Here is a list of the most popular books sold last month at Books Inc. in the Marina:
HARDCOVER FICTION
1. Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner
2. The Life Impossible, by Matt Haig
3. The Women, by Kristin Hannah
HARDCOVER NON-FICTION
1. Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari
2. In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife, by Sebastian Junger
3. Lovely One: A Memoir, by Ketanji Brown Jackson
PAPERBACK FICTION
1. Demon Copperhead, by Barbara Kingsolver
2. The Perfect Couple, by Elin Hilderbrand
3. Bright Young Women, by Jessica Knoll
PAPERBACK NON-FICTION
1. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, by Kamala Harris
2. The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession, by Michael Finkel
3. The Courage To Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness, by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga
YOUNG READERS
Young Adult: Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas
Middle Readers: The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris
Picture Book: Claude: The True Story of a White Alligator, by Emma Bland Smith and Jennifer M. Smith
NEW AND NOTABLE RELEASES
Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering, by Malcolm Gladwell
When does a thing become a thing? When do seemingly random events coalesce into an identifiable trend, belief, or behavior? Are such phenomena organic, or can they be manipulated to produce a certain outcome? Gladwell revisits the terrain of his first book, The Tipping Point (2000), to consider such topics as analyzing the numerical points where group dynamics can shift, investigating the factors contributing to the near extinction of a species, and dissecting institutionalized experiments in social engineering. Gladwell explores the notion that individuals, wittingly or not, bear direct responsibility for collective activities. Patterns cannot be perceived from close range; a larger perspective is necessary to recognize changes in attitudes or actions. Gladwell terms this the overstory and uses the conflict over gay marriage to illustrate how something once deemed a political and cultural anathema became the law of the land. Positioning his theory of the superspreader within COVID-19 and the opioid epidemic, Gladwell deftly demonstrates how attention to statistics and data points can shape a business, school, or community. An astute and bracing appraisal of how cultures succeed or fail.
Karla’s Choice: A John Le Carré Novel, by Nick Harkaway
George Smiley returns in this terrific spy saga from John Le Carré’s son, Titanium Noir author Nicholas Cornwell (writing under the Harkaway pseudonym). In 1963, Hungarian publisher Laszlo Bánáti fails to show up at his office in London. Instead, a Soviet assassin arrives, telling Bánáti’s assistant, Susanna Gero, “I am here to kill your Mr. Bánáti… but I have changed my mind.” Gero cleverly manages to bring the would-be assassin to British intelligence, who task the happily retired Smiley with finding Bánáti and figuring out why the Soviets want him dead. Smiley plunges behind Soviet lines, launching a labyrinthine mission that puts him back on the trail of his old nemesis, Karla, head of the KGB, and fills in narrative gaps between Le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Longtime Smiley fans will delight in the enormous cast of familiar characters, the thoughtful meditations on the morality of espionage, and the lived-in tradecraft. Harkaway brilliantly channels his late father’s voice, and in the process delivers an essential new chapter for Smiley and Karla.
Polostan (Bomb Light #1), by Neal Stephenson
Stephenson, the author of Cryptonomicon (1999), Anathem (2008), and The Baroque Cycle, launches a new series with this tremendously entertaining novel. It tells the story of Dawn Rae Bjornberg, born in the early years of the twentieth century in America to an anarchist family and raised (briefly) in Russia by a staunch Leninist, growing up to become a spy for the KGB. The book weighs in at slightly more than 300 pages, but there is so much rich detail, so many beautifully crafted characters, and so epic a story, that it feels somehow much larger than its page-count. Stephenson is a truly gifted writer, with a writing style unlike any other, and an imagination that can be startling in its originality and complexity. It would be foolish to speculate whether this is one of his best novels, since everything he writes is different from everything else, but one thing is sure: once you turn Polostan’s first page, you won’t look up from the book until you’ve turned its last. A glorious achievement from a unique and compelling writer.
Chris Hsiang can help you find your next book at Books Inc., 2251 Chestnut St., 415-931-3633, booksinc.net.
