Zach Recommends

The Secret Miracle: The Novelist's Handbook
edited by Daniel Alarcón
978-0-8050-8714-7
Henry Holt
$16.00

Secrets. Miracles. Revelations. Don't have a charming redhead to propel you into creativity? Try this instead! A wide ranging collection of writers talk about what gets them going, what keeps them going, about fears, deadlines & projections — inspirations, paintings & writers they admire. If you can't track down Chris Abani, Paul Auster or Michael Chabon, settle with this.

Frank Recommends

Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild
by Lee Sandlin
978-0-307-37851-4
Pantheon
$26.95

A rollicking history of the Mississippi River, before Mark Twain, before it was changed and semi-tamed. Full of historical tidbits that will keep you reading!

Debra Recommends

Who Fears Death
by Nnedi Okorafor
978-0-7564-0669-1
DAW
$15.00

The strong, magic-wielding young woman, Onyesonwu (who fears death?), goes up against warring genocidal African tribes in the post-apocalyptic Saharan desert. Violent, disturbing, harsh — beautiful, moving, memorable.

Frank Recommends

Arctic Dreams
by Barry Lopez
from Vintage Books
$16.00

A wonderful book of the far north. It's been many years since I first read this books, but parts still stay with me . . . especially what polar bear milk tastes like. You'll have to read it to find out!

Catherine Recommends

Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy
by Carlos Eire
978-1-4391-8190-4
Free Press
$26.00

I loved Waiting for Snow in Havana so I was excited to find Learning to Die.... Eire's memoir of his life as an American doesn't disappoint. It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. From his time as an 11 year old airlifted from Cuba to shocking foster homes in Miami, to his trip as an adult to countries of the former Eastern Bloc, Eire plumbs the refugee experience with grace.

Staff Holiday Picks

The staff of Sam Wellers have all weighed in with their picks for holiday giving. Take a look:

• Lane Richins - Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Donald Stokes
• Debra Evans - Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett and Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book by Andrew Williamson
• Zach Sampinos - Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
• Frank Pester - King James Bible Quartercentenerary Edition with essay by Gordon Campbell
• Bruce Christensen - Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
• Jason Rabb - Listen to This by Alex Ross
• Tony Weller - Red Book by C. G. Jung, 75 Years of DC Comics by Paul Levitz, World of Ornament by A. Racinet, Frank Lloyd Wright: 1917 - 1942 by Bruce B Pfeiffer, Dressing a Galaxy by Trisha Biggar
• Todd Bailey - Twas the Night Before Christmas illustrated by Matt Tavares
• Joan Nay - King James Bible Quartercentenerary Edition with essay by Gordon Campbell, Historical Atlas of the North American Railroad by Derek Hayes, Bible: The Story of the King James Version by Gordon Campbell
  
• Jan - Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris
• Catherine Weller - Instructions by Adam Levin
• Liz Shattler - Just Kids by Patti Smith
• Stephanie Leitch - Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art by Ethel Seno and Andy Goldsworthy Project by Molly Donovan
• Travis Nelson - Gilded Latten Bones by Glen Cook
• Elizabeth Evaschuck - Spiderwick Chronicles (all of them!) by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black
• Neal Jensen - Lego - Atlantis BrickMaster and Lego Star Wars BrickMaster
• Jennifer Nielsen - Photographic Card Deck of The Elements by Theodore Gray

As you can see, the interests of the Weller booksellers are a diverse and wide ranging bunch. We love to read. We love to talk about books. In fact, we STILL think books are among the best gifts to give and receive.

Employees' Holiday Picks

The front of our store holds a growing display, our Employee's Holiday Picks table. Instead of throwing them all out at once, we in WellerWorld prefer a more gradual approach. Each day a new employee pick shows up on the table. It's rather like an advent calendar. Here's what has been selected so far:

• Lane Richins - Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America by Donald Stokes
• Debra Evans - Rabbit Problem by Emily Gravett and Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Book by Andrew Williamson
• Zach Sampinos - Four Agreements by Miguel Ruiz
• Frank Pester - King James Bible Quartercentenerary Edition with essay by Gordon Campbell
• Bruce Christensen - Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine
• Jason Rabb - Listen to This by Alex Ross
• Tony Weller - Red Book by C. G. Jung, 75 Years of DC Comics by Paul Levitz, World of Ornament by A. Racinet, Frank Lloyd Wright: 1917 - 1942 by Bruce B Pfeiffer, Dressing a Galaxy by Trisha Biggar
• Todd Bailey - Twas the Night Before Christmas illustrated by Matt Tavares
• Joan Nay - King James Bible Quartercentenerary Edition with essay by Gordon Campbell, Historical Atlas of the North American Railroad by Derek Hayes, Bible: The Story of the King James Version by Gordon Campbell
  
• Jan - Simple Times: Crafts for Poor People by Amy Sedaris
• Travis Nelson - Gilded Latten Bones by Glen Cook
  

Stay tuned! There's more to come.

Rabb Recommends

John Henry Days
by Colson Whitehead
978-0-385-49820-3
Anchor Books
$14.95

Looking for free drinks & prime rib, cheapskate-junketeer-freelance writer goes for the record of the most consecutive junketing days as he covers the John Henry postage stamp festival of West Virginia.

Frank Recommends

Basin and Range
by John McPhee
978-0-374-51690-1
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
$15.00

John McPhee travels Interstate 80, whose road cuts did much to advance our knowledge of the geology of the U.S. Geologic facts mixed with personal insight and commentary

Zach Recommends

Urban Soul Warrior: Self-mastery in the Midst of the Metropolis
by Lalania Simone
978-1-59376-212-4
Soft Skull Press
$15.95

This book shows how anyone can rule their own mind and run their own life. Lalania Simone lays it all out. The book is full of mindfulness exercises. Different meditations and plenty of blank space to put your ideas and notes on.

Jan Recommends

Truth & Beauty: A Friendship
by Ann Patchett
978-0-06-057215-0
Harper Perennial
$14.99

Stunning and conflicted story of Patchett's 20 year relationship with college roommate Lucy Grealy. Patchett's fiction (Bel Canto, etc.) is good, but this is inspirational.

Catherine Recommends

Down and Derby: The Insider's Guide to Roller Derby
by Jennifer "Kasey Bomber" Barbee and Alex "Axels of Evil" Cohen
978-1-59376-274-2
Soft Skull Press
$14.95

Curios about the Derby revival? Perhaps you've gone to the Derby a time or two and STILL can't figure out what's going on? Derby aficionado? This book is for all of you. Written by two derby gals, one of whom is an NPR local host.

Neil Recommends

The Peregrine
by J. A. Baker
978-1-59017-133-2
New York Review Books Classics
$15.95

This book is a fight to put down, and you will most likely lose that fight. J. A. Baker follows a falcon as it lives in northern England for a season and masterfully tells this story with the bird.

I Recommend

Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader
by Anne Fadiman
978-0374-52722-8
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
$12.00

Fadiman's collection of essays on the joys of reading, of words, and of books never fails to delight me and renew my passion for the same.

Neil Recommends

Go, Mutants!
by Larry Doyle
978-0-06-168655-9
Ecco
$23.99

Summertime! The time for drive-in movies, hot-rod races, and no-goodnik punk teens. This has it all, plus some old-fashioned humor sprinkled in for good measure.

Jennifer Recommends

Logicomix
by Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos H. Papadimitriou
978-1-59691-452-0
Bloomsbury
$22.95

Math! In Pictures!
Logic! With Bertrand Russell♥!
A thrilling read for comic fans and math-phobes!!! True statement!

Debra Recommends

Heroes of the Valley
by Jonathan Stroud
978-1-4231-0967-9
Disney Hyperion Books
$8.99

So very "not-your-hero" type, prankster Halli goes on a quest to avenge the family honor–and in doing so learns what it truly means to be heroic. Funny, exciting, scary and totally engrossing.

Catherine Recommends

The Outside Boy
by Jeanine Cummins
978-0-451-22948-9
New American Library
$15.00

Pavees–or travelers–are also known as Irish gypsies. We meet them through the eyes of Christy, an 11 year old boy full of sadness and guilt over the death of his ma. When his grandfather dies, Christy begins a search for identity that has him delving into family secret and a past he can't recapture.

Karla Recommends

Hero Type
by Barry Lyga
978-0-547-24877-6
Graphia
$8.99

Lyga is very good at creating believable teen characters who struggle with personal demons and/or current issues. In Hero Type the protagonist examines free speech and the meaning of patriotism.

Rabb Recommends

Essex County
by Jeff Lemire
978-1-60309-038-4
Top Shelf Productions
$29.95


A graphic novel of the wind-blown plains of Ontario. A town's history full of Hockey & Heart.