[In] Lillie Lainoff’s One for All, the story of 16-year-old Tania de Batz … suffers from constant dizziness and a murdered father. One of these things has an evident solution, and young Tania whisks herself off to Paris where she discovers that the finishing school her father wished her to attend is actually a secret …
It’s time for a Thursday Theme, where we shine a spotlight on some of the titles featured in this week’s Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association regional bestseller list. I’m dating myself with my reference to the “Calgon, take me away!” bubble bath ads from the 1980s, but I couldn’t resist as I read through the hardcover bestsellers’ titles. …
In Sept. 2011, I first discovered Mary Lou Longworth and her first mystery (Murder at the Chateau Bremont) set in Aix-en-Provence. I waited, impatiently at times, for her follow up books. It is worth the wait. [The second in the series is Murder in the Rue Dumas. The ninth book was published in 2021.] Professor …
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 …
