You may remember that part 1 of our books-bought-while-traveling roundup ended in Santa Fe, N.M. From there, Donna and I drove to Marfa, Texas. Along the way we visited the UFO Museum in Roswell and stopped by the Prada store in the middle of the desert. We enjoyed Marfa, particularly the Chinati Foundation’s massive art installations, established by Donald Judd, and we found a fun bookstore where we could grab a Topo Chico and chit-chat with locals. We talked for roughly an hour with a man who, in the course of a wide-ranging conversation, told us about an exciting-sounding bookstore in Las Cruces, N.M., which was our next stop. Las Cruces was HOT, but we had a great time visiting the Chile Pepper Institute and, of course, the bookstore he mentioned. Here are the books I bought. Remember to vote on what I should review first!
We popped into Stop & Read Books after a five-hour art tour at the Judd installation, in desperate need of air conditioning and fizzy water. The tiny bookstore aims ‘to connect life-long readers with new and unique books,’ and, since that’s very much aligned with BoG’s mission, I knew I wanted to buy something. The selection was highly curated, which can be risky; what if the curator doesn’t match your vibe? The colorful and provocative cover of ‘The Bloater’ by Rosemary Tonks caught my eye. I knew nothing about the novel or its author, but flipped the book over to read: ‘Min works at the BBC as a sound engineer, and in theory she is married, but her husband George is so invisible that she accidentally turns the lights off when he’s still in the room. Luckily, she has her friends and lovers to distract her.’ I was like:
I then scanned further down the back cover to read a short bio of Tonks, who died in 2014, that said she had written several novels and poetry collections, and presented poetry programs for the BBC. But then she ‘quit writing and fled the literary scene at the height of her powers.’ All of this sounds fascinating!
Coas Books in Las Cruces, N.M., is the place the guy in Marfa told us about—and it is heaven! Like a Powell’s of the Southwest. Rows and rows of used books in a store that seems to be constantly unfolding as you walk through it. I’d go back to Las Cruces just to visit Coas again (and to eat at Si Señor, where the hot-sauce chip dip is over the top and perfect). I had been sorta-kinda looking for Dorothy Bryant’s ‘The Kin of Ata Are Waiting For You’ ever since I saw it for sale at Womb House Books. I liked its aggressive title and that edition’s funky cover design, and even though I had never heard of the novel, I was like:
But someone else beat me to it. The edition I bought at Coas is not the one I hoped to get, but it’s the one I kept seeing in used bookstores. So, I broke down and got it. I still know next to nothing about it. The back-cover description is not terribly helpful. ‘Into the world of Ata comes a desperate man, who is first subdued and then led on the spiritual journey that, sooner or later, all of us must take,’ it reads. It also says the book ‘is part love story, part science fiction, at once Jungian myth and utopian allegory.’ I don’t know what to make of all that.
I had never heard of ‘A Fire Upon the Deep’ by Vernor Vinge until it was mentioned in our discussion thread in May. It sounded really interesting, and I made a mental note to look for it. I saw an edition in my local bookstore that I almost bought, but it was too big and too modern. Since this sci-fi novel was published in the 1990s, I was hoping to find a smaller, used trade paperback version. When I found this copy at Coas, I was like:
A blurb from Kirkus Reviews calls ‘A Fire Upon the Deep’ a ‘[v]ast, riveting far-future saga involving evil gods, interstellar war, and manipulative aliens.’ That sounds great. Sign me up! What do you think of these books? Have you read any of them? Let me know in the comments. As for when I should review them, let me know your preference in this poll:
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Books on GIF does not solicit review copies. We feature books we purchase at independent bookstores around New York City and on our travels, or were borrowed electronically from the Brooklyn Public Library.
Thanks for reading, and thanks especially to Donna for editing this newsletter!
Until next time,
Mike
