R.J. Julia Booksellers


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Fri, 5/16 4 PM		Jerry Spinelli - Kids Smiles to Go

Wed, 5/21 7 PM		Carl Hiaasen - Golf The Downhill Lie

Tue, 5/27 7 PM		Robert H. Patton Patriot Pirates

STORE INFORMATION

RJ Julia Booksellers
768 Boston Post Road
Madison, CT 06443
203.245.3959
800.74.READS
books@rjjulia.com

Mon-Sat: 9am – 9pm
Sun 10am – 6pm

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RJ CAFÉ

Serving Lunch, Dinner, Homemade Pastries, Coffee and Tea
Mon-Sat: 9am - 9pm
Sun: 10am - 6pm

Managed by La Rosticceria, Carry Out Caterers

The RJ Café is proud to display unique art exhibits from the ALVA Gallery in New London, CT

NEWS FROM RJ JULIA

FEATURES

Faith Middleton Show

Our History

R.J. JULIA AWARDS


	Thank you for voting us # 1.

THE FAITH MIDDLETON SHOW ON WNPR

Show Date: August 19, 2005

ROXANNE'S PICKS:

The History of Love
by Nicole Krauss

This has been reviewed in every place that books have been reviewed. I normally run the other way when a book has been reviewed this much, but it deserves every accolade it has received. A complicated plot essentially about a Polish immigrant named Leo Gerstein (also the narrator) and a young 15-year-old girl. Leo is such a full, rich character. I'm still not sure how the book ends - there are lots of different characters and plot lines and I'm not sure how they're related to each other, but I ended up not caring about not being able to figure it out because the story is so compelling.

Freddy and Fredericka
by Mark Helprin

Helprin usually writes very serious books, but this book is very different and utterly hilarious. The story is about a prince and princess of England who cannot stay out of the press. She loves the celebrity life and he laments it. The queen decides to send them to America so they can better learn how to serve their country before they become King and Queen. They even get the pleasure of taking a public bus ride. I was laughing all through the book.

Imagining Argentina
by Lawrence Thornton

This is one of my top 100 books of all time. Thornton creates such a lush, evocative atmosphere. The story centers around a professional married couple and then the wife suddenly disappears. The husband now has the power to see what happens to others when they lose a loved one and he becomes renown for this. While he can tell the whereabouts of others, he still is unable to know what happened to his own wife. A love story, mystery, and a book that everyone I recommend it to winds up adoring.

Broken Prey
by John Sandford

My friend Esther Newberg, the great literary agent, has been telling me to read this series. I'm not a huge fan of suspense books, but the minute I picked it up I literally couldn't put it down. It is enormously gripping and entertaining and I love the quality of saying “I've got to get back to this book”.

Ulysses S. Grant: The Unlikely Hero
by Michael Korda

After reading this book I am now fascinated by Grant – awkward and unsuccessful until he became a military strategist. What is also intriguing is the role he had in mending the US after the Civil War, especially since he's considered a fairly unsuccessful president.

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FAITH'S PICKS:

A Place to Take Root

The U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington D.C. is holding a show which documents the history of the flowerpot. This book is about the show and it's just a gorgeous book.

Stealing with Style
by Emyl Jenkins

I spoke about this last time when I was 2/3rd of the way throught the book. I've now finished it and adore this book. This story is about a mystery that takes place in the antique world. It's a great way to learn more about how the antique world works – locally and on a bigger scale. If you're a fan of PBS's Antique Roadshow, you will love this book.

Faith Is a Verb
by Chris Goodwrich

Author of books on Yale Law, this time Goodwrich decided to turn his attention to Habitat of Humanity. He writes about their history, their philosophy, and interviews with people such as Jimmy Carter. This is a great way to learn more about a wonderful organization.

The Painted Drum
by Louise Erdrich

This book is coming out on September 6 and it is her first novel set in contemporary times. While appraising an estate in New Hampshire, the heroine finds a Native American drum and ventures out to find the owner and history of the drum.

Exploring East End Waters
by Mike Bottini

When I finished the book, I wanted to throw a kayak on top of my car and head out to the east end of Long Island. The author gets into the variety of paddling areas: ponds, bays, etc. Included in the book are 30 paddling trips with hand-drawn maps and special things to pay attention to, along with beautiful photographs.

Your Rights: A Handbook for Patients with Chronic Illness
by Jennifer Jaff

Written by a lawyer and patient advocate who has a chronic disease, this is a handbook for patients who are living with a chronic illness. It provides free legal information, advice and assistance for a patients medical rights – pretty much anything the patient needs to know is in the book. You can learn more about this by visiting the Web site: www.advocacyforpatients.org.

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LEE'S PICKS:

Modern Irish Short Stories
by Ben Forkner

A book of short stories that has all the usual suspects: W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, Edna O'Brien, William Trevor, and many more. It contains loads and loads of fun stories written with such funny Irish wit.

Back Story
by Robert Parker

The minute I opened up this book, I was hooked. Parker writes so beautifully - he gives you a such a great sense of description in so few words. This is a typical Spenser mystery. A woman is killed in a bank robbery 28 years earlier and now the woman's daughter comes to Spenser to find out who the killer was. While unraveling the mystery, he finds out that the biggest mafia in Boston is involved. This makes a great summer read.

A Thousand Acres
by Jane Smiley

My first try reading this book I put it down after a few pages. After a good friend told me I had to give it another try, I picked it up again and liked it much better. This is a re-telling of King Lear. The Lear character is Larry who decides to give his farm to his daughters and their husbands. I thought the book was interesting but it in no way gave me a sense of satisfaction in the way King Lear did.

Anil's Ghost
by Michael Ondaatje

Set in Sri Lanka, an English archeologist travels to Sri Lanka and discovers a set of bones. It turns out the bones are in fact not very old and are part of the government killing people and burying the bones. The book is beautifully written, fast-paced and engaging.

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ROSE'S PICKS:

Rights from Wrongs
by Alan Dershowitz

In this book, Dershowitz talks about the origin of rights and how we gained them. He also explains the danger in thinking we have God given rights because we all have different ideas/versions of God. He explains that our rights come out of historical experience – we look at our past and, out of the wrongs of the world, our rights are created. This is a very compelling book.

Ava's Man
by Rick Bragg

This memoir focuses on Bragg's grandfather who, throughout the depression, managed to put food on the table. That author has such an ability to get into the heart of his family and to the essence of what family is all about.

American Prometheus
by Kai Bird

This book is based on thousands of records and interviews on J. Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was an extraordinarily complex man who rose to great fame, and then was disgraced during the McCarthy years because of his communist involvement. It discusses his goals for a socialist America and the making of the atomic bomb – which he knew the serious dangers about.

Specimen Days
by Michael Cunningham

This book is written by Pulitzer Prize winner of The Hours. There are many similarities to The Hours– 3 different stories in 3 different time periods, this time about Walt Whitman. It's confounding, compelling, and Cunningham is a fantastic writer.

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