Sam is the co-owner of the Norwich Bookstore, and has been a bookseller for most of his adult life. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he has a fondness for strong coffee and dark, rainy days. He knows more than you might expect about classic cars, off-brand guitars, and the Drive-By Truckers discography.
Claudia Lin’s new job - working for a secretive startup that checks the claims of online dating profiles - is almost like being a detective, which suits her just fine. Nevermind the fact that her fractured and occasionally overbearing family thinks she’s still working at the financial job her older brother got her; she’s enjoying being able to think like her favorite fictional sleuth, and anyway, there’s plenty about her life she hasn’t exactly shared with her mother. But when a client comes forward with an unusual request, and then disappears, Claudia takes matters into her own hands - and uncovers a conspiracy of frightening proportions, one that will test her mettle and maybe put her right in her element. Smart, funny, and propulsive, The Verifiers left me satisfied but also desperate for a sequel. -Sam
Despite its ubiquity in the cultural lexicon, most of us would probably be hard-pressed to describe all the actual events making up the scandal we now refer to as “Watergate.” In fact, whatever you imagine when you hear that word, the truth is likely both more complicated and a whole lot weirder. Graff’s accessible, definitive account of the multi-year Watergate saga, which would ultimately lead to resignations and prison time for dozens of public and private officials, and have consequences that still permeate American life today, reads like a Cohen Brothers film, full of banal villains, bumbling fools, tragic missteps, and people who just never learn. Exhaustively researched and imminently readable, this book is a new classic of American history. -Sam
Early readers were quick to describe this earnest, searing memoir, which follows Carrot Quinn's time riding freight trains around the country, as a companion to books like Wild and Educated. Those comparisons are accurate enough, but The Sunset Route stands on its own as a raw, tender story unlike any I've read in a while. This is a poignant memoir, a seat-of-your-pants adventure, and an exhilarating study of community, redemption, and freedom. -Sam
Delectably pithy. Slightly deranged. Totally brilliant. I find myself regularly in awe of Mary Robison's fiction, and this hilariously deadpan family saga is among my favorite of her novels. -Sam
Like if George Saunders wrote The Monkey Wrench Gang, only better. -Sam