Wellesley Books Newsletter  
April 30th, 2020 
As we push on through our 7th? 8th? week of homebodying, Instagramming, tweeting and web-order-processing, it's hard not to miss the interactions we have with each of you in the bookstore every day. (If you're an avid hiker, though, you might be able to catch one of us on a local trail for a book recommendation.) To that end, we'd like to invite all of you to blurb a book you love. As long as the book is readily available, we'll include your review in this newsletter. Blurbs certainly don't need to be long or elaborate, just from the heart. We've been sharing pictures of bookseller shelfies and what we're #currentlyreading on Instagram and would also like to turn it back around to you--so feel free to send us a picture, too! What's soothing your soul nowadays, or just getting you away from the news for a while? Check out our first guest recommendation below, courtesy of a Rachael's Book Club for Kids regular.

We'd like to remind you that there's still time to buy a  Mother's Day book and gift bundle for the moms--or mother figures--in your life. We received some very nice feedback on our Easter Book & Bunny bags and hope to continue to offer various holiday book-and-gift packages for as long as we're distance-bookselling. Choose from a selection of newly-released, signed books, and we'll add assorted Mother's Day favorites from our gift department. Though our book orders are all being filled remotely, we'll deliver these bundles directly to homes in the Greater Wellesley area--click the link above to see where we'll be traveling.
Upcoming Events 
TODAY! Thursday, April 30th, 7:00 PM
Rescheduled from March 31st! Join  contributors  Melanie Brooks Nina Gaby, Alissa HirshfeldMarianne Leone, Amy Roost,  and  Jaimie Seaton  to discuss Fury: Women's Lived Experiences During the Trump Era Fury brings together a diverse community of women who reveal the impact the Trump presidency has had on each of them.  To register for this free event, which will take place through Zoom, please  click here .
Wednesday, May 6th, 7:00 PM
Rescheduled from April 6th! Lily King, bestselling author of Euphoria, presents Writers & Lovers, her transfixing new novel. Writers & Lovers has been named one of the hottest titles of the season by several outlets, and was the Today Show's Read with Jenna pick for March. Lily will be in conversation with Laura McNeal, author of The Practice HouseTo register for this free event, which will take place through Zoom, please click here.
Thursday, May 7th, 7:00 PM
Amy Meyerson, author of  The Bookshop of Yesterdays, joins us to discuss her new novel,  The ImperfectsInspired by the true story of the Florentine Diamond,  The Imperfects  illuminates the unbreakable bonds of family and how sometimes discovering the truth of the past is the only way to better the future.  Amy will be in conversation with Christina Clancy, author of the upcoming novel  The Second Home . To register for this free event, which will take place through Zoom, click here.

Friday, May 8th, 7:00 PM
Kids, don your jammies and get ready for bedtime stories with local favorite author Josh Funk! Josh will read two of his most popular picture books, Pirasaurs! and The Case of the Stinky Stench, the second book in the Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast series. To register for this free Zoom story time, please click here.
Bookseller Recommendations 
Lorna recommends:
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
Antonia, a recently retired college English professor, is still mourning the loss of her husband Sam, a kind, socially progressive doctor. Living in Vermont, she is surrounded by farmers and immigrants (she is one herself, in fact) but without her husband she can no longer deal with the simple problems around her house, let alone the complicated issues of the local immigrant population--and then there are her sisters. Alvarez writes about life and relationships beautifully with truth and compassion. I was completely caught up in Antonia's story from the moment the book began. 
Sally recommends:
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
Michael and Juliet and their two small children decide to leave suburbia and live at sea for a year. But that's not the whole story. It's a story of a marriage and motherhood and politics and misunderstandings and heartache. And a mystery too. All beautifully written--as both a boat's logbook and a confessional.

Rachael recommends:
The Compton Cowboys by Walter Thompson-Hernández
The Compton Cowboys is an insightful and enlightening look at the black men (and women) who have defied stereotypes by taking care of and riding horses since the Compton Junior Posse was founded in 1988. While black cowboys have existed throughout history, Walter Thompson-Hernández focused on telling the stories of ten riders in particular. This new generation of cowboys face personal hardships as they pursue rodeo championships, donors to keep their organization afloat, and try to remake their image for generations of cowboys to come. Hernández has painted a compassionate portrait of the city of Compton, its complicated history, and the people who continue to push back against stereotypes by continuing an age-old tradition. 
Old Favorites & Comfort Reads
Rachael recommends:
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson
Let's Pretend This Never Happened chronicles Jenny Lawson's unconventional life growing up as the daughter of a taxidermist in small town Texas. It's laugh-out-loud funny (seriously, you'll be in stitches by the end of "The Psychopath on the Other Side of the Bathroom Door"), sometimes heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting. Her self-deprecating sense of humor is honest and poignant in a way that readers will find themselves connecting to and that makes Lawson herself feel more like an old friend than an essayist. Fans of Carrie Fisher, Caitlin Moran, and Lindy West are sure to enjoy this book. 

Melinda recommends:
The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
This is one of my favorite books of all time. The setting is London and Cornwall, spanning the 1920s to the 1980s . This is the story of a maturing woman dealing with her adult children. There are flashbacks to her Cornish childhood and, then, life during and after the London Blitz. Her father was a famous artist, and so begins the story.

New In Hardcover 

The Knockout Queen
 Rufi Thorpe
Little Family
Ishmael Beah
The Secrets of Love Story Bridge
Phaedra Patrick

The Talented Mr. Varg
 Alexander McCall Smith
Camino Winds
John Grisham
Liberation
Imogen Kealey

Take Me Apart
Sara Sligar
Swimming in the Dark
Tomasz Jedrowksi
Warhol
Blake Gopnik

The Inevitability of Tragedy
Barry Gewen
Wisdom From a Humble Jellyfish
 Rani Shah
Growing Old
 Elizabeth Marshall Thomas
New In Paperback
The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna
Juliet Grames
Rules For Visiting Jessica Francis Kane
Rough Magic
Lara Prior-Palmer
Southern Lady Code
 Helen Ellis
The Global Age 
Ian Kershaw
Walking on the Ceiling
Aysegül Savas
Beneath the Tamarind Tree
Isha Sesay
Meaning a Life
Mary Oppen
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Jane Sherron De Hart
Queen Bee
Dorothea Benton Frank
Feels Like Falling
 Kristy Woodson Harvey
The Heirloom Garden
 Viola Shipman
Bookseller Recommendations For Kids
Andrew B., age 12, recommends:
24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling
This book is pretty well written and is quite fun to read and hard to put down.The story follows four children in Nowhere, Arizona on a mission to get back a friend's dirt bike. Their mission takes them through a cave system and to find a golden nugget. In conclusion, well written, nice read, but a bit on the short side. 
Sophia Spencer is a seven-year-old girl who became fascinated with bugs when she was only two. Like a lot of kids with passionate interests, though, she was teased by other kids--to the point where she stopped sharing her love of insects altogether, until she met a community of supportive adult entomologists. This book reassures you that it's okay to love something that other people think is weird, and that you can find your people as long as you reach out to them.
New Books For Kids

The Yawns Are Coming!
Christopher Eliopoulos
The Space Between Lost and Found
 Sandy Stark-McGinnis
Ways to Make Sunshine
Renée Watson
New Books For Young Adults
All Boys Aren't Blue George M. Johnson
Seven Endless Forests
April Genevieve Tucholke
Incendiary
Zoraida Córdova
What We're Reading Now...
Sally
Rachael
Cassie
Rebecca
Lauren
Jess
Tracy
Gillian
Judy
Bookseller Pet of the Week
Otter


Otter is a very good boy who lives with our does-it-all bookseller, Cassie. Here he is with a carefully chosen selection of the books he thinks she should read this week. Good work--he deserves a reward!
 

Thank you for supporting your community
independent bookstore!
Sincerely,
Rebecca Stimpson

Contact us:
newsletter @wellesleybooks.com
82 Central Street,
Wellesley, Ma. 02482
781-431-1160

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