Top Shelf: Recommendations of recent books from the staffs of Bay Area independent bookstores

Found at the San Francisco Chronicle

This week's list is from Copperfield's Books, 138 N. Main St., Sebastopol. (707) 823-2618. www.copperfields.net.

Fiction

The Risk of Infidelity Index, by Christopher G. Moore: Think Dashiell Hammett in Bangkok. A hard-boiled, street-smart, often hilarious pursuit of a double murderer. In paperback.

White Tiger, by Aravind Adiga: Dark, humorous and real. This novel lets us see that morality and money don't solve every problem, but decency can still be found in a corrupt world. In paperback.

Hotel de Dream, by Edmund White: This story within a story finds Stephen Crane dictating his final work to his wife, Cora. What emerges is a strange, dreamlike novel of a boy prostitute in 1890s New York and the married man who ruins his own life to find love. In paperback.

People of the Whale, by Linda Hogan: Hogan employs just the right touch of spiritualism in this engrossing tale of a world that once was and still might be.

Tales From Outer Suburbia (ages 10 & up), by Shaun Tan: A thought-provoking book about everyday happenings that morph into remarkable and imaginative stories for adults and children.

Nonfiction

The Killing of Major Denis Mahon, by Peter Duffy: Duffy's storytelling skills render vividly the harsh realities and the alternately heartbreaking and appalling politics of the Irish Famine. In paperback.

A Place of My Own, by Michael Pollan: You might have missed this book when it came out in 1997, but this reissue is one to include in your library. Pollan is inspired to build a room of his own with his own hands. In paperback.

God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre, by Richard Grant: Grant travels on horseback through Mexico's Sierra Madre, one of the largest drug-producing regions in the world, and encounters a rugged landscape where the mythical old Mexico meets the new. In paperback.

Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating, by Mark Bittman: A no-nonsense rundown on how government policy, big-business marketing and global economics influence what we choose to put on the table. Bittman offers recipes and straightforward, budget-conscious advice that will help shrink your carbon footprint - and your waistline.

Three Cups of Tea (Young Readers Edition), by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin: This remarkable story of how Mortenson built 60 schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan is now accessible to young readers. In paperback.