June 2013 already! Are you ready? Do you have a busy June ahead of you? Any graduations? Any fathers to celebrate? Here is a short list of new titles that would make great gifts:

Non-fiction:
“The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945: Volume Three of the Liberation Trilogy” by Rick Atkinson. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes concludes his series with this superb work combining the high drama of a spellbinding novel and a cast of characters that any novelist would envy. Great review in The Seattle Times.

“Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution” by Nathaniel Philbrick. The best-selling author brings his prodigious talents to the story of the Boston battle that ignited the American Revolution. Review in The Seattle Times

“Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II” by Mitchell Zuckoff. A gripping true story of survival, bravery, and honor in the vast Arctic wilderness during World War II. Great review in The Seattle Times.

“The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics” by Daniel James Brown. Brown tells this all-American story of humble working-class boys squaring off against a series of increasingly odious class and political foes, culminating in the Olympic gold. Seattle Times review here.

Fiction:
“Broken Harbor: A Novel of the Dublin Murder Squad” by Tana French. Now in paperback. Chosen for IndieBound.

“Joyland” by Stephen King. A paperback original set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, King’s novel tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder. A mystery with a bit of the usual King unusual thrown in.

“A Serpent’s Tooth: A Walt Longmire Mystery” by Craig Johnson. The success of this series continues to grow after A&E’s hit show Longmire introduced new fans to the Wyoming sheriff. Now, in his ninth Western mystery, Longmire stares down his most dangerous foes yet.

“Bad Monkey” by Carl Hiaasen. Andrew Yancy—late of the Miami Police and soon-to-be-late of the Monroe County sheriff’s office—has a human arm in his freezer. There’s a logical (Hiaasenian) explanation for that. A tale at once fiercely pointed and wickedly funny in which the greedy, the corrupt, and the degraders of what’s left of pristine Florida get their comeuppance in mordantly ingenious, diabolically entertaining fashion. Coming June 11.

June Events at the Edmonds Bookshop
June 6 & 19. Our June Book Club title is “Beautiful Ruins” by Jess Walter.
Jess Walter’s funniest, most romantic, and most purely enjoyable novel yet: the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962…and resurfaces fifty years later in contemporary Hollywood.

Find more details, and the list of books chosen for the rest of the year on our Book Club page.

June 8. Saturday at noon. We will welcome Karen Buley to sign copies of her new novel, “Nanny on the Run.” Desperate to avoid her ex-boyfriend in the summer of 1977, Bridget leaves her Butte, Montana home at age 18 for a nanny job in New York City. Bridget finds unexpected challenges: ‘Blackout ‘77’ bathes the area in darkness; and serial killer Son of Sam targets young girls with long, dark hair—girls like Bridget….

June 20. 5-8 p.m. Third Thursday ArtWalk. We welcome, as our Third Thursday Artists: two local poets, Scott Galasso and Raul Sanchez. Join us for light snacks and beverages and poetry!

Recent book releases of note:
“And the Mountains Echoed” by Khaled Hosseini. The new novel from bestselling author of “The Kite Runner.”

“Inferno: A Novel” by Dan Brown. In the heart of Italy, our favorite Harvard professor of symbology, Robert Langdon, is drawn into a harrowing world centered on one of history’s most enduring and mysterious literary masterpieces . . . Dante’s Inferno.

“American Savage: Insight, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love and Politics” by Dan Savage. Sex columnist and gay-rights activist Savage’s book is timely as well as provocative, funny, and frank. The essay collection offers sex and relationship advice, and the author’s persuasive argument for same-sex marriage and adoption rights.

“The Son” by Philipp Meyer. The author of “American Rust” returns with an epic, multigenerational novel of power, blood, and land that follows the rise of one Texas family starting from the 1800s. Chosen for IndieBound.

“Shadow of Night: Book 2 of the All Souls Trilogy” by Deborah Harkness. Our heroes, reluctant witch Diana Bishop, and vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, time-travel to Elizabethan London and are plunged into a world of spies, magic, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the School of Night. Now in paperback!

“The Art Forger” by B. A. Shapiro. The staff favorite, now in paperback! Chosen for IndieBound.

“The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of ‘Unadoptables’ Taught Me About Healing” by Susannah Charleston. You don’t have to be an animal lover to be moved by this beautifully written and impassioned account of the author’s work rescuing dogs from shelters and training them to be service animals.

For teen readers:
“The 5th Wave” by Rick Yancey. The launch of a trilogy about a teenage girl on the run from extraterrestrial killers.

“Code Name Verity” by Elizabeth Wein. Oct. 11th, 1943-A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun. Winner of the 2013 Edgar Award for Best Young Adult novel. In paperback.

“The Moon and More” by Sarah Dessen. Emaline has grown up happily in the quiet beach town of Colby, N.C., where she lives with her mother, stepfather, and stepsisters. She’s been dating a handsome local boy, Luke, for four years; her future is happily mapped out. Then some out-of-towners show up, upending Emaline’s life and aspirations.

Coming later in June:
“The Silver Star: A Novel” by Jeannette Walls. This new book is a heartbreaking and redemptive novel about an intrepid girl who challenges the injustice of the adult world—a triumph of imagination and storytelling. Chosen for IndieBound. June 11.

“The Spy Who Loved: The Secrets and Lives of Christine Granville” by Clare Mulley. In June 1952, a woman was murdered in a hotel in London. That she died young was perhaps unsurprising; that she had survived the Second World War was remarkable. This is the untold story of Britain’s first female special Agent of World War II. June 11.

“The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman. His first book for adults in years! Review and interview in The Seattle Times. June 18.

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

Happy reading!

— By Elaine Mattson

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!”