Here is where you will find what's new at St. Thomas' well-known, well-read Dockside Bookshop at Havensight Mall. Every week you will find new titles to peruse. Look for updates of our "picks" for fiction and nonfiction and, at the end of the reviews, a list of new West Indian literature titles.
STORE HOURS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday and Friday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Phone: 340-774-4937
E-mail: dockside@islands.vi
Cristina Kessler will be having a book signing at Dockside Bookshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20. See a review of one of her books below.
"The Runes of the Earth" by Stephen R. Donaldson.
Putnam Publishing Group, fiction-fantasy, 532 p. $26.95
Since their publication more than two decades ago, the initial six books in "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" series have sold more than six million copies and have been published in 10 countries around the world. Now, starting with "The Runes of the Earth," Stephen R. Donaldson returns with a quartet of new Covenant novels that are certain to satisfy his millions of fans, and attract countless new followers. In the original series, a man — living in our world and in our time — is mysteriously struck down with a disease long since believed to have been eradicated. He becomes a pariah in his small town and is abandoned by his wife who departs with their infant son. Alone and despairing, Thomas Covenant falls and, while unconscious, is transported to a fantastic world in which a battle for the soul of the land is being waged. Christened "The Unbeliever" — for he is convinced the world is only an illusion, a dream — he finds himself slowly forced to accept the role that seems to be his destiny: savior of the Land. At the end of the sixth book, Covenant is killed, both in the real world and in the Land, as his companion, Linden Avery, looks on in horror. His death is both the ultimate sacrifice — and his redemption. At the opening of "The Runes of the Earth," 10 years have passed. Linden Avery comes home one day to find her child building images of the Land with blocks, and senses a terrible foreboding. She had thought that she would never again be summoned to the Land — nor ever again see her beloved Thomas Covenant. But in the Land, evil is unmaking the very laws of nature…
"Explorers House: National Geographic and the World It Made" by Robert M. Poole. Penguin Press Hc, nonfiction, 357 pp. $25.95.
For more than one hundred years, the National Geographic Society has brought "the world and all that is in it" to millions worldwide. Through its unparalleled research, exploration, publications, and photography, the organization and its magazine have, in many ways, defined how we see the world. Now Robert Poole's "Explorers House" gives a vibrant, behind-the-scenes look at National Geographic, from its start in 1888 to its evolution into one of the most esteemed and iconic American institutions. The story of the National Geographic is a family story of a media dynasty to rival the Sulzbergers or the Luces. The Grosvenors, along with Alexander Graham Bell, who was linked to the family by marriage, created the institution's photography-based monthly, and the family has been on the masthead since the McKinley administration. Content to stay in the shadows, however, they have remained modestly obscured from public view while their media empire has grown to reach some 40 million readers and viewers each month. The Grosvenor and Bell family history is not merely the story of the National Geographic; it is a captivating view of the sweep of American scientific, geographic, and political history since the late nineteenth century, rendered in fascinating human terms by Poole. Moreover, "Explorers House" shows the inside workings of the magazine's editorial process, providing an unprecedented look behind some of National Geographic's ground-breaking articles and explorations — from Cousteau's famous Calypso voyages to the origins of Jane Goodall's research on chimpanzees to the institution's 1963 Mt. Everest expedition, the first to place an American on the summit. We also hear of the writers and photographers who are larger-than-life figures themselves, such as Luis Marden, the writer-photographer who unearthed the remains of the H.M.S. Bounty off Pitcairn Island, among many other feats. "Explorers House" presents the National Geographic from the inside out — from its remarkable founding family to the very ends of the earth it investigates.
"Our Secret, Siri Aang" by Cristina Kessler.
Philomel Books, fiction-West Indian, 218 p. $16.99
Twelve-year-old Namelok can't tell anyone about her secret: a mother black rhino and her tiny baby, whom she found in the bush while collecting firewood for her Maasai family. She vows to protect them always, visit them often, and to keep them her secret.
But her visits are suddenly threatened when her initiation into womanhood becomes imminent. There will be no visiting the rhinos after that. Ever. Still, Maasai ways are changing. Can Namelok delay the initiation?
But before she can, Namelok makes a horrifying discovery, one that sends her on a dangerous journey into the bush in a desperate search for poachers and a limping man whose dragging footprints are her only chance at seeking revenge …
Note: Christina Kessler and her husband, Joe, currently reside on St. John To learn more about Kessler visit her Web site.
Also, we have 2005 WALL, ENGAGEMENT, & DAILY CALENDARS IN STOCK!
1. "Poetrized Life" by Jeffrey Kline, $7.95
2. "Reflections on Growing Up in Anguilla (1945-1965) & Contemporary Poems" by Wycherley Gumbs, $13.50
3. "Alien in Paradise" by Bertram L. Charles, $10.95
4. "St. Thomas: A Tale of the Heart" by Neil Friedman, $20.95
5. "To Us, All Flowers Are Roses" by Lorna Goodison, $12.95
6. "Mango Madness" by Reuben D. Dowling, $23.50
7. "The Prodigal" by Derek Walcott, $20.00
8. "No Words Has the Rose" by Richard A. Schrader Sr., $16.95
9. "Chronicle of the Seven Sorrows" by Patrick Chamoiseau, $15.00
10. The Caribbean Writer, vol. 17 published by University of the Virgin Islands, $17.95
We will gladly order any books you want. E-mail us at dockside@islands.vi, or call 340-774-4937.
STORE HOURS
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday and Friday: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Phone: 340-774-4937
E-mail: dockside@islands.vi
