From a recent newsletter from Eagle Harbor Book Company on Bainbridge Island, WA:
What experienced bookseller hasn’t heard this one: “I can’t remember the author or the title, but the cover is blue!” We rarely astonish our customers (or ourselves) by solving a mystery this difficult, but this week was our moment in the sun. The customer was looking for a book by a Black LGBTQ author who wrote something about the ocean.
Yikes! We were stumped but determined and after much hair pulling and research– bingo! The book is Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs. It was as unlikely a title we could have imagined, but it so happened that we actually had it in the store. (It looks like an amazing read BTW.)
So, the next time you are trying to remember a title or author, give us a try. We live for this – but (hint, hint), it’s okay if you give us a few more clues.
Share some of the amazing book descriptions and titles that you’ve experienced or add one you’d like us to try to solve in the comments!
