I grew up in a house where creativity lived in the walls. Cartoons taped along cabinets, carved rocks on display, a small unicorn painting near the coffee cups, and a 4-foot plaster cast of illustrated ducks hung on our dining room wall. As a child, I didn’t realize how these surroundings shaped my memories. They …
If I loved H Mart before, it took on a whole new meaning with Michelle Zauner’s story. As a bridge child between the old world and the new, Zauner chronicles the struggles with her family as she attempts to find her place in American life. Rife with Korean food, Korean culture, and a difficult love, …
Hua Hsu’s story perfectly balances being deeply personal and resonating with anyone who reads it. About friendship, nostalgia, identity and the desperate ways in which we try to preserve the past, Stay True is heartbreaking and deeply relatable to those struggling with loss in any form, whether it be loss of youth, loss of self, …
This novel came into my life when I needed it most. Kimberly King Parsons was able to write something that balances the darkly hilarious and the deeply heart-wrenching aspects of life so incredibly adeptly. She subtly slips undeniable universal truths onto each page as her characters grapple along to the soundtrack of grief and complicated …
Remembering is an achingly beautiful, profoundly moving ode to the loss of a beloved pet. The young girl in the story is deeply saddened by the loss of her “constant companion”–a dog she clearly shared many days and experiences with, both good and bad. Her grief is palpable on her face, with the amazing illustrations reflecting …
An inspiring, moving reflection on embracing loss, grief, and yes, death, as a way to make our lives richer and more love-filled. Becker touches our hearts and opens our minds with stories from her personal life and hospice experiences, showing us that like a tree’s “heartwood,” the dead and dying become a source of strength …
![Livid by Cai Emmons [red background, black and gold pair of scissors]](https://nwbooklovers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Livid-cover-120x180.jpg)
This novel is a fascinating and moving portrait of love, sex, grief, feminism, morality, fortitude, and the complexities of human character. When Sybil returns from Boston to the West Coast town where she once lived, she’s immediately empaneled on a jury for a murder trial. Also on the jury is her ex-husband. Sybil’s sympathy for …
I keep a spreadsheet that lists every book I’ve read since 2010. It’s the most consistent and representative record of my life that I have—a life spent reading. I can look back and see that I spent the summer of 2015 reading or rereading Jane Austen novels, and the summer of 2016, all of Sarah …
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 …
You think your pains and heartbreaks are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who have ever been alive. ~ James Baldwin Since I …
