Edmonds Booktalk: Resolve to read more in 2016

Elaine Mattson
Elaine Mattson

Welcome to 2016! Crazy!

Any book-related resolutions this year? Read more? Read something out of your normal comfort zone? Read, or re-read, a classic? Read to and with your kids? Join a book group?

Stop by the bookshop and we can help with suggestions for any of those.

Resolved to go to more live book and art events? Third Thursday Art Walks are all kinds of fun!

January Events at The Edmonds Bookshop:

Jan. 21, 2015. 5-8pm. Third Thursday Art Walk Edmonds. Join us welcoming Edmonds author Bruce Fergusson and his book, “Two Graves for Michael Furey.” New in paperback August 20, 2015.

Two gravesJames Malloy has had his share of troubles, but when he meets and falls in love with Katie Walsh, he is sure his life has finally turned around. But not for long.
Shortly after the two become engaged, Katie disappears. Many months pass before he learns – in the most shattering way possible – what happened to her.

Come early to meet the author and chat. Reading begins at 7pm. Light snacks and beverages provided.

Find out all about Fergusson at his website: www.brucefergusson.com

January 2016 Book Club Book.

Jan. 7 & 20, 2016. “Americanah” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. From the award-winning author of “Half of a Yellow Sun,” comes a powerful, tender story of race and identity.

AmericanahIfemelu and Obinze are young and in love when they depart military-ruled Nigeria for the West. Beautiful, self-assured Ifemelu heads for America, where despite her academic success, she is forced to grapple with what it means to be black for the first time. Quiet, thoughtful Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead plunges into a dangerous, undocumented life in London. Fifteen years later, they reunite in a newly democratic Nigeria, and reignite their passion—for each other and for their homeland.

We have chosen the books for the first half of 2016! They are listed on our Book Club page.

Recent book releases of note:

“Blue Lily, Lily Blue : The Raven Cycle, Book 3” by Maggie Stiefvater. For the first time in her life, Blue has friends she can trust, a group to which she can belong. The Raven Boys have taken her in as one of their own. Their problems have become hers, and her problems have become theirs. The trick with found things, though, is how easily they can be lost. In paperback.
“Life-Changing Magic: A Journal: Spark Joy Every Day” by Marie Kondo. Peppered with quotes and inspiration from “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” this journal is an invitation to apply Marie Kondo’s principles to not only the objects in your home but also the moments in your life, one day at a time.
“The Relic Master: A Novel” by Christopher Buckley. From the bestselling author comes a compelling and hilarious adventure featuring a sixteenth-century relic hunter and his best friend, who conspire to forge the Shroud of Turin, sending up Catholicism, religious relics and art fakery, among other burning 16th century issues, on the way… Great review in The Seattle Times here. 

Books of note coming soon:

“Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up” by Marie Kondo. The Japanese decluttering guru has revolutionized homes—and lives—across the world. Now, Kondo presents an illustrated guide to her acclaimed KonMari Method, with step-by-step folding illustrations for everything from shirts to socks, plus drawings of perfectly organized drawers and closets. Jan. 5, 2016.
“The Guest Room: A Novel” by Chris Bohjalian. From the bestselling author comes a spellbinding tale of a party gone horribly wrong: two men lie dead in a suburban living room, two women are on the run from police, and a marriage is ripping apart at the seams. Chosen for January IndieBound Jan. 5, 2016.
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by Ed Tarkington. Welcome to Spencerville, Virginia, 1977. Eight-year-old Rocky worships his older brother, Paul. One day, in an act of vengeance against their father, Paul picks up Rocky from school and nearly abandons him in the woods. Afterward, Paul disappears. Seven years later, Rocky is a teenager himself, he and his family must reckon with the past and find out how much forgiveness their hearts can hold. Chosen for January IndieBound Jan. 5, 2016.
“The Gun” by Fuminori Nakamura. In Tokyo a college student’s discovery and eventual obsession with a stolen handgun awakens something dark inside him and threatens to consume not only his life but also his humanity. Nakamura’s Japanese debut is a noir-spun tale that probes the violence inherent to aesthetics. Chosen for January IndieBound. Jan. 5, 2016.
For young readers “Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics” by Chris Grabenstein. The much-anticipated, puzzle-packed sequel has arrived! Welcome, boys and girls, readers of all ages, to the first-ever Library Olympiad! Kyle and his teammates are back, and the world-famous game maker, Luigi Lemoncello, is at it again! Jan. 5, 2016.
“Inside the O’Briens: A Novel” by Lisa Genova. From the award-winning, bestselling author and neuroscientist comes a new novel that does for Huntington’s disease what her debut novel “Still Alice” did for Alzheimer’s. In paperback. Jan. 5, 2016.
“Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds” by Pamela Rotner Sakamoto. Meticulously researched and beautifully written, the true story of a Japanese American family that found itself on opposite sides during World War II—an epic tale of family, separation, divided loyalties, love, reconciliation, loss, and redemption—this is a riveting chronicle of U.S.–Japan relations and the Japanese experience in America. Jan. 5, 2016.
“Blood on Snow” by Jo Nesbo. Olav Johansen is a walking contradiction: He’s a cold-blooded killer with a heart of gold. Normally this is not a problem. . . .In paperback. Jan. 5, 2016.
“The Buried Giant” by Kazuo Ishiguro. In post-Arthurian Britain, an elderly British couple, set off to visit their son, whom they haven’t seen in years. By turns savage, suspenseful, and intensely moving, this is a luminous meditation on the act of forgetting and the power of memory, an extraordinary tale of love, vengeance, and war. In paperback. Jan. 5, 2016.
“Black River “ by S. M. Hulse. Shows us the heart and darkness of an American town, and one man’s struggle to find forgiveness in the wake of evil. The staff recommended first novel now in paperback. Jan. 5, 2016.
“The Jaguar’s Children “ by John Vaillant. Hector is trapped. The water truck, sealed to hide its human cargo, has broken down. Both an outstanding suspense novel and an arresting window into the relationship between two great cultures, it shows how deeply interconnected all of us, always, are. In paperback. Jan. 5, 2016.
“My Name Is Lucy Barton: A Novel” by Elizabeth Strout. A new book by the Pulitzer Prize winner is cause for celebration. In her new novel, this extraordinary writer shows how a simple hospital visit becomes a portal to the most tender relationship of all—the one between mother and daughter. Chosen for January IndieBound. Jan. 12, 2016.
“The Lost Tudor Princess: The Life of Lady Margaret Douglas” by Alison Weir. From bestselling author and acclaimed historian comes the first biography of Margaret Douglas, the beautiful, cunning niece of Henry VIII of England who used her sharp intelligence and covert power to influence the succession after the death of Elizabeth I. Jan. 12, 2016.
“This Census-Taker” by China Miéville. A stunning, uncanny, and profoundly moving novella from the multiple-award-winning and bestselling author. Jan. 12, 2016.
“The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain” by Bill Bryson. The hilarious and loving sequel to the hilarious classic of travel writing: “Notes from a Small Island,” Bryson’s valentine to his adopted country of England. Jan. 19, 2016.
“Even Dogs in the Wild: An Inspector Rebus Mystery” by Ian Rankin. Rebus comes out of retirement…to save his nemesis. Jan.19, 2016.

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!”

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