It was with sadness and not a little bitterness that we reported the fate of Seattle’s Queen Anne Books this past fall, but all is sweet on the hill today. The blindsided store will rise, on its old turf, as Queen Anne Book Company in late February. From yesterday’s press release: Ever since the doors of …
Unfortunately, bookstores close all the time, and we’re used to the list of factors that includes words such as Amazon, economy and eBooks. It’s something quite different when a neighborhood indie collapses when the cornerstone is removed from the inside. That is the lament of former Queen Anne Books (Seattle) employee Wendee Wieking, as featured in …
“When this came out as a gorgeous paperback, I realized I had been wanting to read it since before the hardcover was published. In a miracle of book location memory, I found the copy I picked up over a year ago and dove in. This is a brilliant, funny, clever novel that lived up to …
“For decades I’ve been following the travails of Anne Lamott, starting in 1993 with her memoir Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year. It’s here that we meet son Sam, and the slightly neurotic and crazed mom, Anne. Since then she’s published in more genres than imaginable: fiction, biography, writing, and faith/religion. And …
“Kate Moore, always a career woman, decides to quit her job so that her family can move to Luxembourg for her husband’s job. The timing is perfect—she’s tired of her job, her house, and her life in general. The idea of focusing on her kids and leaving the rat race behind couldn’t be more appealing. …
“If you are enjoying the Downton Abbey series you will love this book. It starts in 1938 in Vienna. Elise has been leading a very comfortable, somewhat privileged life. Her family is Jewish and her parents have plans to get to the US, but know it will take some time. Her parents are worried about …
“Matt Ruff, author of Queen Anne Books favorites Set This House in Order and Bad Monkeys, has written another page-turning, mind-reeling masterpiece. Imagine a world where the United Arab States is threatened by Christian fundamentalist terrorists, a world where a few good Homeland Security Agents have to fight corruption and conspiracies to protect all they …
“The author’s metaphor ‘we all have baggage so we might as well get used to traveling with it’ sets the tone for this book. The narrator (sure sounds like it might be Pam Houston herself) travels the world ‘searching for authenticity, perhaps fleeing from conflict and drinking up life experiences.’ The book form is a …
“In the opening chapter of Laura Lippman’s latest thriller, a central character dies in a solo car crash after leaving a tavern in his hometown. Was the incident a suicide or an accident? This question lies at the heart of a story that page-by-page pulls readers into the heart of a childhood secret shared by …
“It happens in all kinds of places–on a bus, in a restaurant, at the doctor’s office, even in a bookstore. A kindness is extended, a smile is offered—something that feels like it could develop into friendship, maybe even love. But the moment is fleeting. In popular parlance, they’re known as ‘missed connections.’ If you’re truly …
