It's Summer Reading Season at Eagle Harbor Books!
We're deep into Summer now, the shortest but most magnificent season in the PNW - and it's time to read outside! Whether you are looking for a light romp of a novel, or you finally have time to dive into the deep non-fiction tome on your to-be-read stack, we have you covered. Can't decide? Click any book cover below to learn more about these featured new books and recent staff recommendations.
We have curated Beach Reads and Summer Romance suggestions in the bookstore, just in time for Bookstore Romance Day later this month. And in the store, you'll find many regional hiking, camping, and field guides for those of you who have waited all year to get out.
August also brings Women in Translation Month, an annual celebration of women writers from around the world, writing in languages other than English. The WIT movement, celebrated each August, is a global effort centered around the idea that women who write in languages other than English deserve to be widely read and appreciated. We agree, and we've put together some recommendations of recent titles, for those of you who want to read beyond our borders!
Of course, the best thing of all is for you to come in and talk with our booksellers for your perfect Summer reads!
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Coming Soon: Pre-order Now! |
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Sugar and Salt, by Susan Wiggs |
Two women from different generations and cultures bond over a shared restaurant space. One side is a trendy new barbeque spot and the other an iconic neighborhood bakery. Each has a hidden secret from her past that required her to recreate herself. When love appears in their carefully-controlled lives, can they open to romance again? A trigger warning – at the heart of the book is a chilling sexual assault for one of the women, with additional trauma and devastating repercussions from the fall-out. Written before the recent post-Roe decision of the Supreme Court, these incidents were based on true cases of women who experienced what is described in this novel. Wiggs is a master at creating strong, relatable characters and unexpected plot twists. This is a powerful story of romance gone astray, bravery, endurance, and ultimately, kindness and second chances. A unimaginable and unforgettable novel.
~Jane
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After Steve, by Tripp Mickle
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Following Walter Isaacson’s seminal book charting the Steve Jobs’ era, NYT reporter Tripp Mickle does that splendid effort proud with this fascinating book about Apple, After Steve. That Tim Cook, an Alabama native who obsessed over expenses and the supply chain was chosen by Jobs—the unsparing visionary—to lead Apple somehow worked brilliantly, as Cook led iPhone to unpatrolled superiority over all its competitors. Yet without Jobs’ alter ego, Jony Ive, continuing to have a free hand in dictating the look and feel of everything Apple—without regard to costs—Mickle artfully makes clear it wouldn’t have worked. Cook was content in his studio apartment with a chair or two and Ive had the aesthetically offensive bathroom faucets in his Gulfstream jet torn out. A match on paper seemingly made in hell made billions instead. ~Dave
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Poūkahangatus, by Tayi Tibble
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The cover is gorgeous and the words inside are even more amazing! The details of language, experience, and metaphor in this collection are stunning, touching on different facets of Tayi Tibble’s life as a Māori woman in New Zealand. From indigenous stories to coming-of-age struggles to pop culture highlights like Twilight and the Kardashians, this book of poetry reads like a work of art for brown, millennial women who are trying to find their place in this world. ~Lily
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Life Ceremony, by Sayaka Murata
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The perfect entry point for people new to Murata, this is my favorite of her works translated to English so far. A master of mixing the macabre with the sweet, her short stories will leave you asking questions like, is it weird to a make a table out of human femurs? Should you leave your boyfriend because you're in love with your curtains? Is cannibalism really that bad if everyone is doing it? In Life Ceremony every bit of the bizarreness that characterizes a Murata book is tempered by beauty and kindness. This woman is brilliant. ~Cappy
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The Lies I Tell, by Julie Clark |
Ten years earlier, serial con artist Meg put young Kat in a situation that ended her investigative journalism career. Now Meg is suddenly back in town, this time targeting a rising California politician. Kat, now stuck writing web-content articles, plans her revenge. The two women meet, and for reasons pertinent to both their schemes, become friends. Meg soon suspects Kat is after her. Kat is sure Meg is the hacker who is causing havoc with her financial accounts. Yet, they need each other if their plans are to succeed. Who is conning who? Who is telling the truth? Which is the villain? With plot twists, crises and gas-lighting that come from all angles, you won’t be able to put the book down. And yes, author Julie Clark delivers a very satisfying ending that resolves everything – for the moment. (I see a sequel here). A perfect summer read! ~Jim
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The Violin Conspiracy, by Brendan Slocumb
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Ray McMillan is a prodigy. He has a gift and a dream to be a world-class violinist, but growing up Black in rural North Carolina has limited his opportunities. His mother wants him to get a job, he can’t afford lessons, and his training is limited to his public-school orchestra. When he discovers that his family fiddle is a priceless Stradivarius, all his dreams suddenly seem within reach. But on the eve of the renowned and cutthroat Tchaikovsky Competition the violin is stolen, a ransom note left in its place. Ray must not only reclaim his precious violin but also prove to himself—and the world—that no matter the outcome, there has always been a truly great musician within him. Ray is the ultimate underdog, and you’ll find yourself rooting for him as you turn every page! ~Susan
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Migrations, by Charlotte McConaughy |
This is a book about broken hearts and a broken world, but also about a woman whose drive to love is equaled only by her drive to escape. In an eerie near-future where humans have caused innumerable extinctions, Franny Stone joins a fishing crew in the Far North and cajoles them into sailing to the other end of the world in search of the last Arctic Terns on Earth. What she finds, or doesn't, collides with the past she's worked so hard to elude. Migrations is a powerful book about survival (or not) and a cautionary tale about what we've done to the planet despite all the warning signs. ~Rafe
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You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey, by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
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Through a series of stories that actually happened to Lacey between 1980 and 2020, these sisters are here to remind us that not just micro-aggressions but macro-aggressions against Black women, and Black people in general, are alive and well. Laugh-out-loud funny, Ruffin and Lamar absolutely nail the magic trick of using humor as a tool to teach and talk about one of the most difficult aspects in our society: racism. This book is bursting with love and heartbreak, and I laughed and learned the whole way through. ~Cappy
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Cascadia Revealed, by Daniel Matthews |
Why did I pick up Cascadia Revealed? Maybe it was because I was watching Stranger Things and channeling my inner nerd, but more likely I was in my annual dumbstruck-at-nature phase as our soggy Spring unfurled, and sound and flower and awakening smells exploded each time I walked out the door. Daniel Mathews' guide to plants, animals, and geology of the PNW mountains provides a great armchair education, and a list of wondrous natural habitats to explore this summer (and in each season). Plan on toting this volume along to figure out what you are seeing in your back yard! ~Victoria, Bookseller Emeritus
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How to Save the World for Just a Trillion Dollars, by Rowan Hooper |
What? Practical, feasible solutions exist to solve our most intractable societal problems? Author Rowan Hooper identifies often surprisingly simple proposals and programs currently in place that experts believe will end poverty, vastly reduce disease, stabilize the climate, and empower women, among other achievements. Finding the money isn’t the holdup; the US Government found $2.2 trillion to fund the initial covid-19 relief package within days. What we lack are leaders with imagination (and, well, leadership traits) and a populace willing to invest in our, and our children’s, future. Rowan sets forth the proposals and programs in language that is easy to comprehend and backs up his assertions with citations to actual evidence. It’s a fascinating and uplifting read that shows we have real solutions available now. ~Jim
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Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman |
American Gods gets a lot more attention (which, fair – it’s wonderful) but Anansi Boys is a sweeter, scarier, lonesomer story. It is epic, but in a more close-to-home way. As always, Neil Gaiman is a master of the not-quite-real-or-is-it, and this winding tale of Charlie Nancy, Charlie's mysterious brother, and their dead (?) deity of a father, engages on every level. ~Rafe
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Military Ethics, by George Lucas |
Dr. Lucas was a professor of ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy and president of the International Society of Military Ethics. In this impressive book, he outlines the history of ethical reflection on war and the foundations of the international laws of armed conflict. He clarifies the considerations that are supposed to guide decisions by government leaders on whether or not to wage war, and the rules that military professionals must follow in their conduct of war. Additionally, he explores several contemporary issues regarding humanitarian military interventions, armed drone aircraft, and cyber weapons. Lucas helps us to interpret incidents of war around the world, to evaluate debates about war in our media, and to exercise our influence as citizens. ~David
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Run Me to Earth, by Paul Yoon |
Set against the backdrop of America’s “Secret War” in Laos during the Vietnam era, Yoon’s novel of friendship, dislocation and memory involves three orphans who bond while working with an unconventional doctor in an old manor converted to a hospital. Moving and intricate yet beautifully spare, it follows their lives after the bombing scatters them. The story unfolds as a quiet, masterful meditation. I cannot heap enough praise on this book. ~ John, Bookseller Emeritus
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The Writer's Crusade, by Tom Roston |
As a Slaughterhouse-Five devotee I expected to love this biography, which is about Vonnegut's life and his process in writing his most well-known book. Indeed I did love it. What I did not expect was the depth and care with which Roston investigated not only Vonnegut, but the history of trauma and PTSD, the effects of war, and how Vonnegut's work continuously influences and supports veterans today. The result is a beautifully written yet emotionally challenging read that confronts what we think we know about the storyline in Slaughterhouse-Five. Every Vonnegut fan must read this work, and even those new to Vonnegut will enjoy learning about one of the greatest satirical writers of the 20th century. -Willa
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The Sympathizer, by Viet Thanh Nguyen |
In this truly stupendous novel, the urbane, self-aware narrator is an unnamed half-French, half-Vietnamese bastard who, in his own words, is a man of two minds. He is a communist spy among the forces of the resistance, sent to America as a deeply embedded mole—and as such is the perfect figure to reveal the Vietnamese experience of the war from both sides, as well as that of an evacuee to the US. Nguyen is masterful; his skill and charm are as brilliant as Nabokov’s, and his observations both savagely hilarious and deeply trenchant. (There are descriptions of the atrocities of war, including torture and sexual assault, that warrant a trigger warning.) ~McNevin
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New Books For Young Adults |
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Booker Prize Longlist Announced |
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The longlist for the Booker Prize is set! Check out this list of diverse fiction, including titles from independent publishers, debut novelists, and others who've been nominated previously. We have our favorites, but which are yours? The shortlist will be announced in early September, and the winner announced on October 17. Watch this space! |
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Drop In - You are Welcome!
All Store Book Group titles are discounted 15% up until the date of discussion
Reader's Circle Book Group
August 2, 7:00 pm
by Pip Williams
Speculative Fiction Book Group
August 2, 7:00 pm
by Owen Sheers
Mystery Book Group
August 23, 7:00 pm
Our popular in-store book groups are now meeting virtually by zoom!
Contact us for the meeting links.
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Thank You For Supporting The Island's Independent Bookstore |
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157 Winslow Way E
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
206.842.533
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