Add Comment (0)
Book picks: the perfect summer getaway
We asked our brainy friends at Barnes + Noble’s Inner Harbor and Towson branches to recommend new summer titles that are both wonderfully readable and intellectually stimulating. Here’s their hot list:
In the Woods by Tana French (Viking Adult, $25) Set in Dublin, this debut mystery novel is a rousing cross between police procedural and psychological thriller. Detectives Adam Ryan and Cassie Maddox aim to solve the murder of a 12-year-old girl. Their complex relationship deepens the plot.
Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson (Simon and Schuster, $32) A new biography examining Einstein in a very human way, including his nonconformist school years, his difficult marriage, and his mistakes as a father, alongside his exuberant intellectual accomplishments and political and philosophical leanings.
Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (Simon & Schuster, $27) The much-anticipated thriller shows how and why a hellish high school shooting by an alienated teen came to happen. In a tight dramatic twist, the case goes before a judge whose daughter attends the same tragic school.
The Thirteenth Tale by Diana Setterfield (Atria, $26) A strong young narrator, Margaret Lea, who is reminiscent of one Jane Eyre, leads us into a dark house of family secrets. It is her task to write the biography of aged writer Vida Winter, but she is unprepared for the enthralling creepiness she finds afoot.
YA Suggestions:
Septimus Heap Series, Book Three: Physik
by Angie Sage (HarperCollins Children’s Books, $18)
The next in a popular series for Harry Potter-style fans ages 9-12 in which Silas Heap unseals a forgotten room in the palace, freeing a queen who lived five centuries earlier.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Book Seven
by J.K. Rowling (Scholastic, $35) Out in July, Rowling’s final Potter is the most anticipated YA read of the season.
Comics Kingdom
3998 Roland Ave., Hampden
410. 889.6005
Kids of every age who love action and adventure stories and games should give hyper imaginative Comics Kingdom a try this summer. The roomy Hampden store is stocked wall to wall with innovative action-packed comics and collectors’ item action figures. Need your Wolverine doll on the double, your She-Hulk, your Buffy? Step right up. We love their eclectic mix of “all-ages” comic book fare and the violent and sexy teen-plus-rated offerings as well.
On the all-ages side, find reliable “Archie” stories, “Spiderman,” and “My Little Pony” plus comics based on kids’ favorite Cartoon Network programming. One fun issue, “The Cartoon Network Block Party,” delivers “Powerpuff Girls” and “Dexter’s Laboratory” stories in one (DC Comics). The popular “Bones” children’s series by Jeff Smith chronicles the wacky adventures of three cousins named Bones—it’s a favorite of Matt Groening.
Graphic biographies of heroic African Americans are incredibly artful and educational, too—read up on the illustrious lives of Oprah Winfrey, Bob Marley and others (text by Gary Jeffrey, illustrated by Jerry Riley, $11.95 each—World Almanac).
On the teen-plus side, the creative “Dead at 17” series by Josh Howard (Viper Comics) follows a girl named Asia from her bed at night into dark and utterly mysterious adventures on the south side of town. “The Civil War” series by Marvel chronicles the killing of Captain America—the tone is dramatic, politically hot, the artwork striking.
“Hawkgirl” (DC) is worth a purchase for the amazing cover image alone: a winged female robot looms over a large city, crushing aircraft in her very fist.
Owner Sheldon Pearlman and his wife run the place—she’s also a pro belly dancer. In one corner of the shop, The Oasis, she stocks ornate belly-dance gear, skirts, gold-chain belts, ballet slippers, and instructional DVDs.
Most comics for children cost $2.25; others are $2.99 on average. Back issues and books collecting several storylines are also available.