R.J. Julia Booksellers


Click on any event below for more information or to order an autographed copy...

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

Directions

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: November 12, 2004

Faith's Picks:

Gilgamesh: A New English Version
translated by Stephen Mitchell

An unsurpassed translation of humankind's oldest epic. Written in 1700 B.C.E. and lost for two millenia, this is the story of the king of Uruk (present-day Iraq) and his voyage of self-discovery. It is quite astounding to realize that he was searching for answers to the same questions that haunt us today. This is a masterpiece of world literature and reading it is a fantastic, extraordinary experience.

Dysfunctional Family Christmas Songbook
by John Boswell, Lenore Skenazy

A collection of alternative versions of our traditional holiday songs. Pretty hilarious and perhaps a gift suggestion for the Scrooges on your list.

The Hanged Man's Song (Kidd Series)
by John Sandford

Set in the computer world, Bobby is the supreme hacker, known internationally but totally anonymous and in possession of embarrassing political information. He turns up dead, and Kidd and other computer whizzes try to find out why. Kidd is a good guy, but not above some shady doings in order to have things turn out right. A great book to make the time pass quickly.

And just published:

Someone Not Really Her Mother
by Harriet Scott Chessman

From the author of Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper, this new novel is about a contemporary American family living in Connecticut and three generations of women confronting memory, home, motherhood, and what each of them knows about their mother.

A Field Guide to Sprawl
by Dolores Hayden, Jim Wark (Photographer)

A collection of aerial photographs showing what our growing urban sprawl looks like from the air. Done by a professor of art at Yale University, this is a quite amazing way to understand what urban sprawl is all about and to get a feel for what is happening across America.

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Rose's Picks:

Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy
by Carlos Eire

A memoir of life in Cuba before and during Castro's rise to power, written by an 'airlift kid' who came to this country from Cuba in 1961. The son of a prosperous, if somewhat eccentric, judge in Havana, Carlos Eire gives us an interesting reminder of Cuba before Castro, as well as a picture of life as a here as a refugee. Compelling and moving, it is the story of how children overcome adversity and put the shards of their life together again.

Dancing with Einstein
by Kate Wenner

This is the story of Marea, growing up with a father who was a scientist on The Manhattan Project, a pacifist mother, and Einstein as her adopted grandfather. Her father is killed in a questionable car accident, and Marea, as a young adult, embarks on a journey, both internal and geographical, (and with the help of 4 therapists) to come to terms with her past. A joyful book.

The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck

Published in 1931, this is the moving story of the joys and tragedies of a poor Chinese peasant farmer and his family. An incredibly powerful book with the details and nuances of Chinese life finely observed. This is great literature: the tale of a life coming full circle with all of its trials are issues that we all relate to.

My Losing Season
by Pat Conroy

A memoir of the year, 1966-67, that the author played basketball for The Citadel. But like all sports stories, it is about so much more. The team did not win, but Conroy's premise is that one learns much more from loss than from winning. Told with flashbacks to his relationship with his abusive father, this is a beautiful accomplishment, with connections to his fictional works as well.

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Sally's Picks:

Almost
by Elizabeth Benedict

Sophie Chase has left her husband and 'almost' family on a Massachusetts island to pursue a hot relationship with an art dealer in New York City. When her almost ex-husband turns up dead, she returns to the island to find out why and to straighten out the pieces of her former life. This is Elizabeth Benedict's fourth novel and a great read - dark and intriguing with quite an unusual ending.

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker with CDROM
by Robert Mankoff, David Remnick, & Robert Mankoff

A great holiday book! Guaranteed to make you smile! Six hundred and fifty-six pages of New Yorker cartoons, pulled from the past eighty years, combined with 2 CDs containing all 68,647 of thei magazine's published cartoons. The perfect thing to get you through the long winter months ahead.

Off Minor
by John Harvey

Charlie Resnick is middle-aged, Polish, overweight, divorced, a jazz-lover, and has four cats - not your standard detective, but a prize-winning one when he was first introduced in Lonely Hearts. This is the fourth book in the series and revolves around two little girls, the same age but of different backgrounds. When one turns up dead the connections between them begin to appear. A real thriller, fast paced, with a unique and memorable main character.

Conversations with Flannery O'Connor
by Flannery O'Connor, Rosemary M. Magee (Editor)

American writer, particularly acclaimed for her stories which combined comic with tragic and brutal. This book conisists of a collections of interviews with notable modern writers.

The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor
by Flannery O'Connor, Sally Fitzgerald (Editor)

A follow-up to Rose's discussions on the last book show. These two books are a wonderful collection of Flannery O'Connor's letters, seminars, interviews, conversations, etc. over the course of her 39 years. They give a much more human face to her stories and how the evolved, who she was as a person and what she went through as an author.

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Roxanne's Picks:

Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do about It
by Virginia Nicholson

Between running ever-increasing deficits and importing much more than we export, we have developed an economy financed by foreign countries. If we do nothing to change, Peterson charges, we will be facing economic disaster. Written by the Secretary of Commerce under Nixon, this is a non-partisan book that discusses the economic issues we don't really want to talk about but really need to pay attention to.

Beauty Before Comfort
by Allison Glock

This book is a memoir about the writer's grandmother. If you enjoy family stories about vibrant, colorful personalities, you will enjoy this book. Set in West Virginia (also described as hillbilly country) during the 1930's and 1940's. The central character is a very unconventional grandmother - she's very funny, attractive and was probably more meant for Hollywood than West Virginia. A very entertaining story which also brings in some historical points. The most interesting historical part is it talks about the pottery factories which started back in the 1850's. It's also the family's business and the conditions the factory workers had to put up with were horrifying.

The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers
by Andy Borowitz

Here's a book on the other end of the political spectrum. This is a collection of Borowitz's daily reports commenting on the passing political scene. Limited to 800 words each, and with attention-grabbing headlines (Bush to Phase Out Environment by 2004; Bush Wins Nobel War Prize), this is a sharp and funny look at our cultural foibles.

1,000 Places to See Before You Die
by Patricia Schultz

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our breath away." This is a book for finding those places. Organized by continent, the sites range from the obvious to the obscure, but all fulfill the author's standard of being a spot that impresses one with a sense of the earth's magic, integrity, wonder, and legacy. A delicious book.

Walking the World's Most Exceptional Trails
by Eloise Napier

The Essential Book of Jewish Festival Cooking: 200 Seasonal Holiday Recipes and Their Traditions
by Phyllis Glazer, Miriyam Glazer

While giving a bit of information about the individual holidays, this book does a great job of updating traditional recipes without sacrificing the tradition. And with recipes like Cheese and Olive S'mores, it is good enough to cook from all year long.

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And From Our Listeners:

The Queen's Fool
by Philippa Gregory

Set in the last half of the 16th century, this is the story of Hannah, a Jewish girl, who with her father flees the Spanish Inquisition and ends up in England. Possessed with the gift of sight (the ability to see the future) she becomes a 'holy fool' to the ailing King Edward and becomes caught up in the life and intrigue of the Tudor Court. This is historical fiction and a fascinating read.

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