Ann Patchett's Blog, page 11

Authors, Auctions, & More: Indie Bookstore Day 2023!

Saturday April 29th marks the 10th annual Independent Bookstore Day, and we’re going bigger and better than we ever have before! Our day of celebration will include a lineup of author appearances, special Parnassus coloring sheets, exclusive IBD merchandise, and an online auction of signed books and retired Parnassus merch, with all proceeds benefitting the Parnassus Foundation. Read on for the full schedule, as well as information about the auction and our foundation, and make plans to join us in-store or online on April 29th!

If you’ve participated in Independent Bookstore Day before, you know that each year brings a new line of exclusive bookish merch. Get here early to snag your favorite items, because when they’re gone, they’re gone! Some of the items we’re most excited for are the Richard Scarry-inspired onesie, the Blackwing x IBD collaboration pencils, and of course, this year’s tote bag, each of which are pictured below! These and more will be available in-store on Independent Bookstore Day, and a limited quantity of some items will also be available online. Check out what we’ll be offering on our website!

Richard Scarry onesieBlackwing pencilsIBD ’23 tote bag

 

 

 

 

 

 

For Independent Bookstore Day 2022, we tried something new: we brought in the wonderful Margaret Renkl, Mary Laura Philpott, and Ann Patchett to do signing lines throughout the day. We had a blast meeting all the lovely folks who came from near and far to meet some of their favorite authors, so we decided we’d do it again! Below is the schedule of author signing lines for this year’s celebration. Don’t miss your chance to chat with these authors, get your books signed, and even snag a copy of Sarah Adams’s new book three days before it goes on sale!

10:30 AM – Storytime with Jessica Young

11:30-12:30 PM- Signing line with Tyler Merritt

2:00-3:00 PM – YA author signing with Julian Vaca, Erica Waters, and Jeff Zentner

3:00-4:00 PM – Romance author signing with Lauren Kung Jessen and Sarah Adams (Special offer! We will have copies of Sarah Adams’s upcoming book, Practice Makes Perfect, for sale during the event. Get your copy 3 days before official release! In store only.)

4:00-5:00 PM – Signing line with Ann Patchett

Independent Bookstore Day has always been cause for celebration here at Parnassus, but the 10th anniversary of IBD calls for something extra special. Over the course of the eleven years Parnassus has been open, we’ve collected dozens and dozens of signed, first edition books, and for the first time, we’re making them available to YOU! We’ve created an online auction of over 100 items that anyone in the country can bid on. It will run from April 29th at 10am CT to May 6th at 6pm CT, and all of the proceeds will go directly to the Parnassus Books Foundation. Before we tell you more about the Foundation, let’s take a look at some of the items we’ll be auctioning off, because y’all, this selection is pretty incredible.

Know a John Grisham fan? Chances are you do. We’re auctioning off not one, not two, but FORTY signed first edition John Grisham novels, ranging from The Pelican Brief to Camino Island to books from the Theodore Boone series.If you’re a fan of literary fiction, you’ve probably read (and loved) at least one of Louise Erdrich’s novels. Now’s your chance to own a signed first edition of Love Medicine, The Round House, or one of the twelve other Erdrich titles available in our auction.Want to be among the first people to read Ann’s new novel, Tom Lake, before it hits shelves on August 1? Bid on a signed advance readers copy!Other signed first editions included in the auction are…The Goldfinch by Donna TarttThe Underground Railraod by Colson WhiteheadEnd of Watch by Stephen KingA Gentleman in Moscow by Amor TowlesStation Eleven by Emily St. John MandelLincoln in the Bardo by George SaundersSurrender by BonoBig Magic by Elizabeth GilbertAnnie Liebovitz: Portraits 2005-2016 by Annie Liebovitzand more!We didn’t forget about the young and young at heart! We have picture books, middle grade titles, and young adult novels up for grabs, including…The Fault in Our Stars by John GreenEleanor and Park by Rainbow RowellRuin and Rising by Leigh BardugoSam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnettand more!And finally, we have retired Parnassus tote bags, art prints, and signed Ann Patchett broadsides available!

Click here to take a look at all of the items we’re auctioning off in support of the Parnassus Books Foundation! The Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit we created to help bring books and authors to Title I schools here in Nashville. Everything was set for us to announce the Foundation to all of you in the

Author H.D. Hunter signs a book for a student

spring of 2020, but COVID derailed our plans. While the Foundation didn’t have the formal launch we envisioned, our team has been working hard to bring authors and illustrators to classrooms across Nashville and send students home with books. While the Foundation is not currently accepting direct donations, we’re so excited to host this auction as an opportunity for all of you to join in support of the Foundation and bid on some incredible items.

The Impact of the Parnassus Books Foundation

Andrew Maraniss talks to Apollo MS students

“We are grateful to the Parnassus Foundation for supporting student literacy in MNPS. The Foundation has given our students the chance to meet authors of books they love, and they’ve provided numerous copies of books for our Battle of the Books events and for our Project Lit book clubs. The Foundation’s generosity is helping us grow lifelong readers.” – Lindsey Kimery, MNPS Coordinator of Library Services

“This year we were lucky enough to host author Andrew Maraniss, thanks to our local bookstore, Parnassus Books! He spoke so beautifully and our students had LOTS of questions for him—about sports, about his personal

Robin Preiss Glasser and Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman talk to a class about their book

life, and about his research and writing. It is so meaningful for students to hear first-hand about the process of writing a book, and also learn about the untold stories of people who broke boundaries in sports. The BEST thing, though, was seeing our kids’ excited faces when we handed them each a brand-new copy of the book to keep. Students were so excited, and Mr. Maraniss signed copies for all students who asked questions during his presentation. It was a treat that we never could have afforded on our own, and we are so grateful to Rae Ann Parker and everyone at Parnassus for giving our students an opportunity like this!” – Alison M. Brooks, Apollo MS Librarian

We hope to see you in-store and online to help us celebrate Independent Bookstore Day!

High Stakes, Big Feelings: An Interview with Romance Author Kennedy Ryan

Is there anything better than a well-crafted romance? Beautiful characters, heartfelt vulnerability… it’s no secret the romance genre has shot to the top of the sales charts, and Kennedy Ryan writes some of the best in the business. She’s the author of many emotionally-charged romances including Long Shot, The Kingmaker (the re-release will be available on May 23!), and, most recently, Before I Let Go, our April selection for Parnassus’ romance book club, Between the Covers. (If you’d like to stay up to date on Between the Covers selections and meetings, sign up for our newsletter!) Grab yourself a copy of Before I Let Go and enjoy this interview with Kennedy.

– Hannah Kerbs, Parnassus bookseller and co-host of Between the Covers romance book club

Kennedy Ryan

​Hannah Kerbs: Congratulations on yet another smash-hit of a novel, Before I Let Go! Truthfully, it was one of my very favorite books I read last year, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anybody with a pulse. How was your experience writing this book? Did your process differ at all for this (traditionally published) novel versus those you’ve self-published?

Kennedy Ryan: It was a great experience. A very personal one in many ways. I’d drafted the first version of this book about 15 years ago, but it is so different in its final iteration. Different character names, different title, written in first person instead of third. There was no therapy or healing in the original version. It was a shadow of what I hope this book became. My husband actually encouraged me to revisit the book because he had read it when I first wrote it. It was the first book I ever wrote, even before my debut published novel. I always joke that this book was waiting for me to grow up. It had all the hurt, but not the healing. I came back to it at the right time. I was diagnosed with depression while writing it, and though I don’t recommend writing a character with depression while fighting it yourself, my own mental health journey deeply informed the story. It was a difficult, but also a cathartic, process. So many readers say they feel Yasmen’s pain and her struggle and her joy; that it feels real and palpable. I know that wasn’t the case in the original version. I cannot overstate the empathy that came with navigating these issues myself in real time. As far as self-published v. traditional, my process didn’t differ much actually. I always rely heavily on interview and research, sensitivity readers, and that was much the same. Trad is a longer, slower process but I appreciated that time to give the story as many eyes and as much time as it took to make it the best it could be.
​
HK: Reading this book took me (and so many others!) on a profound emotional journey. I’ve long admired how elegantly you weave tough subjects into your romance stories. For Yasmen and Josiah specifically, how did you navigate that delicate balance between their hurts and their hopes?

KR: It was very intentional, the balance between their before and after. There was a lot of pain that happened before the story actually starts in chapter one. I wanted to give readers enough context of what had happened to destroy this family in the past, without having to walk through every detail on page. That would have made an already heavy story much more difficult. I provided glimpses of their past—the good and the bad—in their thoughts, and only had one chapter that was a full flashback, which was the “divorce” chapter. It was important for you to fully grasp what they had been through and who they had been before to really appreciate the growth it took for them to get their second chance. And we had her friends as comic relief and joy when things needed to be a little lighter. I wanted the joy and the poignancy to be balanced. To have that emotional connection, without it being as dark as it could have been.
​
HK: In the drafting process, it can be a challenging task to drill down to a character’s core, but Yasmen and Josiah are so well-realized, I could have sworn I was reading about real people! Was there a scene or two that was particularly key in unlocking their characters for you?

KR: Several scenes, but the ones that stand out are Josiah’s first therapy scene, which is also what leads into the divorce flashback. And also that first scene we get in his POV after the food truck event. From Yasmen’s POV, he seems terse and somewhat reserved. Once we get into his head, we realize he is lonely and floundering as he tried to figure out how to do life without the woman he always saw as his soulmate. And for Yasmen, I knew who she was immediately. I recognized so much of myself and other women I know in her. The need to achieve and manage and take care of others, sometimes to the neglect of yourself. To choose everybody else first. The
desperation to get better; not recognizing the depressed version of yourself. I think we get so much of that for Yasmen even in the first chapters, but one of her most character-defining scenes for me was when she is in the scene where her therapist asks when she’ll forgive herself and move on. Yasmen says write down today. That was crucial for me to understand to who she is and who she becomes throughout the story.
​
HK: I love your passion for writing – as mentioned in your author bio – empowering stories with women fully in charge of their destinies, featuring heroes who respect and cherish them as they do so. Why do you think it’s so important to write romances like that? What do you hope readers will get from reading your characters?

KR: I love readers seeing all that we as women are capable and deserving of. My heroines tend to be ambitious and aspirational, but also vulnerable and human. And seeing a partner who respects and loves a woman like that is important for many reasons. It’s interesting to me that some critics say romance gives women unreasonable expectations, when really most of these heroes are just being respectful and caring and acknowledging women’s agency and right to pleasure. Every partner you meet in real life won’t be the “swoony” book boyfriend, but they SHOULD respect you and consider you and make you feel cared for. That is not “the bar” or “the blueprint”. That is basic, and I think it’s healthy for women to look in our stories and see that as possible.
​
HK: Food is a major theme throughout the book and multiple key scenes are set in Grits, Yasmen and Josiah’s restaurant. There are even recipes in the back – yum! If you could design your perfect meal, what would it be?

KR: I’m so boring and not a foodie! LOL! Gimme a NY slice of pizza and a Diet Coke. I’m set.
​
HK: This novel is the start of a new series, the Skyland series. Can you tell us anything more about that and/or your current work in progress? When embarking on a new romance series, are you already thinking ahead to the next characters’ stories as you write scenes with them in the ensemble?

KR: The Skyland series is three parts. Before I Let Go is book 1, and Yasmen’s friend Soledad gets her story in book 2. I can say that it is a book about taking your power back and about deciding what you will and won’t stand for. It’s a little lighter than book 1. Maybe a little . . .spicier? LOL! Soledad and Hendrix and Yasmen’s friendship only deepens in this book, and we also expand to meet new characters from Soledad’s family. I have general ideas about the other characters’ stories as I’m writing the first one. Enough to tease the reader about what’s coming next. I have readers asking this or that about Soledad based on what they saw of her in Yasmen’s story. You met her in the first book, but you don’t KNOW her until she gets her moment in the spotlight. I hope you’ll really fall in love with her. Same for Hendrix, who gets the third book.
​
HK: As always, we like wrap things up with this question: what is your favorite thing about independent bookstores?

There is such a pure love for books and authors with independent bookstores. You are the grassroots, the ones with an ear closest to the ground. And I love the individualism; the expression of who the owners and teams are at each store. No one is ever exactly the same. No one champions our stories more!

Before I Let Go is available now. Are you interested in attending our romance book club meetings? Sign up for the Between the Covers newsletter!

Spring into a New Book: 14 Picks for the Young and Young at Heart

Spring is hatching, and you’re looking for an egg-ceptional read to welcome in the new month. From sweet stories of friendship to adventures set in fantastical lands, our booksellers have picked out some egg-cellent new books for your TBR! Read on…

PICTURE BOOKSRecommended by Rae Ann Fish and Crab

By Marianna Coppo

Fish and Crab live in the same aquarium. They are very different, but that doesn’t stop them from being friends. This is a cute picture book about sharing big feelings with trusted friends.

Recommended by Aly The Fantastic Bureau of Imagination

By Brad Montague, Brad Montague (Illustrator), Kristi Montague (Illustrator)

This is a wonderfully illustrated book about a figment named Sparky who loves to write poems. When the Cave of Untold Stories is suddenly on the brink of explosion, can Sparky and the other figments save the day?

Recommended by Rachel My Little Thief

By Augusten Burroughs, Bonnie Lui (Illustrator)

A girl and a crow become best friends! Chloe shares some of her lunch with hungry Crow and he thanks her with borrowed little trinkets. Reminds me that friendship comes in the most unexpected places and joy is found in the littlest of things.

Recommended by Rae Ann My Baba’s Garden

By Jordan Scott, Sydney Smith (Illustrator)

A boy visits his grandmother each day. They eat food grown in her garden and search for worms on their walks. Their special days are vividly depicted in this stunning picture book.

Recommended by Aly Elbert in the Air

By Monica Wesolowska, Jerome Pumphrey (Illustrator)

An incredible story about a floating boy who learns, along with his mom, that it is okay to be different. Once he is brave enough to leave home, he discovers you can find your people if you are willing to try something new.

Recommended by Ashby Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?

By Junauda Petrus, Kristen Uroda (Illustrator)

The title made me smile. Imagine a world where police aren’t in charge of public safety, a world where love and community are in charge. The idea first came from a poem by Junauda Petrus following the Ferguson shooting. What better way to hope for change than to have our littlest citizens imagine a different world!

INDEPENDENT READERSRecommended by Rae Ann Time to Roll

By Jamie Sumner

Ellie enters a pageant to help her BFF Coralee, with Bert acting as manager. One problem: Ellie forged the permission form to enter and must keep it a secret. Friendship fails and a few rounds of putt-putt golf lead them to the big finale in this big-hearted tale of the joy of being your true and best self.

Come join us for an event with Jamie Sumner on Saturday, April 8th at 2pm! Register for free here.

Recommended by RJ Hamra and the Jungle of Memories

By Hanna Alkaf

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories is a beautiful story in which a girl must team up with a dangerous magical tiger to try and save her grandmother’s disappearing memories. This Red Riding Hood-inspired tale is emotionally rich and full of adventure.

Recommended by Chelsea Iceberg

By Jennifer A. Nielsen

When Hazel realizes she doesn’t have enough money to buy a ticket, she sneaks aboard the Titanic, setting out for a new life. While on the famous ship, she asks questions and befriends fellow passengers. Soon Hazel finds herself in the middle of a mystery. This, plus the looming disaster, makes Nielsen’s latest historical fiction a fast-paced page-turner.

YOUNG ADULTRecommended by Jenny The Sinister Booksellers of Bath

By Garth Nix

If you are interested in quirky fantastical tales, this is a great option for you! Taking place in England during the early 80s, this sequel to The Left-Handed Booksellers of London marries a retro feel to all the magic that goes bump in the night.

Recommended by Aly Chaos & Flame

By Tessa Gratton, Justina Ireland

This start to a series pulls you in immediately. In a world divided by warring houses, where myth and magic might not be a thing of the past, Darling Seabreak comes across two brothers who will change her life and the world forever.

Recommended by Hannah K. Forget Me Not

By Alyson Derrick

What would you do if you forgot the love of your life ever existed? Stevie & Nora plan to escape their conservative small town to live where they no longer have to hide their love. Weeks before they’re set to leave, Stevie wakes with amnesia after a fall. Can the pair find their way back to each other against such odds? This heart-wrenching, beautiful novel proves that home is oftentimes not a place, but a person.

CLASSICS & BACKLISTRecommended by Chelsea Bark, George

By Jules Feiffer, Jules Feiffer (Illustrator)

I had this read to me recently and was reminded how great it is to listen to a picture book. Bark, George is a great read-aloud due to funny animal noises and repetitive text. So much fun!

Recommended by Patsy Sam and the Firefly

By P.D. Eastman

One dark night, Sam the owl meets Gus, a mischievous firefly. Gus plays some naughty pranks with his lit tail, but finishes by realizing he can use his special powers to be helpful. This is a favorite childhood book which will bring a smile to everyone who reads it!

Sprout Book Club: April Selection I Live in a Tree Trunk 

By Meg Fleming, Brandon James Scott (Illustrator)

The April 2023 Sprout Book Club selection is I Live in a Tree Trunk by by Meg Fleming and Brandon James Scott. The animals in this picture book announce their home territory and do it in rhyme. The delightful illustrations will make this a fun book for bedtime or anytime.

Early praise for the book:

“Budding zoologists take note.” – Kirkus

Sprout Book Club is the book subscription box for picture book lovers. Every month members will receive a first edition picture book.  Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite picture book lover for 3, 6, or 12 months. 

Spark Book Club: April Selection Far Out!

By Anne Bustard

The April 2023 Spark Book Club selection is Far Out! by Anne Bustard. In 1964, the town of Trotter, Texas prepares for its First Annual Come on Down Day. They hope to welcome any space aliens who want to visit Earth. As the town prepares for their stellar day, a meteorite on display at the library is stolen. When MJ’s grandmother is accused of the crime, she teams up with her best friend to find the real thief in this fun mystery.

Early Sparks for the novel:

“Bustard fills her cast with a realistic mix of friends, rivals, supportive parents, and neighborly townsfolk (many given animated faces by Rowland’s vignettes at each chapter’s head), capturing a vivid sense of the rhythms and atmosphere of small-town life in the early 1960s—inspired, she writes, by a real event staged in the 1970s. Readers fond of comfy tales set in small Southern towns (practically a genre all its own) will enjoy meeting Magnolia Jean.” – Booklist

Spark Book Club is the first editions club for middle grade readers.  Every month members will receive a first edition middle grade novel — plus a letter written by the author especially for club members. Makes a great gift for the independent reader! Sign ups are available for 3, 6, or 12 months.

ParnassusNext: April Selection Stars and Smoke

By Marie Lu

The April 2023 ParnassusNext selection is Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu. Sydney Cossette is the youngest spy in the covert ops organization, The Panacea Group. When A-list pop star Winter Young is tapped to be an undercover asset, Sydney must pretend to be his bodyguard. Will they catch the criminal mastermind in the act while staying alive and avoiding falling for each other?

Early praise for the novel:

“An engrossing thriller that centers the characters at its heart.” – Kirkus

“A lively action adventure full of espionage, mystery, and starry-eyed glamour.” – Publishers Weekly

ParnassusNext is the book subscription box for YA lovers. Every member of ParnassusNext receives a first edition hardcover of each month’s selected book, signed by the author. There is no membership fee to join — and no line to stand in for the autograph. Not only will you have one of the best YA books of the month when it comes out, you’ll have it straight from the author’s hands, with an original, authentic signature! Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite YA reader for 3, 6, or 12 months.

Egg-cellent Reads for April: 24 New Picks

We have plenty of new releases across all genres for you to peruse this spring. From mermaids to pirates, philosophy to poetry, and even a play, our staff picks this month are sure to appeal to readers aplenty. So don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Grab a few new reads, and be sure to let us know which ones are egg-ceptional!

FICTIONRecommended by Lindsay American Mermaid: A Novel

By Julia Langbein

I’m not someone who often laughs out loud at books—a snicker, sure, more often just a smile—but Julia Langbein’s American Mermaid had me cackling. A debut as sharp as it is hilarious, American Mermaid is the surreal feminist Hollywood-roast I didn’t know I needed but I’m so delighted to have!

Recommended by Kathy Hang the Moon: A Novel

By Jeannette Walls

Just so much happens here, so many plot twists and turns you never see coming, it feels like a mystery, but really isn’t. A story of small-town South full of secrets, try this one for a great read!

Recommended by Cheryl Hello Beautiful (Oprah’s Book Club): A Novel

By Ann Napolitano

This novel favors Little Women with its strong matriarch and four daughters. There is also a young man wistful for a loving family. These modern well developed characters may be freer to make decisions but they affect the family just as strongly as Alcott’s story.

Recommended by Lindsay White Cat, Black Dog: Stories

By Kelly Link, Shaun Tan (Illustrator)

If talking animals, post-apocalyptic traveling thespians, and day trips to hell are your jam, come sit by me and let’s talk about Kelly Link’s incredible story collection White Cat, Black Dog. Link has truly outdone herself, taking on classic fairy tales and turning each one on its head in beautiful, vibrant prose. I loved every one of these bizarre, gorgeous stories.

Recommended by Rachel The Crane Husband

By Kelly Barnhill

A retelling of The Crane Wife in novella form, this story thrums with the magic of childhood and the fear of growing up. The story turns more unsettling with each page turn. Barnhill weaves generational trauma with myth and folklore for a tale that will linger long in your mind.

Recommended by Ashby Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers

By Jesse Q. Sutanto

Romance. Young adult. Now mystery. Jesse Sutanto does it ALL. She does it all WELL. Vera, a 60-year-old widow who lives upstairs from her tea shop discovers a body downstairs. The Chinese mother who trolls the internet checking on her son turns detective. Along the way, customers become friends; she puts their lives “in order” and solves the murder.

Recommended by Jenness Community Board: A Novel

By Tara Conklin

After a divorce, job loss, and (believed) parental abandonment, Darcy’s life is in turmoil. So she secludes herself in her childhood home, lives off canned goods, and keeps tabs on her small town via the online community board. As Darcy slowly rejoins society, her life – and the novel – expands with the awareness that we are all tied to our community and to others.

Recommended by Sydney Romantic Comedy: A Novel

By Curtis Sittenfeld

Looking for a unique rom-com? Sally works her dream job as a writer for TNO (equivalent to our reality’s SNL). When her male co-worker starts dating a young starlet, Sally can’t help herself from poking fun at the phenomenon of Hollywood couples featuring mediocre men with gorgeous women—and how it’s never the other way around. That is, until, when Sally meets Noah Brewster: next week’s musical guest star.

Recommended by Ashby The White Lady: A Novel

By Jacqueline Winspear

I am a huge fan of Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs books, mysteries set during the interwar period. This book gives us a new heroine, Elinor White, and a different time period: post WWII. A small village. Organized crime. Secrets from the past. Winspear weaves their presents and their pasts expertly. It all comes together to make for a page-turner with characters I hope will reappear in future novels.

Recommended by Katie The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

By Shannon Chakraborty

Amina al-Sirafi, the Indian Ocean’s finest pirate, is given the chance to captain one last adventure with her crew for a boon that can’t be passed up. Leaving behind her family, she quickly learns this job is more than she bargained for, but the stakes are raised and her daughter’s life now depends on her success. Chakraborty spins a fantastic tale of filled with adventure, fantastical beasts and family.

Recommended by Aly Y/N: A Novel

By Esther Yi

This may be the weirdest book I have ever read, but somehow it makes sense. Our character falls into the world of K-pop fandom and her life is consumed, rationalizing her increasingly obsessive thoughts and behavior through a Your Name self-insert fanfiction. Hauntingly accurate at times, Yi gives us a narration that shows exactly what we don’t want to become and what we are worried others think we might be.

Recommended by Ashby The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise

By Colleen Oakley

A nanny for an octogenarian? That’s what brings Tanner and Louise together. Louise doesn’t want a nanny. Tanner wants to play video games. After news stories about a jewel heist pulled off by someone who looks a lot like Louise, Louise makes Tanner flee town with her; the adventures begin. Two unlikely partners in…crime? Friendship? Life? A great read where opposites become friends. Move over Thelma and Lousie.

Recommended by Hannah K. Before I Let Go

By Kennedy Ryan

Yasmen & Josiah had the love of a lifetime, but after a series of devastating blows, they learned love can’t solve everything. They now have an amicable post-divorce rhythm co-parenting and operating their restaurant, but these soulmates find themselves drawn to each other time and again. Can they build back stronger than ever before, or is it too late for them to find forever?

Recommended by Patsy A Likely Story: A Novel

By Leigh McMullan Abramson

All 35 year-old Isabelle wants is a successful career as an author, like her father. Following her mother’s death, she stumbles onto a family secret, revealed as she’s sorting through her mother’s belongings. Has her father been living a lie? A propulsive tale that touches on themes of identity and truth-telling, this one unravels in a way that will keep you up late at night reading.

Recommended by Jordan The Society of Shame

By Jane Roper

Kathleen Held is a politician’s wife who rises to unwanted fame when a picture of her with a period stain on her pants goes viral. Humiliated, she decides to make lemonade out of the situation and become the voice for the controversial #YesWeBleed movement. This novel is both satirical and sweet with thought-provoking themes of feminism, activism, and mother-daughter bonding.

Recommended by Marcia This Bird Has Flown: A Novel

By Susanna Hoffs

The lead singer of The Bangles has written a novel! It was all I needed to know. I went straight home (might have queued up a song or two), and started to read. And didn’t stop. What a treat! A sexy, delicious story about musician Jane Start who desperately needs some luck – both professionally and personally. Susanna Hoffs has written a fun one! Walk like an Egyptian straight to the bookstore and grab this one!

Recommended by RJ Feed Them Silence

By Lee Mandelo

This near-future novella follows a scientist who receives an experimental implant that allows her to directly experience the emotions and experiences of a wild wolf struggling against environmental collapse. Her bond with the wolf is contrasted with her failing marriage, painting a complex and bittersweet portrait of communication and connection.

Recommended by Katie The Plus One: A Novel

By Mazey Eddings

Mazey Eddings is fast becoming one of my go-to romance authors. She just doesn’t disappoint. The Plus One has it all, enemies to lovers, fake dating, forced proximity. Eddings has a way of writing characters you root for so hard to find their happily ever after.

NONFICTIONRecommended by Ann Poverty, by America

By Matthew Desmond

In reading Poverty, By America, I felt like Matthew Desmond was sitting at my kitchen table, explaining the complexities of poverty in a way I could completely understand. This book is essential and instructive, hopeful and enraging. It is a roadmap for how we can be better people, working together to build a better country.

Recommended by Hannah K. Above Ground

By Clint Smith

Smith’s newest poetry collection is stellar from start to finish. A thorough exploration of what it means to raise a Black-American family in a world characterized by tumult, these poems wrestle with our ability to hold joy and despair in equal measure. This is a must-read poetry collection.

Recommended by Sydney Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller

By Oliver Darkshire

Before I started working as a bookseller some-odd years ago, I, too, overly-romanticized what it must be like to work at a bookstore. I’ve since had plenty of bizarre experiences to wake me from that perfect fantasy—but for those of you who don’t see yourself slinging books for a living anytime soon, I highly recommend Darkshire’s chronicles of working in an antiquarian bookshop. Cynical and cozy all at once!

Recommended by Maddie How to Think Like a Woman: Four Women Philosophers Who Taught Me How to Love the Life of the Mind

By Regan Penaluna

Parts memoir and biography, this is a rich account of women philosophers ignored by history. After graduating with a minor in philosophy without ever learning about a woman in the field, I realize how critical books like this are. “To think like a woman, to produce and create like a woman, often involves anger. It’s a feature of a woman’s psyche as she comes into her own in a world that (still) does not want her to.”

Recommended by Jordan Is This Normal?: Judgment-Free Straight Talk about Your Body

By Dr. Jolene Brighten, NMD

I have a feeling this book will live on my nightstand forever because even after I finished reading it, I am constantly wanting to look back at it for reference. Remember the puberty books we all got when we were 12? This is like that, but for adults.

CLASSICS & BACKLISTRecommended by Maddie The New Me

By Halle Butler

The New Me scratched an itch in my brain. Millie is wandering aimlessly through adulthood, and her internal monologues read like a direct rip from my innermost self. I laughed and I cringed at the moments of self-recognition I found on every page. (This book is exactly what I’m talking about when I say I want to read “no plot, just vibes.”)

Recommended by Paige Straight Man: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

By Richard Russo

This satirical novel tells the story of a small-town college professor in the throes of a midlife crisis. It tackles serious topics, worthy of discussion, and is also seriously funny. Read it and watch it—this book is the basis for the new show Lucky Hank!

Recommended by Jake The Flick 

By Annie Baker

Taking place entirely in a movie theater, Annie Baker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play follows the lives (or lack thereof) of three of its employees. Masterfully intertwining comedy and tragedy, The Flick is a stunning love letter to movies and the underpaid employees that show them, filled with exceptional characters and moving dialogue. My favorite play ever written, I find something new to adore with every visit.

Recommended by Rachel Men Explain Things to Me

By Rebecca Solnit

This book should be required reading. The introductory essay explores “mansplaining” and the first usage of the word, but the collection doesn’t stop there. Each essay explores statistics surrounding violence against women. I felt shock, rage, depression, and true sorrow, and I’d still recommend it to all.

First Editions Club: April Selection You Could Make This Place Beautiful: A Memoir

By Maggie Smith

Dear friends,

I very nearly lost my mind while trying to find the right book for April. I wanted something fresh and different, something that addressed the world we are living in now. Many books came close, but nothing was perfect. I was holding out for perfect. All of us at Parnassus were reading everything we could get our hands on. We talked about April all the time.

Then my sister, Heather, picked up Maggie Smith’s memoir, You Could Make This Place Beautiful. While everyone else was talking, she was at her desk reading, and when we stopped talking, she started reading aloud. We listened. It really sounded good. “I’m taking this one home,” Heather said.

The next morning she called and told me to come over and get the book. She was halfway through and she wanted me to have it because she thought this was the one.

And she was right. So why does this feel like a big deal? Well, it’s a memoir, and we don’t usually pick memoirs. It’s a very personal memoir about divorce, which might not be everybody’s thing, but Maggie Smith is a poet, and how she writes and thinks—how she takes responsibility for her life—is extraordinary. This book is extraordinary. If memoirs aren’t for you, tell yourself it’s a novel, and it will work. Tell yourself it’s a primer on the role that poetry can play in our lives, even if you think there is no place for poetry in your life. This book will help you see it everywhere.

Take a good look at the cover. Isn’t it beautiful? That’s how beautiful the whole book is. That’s how many secret doors it opens. Forget about expectations, just turn the page and step inside.

-Ann Patchett

More about our First Editions Club: Every member receives a first edition of the selected book of the month, signed by the author. Books are carefully chosen by our staff of readers, and our picks have gone on to earn major recognition including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Plus, there’s no membership fee or premium charge for these books. Build a treasured library of signed first editions and always have something great to read! Makes a FABULOUS gift, too.

 

Celebrating Small Press Month: A Q&A with Three Indie Presses

Did you know that March is National Small Press Month? Started in 1996 by the Small Press Center and the Publishers Marketing Association, the idea was to give indie publishers a wider platform to share their books and lift up their authors, as well as to encourage them to press on (pardon the pun) in their important publishing pursuits in the face of fierce competition from the large publishing houses. We asked three small presses — Catapult/Counterpoint/Softskull, Feminist Press, and Tin House — to tell us about their presses, what makes them unique and important, and which titles they’re most excited about right now.

Catapult/Counterpoint/Soft Skull PressRachel Fershleiser, VP/Associate Publisher, Marketing & Events

Can you give us a short introduction to your press for those who aren’t familiar?

Catapult, Counterpoint, and Soft Skull Press are three independent imprints that publish award-winning fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and craft books. Our books are alive, insightful, illuminating, and surprising, written by vital and diverse voices—emerging and established—that honor the craft of writing.

What do you think is the greatest benefit indie presses provide to readers?

Our team is small, collaborative, creative, flexible, and hands on. It feels like we really have the space and the freedom to think about each book as its own project, imagine its dream readership, and try every way we can to bring each author to an audience that’s going to want what we’re selling. We get to be true matchmakers between writer and reader.

What is the importance of the relationship between your press and indie bookstores? 

Indie bookstores are absolutely essential for getting the kind of voices that we love to publish out into the world. We trust your booksellers to read widely and with an open mind, to take a chance on a new perspective, to try out a debut writer or an experimental form. And best of all we know that when you love something you won’t rest until you’ve pressed it into the hands of all the customers you know will love it too.

What are two of your titles folks should grab off the shelves now, and two upcoming titles they should pre-order?

The Survivalists: A Novel

By Kashana Cauley

Right now, readers can pick up The Survivalists, the hilarious tv writer Kashana Cauley’s debut novel about a Black lawyer who puts her career and personal moral code at risk when she moves in with her coffee entrepreneur boyfriend and his doomsday-prepping roommates…

Brutes: A Novel

By Dizz Tate

…or Brutes, Dizz Tate’s take on The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project, a wildly original coming-of-age story about the crucible of girlhood.

You Are Here: A Novel (releases May 2, 2023)

By Karin Lin-Greenberg

Coming soon is Karin Lin-Greenberg’s You Are Here, which I’m calling The Great American Mall Novel. It brings a diverse group of characters vividly to life as their lives intersect unexpectedly during the last days of the dying shopping mall where they all work…

The Apartment: A Novel (releases June 27, 2023)

By Ana Menéndez

…or pre-order The Apartment, which spans decades in the life of one Art Deco Miami apartment where you’ll meet a Cuban concert pianist, a complex green card marriage, a building manager with a secret identity, a troubled young refugee, and many more.

Feminist PressJisu Kim, Senior Marketing and Sales Manager

Can you give us a short introduction to your press for those who aren’t familiar?

The Feminist Press publishes books that ignite movements and social transformation, lifting up insurgent and marginalized voices from around the world to build a more just future. Founded in 1970, we began as a crucial publishing component of second wave feminism, and now specialize in an array of genres including cutting-edge fiction, activist nonfiction, literature in translation, hybrid memoirs, children’s books, and more.

What do you think is the greatest benefit indie presses provide to readers?

Many independent publishers are presses of discovery. For a multitude of reasons, these presses not only take chances on, but often prioritize, untried writers, genres, styles, and topics—creating a momentum that, over time, moves the cultural conversation forward.

What is the importance of the relationship between your press and indie bookstores? 

Our relationship with independent bookstores is incredibly important, both as it relates to our values and to our business. As publishers, we look to different literary curators to ensure that our books reach readers—and booksellers are an essential part of that ecosystem, acting as community hubs that connect geographically-specific or affinity-based audiences. And especially for small and independent presses, a bookseller championing and handselling a book—particularly when it’s a less commercial title, an edgier list, or more grassroots author—can have demonstrable and meaningful impact.

What are two of your titles folks should grab off the shelves now, and two upcoming titles they should pre-order?

Tastes Like War: A Memoir

By Grace M. Cho

Tastes Like War by Grace. M. Cho was a finalist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction, and a TIME and NPR Best Book of the Year in 2021; this hybrid memoir is a Korean-American daughter’s exploration of food and family history, in order to understand the roots of her mother’s schizophrenia, as well as her strength.

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror

By Joe Vallese (Editor), Carmen Maria Machado (Contribution by), Bruce Owens Grimm (Contribution by)

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror, edited by Joe Vallese, anthologizes the work of twenty-five queer and trans writers, using the lens of horror—from Halloween to Hereditary—to consider he films that deepened, amplified, and illuminated their own experiences.

Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes (releases April 18, 2023)

By Anne Elizabeth Moore

Body Horror: Capitalism, Fear, Misogyny, Jokes by Anne Elizabeth Moore is a collection of personal and investigative essays on a series of wide-ranging topics—the author’s journey through the US healthcare system, the Cambodian garment industry, the history of menstrual products, just to name a few—to explore the global toll of capitalism on our physical autonomy.

Happy Stories, Mostly (releases June 6, 2023)

By Norman Erikson Pasaribu, Tiffany Tsao (Translator)

Happy Stories, Mostly by Norman Erikson Pasaribu was longlisted for the International Booker Prize: these twelve short stories ask what it means to be almost happy—to nearly find joy, to sort-of be accepted, but to never fully grasp one’s desire—and blend together speculative fiction and dark absurdism, drawing from Batak and Christian cultural elements.

Tin HouseNanci McCloskey, Associate Publisher, Director of Sales & Marketing

Can you give us a short introduction to your press for those who aren’t familiar?

Based in Portland, Oregon, Tin House is the publisher of award-winning books of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; home to a renowned workshop and seminar series; and partner of a critically acclaimed podcast. Tin House champions writing that is artful, dynamic, and original. We are proud to publish and promote writers who speak to a wide range of experiences, and lend context and nuance to their examination of our world.

What do you think is the greatest benefit indie presses provide to readers?

Independent presses provide readers with unique and, often, boundary-pushing prose and poetry. We don’t have all the same concerns of scale that large publishers contend with so we can take chances on work that is meaningful and important even if they might not sell a hundred thousand copies.

What is the importance of the relationship between your press and indie bookstores? 

The relationship Tin House has to independent bookstores can’t be overstated. We rely on indie booksellers, with their dedication to hand-selling and personalized customer attention, to be our cheerleaders out in the world. We know when we send our Advance Reading Copies to frontline booksellers that they get the care and attentiveness they deserve. Indie booksellers are the tastemakers in book publishing, and we’ve seen over and over again, when booksellers get behind a book it makes all the difference.

What are two of your titles folks should grab off the shelves now, and two upcoming titles they should pre-order?

Thirst for Salt

By Madelaine Lucas

Thirst for Salt is literary and sexy and smart. It’s about a 20-something who falls for a man twenty years her senior. She lives with him in his charming old house off the coast of Australia. They meet in the water, and the setting and the atmosphere, and their attraction pulls you in. I swear I could taste the salt water as I was reading.

Judas Goat: Poems

By Gabrielle Bates

This debut poetry collection left me raw and tear-streaked. I don’t know how to express its impact other than to say I felt more human after reading it.

The Language of Trees: A Rewilding of Literature and Landscape (releases April 4, 2023)

By Katie Holten, Ross Gay (Introduction by)

First, it must be said, this is the most beautiful book in the world. Katie Holten illustrates with her tree language works from Plato, James Gleick, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Elizabeth Kolbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Carl Phillips, Robert Macfarlane, Zadie Smith, and Radiohead, among 50-so contributors. Holten—like the best naturalists do—imbues each selection with an abiding love and reverence for the magic of trees. Here are a few words from the artist: “The Language of Trees is a book about trees written in trees. Because words do matter, and because my heart is bursting for what we are losing, I created the tree alphabets as a way to reforest our imaginations.”

Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City (releases May 16, 2023)

By Jane Wong

Wong’s debut memoir about growing up working class as a Chinese immigrant in Atlantic City left me slack-jawed. The language is delicious, but I love how the story resists a single identity. I laughed and cried in the span of two pages. I don’t think I’ve ever read a mother-daughter story that’s impacted me the way the story of Jane and her mom affected me. A must-read.

Here’s a list of just some of the other small presses we love!Algonquin BooksApril Gloaming Publishing*Black Lawrence PressCoffee House PressCopper Canyon PressDeep Vellum PublishingEuropa EditionsGraywolf PressGrove AtlanticHawthorne BooksHaymarket BooksHub City PressIg PublishingMcSweeney’sMilkweed EditionsNew DirectionsOther PressRed Hen PressSeven Stories PressSoho PressThird Man Books*Turner Publishing*Two Dollar RadioTwo Lines PressVanderbilt University Press*Wave Books

*Nashville-based presses!

Love and Lasagna: 15 New Reads for the Young & Young at Heart

Love and lasagna… what more do you need? A great read, of course! Our booksellers have a fresh batch of staff picks to get your spring reading off to a good start. Your next favorite picture books, middle grade novels, and young adult titles await!

PICTURE BOOKSRecommended by Rae Ann The Night Frolic

By Julie Berry, Jaime Zollars (Illustrator)

This magical bedtime book will make you want to curl up with a blanket and float on a nighttime breeze.

Recommended by Chelsea Wallflowers

By Mackenzie Joy

Filled with beautiful art, this is a celebration of being just who you are and reminding you that you have lots to give. Do you have a quiet or shy child in your life? This is the book for them. This is the book for childhood me.

Recommended by Chelsea

Wei Skates On

By Nathan Chen, Lorraine Nam (Illustrator)

It’s always hard preparing for a competition, and Wei’s fear of failure makes everything worse. But Wei’s mom encourages every reader with a wholesome reminder–winning isn’t what matters. Compete because you’re passionate and because you love what you do!

INDEPENDENT READERSRecommended by Rae Ann Link + Hud: Heroes by a Hair

By Jarrett Pumphrey, Jerome Pumphrey

Brothers Link and Hud suspect their new babysitter is up to no good. They work together to prove their theory in this funny adventure that’s part comic book, all fun.

Recommended by Ashby Lasagna Means I Love You

By Kate O’Shaughnessy

Food. Family. Stories. When Mo’s grandmother dies, she is left without family. What keeps her going? Cooking. The search for a family recipe. Told through letters to her Nan, Mo cooks and has a pop-up restaurant for one magical night. It’s a year of uncertainty that might take her to Paris or Kansas but finally takes her home right where she is in NYC. Does she find her family recipe and the story that goes with it?

Recommended by Chelsea Akim Aliu: Dreamer 

By Akim Aliu, Greg Anderson Elysée, Karen De la Vega (Illustrator), Marcus Williams (Illustrator)

The gripping story of a boy who fell in love with a sport only to experience systemic racism while succeeding on the ice, this graphic novel is a must-read. Told in a conversational tone with rich illustrations, Aliu’s story is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

Recommended by Madeline Dungeons & Dragons: Behold! A Search and Find Adventure

By Wizards of the Coast, Ulises Farinas (Illustrator)

A legendary search and find like no other, created by Dungeons & Dragons themselves, filled with monsters and heroes alike in this illustrated adventure! Search for kenkus and paladins, tortles and elves, and even Myopus the All-Seeing beholder! There’s so many fun things to find, you’ll be searching for hours!

Recommended by Ashby The Town with No Mirrors

By Christina Collins

For fans of books like The Giver, this book will enthrall you. No cameras, no mirrors, no words beautiful or ugly. Not in Gladder Hill. Zailey sketches faces which could get her in trouble. Then she finds herself outside her town. What will it be like beyond her town? What will she find out? What is the real story of her town?

Recommended by RJ Ring of Solomon

By Aden Polydoros

Ring of Solomon is a fast-paced fantasy adventure featuring magic and monsters from Jewish folklore. Perfect for fans of any of the Rick Riordan Presents series, or anyone who thinks befriending the king of demons sounds like a pretty fun idea.

Recommended by Madeline Minecraft: Master Builds

By Mojang AB, The Official Minecraft Team

From the creators of Minecraft comes a stunning collection of master builds, created by players like you and me! If you enjoy watching creators from the Hermitcraft community (like GoodTimesWithScar, BDoubleO100, Keralis, and more!) to Trixyblox’s Ultimate Survival World, you’ll adore this book brimming with creativity!

YOUNG ADULTRecommended by Rae Ann Immortality: A Love Story (The Anatomy Duology #2)

By Dana Schwartz

Hazel Sinnett is summoned to court to treat the king’s daughter in this sequel to Anatomy. Court intrigue abounds as Hazel’s future as a doctor is in question in this atmospheric fantasy.

Recommended by Rae Ann Chaos Theory

By Nic Stone

A genius with a diagnosed mental disorder and a politician’s son battling addiction collide in this powerful story of finding love among life’s chaos.

CLASSICS & BACKLISTRecommended by Gavin, 6th grader Rick Riordan Presents Aru Shah and the End of Time (A Pandava Novel Book 1) (Pandava Series)

By Roshani Chokshi

This book is a whimsical journey through the world of Hindu myths, but in the style of the Percy Jackson series. Follow Aru Shah on her journey with her spiritual sister as the first female pandavas in order to to stop time from being frozen forever.

Sprout Book Club: March Selection Twenty Questions

By Mac Barnett, Christian Robinson (Illustrator)

The March 2023 Sprout Book Club selection is Twenty Questions by Mac Barnett and Christian Robinson. This book leads you on a journey of imagination and wondering. Mac Barnett’s questions and Christian Robinson’s collage art are the perfect springboard for family chats and classroom discussions. When you finish, you will want to turn to the first page and begin again.

Early praise for the book:

“Quirky entertainment to jump-start creativity.” – Kirkus

Sprout Book Club is the book subscription box for picture book lovers. Every month members will receive a first edition picture book.  Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite picture book lover for 3, 6, or 12 months. 

Spark Book Club: March Selection The Town with No Mirrors

By Christina Collins

The March 2023 Spark Book Club selection is The Town With No Mirrors by Christina Collins. Zailey lives in the Gladder Hill community where there are no mirrors. Everyone is prohibited from seeing their own face or talking about anyone’s appearance. The mirror-free town was built to protect everyone from negative emotions. Zailey’s fascination with faces is her guilty secret. Until an accident sends her on a journey of self-discovery.

Early Sparks for the novel:

“Immensely intriguing… sure to spark consideration of body image, beauty concepts, and what
truly defines an individual.” — Booklist

“Thoughtful psychological examination of how people view themselves and their bodies.” – Publisher’s Weekly

Spark Book Club is the first editions club for middle grade readers.  Every month members will receive a first edition middle grade novel — plus a letter written by the author especially for club members. Makes a great gift for the independent reader! Sign ups are available for 3, 6, or 12 months.

ParnassusNext: March Selection The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway

By Ashley Schumacher

The March 2023 ParnassusNext selection is The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway by Ashley Schumacher. Madeline “Gwen” Hathaway and her dad travel the Ren Faire circuit in their RV. After her mom’s death, it’s painful to return to her favorite faire. The new owners and their son, Arthur, select Madeline as the faire princess. She doesn’t feel she deserves the spotlight, but day trip adventures and her chemistry with Arthur may turn this season into a royal renaissance.

Early praise for the novel:

“A skillfully written and appealing romance with a powerful and refreshing message.” – Kirkus

ParnassusNext is the book subscription box for YA lovers. Every member of ParnassusNext receives a first edition hardcover of each month’s selected book, signed by the author. There is no membership fee to join — and no line to stand in for the autograph. Not only will you have one of the best YA books of the month when it comes out, you’ll have it straight from the author’s hands, with an original, authentic signature! Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite YA reader for 3, 6, or 12 months.

March into Spring with These 33 New Reads

We’re springing forward this weekend, and longer days means more light to read by! Eager to start a new read but don’t know what to choose? Perhaps one of our staff picks this month will pique your interest. Start scrolling and have a browse!

FICTIONRecommended by Ann The Sun Walks Down: A Novel

By Fiona McFarlane

The Sun Walks Down is the book I’m always longing to find: brilliant, fresh and compulsively readable. It is marvelous. I loved it start to finish.

Recommended by Lindsay I Have Some Questions for You: A Novel

By Rebecca Makkai

I should’ve known that Rebecca Makkai taking on a true-crime mystery would knock me off my feet, but I was not prepared for I Have Some Questions For You to hold me captive for days straight while I devoured every chapter. To put it mildly, I am obsessed with this book—it’s gripping, character-driven, and ridiculously well-written.

Our March First Editions Club pick! Scroll to the bottom of this post to read more about it.

Recommended by Jenness Maame

By Jessica George

I loved this quiet, quirky, heartfelt book about 25-year-old Maddie and her journey through many of life’s contrary experiences: first love and heartbreak, familial responsibility and independence, ambition and settlement. Naive yet over-burdened for her age, Maddie is a sympathetic and dauntless character you will root for. It makes you wish her world – our world – was a little easier to navigate.

Recommended by Katie The Farewell Tour: A Novel

By Stephanie Clifford

For lovers of Daisy Jones and Bastard Out of Carolina, The Farewell Tour is an incredible look at the sacrifices women are asked to make for their creativity and passion. A peer of Tammy, Loretta & Dolly, Lil Waters never quite reached the same level of fame. Staring down a diagnosis that will end her career, Lil heads out on one final tour and finds herself contending with her past in ways she never expected.

Come join us for an event with Stephanie Clifford in conversation with Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show on Tuesday March 21st! Register for free here.

Recommended by Lindsay In Memoriam: A novel

By Alice Winn

Alice Winn’s incredible debut has one of the most arresting love stories I’ve read in a long time. Set during WWI, In Memoriam follows the young boys who were sent to the front. Get ready to feel your feelings—don’t say I didn’t warn you!

Recommended by Chelsea On the Savage Side: A novel By Tiffany McDaniel

Although this novel is based on the disappearance of six women in Ohio, this is not a thriller or true crime novel. Instead it is a heartbreaking exploration of addiction, dreams, and women who are trapped between both. McDaniel’s language is exquisite, and she has perfected the Midwestern gothic genre.

Recommended by Jenny The Foxglove King (The Nightshade Crown #1) By Hannah Whitten

Hannah Whitten is back again with a new fantasy series! Follow Lore, a woman with a dark power, as she explores the corrupt intrigue and power plays of the elite. This book is a perfect blend of dark fantasy and royalcore.

Recommended by Jake Scorched Grace: A Sister Holiday Mystery By Margot Douaihy

Scorched Grace follows Sister Holiday, a queer, chain-smoking punk rocker-turned-nun. When her school becomes the target of a series of fires, Sister Holiday adds sleuth to the list as she decides to track down the culprit herself. A engaging mystery and a luminous New Orleans backdrop make for a great start to what is sure to be an excellent series.

Recommended by Hannah P. Bliss Montage: Stories By Ling Ma

In this beautiful and bizarre short-story collection, Ling Ma explores contemporary life through a lens of dark surrealism: A woman lives with her 100 ex-boyfriends. An exhausted professor finds escape through an office closet. A dangerous drug causes invisibility. Ma’s writing is rich, haunting, and thought-provoking. Fans of A24 films will love this one!

Recommended by Patsy The Bandit Queens: A Novel By Parini Shroff

Geeta has lost her husband–she has no idea where he is; people assume he is dead. As women in unhappy marriages seek her help, awkward and hilarious situations arise. This deftly written debut novel tackles underpinning themes of female friendships, domestic violence, and life in a patriarchal society of castes. Worth a read!

Recommended by Ashby  Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide By Rupert Holmes

This is Rupert Holmes who wrote The Pina Colada song? YES! Begin with the premise that there are ethical reasons for killing someone AND there is a school to teach you how to do it. Take classes, practice on classmates, write a thesis that is your murder plan, get it approved by your professors, and kill. Entertaining throughout, and the graduates’ targets seem worthy of being bumped off.

Recommended by RJ The Last Tale of the Flower Bride: A Novel By Roshani Chokshi

This lush, dreamlike mystery uses fairytale tropes to illustrate both the beauties and dangers of all-consuming love. Dark, strange, and overwhelmingly luxurious.

Recommended by Cheryl It’s One of Us: A Novel of Suspense By J. T. Ellison

Ellison consistently weaves complex mysteries. This one takes place in Nashville during the last couple of years. A couple is struggling with infertility, a neighbor is murdered, and the husband is questioned, putting more stress on the marriage. Any more more description would be a spoiler. Highly recommend.

Recommended by Hannah K. Weyward: A Novel By Emilia Hart

In this utterly captivating debut, Hart manages to weave an intricate, beautifully written novel about three women and their inextricable connection to nature. This intergenerational tale snared me from the first page and wouldn’t let go. If you enjoy complex conversations about legacy, gender and control, nature and witchy-ness, and female power, this should be next on your list.

Recommended by Ashby The Little Wartime Library By Kate Thompson

Books = comfort. Based on a real place and real people, this WWII novel is set in a magical place: a library in a tube station. There is a theater and a cafe too. Clara, librarian and war widow, creates this space below the bombing. She and her assistant Ruby are extraordinary women doing extraordinary things. I wanted to visit their library.

Recommended by Rachel Arch-Conspirator By Veronica Roth

A bite sized masterpiece. Arch-Conspirator is a retelling of Antigone with the perfect sci fi twist. I took a glance at the first page and did not put it down until I’d finished the whole thing! Felt like I was walking through a dream as I read it. Truly beautiful.

Recommended by Katie Something Wild & Wonderful By Anita Kelly

Have you ever read a book and catch yourself weeks later still swooning? That is how I feel about Anita Kelly’s sophomore release. A perfect grumpy/sunshine dynamic, a spectacular meet cute, and chemistry for days. Grab a copy and I can assure you, you will love Alex and Ben as much as I do.

Recommended by Maddie The Laughter: A Novel By Sonora Jha

In The Laughter, Oliver Harding is a middle-aged tenured professor who has developed somewhat of an obsession with his younger Pakistani Muslim colleague, Ruhaba. This novel is a masterful piece of art from beginning to end. Jha somehow pulled off writing a narrator that I despised from page one yet still felt so eager and compelled to keep reading from.

Recommended by Cheryl Reef Road: A Novel By Deborah Goodrich Royce

This is a mystery of an unsolved murder of a 12 year old girl in Pittsburgh. Flash forward to Palm Beach, Florida a generation later where 2 neighbors are intertwined in the case unknowingly? Add COVID and a husband who has taken his kids to Argentina and the new friends need each other. What are they hiding?

Recommended by Marcia Pineapple Street: A Novel By Jenny Jackson

I devoured this book in just over two days! A humorous and wildly entertaining novel about an uber-rich family in Brooklyn coming to terms with their wealth and how best to deal with it. Take this book on your spring break trip!

Recommended by Paige Forbidden Notebook: A Novel By Alba de Céspedes, Ann Goldstein (Translated by), Jhumpa Lahiri (Foreword by)

This novel, set and originally published in Italy in 1952, tells the story of Valeria via entries in her secret diary, written in a notebook purchased illegally on a Sunday. A tale of self-discovery and the struggle to free ourselves from the roles imposed on us, this beautiful new translation is a vivid reminder that no matter the year or language, we must continue the fight to write and live our own stories.

Recommended by Katie A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon By Sarah Hawley

Mariel Spark is supposed to be one of the most powerful witches of her generation, but much to her family’s disappointment, she prefers a life of garden hexes and potions. When one of her spells goes wrong, Mariel finds herself in the company of one very sexy and powerful demon. While she’s certain she wants to ditch her demon companion, he makes a pretty powerful case for sticking around.

Recommended by Jordan The Sweet Spot: A Novel By Amy Poeppel

What a charming read about unlikely friendships forming in the most inconvenient and unexpected ways. This is a book for everyone who loves quirky characters and intertwining stories following multiple points of view.

Recommended by Marcia The House Guest By Hank Phillippi Ryan

This book did its job and kept me guessing until the end. It has everything you want in a suspense novel – money, divorce, motive, revenge, twists and turns on every page!

NONFICTIONRecommended by Cheryl Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction By Lynne Olson

Imagine Spielberg and Hitchcock making a movie of an adventurer as a student reading hieroglyphics at a dig in Egypt, later joining the Paris Resistance, uncovering tombs, and saving ancient temples from drowning in the Nile dam by uniting unfriendly nations. This is not a male role but the true story of a daring determined female Louvre Egyptologist.

Recommended by Jake Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess By Evan Drellich

The next great baseball book. The other, darker side of the coin to Moneyball, Winning Fixes Everything is a deep dive into a deeply toxic culture whose emphasis on victory, no matter the cost, led to the biggest cheating scandal of the 21st century. Often reading like a thoroughly engaging business book, this peek behind the curtain is among the most informative sports books I’ve ever read.

Recommended by Elyse He Called Me Sister: A True Story of Finding Humanity on Death Row By Suzanne Craig Robertson, Helen Prejean (Foreword by), Bill Moyers (Preface by)

An unlikely relationship cultivated over years with a man on death row. Moving from strangers to friends to family, this is a story of humanity, compassion, fear, love, and forgiveness. Wherever you stand on the death penalty, you should read this book.

Recommended by Jenness Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous AbortionistBy Jennifer Wright

The fascinating, little-known history of a determined British immigrant turned entrepreneur who became one of the most notorious women in mid-1800’s New York. The self-taught, self-branded “Madame Restell” was a sensational figure in the early movement for women’s reproductive freedom, even if her motives were often more capitalist than altruistic.

Recommended by Cheryl Watergate: A New History

By Garrett M. Graff

Watergate still intrigues people with the political characters, the Washington Post, Martha Mitchell, and a president who thought he was above the law. There have been so many books, articles and documentaries over the last 50 years. This truly well written thriller pulls it all together.

Recommended by Patsy One: Simple One-Pan Wonders

By Jamie Oliver

British chef Jamie Oliver makes dinner preparation and cleanup easy with this collection of to-die-for recipes which require only a single vessel for preparation. This cookbook is packed with gorgeous photos and simple instructions for every night and fancy dinners. Favorites at my house are his mussel fagioli pasta, the fragrant mixed seafood stew. Honey orange tea cake, anyone? Inspiration inside!

CLASSICS & BACKLISTRecommended by Rachel Beartown: A Novel (Beartown Series)

By Fredrik Backman

If you want to discover your new favorite book, read Beartown. Dozens of character POVs, phenomenal writing, heartbreaking story line, & a thrilling murder mystery. You will be hooked from the very first line. Seriously, open it and read the first line.

Recommended by Kathy Telex from Cuba: A NovelBy Rachel Kushner

What was Cuba like before Castro and communism took over? This eye-opening, gripping story of Americans living in Cuba in the 1950s smacks of colonialism and privilege, yet is humorous and touching. Why did I not read this when it came out in 2008?

Recommended by Heath The Piano Lesson By August Wilson

An African American family in 1930’s Pittsburgh struggles to keep a part of their heritage while looking to create a new future for themselves. If you liked Fences and want to take a deeper dive into August Wilson’s work, I recommend this.

First Editions Club: March Selection I Have Some Questions for You: A Novel

By Rebecca Makkai

Dear friends,

Like so many other hundreds of thousands of readers, I loved Rebecca Makkai’s Pulitzer Prize finalist, The Great Believers. Published in 2018, it’s still one of the first books I’ll put in people’s hands when they say, “I just want to read something great.”

Now Rebecca Makkai is back with a book that’s wildly differentand equally winning. I Have Some Questions for You is the story of Bodie Kane, a successful Los Angeles podcaster and film professor who goes back to her New Hampshire boarding school to teach a two–week class in the winter. But as far as Bodie’s come in her life since graduating in 1995, she finds that memories of the past are waiting for her in every building, and most of them have to do with her high school roommate, Thalia, who was murdered their junior year. The case was wrapped up neatly but Bodie’s starting to think the wrong person was convicted.

I Have Some Questions for You is a murder mystery and a take–down of the culture of social media. It’s Bodie’s almost unwilling examination of the sexual harassment she endured as a teenager and an exhausted scroll through all the murdered women and girls we read about and hear about whose stories start to run together after a while.

The result is a novel that’s gripping, enraging, and curiously funny. How does it manage to be funny? Because Rebecca Makkai is brilliant and fearless and clearly fed up. She’s willing to take on everything, beginning with who really killed Thalia. Find a couple of free days and a comfortable spot on the couch. Once you start this one, you’ll have a hard time stopping.

Ann Patchett

More about our First Editions Club: Every member receives a first edition of the selected book of the month, signed by the author. Books are carefully chosen by our staff of readers, and our picks have gone on to earn major recognition including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Plus, there’s no membership fee or premium charge for these books. Build a treasured library of signed first editions and always have something great to read! Makes a FABULOUS gift, too.

Kathy’s Book Club Workshop: Tips for Rebooting Your Book Club

I can’t tell you the number of people who have told me, “Book club saved my life.” They’ve cited reasons such as being shut in at home with a baby or infirm spouse, feeling loneliness or depression, moving to a new city and knowing no one, or needing somewhere to turn for intellectual stimulation. I truly believe book clubs provide a vital sense of community, and I love helping clubs get started and stay active with fun, interesting reads.

Often I hear from groups who say they’ve run out of steam and ask how they can get back on track. From time to time, that stale feeling creeps in for most longstanding clubs. It sounds like that may be happening for many of you from near and far who wanted to virtually attend my book club workshop last week. We didn’t have a virtual option for the workshop this time, but I’ve collected the book recommendations and book club tips we discussed here for you to refer back to when needed. Here’s to a re-invigorated book club experience for 2023!

— Kathy Schultenover, Parnassus Book Club and Classics Club Moderator

Tips for Rebooting Your Book Club

Does your group usually read fiction? It seems most do! Perhaps you could make this the year to explore other genres like memoir, history, essays, and even cookbooks.

When life gets busy, it’s easy to fall into a skimming habit. Commit to reading more thoughtfully and mindfully this year. Take notes, underline, or highlight as you read, and you’ll be amazed at how having these passages handy during a book club meeting improves discussion.

Assign someone the task of doing some research each month before each meeting – or have everyone get online and dig up a little background material on the book. Book reviews and online book club guides can also prompt great conversation. (LitLovers, BookBrowse, and Reading Group Choices are just a few of my personal favorite sites for this purpose. And don’t forget to peruse each season’s “most anticipated” lists!)

Change your format this year! For example…

– Create a designated pre-meeting (or post-meeting) social hour for chit-chat. If your club’s discussions have wandered away from books and onto jobs, families, and the news, breaking the evening into book-talk and non-book-talk may help get things back on track.

– It can feel like a real novelty to have a month without a common book, in which everyone brings two of their own recent reads to talk about and briefly share.

– If you usually have a designated discussion leader, try going leader-less and ask each member to bring two thought-provoking questions or topics to stimulate conversation. This can bring out quieter members and get the whole group back into the mix.

Try a session designated to this very topic — fresh starts. Ask each member to bring one suggestion for a change they think might improve the club. Nothing personal (this is not the time to tell Janet nobody likes her spinach dip)… Just objective, positive ideas that could be fun to try or produce long-lasting improvements.

Kathy’s Book Club Picks Foster

By Claire Keegan

It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas’ house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household–where everything is so well tended to–and this summer must soon come to an end.

Signal Fires

By Dani Shapiro

An ancient majestic oak stands beneath the stars on Division Street. And under the tree sits Ben Wilf, a retired doctor, and ten-year-old Waldo Shenkman, a brilliant, lonely boy who is pointing out his favorite constellations. Waldo doesn’t realize it but he and Ben have met before. And they will again, and again. Across time and space, and shared destiny.

Demon Copperhead

By Barbara Kingsolver

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father’s good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

The Mitford Affair: A Novel

By Marie Benedict

Between the World Wars, the six Mitford sisters–each more beautiful, brilliant, and eccentric than the next–dominate the English political, literary, and social scenes. Though they’ve weathered scandals before, the family falls into disarray when Diana divorces her wealthy husband to marry a fascist leader and Unity follows her sister’s lead all the way to Munich, inciting rumors that she’s become Hitler’s mistress.

Fellowship Point: A Novel

By Alice Elliott Dark

The masterful story of a lifelong friendship between two very different women with shared histories and buried secrets, tested in the twilight of their lives, set across the arc of the 20th century. Celebrated children’s book author Agnes Lee is determined to secure her legacy–to complete what she knows will be the final volume of her pseudonymously written Franklin Square novels; and even more consuming, to permanently protect the peninsula of majestic coast in Maine known as Fellowship Point.

To donate the land to a trust, Agnes must convince shareholders to dissolve a generations-old partnership. And one of those shareholders is her best friend, Polly. Polly Wister has led a different kind of life than Agnes: that of a well-off married woman with children, defined by her devotion to her husband, and philosophy professor with an inflated sense of stature. She exalts in creating beauty and harmony in her home, in her friendships, and in her family. Polly soon finds her loyalties torn between the wishes of her best friend and the wishes of her three sons–but what is it that Polly wants herself?

Godspeed

By Nickolas Butler

Cole, Bart, and Teddy, the three principals of True Triangle Construction, are hired to finish a project for a mysteriously wealthy homeowner. The grand house is unlike anything they’ve worked on before, and they’re sure it’ll put their name on the map. But the owner is intent on having it built in a few months, an impossible task made irresistible by an exorbitant bonus. Up against the critical deadline and the threat of a harsh Wyoming winter, the trio will do anything to get the money, even if it means risking their lives…or each other’s. With heart-pounding danger and high-stakes action, Godspeed is a
gripping thriller about greed and violence that asks: How much is never enough?

The Trackers: A Novel (releases on April 11, 2023)

By Charles Frazier

Hurtling past the downtrodden communities of Depression-era America, painter Val Welch travels westward to the rural town of Dawes, Wyoming. Through a stroke of luck, he’s landed a New Deal assignment to create a mural representing the region for their new Post Office.

A wealthy art lover named John Long and his wife Eve have agreed to host Val at their sprawling ranch. Rumors and intrigue surround the couple: Eve left behind an itinerant life riding the rails and singing in a western swing band. Long holds shady political aspirations, but was once a WWI sniper–and his right hand is a mysterious elder cowboy, a vestige of the violent old west. Val quickly finds himself entranced by their lives. One day, Eve flees home with a valuable painting in tow, and Long recruits Val to hit the road with a mission of tracking her down.

Take a book club field trip to Parnassus to see Charles Frazier discuss The Trackers with Tony Earley on release day, April 11, at 6:30pm CT! Get your tickets here.

The Golden Doves: A Novel (releases April 18, 2023)

By Martha Hall Kelly

American Josie Anderson and Parisian Arlette LaRue are thrilled to be working in the French resistance, stealing so many Nazi secrets that they become known as the Golden Doves, renowned across France and hunted by the Gestapo. Their courage will cost them everything. When they are finally arrested and taken to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, along with their loved ones, a reclusive Nazi doctor does unspeakable things to Josie’s mother, a celebrated Jewish singer who joined her daughter in Paris when the world seemed bright. And Arlette’s son is stolen from her, never to be seen again.

Learn more about our three in-store book clubs here! Then join us this month for the Parnassus Book Club’s discussion of Zorrie by Laird Hunt and the Classics Club’s discussion of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Dates and times are always listed on our events calendar. No registration required!

 

Celebrating 10 Years of ParnassusNext: An Interview with Ruta Sepetys and Mary Grey James

This month we are celebrating the tenth birthday of ParnassusNext, our YA First Editions Club. The ParnassusNext club was started by Mary Grey James when she served as the Director of Books for Young Readers at Parnassus. The first selection was Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys, #1 New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. Rae Ann Parker, current Director of Books for Young Readers, talked with Mary Grey and Ruta about the beginning of the club.

Rae Ann Parker: Mary Grey, you started the ParnassusNext subscription when you were the Director of  Books for Young Readers at Parnassus in 2013. What inspired you to start the club?

Mary Grey James: Attention must be paid when sales reflect such dramatic growth in a category or genre.  Earlier in my career as a publisher sales rep, young adult books were a small percentage of a publisher’s list and definitely the hardest category to sell. Then things began to change. Steph Appell, who worked with me in the Young Readers department, was an ardent fan of young adult, and together we thought it would be a good idea to do with YA what Parnassus had so successfully done with its First Editions Club. We knew from working the sales floor that there were young customers who eagerly awaited a favorite author’s next book and would be thrilled with a signed copy.

RAP: Why did you select Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys as the club’s inaugural selection?

MGJ: The selection of Ruta’s second book was a “labor of love” for me and definitely a no brainer after the success of Between Shades of Gray. 

Mary Grey James at the Parnassus Grand Opening in 2011

RAP: What was your favorite thing about beginning the ParnassusNext subscription club?

MGJ: I felt like we were giving young adult books their due—the respect and promotion they deserved.

RAP: Ruta, how did you learn that Out of the Easy was a ParnassusNext selection?

Ruta Sepetys: During a call with my publisher, they mentioned the creation of ParnassusNext. We all agreed that it sounded like a fantastic program that any author would love to be part of. They then revealed that Out of the Easy had been chosen! Of course I was so excited and shrieked and shrieked. But they said that I couldn’t announce it for a time. I remember that was so difficult, keeping such big news a secret.

Ruta Sepetys signs our very first ParnassusNext selection, Out of the Easy, in 2013

RAP: What did that mean to you for an independent bookstore to select your second novel as the club’s inaugural book?

RS: It wasn’t just an independent bookstore – it was my hometown independent bookstore. And it was the legendary Parnassus! Parnassus opened in 2011 and in a short time had already transformed and galvanized the creative community in Nashville. It was a huge honor.

RAP: Three of your books have been ParnassusNext selections. Out of the Easy in  2013, Fountains of Silence in 2019, and I Must Betray You in 2022. You are the only author  with three ParnassusNext picks! Your books are always highly anticipated by the club members. Why do you think historical fiction speaks so deeply to today’s YA readers?

RS: I hope what lies beneath the interest in historical fiction is a quest for compassion and human understanding. Reading about historical events allows us to travel to a place and time different than our own, to meet others facing challenges, and learn how they faced those challenges.

RAP: ParnassusNext selections cross a range of genres – contemporary, historical, fantasy, romance, and science fiction. Each one brings something different, but also familiar to a reader. How have you seen young adult literature change and grow since you began writing for young adults?

RS: When I began writing, historical fiction was unpopular with young adults. Several publishers passed on my debut novel Between Shades of Gray with apologies that “historical fiction just doesn’t sell.” Many years later, that has changed. And teachers, librarians, and booksellers deserve credit for that change. Educators brought historical fiction titles into their libraries and classrooms and together with their local booksellers, brought authors of historical titles in for school visits. Imagine my delight to now hear literary agents say that they’re looking for young adult historical fiction!

RAP: Do you have a regular reading practice? How is reading important to you as an author?

RS: Reading is enormously important to me as an author—first for historical research, but also for enjoyment. The majority of my reading relates to research for projects I’m working on. So reading for pure pleasure is incredibly exciting. If a new book is released by an author I admire, I try to carve out a day to read it in one sitting. The experience of immersive reading always reignites my love of story and reminds me how fortunate I am to be an author.

RAP: Finally, do you have any advice on reading or writing for the ParnassusNext subscribers?

RS: Advice for reading: Just because a book resonates with others, it might not resonate with you. That’s okay! Time is precious. If a book isn’t captivating you, move on. You don’t have to finish it.

Advice for writing: Give yourself permission to fail. Initially, allow yourself to write crap to get the general idea down. It’s just a draft. A sketch. You can write poorly as long as you revise intently. Remind yourself of the mantra that “writing is rewriting.”

And lastly, a huge thank you to ParnassusNext subscribers. Your subscription supports literature and creative community. I feel so fortunate to have my books in the program!

ParnassusNext is the book subscription box for YA lovers. Every member of ParnassusNext receives a first edition hardcover of each month’s selected book, signed by the author. There is no membership fee to join — and no line to stand in for the autograph. Not only will you have one of the best YA books of the month when it comes out, you’ll have it straight from the author’s hands, with an original, authentic signature! Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite YA reader for 3, 6, or 12 months.

 

Check out our three other subscription boxes!

 

Read, Sleep, Repeat: 16 Reads for the Young & Young at Heart

A new month means a fresh batch of books for readers of all ages! This month we have you covered if you’re looking for new books to read at bedtime, or perhaps the upcoming Valentine’s Day has you in the mood for a rom-com. Whatever the age and whatever the feeling, our booksellers have picked out their favorites to share with you this month.

PICTURE BOOKSRecommended by Chelsea Sleepy Sheepy

By Lucy Ruth Cummins, Pete Oswald (Illustrator)

Sleepy Sheepy is NOT ready for bed, despite what his name may suggest! With rhyming text and adorable illustrations, readers will love reading about Sheepy’s antics before bedtime. Add this to your read-aloud bedtime books!

Recommended by Aly Beneath

By Cori Doerrfeld

This beautifully illustrated book shows us that underneath everything we see, there is something we do not. This is just as true with people as it is with the forest.

Recommended by Chelsea Mister Kitty Is Lost!

By Greg Pizzoli

Can you help find Mister Kitty? A child and a dog look for Mister Kitty with fun cutouts and colorful counting prompts, and readers will love the twist at the end! Greg Pizzoli delights again with fantastic illustrations and humor.

Recommended by Rae Ann Nell Plants a Tree

By Anne Wynter, Daniel Miyares (Illustrator)

Nell plants a tree and it grows into a base for games, a spot for reading, and a place for generations to gather. This beautiful picture book celebrates extended families and the delight of spending time together.

INDEPENDENT READERSRecommended by Ann How Do Meerkats Order Pizza?: Wild Facts about Animals and the Scientists Who Study Them

By Brooke Barker

This book is fact-filled, fun-filled, and completely empowering. I think it’s a winner for all ages.

Recommended by Aly What Happened to Rachel Riley?

By Claire Swinarski

A new student is determined to use her podcast assignment to uncover why her formerly popular classmate suddenly has no friends. This wonderfully told story has mystery, laughs, and is a true testament to the power girls can have when they stand together. I couldn’t put it down.

Recommended by Ashby The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine

By Katherine Marsh

I had never heard about the Holodomor- the famine created by Soviet leaders that took millions of Ukrainian lives-and neither had Matthew who finds out when his 100-year-old grandmother moves in. This book makes you think about your identity and what you do when you are faced with evil and how you make the truth known.

YOUNG ADULTRecommended by Rae Ann The Davenports

By Krystal Marquis

This YA romantic historical is the story of four young women working to define their own roles in 1910 Chicago. It’s a fun and fast-paced Bridgerton-esque read.

Recommended by Hannah Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute

By Talia Hibbert

This book is every bit as delightful and charming as its title. Tensions rise (and sparks fly!) when frenemy-rivals Celine and Brad find themselves in the wilderness, vying to win a grand prize. Hibbert’s signature wit and beloved charm carries over into her YA debut!

Recommended by Aly Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling

By Elise Bryant

Fate puts Reggie and Delilah in each other’s paths on more than one occasion, but it is up to them to help each other figure out who they really want to be, as people and maybe as a couple? This adorable rom-com is also powerful with self-discovery and friendship.

Our ParnassusNext pick for February! Scroll to the bottom to read more.

Recommended by Rae Ann One Last Shot: Based on a True Story of Wartime Heroism: The Story of Wartime Photographer Gerda Taro

By Kip Wilson

Kip Wilson’s novel in verse about photojournalist Gerda Taro captures her passion for revealing truth through photography. It sweeps the reader from Gerda’s school days in Germany to the front lines in the Spanish Civil War. A compelling read.

Recommended by Jenny The Stolen Heir: A Novel of Elfhame

By Holly Black

The newest installment in the Elfhame world of Holly Black follows Wren, a girl trapped between the world of the Fae and the world of humans, becoming something else entirely. Forced to play in the twisted games of the Fae, Wren struggles between the will to survive, revenge, and the desires of heart. As always, when it comes to dark fantasy, Holly Black never disappoints!

Recommended by RJ As You Walk On By

By Julian Winters

As You Walk on By is a funny and heartfelt story of complex friendships, house party hijinks, and high school identity with a Breakfast Club-like ensemble cast readers will absolutely love.

Recommended by Rae Ann Unseelie

By Ivelisse Housman

Twin sisters, one human and one a changeling, make unexpected allies after a heist goes wrong in this delightful fairy tale.

Sprout Book Club: February Selection Once Upon a Book

By Grace Lin, Kate Messner

The February 2023 Sprout Book Club selection is Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner. This is a book about the joy of reading. Alice imagines herself in the pages of her favorite stories. When invited, she dives into a book where she rides camels in the desert and swims under the sea. At the end of her journey, she returns to her favorite place, home. This is a beautiful tribute to the power of imagination.

Early praise for the book:

“A spellbinding ode to imagination and the transformative wonder of stories.” – Kirkus, starred review

Sprout Book Club is the book subscription box for picture book lovers. Every month members will receive a first edition picture book.  Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite picture book lover for 3, 6, or 12 months. 

Spark Book Club: February Selection Lasagna Means I Love You

By Kate O’Shaughnessy

The February 2023 Spark Book Club selection is Lasagna Means I Love You by Kate O’Shaughnessy. This novel is told through letters, recipes, emails, and blog posts. It is the story of eleven-year-old Mo who finds herself in foster care. She needs a hobby, besides cheering for the New York Jets. When she stumbles upon a recipe book with another family’s recipes, Mo decides food may be the way to finding her own family. This sweet novel is full of heart and characters you will cheer for.

Early Sparks for the novel:

“Readers will laugh, cry, and embrace Mo completely as they rejoice at the wonderful twist that leads to a happy new beginning for her. Deeply moving and tender.” – Kirkus, starred review

“Mo’s pitch-perfect voice vividly portrays her metropolitan past life with her quirky, vibrant grandmother; her own messy and layered feelings; and her established and growing relationships with others. Watching Mo develop new bonds and begin to feel like she has a place in the world is extremely satisfying.” – Publisher’s Weekly, starred review

Spark Book Club is the first editions club for middle grade readers.  Every month members will receive a first edition middle grade novel — plus a letter written by the author especially for club members. Makes a great gift for the independent reader! Sign ups are available for 3, 6, or 12 months.

ParnassusNext: February Selection Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling

By Elise Bryant

The February 2023 ParnassusNext selection is Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant. This fun rom com features a couple who are complete opposites. Delilah is the lead singer of a punk rock band and Reggie is a D & D Dungeon Master. They meet by chance on New Year’s Eve and go their separate ways. Each holiday they bump into each other again. It’s almost like the universe wants them to be together.

Early praise for the novel:

“Via inspirational self-discovery arcs with fated romance vibes, Bryant pens a tender tale prioritizing conversations on disability and tokenism.” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A darling ballad for the shy and nerdy yearning to belong.” – Kirkus

ParnassusNext is the book subscription box for YA lovers. Every member of ParnassusNext receives a first edition hardcover of each month’s selected book, signed by the author. There is no membership fee to join — and no line to stand in for the autograph. Not only will you have one of the best YA books of the month when it comes out, you’ll have it straight from the author’s hands, with an original, authentic signature! Set up a subscription for yourself or buy a gift membership for your favorite YA reader for 3, 6, or 12 months.