During his national tour for Hope Rides Again, the second Obama/Biden mystery, NYT bestselling humorist Andrew Shaffer filmed a special moment at Queen Anne Book Company in Seattle… Enjoy! Co-starring Wendee Wieking, cinematography by Janis Segress From the author’s facebook page: America Doesn't Got Talent I stopped by Seattle's Queen Anne Book Company to sign …
Nima may be awkward and a little lost in life, but she’s funnier than she thinks and so endearing. You can’t help but fall for her voice and feel for her situation. While she may think life is boring and want some changes, she doesn’t quite bargain for all she gets. Filled with kings, queens, …
It’s a commonplace (at least with me) to say that sometimes the best way to describe reality is to distort, enhance, or otherwise defamiliarize it through fantasy and speculation. Helen Phillips seems to agree with me, at least to judge by her intense, somewhat surrealistic fiction. The Need, a thriller about the anxieties of parenthood …
However many books German writer and editor/publisher Jo Lendle has written, this evocative novel of the life and work of Alfred Wegener, known ultimately for helping develop theories of continental drift, is the first to be given to us in English (and done in masterful manner by Katy Derbyshire). To arrive at that juncture there …
For many communities, the Where’s Waldo? July hunt through neighborhood businesses (organized by independent bookstores) is an annual summer tradition. Waldo hunters find a standee of the internationally-famous seek-and-find books character [aka “Wally,” “Willie,” “Holger”. . . ] at every participating location in their communities to earn prizes. Many bookstores host a Waldo party to …
I feel this book should be an instant classic for all ages! A youth from Oaxaca leaves his family farm to brave the infamous La Bestia– a train travelling north to the México-US border– to cross into the United States and live with his older brother in Los Angeles. Lyrical prose, heartbreaking trauma handled sensitively, …
This British cozy mystery series focuses on a talented but deeply flawed detective. Agatha Raisin smokes, drinks, and is incredibly vain–on the other hand, she sure loves her cats! She doesn’t do much investigating in this one, focusing mostly on her always messy love life, but as a fan I enjoyed spending time in Agatha’s …
A classic of European literature unavailable in English for decades, Three Summers is perfectly timeless and perfectly seasonal. Set in the countryside of prewar Greece, it traces the doings and developing identities of a trio of sisters growing into adulthood, each of whom finds a different way to balance her desires for love and freedom. …
Andrew Shaffer is back with Hope Rides Again, starring your favorite detective duo Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden. Obama loses his cell phone, Biden tries to do some sleuthing. There is an attempted kidnapping (or two), and Biden comes off as trying to work out lines for his campaign speeches, which is probably done …
Shadowlands is proving to be a rich work of recent American history in the West. The Malheur Reservation, located in the Great Basin region of Oregon, was occupied by a group of militia men lead by Ammon Bundy in 2016. Oh boy, is this ever a narratively tricky series of events and perspectives to tell! …
