THE WITCHES by Roald Dahl

The story is great, but it’s the writing and imagery that will stick with you for the rest of your life. Dahl’s depiction of the thoughts, actions, and appearance of the witches is chilling! It’s tricky how he does it, too, since the book is also really, really funny.  Recommended by John.  Softcover, $11.95.

FIVE NOVELS, by Daniel M. Pinkwater

There are five novels in here, and each of them is ten times funnier than the funniest thing you’ve ever read. If you read all of them, you’ll discover why it’s sometimes a good idea to serve an ice-cream-based dessert in a backpack. Also note that one of these novels is the sequel to the amazing Fat Men from Space, which you didn’t even know existed!  Recommended by John.  Softcover, $6.99.

Though originally published in 1982, a couple of years after Harvey Milk’s death, THE MAYOR OF CASTRO STREET by the late Randy Shilts well deserves the recent re-release in the wake of the movie “Milk”. The book not only captures the life and murder of the first openly gay person elected to any public office, it also provides a history of the gay revolution. Shilts’ journalistic eye and delicate pacing will please fiction and nonfiction readers alike.  Recommended by Kelly.  Softcover, $16.95.

THE MARKET BASKET:  COOKING AND EATING IN LAWRENCE, KANSAS 1921-1949 by Jane Garrett

Jane Garrett is a native Kansan who spent a large part of her childhood out in the remotest parts of Wilson County countryside with a mother who possessed a fierce passion for Kansas history. Whether it was exploring the remains of an early-day homestead or combing through weeds in search of a lost cemetery, what really captured her imagination along the way were the objects she could pick up off the ground and hold in her hand: things like an old medicine bottle, a grinding stone, an arrowhead, a shoe, a marble. These found things told amazing stories.  In 1999, when quite by accident she stumbled across Mrs. Shultz’s prize-winning recipe for apple butter in a 1933 issue of the Lawrence Journal-World, she knew she’d found a small, yet curious piece of someone’s past. That’s when the 18-month search began. At the microfilm reader in the basement of the Lawrence Public Library, she found 1,400 recipes–all of them winners in a weekly recipe contest sponsored by the Journal-World, beginning in August 1921 and ending in November, 1949. Roughly half of the recipes are contained in this volume. The remaining ones will appear in a forthcoming book, The Market Basket: More Cooking and Eating in Lawrence, Kansas, 1921-1949.

After working nearly 20 years as a secretary in the English Dept. at KU, Jane Garrett “dropped everything” to pursue a culinary degree, during which time she served as a Chef’s Apprentice at the Kansas Alumni Association–about the time she started researching The Market Basket. In 1982, I co-edited (with Barbara Paris), a funny little cookbook called Malice’s Restaurant: Bill of Fare by the KU English Dept.

A VISITOR FOR BEAR written by Bonny Becker and illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton will delight reader and child alike.  Bear’s resistance to visitors of any kind in his tidy but lonely home finally gives way under the pressure of Mouse’s persistent friendliness and modest requests for “a bit of cheese and a cup of tea.”  This is a delightful tale about the reward of making a new friend.  Recommended by Kelly.  Hardcover, $16.99.

WIFE OF THE GODS by Kwei Quartey is a wonderful new mystery featuring Detective Inspector Darko Dawson, a very likable and insightful policeman who lives in Ghana’s capital.  He encounters rural Africa’s many superstitions and local customs while investigating a med student’s murder.  No. One Ladies Detective Agency, you’ve got competition!  Recommended by Rochelle.  Available in July; hardcover, $24.00

It’s difficult to think of another author of fiction who writes with more wit and intelligence than Elinor Lipman.  THE FAMILY MAN, due in May in hardcover, is a delightful comedy of manners set in Manhattan.  Henry’s well-ordered life is turned upside-down when his stepdaughter from a brief (and disastrous) marriage re-enters his life.  The dialogue is quotably funny and Lipman’s love for her characters shines through.  Recommended by Rochelle and due May 5th, $25.00 in hardcover.

WHEN THE MOON FORGOT by Jimmy Liao is a sweet, dreamlike story about a lonely boy who finds the fallen moon in a field.  People miss the moon and factories crank out moons for them on assembly lines.  The boy has adventures with the moon, then gently helps it remember its home in the sky.  A lovely story of love and courage.  Recommended by Rochelle.  Hardcover, $17.99.