Annie Bloom's Books

Open, the title of tennis champion Andre Agassi's autobiography, perfectly describes his revealing and often heart-wrenching tale of reaching the top level of a sport he (mostly) hated. Aided by The Tender Bar author J.R. Moehringer, Agassi writes with clarity about a childhood lost to hitting thousands of tennis balls every day, the prison-like Bolitierri Academy where he spent his teenage years, and his turbulent pro career, as he grew from a young "punk" into the mature, reflective, and generous family man he became. Plus, he offers plenty of fascinating insights into the game of tennis and its key players. Open is as riveting to read as Agassi was to watch. -Michael

A follow-up to Old Filth that's told from the woman's perspective, Jane Gardam's The Man in the Wooden Hat is a portrait of a marriage, with all the bittersweet secrets and surprising fulfillment of the 50-year union of two remarkable people. This is fiction of a very high order from a great novelist working at the pinnacle of her considerable power.

Edie says: "Oh! What lovely language! As good or better than Old Filth."

Too Much Happiness offers ten new stories by Alice Munro. They uncover the "deep-holes" in a marriage, the unsuspected cruelty of children, and how a boy's disfigured face provides both the good things in his life and the bad. And in the long title story, we accompany a late-nineteenth-century Russian émigré on a winter journey across Europe, as she seeks a university willing to employ a female mathematician.

In Peter Ackroyd's The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein, two nineteenth-century Oxford students -- Victor Frankenstein and the poet Percy Shelley -- form an unlikely friendship. Following a heated discussion with Shelley about creation and life, Frankenstein becomes obsessed with reanimation, as he works feverishly to bring life to the terrifying creature that will bear his name for eternity.

The Abernathys don't mean any harm by their flirtation with the underworld, but when they unknowingly call forth Satan himself, they create a gap in the universe, through which the Gates of Hell are visible. John Connolly's The Gates is about the pull between good and evil, physics and fantasy. It is also about a quirky and eccentric boy, and the unlikely cast of characters who give him the strength to stand up to a demonic power.

Look at the Birdie is a collection of fourteen previously unpublished short stories. In this series of perfectly rendered vignettes, Kurt Vonnegut paints a warm, wise, and funny portrait of life in post-World War II America -- a world where squabbling couples, high school geniuses, misfit office workers, and small-town lotharios struggle to adapt to changing technology, moral ambiguity, and unprecedented affluence.

Carol Sklenicka's meticulous and absorbing biography, Raymond Carver: A Writer's Life, tells the story of Carver's uncanny ambition, legendary life, and enduring work. From his early years in Yakima, Washington, through his tumultuous relationships with Maryann Burk and Gordon Lish and to his death in 1988, this is the definitive biography.

Richard Dawkins's The Greatest Show on Earth is a counterattack on advocates of "Intelligent Design," explaining the evidence for evolution while exposing the absurdities of the creationist "argument." Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence and makes the airtight case that "we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random selection."

With the beautiful, powerful, and sexy Madame Chiang Kai-shek at the center of one of the great dramas of the twentieth century, Hannah Pakula's The Last Empress is the story of the founding of modern China, starting with a revolution that swept away more than 2,000 years of monarchy, followed by World War II, and ending in the eventual loss to the Communists and exile in Taiwan.

In Stones into Schools, Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off, recounting his ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan. He shares for the first time his broader vision to promote peace through education and literacy, as well as touching on military matters, Islam, and women -- all woven together with the many rich personal stories of the people who have been involved in this remarkable two-decade humanitarian effort.

The funny, furry feline returns in Rob Scotton's Merry Christmas, Splat. It's the night before Christmas, and Splat wonders if he's been a good enough cat this year to deserve a really big present. Just to make sure, he offers some last-minute help to his mom and, in typical Splat fashion, he messes up completely!

It's Christmas Eve, and Jim and his mother are making pirate gingerbread men to leave for Santa. Jim's favorite is Captain Cookie, who carries a gingerbread cutlass and has a toothpick peg leg. In Kristin Kladstrup's The Gingerbread Pirates, the Captain leads his swashbuckling cookie friends against the mysterious man who's come to eat them.

Perfect for pre-schoolers is Ed Heck's Happy HoliDogs!. An adorable parade of holiday dogs interprets the lyrics of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" in their own unique way. Instead of a partridge in a pear tree, you'll find a lovable puppy under the Christmas tree! With its padded hardcover case, this book is built to survive the holidays, too.

What's more fun than spending Christmas with your family? Well, spending Christmas with your family and Mouse, of course! Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond share their stories, recipes, songs, and games in If You Take a Mouse to the Movies: A Special Christmas Edition - a perfect way for families to celebrate the holidays together.

In John Keegan's The American Civil War, he offers original and perceptive insights into the psychology, ideology, demographics, and economics behind America's most bloody and wrenching war. Keegan also reveals the war's hidden shape - a consequence of leadership, the evolution of strategic logic, and, above all, geography. With a peerless understanding of warfare, Keegan uncovers dimensions of the conflict that have eluded earlier historiography.

Eugene Rogan's The Arabs: A History covers Arab political history from the rise of the Ottoman Empire to the forging of modern fundamentalist Islamic entities. Rogan traces the significant modern themes of nationalism, imperialism, revolution, industrialization, migration and women's rights over the past five centuries within the Islamic states, stretching from North Africa to the Sinai, the Middle East to South Asia.

Toby Lester's The Fourth Part of the World is the story behind the first map of a mysterious place, separated from the rest by a vast expanse of ocean: the Americas. Drawn in 1507 by two obscure French scholars, the map was based on (and named for) the discoveries of Amerigo Vespucci. Illustrated with rare maps and diagrams, this book is the story of the geographical and intellectual journeys that have helped us decipher our world.

In 1492: The Year the World Began, Felipe FernÁndez-Armesto traces key elements of modern life back to that single, fateful year. Everything changed in 1492: the way power and wealth were distributed around the globe, the way major religions and civilizations divided the world, and the increasing interconnectedness of separate economies, which we now call globalization.

In Rustic Fruit Desserts, each season's bounty inspires unique ways to showcase the distinct flavor combinations that appear fleetingly. James Beard Award-winning chef Cory Schreiber teams up with Baker & Spice owner Julie Richardson to showcase the freshest fruit available amidst a repertoire of satisfying old-timey fruit desserts, including crumbles, crisps, buckles, and pies.

Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook shows readers that avoiding the health risks and ethical dilemmas of eating meat and dairy does not mean sacrificing taste and appetite. This is not a cookbook of sprouts and tofu burgers, but of mouth-watering, hearty meals that keep the protein at the center of your plate. This is a breakthrough in meatless cuisine that will revolutionize the way readers experience food.

My Nepenthe weaves together stories and tales about the famous California restaurant perched on the majestic cliffs of Big Sur. A lyrical feast written by the owners' granddaughter, Romney Steele, it recounts stories about her family's more than sixty-year history on the coast, the arts and architecture, and the colorful people who were the genesis of Nepenthe.

Frank Bruni grew up in a big, loud Italian family, where meals were epic, outsize affairs. There, he demonstrated one of his foremost qualifications for his future career: an epic, outsize love of food. Born Round traces Bruni's unpredictable journalistic ride from an intern's desk at Newsweek to his dream job as the restaurant critic for The New York Times, along with the brutally honest story of his lifelong, often painful, struggle with food.

We don't like to brag too much about our contributions to the local community ... but we love it when someone else does! The December issue of Goodness Magazine features our very own writing instructor Liz Prato's "Beyond the Books at Annie Bloom's." Pick up the free magazine at our store or read the article on their website (link below).