Join our Spring Reading Challenge! Read any two of the eight books below (which are featured on the first page of our Spring Reading Guide) by May 31st and Bookshop will donate $5 on your behalf to our Keep Kids Reading Fundraiser which provides books to local kids during the shutdown.
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Valentine tells the story of women in West Texas—the ones who are knocked down, looked over, called crazy, or have been left behind. But even in the midst of their gritty stories, it is the idea of how women come together in both small and large ways to look out for each other that makes these stories speak to our hearts. As BookPage says, “You’ll wish you had more time with each of these powerful women when it’s over.” Elizabeth Wetmore has written my favorite book of the year. —Casey
A Hawaiian family is touched by destiny the day a swarm of sharks returns their drowning son to their waiting arms. Legends and expectations are foisted upon this child and the ramifications follow every member of the family in the years following. The story blends magical realism with a vivid look into family poverty and the struggle for personal identity. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the family members, each with a distinct and honest voice. How does a family live up to their destiny? How do they fail? How do they survive? Aching with humanity, Washburn’s writing brims over the surface—a roiling sea of love, despair, humor, chaos and purpose. I laughed, cried, and at times found it hard to breathe. Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a brilliant debut. Washburn bursts into the literary scene with some of the richest writing I've read in a while—crafting fallible, relatable characters who will break your heart and heal it all at once. —Tori
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This debut novel bursts with an emotion and raw energy that mirrors her chosen setting—California’s gold rush. Her story is from a perspective oft forgotten, that of a Chinese immigrant family searching for a home. I felt as if I walked every step with Lucy and Sam, shared their sorrows and their triumphs, and saw a side to my home state I never imagined. This story has lingered with me, and I find myself sifting through Zhang’s words again and again, always turning up another sliver of gold. —Jax
The Other Americans is a novel that traces the aftermath of a Moroccan immigrant family after the father, Driss, is killed in a hit and run. Laila Lalami tells the story through the perspectives of nine narrators, alternating between the daughter, Nora, her family, and the residents of the town. Lalami is a master in character development and has created a beautiful novel that effortlessly combines family drama and murder mystery. —Natalie
Lie with Me is an exquisite, intimate novel presented as if a memoir. Author Phillipe Besson confides in the reader as if talking to an old friend. He recounts the seminal event of his life, the story of a secret love between two 17-year-old boys in 1984 provincial France. It's a remembrance of a brief powerful connection that reverberates for decades. The writing is beautiful and poignant, sparse and direct. This is a story that leaves hearts and minds both moved and transfixed. —Trey
Washington’s debut collection of short stories would be an inhalation of brisk air, except the diverse neighborhoods of Houston are so fully realized that the experience is also steamy and thick with atmosphere. Lot is an all-encompassing read, seeking unapologetic truths, following those often forced to society’s margins; here they are centered, not as problems or issues or heartstrings to be pulled, but as people living their own messy, inconsequential, uniquely essential lives. The writing is real, gritty, and can be a challenge, but there is also a lightness to it, a palpable joy, and Washington’s evident intelligence and open gaze at what humanizes a story makes for necessary reading. —Melinda
Meet Vivian Morris, a naïve 19-year-old, dropped into the middle of the New York City theater scene in the 1940s. The drama, energy, and spirit of the city weaves into the unfolding of her identity. You’ll never forget this cast of characters or the ways in which Vivian struggles to claim her life as her own. —Casey
New York is a city on the brink of becoming something more, something self-aware and able to better care for its people. But an ancient evil is working against that birth, and it will take a ragtag, wildly diverse crew who call the city home to protect it. A love letter to (and a critique of) New York and its burroughs, a haunting exploration of the Lovecraftian racism we face today, and the most punk rock fantasy I’ve read in an age, this is one you can’t miss. —Jax