By Elaine Mattson

Spring has officially arrived, and there have even been moments that the sun actually feels warm! Aaaah… time for a well-deserved Spring Break, official or not! But what to read? What for the kids to read? Did you know that a lot of your favorite authors also write books for kids? It’s true! So, if you like their writing, maybe the kids will too:
Carl Hiaasen weaves his wacky tales with the wacky characters, but toned down to be appropriate for 10 -12 year olds. Equally wacky fun!
John Grisham works his lawyerly magic with “Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer.”
Jane Smiley writes some lovely horse stories for young readers, “A Good Horse,” and “True Blue,” among others.
Elizabeth George turns her skills to writing a mystery set locally for young adults, “The Edge of Nowhere.”
Kathy Reichs combines science and mystery for young adults in her new series that starts with “Virals.”
Check for Terry Pratchett, Gail Carriger, Eoin Colfer and Orson Scott Card, too. All kinds of possibilities!

April Events at the Edmonds Bookshop
April 4 & 17. Our April Book Club title is “Rules of Civility: A Novel” by Amor Towles.
This sophisticated and entertaining first novel presents the story of a young woman whose life is on the brink of transformation. On the last night of 1937, twenty-five-year-old Katey Kontent is in a second-rate Greenwich Village jazz bar when Tinker Grey, a handsome banker, happens to sit down at the neighboring table. This chance encounter and its startling consequences propel Katey on a year-long journey into the upper echelons of New York society. [https://www.edmondsbookshop.com/bookclub.htm]

April 18. 5-8 pm. Third Thursday ArtWalk.
National Poetry month brings to us David Horowitz and his poets extraordinaire! Featured this year are:
Christopher J. Jarmick has hosted poetry series for over 11 years, including “Take A Poem Into Your Heart,” currently at Parkplace Books in Kirkland every second Wednesday. His poetry collection, “Ignition,” was published in 2010.
Bethany Reid’s poetry has appeared in “Superstition Review,” “A Room of One’s Own,” “Prairie Schooner,” “Pontoon,” and many other journals.
Douglas Schuder in 2000 published his poetry collection, “To Enter the Stillness.”
Richard Wakefield has published two poetry collections: “East of Early Winters,” and “A Vertical Mile.”
David D. Horowitz, founder and manager of Rose Alley Press.

The reading portion of the evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. Check our Events page for further details.

Recent book releases of note:
“Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail” by Cheryl Strayed. In paperback!
“The Drunken Botanist” by Amy Stewart. The author of “Wicked Plants” and “Wicked Bugs,” explores the dizzying array of herbs, flowers, trees, fruits, and fungi that humans have, through ingenuity, inspiration, and sheer desperation, contrived to transform into alcohol over the centuries.
“Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power” by Rachel Maddow. In paperback.
“The Orchardist” by Amanda Coplin. The staff favorite in paperback!
“Let’s Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir” by Jenny Lawson. A staff favorite now in paperback!
“A Tale for the Time Being: A Novel” by Ruth Ozecki.
“The Burgess Boys: A Novel” by Elizabeth Strout.
“Leaving Everything Most Loved: A Maisie Dobbs Novel” by Jacqueline Winspear.

And coming in April:
“Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal” by Mary Roach. This staff favorite author once again goes boldly into the fields of strange science.
“Manuscript Found in Accra” by Paulo Coelho.
“Life After Life: A Novel” by Kate Atkinson. This new novel opens twice: first in Germany in 1930 with an English woman taking a shot at Hitler, then in England in 1910 when a baby arrives, stillborn. And then it opens again: still in 1910, still in England, but this time the baby lives. That baby is Ursula Todd, and as she grows up, she dies and lives repeatedly. Chosen for IndieBound.
“Love Water Memory” by Jennie Shortridge. The Seattle author’s new novel tells the story of Lucie, an amnesiac young woman who is not sure she likes who she was before she lost her memory. Chosen for IndieBound. New review in The Seattle Times.
“Alif the Unseen” by G. Willow Wilson. Staff favorite and winner of a 2013 Pacific Northwest Book Award now in paperback!
“Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter. Staff favorite [and our June Bookclub pick] now in paperback!
“All That Is” by James Salter. Salter’s first novel in over 30 years spans some 40 years and follows the accidental life, career, and loves of book editor Philip Bowman.
“Odds Against Tomorrow: A Novel” by Nathaniel Rich. Stochastic wiz Mitchell Zukor works for a unique consulting firm, FutureWorld, predicting disasters that companies can indemnify themselves against.
“Shocked: My Mother, Schiaparelli, and Me” by Patricia Volk. Stylish, difficult women; Mrs. Volk and Ms. Schiaparelli both qualify and the author compares them to tell a story of becoming a woman under the gaze of two especially influential models.
For children of all ages… “The Dark” by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Jon Klassen. Both Snicket and Klassen are known for bringing a wicked and subversive sense of humor to their work.
“Don’t Go” by Lisa Scottoline. In her latest, the best-selling author breaks new ground and delivers the story of a soldier who discovers what it means to be a man, a father, and ultimately, a hero.
“The Interestings: A Novel” by Meg Wolitzer. From the bestselling author comes a dazzling, panoramic novel about what becomes of early talent, and the roles that art, money, and even envy can play in close friendships.
“The Golem and the Jinni” by Helene Wecker. The novel combines historical fiction with a magical fable about two supernatural creatures in turn-of-the-20th-century New York City.
“The Woman Upstairs” by Claire Messud. The riveting confession of a woman awakened, transformed and betrayed by a desire for a world beyond her own.
“Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir” by Amanda Knox.

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!”