Day 111: The Beast , My Story by Adebayo Akinfenwa

Chatting Books Online Day 111. Today is a big day , The Wycombe Wanderers are playing in the playoffs of League One Football in England and in honor of the big day I have chosen a book by our biggest player The Beast by Adebayo Akinfenwa. The book is the story of his life starting as a young boy in a working class family in London and growing into the man FIFA refers to as the Strongest man in football today with over 2 million social media followers.

Watching him play is an amazing thing. Here is this huge body builder looking guy who can just with the lightest touch of his head or foot send the football into the back of the net from the most improbably angles. Reading the book really gives you a terrific insight into Bayo as a person that you don't necessarily get watching him play. Of course the book was originally published in 2016 just after Bayo had joined the Wanderers so it does not include the win from League 2 to League 1 and obviously not the effects of this season - I am thinking a sequel may be in order!

The paperback book is 267 pages and sells for $15.99 a copy.

Let's all pull for the Blues today!

To purchase a copy of this book either stop by the shop Monday - Saturday between 10:30 and 4pm, or email me at missy@conundrumbooks.com to complete a purchase online for either pick up or shipping . Be Well.

Day 110 : The Day the Crayons Quit

Chatting Books Online Day 110. Today's recommended book is a favorite from the children's storybook section. The Day The Crayons Quit makes me chuckle everytime I read it. The basic story is that a young boy goes to get his crayons and in their place is a stack of letters each from a different crayon complaining about how (and why) they are overworked or overlooked and how they just can't take it anymore! Don't worry it ends happily with an "A" on an art project and a follow up book "The Day the Crayons Came Home" ! Sure to be enjoyed by both you and the children you are reading it to this hardcover storybook sells for $ 17.99 a copy.

Day 109 : The Alchemist

Chatting Books Online Day 109 . Today I want to recommend The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. This mystical little book is the story of Santiago an Andalusian boy who sets out on a journey to find treasures and ends up teaching us so many lessons not the least of which is to always follow our dreams .

In the 32 years since it was originally published this book has appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers List no less than 315 times ! It has been translated into 80 languages making it the most translated book by any living author . At only 208 pages it is not a long book and you will get so much out of these pages but the simplicity of the book and the story is part of it’s beauty and it’s message.

We carry the book in paperback for $16.99 a copy .

Day 108: The Tragedy of Brady Simms

Chatting Books Online Day 108 . Today’s recommended book is the last novel published by Ernest J. Gaines before his death. The Tragedy of Brady Sims brings into full focus a small bayou town struggling with issues related to race relations and misguided youth and the man who sees it as his job to to try to keep wayward young men from the much worse fate of ending up in Angola Prison .

Ernest J. Gaines was an incomparable storyteller and all of his books are endowed with a true sense of place, this one is no exception . You will be right there on the main street in Bayonne along with this incredibly well drawn cast of characters .

This is a short novel of only 114 pages in paperback format selling for $15.00 a copy.

Day 107 : I, John Kennedy Toole

Chatting Books Online Day 107 . To my mind one sign of good book is that when you have finished reading it you are curious . It may have you curious to know what happens next in the lives of the characters in the case of pure fiction . Or you may want to learn more about the region in which the book is set . In the case of books with at least a little basis in fact it can make you curious to learn more about the people and events st the center of the story .

That was the case with the brand new novel I, John Kennedy Toole by Kent Carroll (previously editor-in-chief at Grove Press) and Jodie Blanco . That’s right I said novel . It is the back story of the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces. Fans of “Dunces” have all read Walker Percy’s forward and probably thought we knew the story but in this novelized telling of the story we learn so much more and see the story unfold through the eyes of Toole , his creation Ignatius, his editors , and of course his mother .

When I finished reading the book I immediately watched the television interviews with Thelma Toole mentioned in the book . She was being interviewed in relation to the runaway success of the book so many years after her son’s death . Let me tell you after hearing people say she was a force of nature and then reading this book I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I would see - was I wrong . To say someone is
bigger than life is one thing , to watch Thelma Toole talk about herself and her brilliant son is to take it to another level .

The book is written in such a way that even though you know how it will end you keep turning the pages because of the interesting way the story line weaves in and out of time . Starting just before Toole’s death and then flashing both back through time to learn about Toole and his motivations and into the future to see the progress of the book through time even after his death keeps the narrative thoroughly engaging .

A must read for fans of A Confederacy of Dunces and fans of Southern Literature in general .

This book is currently only available in hardcover selling for $25.95 a copy

Day 106: The Week in Review June 22-28. 2020

How can another week be over already? How can I have already made over 100 recommendations since Covid changed our world?

This week we not only travelled all over this world but we left this world , and this place in time as well!

We started with a trip I should (by all rights in a normal world) been on right now with A Gardeners Travel Companion to England, then we traveled to the beaches of Florida in Hello, Summer. We let our minds wander in “Every Day a Word Surprises Me”, then flew right out of time and place with A Wrinkle in Time. Not to sit still (in our minds at least) we then skipped back across the pond this time for a visit to Wigtown, Scotland for a visit with bookstore owner Shaun Bythell in The Diary of a Bookseller, then finally returned home with our friend Jason Berry to explore the 300 year history of New Orleans in “City of a Million Dreams”.

Day 105 : City of a Million Dreams

Chatting Books Online Day 105. Today's recommended book is City of A Million Dreams by author Jason Berry. This excellent book about the City of News Orleans first 300 years is one of 3 books selected as possibilities for the 2020 One Book One New Orleans community read along. Jason regaled us with stories from this book at last year's Writers and Readers Symposium . With such a rich history so thoroughly wrapped in music and unique culture New Orleans never fails to deliver an engaging story.

Jason Berry orchestrates a parade of vibrant personalities, from the founder Bienville, a warrior emblazoned with snake tattoos; to Governor William C. C. Claiborne, General Andrew Jackson, and Pere Antoine, an influential priest and secret agent of the Inquisition; Sister Gertrude Morgan, a street evangelist and visionary artist of the 1960s; and Michael White, the famous clarinetist who remade his life after losing everything in Hurricane Katrina. The textured profiles of this extraordinary cast furnish a dramatic narrative of the beloved city, famous the world over for mysterious rituals as people dance when they bury their dead.

So not only do I think you should own a copy of this book for your own enjoyment and edification , but I also hope you will take a minute to click on this link and vote for this book as The 2020 One Book One New Orleans selection.

Here is the poll to place your vote:
https://poll.app.do/help-us-choose-our-2021-select…/aqSzA8Cw

This hardcover book retails for $ 35.00 We currently have several signed copies in stock (no additional charge for a signed copy) . To order either use our website at www.conundrumbooks.com/shop or stop by the shop Monday - Saturday between 10:30 and 4pm. Be Well.

Day 104 : The Diary of a Bookseller

Chatting Books Online Day 104. Today's recommended book falls into the 'why didn't I think of that" category. The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell is just what it sounds like. Mr. Bythell owns a bookstore in Wigtown, Scotland and he wrote a book simply by recording a journal entry every day for a year. Theirs is a used bookstore that also has an online presence so each day's entry starts with how many orders came in over night and then how many of those books they actually found on the shelves the next day to ship out, At the end of each day it records how many customers came in that day and what the daily till total was , let me just say when I first read this book a few years ago and only a couple of years into owning my own bookstore this part had me saying "I'm not alone" and "see, everyone has bad days".

But it is what comes between the overnight and the till take that will have you laughing , commiserating and wanting to visit this bookish town in Scotland just as soon as you can. It is in this book that I first heard of The Boostore Band (whom I later had the privilege of hearing and meeting at a booksellers conference). It is where I first read about Wigtown which is officially designated as Scotland's Book Town because of the large number of bookstores and book related businesses in the town. It is where I first read about The Wigtown Book Festival which I fully intend to attend one year. And it is where I discovered just how good I have it because this guy has some unbelievably odd employees and customers!

Don;t get me wrong, though this book is about bookstores you don't have to own a bookstore to enjoy it. His humor is dry and biting and the whole thing is just really enjoyable.

Available in paperback . 312 pages. $ 17.99 a copy.