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Browse: Home / Island Books

Island Books

Mar

30

2026

The Once and Future Riot by Joe Sacco

If you have never experienced Joe Sacco’s incredible comics journalism, his newest book is a great place to start. Follow Joe as he travels to Northern India to investigate the roots of a 2013 riot between Muslims and Hindus and discovers the political fictions that both sides told themselves to justify their violent actions. The …

Jan

14

2026

plastic: A Poem by Matthew Rice

plastic is an engaging, epic workplace poem based on Rice’s own experiences as a factory worker. As the night progresses Rice references coworkers, the music on the factory floor, and his tattered copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. —Caitlin Baker, Island Books, Mercer Island, WA Discover the epic in the everyday at Island Books and …

Jan

5

2026

Pony Confidential by Christina Lynch

Island Books of Mercer Island, WA, did a list of staff favorites during the holidays for Advent. We got a chortle out of this recommendation: Brad says, “Wait!?!? This is on Brad’s list? Yes, yes, it is. You see, I love ponies, and I especially love cranky ponies. And when cranky ponies set off to …

Nov

3

2025

The Endless Week by Laura Vazquez; translated from the French by Alex Niemi

Abandoned by their mother, adult siblings Salim and Sara rarely leave their house, while their father continuously pops in with bizarre advice as their grandmother lies dying. Funny, slightly insane, and completely absurd, The Endless Week by Laura Vazquez and translated by Alex Niemi has a place on my shelf of perfectly weird fiction. Think …

Aug

12

2025

Brad’s Bookshelf: Peter Bagge’s Oeuvre

I’ve been a fan of comics since I was a kid, and my passion for the form grew during my employment at Heroes World distribution in the ’80s. While my co-workers at the warehouse were pouring over (and speculating on) Marvel and D.C. superhero books, I was reading Love and Rockets, Yummy Fur, Lloyd Llewllyn, Good Girls, and Raw, …

Jan

14

2025

Helping those impacted by CA fires

Tomorrow, January 15, 2025, Island Books in Mercer Island, WA will donate 25% of all their sales, including online sales from 9 am to 7 pm, to World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that is providing fresh meals and clean water to people impacted by the California fires. You can also support bookstores and comic book …

Sep

13

2024

Small Rain by Garth Greenwell

A book about healing, caregiving, and poetry. . . Small Rain is a beautiful book, one to read quietly while watching birds, contemplating life, and dipping into a poetry collection. One of my favorite books of 2024. Highly recommended! — Caitlin Baker, Island Books, Mercer Island, WA Bask in something profound and lovely from Island …

Aug

16

2024

Bookstore Romance Day August 17, 2024

Oh, booklovers! This Saturday, August 17, 2024, is Bookstore Romance Day! Online events actually start tonight, Friday August 16, with the kick-off Romantasy Party at 4:00 PM Pacific (7 PM Eastern) on Zoom. Virtual online events are free but do require registration. Many stores are also celebrating with free or gift-with-purchase treats in-store. Find participating …

May

7

2024

The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan cover (cream background, four bird illustrations, including a hummingbird and a chickadee)

My Mother, the Reader: From Island Books’ Lori

I told my mom I was going to be writing about how much she fostered my own love of reading. She said, “You know, it all started in the library, when I had one of my first jobs as a page.” Back in the sixties, my mom was a teenager in the little desert town …

Dec

18

2023

Love in Winter Wonderland 
by Abiola Bello

Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello, was a delightful read (and the featured book on the holiday gift guide)! Trey’s family has owned Wonderland, the bookstore in Stoke Newington, for several generations, but this might be the year that ends. Wonderland is in trouble, and Trey will have to lean on his friends—old and new—to …

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