Jack Delano, Thanksgiving Dinner at the Crouch Family Home, Ledyard, Connecticut, 1940. Library of Congress.
Dear Readers,
We made it. November is here, the weather is mild, and the election was wild, but it looks blue skies ahead.
There’s enough noise this month so our newsletter will be short.
In this month’s Journal we are sharing more staff-writ gems . Links follow the listings of November’s author events below.
Sean Bieri, who has been cataloging books lately, noticed a similar subject in photographer Art Shay’s snapshot and Andrew Wyeth’s painting of Christina’s World.
Nancy Rodwan tries out some delicious recipes in her review of Eat Like a Sardinian a title we have onsale for 15% off all month. On Saturday , November 21 from noon until closing, Nancy will be serving the famous Live-to-One-Hundred Minestrone soup. Stop by for a sample!
Ana Gravilovska writes a new review on Barbara Comyns’ Juniper Tree in her “I Read a Strange Book” column.
Our reading group showed great enthusiasm for last month’s book: The Twenty Days of Turin, so during and after the meeting I combined everyone’s notes and posted a report on the book. Consider it “I Read a Strange Book” part two.
We also revisit the twenty year anniversary of The Armory Show: A Group Exhibition in the Book Beat Gallery with Bill Rauhauser, Gordon Newton, Cay Bahnmiller, Barry Roth and Cary Loren. This is joined to an illustrated history of the Nightcrawlerz collective and a recent conversation about the collective with Roth and Loren.
Tom Bowden returns with #80 of his weird and off-beat “i arrogantly recommend…” review column, focused on small press discoveries we should all know about.
Stay Tuned! Important Literary dates in November
• The Book Prize Announcements: The Booker Prizes for 2026 will be announced on Monday, November 9. Stop by the shop to brouwse the shortlisted titles.
• The National Book Awards Ceremony: The 77th National Book awards ceremony takes place on Wednesday, November 18. We currently have finalists across Fiction, Nonfiction and Poetry, Translated Literature and Young Peoples Literature are available on our shelves.
• National Native American Heritage Month: Throughout November we are featuring a curated selection of history, poetry and fiction by Indigenous authors.
New fall titles have been arriving and there’s plenty to explore. We’ll be taking a closer look at some of these new arrivals in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, we wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks, as always, for reading and supporting your independent bookstore.
Peacefully yours,
~Cary, Colleen and the Book Beat Staff
PS Noticed: This past Halloween developed a trend I’ve never seen before. Entire streets were shut down to traffic for blocks, families of goblins, aliens, and creatures roamed the streets where every house was decorated–these spooky neighborhood block parties have sprung up in many cities around the metro. Michigan is still King of Halloween!
Upcoming Author Events
Nov. 16: Andrew Sean Greer and Susan Choi at Groose Pointe War Memorial
Martin Scorsese’s Life In Film: Just a Shot Away by Mark Binelli
In the Book Beat Journal
Reading the Uncanny: Giorgio De Maria’s The Twenty Days of Turin
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“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.”
-Albert Camus