Hello to all of my happy readers!!!
Hi there to all!! I write this month's newsletter column on Independent Bookstore Day. I am here with Jaycee, and we are happily and merrily slinging books. What a fun day...and everyone that has come in seems to be in really good spirits, so this adds to the celebrations.
We went on a family trip to Hawaii last month. We took my oldest and my youngest kiddo with us. We had an absolute blast--we went to the island of Maui and we spent most days lounging, walking, and swimming in the ocean. It was a really magical trip. We were on a beach where sea turtles would come ashore and lounge in the sun, and in the evenings they would come up onto the shore as a big group of 28 sea turtles and sleep in that spot overnight. It was something I had NEVER seen before.
We got back into town on Wednesday, April 13th, at 3 am. I woke at 7 am the next morning and headed straight to Bellingham for a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association "Pop-up." It was a two day event co-hosted by Village Books, and it covered authors, meet and greets, new books, and education. I really enjoyed my time, and I made new friendships, and I learned so much. I also got some new books to read...like I needed that!!!!
We are slowly introducing author signings again--not whole events as of yet. But we are certainly working in that direction. We hosted editor Howard Shapiro for IBD, and he was a hit, and such a delight to host. May 6th we are hosting Linda Henley for a signing of her new book. So please keep your eyes open for these events.
I read some fun things this month. I listened to Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation on Libro.fm--it's read by the author herself, Hannah Gadsby. It was absolutely wonderful. She is a lovely human and really transparent in this telling. I was so appreciative of her individual voice in her sharing of what it has been like for her to be on the autism spectrum and to be diagnosed late in life. I read The Magic of Lemon Drop Pie by Rachel Linden (out on 8/2/22). It is her 4th book, and she is a local author from Seattle. I have read 3 of her books, and, I will say, I love her and her writing...This is by far my favorite. It is fun. The characters are from Seattle. It involves a baker and a family-owned restaurant. And love...there is always love. It is very different from what I normally read, but I did enjoy it. I also read The Men, by Sandra Newman (out 6/14/22). This book is wild. The idea is that on a certain day at exactly the same time ALL the humans on the planet with a "y" chromosome just completely disappear. This books follows a couple of women and their experiences after "the men" in their lives disappear. I also read The Diary of an Oxygen Thief, by Anonymous. It was recommended to me by a team member. I did not appreciate this title. The story was of a man who treats women poorly, and then one day he gets treated poorly by a woman...essentially a female version of himself. He becomes so hurt by this that he feels he has to write this story about it...lame.
This month I am going to listen to The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles, on my Libro.fm app! I am excited for it. I am reading Crossing Paths: A Pacific Crest Trailside Reader, edited by Howard Shapiro and Rees Hughes. I started this one this weekend, and it is amazing! It is a collection of 60 anthologies from those that have traveled the PCT, and it is awe-inspiring. I am also going to read The Book Woman's Daughter, by Kim Michelle Richardson, out May 2022. I really enjoyed the first book, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I am so excited to read the continuation of this story. I am also going to read What's the T?, by Juno Dawson. This is another title from the author of This Book Is Gay. I am always so grateful to learn more. I also picked up a book called Leech, by Hiron Ennes (out September 2022). I picked this title up at the PNBA Pop-Up Event, and it is seems strange, weird, and dark...All of the things I like very much in a book. So we shall see what I think about this one.
Please stay safe, happy, and healthy...Happy Reading!!
Brandy~
