By Becky Merilatt from Secret Garden Books in Seattle, WA: Four years ago, I came back to work at the Secret Garden after spending a few years at home raising my two boys. My return to work also meant a return to reading, a practice that had nearly been lost to me while elbows deep …
Last night I read this wonderful book. The story of a little boy in CT who grows up to be a restaurant critic in Paris, then at Gourmet magazine (oh how I miss that publication). If you love food & dining like I do, you will devour this in one sitting. James Beard, Julia Child, …
Willig’s Band of Sisters pulled me in and took me on a journey of complicated friendships that grew and matured in the midst of hardship and trial. Mishaps with roosters, snowstorms, and reminders of the kindness and resilience of people, this historical fiction is a delight to read. –Laura DeLaney, Rediscovered Books, Boise, ID Dive …
A bestseller in Europe, this elegant, thoughtful novel will restore your faith in humanity. In her small French village, Violette is the cemetery keeper who soothes the mourners and keeps their secrets. Abandoned by a missing husband, she builds a loyal surrogate family from others who work in the cemetery. When a stranger disturbs her …
“It was a dark and stormy night…” Okay, it was not stormy, but in Mark Pryor’s second thriller starring Hugo Marston entitled The Crypt Thief, the story opens in a famous Paris cemetery in the middle of a dark night. Spooky. The villain, nicknamed The Scarab, is up to no good. He kills a young …
Merci, Notre Dame. Find sanctuary in independent bookstores, where you can honor the past and imagine the future.
An adventure story for the ages. It’s 1961, Charlie Fisher, the son of a foreign diplomat, finds himself adrift in the city of Marseilles. After witnessing a pickpocket in the busy city center, his intrigue draws him into an underground world of adolescent pickpockets, filled with a spirited, colorful cast of characters–ranging from identical Senegalese …
After nearly 40 years as a book professional, I retired in 2011 and began traveling for pleasure. Many of the trips my wife and I have taken have a close relationship to books I have read. In 2011 we traveled to Carcassonne in southwestern France. I had read several books in which that part of …
As a reader, I have lists of authors that are favorite writers. Sometimes I like to discover authors that are “new” to me. Brad Thor is an old favorite. The last time I read a book by Mr. Thor was 5 years ago (my bad!). I returned to the world of Scot Harvath with Use …
Michael Jecks has written many medieval mysteries featuring a defrocked Templar set in the early 14th Century. I have read about a dozen of those mysteries, the last one about five years ago. So many books, so little time! A few years ago, Mr. Jecks branched out to write novels about other historical events but …
