Here is Chuck Klosterman’s Football, a book about the singular force that shapes American life. That’s Chuck’s phrase, not ours, but it doesn’t take long to get swept up in his worldview. This is a book for both folks who like football—who will find much to agree with here—and those who don’t understand what the …
Travis Baldree is back with Brigands & Breadknives, which is the story of Fern, once a bookseller and now a lost wanderer in the company of a legendary warrior, a chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely monstrous hangover. Fern, you see, has been suffering from a bit of ennui these past months, …
Here is The Anthony Bourdain Reader, a deeply curated selection of the man’s writing—fiction and non-fiction—over the years. Through it all, as Patrick Radden Keefe makes note of in his introduction, it’s abundantly clear that Bourdain always thought of himself as a writer. Everything else—chef, TV personality, drug addict—was secondary to his desire to write. …
Stirringly atmospheric and unsettling, full of grief and love and darkness but also hope, this is completely compelling! The blessed yet cursed town of Mistaken, the vivid cast of townspeople, and the mysterious threats of the world beyond their Warding Stones all captured my imagination. Greer is a character who will stick with you long …
Here is Syou Ishida’s We’ll Prescribe You Another Cat, which is a series of stories about a mysterious clinic whose primary solution to what ails you is to give you a cat. This is one of those books which either works for you as a reader or doesn’t. If you find yourself thinking “Really?”, then …
Al-Rashid dives into the actual historical records left by the peoples who lived, loved, and died in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, providing us with delightful snaphots of daily life circa 1900 BCE. Folks had collicky babies, needed recipes for beer, and wanted to exorcise ghosts. Preschoolers had terrible handwriting. There was …
J. Penner has written a story about a fantasy bake-off. A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic is about Arleta Starstone, a human confectioner who rises above their own social awkwardness and enters their treats into the prestigious Elven Baking Battle. Since Arleta isn’t naturally magical, she’s going to have to whip up some extra tasty treats to …
This is Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Love Story, which is a lot of colons to swallow. We think one of those isn’t the title of the book that Reid submitted, but you know how they are with the meta-data these days. Anyway, Atmosphere: A GMA Book Club Pick: A Love Story is the story of …
Here is Torben Kuhlmann’s latest Mouse Adventure children’s book. This one is about Earhart, both the aviator and the mouse who dreamed of the world beyond the field she’s grown up in. We’re huge fans of Kuhlmann’s art and storytelling, and we’re so delighted he’s done another book in his absolutely charming series. Highly recommended. …
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ballast Book Co. (@ballastbookco) Independent Bookstore Day 2025 is Saturday, April 26. Washington’s South Sound bookstores are hosting the South Sound Bookstore Crawl April 26th through May 4th. It’s a worthy quest! If you visit all 11 stores on the South Sound Book Crawl and get …
