May is the second annual World in Translation Month, designed to help bring attention to the wealth of literature written the world over. We’ve set up a display at the front of the store with a wide selection of translated literature, both fiction and poetry. One interesting development in translation over the past couple of years has been the increase in translations of mysteries, primarily from Italy, France and Sweden. These are some of the best crime novels being written today, and often overlooked in the rush to read the new Grisham novel. So come into the store, browse our selection, and to further encourage you to take a chance on something new, we’re offering a savings of 20% on these titles through the month of May.

From one of the last letters Anton Chekhov wrote, 4 days before dying from TB at the age of 44, in Badenweiler, a German spa:

“There is no such thing as a well-dressed German woman. Their lack of taste induces deep despondency.”

(From A Life in Letters, published by Penguin Classics.)