Drew's Picks

Drew is the new owner here at Towne Book Center and has certainly been trying to fill the big shoes that were left for him by PK. Usually you can find Drew on the floor handselling his favorite books (at this point we all know about Johannes Cabal the Necromancer) or moving boxes as he tries to be somewhat useful. A devotee of Fantasy, Science Fiction and History Drew is an eclectic reader and will talk your ear off if you give him a chance! Below are some of his favorite books (we forbid him from picking Johannes Cabal!)

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Vagabonds By Hao Jingfang, Ken Liu (Translated by) Cover Image
By Hao Jingfang, Ken Liu (Translated by)
$18.99
ISBN: 9781534422094
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: S&S/Saga Press - March 2nd, 2021

Vagabonds is perhaps one of my favorite Sci-Fis of the year! A classic story of the inherent conflict between the people who use the resources and the people who produce. This time its written in the stars instead of in the fields but the emotions are all the same. Another great piece of Sci-Fi from China, I cannot recommend this book enough!


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Black Sun Rising (Coldfire #1) By C.S. Friedman Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9780756403140
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: DAW - September 6th, 2005

Damien Vryce is a priest and he has been given a rather unusual mission, to begin to teach other priests the tenets of sorcery. These Sorcerers or Adepts as they are called each have a unique species of Fae that they work with and Damien must travel with an adept that has lost her memories as well as The Hunter an adept so dangerous that he is almost a devil to the church. The fate of the world hangs in the balance in this epic adventure!


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Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery By Christopher Fowler Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9780553385533
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Bantam - September 30th, 2008

This is the first book in the Bryant and May Mysteries and I absolutely adore it! A bombing claims the life of Arthur Bryant and sets his old parnter John May into coming out of retirement to try and track the bomber down. Then we travel back to the youths of Bryant and May as it appears that this bombing may have to do with their youth, when they were members of London's Peculiar Crimes unit.


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The Veiled Throne (The Dandelion Dynasty #3) By Ken Liu Cover Image
By Ken Liu
$29.99
ISBN: 9781481424332
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: S&S/Saga Press - December 7th, 2021

The third, but apparently not final, book in the Dandelion Dynasty series The Veiled Throne continues the traditions of its predecessors by being a spectacular read! This book and this series in general have a way of making even the most mundane things exciting and beautiful. Better than a Game Of Thrones and likely to be done before Door Of Stone this book is a must read for all fantasy fans.


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The Björkan Sagas By Harold R. Johnson Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781487009809
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: House of Anansi Press - October 5th, 2021

The Björkan Sagas is one of my favorite heave little books of 2021. In this small and heavy all at once! A masterfully blended story of norse and cree storytelling The Bjorkan Sagas is a haunting ode to family, loss, identity, community and grief. I cannot recommend this book enough. Come talk to me about it!


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The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century By Joel F. Harrington Cover Image
$21.00
ISBN: 9781250043610
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Picador - December 31st, 2013

This is one of the more unique pieces of nonfiction that I have ever had the pleasure of reading! This book is the real diary of an executioner in Germany during the 16th century and chronicles his career of over 300 executions. In addition to being a gruesome and fascinating insight into the world of executions it also shed some light on the mental state of the man as well as the world view of the common man at the time. A great Halloween read!


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Learning from the Germans: Race and the Memory of Evil By Susan Neiman Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781250750112
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Picador - September 8th, 2020

As we all begin to reckon with our own history of race relations here in the United States it can at times be a daunting task. How do we approach correcting a system that has been built on the abuse of others, how do we reconcile our history with the fact that the same period in time can be viewed VERY differently depending on which Americans we're asking? Learning From The Germans does a wonderful job of showing how Germany approaches it's own history and provides some thoughts on how we could do the same.


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Good-Bye to All That: An Autobiography (Vintage International) By Robert Graves, Paul Fussell (Preface by) Cover Image
By Robert Graves, Paul Fussell (Preface by)
$18.00
ISBN: 9780385093309
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: Vintage -

WW1 is ofen overlooked here in the United States especially when compared to the second world war. In Good-Bye To All That Robert Graves tell his story of his time in the trenches and shows us all exactly why The Great War was also called the seminal tragedy. Raw and heartrbreaking I cannot recommend this book enough.


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My Heart Is a Chainsaw (The Indian Lake Trilogy #1) By Stephen Graham Jones Cover Image
$26.99
Email or call for pricing & availability
ISBN: 9781982137632
Published: S&S/Saga Press - August 31st, 2021

A wonderful and scary love letter to the slasher genre My Heart Is A Chainsaw is the incredible deconstruction of slashers that we all seem to crave and look for! If Randy Meeks from the Scream movies was a final girl this book would be about her. I cannot recommend this book enough to anyone that loves horror films or just loves to see some good revenge.


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A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Game Helped Win World War II By Simon Parkin Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316492065
Availability: Not In Stock - Usually Available in 1-5 Days
Published: Back Bay Books - February 23rd, 2021

By 1941 general consensus was that the key to victory was control of the Atlantic. In an attempt to predict the moves and understand the tactics of the U-boats the WRENS devised and played a game that informed Allied tactics in the Atlantic throughout the war. A Game Of Birds And Wolves is the true story of these women and the game they played and a must have for any WW2 buff!


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Once & Future Vol. 1: The King is Undead By Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora (Illustrator), Tamra Bonvillain (With) Cover Image
By Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora (Illustrator), Tamra Bonvillain (With)
$16.99
ISBN: 9781684154913
Availability: On Our Shelves Now
Published: BOOM! Studios - March 31st, 2020

From the creator of The Wicked And The Divine come Once And Future is a horrific retelling of the Arthur Myth. It is truly England's darkest hour and the king has returned but has he returned to rule England well? Or is he instead a monster so driven by his hatred for his enemies that he will bring England to it's knees?