Caleb Carr's Latest

Legend meets history in this mesmerizing novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Caleb Carr. Demonstrating the rich storytelling, skillful plotting, and depth of research he showcased in The Alienist, Carr has written a wildly imaginative, genre-bending saga that redefines the boundaries of literature.

Some years ago, a remarkable manuscript long rumored to exist was discovered: The Legend of Broken. It tells of a prosperous fortress city where order reigns at the point of a sword—even as scheming factions secretly vie for control of the surrounding kingdom. Meanwhile, outside the city’s granite walls, an industrious tribe of exiles known as the Bane forages for sustenance in the wilds of Davon Wood.

At every turn, the lives of Broken’s defenders and its would-be destroyers intertwine: Sixt Arnem, the widely respected and honorable head of the kingdom’s powerful army, grapples with his conscience and newfound responsibilities amid rumors of impending war. Lord Baster-kin, master of the Merchants’ Council, struggles to maintain the magnificence of his kingdom even as he pursues vainglorious dreams of power. And Keera, a gifted female tracker of the Bane tribe, embarks on a perilous journey to save her people, enlisting the aid of the notorious and brilliant philosopher Caliphestros. Together, they hope to exact a ruinous revenge on Broken, ushering in a day of reckoning when the mighty walls will be breached forever in a triumph of science over superstition.

Breathtakingly profound and compulsively readable, Caleb Carr’s long-awaited new book is an action-packed, multicharacter epic of a medieval clash of cultures—in which new gods collide with old, science defies all expectation, and virtue comes in many guises. Brimming with adventure and narrative invention, The Legend of Broken is an exhilarating and enthralling masterwork.

Tattered Cover Gift Guide: For Young Children, Part One

Click on the covers to learn more about the books.

TC Tidbit: Allen Ginsberg's Borsch Recipe

Boil 2 big bunches of chopped beets and beet greens for one hour in two quarts of water with a little salt and a bay leaf, and one cup of sugar as for lemonade. When cooked, add enough lemon to balance the sugar, as for lemonade (4 or 5 lemons or more).

Icy chill; serve with hot boiled potatoes on side and a dollop of sour cream in the middle of red cold beet soup. On side also: spring salad (tomatoes, onions, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers).

via brainpickings.org

The Rocky Mountain Land Series Presents Simon Winchester

Sunday, December 2, 2012, at 2:00 pm at our Historic Lodo Store:

Simon Winchester is the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, A Crack in the Edge of the World, The Man Who Loved China, and more than a dozen other books. Mr. Winchester was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Elizabeth II in 2006. Winchester will discuss and sign his fascinating new book Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection.

Can’t make it to the signing? Request an autographed copy here: books@tatteredcover.com

“Skulls have exerted for scores of thousands of years an almost inexplicable power over the human imagination. Perhaps no other biological entity retains such a grip on human psychology as does this assemblage of hollow bone, this thing of domes and socket and jaws and of mysterious interior passageways and canals.” — from the Introduction

The inimitable Simon Winchester  plumbs the depths of an enduring fascination in Skulls: An Exploration of Alan Dudley’s Curious Collection. In this captivating and visually stunning book, Winchester explores an array of more than 300 animal skulls, from the aardvark to the red-bellied piranha, including notes about the specimens’ most interesting features, behaviors, diets and taxonomy. Winchester writes about the science and pseudoscience of skulls, including the great hoaxes of history such as the Piltdown Man and the once popular and highly questionable practice of phrenology.

Winchester also mines the rich tradition of the skull in religion and art, from Leonardo da Vinci to Georgia O’Keefe and Damien Hirst, and its use from ancient times to the present as an icon of death and a symbol of power and warning–including a surprising project sponsored by a U.S. government agency that considered erecting monolithic heads, Easter Island-size, to warn future visitors away from a repository of toxic nuclear waste in Nevada.

And, pulling back the curtain,Winchester shares the fascinating story of the man who amassed much of the collection: an obsessive Englishman named Alan Dudley who, in the pursuit of his passion for skulls, was once arrested and charged with breaching international law against trade in endangered species. In Skulls, brilliant storytelling combines with beautiful imagery and the result is a near-perfect survey designed for browsing, amusement, the indulgence of macabre fascination and, of course, learning.

Learn more about the Rocky Mountain Land Library HERE.

Tattered Cover Gift Guide: Older Kids and Teens, Part Two

Click on the covers to learn more about the books.

TC Tidbit: PW Talks With Ina Garten

Read the interview HERE.

Celebrate Today And Make The Future Brighter For Everyone!

"Bookstores hold a place in the hearts and times of our community. They are places to discover an author, a story, a life. Nothing affords the conversation and interaction among books and book lovers that a bookstore does. In the future, whether you download your story or pluck a volume off a shelf, a bookstore will be able to accommodate. But in order for bookstores to flourish and thrive, we must expose future generations to the unique pleasures they offer. On December 1st, 2012, take the child in your life to a bookstore. Watch his face light up as you give him free access, not just to a new book, but to tomorrow." —Jenny Milchman

Learn more about the movement HERE.