Powell's Books is widely regarded as one of the best independent bookstores in the country. Located in Portland, Oregon the flagship store, " fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books." If you love books like we love books, that's enough to make you start shopping around for flights to Portland! Their commitment to books extends to their website which includes a blog that features a review-a-day. Not only do these reviews highlight worthy new titles, but they also shine light on some wonderful literary journals and review outlets that may fly under the radar. Case in point: Rain Taxi Review of Books publishes an insightful and spot-on review of Cradle Book: Stories & Fables by Craig Morgan Teicher. Powell's Books picks up the review and re-prints it on their Blog and, presto, lots of people find out about Cradle Book and Rain Taxi Review of Books all in one fell swoop! And now we extend a link of that information chain to you. Here's an excerpt from the review:   In a culture glutted on narrative realism, Craig Morgan Teicher's Cradle Book reminds us of why we tell stories in the first place. If the title doesn't tip the hat, then the opening sentence confirms it: "This story is older than the words with which it was written." The gods of Teicher's universe aren't concerned with the careful piling up of details designed to push a character through a narrative arc. They hurl stories at the reader from the abyss of the unconscious. Characters are drawn in a flash of the pen, as in "The Groaning Cows": "She was the weaver's daughter, a quiet girl who kept rabbits and loved to make up songs." Plots move by a different causality than our objective reality: "Stop! She cried. "You must not kill these cows, or else terrible luck will befall us all!" Read the complete review here: [Why We Tell Stories]