The Concord Bookshop - Established 1940

This is an enormously engaging account full of interesting facts told with a clarity and intelligence that make the book accessible to both casual historians and history bluffs. Boston grew into much of what it is today with such amazing feats as the building if America's first subway at Tremont St. and the filling in of the highly polluted salt-water mudflats that became Back Bay. We also learn about such interesting topics as the role Boston had in the abolitionist movement and the important contributions of Irish immigrants.

This is a wonderful read and is highly recommended to everyone.

~Matt

That Old Cape Magic is a wonderful, often comedic tale of a 55 year old professor questioning his life after the loss of his father and the impending marriage of his daughter. During the year in which the story takes place, we get two weddings, several very humorous incidents, and lots of soul searching. This book is lighter fare than Empire Falls and Bridge of Sighs, depending more on witty dialogue than incredible character development. Lighter, yes, but still very interesting and enjoyable. That Old Cape Magic is highly recommended.

~ Matt

Cod, A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, is a timely and captivating book full of interesting anecdotes and surprises. For example, cod is revered for helping early American settlers survive, but we were probably not taught that cod was a major basis for the development of the New England merchant class without which the American revolution would not have taken place or that feeding the slaves on the Caribbean sugar plantations- part of the notorious triangle trade- was an important source of their profits. Kurlansky takes us from the early explorers such as the Vikings to the present-day Gloucester fishermen struggling to survive in the face of overfishing, always keeping his writing clear, interesting and insightful. In addition, he includes many recipes for cod gleaned from old cookbooks which adds authenticity to this excellent book which I highly recommend.

~Matt

"The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem" is both illuminating and profound. It is important to note that this is meant to be neither a complete look at every aspect of Jesus nor in any way a negation of any religious practices. Instead it is a detailed account of the last 8 days of Jesus using Mark's Gospel as a framework along with sociological and historical evidence in a attempt to understand what the events and words in the Gospel are most likely to have truly meant and why. The book was written with tremendous scholarship and full respect for religious beliefs and practices by 2 highly respected Biblical scholars, one a Lutheran and one a Catholic, who have spent their lives focusing on Jesus. A person cannot come away from this book without a clearer and more thoughtful understanding of an enormously important subject to Christians and non-Christians alike.

~Matt

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads"... What would it be like if the heaven under our feet were destroyed, and the forests that Thoreau sauntered through for inspiration no longer existed? Suppose that the heavens above were somehow shrouded from us by a dust-filled gray haze and all we had left were a few precious sparks inside us. Could we maintain hope under such extreme duress?

Cormac McCarthy's masterful new novel The Road is the simple story of a father and his son, about 10, traveling on foot in search of warmer climes, food, and safety, trying to survive the effects of an unexplained catastrophe that had scorched the entire earth just before the boy was born, killing billions, leaving the land barren of plant and animal life, coating everything exposed and permeating the atmosphere with gray ash that is now blocking the sun and chilling the land. To make matters even worse, the other survivors they briefly encounter and try to avoid have devolved into squalor, brutality and cannibalism.

The story is told with poetic cadence using figurative language and description to great effect. The poetry serves a twofold purpose: as a vehicle that gently propels the reader through the otherwise depressing and tragic scenario but also as a constant reminder that there is beauty in our own world- in nature, music, art, love and, indeed, poetry.... and though there is precious little heaven on earth in the story itself, we are fed bits and pieces, especially in the relationship between the boy and father. However tired and desperate and suffering, they manage to maintain a fragile but real love... the story is about death and dying but it's also about the bravery of maintaining a sense of spirit and decency even under the most trying circumstances- a poignant message in our both endangered and dangerous world.

~Matt