Like your favorite second-chance romances, Bookstore Romance Day is back! Sat. August 20, 2022, join us or one of more than 300 participating indie bookstores to celebrate all things bookish and romantic.
On Bookstore Romance Day, we’ll be featuring a great display of our favorite romances, ansd some fun activities.
Blind Date with a Book, a carefully curated selection of titles, each wrapped so you can’t see the cover and featuring a fun blurb teasing the book’s plot. Don’t judge a book by its cover and take a chance on new (book) love!
Want to shout your love from the rooftops for your beloved beau, favorite author, can’t-live-without book? Come get creative at our Valentine Station and pen that love note! We will have little Valentine cards ready for your amorous confession. Dedicate a note to your loved one(s) and bring it home, or pen a heartfelt note to a book or author. Then you can place the note on display & someone looking for some bookish love can enjoy your recommendation!
Don’t forget to set the mood for your Romance Read! We have various bath salts and eye masks available for purchase to indulge in a self-care date! So, pick up a steamy new read, and indulge in a pampering reading session.
Throughout the month, enter our romance raffle! No purchase required, win a fun bundle of goodies — in store only.
If you won’t be in Key West on the 20th, visit Bookstore Romance Day for a list of participating stores, and check out the slate of online panels featuring some of your favorite Romance writers.
For early summer reading, I chose a glorious romp of a novel. Not a rom-com, but something different for me. I’d read good reviews and it’s hard to beat that cover. Turns out LOVE MARRIAGE by Monica Ali was just what I craved.
The story of two young doctors, engaged to marry, set in London. She is from a conservative middle class British/Indian family. He is the son of a wealthy, liberal, famous feminist. Both families approve of the marriage. That’s not the problem.
Everything else is. Plenty of humor, political satire and sex. It all comes together and makes for a great read. I loved it!
George just finished RIVER OF THE GODS by Candice Millard. At first I told him to stop telling me the story. I wanted to read it myself. But his stories about the characters and their adventures were so fascinating I encouraged him to tell me just a little bit more each time.
We both wish you many happy hours of reading this summer.
~ Judy Blume, store co-founder
About RIVER OF THE GODS, George writes:
The fabulous true story of the brave, obsessive Englishmen who discovered the source of the Nile, and of the role played by heroic Africans who guided and supported them.
“Compulsively readable, and ultimately heartbreaking.”
Are you looking for ways to use your home-grown vegetables or CSA-share? Want to up your grilling game? Cook for a crowd? Add a few new recipes to the rotation? Or have a beautiful new book to show off in your kitchen or on your coffee table?
Green Fire is an extraordinary vegetarian cookbook, as Mallmann brings his techniques, creativity, instinct for bold flavors, and decades of experience to the idea of cooking vegetables and fruits over live fire. Blistered tomatoes reinvigorate a classic Caprese salad. Eggplants are buried whole in the coals—a technique called rescoldo—then dance that fine line between burned and incinerated until they yield an ineffable creaminess made irresistible with a slather of parsley, chile, and aioli. Brussels sprout leaves are scorched and served with walnuts; whole cabbages are sliced thick, grilled like steaks, and rubbed with spice for a mustard-fennel crust. Corn, fennel, artichokes, beets, squash, even beans—this is the vegetable kingdom, on fire.
Yawd = comfort food that sticks to your ribs! Dive into this bold, flavor-filled cookbook packed with fresh Afro-Caribbean recipes to bring some island vibes to your home.
In his first cookbook, Top Chef Canada star Adrian Forte shares more than 100 inspiring and delicious recipes to get you fired up in the kitchen. Try new riffs on Caribbean classics like Coconut Fried Chicken, Spiced Steamed Fish, Rasta Pasta, and Pepper Shrimp Paella. Incorporate more African ancestral ingredients into your repertoire with Ackee & Saltfish Fritters or Okra Pilaf; and try the dishes Adrian has now made his signature like Oxtail Gnocchi or Jerk-Marinated Chicken Coq au Vin. As well as great recipes—including a chapter on soups and porridges and oodles of plant-based options—Yawd explores the key ingredients of Afro-Caribbean cuisine and gives multi-use recipes for essentials such as Jerk Dry Rub and Marinade or Pickled Scotch Bonnets.
• 100+ life-changing vegan recipes including Orange Peel Cauliflower, Beeteroni Pizza, Nashville Hot Shroom Sammie, Jackfruit Pupusas, and Plum-Side-Down Cake • Killer photos so you’ll know for sure you didn’t f*ck it up • Tips on how to stretch your budget, limit food waste, and incorporate every edible piece of the plant into your meals (or finally find a use for that wilted kale in your fridge) • Shortcuts and substitutions for when the grocery store is sold out or you need help getting dinner on the goddamn table already • A produce glossary that breaks down everything you probably never knew (but most def should) about all the fresh stuff in your market
Find many more books about cooking, eating and food culture in store and online.
Let’s Do Dinner is an invitation into Antoni’s easy kitchen. Dinner with Antoni means satisfying meals full of clean protein and loads of vegetables, with splurges of carbs and decadence. Simple, yes, but always special. Antoni keeps shopping lists short and steps and pans to a minimum.
Pulled chicken nachos, pasta carbonara with scallions and peas, or pan-seared steak with harissa butter and crispy potatoes—it’s all good for post-work evenings or casual entertaining. Antoni shows how to crank the flavor, make exciting suppers from pantry staples, create new takes on classics by swapping in one surprising ingredient, and build a rousingly flavored vegan grain bowl. Plus, he lets you in on the secret weapons in every kitchen that get great food on the table fast.
Bagel lovers rejoice! This delightful cookbook makes it easy to bake fresh bagels in your own kitchen with just five base ingredients and simple techniques. With advice on mixing the dough, shaping the bagels, proofing, boiling, baking, slicing, and storing, you will be a master bagel-maker in no time.
Recipes include two dozen variations on the New York bagel, with classic and innovative flavors ranging from Sesame to Blueberry to Hatch Chile Jack. You’ll also find recipes for homemade sweet and savory spreads, schmears, pickles, and other deli mainstays like Home-Cured Lox and Chicken Salad.
In Eitan’s debut cookbook, he channels his high-energy passion for all things delicious into eighty-five inventive and approachable recipes, paired with mouthwatering photography. They range from new twists on comfort food and classics (PB&J Pancakes, Double Grilled Cheese with Blueberry-Thyme Jam, Bourbon Brown Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies) to his versions of dishes from around the world (Green Shakshuka, Chicken Kathi Roll, Beef Souvlaki) that he has meticulously studied with friends, neighbors, and other chefs.
Overflowing with positivity, creativity, and the “You can definitely do this!” attitude that catapulted Eitan into the media spotlight, Eitan Eats the World will charm and inspire readers to get in the kitchen and start having fun.
Raised by her mother in exile, Xingyin must flee her home in the middle of the night. Separated from everything & everyone she’s ever known, Xingyin strikes out on her own. She quickly finds ways to improve her isolated situation, while also acquiring archery skills and prowess.
Xingyin is determined to pave her own path through life without being beholden to another; she acknowledges her complicated romantic emotions yet stays true to her ultimate goal of safely rescuing her mother. Battling epic monsters, both demonic and fellow Immortals, Xingyin grows into herself and her strength.
This is an enthralling tale that will sweep you off into the night.
Have you read GENDER QUEER, a graphic novel memoir by Maia Kobabe? It’s about a lot of things you might expect in a memoir, growing up and fitting in, and it’s about Kobabe’s experience of being nonbinary.
Some people think you or your kids and grandkids shouldn’t be able to read GENDER QUEER or the 1500 other books that were challenged or banned last year, according to stats collected by the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom.
But it’s not actually about GENDER QUEER or THE HATE YOU GIVE by Angie Thomas (which has been on the top banned list 4 out of the 5 years since its publication in 2017) or A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas, which a Virginia judge thinks might not be appropriate to sell unrestricted in bookstores. As librarian Alex Brown wrote recently for Tor.com:
Banning books is always bigger than just the ban or just the book. It’s a concerted effort to whitewash and sugarcoat history, to deny the truth of what happened and who we are as a nation, and to continue the dismantling of our public educational institutions.
And it’s getting worse – along with targeting school libraries at every level and public libraries, an active challenge right now is trying to restrict Barnes & Noble bookstores from selling certain books to kids, and maybe to anyone at all (in Virginia).
It’s not really about the books. It’s about the people. The kids who are hungry to see themselves and their experiences in the books they read. All of us who want to read widely, adventurously and freely. The authors who are writing their best stories with heart and hard-won wisdom, or maybe just for fun.
This Pride month, pick up a copy of GENDER QUEER, and see what you think. And, if it’s not for you, pick up something else – but champion everyone’s right to read freely.
In his first full-length autobiography, comedy legend and national treasure Billy Connolly reveals the truth behind his windswept and interesting life.
Windswept and Interesting is Billy’s story in his own words. It is joyfully funny – stuffed full of hard-earned wisdom as well as countless digressions on fishing, farting and the joys of dancing naked. It is an unforgettable, life-affirming story of a true comedy legend.
When I learned that Fowler, author of the witty and surprising We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves had a new novel, I jumped at the chance to preview it.
She’s still surprising, but in a completely different way. BOOTH is historical fiction, but it might better be described as a novelistic biography of a famous family, famous for its lifelong brilliant achievements on the Shakespearean stage, but even more for the single dastardly act of young John Wilkes.
The father, Junius Brutus Booth emigrated from England as a young man and went on to triumph on the American stage, and father a family of six children who survived into adulthood. Son Edwin became even more celebrated than his father as an actor, perhaps the most famous Hamlet ever; daughter Asia had some success as a writer; and son June (Junius, Jr.) became a theatrical producer.
But the novel is not limited to these foreground players. Equally important are daughter Rosalie, the stay-at-home ugly duckling of this luminous family, and long-suffering mother Mary Ann who held the family together through periods of poverty, as the often drunk, flamboyant father would disappear on road tours for months, often drinking his fees rather than sending them home.
The period covered goes from the arrival in America of Junius and Mary Ann in 1821, until 1865. A crushing gloom and infamy then settled on this northern, Lincoln loving family as it tried to reconcile love for its assassin son with revulsion at what he did. The book is a novel, but supported by a wealth of research: letters from and to the principle characters, journals and news stories, and the documented history of the United States during a period of passionate divisions that bears disturbing parallels to today.
It’s full of descriptive set pieces from this master novelist, like the burdens of a journey by citified Easterners to San Francisco by boat and a slog through the mountainous jungles of Panama – supposedly easier and safer than the direct overland route through Indian lands and the Rockies – that makes one marvel at the fortitude of ordinary men and women of the time.
“TASTE reminds me that whomever you are and wherever you come from the sharing of food connects us,” Gina writes. “It’s impossible to read this book and not be drawn back into your memories to the feel of a certain room, the sounds and smells of that ONE special dish (that of course only your family makes perfectly). And, then to sharing that dish with family or people who will become family.
Plus, I learned how to make the “perfect” martini! PRICELESS!”
Thanks to our wonderful volunteers! Volunteers supplement our booksellers’ work, and are a huge help in keeping things running smoothly. This extraordinarily well-read group also give us a much wider sense of what’s worth reading by sharing insights and recommendations.
Many of our volunteers have been with the store for a number of years, like Karen Schultz, who we thought you’d enjoy meeting. We are always looking for new volunteers, so if you’re interested, introduce yourself next time you’re visiting the store and we’ll tell you how it works.
Q: Where is home when you’re not in Key West and how did you end up in Key West?
A: We lived for many years in State College, PA (home of Penn State), but after I retired, my husband and I moved into our beach cottage in Sea Isle City, NJ, where we now spend our summers. We fell in love with Key West during our first visit in the early 1990s and immediately knew it was where we wanted to live during the winter. After enduring so many cold, grey winters in central PA, we wanted to be as far south as possible! We bought a house in Old Town that had been sub-divided into 3 apartments, maintained it as a rental for 14 years, then renovated it into a single-family home.
Q: How long have you been volunteering at the store and how did you get into it? What do you like best about it?
Thank you to all of our volunteers! We appreciate your assistance and your commitment to helping the bookstore thrive. Have a great summer!
A: I’ve been volunteering at Books & Books for 6 years. I went into the store one day to buy one of Judy Blume’s books for my granddaughter and ran into a neighbor of mine who was a volunteer. She introduced me to the store manager and I started working a few weeks later. For an avid reader like me, it’s heaven to work in a bookstore. Judy and George are wonderful (I will always be grateful for George’s patience while I was learning the computer system), the staff and volunteers are so great, and customers really appreciate the store. And I love seeing the reactions of Judy’s fans when they meet her. I’ve seen women get teary-eyed when telling Judy how much her books meant to them when they were younger.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to take visiting family and friends to do in or around the Keys?
A: There are so many places in Key West that I love sharing with visitors. But our must-see spot is the Garden Club at West Martello. It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful place on the island. And it’s free (donations appreciated) — you can’t beat that!
Q: What’s your favorite book to recommend to customers who are just looking for a good book?
A: That’s a difficult question to answer, since it depends on the genre the customer prefers. I’m a murder mystery fan, so I often recommend Louise Penny‘s books. I also recommend The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah — I haven’t met anyone who’s read that book that didn’t love it — and This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.
Q: What are you reading currently that you’d recommend or what book are you looking forward to picking up?
A: I’m currently reading Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. It’s the story of the Sackler family, Purdue Pharma, and OxyContin. The next book on my to-read list is Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr, which I’m very much looking forward to.
I like to be surprised – and BLACK CAKE by Charmaine Wilkerson (Ballantine Books), our staff pick of the month for March, begins on a literal cliffhanger.
“He stood at the water’s edge, now, watching the waves crash white against the rocks, waiting for his daughter’s body to wash ashore.
… He remembered a clattering of plates, the splintering of glass on the tile floor, someone crying out. When he looked toward his daughter, she was gone and her satin-covered shoes lay strewn on the lawn outside like tiny capsized boats.”
– Black Cake
In a family shaped by secrets, siblings Byron and Benny sit down with the family lawyer to hear about their mother’s past, revealed only after her death. She asks them the share a Black Cake, a recipe that has been an important part of their family traditions and gains significance as the story unfolds. Before the cake is shared, we learn there should be one more at the table.
These are people who have never heard Dr. Phil’s adage: Would you rather be right or would you rather be happy? But they are compelling characters and the plot is propulsive. This book is the whole package: beautiful cover, good writing, strong plotting, relatable characters.
Twisty, fun and moving, you’ll enjoy this book where everyone has (a lot of) secrets.
****
“Survival is not enough. Survival has never been enough.”
Black Cake
I love this quote, which comes late in the book, because in a story about Black characters it makes sense out of context, but in the larger context it pulls together the themes of the book. Love and inheritance and all the bigger problems of the world that we can’t ignore or escape.
Here’s a bit more of the quote, from page 372 of the hardcover,
“Etta is swimming for her children now, and for their children, too, not for the records. She uses every chance she can to talk about the health of the oceans. Seafloor damage, runoff, plastics, rising water temperatures, overfishing. She calls for the designation of additional protected zones. But she also take the time to show the audience old photos of herself as a girl in a swim cap, plus her favorite snapshots of Patsy and the boys when they were little, poking around a tide pool in Wales, their shoes clumped with wet sand. She never forgets to show the joy, to show the love. Because, otherwise, what would be the point of anything?
Survival is not enough. Survival has never been enough.”
