Summer Book Bingo: Recommended by an Independent Bookseller (Part 2)
July 28, 2017
Summer Book Bingo is designed to provide free summer reading fun for both adults and kids. Last summer, participants read a total of 8717 books, and we received a whopping 248 blackout cards and 227 bingo cards—let’s do it again! Swing by one of SAL’s partner bookstores this year to grab an Adult or Kid Bingo Card or download it here and spend the summer of ’17 reading great books.
Still need your “recommended by an independent bookstore square”? As with Part 1 of our bookseller series, SAL spoke with many of our independent bookstore partners around town to ask them for their summer favorites. In this installment, we hear from the dedicated book-lovers that make Edmonds Bookshop, Elliott Bay Book Company, University Book Store, Island Books, and Queen Anne Book Company possible.
Mary Kay Sneeringer, Owner, Edmonds Bookshop
War of the Foxes by Richard Siken
War of the Foxes is especially fun to read aloud. My husband and I took turns, thinking we’d share one or two, but ended up reading the whole book in one evening.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This main character, Ifemelu, doesn’t look like me. An eye-opening look at the U.S. through the experiences of a young Nigerian woman. I especially enjoyed the protagonist’s blog entries.
Before the Wind by Jim Lynch
A tight-knit family of sailors comes unraveled as the children grow up and scatter to the four winds; the father hopes to entice them all back to Seattle for one last boat race. This novel with serious themes will make you laugh out loud.
Karen Maeda Allman, celebrating her 18th year of bookselling at the 44-year-old Elliott Bay Book Company
Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura
Changing roles and opportunities for Japanese women in this era and as they age are at the heart of this novel, which is set in one woman’s tumultuous midlife “annus horribilis.” So refreshingly blunt.
The Girls by Emma Cline
The Girls just came out in paperback and reminded me of that invulnerability I felt as a young teen (and the ease with which we fell under the spell of older, seemingly wiser girls). A perfect and chilling summer read.
Growing a Farmer by Kurt Timmermeister
Time.com just gave a nod to Kurt Timmermeister’s Kurt’s Farm Shop Ice Cream as their best in the nation, and so it seems like a good time to recommend his book, Growing a Farmer (about his transformation from restaurateur to dairy farmer and cheese and ice cream maker). And stop by and try his ice cream, which he makes from milk and ingredients produced on his Vashon Island farm.
And, if you haven’t read Sherman Alexie’s brilliant memoir, You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, start now.
Eileen Harte, Events and Program Director, University Book Store
Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli
Beautiful and heartbreaking, Luiselli chronicles her work with undocumented children living in NYC.
Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash
Gabe Habash’s stellar debut, Stephen Florida, takes the reader on a road trip through college-wrestler Stephen Florida’s senior year of school. We are in Stephen’s head as he navigates love, sex, and his raw desire to win on the wrestling mat. This is a wild headbanger of a book and easily one of the best books of 2017.
Marlena by Julie Buntin
Set in Northern Michigan over the course of one year, Julie Buntin’s Marlena is a twisty novel of female friendship.
Night Prayers by Santiago Gamboa
Siblings Juana and Manuel are very devoted to each other. Juana dreams of a better life and works as an escort to raise money for the pair, but when Manuel is jailed and accused of drug trafficking, the siblings are tragically torn apart.
Janis Segress, Manager and Co-Owner, Queen Anne Book Company
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Homegoing takes place in Ghana in the eighteenth century and is the story of two half-sisters, each unaware of the other. One will marry an Englishman and lead a life of comfort and the other will be captured in a raid and sold into slavery. The story follows the parallel paths of the sisters and their descendants through eight generations. Powerful, compelling, and illuminating.
And, Island Books created an entire display in their shop with plenty of recommendations for kid & adult bingo boards, so stop on by!
