Matt's Picks
I grew up in Petoskey and started working at the store when it first opened. Some things are the same - we still have coffee and donuts, and the best staff recommendations in town. Some things are different - we have a second floor...and I can't put my hair in a ponytail anymore.
I love nonfiction, science fiction, graphic novels, novels, and pretty much everything else except the Gossip Girl series. My favorite living authors are Jess Walter, Robert Kurson and Tupac (I know he's still alive!). My favorite dead authors are Kurt Vonnegut, John Kennedy Toole and James Patterson (If he's alive why hasn't he written his own book in years?).
The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
For those of you familiar with Douglas Adam's series on "life, the universe, and everything," you'll understand how exciting it is to see the whole collection bound together! For those of you who have never read Adams before, you are in for a treat. This is a cult classic filled with the type of humor unique to Douglas Adams. He is able to poke fun at human behavior like no other author I've read.
Random House Publishing
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
World War Z is brain munching fun brought to you by the expert in all things zombie, Max Brooks. This is a very straight faced account of a zombie pandemic and the subsequent world wide war to exterminate the zombies. Told as a series of dispatches from the survivors we learn of the origins of the pandemic and watch as a series of tales begin to form a larger picture. It is often the case that horror stories, and zombie tales in particular, are used to poke fun at society and Brooks certainly does in World War Z, it doesn’t take much to guess which U.S. administration Brooks used as a model for the one in his book. This is a terrifically fun read on so many levels that it could only be brought to us by the son of Mel himself.
Crown Publishing Group
The Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke is one of my favorite mystery writers and his latest may well be his greatest. The Tin Roof Blowdown begins in those chilling moments before Katrina tore a hole through the heart of The Big Easy. When the town's least desirable take advantage of the ensuing chaos, Detective Dave Robicheax is left to pick up the pieces. Burke never holds back when writing about the racism and ugliness that was brought to the surface by that terrible storm and in the end, that it is what makes this mystery so powerful. Highly recommended!
Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing
Created in Darkness by Troubled Americans: The Best of McSweeney's Humor edited by Dave Eggers
Now this is not humor for everyone. A good litmus test is to try out the title "The Spirit of Christmas" or the transcript for the unused commentary for The Lord of the Rings. If these ideas don't grab you, this might not be your cup of tea. But, if you are like me, this unique collection of eccentric humor will be a treasure you'll feel lucky to have found.
Knopf Publishing Group
Naked In Baghdad: The Iraq War and the Aftermath as Seen by NPR's Correspondent by Anne Garrels
Anne Garrels takes you on a fascinating journey into the world of today's war correspondent. In the fall of '02 and spring of '03 she was documenting what the build up to war was doing to the Iraqi people. Go behind the scences to see what today's reporters go through to bring us the stories from the front line. You'll read about the bribing every reporter does simply to get in and out of the country, how every new conflict reunited old colleagues as well as rivalries, and the different tricks of the trade reporters use to get the stories in on time (like reporting naked to prevent government thugs from interrupting her broadcast.
Picador
When I was growing up faith was something that was a sacred and private matter. Your faith was something you no more discussed with strangers than your love life. Times have changed; people wear their faith on their sleeve, and on their ties, and on their car’s bumper. Every politician must explain their own personal relationship with the all-mighty. God Is Not Great is one of the latest books which discusses the relevance of faith in the modern world. With humor and wit Christopher Hitchens walks through many of the arguments against faith. Out of the most recent publications about atheism this is my favorite. If you, like me have come to question the morality of a church that spends more time protecting pedophile priests than it does the poor; a faith that turns killers into martyrs; a religion that declares divine ownership of land, then it may be time for you to give this good book a read.
Warner
Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
If Cartman from “South Park” wrote a social manifesto I image that it would be very similar to Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs and I mean this in the best possible way. So many of Klosterman’s observations ring true that, between laughs, I find myself nodding yes again and again. It is a special mind that can see parallels between the Trix Rabbit and Sisyphus or how the show “Saved by the Bell” says so much about my generation. At times the most irreverent insights can also be the most can be the most profound and this is what makes the book so much fun.
Scribner
Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II by Robert Kurson
In the early 1990s a group of deep sea divers heard of a good fishing spot and decided to dive on it. What they reeled in was bigger than any of them had imagined. They discovered a German U-boat our government had no record of sinking and the German government had no record of losing. So how did it wind up on the Jersey coast? Three men died trying to answer that question. Kurson has written a non-fiction book with the excitement and intrigue of any novel. If you enjoyed Into Thin Air or The Perfect Storm then you'll love Shadow Divers.
Random House Publishing Group
Everyone lies. Realtors lie to sell property faster. Holding out to sell your home for an extra $10,000 only means $150 for the realtor, so waiting for a better price isn’t always the priority they tell you it is. Our law enforcement lie to create or hide “crises” when it serves them to do so. In the run up to the Atlanta Olympics, law enforcement grossly under reported violent crime to increase their chances of winning the Olympic bid. They continue to do so; the Atlanta police department “lost” more than 22,000 reports in 2002 alone! But guess what? There is one thing that doesn’t lie: it’s the numbers
Steven D. Levitt, an economist with the University of Chicago, uses the numbers to give greater definition to what many of us see as a very grey world. He is not the kind of economist who is interested in the trade deficit or inflation rates. No, he wants to know if drug dealers make so much why do many still live at home or if naming your child “Loser” will ruin his/her life. Levitt asks these questions and many more in his new book, Freakonomics and lets the numbers do the answering. This is the kind of book that will drive your friends and family crazy because you won’t be able to shut up about it.
HarperCollins Publishers
The River of Doubt is the most fun I've had with a non-fiction book since Shadow Divers. After a failed attempt at a 3rd term in office (he joined a third party to run again) Teddy Roosevelt decided to explore an unknown tributary of the Amazon looking for adventure and to reinvigorate himself. What followed was a treacherous journey through some of the least hospitable terrain in the world. Millard has managed to write an account that captures both the peril and excitement of the expedition while still remaining historically accurate. This would be an exciting story if the explorer in question was not an ex-president but is made all the more interesting by this fact and leaves you with the realization that there just aren't people like this guy running for public office anymore.
Broadway Books
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq by Thomas E. Ricks
Despite where your politics lay, it is increasingly difficult to defend the current military action in Iraq and Thomas Ricks does an excellent job explaining why in Fiasco. Ricks is a seasoned military reporter for The Washington Post and his assessment of the current conflict should not be dismissed as unpatriotic or even unproductive. To date, this is one of the finest critiques of the war and answers many questions like "How did we not plan for an insurgency?" "How did Abu Ghraib happen?" and "Who were the major planners of the war and how culpable are they for its failings?" The answers may not be enjoyable, but they are thorough and backed up by numerous military sources, many of which are on the record. The disaster of this war will be something that Americans will need to cope with for generations and it is not an option to ignore the damage that has been done. It is our obligation to understand what has happened so that we may prevent it from occurring agian and Fiasco is an excellent step towards that understanding.
Penguin Group
A Death in Vienna by Daniel Silva
Calling A Death in Vienna a satisfying read does not do it justice. Silva's novels are solidly written backed by thorough research. His newest novel completes the trilogy started with The English Assassin. Central character Gabriel Allon's pursuit of a Nazi War criminal takes him around the world while those wishing to silence him are never far behind. The pace and action are only matched by the wonderful characters Silva has created here, the hit man chasing Gabriel down (the watchmaker) being one of my favorite. I must warn you though, if you are like me and haven't read the two earlier novels in the series, you won't be at all lost with this book, but you will be heading straight back to the shelf to read both The English Assassin and The Confessor for another dose of excitement.
Signet
Over the years I've heard many different CIA spook stories; "The CIA created aids", "the CIA brought Crack to the ghetto", "the CIA used LSD on prison inmates". Well as it turns out at least one of these claims is fact (I won't say which). The CIA has a jaw dropping history, at one point they actually studied the flight patterns of bats to see if they could be used to bomb Tokyo. Mr. Weiner has gathered it all together after a great deal of research and it makes for fantastic reading.
Doubleday Publishing