Archipelago
$18
February 2023
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From the publisher: In this gripping tale, a Russian conscript and a French woman cross paths on the Trans-Siberian railroad, each fleeing to the east for their own reasons. \u201cEastbound\u201d is both an adventure story and a duet of two vibrant inner worlds.<\/p>\n
In mysterious, winding sentences gorgeously translated by Jessica Moore, De Kerangal gives us the story of two unlikely souls entwined in a quest for freedom with a striking sense of tenderness, sharply contrasting the brutality of the surrounding world. Racing toward Vladivostok, we meet the young Aliocha, packed onto a Trans-Siberian train with other Russian conscripts. Soon after boarding, he decides to desert and over a midnight smoke in a dark corridor of the train, he encounters an older French woman, H\u00e9l\u00e8ne, for whom he feels an uncanny trust.<\/p>\n
A complicity quickly grows between the two when he manages to urgently ask \u2014 through a pantomime and basic Russian that H\u00e9l\u00e8ne must decipher \u2014 for her help to hide him. They hurry from the filth of his third-class carriage to H\u00e9l\u00e8ne\u2019s first-class sleeping car. Aliocha is now a hunted deserter, and H\u00e9l\u00e8ne his accomplice with her own inner landscape of recent memories to contend with.<\/p>\n
From Mo Kirk, membership coordinator: Having loved Maylis De Kerangal\u2019s \u201cThe Heart\u201d earlier this year, I devoured her novella \u201cEastbound\u201d as soon as I received it. It is a wild ride on the Trans-Siberian Railroad with characters who are fleeing grim circumstances. The pace and language are thrilling and fraught. I was impressed she could do so much storytelling and play with my emotions in the span of so few pages.<\/p>\n
The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd\u2019s Life<\/p>\n
By Helen Whybrow From the publisher: In the heart of Vermont\u2019s Green Mountains, Helen Whybrow and her partner set out to restore an old 200-acre farm. Knowing that \u201cbelonging more than anything requires participation,\u201d they begin to intertwine their lives with the land. But soon after releasing a flock of Icelandic sheep onto the worn-out fields, Whybrow realizes that the art of shepherding extends far beyond the flock and fences of Knoll Farm.<\/p>\n In prose both vivid and lean, \u201cThe Salt Stones\u201d offers an intimate and profoundly moving story of what it means to care for a flock and truly inhabit a piece of land. The shepherd\u2019s life unfolds for Whybrow in the seasons and cycles of farming and family \u2014 birthing lambs, fending off coyotes, rescuing lost sheep in a storm, and raising children while witnessing her mother\u2019s decline. Exploring the interdependence of animals, as well as of the earth and ourselves, Whybrow reflects on the ways sheep connect her to place and to the ancient practice of shepherding.\u00a0<\/p>\n From Clare Pearson, buyer: The primary joy of this book is allowing yourself to fall into the seasons and rhythms of the natural cycles on Helen Whybrow\u2019s sheep farm. Her writing, like the natural world, asks us to slow down and notice the beauty in the stewardship of land, animals and the people that sustain us. It describes a way of living that is both foreign and comforting.<\/p>\n A Psalm for the Wild-Built<\/p>\n By Becky Chambers From the publisher: It\u2019s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.<\/p>\n One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of \u201cwhat do people need?\u201d is answered. But the answer to that question depends on whom you ask, and how.<\/p>\n They\u2019re going to need to ask it a lot. Becky Chambers\u2019s new series asks: In a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?<\/p>\n From Lisa Frank, staff: This book takes place in a future utopia, centuries after humans gave 50% of the Earth back to nature, abandoning factories and automation after robots gained consciousness and were allowed to go free. Cities are built with sustainable, biodegradable materials. Tiny windmills and solar panels adorn buildings, appliances, and modes of transport. Food is plentiful. But one monk isn\u2019t content.\u00a0<\/p>\n Dex abandons their vocation at the monastery to travel the countryside offering tea and comfort to people in various small towns. A friendship with a visiting robot prompts questions about finding meaning and purpose in a frictionless utopia. This was a cozy read that encourages readers to find contentment and reward in the simple pleasures of existence.\u00a0<\/p>\n THIS WEEK\u2019S BOOK RECS COME FROM:<\/p>\n Explore Booksellers<\/p>\n 221 E. Main St., Aspen<\/p>\n (970) 925-5336<\/p>\n
Milkweed Editions
$26
June 2025
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Tordotcom, MacMillian
$24.99
July 2021
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