By Elaine Mattson

Welcome March!

The bonus February day was crazy! Cold and snow! Who else is so ready for Spring? I’m going to start planting in a couple of weeks, no matter what! With March coming in like a quite ferocious lion, we should have a really lovely end of the month! Some great new garden books to get us in the mood and motivated:

“The New Sunset Western Garden Book: The Ultimate Gardening Guide (Brand new, Revised, Updated, 9th edition!)” by Kathleen Norris Brenzel.

“Petal & Twig: Seasonal Bouquets with Blossoms, Branches, and Grasses from Your Garden” by Valerie Easton. Cute new little book from one of our favorite local garden writers. Open your eyes and keep it simple: those are two lessons Easton passes on from her own 40 years in the garden. When selecting and arranging flowers for bouquets, you needn’t spend a bundle buying a bundle of imported flowers. Instead, check what’s in stock in your own backyard. Easton, who gardens in the Seattle area, offers refreshing counsel for thinking about bouquets through the year. They needn’t contain only colorful flowers. Add grasses, twigs, and foliage. Easton offers guidelines and principles (one can own a lot of thrift shop and garage sale vases) as well as a journal of possibilities through the seasons. Fun excerpt in The Pacific Northwest Magazine.

March Events at the Edmonds Bookshop.
Our Book Club book for March 1 and 21. “The Likeness” by Tana French.

March 2, 3, 4. Friday, Saturday and Sunday… all day and all of the night! The Annual Rock & Read Marathon! Presented by Edmonds-Woodway and Meadowdale High Schools to raise awareness about the amazing benefits of reading. A cause quite close to our hearts! The high school kids [and their friends: parents, teachers, librarians!] will be in our window reading [and rocking!] ’round the clock all weekend! Stop in the say “hi” and see what they are reading, or just press your nose against the window to see what’s going on! The readers will also be collecting cash donations all weekend to go toward a stack of brand new kids’ books to donate to the Edmonds Food Bank’s gift room, so local kids can have a brand new book of their very own!

Third Thursday Art Walk. March 15. 5 – 8 p.m. Local author Joseph Vizzard will join us to sign copies of his new book, “Eye for an Eye.” {For those of you in the know…. Mr. Vizzard and Mr. Sean Salazar [local author of “The Babylon Prophecy”] apparently compare notes about what they are writing, and they have at least one character that overlaps! We love this fun insider stuff!!

 Recent book releases of note:

“Contents May Have Shifted: A Novel” by Pam Houston. Chosen for IndieBound.

“Kill Shot: A Mitch Rapp Novel” by Vince Flynn. Flynn is back with another nail-biting political thriller that follows the young Mitch Rapp on a deadly mission to hunt down the men responsible for the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack.

“Left for Dead” by J.A. Jance. Bestseller Jance’s engaging seventh Ali Reynolds novel.

“When The Killing’s Done” by T.C. Boyle. Now in paperback! Chosen for IndieBound.

“Before I Go to Sleep” by S. J. Watson. In paperback. Recommended tag in the shop and chosen for IndieBound.

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank: Stories” by Nathan Englander. PNBA bestseller list.

“The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” by Steig Larrson. In the concluding volume of the Millennium trilogy, Lisbeth Salander lies in critical condition in a Swedish hospital, a bullet in her head…. Finally in paperback!

“Lone Wolf: A Novel” by Jodi Picoult. This new novel explores the notion of family, and the love, protection and strength it’s meant to offer. But what if the hope that should sustain it, is the very thing that pulls it apart? Ms. Picoult is going to be in town! Seattle Public Library presents: 7 p.m. Thursday, March 8 at the Central Library. Details here.

“Watergate” by Thomas Mallon. This new novel tells the tale of the biggest presidential scandal in U.S. history through multiple story strands, creating a perverse and darkly comedic thriller. Great review in the Seattle Times.

For ages 4–8. “Penny and Her Song” by Kevin Henkes. A new irrepressible heroine who struggles to compromise. Through measured characterizations, Henkes helps readers understand why Penny must be patient.

And coming later in March:

“Doc” by Mary Doria Russell. In paperback! Chosen for IndieBound. March 6.

“Why Be Happy When you Could Be Normal?” by Jeanette Winterson. A new memoir. Chosen for IndieBound. March 6.

“Carry the One” by Carl Anshaw. Chosen for the lead review in March IndieBound. March 6.

“Reading My Father: A Memoir” by Alexandra Styron. in paperback. Chosen for IndieBound. March 6.

“Arcadia” by Lauren Groff. Second novel from this author, set in a commune in rural western New York in the late 1960s. Chosen for IndieBound. March 13.

“Final Jeopardy: The Story of Watson, the Computer that Will Transform our World” by Stephen Baker. Recommended tag in the shop! Coming in paperback! March 27.

“Chomp” by Carl Hiaasen. In his fourth book for young readers, he keeps to the same formula: set up a cast of plucky, lovable Everglades’ kooks, pit them against greedy, wildlife-hating outsiders and buffoonish swamp villains, and mix it all up with offbeat humor, swift plotting, and heartfelt environmentalism. His kids’ books are as much fun as his adult novels! March 27.

Bonus preview! [We love Christopher Moore!] “Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d’Art” by Christopher Moore. In his latest masterpiece, Moore takes on the Great French Masters. It is part mystery, part history (sort of), part love story, and wholly hilarious as it follows a young baker-painter as he joins the dapper Henri Toulouse-Lautrec on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the supposed “suicide” of Vincent van Gogh. Cannot wait! [but will have to a bit longer!] April 3.

As always, check our website for all the latest in book news! Happy reading!

Edmonds native Elaine Mattson has worked at The Edmonds Bookshop off and on since she was 12 years old, and has also worked at a book wholesaler, a book publisher, and for the book publishing division of a large local software company (yes, that one). “I was raised a book lover [thanks, Mom!],” Mattson says. “We got book lights by our beds as soon as we were old enough to read. And then I probably got in trouble for reading too late the very next night. And I still read too late!”