Recommendations Gone Wild

Yesterday, I put my indie bookselling cred on the line and memory to the test, resolving to recommend a book from each of the sections in our store.  9 hours and nearly 60 recommendations later, I pulled it off.

Collected here, you have proof that there’s no real reason (at least in terms of quality) to avoid any genre or topic in a bookstore.  There’s a lot to be found, be it in the mainstream or ghettoized sections.

Can you think of any topics that I missed?

Science Fiction / Fantasy - The Child Thief by Brom. Brutal, dark and compelling retelling of the story of Peter Pan. http://is.gd/4Jyp6

Sailing - A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast. This book is a must have for Maine sailors. Evry harbor, evry anchorage. http://is.gd/4Jykb

Gift Books - Love, Mom by Shafrir and Grose. Is your mom on Facebook or Twitter? This book is for you. http://is.gd/4JyeV

Current Affairs - Don’t Think of an Elephant! Fantastic piece of political writing about the importance of language. http://is.gd/4Jy9G

Nature/Pets - Wesley the Owl. Move over, dog memoirs! You just got owl’ed. http://is.gd/4Jy7o

Gardening - Wicked Plants by Stewart. If you’re one of those folks that thinks anything natural is good for you..um, no. http://is.gd/4Jy3p

Self-Help/Pop Psychology - Get High Now (Without Drugs). Very cool book about lucid dreaming, meditation, hallucination.. http://is.gd/4JxZD

Maine Cookbooks - RSVP by the Junior League of Portland. Traditional ME cooking from blueberry pancakes to Whoopie Pies. http://is.gd/4JqBD

Health/Diet – Your Big Fat Boyfriend. Advice to girls for living + eating w/a guy with fast metabolism (hey, like me!) http://is.gd/4Jqvt

Science – Physics of the Impossible. Applies real scientific theory to sci-fi ideas like time travel and energy shields. http://is.gd/4Jqob

Chapter Books - Encyclopedia Brown. Can’t mess w/a classic. These bks always made me feel like a little Sherlock Holmes. http://is.gd/4JoAQ

Lg Format History - Strange Maps by Jacobs. I LOVE maps, and this is a great collection of maps both realistic & fantastic http://is.gd/4Jod3

Homeblding/Architecture - BLDGBLOG Book. Curious what cities will lk like in 50 yrs? Rad collection of design predictions http://is.gd/4JnRI

Crafts - Photocraft, by Herter. Great book for crafty types to make coasters, mosaics and other cool stuff from yr photos http://is.gd/4Jnr2

Travel - Extreme Bars. Bars with programable taps! Inflatable bars! Bars in trees and bars underwater! EXTREMEEEEE!! http://is.gd/4JmYW

Staff Recs - Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. Hilarious Faustian bk that plays out in yr head like a Tim Burton movie. http://is.gd/4Jmu2

PB Bestsllrs (Fic) Art of Racing in the Rain. Typical bestsllr fare vastly improved by being told from a dog’s POV. http://is.gd/4JlJs

HC Bestsllrs (NonFic) – Superfreakonomics. Come for the global warming disc, stay for the teaching monkeys to use money. http://is.gd/4JlGL

HC Bestsllrs (Fic) – Juliet, Naked. Hornby returns to his best subjects - obsessive fandom + pop music - w/great results. http://is.gd/4JlF5

PB Bestsllrs (NonFic) – The Wordy Shipmates. The inimitable This American Life regular introduces you to the Pilgrims. http://is.gd/4JlMW

Computers and Tech – Twitter Wit. Hopefully I haven’t created some kind of singularity by recommending this on Twitter. http://is.gd/4JlOx

Audiobooks – World War Z. Not your momma’s audiobook. A full-on production of the oral hist, performed by a veteran cast. http://is.gd/4JlSJ

Youth Nonfiction – The US Constitution. The same pocket version of the Constitution I carried in my pocket in college. http://is.gd/4JjEa

Humor – Holy Sh*t: The World’s Weirdest Comic Books. Look at Amputee Love, Tales of the Leather Nun, and others. http://is.gd/4Jj6k

Reference – Show Me How! A visual guide with how-tos for everything from packing a suitcase to fighting a shark. http://is.gd/4JjaV

Toddler/Baby/Board Books – Gallop, Swing and Waddle by Seder. SCANIMATION WILL BLOW YOUR MIND. http://is.gd/4JiBd

Maine Kids – Blueberries for Sal. Absolutely classic. Pair with McCloskey’s other ME kids bks like One Morning in Maine. http://is.gd/4Jixm

Maine Fiction – State’s Witness. Fast-moving and clever mystery from the “John Grisham of Maine.” http://is.gd/4JiuC

Maine Travel – Good Beer Guide to New England. Essential for travelers and locals looking for good local beer. http://is.gd/4JiEi

Graphic Novels - The Nightly News by Hickman. A dense, funny, intense book with some groundbreaking design ideas. http://is.gd/4JgNl

Bio - All the Way Home. Step-by-step guide to converting a dilapidated rubber baron’s mansion into a family home. http://is.gd/4JfYW

History - Anything for a Vote by Cummins. News flash: elections have always been wicked dirty. Fun overview in ths grt bk http://is.gd/4JfwI

Sports - Instant Karma by Sheldrake. Zen and the art of ski maintainence. All about the joys and community of ski bumming http://is.gd/4JfjA

Maine Gift Books - Story of Sugarloaf by John Christie. Big, beautiful picture book about the history of @SugarloafMaine http://is.gd/4Jfcg

Middle Readers - Nerds by Buckley. Geeky, grade school super spies. Lots of fun, the book I would have read at age 10. http://is.gd/4Jf91

Personal Finance - Rich by 30 by Scorgie. Aimed at teens and young adults, but great all-around financial advice. http://is.gd/4Jf42

Beer/Wine - Extreme Brewing by Sam Calagione. Brew your own big-ass beer at home w/ help from the founder of @dogfishbeer http://is.gd/4JeTO

Cookbks - Just a Bunch of Recipes. A really simple guy-friendly cookbook with a lot of crowd-pleasing impressive recipes. http://is.gd/4JeDn

Philosophy/Religion - Socrates Cafe. Another fave, about conducting Socratic dialogues and answering the big questions. http://is.gd/4JezO

Parenting - Grand Theft Childhood. A robust study of the effect of exposure to video games on children. http://bit.ly/2M4ywi

Mystery - 13th Hour. Fast-moving mystery with a creative time travel conceit. Stupendously well-plotted. http://bit.ly/1OzIBT

Classics - To Kill A Mockingbird. My favorite book. Atticus is more of a hero than anyone in the comics I read. http://bit.ly/3tlTm

College Books- The Naked Roommate by Cohen. A bk I had my freshman year. All those issues you just might run into at uni http://bit.ly/PNSCk

Fiction - The Gone-Away World by Harkaway. Funny, genre-bending + unlike anything y’ve read. Rec’d to me by @bookavore http://bit.ly/19C7k8

Travelogues - The Ridiculous Race. One of the funniest bks we carry. I handsell more of this than anything else. http://bit.ly/fCJrU

Sex/Relationships- Guide to Getting it On. Charming, educational bk. If you want yr teen to pay attn to sex ed, get this http://bit.ly/C5Npp

Young Adult - Hush, Hush by Fitzpatrick. Great book for Twilight fans, replacing vamps w/ fallen angels. Set in Maine! http://bit.ly/hxhGT

Pop-Up Books - The Pop-Up House of Inventions. Original activity bk full of trivia about when/how things were invented. http://bit.ly/4vKWQ9

Photography - The Oxford Project. Totally original photo book that I reviewed on @murmur a while back. http://is.gd/4JaQU

Bargain Books - The Sweeter Side of R Crumb. Collectn of work from the famous artist. Marked down from 30 bucks to 9.99. http://is.gd/4JaxV

Maine Non-Fiction - The Lobster Coast by Woodard. The best history of ME (esp the coast) I’ve read. Must-read for locals. http://is.gd/4Jaoi

Music / Entertainment - Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil + Gillian McCain. The only history of punk music you’ll ever need. http://is.gd/4JaeK

Poetry - Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins. Poetry for people who aren’t poetry fans. Quirky, clever read. http://is.gd/4J9Y3

Art - Gig Posters, Vol 1. Beautifully produced bk collecting rock-show posters. Wicked original art, great for music fans http://is.gd/4J9n9

Maritime Fic/Nonfic - George Washington’s Secret Navy by James Nelson. Story of the tiny, secret navy Washington built http://is.gd/4J9hh

Picture Books - Beware of the Frog by William Bee. Awesome, darkly funny story with amazing construction paper-esque art http://is.gd/4J9c1

Tags: book recommendations, Books, bookselling