13.12: The Last Bookstore in America, by Amy Stewart (Kindle edition, Pub 2009)

First off, let me say that I have not failed to notice the irony that I read a novel about the decline of the bookstore on my iPad. Added to my guilt is the fact that Stewart is a local author and does, indeed, own a bookstore in my hometown. In fact, it's pictured on the front cover of the book. My guilt is slightly assuaged by the fact that I plan to purchase copies of the book in print as Christmas gifts for a number of people, but I've never been as aware of the issue of eBooks than I was while reading this book.

With that said, I have to say that I fully enjoyed this book. I downloaded it in the airport when traveling and found myself chuckling aloud at many parts. Much of the reason for my hilarity was the thinly-veiled discussion of small-time life in Eureka and surrounding Humboldt County. I recognized a good number of the characters--or at least parts of some people cobbled together to make a single character--places and settings were familiar, and social norms and attitudes were spot on.  While I think we likely come off a bit more charming and quaint in the book that we are in real life, reading this can give folks some idea of what it is like to live in rural, liberal, environmentalist, and--yes, of course--marijuana-influenced Northern California. I'd be curious to hear what folks that don't live here thought of the book.

As an aside, I want to mention that this is Stewart's first fiction release, but she has a number of amazing books on gardening: The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms (2005), Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful (2008),

Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities (2009), and Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects (2011). They make excellent gifts for the gardener, botanist, or nature lover in your life. Go buy them now. At your local bookstore.