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.)
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.
randy's Favorites: Fiction Mystery Murakami & Magic Realism Dystopia Non-Fiction Graphic Novels
2018 Staff Picks
The depth of each character is phenomenal. And even though we know where we're headed, the manic pace of the ending is filled with a tension wound tighter with each turn of the page. A great read! - randy's June Staff Pick, 2018
Easily my favorite book of 2018! And I doubt another will come along. - randy's May Staff Pick, 2018
Sparse, beautiful prose that is packed full of feeling and meaning. This is a story about survival and all the dark, isolated experiences that accompany it. A real example of the empathy literature fosters. I loved it! - randy's April Staff Pick, 2018
Sal Cupertine continues his transformation into the Rabbi David Cohen, but he won't leave his old life behind. Gangster Nation brings back many of the great characters from Gangsterland, as well as introducing a new one that will wreak havoc on the Rabbi's life like none other. Goldberg does a masterful job of delving deep into each of his characters without losing the pace of a well crafted crime novel. What a great sequel! - randy's March Staff Pick, 2018
Tommy’s parents and sister are brutally murdered leaving him and his brother, Billy, looking for revenge. I enjoyed the story but what I really loved was the development of Tommy’s character. Older than his 14 years, he is constantly being confronted by the evils of the Australian Outback in 1885. And Howarth does a wonderful job describing the beauty found amongst all the sparseness and harshness of the desert. A great debut novel! - randy's February Staff Pick, 2018
Finding the words to describe how deeply moving this story is is beyond me. Beautiful prose, amazingly wonderful characters, and a narrative with the perfect mix of tension and tenderness. I absolutely loved it! And I am so grateful that Chloe Benjamin found these words and shared them with us. - randy's January Staff Pick, 2018