Sarah Vowell continues her trend of writing excellent books, which don't fit neatly into a trend, with The Wordy Shipmates. Arguing that America continues to see itself fundamentally as a Puritan nation Vowell She establishes the concept of Puritanism both as an historical phenomenon and as a contemporary sociological one. The result is both incisive and of course entertaining....More

Few, well actually, no other Weekly Top 2 can boast of two high profile books with connections to Puritanism. Voila! John Demos' The Enemy Within: 2,000 Years of Witch-Hunting in the Western World is also out this week. Demos is a first rate professional historian who writes well, a winning combination. This is a gripping and important history. I was in Salem recently and was really struck, in a negative way, by the Witch trial based tourist industry there. I mean what's to celebrate about pathological persecution carried out in a court of a law. Demos' deeply researched and reasoned account is more than welcome. ...More

Schultz And Peanuts: A Biography is a book truly worthy of its subject. I grew up on Peanuts, and have many happy memories of walking two miles into town with a pocketful of change to buy one of those little Fawcett Crest Peanuts anthologies whose covers always seemed to fall off. Jon, one of our new booksellers, came to Peanuts later in life, but is a huge fan. From our point of view nothing could be more right and proper than a loving but analytically critical study of the life and work of Peanuts and its creator. David Michaelis' book is an intellectual pleasure of the first order. ...More

Pillars of the Earth is one of those books which I feel really bad for not having read yet. With its widely praised sequel, World without End out in paperback today, and staring at me accusingly with all its 1014 pages, I couldn't feel any lower....More

Demon Keeper is a great new fantasy for ages 10-12. It has a strong appeal for boys, the characters are appealing and well drawn, the story fast paced and interesting. In hardcover Demon Keeper presented a challenge in terms of handselling because it had a truly dreadful cover. I took it for granted that it would receive a face lift in paperback but, surprisingly, the paperback is saddled with the same disastrous cover. To try and gain some insight on what appears to be a really bad idea I spoke with A Penguin kids rep, Diane Quatrocchi.

Kenny: Hey Diane, straighten me out. Can you help us understand why a cover which looks so ludicrous, and amateurish, wasn't scrapped for the paperback edition?
Diane: I was very surprised myself that it wasn't changed. I have no idea why they stuck with it. They must feel it accurately presents the storyline.
Kenny: I don't think it does at all. What I see are goofy computer generated monsters that look like they escaped from a cereal box. It doesn't give any sense of the strong characters or cool plot.
Diane: I don't think it does the book justice either. I'll have to check up on marketing's thought process here.
Kenny: Thanks!
...More

Glamsters tells the tale of two pet store hamsters stressing out over not getting picked for a new home. One of the hamsters decides that she needs a makeover in order to get picked. Though the moral of the story, you're better off just trying to be yourself, is familiar of course, Kimmel and Urabanovic have created a picture book packed with charm and fun....More