Note from Brookline Booksmith: In compliance with Governor Baker’s stay-at-home order, our retail location will be temporarily closed to the public. We’re suspending all curbside pickups and local deliveries. We will remain staffed and OPEN for phone inquiries at 617.566.6660 or online orders brooklinebooksmith-shop.com from 9 am to 6 pm daily, Monday-Saturday.
The beloved Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner may temporarily be closed due to the coronavirus, but that hasn’t stopped them from spreading joy (and reading material) to the community. Customers can order online or by phone to keep the literary goodies coming while social distancing.
We touched base with Shuchi Saraswat, founder of The Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith, for some at-home reading recommendations to ease the burden of this challenging time.
Poetry: If stanzas and cadences are the medicine your soul needs right now, Saraswat recommends “Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry.” The collection of 300 poems from all over the globe will allow you to travel distant lands without leaving your couch.
Paperback Fiction: There’s no better novelist to wrap you into a completely new, complicated, and beautiful world than Helen Oyeyemi. Saraswat recommends her book “Gingerbread,” about a gingerbread maker and refugee from a country no one is sure exists.
Hardcover Fiction: “The Night Watchman” by Louise Erdrich is a new title based on the author’s grandfather, who was a night watchman and fought against the Native dispossession in North Dakota. In a time with so many things going wrong, it’s a thoughtful reminder that individuals have the power to make change.
Science Fiction: We didn’t forget about you, science fiction lovers! “Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)” by Rebecca Roanhorse takes place in a world mostly decimated by the rising waters of climate change. Those left on earth are contending with the gods and monsters that now also inhabit it. As a bonus, it’s part one of a series, which we know you have time to read!
Mystery: “The Siamese Twin Mystery (An Ellery Queen Mystery)” by Ellery Queen and Otto Penzler, is a fair play mystery according to Saraswat, meaning that the reader has all the necessary information to solve the puzzle. When Ellery Queen and his father are trapped in an eerie hillside manor by a forest fire, they must discover who is slowly murdering the other guests inside.
Nonfiction/Humor: If you need a break from the anxiety and panic of this crisis, check out “Little Weirds” by actress and comedian Jenny Slate. These essays are hilarious and thoughtful and written in a probing style. Plus, after you’ve read the book, you can explore her filmography for even more joy.
All of these books are available for purchase via Brookline Booksmith (we’ve linked them all for you). If none of these struck a chord, try tuning in to the Booksmith Instagram. Every day on stories, the booksellers are taking requests for recommendations and offering up dozens of thoughtful books for you to stock up on.
Not only is buying books a great way to pass the time, but it’s also an easy way to support Brookline Booksmith, a local business like the others in town that need our patronage to make it through this challenging time of closures. Happy Reading!
