Recay American Book Store

03/08/2015

The Catcher in the Rye.....

Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them."

His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.

03/07/2015

I Know This Much Is True

On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother, Thomas, entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut, public library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable. . . .

One of the most acclaimed novels of our time, Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is a story of alienation and connection, devastation and renewal, at once joyous, heartbreaking, poignant, mystical, and powerfully, profoundly human.

03/05/2015

Classic Books: American Psycho

03/04/2015

It is the epicenter of America's military operations… a five-sided fortress with a single purpose–to defend the United States and its citizens. But behind the concrete walls and re-enforced windows are secrets. Enter the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense and explore the complex operations and top-secret business conducted at the largest low-rise office building in the world. How did the Pentagon get its unusual shape? How many people work at the Pentagon? What covert intelligence gathering organizations operate within the military compound–and how are their secrets protected? What top-secret information was compromised from the attack on September 11th? How quickly did the building and its tenants get back to business as usual? For seven decades, the Pentagon has been an icon of American strength and military excellence. But more impressive than the building itself are the secrets held there…until now.

03/03/2015

03/02/2015

Do You Speak American

03/01/2015

It Was Me All Along
A young food blogger shares her inspiring story of incredible weight loss-a journey from nearly 300 pounds to losing more than half her size-and establishing a healthy and confident relationship with food.

On her twentieth birthday, Andie Mitchell stepped on the scale and discovered that she weighed nearly 300 pounds. At 5' 9"-even knowing that she was big and hating herself for it-she was stunned. How had she gotten there? Without following wild diet trends, she lost 135 pounds over thirteen months and has kept it off for six years. It Was Me All Along shares the at times heartbreaking, yet ultimately uplifting and motivating, story of how Andie kicked her habit of binge eating, which she developed during a traumatic childhood, and developed a healthy relationship with food, which she still loves to cook and enjoy. Her story is at once familiar and inspiring to millions who have struggled with weight and self-image issues. Andie is a powerful motivator who bravely bares all to help others.

02/28/2015

Without Secrets
This story hasn't been written yet.

"I am currently hard at work on the second draft of Without Secrets. Without Secrets, previously Without Fear, is Sterling Lassiter and Rhys Waya’s story and the next in the With or Without series. I do not have a publication date as of yet, but will post one as soon as I have one." ---Update per author's website 12/8/2014

"I’m currently working on Sterling and Rhys’ story and hope to have it finished by the end of summer. It is tentatively titled Without Fear." -- Update as of 6/1/14 per the author's website ()

02/27/2015

Bob Woodward's latest book, Obama's Wars, is likely to be another bestseller for the writer. Photograph: Simon and Schuster/EPA

02/26/2015

Me Talk Pretty One Day ?

David Sedaris' move to Paris from New York inspired these hilarious pieces, including the title essay, about his attempts to learn French from a sadistic teacher who declares that every day spent with you is like having a caesarean section. His family is another inspiration. You Can't Kill the Rooster is a portrait of his brother, who talks incessant hip-hop slang to his bewildered father. And no one hones a finer fury in response to such modern annoyances as restaurant meals presented in ludicrous towers of food and cashiers with six-inch fingernails.

02/25/2015

The Poisonwood Bible?

The Poisonwood Bible is a story told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959. They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it -- from garden seeds to Scripture -- is calamitously transformed on African soil. What follows is a suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and remarkable reconstruction over the course of three decades in postcolonial Africa.