Kazoo Books

Excite your Mind

Quality Used & New Books
Kazoo Books · 2413 Parkview Ave. · (269) 553-6506
Hours: Monday thru Saturday 9 AM-6 PM
Closed Sunday

KB Staff

Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy by Donald Miller

by

41NQG0-cVPL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Reviewed by Nick, 2/12/15

Reading Miller’s Blue Like Jazz years ago made me a loyal Donald Miller fan who looks forward to his next book with joyful anticipation. It has been a long wait—five years—but finally he has a new book out: Scary Close: Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy. This book has been a fun and enlightening read for me because I have a “history” with Miller, but I am not sure if a first-time reader of Miller would like it as much as I did. Miller is 43 years old and this book tells the story of his engagement and marriage after an abundance of failures in the relationship game. His brutal honesty about his shortcomings and the well-earned wisdom he gains is inspiring. I think this book would make a great gift for a man struggling with relationship issues who is serious about changing for the better.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson

by

letpretendthisneverhappened11Reviewed by Sarah, 2/3/15

Well-known blogger, Jenny Lawson, creates a memoir that will have her readers laughing on every page. Lawson documents her childhood growing up in poverty-stricken rural Texas where her father, a taxidermist, fashions stuffed animals for his children out of the local road kill. Jenny captures her family with humor, but also tenderness. She brings this same blend to discussing her marriage and all of the changes that her husband ushers into her life. This is a quick and satisfying read!

Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain

by

Fiction / Hard-boiled / Noir
Originally pub. 1941 by Alfred A. Knopf
This edition, pub. 1989 by Vintage

Reviewed by Sarah, 6/2/2015

Mildred PierceThings have gotten a little rough for Mildred Pierce. Her hubby decides that the braless Mrs. Biederhof is more interesting than his current family and leaves Mildred to figure out her life. Thus, Mildred and her two little girls are suddenly alone. Did I mention that this is the 1930’s? Not a great time to be a single mom. With Bert gone, Mildred faces finding a job for the first time.   After taking a turn as a waitress, she realizes that maybe she could establish her own restaurant.

If this sounds like a novel about how to overcome obstacles, I have some unfortunate news. Mildred might be a surprisingly good entrepreneur, but she is also the mother to an elitist, unfeeling daughter who judges her mother even as her mother scrimps and sacrifices to make a good life for her child. In addition, she takes up with a man who values her money and her figure more than he values her selfhood. By working and achieving independence, she also achieves scorn for not being an upper class lady of leisure.

Cain, who’s known for his own brand of noir fiction, achieves something special with this novel. He creates a human woman having a human experience, something much more authentic then the “dame done wrong” or the “femme fatale”. He likes Mildred and so will you.

Afterwords: 5th Annual Author Hop

by

What a weekend! Our 5th Annual Author Hop not only brought in authors from all over, but attracted readers and writers from all over, too. Here are just a few pictures from our bustling Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came out, and especially the wonderful people who created these wonderful books. Ask us about our newly signed stock! (All pictures courtesy of Andrea Johnson.)

Featured: Timothy Bartik’s From Preschool to Prosperity

by

BartikFrom W.E. Upjohn Institute, here in Kalamazoo, comes local economist Timothy J. Bartik’s second book, From Preschool to Prosperity: The Economic Payoff to Early Childhood Education. Bartik shows that investment in high-quality early childhood education has several long-term benefits, including higher adult earnings for program participants.

Listen to WMUK’s November 10th interview with Bartik here.