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Dockside Bookshop: Check Out This Week's Picks

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.
"In Sheep's Clothing," by Mary Monroe, Dafina Books, Fiction Hard Cover, 324 pp. $24.00
28-year-old Trudy Bell has never been outside her home state of California, never worked anywhere but he family liquor store—and, for the past decade, never been with any man other than James Young. Now her over-protective, emotionally manipulative father has persuaded her to commit to James and get engaged. But despite the dull, hardworking lifestyle she and James have in common, their ideas of happiness are worlds apart.
Facing a future of cooking, cleaning, and unsatisfying sex with a husband who spends his evenings slumped in front of the TV leaves Trudy deeply depressed. Maybe because of her matronly appearance, she has never attracted, or had the confidence to go after, the passionate relationships and experiences she craves. But with a few months of single-hood left, Trudy decides to make some changes—starting with a new job.
When Trudy lands a secretarial position at a travel agency, she feels like a new woman. And her warm friendly personality soon wins her the adoration of her colleagues—with one exception. Ann Oliver is a high-level manager and the only other African American employee. She's also an extravagant snob who despises the low-income black experience Trudy represents—expecially when their white co-workers get the two of them confused. But Trudy keeps her cool. No one is going to ruin her new life. In fact, she's found a way to make it even better. As the secretary who processes the agency's bills, Trudy has easy access to company credit cards—including Ann's.
At first, Trudy's deception involves a few high-priced lunches—but it soon expands to include cash advances, a dramatic makeover, and weekend "business trips" to exotic locations. And when Ann suddenly resigns, Trudy's spree goes to the next level. Now she's leading a glamorous double-life—Ann's life—complete with a secret apartment where she entertains the men she meets at upscale bars. But their worlds collide the night Trudy brings home the wrong man—one who has an angry score to settle. With Ann. Now, unless Trudy can convince him she's not the woman he's after, she may pay the highest price of all…
"Dancing in the Dark," by Caryl Phillips, Alfred A. Knopf, Fiction Hard Cover, 224 pp. $23.95
A searing new novel that re-imagines the remarkable, tragic, little-known life of Bert Williams (1874–1922), the first black entertainer in the United States to reach the highest levels of fame and fortune.
Even as an eleven-year-old child living in Southern California in the late 1800s-his family had recently emigrated from the Bahamas-Bert Williams understood that he had to "learn the role that America had set aside for him." At the age of 22, after years of struggling for success on the stage, he made the radical decision to do his own "impersonation of a negro": he donned blackface makeup and played the "coon" as a character. Behind this mask, he became a Broadway headliner, starring in the Ziegfeld Follies for eight years and leading his own musical theater company-as influential a comedian as Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and W. C. Fields.
Williams was a man of great intelligence, elegance, and dignity, but the barriers he broke down onstage continued to bear heavily on his personal life, and the contradictions between the man he was and the character he played were increasingly irreconcilable for him. W. C. Fields called him "the funniest man I ever saw, and the saddest man I ever knew," and it is this dichotomy at Williams's core that Caryl Phillips illuminates in a richly nuanced, brilliantly written narrative.
The story of a single life, "Dancing in the Dark" is also a novel about the tragedies of race and identity, and the perils of self-invention, that have long plagued American culture. Powerfully emotional and moving, it is Caryl Phillips's most accomplished novel yet.
"Live Your Best Life, A Treasury of Wisdom, Wit, Advice, Interviews and Inspiration from 'O', the Oprah Magazine," by Oprah Magazine's Editors, Oxmoor House, Fiction Hard Cover, 335 pp. $29.95.
Imagine having a team of brilliant advisors gathered in one place for the sole purpose of helping you live your best possible life. That's exactly what this book is. With over 100 empowering, energizing, and entertaining articles from O, The Oprah Magazine, Live Your Best Life brings together over 75 writers and world-class experts like financial wizard Suze Orman, straight-shooter Dr. Phil, organizing mastermind Julie Morgenstern, life coach Martha Beck, and Oprah herself.
Turn to any page and you'll discover life-changing insights and practical techniques for dealing with big and little challenges.
· Do you want to get in the best shape of your life? Find out what finally worked for Oprah (page 28) and learn the secrets of her phenomenal energy (page 54).
· Are your dreams perpetually on the back burner? Whether the problem is lack of confidence, lack of drive, or not enough hours in the day, you'll find ways to cut through anxiety (page 106), unclutter your schedule (page 64), and go for your goals (page 96).
· Do you know how to make a relationship last happily for decades? (see page 158). How to stop quarreling and start talking? (page 191) When to give up and get out? (page 149)
· Are you getting the credit you deserve at work? Learn how to toot you r own horn (without seeming brassy).
· Would you like the secret to a smooth, stress-free relationship with (imagine!) your parents?
· What's the best way to ask for what you want in bed? Very carefully, says Dr. Phil—and then he tells you how
· When was the last time you felt pure, undiluted happiness?
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

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