Subscription Box: Powell's Indiespensable #62
Powell's Indiespensable Book Club
Volume 62: The Mothers
Since 2008, Powell's Books of Portland, OR has run a book club/subscription service that sends a new, autographed hardcover book in a custom slipcase to its subscribers. Each mailing is accompanied with notes on the selected book and a surprise selection of extra items.
THE MOTHERS by Brit Bennett
Set within a contemporary black community in Southern California, Brit Bennett's mesmerizing first novel is an emotionally perceptive story about community, love, and ambition. It begins with a secret.
"All good secrets have a taste before you tell them, and if we'd taken a moment to swish this one around our mouths, we might have noticed the sourness of an unripe secret, plucked too soon, stolen and passed around before its season."
It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, seventeen-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is twenty-one, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance-and the subsequent cover-up-will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth. As Nadia hides her secret from everyone, including Aubrey, her God-fearing best friend, the years move quickly. Soon, Nadia, Luke, and Aubrey are full-fledged adults and still living in debt to the choices they made that one seaside summer, caught in a love triangle they must carefully maneuver, and dogged by the constant, nagging question: What if they had chosen differently? The possibilities of the road not taken are a relentless haunt.
In entrancing, lyrical prose, The Mothers asks whether a "what if" can be more powerful than an experience itself. If, as time passes, we must always live in servitude to the decisions of our younger selves, to the communities that have parented us, and to the decisions we make that shape our lives forever.
There was so much buzz about this book at BEA! I didn't have a chance to pick up one of the galleys, or one of the beautiful canvas tote bags with the cover art screenprinted on one side, but the strong graphic style kept the book lodged in my memory. I know you shouldn't judge books by the cover, but let's face it - sometimes that's what will linger. I've read some excellent reviews of The Mothers and I've wanted to read it, so I'm happy this was an Indiespensable choice.
THEO Organic Fair Trade Orange Dark Chocolate
THEO Organic Fair Trade Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate
This is exciting! I was at a trade show recently and one of the vendors was carrying Theo Chocolate, so I had the opportunity to try several of their holiday bars. The chocolate was sooooo good! I can't wait to eat these. Chocolate orange is definitely my preference between the two bars, but either one should be delicious.
I'm so glad Powell's threw some candy in this box. I love snacking while I read, and it's been a while since they sent anything for me to nibble with my book.
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Powell's Indiespensable subscription costs $39.95 per box. To learn more about it, visit the Indiespensable page at Powell's Books.