Devaney Doak & Garrett Booksellers

06/18/2026

This week's staff pick is brought to you by Nicholas!

"Stoner" by John Williams is an absolute masterpiece that only seems to gain more attention and appreciation as time moves on since its quiet publication in 1965. It's an oddity of a novel for many reasons. The title suggests a William S. Burroughs beat-era type of transgressive fiction (as does the time of its release, right before the "Summer of Love"), but it is far from that. It is a book about an ordinary man with ordinary problems at the dawn of the 20th century; an explanation of the plot would not pull you in by any means. Despite all of this, "Stoner" is written on such a magnetic scale that it beggars the mind. Hypnotic is its prose, extraordinary is its power, and unforgettable is its ending. It's a book that did not receive its due until this excellent reprinting by the New York Review of Books in 2003, purely on the basis of word of mouth. The whole staff is hooked on it! Come find out why!

https://ddgbooks.com/staff-picks-week

05/07/2026

Wonderful new book…

Few things are more important to the success of a literary venture than an author’s relationship with the imagined audience of the book. In the case of children’s books the imagined audience is often…

04/29/2026

We are reading The Parable of the Sower for our store reading group this month. One of the essential aspects embedded in the reading experience provided by a well founded dystopian novel is to make us comparatively reflect on the historical place and moment in which we are living. Few books wield that conceptual lever more forcefully than Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. Written in 1993 the book is not only prescient but even set in 2026 and thereabouts.

This inspired us to create the DDG Dystopian Challenge. Take the quiz in honor of the conceptual lever described above. Several entries are listed with their better known movie titles but all three of them are based on novels or short stories. Just skip any entries you are unfamiliar with.

We are reading Parable of the Sower for our store reading group this month. One of the essential aspects embedded in the reading experience provided by a well founded dystopian novel is to make us comparatively reflect on the historical place and moment in which we are living. Few books wield that c...

04/14/2026

May 1st will mark DDG's 35th anniversary. We're busy planning a fun party to celebrate that amiable fact. The party will be held on June 12th. More details to come!

The first order of party business is to fill out The DDG 35th Anniversary Book Survey. The survey asks you to pick favorite books in four categories. The four books with the most entries will become party prizes! Fill out your favorites here.

Let us know your favorite book published within the last 35 years in four categories.

04/14/2026

Behold meg's latest window display triumph! It is based a terrific interactive book, Buzz! Boom! Bang!: The Book of Sounds

04/09/2026

The championship match between Virginia Evans' The Correspondents and Suleika Jaouad's The Book of Alchemy remained exceptionally close throughout the voting period. One voter encapsulated the regard held by many voters for both volumes. “I'm going to apologize first to Suleika Jaouad, because I loved her book so much,“ she prefaced her vote, ”but The Correspondent it is.”

And so it is, indeed, that by a single vote The Correspondent was our winner. Many thanks to all who made the effort to vote. I'll note that one customer wrote after learning of the results of the semifinals to descry the fact that The Raven Scholar had lost in that round. “Did you vote?” was my question. “No,” she responded. "I may be a bad citizen, but at least I have great taste in books!" I daresay everyone who voted for these great books did.

03/31/2026

Our championship match has arrived along with a gaggle of animal spectators to cheer on their tome of choice. It is a clash of titans by any standard. Epistolary versus alchemical practice. Fiction versus nonfiction. Tour de force versus tour de force. The Correspondent versus The Book of Alchemy. Though this match was clearly marked by the hand of destiny, "yet certain it is, Fate is a blind puppy: build not on her next turn." Both are worthy, but only one can prevail and be named Tournament of Tomes Champion. Cast your vote here, O agent of destiny!