Can you recommend a book that makes you deeply sad about humanity, circa 2026? After Barragán, a young journalist in Madrid, learned his dentist mom had been scammed by a Nigerian romance con artist, he traveled to Lagos to see if he could track the scammer down. Instead, he was drawn, by equal parts empathy …
It actually had me laughing out loud. The voice is refreshing; at a time when it seems AI is seeping into everything, you can almost feel the warmth of the human touch here. –Laura, Paulina Springs Books, Sisters, OR Treat yourself to a road trip of a book from Paulina Springs and other independent bookstores.
This is a gentle, life-affirming book that takes us along a journey of grief. Tillie Nightingale is surprised to find that her late husband, Joe, had gifted her twelve books, one for each month of the year, to help her navigate the first year without him. What I loved about this book is that it …
The city-ship Safina is at a breaking point. Past generations of crew overthrew the ship’s AI, banned networked technology, and created new systems of social stratification and control. Their original mission persists – deliver sleeping colonists to a new planet – but they’re still centuries from their destination. With tension and instability rising, will it be grounds …
How to categorize this! Set across 15th-18th century France, you could call it lush, historical horror, dark academia, queer romance, or a fantasy retelling of the tale of the Beast of Gevaudan. (A little something for everyone.) Professor Sebastian Grave is a morally complicated near immortal who shares his skin with a demon and has …
Where do I even start with this one? Let’s start with the illustrator. Shinsuke Yoshitake is a picture book author/illustrator who has been translated into English for a few years now. I had The Boring Book for my kids and it was on frequent rotation during reading time. His books are funny, philosophical, and charmingly illustrated. But …
Believe it or not, The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee is a delightfully sweet story centered on the lives of three (and sometimes more) people who hang out at a cafe in Japan. Our story starts when narrator Momoko has just been dumped by her boyfriend after several years of her fastidious attempts to tend …
Good Eggs meets Crazy Rich Asians as a wealthy Chinese family with multiple dysfunctional issues bank on the leading queer son to produce a male heir to continue the traditional namesake and lineage. —Gerard Villegas, Auntie’s Bookstore, Spokane, WA Treat yourself to queer books from Auntie’s Bookstore and other independent bookstores. Happy Pride Month!
Joseph Eckert’s The Traveler is the science fictional story of a man out of step with time. Every day, at 7:52 AM, Scott Treder slips forward in time. At first it is only twenty-four hours—one day—but the next time it happens, he slips two days. Then, four. And, well, you can see where this goes. …
