As we swing through this week of confusing weather (Is it Spring? Is it Summer?), let us ground ourselves in the constant constancy of the bookstore. Rain, shine, hail, road construction: we are here.
And let's not forget that Saturday is Independent Bookstore Day, which we'll be celebrating by kicking off the South Sound Book Crawl. 10 bookstores. 9 days. Visit them all. But, you know, start with your local.
Where—totally coincidentally—we'll have Happy Place, Emily Henry's new book. Henry's been the beach-read master these last few years, and Happy Place delivers as precisely as you're hoping. It's got comic timing, characters to root for, and that marvelous place inside all of us where it's always poolside with your besties. Amen.
TJ Klune is back this week as well with In the Lives of Puppets. It's the story of a hapless human, a Geppetto-esque robot inventor named Gio, an artificial nurse with a penchant for knives, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Gio, as it turns out, has a mysterious past, and when he is snatched away to be reprogrammed, our human protagonist and his robotic companions must venture out into the strange world in order to restore their family. Highly recommended.
Dennis Lehane returns with Small Mercies, his first novel in a few years. This is a standalone thriller about missing children, organized crime, and the crisis within communities as change comes rolling down the street. Set in 1974 as Boston swelters under an unprecedented heat wave, Small Mercies is Lehane at his incendiary best—much more than the sum of its parts. Also recommended.
And speaking of juggernaut writers, Simon Winchester's new book is called Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic. Okay, so there's one too many colons in that title, but we'll attribute it to the multi-faceted layering of what Winchester is exploring in this book. More of a thinky book than some of his previous non-fiction work (which is totally a lie, because even though previous subjects are more historically framed, they're still quite thinky), Knowing What We Know is an exploration of the underlying purpose of our increasingly complicated information systems. Winchester asks: What good is knowledge if it leads to a lack of thought?
Well, we're not going to pretend we can answer that in this pithy little newsletter, but it's a sucker bet that Winchester has a few thoughts on this question in Knowing What We Know.
And while we're pondering the great imponderables, how about some whiskey cupcakes or Nonny's banana pudding? Sounds delightful, doesn't it? Well, you'll need a copy of Miranda Lambert's Y'all Eat Yet?: Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin' Kitchen, a book that has four different punctuation marks in the title. Lambert isn't just one of the most beloved country music artists working today, she's also got a stack of recipes from all the fabulous women who have helped her along the way. We don't know much, but we do know that nothing says "family" like a well-apportioned spread of incredible chow.
And speaking of making magic, here is Theresa Levitt's Elixir: A Parisian Perfume House and the Quest for the Secret of Life. This probably won't be a surprise to anyone, but the origins of the modern perfume industry started with a couple of chaps who were steeped in alchemy. In the 1830s, Édouard Laugier and Auguste Laurent were working at Laugier Père et Fils, the most illustrious perfume house in Bohemian Paris. By day, they were concocting amazing elixirs and delirious scents. By night, they were exploring the structural differences between naturally occurring molecules and their synthetic counterparts. It sounds stodgy, but it's actually a story rife with alchemy, botany, fermentation, and scandal!
And speaking of scandal and witchery, Brom's Slewfoot is out in paperback this week. Filled with more than two dozen of Brom's haunting illustrations, Slewfoot is a visual and visceral feast. Get yours!
And here's something fun: Marjolein Bastin has found a new take on Jane Austen's classic novel. The Jane Austen Escape Room Book is—as it says on the cover—Pride and Prejudice and Puzzles. You didn't know such a thing existed and now you need a copy, don't you? Perfect for the car while you're driving around the South Sound this next week, right?
And while we're on the topic of crafty things, here is Gillian Conahan's Handwear Handbook: Make Gloves, Cuffs & Vambraces for Cosplay & Beyond. We know. Back in the day, we were happy with mittens, but these days, you gotta have more than just finger coverings. Well, fortunately, Conahan is here to keep us from embarrassing ourselves.
And speaking of complicated patterns, here is Benjamin Myers's The Perfect Golden Circle, which is our contender for Best Cover of the Week. Look at that! All those circles. This one is, on the surface, about two dudes who spend the summer making crop circles. But it's not just about confounding the locals with mysterious geometry. It's also about trauma and family and using the latter to heal the former. Show up for the mystery; stick around for the insight into the human condition.
And finally, here is Tod Benoit's Where Are They Buried?, a book about where to find the dead bodies. Not all the bodies, just the interesting ones. Where Are They Buried? has been updated to include all the most recently passed, including the famous, the infamous, and the noteworthy. Just in case you were wondering how to pad out that extra day or two on that family vacation you're finally taking. Benoit wisely includes insightful summaries of these departed folks, so you can fill the awkward silences when you arrive at the tombstone of the departed. Handy!
