Stopping by the Harvard Book Store to get a copy of “Master Thieves” by Stephen Kurkjian seemed easy enough. (I’ve always thought the hardest part about shopping at the store is finding a parking spot or making the trek up from the Red Line station.) Then I started to puruse the “staff recommendations” and look at the “signed editions” available for sale in the Massachusetts Avenue shop.

First, let me say that the staff at the Harvard Book Store takes the idea of recommendations seriously, very seriously. This staff has a running list of the “Top 100” as well as their own—printed on-demand—book with staff recommendations.

And the “Staff Recommendation” section contains more than 750 suggestions online. Here are a few I’d recommend as well:

[ezcol_1half]First up is a pick from store staffer Ben N., which he says is “not quite like anything I’ve ever read,” the novel “The Man With the Compound Eyes,” by Wu Ming-Yi.

Melissa L.-O. calls Sarah Manguso’s book of essays “Ongoingness: The End of a Diary”, which was released by Graywolf Press on March 3, “a dazzling philosophical investigation of the challenge of living in the present.” High praise, indeed.[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]And, like all of us who love books, the Harvard Book Store is celebrating the life of Terry Pratchett, the acclaimed author of 40 “Discworld” books, who died this month in England.

The store recommends this young readers (ages 8 to 12) book “Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales,” a specially released “never-before-published collection of 14 funny and inventive tales.” It is a great way to celebrate the life of this talented writer.[/ezcol_1half_end]