Category: News

A Q&A with Bushra Rehman, author of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

February 28, 2024

Bushra Rehman with her book, Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion

We are excited to host Bushra Rehman, author of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion on Saturday, March 16 at 6:30 at Hugh’s View. Prior to hearing from her in person, we had the opportunity to ask a few questions:

Q: Would you tell us a little about Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion and what you hope readers will get out of it?

A: Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a story about female friendship and queer desire in a Pakistani-American community. The main character, Razia grows up amid the wild grape vines and backyard sunflowers of Corona, Queens, with her best friends by her side. As she and her friends get older, they embark on a series of small rebellions: listening to scandalous music, wearing miniskirts, and cutting school to explore the city.

When Razia is accepted to high school in Manhattan, the gulf between her and her world in Queens, between the person she is and the daughter her parents want her to be widens. At her new school, Razia meets Angela, an Italian-Greek girl, and is attracted to her in a way that blossoms into a new understanding.

Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion is a book for anyone who’s ever had to leave the world they grew up in to be who they needed to be, anyone who’s felt different or struggled with limiting expectations. It’s for those who remember what it was like to be queer and not have the words to express it at first.

Razia is a character I’ve always wanted to see in literature: a young Muslim woman experiencing both her Muslim spirituality and her queer desires. I’ve rarely seen three-dimensional portrayals of us as Muslim women or of our families: our love, resilience, and humor. I hope Roses lessens that void.

Q: For you, as a poet and a fiction writer, what do you feel your work as a poet brings to your fiction?

A: The seed of Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion was a series of poems I wrote about the beauty of Corona. I wanted to share both the danger and the joy of what it felt like to grow up there. As the poems started to become a novel, the character of Razia Mirza emerged. Even when the poems morphed into fiction, I treated each sentence as a line of poetry. This is probably why it took forever to write this book.

Q: Sense of place appears to be incredibly important to your work (the New York Public Library named Corona, your prior novel, one of its favorite books about the city), what do you find yourself noticing or paying attention to about other places as you travel?

A: I love to travel, and I treat all travel like a journey. I love going to oceans, mountains, rivers and forests. When I travel to towns, I love visiting bookstores and public parks. Wherever I go, I like to spend time walking, observing and journaling. And what I love about Key West is it’s an adventure of a walking island with deep literary history.

Q: And on a similar point, what are you looking forward to doing or seeing in Key West?

A: I’m excited to see the sunsets in Key West, to eat food at local restaurants, to soak in the sunshine (it’s been a grim winter in NY!) and to meet up with old and new friends. I’m so honored and excited to meet readers at Books & Books @ The Studios of Key West and to join in the literary world of Key West.

Thirty years ago, ago, when I was much younger, I used to spend time in Key West with a friends who lived here. I used to get on the Greyhound from NYC! I even wrote a story in which Razia is on the way to Key West. Perhaps this trip will inspire the chapter of what happens next. I’d love to weave in Key West’s distinctive literary history into this story.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to share about works in progress or upcoming publications?

A: I’ve been writing about the adventures of Razia after the ending of Roses. The Key West story is one of these stories. There are also stories that take place at a Puritan village in Salem, Massachusetts, and in the Strand bookstore in NYC. In the Strand story, Razia has just returned to NYC and gets a job at the Strand. The year is 1989 and The Satanic Verses controversy is raging. While other stores stop carrying the book, the Strand continues to sell it. Razia is swept up into protests, counter-protests and debates on freedom of expression that are marred by Islamophobia. She finds solace in her mentors at the Strand, including the iconic bookseller Ben McFall.

Q: What are you reading and recommending these days?

A: I’m currently reading and recommending Ibtisam Barakat’s A Palestinian Childhood, Kamilah Aisha Moon’s She Has a Name and Starshine & Clay, Noor Hindi’s Dear God. Dear Bones. Dear Yellow, Mosab Abu Toha’s Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear, the collection A Light in Gaza, and Lamya H’s Hijab Butch Blues.

I also love recommending books which influenced me early on: Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Toni Morison’s Song of Solomon, Audre Lorde’s Black Unicorn and Sister Outsider, Vijay Prashad’s Karma of Brown Folk, Sharon Olds’s The Dead and the Living and Satan Says, Dorothy Allison’s Bastard out of Carolina and of course Judy Blume’s books especially, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. I related so much to Margaret who has her own relationship with the divine. I saw myself in her. I hope readers will feel the same about Razia.

READ BANNED shirts are here!

February 8, 2024

by Emily Berg

You may have seen our booksellers wearing READ BANNED BOOKS & BOOKS t-shirts around the store lately. Many have asked when they would be available for purchase… We’re excited to announce that day has arrived!

These grey, soft cotton crew neck t-shirts have READ BANNED BOOKS & BOOKS IN KEY WEST FLORIDA & BEYOND printed in white on the front – handprinted in Key West by Coast Projects.

Click here to shop other merch items

Stand With the Banned

September 30, 2023

by Robin Wood

Banned Books Week, October 2023

Banned Books Week celebrates the resilience of literature, the fact that often the same books that are challenged and banned are, in other circumstances, recommended, proudly displayed, and most importantly, read and enjoyed.

Not every book is for every reader, but look closely at those who think they should get to decide across-the-board what’s appropriate for everyone. Increased book banning efforts, and new legislation have created an atmosphere that chills. Make no mistake. This is about control – control over what young people can read, learn, and even think. (Although no one can ban thoughts – yet.)

Until recently most book challenges were brought by parents or community members concerned about specific books, but in the last few years book bans have become a state-sponsored agenda in which multiple titles are being challenged at the same time, often cavalierly.

“These efforts to chill speech are part of the ongoing nationwide ‘Ed Scare’ — a campaign to foment anxiety and anger with the goal of suppressing free expression in public education,” write the authors of PEN America’s Banned in the USA report. “As book bans escalate, coupled with the proliferation of legislative efforts to restrict teaching about topics such as race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities, the freedom to read, learn, and think continues to be undermined for students.”

Book banning is also happening in public libraries. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documents a record number in the more than 20 years they have been tracking book banning efforts. “ALA recognizes all of the brave authors whose work challenges readers with stories that disrupt the status quo and offer fresh perspectives on tough issues,” said the president of ALA. “Closing our eyes to the reality portrayed in these stories will not make life’s challenges disappear.”

Last year over 40% of all book bans occurred in school districts in Florida. But if you aren’t a K-12 student looking for The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, I Am Ruby Bridges, a picture book about Ruby’s life, or any one of thousands of other titles, you might not believe book bans happen here.

They do.

And always, kids are the real losers. The very child who may need a book to find a character just like them, to know they’re not alone, loses that chance. They lose the chance to read widely. They lose the chance to discover, to find out, to question.

What about the teachers and librarians whose jobs are threatened, who can lose their pensions? How do we protect them? The fear is palpable. “I’ve worked 35 years to bring books and young readers together,” a visiting school librarian from another district told us. “And now I can lose my pension if I don’t comply. Well, I’m not going to do it. I’m going to keep standing up for the kids. It’ll be hard if I lose my job and pension but I’ll figure out another way to earn a living.” Another told us, “I just close my classroom door and continue teaching the way I always have, by bringing in the best books I can. And if the day comes when I can’t teach that way, I’ll quit. I hate to lose my pension. I’ve worked long and hard for that. But I’m not going to give in to this craziness.”

But how many can afford to say that?

What about here in Key West?

Key West is not Florida. This is commonly heard among those of us living in the Keys, especially in Key West. We feel isolated not only geographically but also politically from anything we find alarming on the mainland. Life can be good in the Key West bubble but it’s important to not lose track of what’s happening in our own back yard.

We understand that during the past summer recess, media specialists in the district were required to go through their school libraries to determine that all materials were in compliance with new, and stricter, state and district guidelines. The outcome of that process is unclear. We have had sharply conflicting reports from parents, teachers and administrators. We doubt that we have seen an end to this process. But whatever is happening, this is exactly why we all should be paying attention. Don’t rest on the assumption that book bans aren’t happening where you live.

Here’s what you can do:

If you have a child in a public school ask them what they’re reading in school and if they get to visit the media center regularly.
Check out the online catalogs of schools in your district (most are posted publicly on the school’s website. In Florida they’re required to make media center catalogs open to the community). If a book from a banned books list appears available don’t stop there. Do what you can to make sure it’s actually on the shelf and available to students.
Check to make sure new books are available. Counties are able to “ban by omission.” Though books may not have been pulled, ask about titles they’re choosing not to include in the school library.

Teachers and media specialists need and deserve our support in standing up for their students and their right to read, even those books that make some uncomfortable. Any one book could be the key that saves a young person’s life. The threats to these educators have escalated – their jobs are at stake, their pensions could be lost, and felony charges can be brought against them. It’s a nightmare, as one teacher said.

Many of the things we are doing in store for Banned Books Week are fun – we’ll have Banned Books Bingo cards, a special bookmark, stickers, and interesting and informative displays – but we also hope you’ll think about what would be missing in your life if you couldn’t pick up and read the books of your choice.

So speak out! You’re not alone. There are groups and organizations who can help you whether you’re a teacher, librarian, parent, student, or a reader who cares about others having free access to books and learning. You’re busy. We know that. But if you read just one of these websites and if you can become a member, you’re helping.

National Coalition Against Censorship’s Kids’ Right to Read Project
Learn more and get involved with PEN America’s Free the Books
In Florida, check out the Florida Freedom to Read Project
UniteAgainstBooksBans.org: This grassroots anti-censorship campaign has social media tools to show your support, background information, and resources on how to oppose book banning locally.

December 2023 Staff Pick: The MANIAC

September 26, 2023

by Robin Wood

George with The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut

The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut (Penguin Press), picked by store co-founder, George Cooper

Now out in paperback!

Don’t be fooled by the title, or its listing as fiction. This is a brilliant biography of the greatest genius of the 20th century, John von Neumann, inventor of Game Theory and the modern digital computer (known by the acronym MANIAC, which his wife Clara called the JONNYAC) that was first used to design the hydrogen bomb.

Rather than taking us dryly through von Neumann’s endless accomplishments, many of which are beyond explaining to laymen, the author beguiles us with the voices of the genius’s celebrated scientific colleagues (who either loved or hated him) and his wives (who felt the same). We thus become witness not only to von Neumann’s triumphs but also his peccadillos and (in)humanity. The book is full of vignettes, from private meetings to marital quarrels, which give it a fascinating and compelling life.

He was a consultant to the Manhattan Project, drifting in from time to time and quickly solving problems other mental giants had been struggling with, and went on to a fruitful career with the U.S. Defense Department. But the problem that challenged him most was trying to generalize the process uniting biology, technology, and computer theory to explain all self-replicating phenomena, from life on earth to the possibility of machines doing the same.

He died at only fifty-six from cancer, in 1959, in a special suite provided for him by the government at Walter Reed Hospital, surrounded by dignitaries and attendants, hoping to catch the last pearls of wisdom from the fruitful mind of this singular polymath.

When asked what it would take for a machine to think and behave like a human being, he said it would have to “understand language, to read, to write, to speak. And it would have to play like a child.” But his death preceded the development of the truly powerful computers of today (still operating on the fundamental principles of MANIAC) that are doing just that. The very first project of DeepMind, a leading Artificial Intelligence machine, was playing Go, the game universally acknowledged to be the most intellectually difficult, and beating its human master. (The book concludes with a dramatic blow-by-blow description of this five game challenge match.)

When asked how he could bring together his ideas on computers and self-replicating machines with those on the brain and mechanisms of thought, von Neumann offered: “Cavemen created gods, I see no reason why we shouldn’t do the same.”

Don’t miss this book if you’re interested in biography, science or even science-fiction, because both were part of von Neumann’s world.

~ George Cooper

September Staff Pick: Wellness

August 28, 2023

by Robin Wood

Wellness by Nathan Hill, (Knopf, out 9/19/23), picked by store co-founder, Judy Blume

* Now out in paperback, Wellness *

If you loved Nathan Hill’s first novel, The Nix, as much as I did and you’ve been waiting seven long years for his next, as I have, rejoice! You won’t be disappointed. This brilliant storyteller has done it again.

At its core Wellness is “a bittersweet, poignant, witty novel about marriage and the pursuit of health and happiness. Expansive, tender, a reflection of life in America in the 21^st Century. Yet it’s also a sendup of gentrification, toxic internet culture, modern parenting.” It even explores, briefly, polyamory and what a scene that is!

The story had me laughing while cringing when Jack and Elizabeth put their money down on a Forever home. It reminded me of my early marriage when friends asked one another, Is this your first house or your final house? If only we’d known then what was ahead of us.

We come to know Jack and Elizabeth intimately, from being young and madly in love to being married lovers, to twenty years down the road when they have an eight year old son. We are on this journey with them, getting to know the families they left behind to the family they become.

Wellness is compelling and quirky and yes, funny, because this is Nathan Hill writing, but it sometimes broke my heart. It goes deep but never tries too hard, never shouts look at me! There are a few tricky diversions along the way. Don’t let them stop you. If they do, skip them and come back later. But don’t skip anything having to do with Jack or Elizabeth. They are unforgettable characters.

There’s a lot to think about, a lot to remind us of who we were and how we became who we are. If I belonged to a book club I’d want us to read this book, to talk about this book.

Ultimately “this stunning novel of ideas never loses sight of its humanity.” I’m quoting Publishers Weekly here because there’s no way I can say it better. Except to tell you I’m going to read it again. Starting now.

~ Judy Blume

The Reformatory by Tananarive Due (S&S/Saga Press), picked by Bookseller Lori

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (Tor), picked by Robin, our social media manager

All the Sinners Bleed by S. A. Cosby (Flatiron Books), picked by bookseller Lori

Banned Books Week, October 2023

The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut (Penguin Press), picked by store co-founder, George Cooper

Now out in paperback!

Wellness by Nathan Hill, (Knopf, out 9/19/23), picked by store co-founder, Judy Blume

* Now out in paperback, Wellness *