Charlie, aka the Grenadine Kid, is the son of an American diplomat in France in 1961. By chance–or is it?– he witnesses a pick pocket, Amir, similar in age to himself being accosted by police, Charlie comes to his aid and by doing so strikes up a friendship. Charlie really has no friends and is …
Sometimes a book just strikes your funny bone and there is nothing for it but to laugh out loud, which is what I have done several times with this little picture book. We have all been there, even as adults (think: trying clothes on in a store dressing room and ah oh, you can’t get …
Have a dog lover in the family? This utterly charming book is just the thing for a birthday, Christmas, or just because. I loved Humphrey’s first book, Maddie On Things, and this one is even better. Humphrey adopted Maddie from a shelter in 2010, she being a hound of some kind. Sweet and gentle and …
At the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Fall Trade Show, the PNBA Awards Committee presented an overview of some nominated titles by northwest authors and illustrators that have captured their hearts this year. Committee chair Kim Hooyboer of Third Place Books (Seward Park, Seattle, WA) explained that this year a record-breaking 421 titles were nominated. She …
Beartown shows a different side to the writing capability of Frederik Backman. It still features community as a large character, but in this case we are speaking about a community larger than the ones his books have inhabited before. The story line is more complicated and there are more moving parts. Subject matter too, is darker, …
One of the reasons I love this book is because the heroes of the story are badass bookish people. The other reason is that it explores an often overlooked aspect of World War II. With the many other atrocities committed by the Nazis, it’s easy to forget that they were waging another, quieter war on …
This was a book that I definitely judged by its title when I ordered it. A true tale about skydiving beavers??!! Really. And yes, REALLY! This true tale took place in McCall, Idaho just after WWII. Up until then, before people “discovered” the natural beauty around McCall and populated it, it was an area home …
Tides is fascinating history, complex science, and an exciting collection of travel anecdotes wrapped together in one package by captivating, lyrical prose. As a surfer, sailor and conservationist, Jonathan White as an obvious love for the sea, but his book is about so much more than that. It is about the cycle of life on Earth, …
Life is a sequence of moments. Some bring pleasure, some bring pain, but most lay somewhere in between. The goal in life is to have the majority of moments sit on the side of pleasure. These are my words, not those of Meik. However, in this wonderful little read Meik lays out in very simple …
At a mere 64 pages, this book might seem like a lightweight, but it is nothing of the sort. It is in fact, a book that should be read by all adults in our culture, particularly all men. I don’t say this lightly. There is nothing new or groundbreaking about the information or the message …
