what's new

May

14

2020

I Really Want the Cake

Face Out

I Really Want the Cake written by Simon Philip, illustrated by Lucia Gaggiotti

I don’t know if I’ve ever related more to a main character… The cake-lover/ attempted cake-ignorer/ cake-eater/ cake-baker is earnest and honest and oh-so-endearing even as I sympathized with her poor mom– and her dog’s reactions delighted me even more. The illustrations perfectly capture the temptations, agonies, and delights I feel around cake. I can imagine coordinating a read-together and cake treat with someone socially distant. The rhymes are funny and really enjoyable to read aloud. My one problem with …

May

13

2020

Face Out

How to Dress an Egg by Ned Baldwin and Peter Kaminsky

Home cooking is all the rage these days (gee, I wonder why?) so a new cookbook is just the thing to keep boredom away from your dining table. Among the newest is one by a native son of Madison Park, Ned Baldwin, who is now a restaurateur running (after a stint at the prestigious Prune) …

May

12

2020

The Storefront

A Pandemic Note from Liberty Bay Books’ Suzanne Selfors

If you’d asked me, back in February, if I’d like to put all my time and energy into running an online business, I would have said, “No thank you!” But two months later, that’s exactly what has happened. Selling online might lack the satisfaction you get from perusing a shelf, picking up a book, flipping through …

May

11

2020

Hike by Pete Oswald

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Hike by Pete Oswald

Wordless book often have the most to say, and Hike in particular exemplifies in particular what I look for in a memorable picture book: nature, diversity, and grit alongside illustrations that you want to step into. This is one of my favorite new spring picture books. –Jesica Sweedler DeHart, Neill Public Library, Pullman, Washington If …

May

8

2020

The Storefront

Delightful Distraction: Book Larder’s Podcasts

Seattle’s cookbook-focused book store, Book Larder, is known for its wide assortment of cookbooks and cooking literature, its food-themed cards and gifts, and its phenomenal cooking classes. During the shutdown, you can still shop online and, as of May 6, do curbside pick-up with Book Larder to buy cookbooks to spice up your quarantine meal …

May

7

2020

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Tigers, Not Daughters by Samantha Mabry

Haunting and magical, Tigers, Not Daughters follows the lives of three young women one year after the death of their eldest sister, Ana — and it seems her presence still lingers. There’s Iridian, the writer; Rosa, the quiet observer; and Jessica, who strives to become the embodiment of who Ana once was. Now Ana leaves …

May

6

2020

Face Out

Qualityland by Marc-Uwe Kling

Marc-Uwe Kling’s Qualityland is about Peter Jobless (everyone in Qualityland gets their last name from their father’s occupation at the time of their birth) and his efforts to return a product he didn’t order. Since TheShop—the world’s most popular (and ubiquitous) online retailer—has the best (sorry, bestest) algorithm, it can’t possibly be wrong. This confusion …

May

5

2020

Borrowed Copy

“Indie Bookstores Are Poised to Take Market Share from Amazon”

From The Stranger, May 1, 2020 by by Christopher Frizzelle  Indie bookstores in Seattle like Elliott Bay Book Company, University Book Store, Third Place Books, Queen Anne Book Company, and others have sold books through their websites for years. But these stores are so deeply embedded into the character of their neighborhoods, and so deeply associated with in-store events and in-person relationships …

May

4

2020

Face Out

Running with Sherman: The Donkey with the Heart of a Hero by Christopher McDougall

This book, by the author who brought us the wildly popular Born to Run, is much more than the cover lets on. If you need a total change of pace, and to be brought fully away from our moment of despair, you need this book, about donkey-racing, animal husbandry, and making the impossible real. Community …

May

1

2020

Borrowed Copy

Idaho’s Independent Booksellers on PBS

Dialogue host Marcia Franklin talks with three Idaho independent booksellers about how they’re trying to weather the COVID-19 lockdowns that have severely affected their businesses. Guests are: Carol Price, owner of BookPeople of Moscow, Laura DeLaney, co-owner of Rediscovered Books in Boise, and Melissa Demotte, owner of The Well-Read Moose in Coeur d’Alene. April 12, …

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