Better Luck Next Time, by Julia Claiborne Johnson

Staff Pick

Part comedy and part Western, Johnson's novel unfolds in 1938 Reno, Nevada, on a dude ranch for wealthy women looking to get legally divorced. Emily and Nina are two such guests, and during one memorable summer they become inseparable from Ward, a young cowboy, whose perspective shapes the narrative. As he recounts the trio's various hijinks, adventures, and the passion that would alter their lives forever, the novel sparkles with brilliant, witty dialogue, romance, and plot twists.

 

 

Better Luck Next Time: A Novel By Julia Claiborne Johnson Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9780062916365
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Mariner Books - January 5th, 2021

The Cactus League, by Emily Nemens

Staff Pick

In this remarkable debut novel from the editor of The Paris Review, we follow the fictional Los Angeles Lions baseball team as they embark upon spring training in Arizona. With nine chapters serving as connected short stories, we see the larger picture of the team, the star slugger struggling with addiction and divorce, the women hanging around the parking lots, the coaches and executives, organ players, and devoted kid fans. Baseball is all about the long game, and this novel perfectly captures the permanence of the institution throughout the changing landscape, environment and dynamic characters.                  

The Cactus League: A Novel By Emily Nemens Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780374117948
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Farrar, Straus and Giroux - February 4th, 2020

Running with Sherman by Christopher McDougall

Staff Pick

A heartwarming tale of the bond between humans and animals, Running With Sherman (Knopf, $27.95), by Christopher McDougall—best known for his bestselling Born to Run—is another masterful, fun, and inspiring memoir. This time he tells the story of Sherman, an abused donkey McDougall and his family adopted and brought to their farm in the Amish Country. Sherman was not expected to survive, but after McDougall did as someone advised and gave him a job—the donkey began to thrive. The job was preparing for the World Championship Leadville Burro Race in Colorado, an annual marathon run by humans and donkeys, side-by-side. Full of the kind of kooky characters and long-distance runners typical of McDougall’s other books, this one is more than just a compelling, feel-good page-turner. It’s also a powerful argument for why animals matter in our evolution of society, and how damaged we humans become when we turn away from them.

Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero By Christopher McDougall Cover Image
$27.95
ISBN: 9781524732363
Availability: Special Order—Subject to Availability
Published: Knopf - October 15th, 2019

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