THE PASSION OF MARIE ROMANOV: A TALE OF ANASTASIA'S SISTER
Laura Rose
Memoir House, 2014, $9.99
In a stunning literary debut, Laura Rose mines letters, documents, and diaries to flesh out the tragic but enthralling story of Grand Duchess Marie Romanov, older sister of Anastasia, who, along with the entire Russian royal family, was imprisoned by the usurping Bolsheviks for 78 days, then executed. High Falls resident Rose creates a distinctive Marie, a beguiling, believable presence who rises from this page-turner with startling power and steals your heart. —RBW
PETER, PAUL AND MARY: 50 YEARS IN MUSIC & LIFE
Peter Yarrow, Noel Paul Stookey & Mary Travers, foreword by John F. Kerry
Imagine!, 2014, $29.95
Celebrate Peter, Paul and Mary's part in American history in gorgeous black-and-white. Packed with photographs and filled with memories, this lavish book is an inspiring chronicle of a great band and a changing nation. It reaches beyond the music scene to dramatic political events, often powerfully expressed in the trio's soothing three-part harmony. All the milestones and key figures are there, and Secretary of State John Kerry, a lifelong fan, puts it all into perspective. —JM
THE POCKET PERKINS: BRIEF WRITINGS
Michael Perkins
Bushwhack Books, 2014, $14.95
In this handy volume, beloved Woodstock poet-novelist-libertine-philosopher-hiker Perkins offers a potent distillation of 50 years of work, packed with pithy excerpts from his memoir, plus criticism, essays, and more, including an introduction by Chronogram's own Nina Shengold. Sprinkled liberally throughout are Perkins's exquisitely wrought aphorisms, shining with bracing clarity. The Pocket Perkins can serve as introduction to this true man of letters, a Greatest Hits, and/or a reminder that literary greatness walks among us still. —RBW
SAVING SIMON: HOW A RESCUE DONKEY TAUGHT ME THE MEANING OF COMPASSION
Jon Katz
Ballantine Books, 2014, $25
Hudson Valley bestseller Jon Katz has a knack for portraying the remarkable canines in his life. Now he's writ a moving tale about an old soul of a donkey named Simon, as patient and kind as his ears are long. In rescuing this wise creature, as Katzian logic goes, Katz also rescues part of himself. This story marks a change in life, too, as Katz and his wife, Maria Wulf, leave their beloved Bedlam Farm for another haven, where compassion has plenty of room to roam. —JM
SEPARATE CINEMA: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF BLACK MOVIE POSTERS
John Duke Kirsch, foreword by Henry Louis Gates Jr., afterword by Spike Lee
Reel Art Press, 2014, $75
This opulent volume brings a hidden gem of a film archive to four-color glory. The Rhinebeck-based Separate Cinema Archive, the largest private collection of African-American film memorabilia in the world, includes over 35,000 movie posters and photographs. Here's the best of it, from Uncle Tom's Cabin to The Butler, Al Jolson to Blaxploitation, Dorothy Dandridge to Oprah, B movies to blockbusters. With a foreword by Henry Louis Gates and an afterword by Spike Lee, it's a hefty revelation. —JM
STRONG FEMALE PROTAGONIST
Brennan Lee Mulligan, drawn by Molly Ostertag
Top Shelf, 2014, $19.95
Ace writer Mulligan and deft artist Ostertag, veterans of the Kingston-based Wayfinder Experience, originally published an online version of their defiantly original, witty, gender-busting comic Strong Female Protagonist, the adventures of retired 19-year-old superhero Alison Green, aka Mega Girl. Alison's superstrength, while awesome, causes real-world problems, too, which offers a tantalizing believability rare in the genre. A stupendously successful Kickstarter campaign enabled the creators to graduate to the analog world. —RBW
WOODY AND THE CANDLE MOUNTAIN
Crystal Schachter, illustrated by Margarete de Soleil
Dog Ear Publications, 2014, $27.95 hardcover / $17.95 paperback
It doesn't get much more Woodstock than this big-hearted, finely drawn tale of an aimless girl with low self-esteem who wanders down Tinker Street, fending off well-meaning neighbors from hummus kitchen to bookstore to drum circle ("All the adults were being weirder than usual," she grumps) until she arrives at a candle shop with a magical mountain of rainbow-hued wax. But sometimes old hippies know best, and Woody awakens from a colorful was-it-a-dream with new resolve. Comes with free candle set. —NS
