Help us welcome Kitsap author   Sue Sutherland-Hanson   when she reads poetry from her new book,   Stars and Strangers .   "In   Stars and Strangers , Sutherland-Hanson shows us that we're all connected: from clamming with friends to being 'repaired' at the Napa Auto Parts store; from planting the summer garden to keeping vigil for a loved one. These tender, lyrical poems demonstrate the shimmering threads that join us while revealing the 'slippery mystery, this everyday once-ness of each person's life.' ... Five stars to this fine collection for reminding us what we know in our bones."  --   Holly J. Hughes , author of   Passings   (Expedition Press, 2016)

Help us welcome Bainbridge Island author and local Rabbi Paul Moses Strasko  (writing under his pseudonym P.A. Moses). His novel  Women, Converts, and Azerbaijanis Need Not Apply, is set in a fictionalized synagogue in modern day Germany.  The narrative weaves together with poignant hilarity the xenophobia, Russian-mafia influences, death threats in community meetings, and fist fights in services that ridiculously but truthfully make up some of the every-day reality of Jewish communities in Germany. Through a humor-filled first person narrative, we are appalled, confused, and enchanted with these real people facing the challenges of reengaging in Judaism after three generations of Stalinism.

Join us in welcoming Spokane author   Polly Buckingham   when she talks about her book of short stories,   The Expense of a View .  This book wonthe Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction in 2016.  Author Molly Giles writes, "Set mostly in the coastal waters off Florida and the Pacific Northwest, this book reads like a series of tales about castaways, people thrown to shore after devastating losses-a child's death, a lover's abandonment, a sister's suicide. Ill-prepared and ill-equipped, the survivors struggle to accept that 'sometimes there really is no one to blame, not even yourself ... These are tender, beautifully written stories, delicate and wise."

Join us in welcoming back author and teacher  Natalie Goldberg , who is the 2017 Distinguished Writer-in-Residence at the Bloedel Reserve this spring.  Natalie Goldberg is the author of ten books, including  Writing Down the Bones , which has sold over one million copies and has been translated into twelve languages, and  The Great Spring: Writing, Zen, and This Zig Zag Life.  She has also written the beloved  Long Quiet Highway: Waking Up in America , a memoir about her Zen teacher. For the last 30 years she has practiced Zen and taught seminars in writing as a spiritual practice.

These books will be a somewhat eclectic assortment of books that have caught our eye. Our staff recommendations will be represented here but sometimes we'll advance other works. Older books that speak to the current zeitgeist, ones that provide critical incite about an important international event or world figure, perhaps an unusual used book we've recently acquired, or a book that brings a smile on a dreary winter day.

Celine is in her 60s, an artist, a New York blueblood and a crack PI who specializes in reuniting children with their families. Enter Gabriela Lamont, a fellow Sarah Lawrence graduate, who enlists Celine's help finding her father, whose disappearance is shrouded in suspicion. A legendary photographer, he was presumed killed by a grizzly in Montana. Celine and her partner Pete take off in her son's camper to investigate. Heller, author of the acclaimed Dog Stars, has hit it out of the park with this charming, compelling novel of suspense that leaves the reader panting for a sequel! ~ Susan