Centa's Reviews

Patti Smith’s follow-up memoir to Just Kids is a poignant and fluid meditation on places and objects that bear significance in her life, shifting seamlessly from dreamlike to reminiscent. Punctuated by coffee, literature, and detective shows, we meander through her memories of travel and relationships. Don’t expect a linear narrative—drift with Ms. Smith through what she describes as “a roadmap to my life.”

I've been in awe of how she just took something she loved (computer games) and just went with it. And now there's this great book that tells that story. Day talks about what it takes for a shy but driven person to develop successful creative ventures, and is open about the cost of success in terms of mental health and even personal safety. Reading the book is like listening to stories told across a table at that little diner down the street.

Patti Smith’s follow-up memoir to Just Kids is a poignant and fluid meditation on places and objects that bear significance in her life, shifting seamlessly from dreamlike to reminiscent. Punctuated by coffee, literature, and detective shows, we meander through her memories of travel and relationships. Don’t expect a linear narrative—drift with Ms. Smith through what she describes as “a roadmap to my life.”  --Centa

(Bookshop will be hosting Patti Smith at an off-site event on November 17th—please see event page regarding ticket availability.)

Most famous for his long free solos (climbing with nothing more than shoes and chalk), Alex Honnold takes us on his adventures around the world in his memoir Alone on the Wall. Giving us an inside look at a person operating in such a different plane, on a level of adrenaline that would give most of us a heart attack, Honnold leaves the reader gripping the pages of the book as he describes being alone 2,000 feet off the ground—and off course. His excitement and passion for climbing and exploring will leave you itching to get outside after reading this book.  —Centa

Artist Maira Kalman has curated a book of beautiful, delicate, extraordinary, and weird objects from the Cooper Hewitt Museum that have one thing in common: They make her gasp with delight. She weaves her own personal history though these objects, her notes being at once intimate, universally human and empathetic. Her illustrations are so lush and satisfying you could stare at the colors and brushstrokes all day. My Favorite Things is funny, somber, sweet, and quirky.

The second installment in Thomas Campbell’s Slide series captures surf and life in Morocco, where the Bonny Doon–based filmmaker and artist would retreat to paint and surf. Retaining the DIY aesthetic for which he is known, Campbell shoots surf spots off the beaten path and surfers doing creative things outside the mainstream. Sometimes lo-fi, often sublime, and full of emotion, Campbell captures surfers doing what they love to do, and it is intoxicating and inspiring.