Category: Newsletter

A Q&A with Michelle Gallen

June 30, 2023

Michelle Gallen (photo credit Brideen Baxter and Deci Gallen/Simpletapestry.com)

She’s the author of our July featured staff pick, Factory Girls. Questions by Emily Berg, store manager.

Q: This is a work of fiction, but it does take place in a time and place you lived. Of the three girls, is there one whose feelings and experiences most closely reflect your own?

A: I think each character has strengths, weaknesses, griefs and talents that I envy or fear, and that’s why they are all so vivid to me. I also feel incredibly close to both Deirdre – Maeve’s sister – and I adore Fidelma, the fist-fighting factory worker who elbows her way into the narrative.

Having said that, when I worked in a shirt factory, I did press shirts, and the hard physical experience of that is one I brought to the book. In one way, it was an incredibly zen job – I have never since got so ‘lost’ in my work, or felt so in the flow. But I found the socio-political side of working in the factory hugely stressful – I worked alongside lots of clever, quick-witted people who were also watchful and wary – I never felt like I could keep up with the ‘banter’, and disliked the underlying current of mistrust.

Q: Maeve has some memories of programs set up (in school and out) to bring Catholics and Protestants together. Did you participate in any such programs and, if so, did you find they were successful in anyway?

A: I think the fundamental problem with these programs is that they are based on premise that children who have been brought up in a society that is structurally biased and segregated at almost every level, run by adults who aren’t doing all that much to change the dynamic, will bring about peace simply by hanging out for the weekend and doing some mildly risky outdoors activities. If it were that easy, Mo Mowlam and Bill Clinton would’ve had a much easier time of it in the peace process. I think these programs were better than nothing. But they also placed an enormous burden on our shoulders, while giving us almost no power to make changes. I think if the adults and interested parties had placed all that energy and funding into integrating the schools, our peace process would be a lot more advanced than it currently is – and the current school system would be spending its money on a shared education instead of wasting money segregating students.

Q: The book captured the feeling of having that first apartment, out on your own with a friend. What was your first apartment like?

A: Oh I didn’t live independently until I got to university, and it wasn’t the same experience, as I knew nobody in Dublin and had to room with a total stranger. I know that’s quite a common college experience in the US, but very unusual in Ireland, where everyone knows each other or has family they can stay with. I lived with a student from Newry and one from Tipperary. We were all utterly different from each other but I bonded well with the student who had come from Northern Ireland. Our lives were much more similar than students who had never experienced the Troubles, who had no idea of what the conflict was like. Although I didn’t drink, I loved hosting friends and parties in my flat. I had the only computer in the building, so lots of geeks came to hang out and use the program Eliza to work through their problems, or to play basic arcade games. We also had ‘sessions’ where we’d get together to sing and play guitar. The building I lived in was occupied mostly by students – so I got to meet and mix with people from all over Ireland for the first time. It was an incredible experience, even if I was also homesick for the North.

Q: Have you heard the audio book version of Factory Girls? Did you think the narrator’s accent was accurate? (I believe she’s English.)

A: I actually had the opportunity to hear the shortlisted narrators before the final choice was made, so I was thrilled to discover that Northern Irish actors were in the line up. I loved the selected narrator, Amy Molloy, who grew up in Belfast. She captures all the different voices and characters just beautifully. Nicola Coughlan – who plays Clare in Derry Girls – narrated my first book, Big Girl Small Town. Nicola isn’t from Northern Ireland, but obviously her work in refining her accent for Derry Girls helped her nail the narration too.

Q: What are you currently reading?

A: Oh I’m reading about 10 books at the moment because I’m a bit overloaded juggling the the chaos of a renovation, work and travel. So to escape into the world of a deliciously eccentric character, I’m reading Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent. To improve my French and consider the horror of always being in the first flush of love, I’m reading Mon Mari by Maud Ventura. And to keep myself doing ‘The Work’ I’m reading Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine.

Ed note: In English, Mon Mari is My Husband by Maud Ventura, translated by Emma Ramadan.

Q: Are you working on anything new?

A: I’m silly busy writing at the moment 😱 I’m trying to finish a fourth book instead of redrafting my third, simply because every time I sit down to start the redraft of the third book, the narrator of the fourth book grabs me by the throat and won’t let go until I’ve exhausted that voice. I’m also working on the adaptation of Big Girl Small Town for screen with BBC production company Lookout Point, and working on the adaptation of Factory Girls for TV with Irish Production company Deadpan Pictures. I feel like I am being jostled on all sides by characters, locations, voices and events – on top of finishing up a house renovation, parenting, and travelling for work in the ‘real’ world. It’s funny how exhausting having your dreams come true is 😂

Q: One of my favorite quotes from the book is “If Aoife fell into a barrel of c*cks she’d come out sucking her own thumb.” Is this an idiom I just may not have heard as an American or a Michelle Gallen original phrase? I love it.

A: Hahahahah no it’s a phrase I first heard in Belfast. I can still remember how hard I laughed. It’s TERRIBLE. It’s brilliant! I’m heading up to Belfast shortly for an event and I can’t wait to catch up with all my friends there – it will be like drinking pure comedy gold.

June Staff Pick: Stone Blind

May 26, 2023

by Robin Wood

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes (Harper), picked by Bookseller Camila

“I see you. I see all those who men call monsters. And I see the men who call them that. Call themselves heroes, of course. I only see them for an instant, Then they’re gone. But it’s enough. Enough to know that the hero isn’t the one who’s kind or brave or loyal. Sometimes – not always, but sometimes – he is monstrous.

And the monster? Who is she? She is what happens when someone cannot be saved. This particular monster is assaulted, abused, and vilified. And yet, as the story is always told, she is the one you should fear. She is the monster.

We’ll see about that” – Stone Blind

Most people that know me, know that I absolutely LOVE Greek mythology. Circe by Madeline Miller is one of my top book recommendations, and when I was just a ‘tween in middle school Clash of the Titans was a favorite of mine! I think I watched that movie over 50 times. Gods and goddesses coming to the aid of our hero Perseus (played by a young Harry Hamlin), demigod and the son of Zeus! I cheered him on while he on on his quest to save Andromeda and slay the gorgon Medusa. When I came across Natalie Haynes’ Stone Blind on the Indie Bestseller list I knew that this was going to be my next book recommendation. I couldn’t wait to delve into the legend of Medusa.

Stone Blind is a beautifully written retelling of the classic myth of the gorgon Medusa. Medusa’s story is narrated by the multiple characters in the book. Each chapter is told from various perspectives including Medusa herself, her gorgon sisters (Sthenno & Euryale), Perseus, Athene, Poseidon, Hera, and many more. We even hear from the “gorgons head” and an olive grove, truly original storytelling!

We learn how the gorgon Medusa came to be as we know her, writhing snakes replacing her beautiful hair, her eyes replaced with a burning weapon that will turn any living creature to stone and condemn her to a life of solitude. Haynes’ storytelling weaves a beautiful tale of love between the gorgon sisters and the heartbreak of what was to come. The vilified gorgons come across as the most human and caring characters while the heroes and gods are petty, callous, cruel and violent. We follow Perseus on his quest to slay Medusa, and while reading we find ourselves on the side of the monsters while abhorring the behavior of the hero Perseus and disgusted by behaviors of the gods & goddesses.

I was already familiar with the legend of Medusa & Perseus. I found myself dreading their eventual confrontation and kept hoping for a different ending. Stone Blind leaves you questioning who really is the monster? And who are the true heroes? Natalie Haynes writes with wit and heartbreak, telling a story that has you rooting for the “monsters.”

~ Camila

Celebrate Pride – A Free People Read Freely

May 25, 2023

by Robin Wood

People sometimes look at our banned books display and say: They aren’t really banned, are they? You have them for sale here.

Some of the books you’ll likely find on our Pride Reads display this year.

Yes, you can buy Judy Blume’s Forever or Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye or All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson in our store or from our online shop. But those same books can’t be found in many schools and libraries here in Florida or around the country. PEN America, a nonprofit that advocates for free expression, found that during the 2021-2022 school, Florida schools banned 565 books, many of them because they have “LGBTQ+ themes, protagonists of color, or that touch on race or racism.”

We sell books because we believe books are important. We believe books help us think about who we are and who we could be. Hiding the books doesn’t erase the history some people would like to forget, or stop people from being gay or nonbinary or transgender – but it may make those experiences harder for many people to talk about, learn about, and empathize with.

As Juno Dawson, author of This Book is Gay, says, “LGBTQ people exist. We have always existed. Banning books isn’t going to remove us from the world. What it will do is leave a vulnerable minority in real danger. Young LGBTQ people deserve the same education and information as anyone else.”

Or as LeVar Burton, former host of Reading Rainbow, says, “Read the books they’re banning. That’s where the good stuff is! If they don’t want you to read it, there’s a reason why.”

Celebrate Pride with us by reading something from our Pride Reads display or browse online: fiction & nonfiction.

* Thanks to Tracie D. Hall, Executive Director of the American Library Association, for the phrase, “Free people read freely.” (https://time.com/6276657/librarian-tracie-d-hall-full-time100-speech/)

Celebrating Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 1, 2023

by Robin Wood

Here are some of the books we are reading and recommending for Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Find many more in store, and don’t hesitate to ask for a recommendation.

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang, out May 16

White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences… Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn’t write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American—in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu

From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes “one of the funniest books of the year…. A delicious, ambitious Hollywood satire” (The Washington Post).

A deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

This house eats and is eaten . . .

When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised.

But the house has other plans.

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

An intimate and poignant debut graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam, from Thi Bui.

This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

From the indie rock sensation known as Japanese Breakfast, an unforgettable memoir about family, food, grief, love, and growing up Korean American—“in losing her mother and cooking to bring her back to life, Zauner became herself” (NPR)

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can’t remember exactly when the feeling took root—that desire to look, to move closer, to touch. Whenever it started growing, it definitely bloomed the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. Suddenly everything seemed possible.

But America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father—despite his hard-won citizenship—Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. His mother Margaret, a Chinese American poet, left without a trace when he was nine years old. He doesn’t know what happened to her—only that her books have been banned—and he resents that she cared more about her work than about him.

Then one day, Bird receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, and soon he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of heroic librarians, and finally to New York City, where he will finally learn the truth about what happened to his mother, and what the future holds for them both.

Stay True by Hua Hsu

In the eyes of eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu, the problem with Ken—with his passion for Dave Matthews, Abercrombie & Fitch, and his fraternity—is that he is exactly like everyone else. Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who makes ’zines and haunts Bay Area record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to. The only thing Hua and Ken have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn’t seem to have a place for either of them.

But despite his first impressions, Hua and Ken become friends, a friendship built on late-night conversations over cigarettes, long drives along the California coast, and the successes and humiliations of everyday college life. And then violently, senselessly, Ken is gone, killed in a carjacking, not even three years after the day they first meet.

Determined to hold on to all that was left of one of his closest friends—his memories—Hua turned to writing. Stay True is the book he’s been working on ever since. A coming-of-age story that details both the ordinary and extraordinary, Stay True is a bracing memoir about growing up, and about moving through the world in search of meaning and belonging.