Of Women and Salt
Gabriela Garcia 

The Beagle Women’s Group will discuss this book in April.

Featherhood: A Memoir of Two Fathers and a Magpie
Charlie Gilmour 

The author of this memoir is the son of eccentric British poet Heathcote Williams. Whatever your definition of eccentric is, in the case of Heathcote Williams, amplify that definition. The author introduces us to his father by saying: 

Most of the information I have about my biological father is secondhand: from my mum and from the Internet. I couldn’t tell you how he takes his tea, or what sort of music he likes, but I can give you some of the obvious highlights, only slightly more than what is on his Wikipedia page. Heathcote Williams (b. 1941): squatter, writer, actor, alcoholic, poet, anarchist, magician, revolutionary, and Old Etonian. A wild-haired icon of the radical sixties underground whose plays and essays rode the twin currents of psychedelia and sex.

As you might guess, the author did not have a traditional or enviable childhood and when he comes of age, he is reluctant to become a father himself. That’s one piece of this memoir. The other is caring for an injured magpie rescued and brought to the author. The magpie is named Benzene and becomes part of the household. As you might guess, this is not an ideal setup. The author also learns that years earlier, his father had once rescued and cared for a jackdaw, a bird related to the magpie. As the author cares for Benzene, grows in his relationship with Yana, his girlfriend and later wife, and interacts with his half-sisters who are also children of Heathcote, he comes to a new place in life.

Here We Are
Graham Swift 

In Brighton, England in 1959 there is a variety show attended by summer tourists. The master of ceremonies is Jack, a handsome and charming ladies’ man. The bit of the show that gradually gains the most attention over the course of the summer is that of the magician Ronnie and his assistant Evie. Ronnie and Evie’s initial professional partnership becomes romantic and they get engaged. The author delves into the history of each character. For example, Ronnie, is the son of poor parents. His father was an often and eventually permanently absent sailor. Ronnie is sent to live with a foster family during the war in the event that the area where Ronnie and his mother was living was bombed, Ronnie would be safe. The foster family is a husband and wife unable to have their own children, much better educated and more financially comfortable than Ronnie’s biological parents. They provide a home for Ronnie for a number of years, which leads to confusing feelings for Ronnie who much prefers his foster home to his mother’s home. I’ll let you read the backstories of Jack and Evie for yourselves. I don’t think this book is for everyone. The word that kept popping into my head as I was listening to this book was melancholy. It’s very good with much to discuss about family, war, and love. While it’s not heart wrenching enough to make Oprah’s list, it definitely isn’t Pollyanna. If you’re an audiobook listener, I recommend this one on audio.

The Eagles of Heart Mountain
Bradford Pearson

There’s a shameful part of American history that I never learned about in school—not in grade school, not in high school, not in college. I’m not sure just when I learned that our government rounded up American citizens and forced them into concentration camps far from their homes. I’m talking about the treatment of Japanese Americans who lived along the west coast during World Wat II. I do know that I learned about this through novels. Snow Falling on Cedars, Famous Suicides of the Japanese Empire and later, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. The Eagles of Heart Mountain is the first non-fiction account I’ve read.

If you know me even a little bit, you know that fiction is my go-to when selecting books to read. However, this book of history is an important one for all of us to read. The depth and breadth of the research behind it is impressive. The context for the events in the book is clearly established. People such as Christopher Warren, Barack Obama, Eleanor Roosevelt, Earl Warren, and Mickey Rooney—what an interesting mix!—are part of the back story of this book.

It takes a while to get there, but the book follows a group of young Japanese American athletes. They excelled in sports in their high schools in California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, and continued to participate in athletics while living with 14,000 others behind barbed wire fences in the Heart Mountain camp outside Cody, Wyoming. In the camp they lived with racism, casual cruelty, and brutal winters. In the fall of 1943, they formed a high school football team. The Heart Mountain Eagles were undefeated, much to the chagrin of white athletes from teams in surrounding towns.

In the midst of the season, the United States government decided to draft men from the camps—confined because they couldn’t be trusted—into the military. The book follows the difficult decisions the young athletes faced. Some chose induction while others resisted the draft and went to jail.

It's all woven together—the purpose sports gave their lives, the demeaning politics which placed them in camps, the resilience which carried them through their experiences there.

Immigration and the treatment of immigrants continue to be polarizing issues in our country. This important book helps us understand the history which shaped our current situation.

The Cold Millions
Jess Walter

We’re often asked how we learn about the books that we recommend. Publishers distribute Advance Readers Copies, or ARCs, of some upcoming books. When the ARC of The Cold Millions arrived in the store, I snatched it up because I’d really liked the author’s previous book, Beautiful Ruins. The two books couldn’t be more different, but I enjoyed both of them. I read the ARC of The Cold Millions the summer of 2020, so it’s a book which has been on my radar for a while.
In the book, orphaned brothers Gig and Rye Dolan are penniless, riding the rails and living by their wits. They find themselves in Seattle in 1909. Gig, an ardent supporter of the Wobblies, becomes involved in the free speech riots. He tries unsuccessfully to shield Rye, but both brothers are arrested and jailed.

I first read the book the summer after George Floyd’s death. I discovered there were strong similarities between Gig and Rye’s experiences and the experiences of those protesting in the Black Lives Matter demonstrations that summer. I also felt a personal connection to the book. In 1908, my great grandmother died and her children were split up. The oldest child, my grandmother’s brother John, ran away. The family never saw him again, but received word that he died in the Longshoremen’s riots in Seattle. Not the same story, but close enough to feel a connection.

Walter has written a highly entertaining work of historical fiction which brings to life a nearly forgotten part of our past. The novel includes both fictional and historical characters, some fighting against injustice and others perpetuating it for their own gains. There’s lots to think about and talk about in this book!

Watershed
Ranae Lenor Hanson

At Night In, we like to feature small publishers who put out books which the larger publishing houses, for their own reasons, overlook. One of these is The University of Minnesota Press, which consistently publishes timely books challenging us to think, perhaps in ways and about topics we’d rather ignore. Our next book is one of theirs.

Remember that window just a few months ago, when we thought the pandemic was easing? It’s hard to believe it now, but this summer we had author events in the store every Saturday. One Saturday a small woman carrying a lot of “stuff” showed up. She was Ranae Hanson and, because she has particularly intractable diabetes, the “stuff” carried everything that keeps her alive. She was pleased to learn that we have a refrigerator in the kitchen downstairs. We refrigerated what needed to be kept cold, and came back upstairs for a delightful afternoon.

Hanson grew up in northern Minnesota, deeply rooted in nature. As an adult, she taught writing and global studies at Minneapolis College. This particular school has a great many international students. She learned about their lives at home, as child soldiers in the Congo, as refugees from Somalia because of drought, as people from Russia who received pictures from home of sinkholes in the tundra caused by climate change.

When she was in her sixties, Ranae developed Type 1 diabetes. She learned this is becoming increasingly common.

And somehow, she weaves these strands together—her love of the natural world, her concern for her students and the distress of the earth, and the needs of her own health. Out of her sensibilities, she has written this book, calling us to attend to a body and an earth in distress. 

The book has just been named a finalist for a Minnesota Book Award in the category of Memoir & Creative Nonfiction.

Win Me Something
Kyle Lucia Wu

Two of our books tonight are from Tin House, a small publisher located in Portland Oregon. It publishes award-winning books and champions writing that is “artful, dynamic, and original.” If you notice a Tin House book on a shelf, you’ll want to take a closer look.

Win Me Something is a quiet book made up of small incidents in the life of the narrator, Willa Chen. Willa is 24 and hasn’t quite settled into adult life. She says that growing up, she was “undercared for, but essentially fine.” Her Chinese immigrant father and Causasian mother divorced when Willa was young. Both formed new families that Willa didn’t quite feel a part of. As school, she was too white to hang out with the Chinese kids, and too Chinese to be accepted by the white kids. She’s been killing time since graduating from college, working as a waitress and barista. Unexpectedly, an opportunity to work as a nanny for a well to-do liberal family fell in her lap.

Willa’s charge is Bijou, a precocious nine-year old who plans to open a restaurant someday. Willa takes Bijou to her after school activities, trailing along to Mandarin Chinese lessons, dance and violin classes. After eating salmon at a restaurant, both come down with food poisoning. Shortly after that shared experience, Bijou’s parents ask Willa to become a live-in nanny. The experience lets her see life up close in a family other than her own. Gradually, she becomes more accepting of herself and of her life, as imperfect as they may be.

Again, it’s a very quiet book, but it has a large emotional wallop, and offers many opportunities for discussion.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Eva Jurczyk

You’re all aware that the supply chain has experienced disruptions during the pandemic. We’ve talked and written about how this has affected the book industry. Our next book, The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, is an example of this. Jen and I walk a tight line when we choose books for Night In. We like to introduce you to books which are new. Two of the books on the list were released just last Thursday. But we got caught with The Department of Rare Books. It was originally scheduled to be released January 4, but after we picked it, we learned that the new pub date was January 25. Sometimes we’re able to bring in books before the official release date, but not this time. So, I’m going to tell you a little about the book, but it will be another 10 days before it’s in the store. (Note: the book is now on our shelves.)

The book is set at a major university in Toronto, a university large enough that its library has a Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. The Department has acquired a rare book, which it’s about to show to a select group of donors. There’s just one problem: the director of the department has suffered a severe stroke and he’s the only one who has the combination to the safe where the book is being kept. (Did I mention it was worth about half a million dollars?

The director’s longtime assistant, a woman named Liesl, is called back from sabbatical to deal with the situation. When the safe was finally opened it was empty. Liesl has to find the book and deal with the disappearance of one of her colleagues. She also has to deal with an eccentric university president who wants to keep the donors happy at all costs, in-fighting and sexism in her department, issues in her marriage, and her own sense of self and vocation.

The book is fast paced, entertaining, and provides an interesting take on politics in academia.

Becoming Grandma:
The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting
Leslie Stahl

After decades as a reporter, Leslie Stahl, who is the spokesperson for Sunday Morning on CBS, writes that the most wonderful experience in her life was becoming a grandmother. She felt such joy that she decided to interview friends, colleagues and even the woman next door to see how becoming a grandmother has changed their lives. Be sure to read the chapter on the mother-in-law when it comes to sharing the new grandchild with the other side of the family. There is also a chapter on grandparents raising grandchildren when the parents are no longer in the picture. This is great book for discussion and to share with others.

Note: This book isn’t readily available, but we’d be glad to track it down for you.

The Falcon Thief: True Tale of Adventure and Treachery
Joshua Hammel

On May 10, 2010, an Irish National was apprehended at Britain's Birmingham International Airport. There was a suspicious package strapped to his stomach. Inside were 14 rare Peregrine Falcon eggs. So begins a story almost too bizarre to believe. Detective Andy McWilliam is in charge of the National Wildlife Crime Unit and is out to apprehend this man and others who collect rare birds and their eggs. They sell for thousands of dollars to collectors. This adventure takes us all over the world in pursuit of the thieves.

The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
Annie Lyons

Eudora is 85, alone and tired of living. but she doesn't want to leave her fate to a ride in the back of an ambulance. She makes a call to Switzerland and a plan is set in motion. In the meantime, a new family moves next door. Rose is a precocious 10 year old who has decided to become Eudora's best friend. Along with recently widowed Stanley who lives down the street, the threesome embark on fun summertime adventures. Eudora discovers it's never too late to start living. The author deals with Eudora's life and ultimate death with sensitivity and dignity. A good read that makes one stop to think of what's important in life. 

My Name Is Lucy Barton
Elizabeth Srout

I was excited to read this slim novel because I love Strout’s Olive Kitteridge books so much, but Lucy Barton is quite different. The voice is quiet, minimal. The effect is profound. It opens with Lucy recalling the weeks she spent years ago in a New York hospital due to complications after having her appendix removed. Her mother, whom she hasn’t seen and almost never talks with, overcomes her own fears to be with Lucy. You learn about Lucy’s childhood in unsentimental ways, as Lucy writes matter-of-fact statements, sharing how she feels about all of the people in her life. This is a book to savor.

Colorful
Eto Mori

A soul awakens after dying. An angel announces that he has won the lottery: his life has been a failure, but he has a chance for a re-do. He will be given the body of a recently deceased 14-year-old boy and move into his life. If he can remember what he did in his past life he might be put back into the cycle of rebirth. Otherwise, he will be truly lost. 

This sounds a bit like the movies Soul and Heaven Can Wait, but it’s very different. The author wanted to write a book that would appeal to teenagers and help them reassess their stressful lives. Millions read it in Japan, and now it’s being read internationally. I very much enjoyed it.

Never Have I Ever
Joshilyn Jackson

The story opens on the book group meeting from hell. A newcomer, Roux, is playing games, challenging the host Amy to tell her secrets. Amy has an idyllic middle-class life with a loving husband, two adored children, a dear best friend (the leader of the book group), and a beautiful home. However, we learn in a flashback that she has a doozy of a secret. This is an excellent psychological thriller, with plenty of twists on the way to a surprising climax.

These Precious Days
Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett has written a group of 25 essays, much in the way a letter writing confidant would share her/his thoughts with you, the reader. I was about to write 'letter writing friend', but Patchett is not a friend, and the distance between author and reader, offers a distance that improves objectivity. Her gifts are: being an excellent storyteller, as well as someone not afraid to share her doubts, fears, shortcomings and failures. She's someone thinking and most importantly, trying to become a better human being. She's not afraid to share the embarrassments and humiliating failures she's experienced. But I'll suggest that such confidences show "what is possible" and that there are brilliant successes to be discovered about who we, and the people around us are. Ann would cringe to see what I've written here. Yes, this review sounds a bit like a self-help book recommendation, but I'm not talking about a way to re-arrange your closet or drawer of sox. It is a new year... a new beginning... start here!

Note: we have a limited number of autographed copies of this book in the store.