Our Black History Month display features a wide range of books showcasing the diversity of experiences of Black Americans, but riffing off of Lori’s featured staff pick this month, here are some titles to terrify you:
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (Tor), picked by Robin, our social media manager
When I picked it up, I thought Starling House by Alix E. Harrow would be a haunted house story, but it’s really more a haunted people story.
“The house calls someone new—someone lost or lonely, someone whose home was stolen or sold or who never had a home in the first place. It calls them, and they come, and they are never homeless again.
All it costs is blood.”
For Opal having a place to belong is worth the price, and as each iteration of the story of Starling House gets told and secrets come to light, Opal finds she has more resources and allies than she knew.
Starling House is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, but it also strongly invokes classic gothic tales like Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It is an atmospheric, layered story that will please readers of Harrow’s other books, and fans of fairy tale retellings like T. Kingfisher’s Nettle & Bone. The most fun you can have reading about someone cleaning a house!
We said goodbye to Bookseller Riona recently, but she’s not going far. She’s joining the team at the Key West Library and planning to start a Masters in Library and Information Science through distance learning at the University of South Florida. For old time’s sake, we asked Riona a few questions and she offered up a few book recommendations.
Q: What will you take away about your time at the bookstore?
A: I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Books & Books, and have especially enjoyed branching out into other genres. I have read fantasy and literary fiction, but have branched out into science, history, and romance. The bookstore’s lifeblood is its booksellers and volunteers, who always have a great recommendation and kind word ready! I will take away the vibrant passion everyone has for connecting readers to the right book at the right moment.
Q: What are you looking forward to at the library?
A: At the library, I’m looking forward to continuing to connect readers to new books and authors. I am also excited to help the community engage with all the resources and programs accessible through the library, such as clubs and online options, such as Libby for ebooks and audiobooks.
Q: What was your favorite book of 2023 or what are you reading now?
A: This is a tough one! I have devoured a slew of great books this year. I just finished listening to The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty and am about to finish Starling House by Alix E. Harrow. Both are audiobooks through Libro.FM with dynamic narrators and fantastic stories. I’m eagerly awaiting Empire of the Damned by Jay Kristoff, the sequel to Empire of the Vampire (which was incredibly engrossing). I am also on the Fourth Wing and Iron Flame bandwagon; such fast-paced and fun books! I have a lot of friends expecting new babies this year, and have loved gifting Jory John’s Nothing’s Wrong! picture book. It’s a blast to read and the illustrations are whimsical!
Wellness by Nathan Hill tops store co-founder Judy Blume’s list this year. She wrote, “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!” Read her full review.
She also recommends, Absolution by National Book Award winner Alice McDermott.
Bookseller Leslie loved Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. She writes, “This book was a surprise because I almost didn’t pick it up since it was ‘about gaming’ a topic that I’m not all together interested in. To me, it’s not really about gaming, but people, and relationships. I was so invested in the characters, and really cared about all of them.”
Store manager Emily loved Go As a River by Shelley Read, a debut novel inspired by the destruction of a town in the 1960s.
You know we’re giving you the good stuff with our featured staff picks. This month’s pickThe MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut, also tops co-found George Cooper’s year-end list. “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,” George writes.
Social Media Manager Robin writes of Camille Dungy’s Soil, “This is a smart, beautiful, wide-ranging book that will draw you in and change how you look at the world around you.”
Of Time and Turtles by Sy Montgomery, and illustrated by Matt Patterson is Bookseller Gina’s favorite book of the year. “Did you know that turtles lived with the dinosaurs?” asks Gina. “Ever watched Jurassic Park? The sound of a Velociraptors “bark” in the movie is actually the sound of giant tortoises mating! With another amazing tale of rescue, release (sometimes) & the humans behind the scenes, Sy Montgomery will captivate your heart, mind, and make you think about driving safer with this great book.”
Bookseller Sara brings two books to your attention:
Lighter by Yung Pueblo. She writes, “I was on a self development path when I came across the author Yung Pueblo and this book was everything I was looking for. Lighter is a book that will bring you towards a deeper understanding of yourself.”
And Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. “This was a book that I couldn’t put down. It was witty, empowering and demonstrated Elizabeth’s determination to challenge societal norms of being a woman in the 1960s in her unconventional way. As a chemist, she navigated her new career path as a host in a television show by staying true to herself – cooking using scientific reasoning with trial and error to make the perfect dishes for dinner at six.”
Share with us on social media what your favorite books of the year were, and stay tuned for more excellent reading in 2024.
First line: “It is the hiss and crackle of the old recording that first reaches the ear.“
I’d like to start by saying I am not an expert in classical music at all and don’t play or read music. What got me hooked on this book was the way history is told and explained by Jeremy Eichler through the stories of individual lives and the music written by the four composers highlighted: Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg, Dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britton. All four men created moving works of music to express emotions and attempt to understand atrocities of WWII.
The writer is meticulous in telling these stories through archival research and traveling to such places as Goethe’s Oak, the home of Strauss in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Walchensee lake (and many others).
I wondered as I was reading: “how is it possible to have man’s most horrific actions and most creative on display at virtually the same intersection of time?” This book is disturbing, beautiful, horrific, and deeply moving all at once.
Meet the authors of The Purest Bond: Understanding the Human–Canine Connection (Atria Books, out Nov. 14)
If you’re a dog person, your dog is probably one of your favorite people, but you might not know just how important that relationship is.
“Every dog lover knows how valuable their relationship is with their dogs and considers their dogs to be part of their family,” write Jen Golbeck & Stacey Colino, authors of The Purest Bond: Understanding the Human–Canine Connection. “But they may not realize the profound ways their beloved pooches affect their health and well-being, physically, emotionally, socially, and cognitively, as they will discover in The Purest Bond. Our hope is that the book will give readers a new appreciation for all the ways their dogs make their lives richer, healthier, happier, and more meaningful—and that they’ll discover the extent to which the benefits from this relationship are reciprocal. Dogs love us back just as much as we love them!”
We had the opportunity to find out a bit more about Jen & Stacey, and their pets, prior to their signing event on Nov. 18. Come meet them in the store Nov. 18 from 11am-1pm and get your copy of The Purest Bondsigned. This is not a seated event, come anytime between 11 and 1 for an informal signing and meet & greet. Can’t make it on the 18th? Preorder The Purest Bond and leave signing information in the order comments.
Q: Please, tell us a little about your rescue work and The Golden Ratio?
The current pups of the Golden Ratio squad.
A: Jen and her husband live on Sugarloaf Key and rescue special needs Golden Retrievers, usually those with complex medical needs, seniors, and hospice cases. They usually have between five and seven dogs, and share their lives on social media as @theGoldenRatio4 where they give followers a wholesome look at the happy, gentle, love-filled life they get to have here in the Florida Keys. At this point, the Golden Ratio has more than 1 million followers from around the world.
Jen and her husband currently have five dogs in The Golden Ratio squad: Guacamole, Chief Brody, Venkman, Remoulade, and Feta. Stacey and her family have Sadie, a chocolate-Lab/shepherd mix they rescued in September 2020.
Q: What’s something that will surprise most people about dogs?
A: As we did research for the book, we uncovered lots of surprising things about how dogs relate to humans—and how sensitive they are to our emotions and other changes in us. It may surprise people to discover the extent to which dogs experience the world through their noses. They can see into the past with their sense of smell, being able to tell whether someone they know was previously in their space based on their lingering scent. And they can detect subtle changes in the chemicals human bodies produce that could point to infections, the presence of diseases (like cancer), changes in blood sugar among people with diabetes, and in the scent of sweat before a seizure in those with epilepsy. We, humans, wouldn’t be able to do that.
Q: What was the collaboration process like for the two of you?
A: It was beautiful! We met during the process of conceptualizing and writing this book and really became friends. We bonded over our love of dogs, among other things, and we turned out to have perfectly compatible working styles. We liked the process so much that we’re now working on a second book together!
Q: Besides your own, what books would make good holiday gifts for animal lovers?
Native American Heritage Month celebrates the history, traditions, contributions, and living cultures of our nation’s indigenous peoples. Here are a few of the books we are reading and recommending. We have many more in store.
Inspired by the many Indigenous-led movements across North America, We Are Water Protectors issues an urgent rallying cry to safeguard the Earth’s water from harm and corruption—a bold and lyrical picture book written by Carole Lindstrom and vibrantly illustrated by Michaela Goade.
Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.
These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.
Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortizoffers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire.
This blood-chilling debut set in New Mexico’s Navajo Nation is equal parts gripping crime thriller, supernatural horror, and poignant portrayal of coming of age on the reservation.
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings–asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass–offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.
From National Book Award finalist Brandon Hobson, a kaleidoscopic middle-grade adventure that mixes the anxieties, friendships, and wonders of a Cherokee boy’s life with Cherokee history and lore.
Corn. Chocolate. Fishing hooks. Boats that float. Insulated double-walled construction. Recorded history and folklore. Life-saving disinfectant. Forest fire management. Our lives would be unrecognizable without these, and countless other, scientific discoveries and technological inventions from Indigenous North Americans. Spanning topics from transportation to civil engineering, hunting technologies, astronomy, brain surgery, architecture, and agriculture, Indigenous Ingenuity is a wide-ranging STEM offering that answers the call for Indigenous nonfiction by reappropriating hidden history. The book includes fun, simple activities and experiments that kids can do to better understand and enjoy the principles used by Indigenous inventors. Readers of all ages are invited to celebrate traditional North American Indigenous innovation, and to embrace the mindset of reciprocity, environmental responsibility, and the interconnectedness of all life.
In this visionary novel, acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling brings this mythologized figure vividly to life, casting unsparing light on the men who brutalized her and recentering Sacajewea as the arbiter of her own history.
More than 160 tales from eighty tribal groups present a rich and lively panorama of the Native American mythic heritage. From across the continent comes tales of creation and love; heroes and war; animals, tricksters, and the end of the world.
Lori writes, “The book that made me a reader was A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle, read to our class by my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Kennedy. She wasn’t reading fast enough for me so I ran to the library for the book so I could find out sooner what would happen. I am rarely without a book or two in progress since then!”
Sara writes, “My favorite book growing up was Matilda by Roald Dahl. I was a very active young reader, always with a book in my hand and I felt a connection with Matilda’s love for reading and the simplicity of what she wanted. I was very excited when they made that into a movie.”
Robin loves Unseen Magic by Emily Lloyd-Jones, which she calls a “charming mystery with Scooby-Doo vibes.” Read her full review.
Drop by the store and chat with us about kids books. We love the remember the stories that made us readers and help you pick books for the kids in your lives that will encourage them to become readers!
Congratulations to the winners of our 7th Annual Art Contest!
Online Winners – “Ernie on the Porch” by Mollie Patrinec “Flamingo” by Jaelynn Estevez
Tied for Most In-Person Vote Winner – “Messi-Goat-#10” by Ronan Partrick “seRENity” by Angelica Hodek
And, our Grand Prize Winner with the most combined votes is… “Still Here” by Danielle Snyder
Danielle’s work will stay on display at the store through the end of the year, and you’ll see all five designs on limited-edition store bookmarks in the near future!
Thank you to everyone who submitted art and everyone who voted.
