I’m a fan of romance any time of year, but I don’t want to let February go by without highlighting a favorite (or two, stay tuned for next week!). Emma Lord is on my must-read list since I devoured her PNW-set YA You Have a Match, and I was thrilled to see she had a …
Island Books of Mercer Island, WA has compiled their list of favorite children’s picture books of the year. Here is a sampling: Agatha May and the Angler Fish written by Nora Morrison and Jessie Ann Foley, illustrated by Mika Song I Don’t Care written by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Molly Idle and Juana Martinez-Neal Kumo: …
I am always up for a novel in letters (84, Charing Cross Road, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Meet Me at the Museum). I like the challenge of piecing together a picture of each character through the way the letter writers describe the landscape of their lives. This novel has the added …
I have a handful of authors who belong to a select category labeled “I will read anything you write.” I find their prose irresistibly compelling, no matter the subject, no matter if the characters are likable, no matter if (gasp!) the ending is hopeful. Ann Patchett. Emily St. John Mandel. And Maggie O’Farrell. When I read the description …
Five stories and one novella that pack a punch! How does she make her stories feel like science fiction, present day reality and historical fiction all at once? I am looking forward to more from this original writer! –Nancy, Island Books, Mercer Island, WA This was one of Island Books’ top fiction books from …
808s and Otherworlds by Sean Avery Medlin is a vibrant collection that bridges poetry and essay. With a hip hop vibe, Medlin explores their coming of age as a queer black person in suburban Arizona. Medlin’s writing has changed the way I look at poetry. –Caitlin, Island Books, Mercer Island, WA This was one of …
On a … whimsical note, here is Sosuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books, which is about a young bookseller and a talking cat. The cat has a mission, you see—a mission to rescue books from mistreatment, misappropriation, and general misuse. Naturally, the bookseller agrees to help the cat. Mysteries ensue. –A Good Book, Sumner, …
From the author of The Nest, Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney’s newest novel, Good Company, opens with main character, Flora, finding the wedding ring her husband Julian told her he’d lost years ago. Dropped into the middle, a moment in time that will affect the future and shade the past, Sweeney immediately pulled me into the narrative. I …
I first read Brian Doyle’s The Grail (Oregon State University Press, $18.95) while serving on the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Awards Committee years ago. I fell in love with his abundant affection for people and place and his exquisite prose. Over the years, I had the pleasure of meeting him several times. I was just discovering his poetry/poetic essays and …
[It has been featured] on several most anticipated releases of 2021 lists, including Newsweek, Refinery29 and Popsugar. With an eye catching cover, a local setting and an instantly intriguing premise, Girls With Bright Futures is the book everyone is going to be talking about. Taking place in Seattle at the fictional Elliott Bay Academy, and told from three alternating points …
