate on their father’s death and their complicated romances. The novel’s deliberate pacing veers from the propulsiveness of ‘Normal People’ and the deep character work contrasts with the topicality of ‘Beautiful World,’ but in many ways this feels like Rooney’s most fully realized work, especially as she channels the modernist styles of James Joyce and Virginia Woolf. Underlining Peter’s rudderlessness, she writes, “Lamplight. Walking her to the library under the trees. Live again one day of that life and die. Cold wind in his eyes stinging like tears. Woman much missed.” Moreover, her focus on Peter and Ivan’s complicated fraternal bond pays enormous dividends. Even the author’s skeptics are liable to be swept away by this novel’s forceful currents of feeling.
Chris Hsiang can help you find your next book at Books Inc., 2251 Chestnut St., 415-931-3633, booksinc.net.
