Registration for our 8th annual summer art contest is now open. The registration fee includes a 4×12 canvas. Use the canvas to show your artistic abilities. Paint, collage, pencil, whatever suits your style.
For more information and to register please visit https://booksandbookskw.com/art-contest/
I couldn’t put this book down – the perfect summer mystery read! It had me all the way until the last sentence!
The dynamic of the two alternating timelines are seamlessly woven together uncovering family secrets and lies that leave you wondering exactly how far this family is willing to go to keep things hidden – and who is helping them.
This book has an ending you won’t see coming, and leaves you with a smile on your face.
When her mother dies Stella is left with a one way ticket and an unusual request “Go to Paris”…
Very similar to myself, Stella isn’t one to stray to far out of her comfort zone, but impulsively she honors her mother’s final request.
Here’s where the fun starts: through fashion, new friends, a mysterious painting and most importantly FOOD Stella begins to understand what it truly means to live YOUR life, take chances, and live your life to the fullest. (Hey, I quit my job and moved to Key West!)
This book is a true feast for the senses (especially your taste buds – did I mention the food???)
Transport yourself to Paris and LIVE!
~ Gina
There’s nothing so interesting as reading a history of a profound event when you have an uncomfortable dread that you are living through a run-up to its successor, in this time when a modern “Demon of Unrest” is plaguing our nation.
Legendary story-teller Larson gives us a detailed account of the period from Lincoln’s election in November, 1860, to the fall of Ft. Sumter on April 13, 1861 and the beginning of the Civil War. We are with the protagonists, North and South, each step of the way as the opportunities for compromise slip away and war fever takes hold. The deadly bombardment of the Fort becomes not a military battle, but a grander version of the duels that still animated Southern manhood.
In this brilliant addition to Civil War literature, Larson is a master of the telling detail, the moment or quotation that makes us pause. Like this from the southern Senator and plantation owner James Henry Hammond, famed for claiming “Cotton is King.” Near the end of the war, he acknowledged:
We are here two races, white and black, now both equally American, holding each other in the closest embrace, and utterly unable to extricate ourselves from it, a problem so difficult, so complicated, and so momentous, never was placed in charge of any portion of mankind and on its solution rests our all.
Who among us now, one-hundred sixty-five years later, would say that we have found that solution.
Long Island tells the story of Eilis Fiorello, nee Lacey. Colm Tóibín first wrote about Eilis in his terrific novel Brooklyn, published in 2009. Eilis is now living in Long Island with her family – husband Tony and teenage children Larry and Rosella. When a stranger comes to Eilis’s door to tell her that he will be depositing a baby that Tony has fathered with the stranger’s wife while working as a plumber in their house, Eilis decides to handle the matter in a very straightforward way. She tells her children about it. She then informs Tony that she’ll be going back to Ireland for her mother’s birthday because she doesn’t want to be home when the baby is delivered. Eilis tells Tony that this has nothing to do with her and he should handle the situation.
While reading this book, I could feel the suffocation that Eilis must have felt in her marriage and in her house, with Tony’s brothers and Italian mother always in everybody’s business. Tony’s mother believes her sons can do no wrong. I found her to be most annoying and irritating.
Eilis hasn’t been back to Ireland since she left as a young woman and made a life with Tony. Once there, she lives in her mother’s house and rekindles relationships from her past. There is so much that is not said in this book. For one, I could sense that Eilis asked herself – What do I want? How do I want to live? I kept asking myself – What will Eilis do? She yearns for love.
As Long Island progressed, I came to love Eilis more and more, and her happiness became so important to me. Then I wondered – what is it she is seeking? Is it happiness, purpose or something else. Colm Tóibín’s intimate story is captivating.
~ Leslie
With The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin, I found myself going back to it whenever I needed a little inspiration. It is an extraordinary book that captures the practice of creating.
The Creative Act is a collection of short reflections from Rubin’s career as a legendary music productor who is well known for helping artists connect with their own creativity by creating a space where they can offer who they really are to the world. With his own insights from his experiences, the tools he provides is as simple as listening to your own intuition, finding out what works for yourself, and incorporating your own creative routine with habits that include meditating, being in nature and exercises. These insights are then elaborated further in different chapters that are easy to pick up and follow. I read it and listened to the audiobook, which I found relaxing and enjoyable.
One takeaway from the book is that we are all creators of something in our daily lives. It does a great job capturing the sacred practice of trusting one’s own intuition and being free to experiment with finding ways to express yourself. My favorite quote from the book reads, “Look for what you notice but no one else sees.”
When I am not at the bookstore, I enjoy walking the island and taking pictures. This is my way of creating something while also documenting it for memories – my own journal that I get to share with friends and family. It’s nothing serious, just a hobby I picked back up during the pandemic that I have grown to love doing. During this process, I allow my mind to wander as I take in the simple act of walking in nature. This book reminded me to touch back on my hobbies and how important it is to have routines and continue to create – or what creating means to me. I have become more mindful as I capture the beauty of what I see in hopes that others can see it too.
Another component that drew me into this book was the cover. It’s the alchemical symbol for the sun which represents life, energy, and spirituality where I found the simplicity of it had so much depth behind it that it made it even more meaningful. Rubin has a minimalist way of living so it only fit that the book would represent this in some way too with keeping everything simple.
Plan to join us or the indie bookstore in your neighborhood on Saturday, April 27 for Independent Bookstore Day. Bookstore Day is a nationwide celebration of what makes indie bookstores special – and of the people who love them.
Here in Key West, expect doughnuts, mimosas, freebies, a couple of raffles, and, of course, the Bookstore Day exclusives. We’ll make exclusive available online after Bookstore Day (if we have any left), but if there’s something you want to make sure and grab, come shop in store or give us a call on Bookstore Day.
Follow our social media to see what the exclusive products will be this year!
Our party will include:
· Doughnuts and mimosas, while supplies last.
· Free book with any purchase plus other assorted freebies.
· Entry into our In-store Basket of Books Raffle with any purchase (must be picked up in-store).
· Entry into our Online & Phone Mystery Box Raffle with any purchase (will ship, U.S. addresses only).
· Plus, watch for a big sale from our audiobook partner, Libro.fm. Check out Libro.fm’s plans for IBD.
And join us for a special event with Lydia Millet, discussing her new book, We Loved it All: A Memory of Life at 6:30PM ET on Sat. the 27th in the PEAR House Courtyard at the bookstore. Register in advance to assure attendance.
“This book is about chickens, yes, but it is also about how they can change your life if you let them,” Tove Danovich, Under the Henfluence.
It’s March! Spring is in the air and what better way to celebrate the upcoming season, than to immerse yourself in the weird and wonderful world of chickens. Tove’s book (newly released in paperback), Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them expertly weaves the history and business of chicken keeping with extensive research and personal anecdotes. Tove not only raises her own backyard flock of chickens, she is a gifted researcher, storyteller, and journalist.
“It’s a mix of stories from my own flock and reporting on chickens as a species which asks the question of what we owe to the animals we’ve tamed,” Tove Danovich.
I have my own backyard flock of hens. They are what you would call “corona chickens,” or chickens purchased during COVID-19 while we were stuck at home with time on our hands. They are our pets that not only provide eggs, they bring us joy, love, and endless entertainment. “When times get tough, as one hatchery employee told me, people turn to chickens.”
I connected with Tove’s personal anecdotes on her experiences with her flock. Her stories were my stories. We shared in the joys and heartbreak that go with loving your flock. It was also fascinating to learn about our 3,000 (plus) years of chicken domestication. She writes about the chicken industry, 4-H clubs, chicken showing, chicken therapy, all the while sharing her personal journey and experiences. While reading this book, I found myself becoming mindful about where we get our eggs and poultry. I learned what “free-range” versus “cage-free” really means, and how terrible the lives of chickens can be in large industrial facilities meant to provide us with eggs and meat. Where we get our food matters. How animals are treated matters.
I laughed, I cried, and I connected with Tove’s informative book about the world of backyard chicken keeping. You don’t need a flock of your own to LOVE this book! You’ll certainly gain an appreciation for our feathered friends and the people that love them!
~ Camila
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.
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.
