What do you think your job is at Left Bank Books? Practical - buyer, merchandiser, and bookseller. Hopefully - provider of information that helps people better their lives and that strengthens the community.
If you could meet anyone, living or dead, who would you meet? Lois Long and Ulysses S. Grant. (Sorry, can't choose just one.)
What’s in the trunk of your car? Currently, jumper cables, lug wrench, tool box, Ryobi cordless drill-driver, bottle of motor oil, and old license plates.
If you had a super power, what would it be? Immortality. Is that a super power?
Favorite pair of shoes (past or present): Past - Doc Martin boots. Present - Chuck Taylor's.
What’s your sign? Really?
What sound do you love? Birds chirping at 4 a.m. (I get up really early.)
Here are my favorite books neatly grouped together: Coming Soon The Standards Indigenous Literature Murakami and More Murder and Mayhem What the What?!
And if you like talking about what you just read, join our Humble Beginnings book club to discuss the first novels from some of our favorite writers.
2019 Staff Picks
Master storytelling. Easily in my top 5 for 2019! - randy's November Staff Pick, 2019
Very few writers have the ability to write ensembles in which every character fascinates and grabs hold of you and won't let go. This is one who can. And Perley, raised on/by Elf Quest, is one of the greatest young kids you'll meet--Excellence is his motto! Highly recommended. - randy's October Staff Pick, 2019
First, I thought The Nickel Boys would be my favorite read of 2019. Then The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle was recommended, and I devoured it--best mystery I've ever read. Now comes along Bunny. Wow! At no momment was I quite sure what I was reading. I first thought it was a Meangirls/Heathers mashup, but then it quickly became Carrie via The Secrect History as seen through My Pretty Pony. It doesn't stop there, but I will so you can experience this gloriously fun romp of a satire. I loved it! - randy's September Staff Pick, 2019
With great characters, beautiful prose, and a moving story centered around actual events, The Nickel Boys again demonstrates Whitehead's mastery of the written word. Easily one of the best novels of 2019, and one of my favorites from the last 10 years. - randy's August Staff Pick, 2019
Wow! An incredibly original take on the locked-room mystery. THE. BEST. MYSTERY. I'VE. READ! - randy's July Staff Pick, 2019
The poignant reflections of a Cree family in 20th century Canada, MAMASKATCH is one of the best memoirs I've experienced! Filled with the questioning and self-doubts of a child suffering abuse after abuse from abuser after abuser, McLeod's prose exposes the strength of someone who has survived. - randy's June Staff Pick, 2019
David Chariandy can write a sentence. In fact, he can write a book full of great sentences! In a letter to his daughter, he shares what he knows and continues to learn about being in more than one of many groups of people never fully welcomed. But I was really moved by the strength he sees in her. Great read! - randy's April Staff Pick, 2019
It's not often that I find a book that is so fun to read and still has a lot of soul. This is a great one! Written as a collection of interviews, it's the shared memories of a 1970's rock band. Memories that are often in direct opposition but never incongruent. I have no problem declaring that this will be in my Top 5 reads of 2019! - randy's March Staff Pick, 2019
Deeply satisfying read. It can be difficult in moments, but the voice is direct and bare in a manner not achieved by many writers. I loved it! - randy's February Staff Pick, 2019
I'm left with a pit in my stomach. A blunt, straight forward plot about the violence men perpetuate. But also, a deftly handled story about the emotional terror women endure and the bonds they form in the face of it. Storytelling to be admired. - randy's January Staff Pick, 2019