All The Lives We Ever Lived

Elise’s Staff Pick:

All The Lives We Ever Lived by Katharine Smyth

This book took my breath away. I’ve been working through Woolf’s writing for a few years now, and have developed an appreciation for her singular style. Katharine Smyth does a beautiful job of engaging Woolf’s difficult To the Lighthouse from the vantage point of the loss of her beloved (but also difficult) father. Expansive, graceful, and stunningly written, Smyth plunges the depth of human strength and mortality, with Woolf as her guide.

Fall Reading

There’s a chill in the air, a constant patter of rain against our sky lights, and a shared sense of longing  to curl up with a blanket and a good book: Autumn has most certainly arrived.

Our windows are newly stocked with mugs for sipping chai and Nikki McClure crafted honeyed apples (so cute!) and, of course, Fall new releases galore! Here are some highlights:

Year Of The Monkey by Patti Smith

Red At The Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

 

Kids And Adults Alike

Our Kids Nook is the ideal respite for curious readers of all ages.

I happened upon these two recently, who looked so perfectly cozy and engaged that I couldn’t help but ask for a photo. Next time you’re in the shop you may want to take a pit stop at the Kids Nook: pull up a tiny chair and read for awhile!

The Farm

Elise’s Staff Pick:

The Farm by Joanne Ramos

What a gripping read! Ramos expertly sets the emotional tone of this familiar, yet dissonant tale with remarkable ease. The characters desire everything from emotional intimacy to complete financial stability; it is the quest for such things that ends up being the focus of this story. The characters range from a self-made, wealthy Asian American woman with a questionable job title, to a Filipino woman whose hustle is as lucrative as it is destructive. A genuinely good read that delicately broaches complex social and ethical questions.

Sundays at the Bookshop

Sundays at Browsers are my days to tackle the various behind-the-scenes work, of which there is always (joyfully) plenty to do. This is one of my favorite things: to be busily typing, writing, and clicking in pursuit of making the store a better place, and all the while tucked away upstairs at our lovely work space.

Of the various tasks I crossed off my list today, the best had to be acquiring stacks of Baron Fig notebooks for the store. I am a serious notebook lover (probably collector at this point) and I have to say, they make some of the most functional and beautifully sewn notebooks out there. Keep an eye out for these in the coming weeks!

Wishing you a happy and productive Sunday.

New Releases To Pine Over

 

Oh my — on Friday we received about a dozen new titles all releasing this Tuesday, the 13th. After all the books were inventoried and tucked away for the weekend, those of us working took a few minutes to marvel over each new title, as is often custom around here!

Those pictured above are: Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, also by Tokarczuk and out in hardcover Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The Dead, and Heaven’s Breath: A Natural History of The Wind by Lyall Watson.

Drive Your Plow is easily one of my favorite books in translation of 2019 and I’m not alone in thinking this; it was shortlisted for this year’s Man Booker International Prize. It is a surprising novel about the reclusive life of a woman on the Polish/Czech border who can best be described as a curmudgeon. If you like thrill, suspense, and literary fiction this one might be for you. I can’t wait to read Flights, Tokarczuk has won my attention. Heaven’s Breath looks thoroughly delightful: an expansive look at the history of the wind and how it has been both perceived and experienced. I excitedly described this book to my husband yesterday and he immediately grinned, confirming that this book sounded totally up my alley!

If none of those titles spark your interest don’t fret, we have so many more great books coming to our shelves this week — not to mention our always expanding used book inventory! Take a peek below at what’s new:

 

 

 

A New Dragon Book In Town

 

Olympia’s very own Gabby Byrne will launch her newest middle reader book “Rise Of The Dragon Moon” at our shop Tuesday evening — we are all so excited for this one!

In preparation, we spent part of this past Saturday afternoon outfitting our window display with an array of dragon books!  Our sweet high school employee (with such a great eye, might I add) helped us get the window in perfect shape — gooey dragons and all!

 

Baby I Don’t Care

Elise’s Staff Pick:

Baby I Don’t Care by Chelsea Minnis

Minnis’s poems read like scenes taken from a screen writer’s notebook. Written with the psychological narrative structure reminiscent of a classic Hollywood cinema, these hypnotic poems tell the tale of a femme-fatale protagonist from beginning to end. At first, she seems to be the woman of your richest fantasies. Slowly, she reveals herself to be the mistress of your nightmares. What can’t Daddy, champagne, a fit of rage, or diamonds solve in the life? Twisting and tugging at the shimmer of the material world, our sweet histrionic squeezes from life every last bit of dignity and pleasure. This book is dark and catchy, sardonic and witty, laced with a sharp sense of humor. One of my favorite books of poetry in 2018.

The Peregrine

Elise’s Staff Pick:

The Peregrine by J.A. Baker

My kind of nature writing. Baker has made a study of not only a magnificient hawk, but of language. Written over the course of three seasons in a single year, these journal entries lend themselves to being read at random and savoured

Agua Via

Elise’s Staff Pick:

Agua Via by Clarice Listpector

Dazzling. Mesmerizing. Sentences that bend under the heft of sheer beauty and truth. You will often find this book shelved in Literature, however it is quite philosophical. Above all, I would declare it to be a meditation on the invisible force of life itself. I recommend this to anyone who is willing to lose themselves in language long enough to experience Lispector’s orientation to the world. If you’ve never read Lispector before, Agua Via is the perfect place to start