Optimistic climate guide is Petaluma’s No. 1 book

Local readers embrace new books about environment, politics and cooking with friends.|

The top selling titles at Copperfield’s Books, in Petaluma, for the week of May 2 – May 8, 2022

A slew of newly released books take their places on Petaluma’s Top 10 bestsellers list, alongside a few older titles that keep popping back in to say hello (Welcome back, “Braiding Sweetgrass!” Been reading about you in the news “Gender Queer!”).

Leading the pack of the newbies at No. 1 is Peter Fiekowsky’s “Climate Restoration,” a comfortingly non-alarmist exploration of how humans can undo some of the damage they’ve done to the planet Earth. Fiekowsky, an acclaimed physicist, engineer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and author, is not saying it’s going to be easy, but as described through the book’s four science-made-clear solutions to climate change, there is at least a little room for optimism – assuming we can stop fighting about who’s to blame and start working together now.

A different kind of cooperation is modeled in this week’s No. 2 title, “Food Between Friends,” a cookbook from chef Julie Tanous and actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”) that shares beloved recipes the two longtime friends have taught one another.

In the No. 3 spot is a novel, a sequel of sorts from Jennifer Egan, the Pulitzer-winning author of “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” exploring what could happen if someone found a way for people to upload their consciousness into a massive mutual mega-mind, and what might become of those trend-resisting folks who refuse to participate.

Other notable new arrivals include “This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future” (No. 4) by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, and Emily Henry’s “Book Lovers” (No. 6). The former is a detailed examination of the rocky White House transition from Trump to Biden, and the latter is a fresh variation on the classic romantic comedy novel from the author of “People We Meet on Vacation.”

Here is the complete Top 10 Books on Copperfield’s Fiction and Nonfiction list, along with the full Kids and Young Adults list.

FICTION & NON-FICTION

1. ‘Climate Restoration,’ by Peter Fiekowsky – Subtitled “The Only Future That Will Sustain the Human Race,” this nonfiction guide offers more than hand-wringing and finger pointing, producing a series of practical, achievable steps to reversing the momentum of destructive worldwide climate change.

2. ‘Food Between Friends,’ by Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Julie Tanous – This new cookbook, developed by Modern Family” star Jesse Tyler Ferguson and chef Julie Tanous, is described by the two best friends a n homage to their respective hometowns.

3. ‘The Candy House,’ by Jennifer Egan – Not quite a sequel to the Pulitzer-winning “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” this new work from Egan does involve characters from that earlier work, in a science-fiction exploration of a future world in which people upload their consciousnesses to a universal collective.

4. ‘This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future,’ by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns – A detailed examination of Trump’s final few weeks in office and Biden’s very first.

5. ‘The Field Guide to Dumb Birds of the Whole Stupid World,’ by Matt Kracht – More dumb birds from more stupid places as one of the funniest nature guidebooks ever written gets a ridiculous (and hilarious) sequel.

6. ‘Book Lovers,’ by Emily Henry – From the author of “People We Meet on Vacation” comes another romantic comedy of errors, once again involving an unlikely pairing of two people who seem totally wrong for each, and possibly really are.

7. ‘While Justice Sleeps,’ by Stacey Abrams - A political thriller about a Supreme Court clerk running for her life after the Justice she works for falls into a mysterious coma

8. ‘Braiding Sweetgrass,’ by Robin Kimmerer – A rich and lyrical nonfiction exploration of indigenous wisdom and the scientific look at what plants are able to teach us.

9. ‘We Begin at the End,’ by Chris Whitaker – A tense murder mystery with the fierce, unforgiving 13-year-old at the center of a decades-old crime.

10. ‘The Paper Palace,’ by Miranda Cowley Heller – A riveting drama about an aging woman and the life-changing decision that comes during a visit to her family’s falling-apart vacation spot in the woods.

KIDS & YOUNG ADULTS

1. ‘Wave,’ by Diana Farid – A first-generation Persian surfer girl deals with parental expectations and a best friend with cancer during one long wave-filled summer in 1980s southern California.

2. ‘Pretty Perfect Kitty Corn,’ by Shannon Hale - A tale of affirming one’s identity as told through the friendship between two different (but not-so-different) magical creatures.

3. ‘Marvellers,’ by Dhonielle Clayton – Young magicians learn a few dangerous tricks in a secret magic school in the sky.

4. ‘Heartstopper: Volume 4,’ by Alice Oseman – The fourth volume in the popular series about best friends in love is soon to be a Netflix series.

5. ‘Corduroy,’ by Don Freeman – This 1968 classic about a teddy bear in a department store kick-started a whole series of beloved books.

6. ‘Wings of Fire Graphic Novel: The Brightest Night,’ by Tui Sutherland – The epic tale of a world full of dragons continues.

7. ‘The Bad Guys in Mission Unpluckable,’ by Aaron Blabey – Now the stars of a hit animated movie, Blabey’s (somewhat) reformed criminal animals launch another caper-like adventure.

8. ‘Cat Kid Comic Club: On Purpose,’ by Dav Pilkey – In this third graphic novel in Dav Pailkey’s imaginative series, the baby frogs each create a new story-within-a-story, as the club struggles with rejection and ambition.

9. ‘Lightfall: Shadow of the Bird,’ by Tim Probert – In Irpa, a magical land full of mystical creatures, a giant bird has stolen the sun, and only Bea and Covid can save the world.

10. ‘Gender Queer: A Memoir,’ by Maia Kobabe – Currently the most banned book in America, this gorgeously honest memoir by Santa Rosa cartoonist Kobabe is a brilliantly drawn illustration of what it’s like be young, non-binary, gender queer and asexual in a world where almost no one knows what any of that means.

Data compiled by Amber-Rose Reed, Manager of Copperfield’s Book.

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