This is my favorite kind of non-fiction book—a failure. Which is to say that it isn’t a biography of the influential mid-century poet Frank O’Hara, although it’s full of biographical detail and wise analysis of his life and work. It also doesn’t offer definitive answers about the fraught relationship between distant fathers and their underappreciated …
This is the very entertaining second book in Whitehead’s Harlem Trilogy that started with Harlem Shuffle. It’s New York in the ’70s: more and more garbage in the streets, increasing crime and continuing graft. Carney has a thriving furniture business and strives to be a family man. But he can’t stay away from crime, with …
This love story is an endearing mix of a daydream and a fever dream. Written in the 1970s, it takes place in New York and centers around two best friends (and third cousins!) and the two incredible women they fall in love with. It’s smart, funny, satisfying, and often completely silly. One of our most …
Get ready to root for Olga! I absolutely loved this book. It beautifully captures the Puerto Rican experience with humor and bravery. It felt like home, and when a book feels like home, I can’t help but invite everyone over. —Rosa Hernandez, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, WA Discover something wonderful at Third Place …
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. …
From Watermark Book Company in Anacortes, WA: Watermark Book Club is on Zoom! It is a closed book club, and you can let us know if you would like to be added to the waitlist. In the meantime, feel free to read along with us! This month we are discussing The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn …
What a treat it was to read Colson Whitehead’s new book Harlem Shuffle. It is the best trip I have taken during the last year. I did not actually “shuffle” around Harlem in the early 1960s, as that would have included using my feet, but I spent time riding on a truck bed, sometimes accompanied …
So if there wasn’t enough tension and the stakes weren’t high enough in Casey McQuiston’s Red, White, and Royal Blue (there was, and they were) now we’re given One Last Stop: a girl lost in time and a romance that’s destined to be a missed connection. Good to the last drop! Just like RW&RB it …
When I attended college in the early 1960s, I majored in history and minored in art history/appreciation (no drawing classes). When I saw a mention of An Exquisite Corpse by art historian Helen A. Harrison, I was hoping I would like it. In a word, it was awesome. The story takes place in New York …
If you’ve ever struggled to lead a creatively satisfying professional life, there’s a good chance Cass’s story will resonate. Cass’s chosen career path? Theater. After an entire decade of working on “weird downtown plays” as a no-name playwright in NYC, she wins an award along with $50,000 and lands herself an off-Broadway debut. She’s 33 …
