We are so happy to have you back in the store live and in person, and browsing with a purpose!

A quick refresher on Edmonds Bookshop operations: We remain open under Phase 2 guidance, with masks and use of hand sanitizer required for entry; we enforce a limit of about six customers at a time, so we request that you respect social distancing and keep lollygagging and dillydallying to a minimum… as much as possible! Current hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Saturday; and noon – 5 p.m. Sundays. We continue to provide curbside pick-up, free local delivery and free shipping to help keep our community safe.

Amongst all the crazy, there is one thing that makes us all so very happy and adds a small, but important feel of normalcy to our book world: There is an amazing list of books being published this fall.

For this column, I have chosen to highlight new books by authors we already love, including many books that are the next in a series that we already love. The book world’s version of comfort food!

Listed in order of publishing date [*all dates are subject to change, especially this year]:

• “All the Devils Are Here: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel #16” by Louise Penny. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache has to investigate a sinister plot in the City of Light. Staff recommended. September 1, 2020.
• “The Lying Life of Adults” by Elena Ferrante. Fans of her Neapolitan novels will be thrilled. The new novel follows a girl who measures her worth against another complicated character. Review in The Washington Post. Chosen for September IndieNext. September 1, 2020.
• For young readers “Dog Man: Grime and Punishment: Dog Man #9” by Dav Pilkey. “The Supa Buddies bamboozled the baddies, but all’s not right in the world. Dog Man has a new problem to pound, and he’s going to need his entire pack to help him. Will he go barking up the wrong tree?” September 1, 2020.
• “One by One” by Ruth Ware. Getting snowed in at a beautiful, rustic mountain chalet doesn’t sound like the worst problem in the world. But what happens when that company is eight of your coworkers…and you can’t trust any of them? Chosen for September IndieNext. Staff recommended author. September 8, 2020.
• “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman. A poignant, charming novel about a crime that never took place, a would-be bank robber who disappears into thin air, and eight extremely anxious strangers who find they have more in common than they ever imagined. Chosen for September IndieNext. September 8, 2020.
• “To Sleep in a Sea of Stars” by Christopher Paolini. A brand new epic novel from the bestselling author. Exploring new worlds is all Kira Navarez ever dreamed of doing. But now she has found her nightmare. September 15, 2020.
• “Rage” by Bob Woodward. Going behind the scenes like never before, this book is based, in part, on more than a dozen interviews that Woodward conducted with Trump between Dec. 2019 and July 2020. September 15, 2020.
• “The Evening and the Morning: Kingsbridge #4” by Ken Follett. A thrilling and addictive new novel–a prequel to “The Pillars of the Earth”–set in England at the dawn of a new era: the Middle Ages. September 15, 2020.
• “Jack” by Marilynne Robinson. The fifth entry in the Gilead cycle follows a romance between a white minister’s son and a black preacher’s daughter in post-WWII St. Louis. September 15, 2020.
• “Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy” by Ben Macintyre. The master storyteller uncovers the true story behind the Cold War’s most intrepid female spy. September 15, 2020.
• “Troubled Blood: Cormoran Strike #5” by Robert Galbraith. Private Detective Cormoran Strike is visiting his family when he is approached by a woman asking for help finding her mother who went missing in 1974. Strike has never tackled a cold case before. A breathtaking, labyrinthine epic, this fifth Strike and Robin novel and the most gripping and satisfying yet. September 15, 2020.
• “Next to Last Stand: A Longmire Mystery #16” by Craig Johnson. One of the most viewed paintings in American history was destroyed in a fire at the 7th Cavalry Headquarters in Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1946. Or was it? September 22, 2020.
• “A Deadly Education” by Naomi Novik. The coming-of-age fantasy that kicks off the new Scholomance series follows a dark sorceress determined to buck the expectations of her classmates at a monster-ridden magical school. September 29, 2020.
• For young readers “The Tower of Nero: Trials of Apollo #5” by Rick Riordan. At last, the breathtaking, action-packed finale of the Trials of Apollo series is here! October 6, 2020.
• “Modern Comfort Food” by Ina Garten. 85 new, comforting recipes perfect for entertaining friends.
  *Bonus Preorder Gift* Preorder this book and receive the first-ever downloadable Barefoot Contessa Recipe Index! This comprehensive digital index has every recipe in Ina Garten’s 12 beloved cookbooks. All the details on our website here. October 6, 2020.
• “The Searcher” by Tana French. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat, and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets.
  If you want to brush up before her new novel arrives, here’s your guide: The New York Times column ‘The Essential Tana French,’ here.   And a link to our blog with all the ordering details, here.  October 6, 2020.
  And! So exciting: Tana French is online with Seattle Arts + Lectures Monday, October 12, 2020 7:30pm. All the information here.
• “Ottolenghi Flavor: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi, with Ixta Belfrage. 100 amped-up vegetarian recipes with Italian, Indian, and Mexican influences. October 13, 2020.
• “A Time for Mercy: Jake Brigance #3” by John Grisham. Jake Brigance is back! The hero of “A Time to Kill,” returns in a courtroom drama that showcases bestselling author John Grisham at the height of his storytelling powers. October 13, 2020.
• “The Cold Millions” by Jess Walter. A propulsive, richly entertaining novel about two brothers swept up in the turbulent class warfare of the early twentieth century.  Staff recommended. October 27, 2020.
• For young readers “The Deep End: Diary of a Wimpy Kid #15” by Jeff Kinney. Greg Heffley and his family hit the road for a cross-country camping trip, ready for the adventure of a lifetime. October 27, 2020.
• “The Sentinel: A Jack Reacher Novel #25” by Lee Child and Andrew Child. Lee Child teams up with his brother, Andrew Child, fellow thriller writer extraordinaire.

As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” … so Reacher intervenes. October 27, 2020.

• “The Kingdom” by Jo Nesbo. “Twisty … Fans of classic noir such as “Double Indemnity” will be hooked.” – Publishers Weekly. November 10, 2020.
• “Ready Player Two” by Ernest Cline. The highly anticipated sequel to the beloved worldwide bestseller “Ready Player One.” November 24, 2020.

Edmonds Bookshop Book Club.

For the foreseeable future we are going virtual with Edmonds Bookshop Book Club via Zoom.

By all accounts, the Zoom book clubs are going quite well — join us this month!

In September we will be discussing “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison.

Wednesday morning Sept. 16, 2020: 9 – 10 a.m..

For Mike Muñoz, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work–and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew–he’s smart enough to know that he’s got to be the one to shake things up if he’s ever going to change his life. But how?

In this funny, biting, touching, and ultimately inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man determined to achieve the American dream of happiness and prosperity–who just so happens to find himself along the way.

Staff recommended local author.

Send us an email here to register your email for Book Club and we will send you an invitation with a Zoom Meeting link as each book club meeting is scheduled. [More specific, expansive information on our website.]

Recent book releases of note:
“The Truths We Hold: An American Journey” by Kamala Harris. Paperback.
“The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” by Suzanne Collins.  Staff recommended.
“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett.
“The Answer is…Reflections on My Life” by Alex Trebek.
“Malorie: A Bird Box Novel” by Josh Malerman. “Bird Box” is staff recommended,
“The Geometry of Holding Hands: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel #13” by Alexander McCall Smith.
“Mexican Gothic: A Novel” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
“The Death of Vivek Oji” by Akwaeke Emezi. The review here.
“Migrations” by Charlotte McConaghy: Chosen for August IndieBound. Review here. Staff recommended.
“The Exiles” by Christina Baker Kline. An epic novel that captures the hardship and hope of a trio of women’s lives in 19th century Australia.  Chosen for September IndieNext.
“The Midnight Sun” by Stephanie Meyer. The tale, as told through Edward’s eyes, takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire.
For young readers  ”Rowley Jefferson’s Awesome Friendly Adventure” by Jeff Kinney.
“Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For” by Susan Rice. With a new afterward for the paperback edition.
“Luster” by Raven Leilani. A portrait of a young woman trying to make sense of her life–her hunger, her anger–in a tumultuous era.
“Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Warmth of Other Suns” examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
“The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern. In paperback.
“Underland: A Deep Time Journey” by Robert MacFarlane. In paperback.
“Vesper Flights” by Helen Macdonald. The author of the phenomenal “H Is for Hawk” takes flight again in this collection.
“Sisters” by Daisy Johnson.  From the Booker Prize finalist, a dark, atmospheric novel that explores the tension of familial closeness and unfolds in a house in near-isolation… and somehow she wrote it before the pandemic.
“Summer:  Seasonal Quartet” by Ali Smith.  “A deeply resonant finale to a work that should come to be recognized as a classic. . . . “–Kirkus Reviews.
“Squeeze Me” by Carl Hiaasen. A hilarious new novel of social and political intrigue, set against the glittering backdrop of Florida’s gold coast. Irreverent, ingenious, and highly entertaining, this new novel perfectly captures the absurdity of our times.

Some more books of note being released in September:

“Transcendent Kingdom” by Yaa Gyasi. This stunning follow-up to “Homegoing” is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama.  Washington Post review here.  Chosen for September IndieNext. September 1, 2020.

“The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War–A Tragedy in Three Acts” by Scott Anderson. A gripping history of the early years of the Cold War, the CIA’s covert battles against communism, and the tragic consequences which still affect America and the world today. September 1, 2020.

“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood. In paperback.  Staff recommended. September 1, 2020.

“The World That We Knew” by Alice Hoffman. In paperback.  Staff recommended. September 1, 2020.

“Nothing to See Here” by Kevin Wilson. In paperback.  Staff recommended. September 1, 2020.

“The Night Portrait: A Novel of World War II and Da Vinci’s Italy” by Laura Morelli. In paperback. September 8, 2020.
“Disloyal: A Memoir: The True Story of the Former Personal Attorney to President Donald J. Trump” by Michael Cohen.  Once Donald Trump’s fiercest surrogate, closest confidant, and staunchest defender, Michael Cohenknows where the skeletons are buried. This book almost didn’t see the light of day as government officials tried to bar its publication. September 8, 2020.
“Eat a Peach: A Memoir” by David Chang. The chef behind Momofuku and star of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious shares an intimate account of the making of a chef, the story of the modern restaurant world that he helped shape, and how he discovered that success can be much harder to understand than failure. Chosen for September IndieNext.September 8, 2020.
“What Are You Going Through” by Sigrid Nunez.  This follow up to her National Book Award–winning “The Friend” is another novel about death and women’s friendship, this one involving euthanasia. September 8, 2020.
“The Book of Two Ways” by Jodi Picoult. A riveting novel about the choices that alter the course of our lives. September 22, 2020.
“The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig. Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets? September 29, 2020.
“Just Like You” by Nick Hornby. This warm, wise, highly entertaining twenty-first century love story is about what happens when the person who makes you happiest is someone you never expected. September 29, 2020.
“Whale Day: And Other Poems” by Billy Collins. His thirteenth collection contains more than fifty new poems that showcase the playfulness, wit, and wisdom that have made him one of our most celebrated and widely read poets. September 29, 2020.

We will keep posting our latest favorite reads, along with links to all kinds of book-related interesting things! In all the places: on our website, facebook, Instagram, and twitter.

You may pre-order any forthcoming title by visiting our website.

Stay safe. Do your best to stay sane. And as always: 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!