{"title":"Book club selections","description":"\u003cp\u003eEvery month we have a new selection for book club!\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"all-fours-by-miranda-july","title":"All Fours by Miranda July","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA semi-famous artist announces her plan to drive cross-country, from LA to NY. Thirty minutes after leaving her husband and child at home, she spontaneously exits the freeway, checks into a nondescript motel, and immerses herself in an entirely different journey.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMiranda July’s second novel confirms the brilliance of her unique approach to fiction. With July’s wry voice, perfect comic timing, unabashed curiosity about human intimacy, and palpable delight in pushing boundaries, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAll Fours \u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003etells the story of one woman’s quest for a new kind of freedom. Part absurd entertainment, part tender reinvention of the sexual, romantic, and domestic life of a forty-five-year-old female artist, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAll Fours\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e transcends expectation while excavating our beliefs about life lived as a woman. Once again, July hijacks the familiar and turns it into something new and thrillingly, profoundly alive.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMiranda July \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eis a writer, filmmaker, and artist. Her debut novel, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe First Bad Man\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, was an instant \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e bestseller, and her collection of stories, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eNo One Belongs Here More Than You\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. 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But it’s not long until Jane finds herself subsumed by John’s ambitions, whims, and ego; in short, she becomes a wife.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs Jane’s career flourishes, their marriage starts to falter. Throughout the upheavals of family life, Jane tries to hold it all together. That is, until John leaves her.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLiars\u003c\/em\u003e is a tour de force of wit and rage, telling the blistering story of a marriage as it burns to the ground, and of a woman rising inexorably from its ashes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSarah Manguso is the author of nine books, including the novel \u003cem\u003eVery Cold People\u003c\/em\u003e, a finalist for the PEN\/Jean Stein Book Award. Manguso is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, and the Rome Prize. 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In a more troubling vein, she wonders if an artist needs to be a monster in order to create something great. Does genius deserve special dispensation? Does art have a mandate to depict the darker elements of the psyche? And what happens if the artist stares too long into the abyss? \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHighly topical, morally wise, honest to the core, \u003cem\u003eMonsters\u003c\/em\u003e is certain to incite a conversation about whether and how we can separate artists from their art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCLAIRE DEDERER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis the author of \u003cem\u003eLove and Trouble\u003c\/em\u003e, and the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e best-selling memoir \u003cem\u003ePoser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses\u003c\/em\u003e, which has been translated into twelve languages. 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The response was tremendous — clearly she articulated something many women had sensed for years: the problem is with capitalism, not with us.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGhodsee, an acclaimed ethnographer and professor of Russian and East European Studies, spent years researching what happened to women in countries that transitioned from state socialism to capitalism. She argues here that unregulated capitalism disproportionately harms women, and that we should learn from the past. By rejecting the bad and salvaging the good, we can adapt some socialist ideas to the 21st century and improve our lives.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShe tackles all aspects of a woman's life - work, parenting, sex and relationships, citizenship, and leadership. In a chapter called \"Women: Like Men, But Cheaper,\" she talks about women in the workplace, discussing everything from the wage gap to harassment and discrimination. 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She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story \"The Lottery,\" which was published in 1948. Her novels--which include The Sundial, The Bird's Nest, Hangsaman, The Road through the Wall, We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Haunting of Hill House--are characterized by her use of realistic settings for tales that often involve elements of horror and the occult. Raising Demons and Life Among the Savages are her two works of nonfiction. Come Along With Me is a collection of stories, lectures, and part of the novel she was working on when she died in 1965. All are currently in print (Penguin). Two posthumous volumes of her short fiction are Just An Ordinary Day (Bantam) and Let Me Tell You (Random House). A graphic novel adaptation of \"The Lottery\" by Miles Hyman, her grandson, was published in 2016 (Farrar-Straus-Giroux). 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It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShirley Jackson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e was born in San Francisco in 1916. She first received wide critical acclaim for her short story “The Lottery,” which was published in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e in 1948. 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Sarah calls books that have this effect “Life Ruiners”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHer Life Ruiner, Toni Morrison’s \u003cem\u003eThe Bluest Eye, \u003c\/em\u003ebecame a talisman for her in high school when its electrifying treatment of race exposed Sarah’s deepest feelings about being Japanese American in a predominantly white suburb of Cleveland. But Sarah had always lived through her books, seeking escape, self-definition, and rules for living. She built her life around reading, wrote criticism, and taught literature at an Ivy League University. Then she was hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, and the world became an unreadable blank page. In the aftermath, she was faced with a question. Could we ever truly rewrite the stories that govern our lives?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBibliophobia\u003c\/em\u003e is an alternately searing and darkly humorous story of breakdown and survival told through books. 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Highlights of his illustrated books are Sam \u0026amp; Dave Dig A Hole by Mac Barnett, The Dark by Lemony Snicket, and his latest is The Wolf, The Duck \u0026amp; The Mouse also by Mac Barnett. His books have won a Caldecott medal and two Caldecott honors and other international awards. He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife and son.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Womb House Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52018260017461,"sku":null,"price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0965\/6247\/9413\/files\/skull.jpg?v=1764701587"},{"product_id":"wuthering-heights-by-emily-bronte","title":"Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAs darkness falls, a man caught in a snowstorm is forced to shelter at the strange, grim house Wuthering Heights. It is a place he will never forget. There he will come to learn the story of Catherine and Heathcliff: how she was forced to choose between her well-meaning husband and the dangerous man she had loved since she was young. How her choice led to betrayal and terrible revenge – and continues to torment those in the present. How love can transgress authority, convention, even death.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"seemoreenable opened\" id=\"seemore-0\"\u003e\n\u003csection class=\"overview\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEmily Jane Brontë\u003c\/b\u003e was the most solitary member of a unique, tightly-knit, English provincial family. Born in 1818, she shared the parsonage of the town of Haworth, Yorkshire, with her older sister, Charlotte; her brother, Branwell; her younger sister, Anne; and her father, the Reverend Patrick Brontë. 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Such thorough exploration of the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche - and the profound collective loneliness that modern society has yet to find a solution for - is an extraordinary accomplishment, and has made \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Bell Jar\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e a haunting American classic.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSylvia Plath\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003ewas born in 1932 in Massachusetts. Her books include the poetry collections \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Colossus\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCrossing the Water\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWinter Trees\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eAriel\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCollected Poems\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, which won the Pulitzer Prize. 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Dissecting the dynamic of power and propaganda caused by party spirit, the increasing disregard for truth in favor of opinion, and the consequent corruption of education, journalism, and art, Weil forcefully makes the case that a true politics can only begin where party spirit ends. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis volume also includes an admiring portrait of Weil by the great poet Czeslaw Milosz and an essay about Weil’s friendship with Albert Camus by the translator Simon Leys.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSimone Weil\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1909-1943) was one of the most original and rigorous female thinkers of the twentieth century. She became increasingly drawn to Christianity in the latter part of her life and officially converted in 1938. She died at the age of thirty-four while working as an advocate for the Free French movement. 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Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis intensely personal and political autobiography belies the fearsome image of JoAnne Chesimard long projected by the media and the state. With wit and candor, Assata Shakur recounts the experiences that led her to a life of activism and portrays the strengths, weaknesses, and eventual demise of Black and White revolutionary groups at the hand of government officials. The result is a signal contribution to the literature about growing up Black in America that has already taken its place alongside\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Autobiography of Malcolm X\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand the works of Maya Angelou.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Womb House Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52369045520693,"sku":null,"price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0965\/6247\/9413\/files\/assata.jpg?v=1771980688"},{"product_id":"jane-eyre-by-charlotte-bronte-1","title":"Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA novel of intense power and intrigue, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eJane Eyre\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e has dazzled generations of readers with its depiction of a woman's quest for freedom. Having grown up an orphan in the home of her cruel aunt and at a harsh charity school, Jane Eyre becomes an independent and spirited survivor-qualities that serve her well as governess at Thornfield Hall. But when she finds love with her sardonic employer, Rochester, the discovery of his terrible secret forces her to make a choice. Should she stay with him whatever the consequences or follow her convictions, even if it means leaving her beloved? This updated Penguin Classics edition features a new introduction by Brontë scholar and award-winning novelist Stevie Davies, as well as comprehensive notes, a chronology, further reading, and an appendix.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Womb House Books ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52425962684725,"sku":null,"price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0965\/6247\/9413\/files\/janeeyre.jpg?v=1773190463"},{"product_id":"wide-sargasso-sea-by-jean-rhys-1","title":"Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eWide Sargasso Sea\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, a masterpiece of modern fiction, was Jean Rhys’s return to the literary center stage. 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