Happy New Year! Do you have a new year’s reading resolution? Why not resolve to treat yourself to books that bring you joy? Grow your reading habit and increase your quality of life with books from independent bookstores. About There’s Always Next Year by Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson: “A snow-kissed, warmhearted ode to …
The gay Pride and Prejudice retelling of our collective dreams, When Darcy Met Lizzy has all the yearning and intelligence of its source material while also adding new life. Reading this felt like falling in love with something familiar for a second time. You can feel Downing’s love for Austen in her reimagining of our …
Mary Desch, writing under the pen name MM Desch, brings years of psychiatric expertise to her debut psychological thriller, Tangled Darkness. The novel follows Dr. Leslie Schoen, a psychiatrist who becomes a suspect when a clinical assistant is found dead amid missing opioid allegations. She becomes ensnared in a deadly scheme of clinic conspiracies and …
I’m kind of surprised I liked this because it kind of grated at me at first… and then. Backstory: It’s the quadrennial Tournament of Dragon-Slayers, where the greatest knights (lacking dragons to slay, having slayed them all) compete for the hand of a Fair Princess… and her dowry. Isobelle is the princess, with her ladies …
Ostensibly a charmingly personal encyclopedia about the fictional television show Little Blue, Hazel Jane Plante’s debut novel is an incandescent love letter to trans friendship. A tender TV-and-karaoke-soaked heartbreaker that delights in pop culture. By the end I was as smitten with Little Blue and its colorful characters as Vivian was, and I fell in love with Vivian …
The winners of the 37th annual Publishing Triangle Awards, which honor the year’s best LGBTQ literature published in 2024, were announced at a celebration held at the New School in New York City on April 17. Charlie J. Stevens, Oregon author and owner of PNBA member store Sea Wolf Books & Community Writing Center, in Port …
Martyr! took over my brain completely. Kaveh Akbar created a revelatory experience in novel form about the absurdities of living, loving, dying, and discovering one’s identity. Each poetic page was filled with passages I want to keep close. — Torrin, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA Explore the National Book Awards finalists at Queen Anne …
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 …
Believe it or not, this was my first Chuck Tingle read—and I was not disappointed! This horror adventure came full of the heart I’ve learned to expect from Mr. Tingle, plus a tight, keep-you-guessing plot and lovably relatable characters. It deftly depicts the double-edged sword that is being an openly queer creator. And, the audiobook …
For my young adult fans, this is the *perfect* sapphic holiday rom-com. I appreciate that it features a Jewish protagonist and subverts the mainstream Christmas narrative. It is simply such a delightful read. Read if you love fish, paleontology, corgis, and enemies to lovers/forced proximity tropes. –Jeanette, Browsers Bookshop, Olympia, WA Who says holiday romances …
