Wellesley Books Newsletter | March 3rd, 2021
It's March! There may still be snow on the ground, but you don't have to look too hard to find the first signs of spring. Inside the store, we're seeing signs of the new season everywhere, and not just on our St.Patrick's Day display. From the young reader's adaptation of Michelle Obama's Becoming and Kazuo Ishiguro's latest novel, Klara and the Sun, both just out this week, to the return in full force of our beloved Jellycats, we bet you too will find that special something to put a spring in your step. We're also looking ahead to a fantastic lineup of great new cookbooks coming out later this month, and a new book we love so much we're including not one, but two, recommendations! Read on for all the news...
Upcoming Online Events
Friday, March 5th at 7:00 PM
Kids, don your jammies and join us for a Bedtime Story with the author herself! Anna Staniszewski reads Beast in Show, her heartfelt, hilarious picture book that celebrates the magic of pets and the value of losing gracefully.

This online event will take place through Zoom. In order to gain access, attendees must register by clicking the link below:
Tuesday, March 9th at 7:00 PM
Julia Cooke, travel journalist and author of The Other Side of Paradise: Life in the New Cuba, joins us to discuss her latest book, Come Fly the World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am. “This engrossing account, which reads like a novel, offers a combination of riveting personal stories and little-known history, and will draw in readers from the first page. A must-read.” —Library Journal

This online event will take place through Zoom. In order to gain access, attendees must register by clicking the link below:
Friday, March 12th at 7:00 PM
Kids, don your jammies and join us for a Bedtime Story with the author herself! Joy McCullough reads Champ and Major, a picture book about President Joe Biden’s two adorable dogs! Major will be the first shelter dog in the White House, and Champ can’t wait to show him around.

This online event will take place through Zoom. In order to gain access, attendees must register by clicking the link below:
Tuesday, March 30th at 7:00 PM
Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven, joins us to celebrate the paperback release of her bestselling 2020 novel, The Glass Hotel. Emily will be in conversation with Lily King, author of Writers & Lovers.

This online event is ticketed and will take place through Zoom. In order to gain access, attendees must register by clicking the link below:
Tuesday, April 13th at 7:00 PM
Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife, presents When the Stars Go Dark, an atmospheric novel of intertwined destinies and heart-wrenching suspense. Paula will be in conversation with Dani Shapiro, author of Inheritance.

This online event is ticketed and will take place through Zoom. In order to gain access, attendees must register by clicking the link below:
Bookseller Recommendations
Sofia recommends:
We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida
In 1980s San Francisco, 13 year old Eulabee and her friends are a tight knit group--until a disagreement with her charismatic (and fickle) best friend Maria Fabiola lands her as an outcast. When Maria Fabiola suddenly disappears, everyone in town is rocked to their core--except Eulabee. As the novel's narrator, Eulabee is intelligent, easy to empathize with, and the kind of protagonist you can't help but root for. Overall this coming of age novel is funny, weird in the best way, and brings back floods of memories of teenage life and drama.
Sally and Jane recommend:
The Smash-Up by Ali Benjamin
From Sally: After the brutal election of 2016 everyone’s lives were changed. Two years later Ethan Frome (nod to Edith Wharton) is living in a small New England town with his humorless activist wife, a challenging, hyperactive 11 year old daughter, and a flirtatious babysitter in a time of Brett Kavanaugh hearings and the MeToo movement. And the smash up - was it political, or marital, or something else altogether? Ali Benjamin’s writing is witty and smart, and unexpectedly poignant. This is a novel for our times.

From Jane: Ali Benjamin’s debut adult novel is an interesting portrayal of a contemporary marriage and the many pressures it faces. Into the lives of her main characters, Benjamin explores many present day issues - the #MeToo movement, the place of social protests, the difficulties of childrearing, and the temptation of infidelity. Zo and Ethan each face a moral dilemma, and the book shows us their individual struggles. While there is sadness and conflict in this book, there is also hope.
Ashleigh recommends:
We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker
Reading this book is like driving on the twisted mountainous roads that connect its settings; readers of Delia Owens, Tana French, and William Kent Krueger will love it. The storytelling is masterful – the layers and connections are beautifully and gradually woven towards the stunning, bittersweet conclusion. We like to believe we know people, especially those whom we love the most; but we likely do not, cannot. Chris Whitaker reveals this delicately and respectfully, but honestly. People are both simple and complicated; life is darkness and light; we can exist in secrets, truths, and the space between. He creates a world and characters who will linger with you long after you’ve finished the book, examining each one in turn, realizing how many sides to each one existed simultaneously. It is a marvelous, haunting book.
Pre-Order Now! March Cookbooks!
(Available 4/09/21)
Gordon Ramsay
(Available 3/16/21)
Sam Sifton
(Available 3/16/21)
Giada De Laurentiis
(Available 3/16/21)
Lauren Toyota

(Available 3/09/21)
Jake Cohen
(Available 3/16/21)
Rodney Scott
& Lolis Eric Elie
New in Hardcover
Viet Thanh Nguyen


Dr. Robert M. Krim
Kazuo Ishiguro
Elly Griffiths
Julia Turshen
Russell Banks
Gregory Brown
Isabel Allende
Sarah Penner
New in Paperback
John Grisham
Arshay Cooper
Kiran Millwood Hargrave
Elin Hilderbrand
Michelle Obama
Robert Kolker
Elizabeth Wetmore
Donna Leon
Alexander McCall Smith
Sanaë Lemoine
Stephen King
Nicole Glover
New! Middle-Grade Subscription Club!
We're thrilled to announce a new subscription service for kids ages 8-12! Each month, our school liaison, Rachael, and children's buyer, Lauren, will select a newly released chapter book. Get your hands on the newest and soon-to-be coveted books of the year. We offer monthly and yearly subscriptions, and you can pick the book up from the store or have it mailed to you. Click on the link below for our FAQs about the program.

The March 2021 pick is The Thieving Collectors of Fine Children's Books by Adam Perry. To find out more about our subscription service, click here.
Picture Book Subscription Club: A Perfect Gift!
A Child's Library is a subscription service for children ages 0-5! Lauren, our children's book buyer, selects one newly released picture book each month to be sent or picked-up from the store. The goal of A Child's Library is to help foster a love for books within the child's home. It makes a great baby shower gift!

The March 2021 pick is Once Upon a Dragon's Fire by Beatrice Blue. To find out more about our subscription service, click here.
Bookseller Recommendations
Rachael recommends:
Whispering Pines by Heidi Lang and Kati Bartowski
Part Stranger Things and part Twin Peaks, Whispering Pines is a wonderfully spooky middle grade novel from Heidi Land and Kati Bartkowski. Written in alternating points of view, Whispering Pines tells the story of Rae, a young girl still reeling from her father’s sudden disappearance, and Caden, an outsider whose mother is an expert in the ghost-hunting business. Things have always been a little strange in Whispering Pines (due in no small part to the mysterious energy company that’s set up shop in town), but when a serial eye snatcher starts targeting school kids Rae and Caden join forces to try and end the horrible attacks once and for all. It’s clear that Lang and Bartkowski have a love for the strange and unexplained (and X-Files) and whatever adventures lie in store for Rae and Caden are sure to be hair raising ones.
Rachael recommends:
Sometimes a story that you already know the ending to can still shock and astonish you. It just so happens that The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep by Allan Wolf is exactly this kind of story. Written in verse and narrated by the ever present voice of Hunger, The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep tells the story of the ill fated Donner Party and their voyage across the Sierra Nevada during the harrowing winter of 1846 - 1847. What unfolds during those months is horrifying. The winter is long, cold, unforgiving, and Wolf’s writing stunningly imagines every hardship endured by eighty-plus souls as they made their way to the west coast. It's an impressive feat of imagination and meticulous research. I’ve never read a book quite like it before and I doubt I’ll ever read something like it again.
Books for St. Patrick's Day
Andrea Posner-Sanchez
Natalie Marshall
Cindy Callaghan
New Releases for Young Readers
Michelle Obama
John Patrick Green
Jennifer A. Nielsen
Katherine Applegate
Holly Goldberg Sloan
Dwayne Reed
Dan Gutman
Lincoln Peirce
Jane Yolen
Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman
Christy Webster
New Releases for Teens
Holly Jackson
Mary H. K. Choi
Monica Gomez-Hira
Mindy McGinnis
Cassandra Clare
In the Gift Department



They're back! A new batch of our friends, The Jellycats, arrived this week after a long journey. If you haven't met a Jellycat yet, you're in for a treat because they are the softest, cutest animals and perfect for companionship and comfort.

Also, in tow, we have new art supplies like a Make Your Own Windchime and Story Stones. Along with new games for your toddler, your middle-schooler, your teen, and your adult family. You can find the adult games here.
What We're Reading
Marie
Rebecca
Andy
Ashleigh
Dog of the Week
Meet Pretzel
Pretzel was born in October and is a bernedoodle. He loves to chew bully sticks and his most favorite activity is playing fetch in the snow. Will it snow again in March? One last big snowstorm? he wonders. But Pretzel, wait until you swim at Morse Pond this summer or gallop in the ocean on the Cape!
Thank you for supporting your community independent bookstore!
Sincerely,
Wellesley Books
82 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02482
781-431-1160