Since the last embers of 2015 died away, I have spent the past few days peering into the future of the nation’s bookshelves. Alas, I cannot see very much beyond June, and the status of The Winds of Winter, the latest in George R.R. Martin’s “Song of Ice and Fire” series (aka Game of Thrones) remains murky. But if you think you missed some of the finer plot points of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, boy do I have some good news for you: there are nearly 300 novelizations, encyclopedias, and visual dictionaries to help you out, not to mention an art-therapy coloring book (due 2/25, Egmont) and a new memoir by Carrie Fisher (The Princess Diarist, 4/26, Blue Rider)! If Star Wars isn’t quite your thing, I promise, there is an adult coloring book for whatever your thing happens to be. There’s also a glut of paleo cookbooks and neuroscientific explanations for any bizarre behavior you can think of.
American Housewife: Stories by Helen Ellis (1/12, Doubleday) Sometimes you do want to judge a book by its cover, and also the author bio. Which is: “HELEN ELLIS is the acclaimed author of Eating the Cheshire Cat. She is a poker player who competes on the national tournament circuit.”
Waiting for Buddy Guy: Chicago Blues at the Crossroads by Alan Harper (2/1, University of Illinois) Harper, an Englishman, traveled to Chicago in the late 1970s for the express purpose of listening to the blues. This is his chronicle of the city’s changing blues scene, from its southern black roots to its current guitar-centered, white-friendly incarnation. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement by Angela Davis (2/2, Haymarket) Here’s a collection of essays by the longtime activist that attempt to make sense of the past two years.
The Fugitives by Christopher Sorrentino (2/9, Simon & Schuster): The “fugitives” in the title are a Brooklyn novelist, a Chicago reporter, and an Ojibway storyteller, all hiding out in a small town in Michigan; the publisher promises it’s “a hell of a yarn.”
Painting the Gospel: Black Public Art and Religion in Chicago by Kymberly N. Pinder (2/15, University of Illinois) Here’s a tour of religious-themed public art on the south side, from stained glass and sculptures to contemporary street art, and an excellent excuse to get out and go exploring.
Really the Blues by Mezz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe (2/23, NYRB) NYRB has the excellent habit of finding and reprinting lost books that should have been classics. On the docket for this year is this autobiography of a Chicago-born jazzman who learned to play the clarinet in reform school and then embarked on an itinerant life of music and crime.
