This engaging biographical novel brings the larger-than-life character of Josephine Baker to the forefront of the reader’s imagination. Although the singer/dancer/activist wrote memoirs of her own, restrictions of the era and a Hollywood agenda prevented them from being honest. This book reveals what the others did not, including her early years of poverty and abuse …
In the ’60s four young siblings visit a psychic who tells each of them the day they will die. Would you live your life differently if you knew the date of your death? Would you want to know? Free will or fate? These and other questions are surrounded by beautiful writing that keeps you turning …
A Place for Us follows Layla and Rafiq as they immigrate from India and make a life in America. They raise their children Hadia, Huda and Amar with all the opportunities that America affords while instilling in them a reverence for their Muslim faith. Shifting perspectives in the novel lend itself to such a tender, …
Oluo’s timely and powerful book posits that we need to talk about race but often don’t because we are afraid we will get it wrong, not know enough, not know how to answer common arguments, or otherwise cause more harm than good. In So You Want to Talk About Race, she uses straightforward language, clear …
A bare-knuckled love letter steeped in fatherly wisdom written to Coates’s son that rendered me speechless, angry, and hopeful. Coates writes with an urgency and a sensitivity that begs to be shared with those looking toward a future in which systemic oppression has no home in this country. –Blair, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA Find …
By Donald W. Meyers for yakimaherald.com. Be sure to click through to the original article to see the great photo! For 18 years, Yakima Valley bibliophiles have been able to satisfy their cravings at Inklings Bookshop. Owner Susan Richmond didn’t want to be a business owner, but she liked books, and being with people who …
A striking look at how anti-immigrant hate and a lust for profit revived the KKK in the ’20s and ’30s. Striking parallels to the anti-immigrant movement of today. It will make you think. –Bruce DeLaney, Rediscovered Books, Boise, ID Find history that resonates at Rediscovered Books and other independent bookstores. This is available now in …
Dawn is complex, deeply compelling, and endlessly thought-provoking in its meditations on what it means to be human, who gets to be considered human, and what’s at stake in these categorical distinctions. Set in a dystopian future, Dawn’s chilling, unsettling narrative reminds us how the words we use and distinctions we make so urgently matter …
This was originally posted on Island Books’ tumblr It’s always a pleasure to see the list of finalists for the annual Washington State Book Awards, not least because the judges are some of our favorite people, local booksellers and librarians. We especially wanted to take note of this slate of books, though, since so many of their …
Settle in quickly when you begin this little book, because it’s going to charge out of the gate, whether you’re buckled in or not. It begins with a stumble for its main character, Mara, which soon becomes a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. The disease moves fast, but so does Mara, who, decisive in this and …
