Perhaps you've seen or heard about Bit o’ Lit: Books a Bit at aTime, the new, free magazine that focuses on books and is available to bus and subway riders in the District. Bit o’ Lit publishes excerpts from new fiction and non-fiction books, as well as offering general book-related stories. It is booklet-sized and handed out on Mondays. Look for it in the white boxes at most Metro stops—and at the P&P information desk. You can find out more from the Washington Post, here, and from NPR, here.

Bernadette Peters
BROADWAY BARKS
First editions, first printings
In a park in New York City lives a lonely little dog. He remembers when he used to get taken for walks, fed dinner every night, and told he was a good dog. Now, he's all alone and must fend for himself. But everything changes one day when he sees a lady reading in the park and decides to follow her--all the way to a place where he might become a star!
With a story by actress Bernadette Peters and mixed-media collage illustrations by Liz Murphy, Broadway Barks is a warm and appealing story of loss, reunion, and nurturing, complete with a happy ending.
This beautiful package includes a jacket with foil touches as well as an exclusive CD featuring a reading of the story and an original song written and sung by Bernadette Peters.

(20% off through 7/23)

After surviving a suicide bombing in Jerusalem, Israeli teenager Tal Levine is curious about the lives of teenagers who live in occupied Gaza. She asks her brother, a soldier in the Israeli army, to throw A BOTTLE IN THE GAZA SEA (Bloomsbury, $16.95). The bottle contains a note asking the recipient to write to Tal. Soon, she receives an angry email from “Gazaman,” in which he berates Tal for her naïve and bigoted approach to peace. However, as Tal and Gazaman’s correspondence develops, author Valerie Zenatti (When I was a Soldier) opens a window into the harsh realities of life in the occupied territories, and examines how some young Israelis think about peace. Ages 13-18 • Dara LaPorte

Markdown books, or “remainders,” can be found in lower level of the store. These books are often onlyavailable for a short time, so come in soon to find what you want.

FATHERS AND SONS: The Autobiography of a Family is the story of a very literary clan, the Waughs. Alexander Waugh, the author, is the great grandson of Arthur, a powerful publisher (of Dickens, among others); grandson of Evelyn (Brideshead Revisited); and the son of the journalist Auberon. His tale is full of books and the times that gave rise to them, as well as the Waughs’ particular eccentricities, rivalries, and even the more usual kinds of family politics. Available in hardcover, $6.98

 

For a look at the female side of a literary family, we have THE MITFORDS: Letters Between Six Sisters. Edited by Charlotte Mosley, daughter-in-law of Diana, the fascist of the family, this book is a fascinating look at and by six sharp witted, strong-willed personalities. From an era when personal letters were a minor art form, this volume of the sisters’ correspondence is history, literature, psychology, and more. Available in hardcover, $9.98.

 

How books can affect an individual life is the focus of Maureen Corrigan’s memoir, LEAVE ME ALONE, I’M READING: Finding and Losing Myself in Books. From her childhood in Queens through an Ivy League education and on to motherhood and book reviewing for NPR, Corrigan has read steadily and widely. This is a great look at the life of a bookworm who hasn’t stayed under a rock. Available in hardcover, $5.98.

 

Mary Kay Zuravleff has turned her background with museums into fiction. THE BOWL IS ALREADY BROKEN is set in a Museum of Asian Art fraught with difficulties ranging from shattered masterpieces to the need to defend itself against charges that a museum for Asian art on the National Mall is un-American. Combining bureaucratic satire, Zen lessons, and some lively characters, this novel is great for summer reading. Available in hardcover, $4.98

 

Patricia Wells, an American in France, is renowned for her masterful translation of French recipes for North American audiences. In THE PROVENCE COOKBOOK: 175 Recipes and a Select Guide to the Markets, Shops, & Restaurants of France’s Sunny South, she passes on the fruit of her twenty-year apprenticeship to the region’s culinary specialties, providing not just recipes, but a taste of the culture as well. Available in hardcover, $13.98.

•Laurie Greer

 

Staff Pick

Kokomo Arnold & Casey Bill Weldon, BOTTLENECK GUITAR TRENDSETTERS OF THE 1930s (Yazoo, $17.98)

Casey Bill Weldon was not simply a blues guitar player, and his style cannot be boiled down to “bottleneck.” As much an innovator as his wife, Memphis Minnie, he incorporated Hawaiian slack-key tunings and slides into his compositions as early as the mid-twenties, well preceding mainland interest in Hawaiian artists by several decades. Sharing this collection is Kokomo Arnold, a Chicago bootlegger by trade who was forced to record full time for Decca after Prohibition. Both artists, and in particular Arnold, were very popular in Chicago and helped lay the groundwork for the distinctive Chicago blues sound of Howlin’ Wolf, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, and countless others. (The CD reproduces the classic LP cover by Robert Crumb.) • Peter Miller

The Tony Winners

The original cast album is still around—all the recent Tony-winning musicals are strutting their stuff on CD (and Gypsy, with Patti LuPone, will be available later this summer).

IN THE HEIGHTS (Ghostlight, 2CDs, $21.98), written by and starring Lin-Manuel Miranda, won for Best Musical and Best Score; SOUTH PACIFIC (Sony Classics, $17.98), won for Best Revival of a Musical; PASSING STRANGE (Ghostlight, $17.98) won for Best Book of a Musical (for the star and composer, Stew).

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