Chuckanut Reader - Spring 2016

A Magazine for the Northwest’s Most Avid Readers

The

Chuck anut Reader A Village Books Publication • SPRING 2016

Brian Griffin presents

Fairhaven: A History page 51

CHILDREN'S

BOOK WEEK Spring Reading Recommendations

POETRY MONTH Author Events and much more!

Dre ams ks & Paper Vill age Boo

LYNDEN

Check out the new

Lynden Section pages 35-43

VISIT US

Monday-Saturday 9am-8pm

Sundays

11am-5pm

e & on Open Lat

!

SUNDAYS

For your shopping convenience!

• villagebooks.com Front St., Lynden ile Building, 430 The Waples Mercant Spring 2016 35

s.com OOK • villagebook 360-671-2626 • 800-392-B

VOLUME 23, ISSUE 1

Join us in celebrating

INDEPENDENT

BOOKSTORE DAY Saturday, April 30, 2016

A

ll across the country, booksellers and book lovers will celebrate Saturday, April 30th as Independent Bookstore Day. For the second year in a row, we're throwing a party to celebrate the things that make independent bookstores special—and you're invited!

Join us at 9am in Lynden or 10am in Fairhaven to be first in line for exclusive, limited-edition Independent Bookstore Day items like The Neil Gaiman Coloring Book (with art by Chris Riddell, co-author of The Edge Chronicles), the X is for... 7” single inspired by Rad American Women A-Z, and the signed Anthony Bourdain's Perfect Burger print. And stick around for more fun throughout the day!

Whether you frequent our Fairhaven or Lynden store, we'll be having a blast, so stop on by. And if you happen to visit both stores on Independent Bookstore day, you'll be entered into a drawing for excellent prizes!

Join the party! We can't wait to celebrate Independent Bookstore Day with you!

THESE EXCLUSIVE ITEMS go on sale at opening April 30th.

Limited quantities!

2

Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

Dear Reader,

Wow, can you believe it's already 2016? Last year went by in a blur, but it was full of great events and accomplishments, as you'll see in our Top Ten Stories of 2015 on pages 7 & 9. This edition of the Chuckanut Reader, in addition to its usual features of reviews, previews, event information, and store news, includes a brand new section—a magazine within the magazine—focused on Lynden and our new store in the Waples Mercantile Building. We hope you'll enjoy that new section (it begins on page 35), and that you'll come visit our new store.

Each year the American Booksellers Association hosts a Winter Institute.

This year's institute—number eleven—was in Denver and was packed with speakers, education sessions, and many opportunities for booksellers to exchange ideas. Two big pieces of news came out of the Institute this year—good news and bad news.

First, the good news. Village Books, for the second year in a row, was named by Publishers Weekly as one of five finalists for Bookstore of the Year. We're both honored and humbled to be considered in such great company as Books Inc. in the Bay Area, Greenlight in Brooklyn, Brazos Books in Houston, and Phoenix Books in Vermont. The 2016 Bookstore of the Year will be announced in late March, so stay tuned.

Now the bad news. Research firm Civic Economics released a report at the institute that details the disastrous fiscal and land use impacts that Amazon has had across the nation. Information about that report is on page 44.

For nearly thirty-six years Village Books has operated in an environment of good news and bad news, and we've persisted.

We've persisted because of you, Dear Reader. You, and the community you represent, are our only reasons for existence. It's because of you that we remain. Thank you!

–Chuck, Dee,

and the entire Village Books & Paper Dreams Family

VILLAGE BOOKS

The Chuckanut Reader Spring 2016

Publishers: Chuck and Dee Robinson Production Design: Kelly Carbert

Contributors: David Beaumier, Amy Blackwood, Hana Boxberger, Kelly Carbert, Charles Claassen, Gaye Davis, Stephanie Douglas, Kelly Evert, Robert Gruen, Carol Hamilton, Paul Hanson, Sarah Hutton, Sam Kaas, Claire McElroy-Chesson, Laurie Mullarky, Laura Picco, Fran Protzeller, Chuck Robinson, Dee Robinson, Chris Sanders, Lauren Sommer, Joan Terselich, Jonica Todd, Cindi Williamson, Hayden Winn Cover: From the cover of Fairhaven: A History

by Brian Griffin. Image by Ben Mann.

Content except art & book covers ©Village Books 2016 Printed by the Lynden Tribune on paper made from 50% post-consumer waste.

360.671.2626 800.392.BOOK (US & Canada) fax: 360.734.2573

browse & shop anytime!

villagebooks.com

Village Books & Paper Dreams 1200 11th St., Bellingham, WA 98225 AND 430 Front Street, Lynden, WA 98264

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

In This Issue...

Independent Bookstore Day—Join the Party!

Dear Reader Spring Fun in Fairhaven and Beyond Village Books 2015 Top Ten Whatcom Reads! and Art Show 2016

Fiction, Mystery, Sci Fi (highlights & reviews) What Whatcom was Reading 2015 Writing Groups, Classes, and Literature April is National Poetry Month—Celebrate!

Joan Awarded James Patterson Bonus The Chuckanut Radio Hour Upcoming Shows Food and Gardening (books) It's All Happening in Lynden National Negative Impact of Amazon Bios, History, and Current Events (books) Brian Griffin brings us Fairhaven: A History Travel, Science, and Nature (books) Arts, Psychology, Health, Business (books) PNBA 2016 Award Winners Great Reads & Activites for Kids and Teens Y.A.R.C. Young Adult Book Reviews Literature Live! Author Events at VB

2 3 4--6 7&9 8 11--19 21 22--24 25--27 28 29 30--33 35--43 44 45--50 51 52--55 56--58 59 60--68 69 & 71 73--78

Visit us 24/7 at villagebooks.com Spring 2016

3

Spring into Action!

Fairhaven Activities

Saturday, March 26, 10am - 3pm

The 28th Annual Fairhaven Neighbors

Plant & Tree Sale in the Hillcrest Chapel Parking Lot

This one-day-only community event is free to attend and offers gardeners an early opportunity to shop directly from local and regional plant nurseries, all at one convenient location.

Along with expert advice from participating vendors, gardeners will find perennials, ornamentals, trees, native plants, herbs, vegetable starts, berries, bamboo, garden décor, and much more.

The event is sponsored by Fairhaven Neighbors (Fairhaven's neighborhood organization). Whenever possible, a portion of the proceeds is allocated to help support local non-profits. Last year, thanks to a great turn out of enthusiastic shoppers and supportive vendors, Fairhaven Neighbors selected the Chuckanut Center (Center for Local Self Reliance) and the Fairhaven Community Garden as beneficiaries.

The plant sale will take place on Saturday, March 26th in the Hillcrest Chapel parking lot on the corner of 14th & Old Fairhaven Parkway. For more information, including a full listing of participating vendors, visit Facebook.com/ FairhavenPlantAndTreeSale or contact Lisa Heisey at 360-220-4747.

Sunday, April 24, 10am - 5pm

Dirty Dan Harris Festival Celebrate the unscrubbed community founder of Fairhaven during this annual event-packed day!

This year’s festivities will feature great food, contests, and other family-fun activities including a fish toss for adults & kids, a donut eating contest, and Dirty Dan look-a-like & 1800's dress contests. There will be food and street vendors as well as live music on the Fairhaven Village Green. At "high noon," you won't want to miss the always exciting uphill piano race! After the race, swagger over to the Dirty Dan Sidewalk Saloon—serving wine and beer to those 21 and over.

The Chuckanut Chili Cook-Off will also be back! Tickets to sample the chili ($5) will cover a taste of each on hand, and a bowl of your favorite with a piece of bread alongside.

Tickets also allow for an opportunity to vote in the People’s Choice contest for best chili.

Come in costume or come as you are!

The Dirty Dan Harris Festival is produced by the Historic Fairhaven Association, a nonprofit organization that promotes and preserves the historical character of Fairhaven and also puts on the district festivals.

For a schedule and detail updates visit fairhaven.com.

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Spring 2016

Come cheer on Village Books in the uphill piano race!

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

Friday, April 29, 2016

Literacy Trivia Bee ?

??

and Silent Auction

Have you heard the buzz?

?

?

? ? ?

The Whatcom Literacy Council’s 20th Annual Trivia Bee will be Friday, April 29th.

The Trivia Bee is the Literacy Council’s annual spring fundraiser for know-it-alls, know-a-little-bits, and fun lovers of every stripe. Dozens of teams sponsored by local businesses––including Village Books’ team, The Village Idiots––converge at Bellingham High School and compete against each other while the witty remarks of co-hosts Scotty VanDryver of KAFE Radio and Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings provoke laughter and competitive spirit.

The evening begins with a Silent Auction offering tables full of great items. Bidding in the Silent Auction begins at 6pm and the Trivia Bee starts promptly at 7pm. You’ll have a great night of fun, and you’ll help the WLC help others. All proceeds go to support the Whatcom Literacy Council’s efforts to provide literacy tutoring to adults in Whatcom County.

Tickets are $15—or $30 for a family—and will be available at Village Books and at the door. If you would like to donate an item or service to the auction, contact events@whatcomliteracy.org or call 7528678 for more information. To register a team (three people on a team) and learn more about other ways you can promote literacy, visit www.whatcomliteracy.org.

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Sunday, May 29, 2016

Fairhaven Festival and Ski-to-Sea Race

Don't miss this all-day, multi-street party!

• Live Music on Two Stages • Beer & Wine Garden • Food, Arts, Crafts, Exhibits • Children's Activities

FAIRHAVEN

STEAMPUNK FESTIVAL

The Fantastical Mr. Flip's Carnival of Wonders and Curiosities

Save the Date!

Keep an eye on VillageBooks.com for details.

Saturday, July 23, 2016 At Village Books & on the Fairhaven Village Green Mark your calendar so you don't miss this day of music, vendors, author readings, food, and fun!

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

5

So Much to Do! Fairhaven

Pooch Scoot 5K Walk/Run

Sunday, April 24, 9am

This fun-run/walk will feature a 5K loop starting (and ending) at Fairhaven Fitness/ Bellingham Tennis Club, leading you (and your pooch if you bring one) through nearby neighborhoods and trails. Prizes including best dressed dog (human & dog duo). There will be two “Pooch Treat” aid stations along the way and goodies at the end. See bellinghamtennis.com for more information including how to register!.

50% of the net proceeds will be donated to Animals as Natural Therapy.

2016 —13th Annual

Procession of the Species Parade Saturday, May 7, 4pm

Want to participate? Lineup is at 3:30pm behind the downtown library. Three simple rules: 1. No motorized vehicles (exceptions for mobility devices)

2. No words, written or spoken.

3. No live animals.

Downtown Bellingham

Come one, come all, creatures great and small! Parade route follows Commercial Street to Holly and then down to Maritime Heritage Park where a celebration will ensue with wonderful Kuungana Marimba music.

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Spring 2016

Shop 24 hours a day at villagebooks.com

The Countdown...

Top Ten Stories for 2015 Giving Tree Still Growing In 20th Year

#10

Twenty years ago, after learning about a friend's program, Village Books introduced the Giving Tree. The program's intent has always been to provide books for kids who would likely never receive one as a holiday gift. Working with numerous agencies in the community, books that are generously donated by customers get to deserving kids. This year more than 1400 books were provided to kids through nine organizations. Thank You!!

#9 #8

Fairhaven History Published

For years folks have searched for a comprehensive history of Fairhaven. Oh, there were bits and pieces–a memoir here, some sketches there, some in print, some long gone. Finally, Bellingham icon Brian Griffin has published the ultimate history of Fairhaven. From its geological origins through the beginnings of its most recent boom, we finally have a book that gives Fairhaven its due. The book, which wasn't released until the second week in December, quickly became VB's #20 bestseller for 2015. See the full story on page 51.

Ivan Doig Loses 8-Year Dance With Cancer 2015 saw the passing of a number of well-known authors. Among them were E.L. Doctorow, Ann Rule, Terry Pratchett, Ruth Rendell, and Henning Mankell. None will be missed more in our region than the beloved Ivan Doig. For eight years Ivan endured the disease, and completed four novels in spite of it, including his final, Last Bus to Wisdom. Those of us at Village Books were blessed to call Ivan a good friend. We miss him dearly.

#7

#6

Rem Retires After 19 years at the store, Rembert Ryals III (know to all as Rem) retired. During that nearly two decade period Rem was involved in almost every aspect of the store's operation, and at the time of his retirement was buying new books for the store and heading up the used book buying team. He was also the enthusiastic lead of our involvement in the Smart Trips Program, once accepting an honor from former Governor Gregoire for the store's outstanding performance as green commuters.

Joan Receives Holiday Bonus from James Patterson

In 2013 James Patterson announced he was giving $1,000,000 to independent bookstores.

Village Books was fortunate to be a recipient of $7500 of those dollars to launch a Kids' Activities Director position. This year, the ever-generous Patterson pledged $250,000 to be given to folks working in independent bookstores across the country. Our own Joan Terselich was one of those honored with a holiday bonus. You can see the full story on page 28.

continued on page 9 360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

7

Join us March 3-5

Ruth Ozeki Whatcom READS! is a community-wide reading and discussion program intended to encourage all Whatcom County residents to read the same book and create a county-wide book club experience.

Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being is the featured book for 2016.

Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being, shortlisted for the Booker Prize and a National Book Critics Circle Award, is the 2016 Whatcom READS! choice. Enjoy the book again or discover it for the first time, then join us in welcoming author Ruth Ozeki to any of these free events in March.

Thursday, March 3rd 11am: Book Discussion with Ruth Ozeki, Ferndale Library, Ferndale 6:30pm: "Halving the Bones" Film Screening, Pickford Film Center, Bellingham (pre-film reception at 5:30 pm) Friday, March 4th 1:30pm: Principles of Buddhism with Ruth Ozeki, YWCA Ballroom, Bellingham 7pm: An Evening with Ruth Ozeki, Mount Baker Theatre, Bellingham ​Saturday, March 5th 1pm: The Art and Craft of Writing, Wilson Library Reading Room, Western Washington University 7pm: An Interview with Ruth Ozeki, Jansen Art Center, Lynden Keep an eye on WhatcomReads.org for other events and opportunities.

Purchase A Tale for the Time Being at Village Books and we will donate 10% of the proceeds to Whatcom READS!

Art Challenge Exhibit Whatcom READS! 2016 joined with Allied Arts of Whatcom County to sponsor an art challenge and exhibit in the Allied Arts Gallery inspired by A Tale for the Time Being. There will be an opening reception on Friday, March 4th from 6-9pm. The exhibit will run from March 4-26, 2016.

For more details see alliedarts.org/whatcom-reads-art-challange

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Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

continued from page 7

#5

Booked at the Baker Begins On April 11th, Booked at the Baker was launched with Dave Barry appearing at the Mount Baker Theatre, VB's partner in the series. David Suzuki and David Sedaris rounded out the premiere season, which we jokingly refer to as the "Dave Series." We're excited to announce that Terry Tempest Williams is coming to the Mount Baker Theatre on June 15th as our next series guest!

#4

Chuck's Big Ride On June 15th, the day after VB's 35th Anniversary celebration, Chuck set out to ride his bike 2400 miles to his 50th H.S. class reunion in Illinois. On July 21st, after riding 1480 miles and crossing both the Cascades and Rockies, two dogs took him down outside of Mandan, ND, with broken ribs and many bruises and scrapes ending the bike ride. In spite of the accident, Chuck and Dee both attended their reunions, and nearly $35,000 was pledged to three foundations.

#3

Village Books Celebrates 35th Anniversary

For a business, 35 years is a long time, but if Village Books were a person it would just be hitting its stride, and indications are that it is. On June 20, 1980, Village Books opened its doors in Fairhaven. Through the years it has worked to build community, one book at a time. As you'll see from the stories noted here in the top ten, and others throughout this Chuckanut Reader, the store is in its prime, still growing and striving to serve the community.

Here's to the next 35!

#2

VB/PD Opens in Lynden

From cogitating about the project in January, to signing a letter of intent in February, to opening on November 22nd, much of 2015 was spent in planning and developing the new Village Books and Paper Dreams store in the freshly renovated Waples Mercantile Building on Lynden's Front Street. The new store has been warmly embraced by folks in Lynden and the entire North County. We are honored and humbled to be welcomed into this vibrant community.

#1

Village Books Named Among Top Five Stores in Nation In the spring of 2015 the store was notified that it had been selected as one of five finalists for the annual Bookstore of the Year Award from Publishers Weekly Magazine. Books and Books, based in Miami, was ultimately—and deservedly—named the Bookstore of the Year, but we were honored to be in the company of four fine stores across the country. Shortly before this issue of the magazine went to press, we were notified that we were, once again, chosen as one of the five finalists for this year. We'll cross our fingers, but once again are just very pleased to be considered in this great company of bookstores.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

9

VB Reads...

Village Books

Groups meet in the VB Readings Gallery unless otherwise noted

Pacific Northwest Book Group

Bellingham Mysterians

Mystery Book Group Meets at 4pm the 3rd Tuesday of each month in the Writers' Corner on the Mezzanine Level of Village Books. Do you love a mystery? So do we! This is a book group for adults who are fans of the genre in all its sub-categories and micro-niches.

Sharpen Your Saw

Business Book Group Meet with Bill Miller the 3rd Tuesday of every month for a 5pm-7pm Happy Hour in the Book Fare Cafe to discuss an alternative approach to keeping your mind sharp and life balanced while being part of a continuous learning community.

General Lit Discuss books from a variety of genres with Cindi at 7pm the 1st Monday of each month. This group is open to anyone and everyone who enjoys reading and discussing books.

Afternoon Book Chat Bring your tea or latte and come discuss contemporary literature with Sittrea the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 1pm—open to all!

Cover to Cover Adventure For ages 8-12. Enjoy a book chat & activities with Hana at 4pm the 2nd Tuesday of most months.

Book Book Groups Groups Meet with Maren the 4th Monday of every month at 7pm to discuss books set in the Northwest, books about the Northwest, and books from local authors.

Meetings take place in the Writers' Corner on the mezzanine level of Village Books.

Engaged Citizens Book Group Meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month at noon. Join Mary Dumas for a thought-provoking lunch hour discussing books that ask us to consider how we, as community members, can more skillfully contribute to the creation of a civilly engaged community.

Armchair Historians Chat about, discuss, and dissect the most current and interesting history being written the 2nd Monday of every month from 7pm to 8:30pm in the Writers' Corner at Village Books.

Speculative Fiction Book Group Meet with Rachel the 3rd Monday of every month at 7pm to discuss thought-provoking speculative fiction in a group that welcomes diversity. Meetings take place in the Writers' Corner on the mezzanine level of Village Books.

Motherhood by the Book Meet with Claire the 2nd Sunday of every month at 2pm for an hour of spirited discussion of books that celebrate the trials, tribulations, and rewards of motherhood. Meetings take place in the Writers' Corner on the mezzanine level of Village Books.

Groups are open to everyone • Authors do not attend VB Reads

VB Reads book groups are open to anyone in the community. There is no group membership. However, those who attend are eligible for a 15% discount on that group's selections.

Each month, Hana, VB's book group coordinator, sends out a fantastic e-newsletter, specifically geared for book groups. It often contains staff recommends & fun facts about the reading habits of those of us here at the store! Sign up for the Book Group Newsletter at villagebooks.com or by emailing hana@villagebooks.com.

Go to villagebooks.com to see the monthly book selections for these groups!

Contact hana@villagebooks.com to:

Register YOUR book group with us and receive 15% off your book selections or to sign up for our monthly book group eNewsletter.

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Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

FICTION FICTION brand new

FICTION

The Theoretical Foot

hardcover

FICTION

Not Working

by M.F.K. Fisher

by Lisa Owens

available now, hardcover, Counterpoint

available in May, hardcover, The Dial Press

M.F.K. Fisher's most autobiographical novel, this was put aside because she was afraid its publication would hurt those thinly disguised characters/people in her life. Set in the late 1930s, the story centers on two American ex-pat couples who tramp around Europe, unmarried and happy, until the onset of a rare circulatory disease hits one of the men.

Sudden Death

by Álvaro Enrigue, translated by Natasha Wimmer available now, hardcover, Riverhead Books In this mind-bending, prismatic novel, worlds collide, time bends, traditions break down. There are assassinations and executions, hallucinogenic mushrooms, utopias, carnal liaisons and papal dramas, artistic and religious revolutions, love stories and war stories. A dazzingly original voice and a postmodern visionary, Álvaro Enrigue tells a grand, mystical adventure of the dawn of the modern era.

Claire has just resigned from her job without a plan—she is pleased and anxious, but her family and friends don’t seem to understand. And so, this is a story of self discovery, packed with wry humor and told in sparkling vignettes. A wise and laugh-out-loud debut novel that forces you to imagine what might happen if you quit your job to find your true purpose.

Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice

by Curtis Sittenfeld

available in April, hardcover, Random House

When their father falls ill, Lizzy and Jane return to Ohio and the home they thought they’d left behind forever. There, the siblings find their family in chaos: medical bills are piling up and the once elegant family house is falling apart. And then they meet Cincinnati’s newest and most eligible bachelors, reality TV star Chip Bingley…and his infuriating friend, neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy.

Britt-Marie Was Here

by Fredrik Backman

available in May, hardcover, Atria Books

Best-selling author, Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove), is back with a companion book to My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You She’s Sorry. The crotchety, clean-freak, socially inept neighbor of little Elsa has problems of her own now. Recently separated from her cheating husband, Britt-Marie meets an eclectic group of people in an almost-abandoned roadside village: a blind alcoholic left with bitter dreams, a pizzeria-owning ‘Somebody’ trapped in a wheelchair, and a collection of children who just need a football coach. This is another heartwarming story that will make you laugh and cry and cheer on these quirky characters. –Laurie

Glory over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House

by Kathleen Grissom

available in April, hardcover, Simon and Schuster

"A story with all the elements of a classic, family secrets, the struggle of an orphan to affluence and prominence, a quest for love, plus miscegenation, and escape from slavery. This exciting story of danger, fear, cruelty, loyalty, and enduring love, brings alive some of the worst in our history, and some of the best." —Robert Morgan, author of Gap Creek

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

The Illegal

by Lawrence Hill available now, hardcover, W.W. Norton & Co.

This book is set in two imaginary nations positioned between Africa and Asia, with an amazing, complex cast of characters.

The theme of this book is incredibly timely—the issue of refugees is one of the biggest worldwide issues of our time. Hill has a real passion about their plight, and that's deeply reflected in this powerful novel.

Spring 2016

11

FICTION FICTION brand new FICTION

FICTION

Black Rabbit Hall

Gone with the Mind

available now, hardcover, G.P. Putnam's Sons

available in March, hardcover, Little, Brown and Co.

Spooky. That's what this book is. An old, decrepit house on the Cornish countryside and a young woman, piecing together her birth story, who is inexplicably drawn to it. This is a dark, lovely, gripping family drama with plenty of love, tragedy, evil, and vindication to make a very satisfying read. An excellent book to be read on a gray day when it's best to just be inside with a good book and a hot drink. —Claire

"In prose that is equal parts Roth, Joyce, Scientific American and the Marx Brothers, Gone With The Mind delineates the deep soul and life story of man staring down the barrel of mortality-in the food court of a New Jersey mall... Quite possibly the first literary work of genius-comic and otherwise-of the new millennium." —Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

Tuesday Nights in 1980

by Molly Prentiss

The Last Painting of Sara de Vos

available in April, hardcover, Gallery/Scout Press

by Dominic Smith

available in April, hardcover, Sarah Crichton Books

Smith deftly bridges the historical and the contemporary, tracking a collision course between a rare landscape by a female Dutch painter of the golden age, an inheritor of the work in 1950s Manhattan, and a celebrated art historian who painted a forgery of it in her youth."...one of the best novels I have ever read." —Ben Fountain

It's hard to believe this is a debut novel!

This is a passionate story about an art critic, and an artist, and their shared muse in the course of one year in New York in the 1980s. The writing is impressively exceptional. —Kelly E.

The Lost Time Accidents

by John Wray

Be Frank With Me

available now, hardcover, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux

by Julia Claiborne Johnson available now, hardcover, William Morrow

Frank is a boy like no other! How many nine- year-old boys wear morning coats and top hats and know the characters from all the classic 1940s movies? He is brilliant, annoying, exhausting —and quite endearing! His mother Mimi, a reclusive writer, is also a pretty quirky character. Their story is seen through the eyes of Alice, who is hired to help Mimi and take care of Frank—quite a job! I looked forward to reading more about this crazy bunch in every chapter. A book full of heart and characters I will never forget! —Chris A recluse writer, a young publisher’s assistant, and a quirky nine-year-old boy named Frank who quotes old movies and dresses in a top hat and tails when the occasion calls for it —these all combine for a thoroughly delightful tale. You will laugh at the author’s pithy comments, cheer for young Alice as she tries to get a new book out of M.M. Banning, and feel Frank’s pain as he tries and fails to fit in at school. This is a dynamite debut by a great new voice! —Laurie

Spring 2016

FICTION

by Mark Leyner

by Eve Chase

12

hardcover

Wray takes us from turn-of-the-century Viennese salons buzzing with rumors about Einstein to the death camps of World War II, from postwar science fiction to a Manhattan apartment packed with artifacts of modern life. Part madcap adventure, part harrowing family drama, part scientific mystery—and never less than wildly entertaining—this is a bold and epic saga set against the greatest upheavals of the twentieth century.

The Summer Before the War

by Helen Simonson

available in March, hardcover, Random House

Here is a historical novel with the same wit, romance, and insight into the manners and morals of small town British life as her New York Times bestseller Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. Set in the summer of 1914, Beatrice, a young woman of good family, arrives as the first female candidate to teach Latin in the local school, and over the course of the novel falls in love.

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

FICTION FICTION brand new

FICTION

hardcover

FICTION

A Doubter's Almanac

Before The Wind

available now, hardcover, Random House

available in April, hardcover, Knopf

by Ethan Canin

A spellbinding novel about one man’s search for the truth about his mysterious, famous, genius, eccentric father—and about a father and son learning to understand each other in order to understand their own selves. From the New York Times bestselling author of America America, For Kings and Planets and The Palace Thief.

The Translation of Love

by Lynne Kutsukake

available in April, hardcover, Doubleday

Born and raised in Vancouver, thirteenyear-old Aya Shimamura is released from a Canadian internment camp only to be repatriated to Japan with her father who was faced with an unsettling choice: Move east of the Rocky Mountains or go back to Japan. With no hope of restitution, her father feels there’s nothing left for them in Canada and signs a form that enables the government to deport him.

The Valley

by Jim Lynch

Jim Lynch has always been able to capture the subtle idiosyncrasies of the Pacific Northwest, but it's the unforgettable voices of his characters that fill the not-so-metaphorical sails of his new book from the very first page. Scrappy, stubborn, graceful and just a little bit triumphant, Lynch's Johannssen family—and the larger, almost universal family of sailors, boat-builders and other quixotic souls who make up their world—will be with you long after you've finished this fine novel. Comparisons to Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion are inevitable, but I like to think of Jim Lynch as Cascadia's answer to John Irving, celebrating unlikely heroes and delivering a quiet but powerful emotional punch.

Before The Wind is not to be missed. ­—Sam

free events

Jim Lynch

Monday, April 17th in Lynden Tuesday, April 18th in Fairhaven Interested in attending a writing seminar with Jim? See page 42 for information.

Zero K

by Don DeLillo

by John Renehan

available in May, hardcover, Simon and Schuster

available in March, hardcover, Dutton

DeLillo's richest, wisest and most moving novel since Underworld, his funniest since White Noise, is an ode to language, a meditation on death and an embrace of life. Whether writing about terrorism, cults, or large-scale art, DeLillo has been startling prescient about our near-future world, and one senses an uncanny, brilliant prescience at work in Zero K.

"Renehan's The Valley is both a gripping, tightly-wound mystery as well as a sharply observed look at the complex internal politics of the U.S. Army, the deterioration of men tasked with too vague a mission and too little support, and what happens when they trifle with the intricate power structures deep in the mountains of Afghanistan." —Phil Klay, author of Redeployment

Free Men

by Katy Simpson Smith

Jane Steele

by Lyndsay Faye available in March, hardcover, G. P. Putnam's Sons

A reimagining of Jane Eyre as a gutsy, heroic serial killer. After years of hiding from the law while penning macabre "last confessions" of the recently hanged, Jane thrills at discovering an advertisement. Her aunt has died and her childhood home has a new master: Mr. Charles Thornfield, who seeks a governess.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

available now, hardcover, HarperCollins

In the midst of a beautifully written historical novel, Katy Simpson Smith (The Story of Land and Sea) forces the reader to question what freedom truly means. Through Bob, an escaped slave, Istillicha, a Creek who craves revenge, Cat, a white man touched with tragedy, and Le Clerc who hunts these fugitives after a vicious murder, we are left to ponder what brings value to life. This is a thought-provoking book that would lend itself well to book club discussion. —Laurie

Spring 2016

13

FICTION FICTION brand new

FICTION

hardcover

FICTION

Hide

Two if by Sea

by Matthew Griffin

by Jacquelyn Mitchard available in March, hardcover, Simon & Schuster

What would one do if their entire family was wiped out in an instant, in a tsunami on Christmas Day? In this case, Frank Mercy chooses to save a stranger, a small boy with no voice. But the question is…did he have the right to take Ian to America, to build a family with him, to experience the extraordinary gifts Ian has? Jacquelyn Mitchard (Deep End of the Ocean) weaves another rich tale of love and redemption in this pageturner of a book. —Laurie

available now, hardcover, Bloomsbury

"Reading Matthew Griffin's Hide, I kept saying to myself 'at last!': a novel that follows the trajectory of a marriage (in fact if not in name) between two men over the course of decades, and does so with grit, humor, and compassion! Hide is a welcome and important work." —David Leavitt, author of The Two Hotel Francforts

Dodgers

by Bill Beverly available in April, hardcover, Crown Publishing

The North Water

by Ian McGuire

available in March, hardcover, Henry Holt & Co

"A fast-paced, gripping story set in a world of gruesome violence and perversity, where 'why?' is not a question and murder happens on a whim...A tour de force of narrative tension and a masterful reconstruction of a nineteenth century whaling ship that seems to exist at the limits of the human imagination."

—Hilary Mantel

Exposure

by Helen Dunmore available in April, hardcover, Atlantic Monthly Press

I like stories that are twisty and a bit convoluted, and that don't fit any particular formula. I also like stories with interesting and complex characters.

This story, set in early cold-war London, has all that. It also has spies, secrets, disturbing family members, and questions about what loyalty really means. This is a great read! —Jonica

Don't Forget, We Buy

USED BOOKS & Textbooks

14

Spring 2016

East has never been outside of Compton, where he stands guard over a drug house in “the Boxes” for his uncle. But when his house gets raided by the cops, East finds himself with a new gig—he and three others, including his violent and mercurial younger brother, are to drive a nondescript minivan to Wisconsin to kill a federal witness.

The job is carefully laid out. But when East and his crew leave their familiar surroundings, the unimpeachable laws and power structures that govern them collapse, suddenly and brutally. Bill Beverly's debut novel is a primal, beautiful meditation on identity, family, and the ability we all may or may not have to choose our fate. —Sam

Innocents and Others

by Dana Spiotta

available in March, hardcover, Scribner

"What a delight to be at the receiving end of so much virtuosic caring. A daring and beautiful meditation about selfishness and selflessness, and how to be in the world.

A powerful book that will stay with me and continue to speak to me for a long time." —George Saunders, author of Tenth of December

Bring in your already-read books and we'll give you up to 30% of the list price in store credit (15% in cash). You can use that to buy more books or gifts in Village Books and Paper Dreams.

Shop 24 hours a day at villagebooks.com

FICTION FICTION brand new

FICTION

Fellside

by M. R. Carey available in April, hardcover, Orbit

"I keep finding myself wanting to throw cliché words like 'harrowing' and 'compelling' at it...It's a brilliant literary ghost story, a can't-look-away character car crash, a twisty narrative, AND an extremely subtle commentary on the very unfortunate effects of prison privatization. This is a wonderful, truthful, unconventional novel." —Jude Feldman, Borderland's Bookstore

At the Edge of the Orchard

by Tracy Chevalier

available in March, hardcover, Viking Press

It’s 1838 and the Goodenoughs have settled where their wagon got stuck.

The family tries to tame their swamp for seedling apple trees with disastrous results. The youngest child, Robert, takes his leave and goes west during the Gold Rush but finds that his past can still catch up to him—even out in California where the trees grow to the blue sky and past. —Kelly E.

Chicago

by Brian Doyle

hardcover

FICTION

Lilac Girls

by Martha Hall Kelly available in April, hardcover, Ballantine Books

After so many WWII novels, one wonders if there is a story left to tell.

The answer is yes in this epic historical fiction set in Poland and New York City. Told through the eyes of three women, the young Polish rebel who becomes a lab rabbit, the German doctor who commits immoral acts, and the New York socialite who undertakes the cause of the infamous Ravensbruck ‘lapins,’ this is the untold story of sisters, lovers, and heroic women who find their way through heart-wrenching trauma to a place where healing begins. —Laurie

The Nest

by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney available in March, hardcover, Ecco

"A masterfully constructed, darkly comic, and immensely captivating tale.

The desperate and entitled people who populate this novel are messy as hell but somehow I found it impossible not to care about each and every one and even, over time, to love them. The trick here lies in the storytelling, which is not only clever, but emotionally astute. ..." —Elizabeth Gilbert

available in April, hardcover, Thomas Dunne Books

This is the story of a young college grad, new to Chicago, and the five seasons he lived there, during which he meets gangsters, gamblers, policemen, a brave and garrulous bus driver, a cricket player, a librettist, his first girlfriend, a shy apartment manager, and many other riveting souls, not to mention a wise and personable dog of indeterminate breed.

The Excellent Lombards

by Jane Hamilton

available in April, hardcover, Grand Central

"Tender, eccentric, wickedly funny and sage—The Excellent Lombards gives full voice to Jane Hamilton's storytelling gifts. Frankie's tale of growing up on the family apple farm is a love letter to a threatened way of life and proof, once again, of Hamilton's extraordinary talent for dramatizing ordinary lives with nuance and compassion." –Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Daredevils

by Shawn Vestal available in April, hardcover, Penguin Press

“We believed, America.” Thus, the voice of Evel Kneivel—or, at least, some infalliable, omniscient version of him—begins Daredevils. It's 1974 in Gooding, Idaho, and two teenage kids—both from Mormon families but in starkly different situations—are about to put their faith in earthly saviors, dangerous heroes and, ultimately, each other. Which means, of course, that they are about to learn how heroes can disappoint us, how saviors turn out to be just as bad as the things they save you from, and how incredibly hard and lonely it is to be free. But they're also about to learn that in the end, we've all got to believe in something. —Sam

Spring 2016

15

FICTION No Ordinary Life

by Suzanne Redfearn available now, paperback, Grand Central Publishing

We have all watched television ‘kids’ grow up before our eyes, but what is their life really like outside their TV family? In Redfearn’s (Hush Little Baby) second novel, she explores the life of a down-and-out family, whose children find fame first on YouTube, and then on a hit television show. The money makes life easier, but are the stalkers, the paparazzi, the crazy producers, and the fast lane all worth it? This is a private look through a fascinating window of Hollywood pretention, desire, and life choices. –Laurie

Short Stories

Village Books & Paper Dreams

Gift Cards

For All Ages

and

Any Occasion

A Free Event!

At Village Books in Fairhaven

Sean Beaudoin

Thursday, March 24th, 7pm

Welcome Thieves: Stories

Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine

by Diane Williams

available now, hardcover, McSweeney’s

The very short stories of Diane Williams have been aptly called “folk tales that hammer like a nail gun,” and these 40 new ones are sharper than ever. They are unsettling, yes, frequently revealing, and more often than not downright funny, even though within these covers a mother dies, an illicit love affair is revealed, a ghost pays a visit, and police are called to the scene.

We're open for shopping and browsing 24/7 at villagebooks.com

by Sean Beaudoin

available in March, paperback, Algonquin

One part pitch-perfect observation, one part razor-sharp wit and one part punk rock attitude: this is the simple but effective cocktail that makes Sean Beaudoin's first adult story collection undeniably great. Abrasive, hilarious and wise, Beaudoin will make you laugh hysterically, right up until the moment you realize that you're laughing at yourself.

Heads up, George Saunders fans: your new favorite writer has arrived. –Sam

The Water Museum: Stories

by Luis Alberto Urrea

available in April, paperback, Back Bay Books

"All 13 stories are realistic and unsparing, as unflinching and hard-hitting as they are beautiful. It's difficult to find comparisons to an author as original as Urrea, a kind of literary badass who still believes in love. The Water Museum is a brilliant, powerful collection, and Luis Alberto Urrea is a master storyteller with a rock and roll heart." —NPR.org

16

Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

FICTION FICTIONpaperback

FICTION

The Dig

by John Preston

paperback

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy

available in April, paperback, Other Press

by Rachel Joyce

This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure.

As the war looms ever closer, engraved gold peeks through the soil, and each character searches for answers in the buried treasure.

available in March, paperback, Random House

The Swimmer

by Joakim Zander

available now, paperback, HarperCollins

"Truly polished and compelling. Tension and action abound. But it is the depth of Zander's characters and the quality of the writing, which at times touches elegance, that make The Swimmer a winner. Zander looks to be a very talented new branch on the flourishing tree of Scandinavian crime fiction." —Booklist, starred review

The Dead Lands

FICTION

Queenie’s goodbye letter to Harold Fry inspired an unlikely walk, a cast of wellwishers and the examination of many lives unlived. But there is a second letter, a longer, quieter more complicated letter which she will never send. It is this letter, the one we did not know about in The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which reveals the shocking and beautiful truth of Queenie’s life.

The Beautiful Possible

by Amy Gottlieb

available now, paperback, Harper Perennial

A rabbi’s daughter, a star rabbinical student, and a man devastated by the Holocaust in Poland, Alice, Walter, and Sol become entangled in a love triangle that will haunt them the rest of their lives. This is a story of deep faith, family ties that both enrich and estrange, and the hidden secrets that can haunt one throughout decades. –Laurie

Benjamin Percy

available now, paperback, Grand Central

"The Dead Lands is a bomb-blast of a novel, casting its tremors in every direction. Percy takes a journey across a cataclysmic future American West, sending his band of seekers, scholars, assassins, and explorers through a landscape as dangerous and surreal as it must have seemed to the original Lewis and Clark." —Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead

Soil

The Sunken Cathedral

by Kate Walbert

available in March, paperback, Scribner

In a chorus of voices, Kate Walbert explores the growing disconnect between the world of action her characters inhabit and the longings, desires, and doubts they experience. Walbert paints portraits of marriage, of friendship, and of love in its many facets, always limning the inner life, the place of deepest yearning and anxiety.

by Jamie Kornegay available in April, paperback, Simon and Schuster

A journey into a maze of misperceptions and personal obsessions, by turns hilarious and darkly disturbing, Soil traces one man's apocalypse to its epic showdown in the Mississippi mudflats.

"The Coen brothers meets Flannery O'Connor. It's definitely Gothic, it's definitely dark, but at the same time, it is hilarious and heartbreaking." –Kyle Jones, NPR

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

A Place Called Winter

by Patrick Gale

available in March, paperback, Grand Central

Patrick Gale used his own greatgrandfather's experience as a gay man to write this novel of a turn-of-the-century man whose illicit affair, the shock of discovery, and the threat of arrest force him to abandon his wife and child and sign up for emigration to the newly colonized Canadian prairies.

Spring 2016

17

Mystery Blood of the Oak: A Mystery

The Widow

available in March, hardcover, Counterpoint

available now, hardcover, NAL

The fourth book in the Bone Rattler series follows Duncan McCallum to 1765 and into the throes of the Stamp Tax dissent, marking the beginning of organized resistance to English rule. As with his other books in the series, author and historian Eliot Pattison incorporates murder, action, and ethics into the most interesting and lively look at our own history.

Haven’t you always wondered about the wives of the creepy serial killers?

How did they not know? How did they live an ordinary life while their husbands committed heinous crimes?

Debut author Fiona Barton answers these questions as she explores hidden lives in this dark psychological thriller that you won’t be able to put down until the last secret is unveiled. –Laurie

by Eliot Pattison

by Fiona Barton

Midnight Sun

by Jo Nesbo

available now, hardcover, Knopf

Nesbo departs again from his Harry Hole series and explores the psyche of a drug dealer and would-be hitman who attempts to hide from an Oslo crime boss in a small Norwegian fishing village. No one does complexity in characters like Nesbo, and he takes us on an exploration to see if Ulf can redeem himself. Another page turner by the Norwegian mystery writer! –Laurie

Bellingham Mysterians Book Group Do you love a mystery? So do we! The Bellingham Mysterians is a book group for adults who are fans of the genre in all its sub-categories and micro-niches.If you’re interested in discovering new authors, sharing your favorite books, and exploring fresh twists on old themes, then join us every third Tuesday of the month at 4pm upstairs in the Writers' Corner.

Thrillers Blood Flag: A Paul Madriani Novel

by Steve Martini

available in May, hardcover, William Morrow

Defending a client accused of killing her father, attorney Paul Madriani is drawn into a treacherous conspiracy dating to World War II in this enthralling installment in the New York Times bestselling series.

The Chuckanut Radio Hour

The Truth and Other Lies

by Sascha Arango

available in May, paperback, Atria

This is a literary crime thriller about a famous author and charming psychopath who accidentally kills his wife, the actual writer of the novels that made him famous.

"Arango has constructed a clever plot that always surprises, told with dark humor and dry wit and bustling with apercus."

—New York Times Book Review

STEVE MARTINI Thursday, May 19, 6:30pm in the Heiner Theatre at WCC tickets $5 - available now

18

Spring 2016

Thank you for your continued support.

We wouldn't be here without you!

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

Science Fiction At Village Books in Fairhaven A Free Event!

Steve Toutonghi Friday, April 22nd, 7pm

Join

by Steve Toutonghi available in April, hardcover, Soho Press

In the storytelling tradition of classic speculative fiction from writers like David Mitchell and Michael Chabon, Join offers a pulse-pounding story that poses the largest possible questions: How long can human life be sustained on our planet in the face of environmental catastrophe? What does it mean to be human, and what happens when humanity takes the next step in its evolution?

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

by Natasha Pulley

Sleeping Giants

by Sylvain Neuvel

available in April, hardcover, Del Rey

17 years ago: A girl in South Dakota falls through the earth, then wakes up dozens of feet below ground on the palm of what seems to be a giant metal hand. Today: She is a top-level physicist leading a team of people to understand exactly what that hand is, where it came from, and what it portends for humanity.

All the Birds in the Sky

by Charlie Jane Anders

available now, hardcover, Tor Books

"Two crazy kids, one gifted in science, the other in magic, meet as children, part and meet again over many years. Will they find love? Will they save the world?

Or will they destroy it and everyone in it?

Read Anders's lively, wacky, sexy, scary, weird and wonderful book to find the answers." —Karen Joy Fowler

available in April, paperback, Bloomsbury USA

"Electrifying . . . a triumph of speculative fiction. It captures the frenetic energy of a world undergoing extraordinary changes . . . Pulley expertly employs the tools of mystery and fantasy to examine the social pressures faced by the marginalized . . . The heart of the story is the universal human quest for acceptance, understanding, and love."

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Are YOU Receiving VB Email Updates?

Once a week, Village Books sends out an email newsletter packed full of store and book information including our latest LitLive events, sale dates, and on occasion, store coupons! Twice each week, we provide Shelf Awareness for Readers book reviews.

If you’re not currently receiving these updates and would like to, you may sign up in the store or, even easier, do it at VillageBooks.com today!

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

The Three-Body Problem

by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu available now, paperback, Tor Books

A secret military project sends signals into space to establish contact with aliens. An alien civilization on the brink of destruction captures the signal and plans to invade Earth. On Earth, different camps start forming, planning to either welcome the superior beings and help them take over a world seen as corrupt, or to fight against the invasion. The result is a science fiction masterpiece of enormous scope and vision.

Hugo Award Winner!

Spec-Fic Book Group Come discuss thought-provoking speculative fiction in a group that welcomes diversity. The aim of this group is to enjoy reading provocative science fiction (and occasional fantasy) stories and discussing the themes they might present, in both the original context and for us as individuals today. This group meets the third Monday of every month at 7pm in the Writers' Corner on the mezzanine level of Village Books in Fairhaven.

Spring 2016

19

The premier guide to arts & entertainment happenings in the region!

Click on the cover of the magazine at ennw.info to download or read online.

Pick up a copy at one of nearly 200 locations in Whatcom & Skagit Counties.

Visit ennw.info for reviews, updates and advertising info.

Younger Longer

Advertise in

ADVENTURES NW >>>

Functional Fitness to renew your strength, balance, and energy for your best years yet!

Buy the book, “Younger Longer” at Village Books, get the results at the Club.

Call now for a FREE consultation!

(Value $75) 800 McKenzie Ave. Bellingham, WA 98225

· 60,000 Readers · Affordable Rates · Beautiful, World-Class Content · A Perfect Fit for Our Community

360.733.5050

www.bellinghamtennis.com Locally owned and managed by Doug and Robin Robertson

20

Spring 2016

Contact John @ 360.319.1614 or john@AdventuresNW.com

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

WWAS READING 2015 HAT WHATCOM VB’s Top Sellers

1. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown 2. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

by Marie Kondo 3. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 4. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 5. Hiking Whatcom County 5th Edition by Ken Wilcox 6. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande 7. The Martian by Andy Weir 8. The Salish Sea

by Audrey DeLella Benedict and Joseph K. Gaydos 9. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman 10. Euphoria by Lily King 11. Letters to My Grandchildren by David Suzuki 12. Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher

by Timothy Egan 13. Geology of the San Juan Islands by Ned Brown 14. The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci 15. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin 16. Astoria by Peter Stark 17. Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel 18. Geology Underfoot in Western Washington

by David Tucker 19. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 20. Fairhaven: A History by Brian Griffin 21. Bellingham Impressions by Mark Turner 22. The Grand Lady of Mount Baker

by Michael Impero 23. The Mindfulness Coloring Book

by Emma Farrarons 24. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins 25. Paper Towns by John Green 26.The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt 27. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 28. Sea and Smoke by Blaine Wetzel and Joe Ray 29. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 30. Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Each year's Whatcom best-seller list reinforces the fact that folks here read widely, but also locally. Half of the books in this year's top 40 have a local connection—local author, local subject, and/or local event. Number one and three are, respectively, last year's and this year's Whatcom Reads books. Perhaps most notable on the list is Fairhaven by Brian Griffin. Released mid-December, it rose to number 20 on the list in less than three weeks, topping many books that were available all year.

31. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd 32. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald 33. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert 34. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline 35. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante 36. Dead Wake by Erik Larson 37. Bellingham: Images of America by Cecil Jentges 38. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein 39. Crossover by Kwame Alexander 40. Thrive by Ariana Huffington

Spring 2016

21

Chuckanut Writers

Conferences, classes, and retreats for your writing life

COMMUNITY COLLEGE

This spring, Village Books and WCC Community & Continuing Education will offer a variety of classes and seminars as part of our collaborative writing program, Chuckanut Writers. These programs are designed to inspire and encourage writers at all stages of their writing journey.

Classes

Wednesday, March 2, 6:30-9pm How to Proofread Your Own Work with Roby Blecker Sometimes we can miss errors in our own writing-the brain has the ability to accept its own written mistakes. This class provides ways of tricking your writer's brain into recognizing and fixing your most camouflaged mistakes. Fee: $35. Location: WCC.

Thursdays, March 3-10, 6-8:30pm Independent Publishing for Success! with Susan Colleen Browne This empowering class covers the essentials of independent print and eBook publishing: marketing strategies, pricing your book, selling your book in stores and online, real-world sales figures and profits, eBook platforms and royalties... and more! Fee: $69, Location: Village Books & Paper Dreams in Lynden.

Saturday, March 5, 9:30am-4:30pm Writing as a Spiritual Practice with Roby Blecker This workshop encourages participants to choose a kind of writing with which they resonate and to view that writing as spiritual when it is done in order to touch the inner life of the individual. Cost: $89. Location: WCC.

This class will help you package your ideas into an accessible and tell-able story. Students can expect to come away with a hard outline for their stories as well as a strong sense of their characters' goals, needs, and functions. Cost: $55. Location: WCC's Foundation Building.

Sunday, March 20, 3-6pm What's in a Name? with Roby Blecker

Wednesdays, March 9-23, 6-9pm Advanced Copyediting with Roby Blecker Copyediting doesn't have to just stop at grammar, spelling and punctuation. Learn the facets of developmental editing, as well as content editing, line editing, and organizational editing. Cost: $109 Location: WCC.

Join Us!

Saturday, March 12, 6-9pm Structuring Your Story with Jeff Bender

Titles of books and/or chapters can be mouthwatering or off-putting, and the names of your characters can be a helpful part of involving readers in your stories. Explore naming conventions, historical names, science fiction or fantasy names, how titles work, and much more. Cost: $39. Location: Village Books in Fairhaven.

Registration is open. Visit www.whatcomcommunityed.com for the complete listing of Chuckanut Writers classes. Call 360-383-3200 today.

Northwest’s Most

A Magazine for the

Cool Clocks

by Allen Designs

Avid Readers

The

er Chuck anut Read

with swinging pendulum

2016 Public ation • SPRING A Village Books

Go to VillageBooks.com to see this issue, as well as past issues, of The Chuckanut Reader online!

Brian Griffin presents

Fairhaven: A History page 51

CHILDREN'S K BOOK WEE

Spring Reading Recommendations

POETRY MONTH Author Events and much more!

Village

Books

& Paper

Check out the new

Dreams

LYNDEN

Section Lynden35-43 pages

VISIT US

Monday-Saturday 10am-8pm

Sundays

noon-5pm The Waples

360-671-2626

22

Spring 2016

• 800-392-BOOK

Open

on Late &

YS! SUNDA

Mercantile

Building,

• villagebooks.com

St., Lynden 430 Front

For your shopping convenience!

• villagebooks.com Spring 2016

35

VOLUME 23, ISSUE

1

FIND ME IN PAPER DREAMS! Building Community One Book at a Time

Writing The Great Spring: Writing, Zen, and This Zigzag Life

by Natalie Goldberg

available now, hardcover, Shambhala

The “great spring” of this book title refers to the rush of energy that arrives when you think no life will ever come again—like the early yellow flowering forsythia in the spring. It also refers to enlightenment: obstructions shatter, previously resisted truth releases, and an acceptance of transiency flows through. Natalie Goldberg shares the moments that have sprung from her own life of writing, teaching, and Zen practice.

The Art of X-Ray Reading: How the Secrets of 25 Great Works of Literature Will Improve Your Writing

by Roy Peter Clark

available now, hardcover, Little, Brown, and Co.

Clark invites you to don your X-ray reading glasses and join him on a guided tour through some of the most exquisite and masterful literary works of all time. Along the way, he shows you how to mine these masterpieces for invaluable writing strategies that you can apply in your own writing.

Faculty:

“I have attended this conference for the past four years.

The information is always new and invaluable.”

Jordan Kubichek Missoula, MT 2015 Conference Attendee

Inspiration into Action Friday and Saturday June 24 & 25, 2016 Whatcom Community College Bellingham, Washington www.chuckanutwritersconference.com presented by

Alice Acheson Roberto Ascalon Elizabeth Austen Bruce Barcott Roby Blecker Royce Buckingham Claire Dederer Sara Donati Elaina Ellis Stephanie Kallos Bharti Kirchner Erik Larson David Laskin Samuel Ligon Mary Moore Nancy Pagh Robert Michael Pyle Andy Ross Elizabeth Wales

COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Left: Original serigraph titled “Along Chuckanut Drive” by Nancy McDonnell Spaulding, commissioned by Chuckanut Bay Gallery, www.chuckanutbaygallery.com

CWC Early Bird Registration through May 15 The fifth annual Chuckanut Writers Conference is an intensive craft-focused, cross-genre symposium designed to inspire and edify writers of all experience levels. Co-presented by Village Books and the Whatcom Community College Community and Continuing Education program, the Chuckanut Writers Conference spotlights both talented authors who are distinguished writing teachers and respected agents who will share industry insights and hear pitches.

Register by May 15 for the early bird rate of $239. After May 15, the rate will be $279.

Note: After registering, please contact comed@whatcom.ctc.edu or 360-383-3200 with your preferred writing genre.

Visit www.chuckanutwritersconference.com periodically and follow us on Facebook for updates and news!

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

23

Literature Native: Dispatches from an Israeli-Palestinian Life

The Abundance: Narrative

available now, hardcover, Grove Press

available in March, hardcover, Ecco

With an intimate tone fueled by deepseated apprehension and razor-sharp ironic wit, Kashua has been documenting his own life as well as that of society at large: he writes about his children’s upbringing and encounters with racism, about fatherhood and married life, the Jewish-Arab conflict, his professional ambitions, travels around the world as an author, and his love of books and literature.

In recognition of her long and lauded career as a master essayist, a landmark collection including her most beloved pieces and some rarely seen work, rigorously curated by the author herself.

"Annie Dillard's books are like comets, like celestial events that remind us that the reality we inhabit is itself a celestial event."

—Marilynne Robinson, Washington Post Book World

Essays Old and New

by Annie Dillard

by Sayed Kashua

Frantumaglia: Bits and Pieces of Uncertain Origin

by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein available in April, paperback, Europa

In this collection, renowned and reclusive Italian writer Elena Ferrante addresses subjects such as her choice to remain anonymous, her literary inspirations, Italian politics and culture, and the role of the writer (and the publisher) in modern society. Ferrante's voice is ever the same; direct, penetrating, acute, inspiring and intimate.

Ask about our Signed 1st Editions Club! Receive 6 hand-selected autographed novels annually.

VB Writes...

Village Books

Groups meet in the Writers' Corner on the mezzanine level of VB

Writing Groups

Village Books hosts multiple writing groups. Choose which group most reflects your writing genre then come and share your work in a supportive environment. Groups are free and open to everyone. They all meet on the mezzanine level of Village Books in our Writers' Corner.

Prompts

Poetry I 1st & 3rd Thursdays, 5:30 to 7pm

2nd & 4th Mondays, 4-6pm

f Creative Nontiction

Poetry II 1st & 3rd Wednesdays, 10:15-12:15am

1st & 3rd Tuesdays, 6-8pm

Fiction I

2nd & 4th Thursdays, 6-8pm

f Nontiction & Memoir 1st & 3rd Sundays, 3:15-5:15pm

Read more about each group at villagebooks.com. Please note that meeting times may vary on occasion.

Check our events calendar to confirm meeting times. Contact Paul@villagebooks.com for more information.

24

Spring 2016

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

20th Anniversa ry!

Celebrate

I

naugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month, held every April, is the largest literary celebration in the world with publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country banding together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations, including Village Books, participate through readings, book displays, and other events. Keep an eye on villagebooks.com for April poetry events at Village Books.

You can celebrate in a variety of ways. Sign up to receive a poem-a-day by email by going to Poets.org and clicking on the Poem-a-day link.

Receive a POEM-A-DAY go to Poets.org

Celebrate Poem-in-Your-Pocket Day on Thursday, April 21st by selecting your favorite poem, carrying it around all day, and sharing it with friends, family, and co-workers.

All poetry books will once again be 20% off for the entire month of April!

F F O % 0 2 ETRY PO !

ALL April

Night-Sky Checkerboard

by Sae-young Oh

available in April, paperback, Phoneme Media

Night-Sky Checkerboard introduces English - language readers to the understated, imagistic lyricism of a Korean master at the peak of his powers. As a young poet, Sae-young Oh was fascinated

by Modernism, and attempted to represent the inner landscapes of the dislocated self as produced by industrial society, finally arriving at more existentialist concerns.

Wait Till I'm Dead:

Uncollected Poems

by Allen Ginsberg, edited by Bill Morgan available now, hardcover, Grove Press

The first new Ginsberg collection in over fifteen years, Wait Till I'm Dead is a landmark, edited by renowned Ginsberg scholar Bill Morgan. Ginsberg wrote incessantly for more than fifty years, often composing poetry on demand, and many of the poems collected in this volume were scribbled in letters or sent off to obscure publications and unjustly forgotten. Spanning the whole of Ginsberg's long writing career from the 1940s to the 1990s, this is a testament to his astonishing writing and singular aesthetics.

At Village Books Join us for a Group Reading from Noisy Water in celebration of National Poetry Month!

Join the contributors to the Noisy Water Anthology as they read their work in this showcase of Whatcom County poets.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

A Free Event!

Group Reading Thursday, April 14th, 7pm

Spring 2016

25

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26

Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

Poetry

Celebrate Shaler's Fish

by Helen Macdonald available now, hardcover, Atlantic Monthly Press

April Post-: Poems

by Wayne Miller available in April, paperback, Milkweed

This collection focuses around a series of “post-elegies” triggered by three occurrences: the birth of Wayne's child, the death of his father, and his experience of the seeming explosion of social, historical, and political conflict and violence over the past decade. Post- is filled with pathos, humor, pain, and the beauty of living.

SOS: Poems 1961-2013

by Amiri Baraka

available now, paperback, Grove Press

Amiri Baraka, formerly known as LeRoi Jones (1934–2014), was an author of poetry, plays, essays, fiction, and music criticism, as well as a groundbreaking political activist who lectured in the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. Among many other fellowships, he served as Poet Laureate of New Jersey from 2002-2003. This volume comprises the fullest spectrum of his rousing, revolutionary poems, from his first collection to previously unpublished pieces composed during his final years.

Poetry Books are 20% Off in April!

The Silk Road: Taking the Bus to Pakistan

Before Helen Macdonald chronicled the experience of adopting a goshawk in her bestselling book H Is for Hawk, she was a poet. With a masterful ear for musical phrasing as well as an utterly unique way of seeing the earth around her, she writes deft, daring verse.

Now in Paperback!

This Present Moment:

New Poems

by Gary Snyder available in April, paperback, Counterpoint

For his first collection of new poems since 2004, Gary Snyder finds himself ranging over the planet, journeying to the Dolomites, Lake Tahoe, Paris, Tuscany, and to the shrine at Delphi. Added to the mix are some of the most beautiful domestic poems of his career, about his work as a homesteader and householder, a father and husband, and as a friend and neighbor.

A Small Porch: Sabbath Poems 2014

by Wendell Berry available in April, hardcover, Counterpoint

More than thirty-five years ago Wendell Berry began spending the Sabbath outdoors, seeking a deep intimacy with the land. These walks arranged themselves into collections of poems titled by the year of composition. This newest collection is drawn from the view from a small porch in the woods, a place of stillness and reflection.

by Bill Porter

available now, paperback, Counterpoint

In the fall of 1992, writer and scholar Bill Porter (Lone Pine) left his home in Hong Kong to travel from China to Pakistan by way of the famous Silk Road. Equipped with a plastic bottle of whiskey, needlenose pliers, and the companionship of an old friend, his resulting writings weave witty anecdotes with his astounding grasp of the history and fantastical mythology of China and the surrounding regions.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

The Chuckanut Radio Hour featuring Washington State Poet Laureate

Tod Marshall Thursday, April 28, 6:30pm in the Heiner Theatre at WCC tickets $5 - available now

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Joan Receives Holiday Gift from James Patterson Joan Terselich and James Patterson share much in common. No, Joan doesn't write thrillers or kids' books but she, like Patterson, is passionate about what she does and is generous to a fault. She now shares one more thing with the noted writer—his money. Joan was one of 87 booksellers around the country, out of 2848 nominees, to be given a holiday bonus by Patterson.

Patterson, who has previously given a million dollars in grants directly to bookstores, including $7500 to Village Books, set aside $250,000 to be given out in bonuses of $1000 to $5000 each during the 2015 holiday season. Nominations for the bonuses came from bookstore coworkers.

Kelly Evert, the store's Merchandising Manager, was one of at least two people to nominate Joan. She recalled a time long before she worked at Village Books.

"I purchased books from her 17 years ago, when I was a Village Books customer," she said. "She is the first person to ask if anyone needs help, she can talk up a book and sell it like nobody else I know, and she has a heart of gold." Recounting that Joan organizes retirement parties, greets "dog customers" with great enthusiasm, and helps her fellow teammates daily, Kelly continued "She is selfless and puts others first." Store Manager Sarah Hutton adds, "Joan is such a delight to have on staff.

Her knowledge is amazing and she is always ready with a spot-on recommendation."

Joan, like several others here at the store, is a Midwesterner. She was born in Chicago and grew up in Brookfield, near the famed Brookfield Zoo. She recalls a creek near her house that was at the time unfenced. "When the creek froze," she says, "we could skate or sled into the zoo when it was closed. The zoo was always more magical when we had it to ourselves."

Unsurprising to anyone who knows her passion for reading, Joan has been a book lover from her very early years, citing The Poky Little Puppy as her "read-it-a-thousand-times" book and Jane Eyre as the book that had the greatest impact on her as a young reader. "When I finished it, I cried and cried," she says. "What book could ever follow that?"

But many did, as anyone who has encountered Joan in the store could tell you. If you've never had a book put in your hand and been told "you must read this" you've not yet met Joan. When asked what author she would like to spend a day with she unhesitatingly replies, "James McBride. In The Good Lord Bird, he wrote so beautifully in that snappy pre-Civil War Missouri dialect. I'd love to know how he did that!"

Joan spent most of her early adult years in the Chicago area waitressing while she was in school and working as a medical social worker. She had short stints in Denver and Seattle and moved to Bellingham and Village Books about 19 years ago.

She says "working in a bookstore was a fantasy to soothe the stresses of social work. Discussing books with someone then putting a book I believe they'll love into their hands has an intimacy and integrity I love."

Joan loves to travel and says her trip to Kenya a couple of years ago was "a lifelong dream." Perhaps the bonus, which she's banked, will help get her to Slovenia where all four of her grandparents were born.

In the meantime Joan will continue doing what she loves and does so well—recommending wonderful books and generously taking care of all of those around her. In her typical self-effacing way, Joan says the bonus embarrasses her because "everyone here deserved this and that's a fact." Truth is everyone who works here would tell you that no one deserves it more.

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Spring 2016

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

Chuckanut Radio Hour

The

The Chuckanut Radio Hour, a recipient of Bellingham’s prestigious Mayor’s Arts Award, is a radio variety show recorded live and played on KMRE 102.3FM. Each Radio Hour features guest authors and musicians, performance poetry, a comedy skit, and some groaner jokes. It's a lot of fun so check out our upcoming line-up and join us!

Sunday, March 13, 1:30pm At The Bellingham Theatre Guild - 1600 H St., Bellingham

Brian Griffin –Fairhaven: A History

Join Brian Griffin as he presents the complete history of that most southerly community on Bellingham Bay, one of the four original towns that were consolidated in 1904 to become the present City of Bellingham. Ticket proceeds will benefit the Bellingham Theatre Guild! Read more about Brian and his new book on page 51.

Thursday, April 28, 6:30pm in the Heiner Theater at Whatcom Community College

Tod Marshall

Tickets $5.00

Washington State Poet Laureate Celebrate National Poetry Month with us as we welcome Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall to the Chuckanut Radio Hour! Tod Marshall was born in Buffalo, New York and grew up in Wichita, Kansas. He directs the writing concentration and coordinates the visiting writers series at Gonzaga University, where he is the Robert K. and Ann J. Powers Endowed Professor in the Humanities. He became the Washington State Poet Laureate in February. He enjoys backpacking and fishing and spends about a month of every year in a tent.

Tickets for all shows are available at Village Books and BrownPaperTickets.com

Thursday, May 19, 6:30pm in the Heiner Theater at Whatcom Community College

Steve Martini –Blood Flag Join us as we welcome bestselling author Steve Martini to the Chuckanut Radio Hour for his latest Paul Madriani novel! In Blood Flag, Madriani takes on a new homicide case in which Emma Brauer-Nunn has been accused of ‘mercy killing’ her elderly father. Upon looking into the victim’s military record, Paul discovers the story of the mysterious “Blood Flag,” a blood-stained Nazi flag which holds the key to his client’s innocence.

A HUGE thanks to our amazing sponsors!

Receive one free ticket with each pre-event purchase of Blood Flag.

KMRE FM 102.3 The Chuckanut Radio Hour airs every Saturday evening at 6pm and Sunday at 9pm on KMRE 102.3FM

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

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project description:

Now with a second locati on in Lyn

Drizzle Color Ad

d en !

05-01-14

Lunch is served hot bar & salad bar fresh in the co-op delis everyone can shop, anyone can join

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30

Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

DC

Made As Simple As Possible

by The Editors of Cooking Light Magazine

available now, paperback, Oxmoor House

150 recipes that offer tons of simple ideas for weeknight meals. Easy-tofollow instructions are accompanied by graphic sidebars and beautiful food photography, creating a fun and vibrantly designed package that will appeal to cooks of all levels. This complete guide also includes a chapter dedicated to simple cooking strategies, ingredient staples, a seasonal produce guide, and more.

The Culinary Herbal: Growing and Preserving 97 Flavorful Herbs

by Susan Belsinger, Arthur O. Tucker, and Shawn Linehan available now, hardcover, Timber Press

Good cooks know that when it comes to herbs, there is nothing better than those that are clipped fresh from the garden.

In this gorgeously photographed guide, home cooks will learn which herbs offer the most flavor, how to grow them at home, and how to put them to use. Plant profiles are organized alphabetically by herb type and include basic growing information, flavor notes, and culinary uses.

k

Dinner A.S.A.P.: 150 Meals

Cook it Grow It k

Sara Moulton's Home Cooking 101: How to Make Everything Taste Better

by Sara Moulton

available in March, hardcover, Oxmoor House

This invaluable guide is packed with essential techniques, expert tips, and practical advice to sharpen your sense of taste and cultivate confidence in the kitchen. With wit and wisdom, Sara guides readers through the fundamentals, then offers 150 hit recipes to illustrate, stepby-step, the time-tested methods that make each so delicious.

Find the Cookbooks along with fun food and cooking items in Paper Dreams!

The Hands-On Home: A Seasonal Guide to Cooking, Preserving and Natural Homekeeping

by Erica Strauss

available now, hardcover, Sasquatch Books

Would you like to clean everything in your home without toxic chemicals by using natural cleaning supplies, such as baking soda, vinegar and borax? When is the last time you smelled bed sheets that were line-dried in the backyard? Better yet, fill your cupboard with your own preserves, such as pickled asparagus. This book has many delightful, homey ideas. (I recommend using this book together with Spark Joy by Marie Kondo, as you tidy up your house.) –Cindi

Mother Earth News Almanac: A Guide Through the Seasons

by Mother Earth News

available now, paperback, Workman

It’s back! The 1970s classic from John and Jane Shuttleworth has been out of print for years. This timeless reference for homesteaders, DIYers, and anyone looking to be more self-sufficient is now fully updated for today's readers and its information is as useful as ever. It contains instructions and illustrations for everything from harnessing solar energy to cultivating a sustainable garden to learning how to keep bees.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

GARDENING Gardening on a Shoestring: 100 Fun Upcycled Garden Projects

by Alex Mitchell

available now, paperback, Cool Springs Press

By combining classic gardening skills with ultra-creative ideas, Mitchell teaches readers 100 ways to up-cycle their gardens by creating ingenious green-thumb DIY projects and grow lush gardens. From upcycling common objects (such as tin cans, old potato sacks, and colanders) to revisiting basic garden techniques (like growing from seed), a garden's overall cost can drop dramatically. Thanks to photography, illustrations, and plenty of additional tips, this book has plenty of fodder for readers to create a better garden.

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Enjoy Great Meals at these Fairhaven Restaurants!

book fare café in village books

now catering

seasonal local organic allergy-friendly come see what’s new on the mezzanine level upstairs in village books www.bookfarecafe.com 360.734.3434

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Spring 2016

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

n e h c t i K E H T IN Book recommendations from one of our favorite chefs. Bon Appétit!

k

I

nevitably, winter turns to spring. I just wish it would hurry up! Break up the monotony of the late winter days with some nourishing, inspiring ideas from this season's offering of cookbooks.

Kitchen Hacks: How Clever Cooks Get Things Done

by America's Test Kitchen

available now, paperback, Cook's Illustrated

Ever need room temperature butter but forgot to take it out of the refrigerator until you need it? Want to speed ripen that rock-hard avocado? Need to know the substitution ratios for different kinds of sugar and sweeteners? You need this handy book! Tips collected from hundreds of research kitchen tests and professional chef experience, the information here will increase your kitchen efficiency immediately!

Scandinavian Baking:

Sweet and Savory Cakes and Bakes, for Bright Days and Cozy Nights

by Trine Hahnemann available now, hardcover, Quadrille Publishing To quote the author's introduction, "Home baking is about love, peace, comfort, and the simple enjoyment of making tasty breads and cakes." This sums up this beautiful, inspiring collection of recipes, from real Danish pastry to knackerbrot to keep you warm and cozy until winter thaws.

Cuban Cocktails: 100 Classic and Modern Drinks

by Ravi DeRossi, Jane Danger, and Alla Lapushchik available now, hardcover, Sterling Epicure Maybe I'm partial due to my mother-in-law's Cuban heritage, but I love Cuban cookbooks.

This one is a little historical timeline, a little geography, and a whole lot of tropical enjoyment in the form of delicious, refreshing cocktails from the land of rum and sugar cane!

Sea and Smoke: Flavors from the Untamed Pacific Northwest

by Blaine Wetzel and Joe Ray available inow, hardcover, Running Press.

Everybody's favorite local celebrity chef takes us behind the scenes at the acclaimed Willows Inn on Lummi Island with this lovely memoir and cookbook. Culinary philosophy combines with a naturalist's appreciation for the beauty of our corner of the world as Blaine walks us through the seasons of foraging and cooking in the Northwest.

Charles Claassen is the chef/owner of the Book Fare Café on the mezzanine of Village Books. Through the seasonal menus at the café, teaching cooking and food classes in the community, and continuing to develop relationships with farmers and food artisans, he provides thoughtful, conscientious food that's quite tasty, too.

book fare café

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

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Spring 2016

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

Village Books & Paper Dreams

LYNDEN

VISIT US

Monday-Saturday 9am-8pm

Sundays

11am-5pm

n o & e t a L n e p O

SUNDAYS!

For your shopping convenience!

The Waples Mercantile Building, 430 Front St., Lynden • villagebooks.com

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

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Lots to do in Lynden Fun events coming up in Lynden that you might want to check out.

• March 4-6: Whatcom County Home & Garden Show

• March 17-19 Spring Craft & Antique Show

• April 8-9 Whatcom County Youth Fair

• May 7: PSATMA Spring Tractor Pull

• May 21: International Plowing Match

• May 21-22 Mt. Baker Kennel Club Dog Show

• June 4: Farmers Day Parade

• June 11: Fishing Derby

• July 15-16 : Northwest Raspberry Festival

• June 17-18: Relay for Life

• August 15-20: Northwest Washington Fair See the calendar at Lynden.org for details and event links.

Have fun!

Historic Hospitality 360-746-8597 • innatlynden.com • 100 5th Street

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Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

Lynden Welcomes Village Books & Paper Dreams

by Chuck Robinson

I

t would be hard to imagine a warmer welcome than Village Books and Paper Dreams has received since opening on November 22nd in the Waples Mercantile Building on Front Street in Lynden. Longtime residents of Lynden and the North County are heartened to see the return of a building that holds so much of the community's history. So many people have recounted stories of coming to the Lynden Department Store as children, many—including our own Gaye Davis—recall relatives who worked in the store.

Others remember the collection of shops that made up Delft Square, the name the building took on after the department store closed in the late 1970's. The newest name honors the founder of the Lynden Department Store and the person who had the current building built in 1914, Billy Waples. Waples was revered in Lynden, not only as a merchant, but as a person who helped bring electricity, the railroad, and the fair to Lynden. He is also credited with saving the town and many folks in the North County during the depression by issuing what may well have been millions of dollars in credit to local residents. His story is far too long and fascinating to tell here, but you can look forward to a book about Billy Waples and the Lynden Department Store in the coming year.

Anchoring the building is The Inn at Lynden. It provides a beautiful, reasonably priced boutique hotel in the heart of downtown and will be the perfect spot for folks coming to Lynden on business, attending one of the myriad of events at the Fairgrounds, or just enjoying a weekend getaway.

the current tenants is Overflow Taps, who serve local and regional craft beer, select Washington wines and cider, and donate 25¢ from from each pint to bring clean, safe drinking water to people in need around the world.

The basement area of the building, which houses back-of-house operations for The Inn and the "Book Cellar" portion of Village Books and Paper Dreams, has additional space available for future tenants. Jeff and Deb McClure and Teri and Matt Treat, partners in the building and the Inn, had expected it would be some time before there would be businesses in the lower level.

However, once the building was under construction the partners were inundated with inquiries about those spaces. Because the Inn has a bicycle theme, provides bikes for guests, and will encourage biking getaways, the partners are hopeful that there will be a bike shop added soon.

We're so pleased to be involved in the revival of this historic building and the downtown core of Lynden.

We look forward to many years of taking an active role in this exciting, vital community.

In addition to their normal fare of flavored olive oils and specialty vinegars, Drizzle is serving charcuterie boards, gourmet sandwiches, pastas, and more. Avenue Bread brings well-known offerings from its three Bellingham cafés. Unique and handmade gifts for babies, toddlers, and parents are available at the Bellingham Baby Company, who also have a store in Barkley Village. Rounding out 360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com Lynden Store Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9am-8pm • Sun. 11am-5pm

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Love

♥♥

Lynden

AND WIN

Throughout the year, the Lynden Chamber of Commerce teams up with local merchants to offer drawings for fantastic prizes.

Stop in and register at Village Books and Paper Dreams and any of the other participating Lynden merchants in the weeks prior to each drawing.

Lynden Loves Moms – drawing May 12th Lynden Loves Dads – drawing June 16th Lynden Loves Veterans – drawing November 10th Must be 18 to enter, limit one entry per business per day. No purchase necessary. Good Luck!

♥

Used Books

used - vintage - collectible

Coffee

coffee roasting - tea - espresso

...relax and unwind...

515 Front Street - Downtown Lynden across the street 1/2 block from Village Books-Paper Dreams

www.katzlynden.com 360-354-2471 join us on FB, Twitter and Instagram @katzlynden

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Spring 2016

Lynden 10am-9pm Store Hours:• Mon.-Sat. Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs Fri & Sat 9am-8pm 10am-10pm• Sun. • Sun11am-5pm 10am-7pm

GAYE DAVIS

is a Lynden

Stalwart

by Chuck Robinson

V

illage Books and Paper Dreams is relatively new to Lynden, but Gaye Davis is not. She has lived nearly her entire life there, with the exception of the few years she spent in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at Calvin College, working in a violin shop, and playing in the Grand Rapids Symphony.

Gaye's early years were spent on a farm north of Lynden where she attended Ebenezer Christian School, as everyone from her grandfather on down had done. After third grade the family moved into town and she attended Lynden Christian School through high school. Her early memories of childhood, in a neighborhood where there weren't any other kids her age, include spending a lot of time entertaining herself.

"I'd make a little hiding place either behind my Dad's rocking chair or behind the piano," she says. There she would endlessly play 45's on her little record player and look at pictures in her books.

Among the books she recalls from childhood are It's a Horse of Course, the Narnia series, and Anne of Green Gables.

She also fondly remembers The Borrowers and says "the little people lived on my book shelves for years. They were nice little people. I had to hide them from my cat."

Reading began early for Gaye. She had memorized It's a Horse of Course from having had it read to her many times.

Then one day when she was four she was "reading" the book and "the word 'horse' jumped out at me," she recalls. "I really mean jumped out—it appeared to lift off the page and then settle back down," she continues. "I still remember how it felt to realize I could read it! It gives me chills."

Gaye continues to read widely and cites Outlander by Diana Gabaldon as not only a favorite, but as having piqued her interest in traveling to Scotland one day. She would love to spend a day with either C.S. Lewis or Mark Twain and asks "both at once would be an interesting gathering, don't you think?"

After Gaye left college with a B.A. in music and spent an additional year in Grand Rapids, she was anxious to return to Lynden and teach violin (she's been doing that for 27 years) and viola (a more recent endeavor). She also wanted to resume playing in the Whatcom Symphony, something 360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

she's done since the orchestra's beginning, when she was but a child. She's now the Associate Concertmaster.

Gaye says that the best recent change in her hometown is "the revival of Lynden we are witnessing right now. The Lynden Music Festival, the extraordinary, gorgeous Jansen Art Center, the work and care that has gone into the Dutch Village Mall—bringing it back to what it should be—and now the Waples Building and the new businesses that have come in. All combined are helping Lynden wake up again and I am truly thrilled and excited. As a Lyndenite I really appreciate how all of the Waples merchants have been respectful of and sensitive to our community and how they're making every effort to complement existing businesses."

Because Gaye has always been such an avid reader it's not surprising that she says "working in a bookstore has always sounded like a dream job, and it turns out it is!"

Though she says she's very shy, Gaye admits loving to talk with customers in the store, and she says "I had no idea that I like selling. That was a big surprise to me."

Because of her years of teaching music, many in the community recognize Gaye as a musician. "I believe music and my abilities are a gift from God," she says, "and I am both compelled and honored to give it back to Him." She also believes that good authors and good literature are a God-given gift. "It is so important to our development as human beings, and so necessary for a child's emotional and intellectual development. I'm just happy to be a part of this process," Gaye says. We couldn't be more thrilled that she is.

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Join us for

Billy Waples Day Sunday, May 1st, 11am-5pm

Chowder Feed • Beer Garden • Business Open House

Trenches to Poppies WWI Exhibit at Lynden Pioneer Museum Saturday, April 23rd On Saturday, April 23, Whatcom County Residents will have a unique opportunity to engage with the history of World War I and to support the Lynden Pioneer Museum. Mark Nelson Financial Services is generously sponsoring a fundraiser for the museum by providing food and drink, and loaning an incredible collection of WWI posters.

A dozen WWI costumed doughboys, Red Cross workers, and other characters of the era will serve themed food at stations around the museum, and beer and wine will be poured from the museum's saloon exhibit.

Because all food and drink is being donated, all proceeds from the $125 tickets, which in keeping with the theme are called a "Draft Fee," will go to the museum.

The event begins at 5:00 pm. Join your friends and local political luminaries in an evening of remembrance and community support.

HAPPY 125th ANNIVERSARY, LYNDEN! A History of Lynden

by Ed Nelson

Lynden History What better way to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Lynden than to brush up on your history! Stop in and check out our local history section soon.

Footsteps on Front Street: A History of

Downtown Lynden from 1900 to Present

Published by the Whatcom County Historical Society

The Wilderness Days: Lynden, 1858-1904 Narrative by Dorothy Koert, Photographs by Galen Biery

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Spring 2016

Lynden10am-9pm Store Hours: Mon.-Sat. 9am-8pm •• Sun. Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm Sun 11am-5pm 10am-7pm

VB’s Literary Events Program

Literature LIVE!

LYNDEN

IN

LYNDEN

Additions & changes do occur so check out

VillageBooks.com

to stay updated–or even better, let us come to you!

Register online for the Village Books eNewsletter!

Monday, April 18, 7pm at the Jansen Art Center JIM LYNCH –Before The Wind

Fiction!

Join us as we welcome Jim Lynch to the Jansen Art Center! This international bestselling author of The Hightest Tide, Border Songs, and Truth Like the Sun will present his latest novel in this very special pre-release presentation. In Before the Wind, past and present merge seamlessly and collide surprisingly as Jim Lynch reveals a family unlike any other, with the grace and humor and magic of a master storyteller. Presented in Partnership with the Jansen Art Center!

Can't make it to Lynden? Join us in Fairhaven on Tuesday, April 19th at 7pm for Jim's book release presentation.

Children's Book Week in Lynden!

Saturday, May 7, 10:30am

Rebecca Van Slyke —Dad School

Meet the Author!

Where did Dad learn how to be the best father ever? At Dad School, of course! In this kid’s-eye view of what would happen if Dad went to school, a little boy imagines a place where all dads learn their amazing skills, like giving piggyback rides and making giant sandwiches for lunch.

NEW

Story Times in Lynden!

Join us at Village Books in Lynden every Wednesday AND Saturday at 11am for a half hour of stories, songs, and movement as we read and get silly about books!

Chuckanut Writers Classes in Lynden Brought to you by Village Books and WCC Community & Continuing Education

Over 100 Years of Baking Excellence...

Thursdays, Mar. 3 & 10, 6-8:30pm Independent Publishing for Success! with Susan Colleen Browne This empowering class covers the essentials of independent print and eBook publishing: marketing strategies, pricing your book, selling your book in stores and online, real-world sales figures and profits, and eBook platforms and royalties... and more! Fee: $69, Location: Village Books & Paper Dreams in Lynden. Register now at whatcomcommunityed.com.

Historic Downtown Location 421 Front St, Lynden

Now two locations!

360.354.3911

lyndenbakery.com

New Fairway Center Location

1724 Front St, Lynden

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Sunday & Monday, April 17-18 Writing Stronger Stories with Facts, Fiction, or Both with Jim Lynch. See page 42 for information.

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Take a Writing Class with

JIM LYNCH

WRITER IN RESIDENCE At Village Books in Lynden

April 17-18

Writing Stronger Stories with Facts, Fiction, or Both Join Jim Lynch for two days of writing instruction, consultation, workshopping, connection, and a moveable feast. This is the first in our Writer In Residence series with the Inn at Lynden.

Sunday, April 17th: Two hours of instruction will include advice on how to improve your story ideas, settings, characters, dialogue, research, reader momentum and more. Will also include useful writing prompts as well as valuable survival tips for being a productive, sane, and improving writer.

Monday, April 18th: Connect with your fellow writers and enjoy the foods and libations of Avenue Bread, Drizzle, or Overflow Taps while waiting to meet with Jim to discuss your writing project/ideas or to hear his feedback on a writing sample.

Jim Lynch won national journalism awards before becoming a full-time fiction writer twelve years ago. His first three novels, The Highest Tide, Border Songs (set in Whatcom County) and Truth Like the Sun were all highly awarded and performed on stage. His fourth novel, Before the Wind, will be released in April. Join Jim at the Jansen Arts Center at 7pm on Monday the 18th for his first reading from this new book!

A Chuckanut Writers Class brought to you by Village Books and WCC Community & Continuing Education. Please visit whatcomcommunityed.com or call 360-383-3200 for registration information. Co-sponsored by the Inn at Lynden.

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Spring 2016

Building Community One Book at a Time

The Jansen Art Center is a place for artists to create, teach, share, & engage the community in the arts.

rkshops o W & s e ss la C TEXTILES

Weaving Explorations: starting April 6 Overshot Pattern Weaving: April 20 - May 11 Beginning Weaving: June 4 - 25 Color of Nature: Intro to Natural Dyeing: April 30 - May 1 Felted Collar Scarf: May 7

CERAMICS

KIDS DO ART! Spring Break Workshops April 5, 6 & 7 from 9am-noon

Kids Clay Creations: 3 week class starts the 1st Monday of each month 6 Week Classes Sculptural and Functional Handbuilding in Clay: starting March 9, April 27 & June 8 Intro to Pottery: starting March 8, March 9, April 26, April 27, June 7 & June 8 Raku Intensive: starting March 8 & June 7 Glaze Technology: starting April 26 One Day Workshops Horsehair workshop: March 12, April 9, May 14 & June 11 Raku workshop: March 12, April 9, May 14 & June 11

JEWELRY

Textured copper cuff bracelet: March 5 Textured Sterling Silver Adjustable Ring: April 2 Beginning Jewelry Intensive: April 23 - 24 How to Solder: May 7 Intro to Metal / Jewelry: May 21 - 22 & June 18-19 Spinner Ring: May 27 Silver Ring: June 4

FINE ARTS

Summer Sampler Camp June 20-24 PERFORMANCES

Mañalac Piano Duo March 26, 7:30pm

$15/$12 Seniors & Students

Jansen Jazz Band

April 21, 7:30pm, $10

Sunday @ 3 Youth Concert Series April 17, 3:00pm, $5

EXHIBITS Through April 1

The Paintings of Eric Michaels, Winter intoSpring Juried Exhibit & Falling Out of the Box Jewelry Exhibit

Opening Reception April 7

Sharron Antholt Paintings, Spring Juried Exhibit, Carol Berry & Paul Brower Collaborative Works, & 6 Week Classes Nick Payne Pastel Paintings Oil Painting: starting April 7, April 9, May 26 & May 28 Eventide Drawing: starting April 7 & May 26 Call to Artists Watercolors with Northwest Themes starting May 4 Deadline for the Spring Juried One Day Workshops Exhibit is March 21 Introduction to Silk Painting: April 2 The Art of Zendoodle : April 16 Silk Painting: Greeting Cards: April 23 Silk Painting: Stitchery & Beaded Embellishment: May 28 Leather Motivational Bracelet & Key Fob: May 21

DANCE & MOVEMENT

Ballet, Pre-Ballet & Creative Dance classes are offered for expeienced dancers & beginners as young as 3 through our partnership with Northwest Ballet Academy.

Dansation! - dance for the entire family: Saturdays Samurai Arts Karate: Tuesday evenings Yoga for Daily Living: Wednesday evenings Senior Stretch: Monday & Wednesday mornings

MUSIC

Jazz Band: Spring Session begins March 14 Private Lessons: piano, guitar & drum Children’s Musical Theatre, Group Beginning Violin, Group Guitar & Youth Choir

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

OPEN STUDIOS

Ceramics Music: String & Jazz Textiles

Spring 2016

43

Amazon is Good for the Economy, Right?

Not So Much. Economic Research Firm Reports Quite the Opposite Civic Economics, a national economic research firm based in Chicago and Austin, Texas, released an in-depth report on January 25th entitled "The Fiscal and Land Use Impacts of Online Retail." Amazon, understandably, is at the center of the study, and the results are frightening.

Here are some bullet points: • In 2014, Amazon sold $44.1 billion worth of retail goods nationwide, all while avoiding $625 million in state and local sales taxes.

• That is the equivalent of 3,215 retail storefronts, 107 million square feet of commercial space, which might have paid $420 million in property taxes.

• A total of more than $1 billion in revenue lost to state and local governments, $8.48 for every household in America.

• Amazon also operated 65 million square feet of distribution space, employing roughly 30,000 full-time workers and 104,000 part-time and seasonal workers.

• Even counting all the jobs in Amazon distribution centers, Amazon sales produced a net loss of 135,973 retail jobs.

This is not about bookstores or publishing. This is about the national economy. Those of us in Washington are sheltered from the obvious impact of Amazon since they collect taxes here and have boosted the construction industry in Seattle. The negative impact nationwide, however, is undeniable. To read more about that impact go to our website (villagebooks.com).

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Philip McCracken; Sprout, 1973.

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Whatcom Museum | Lightcatcher | 250 Flora St. www.whatcommuseum.org

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Spring 2016

(360) 303-2734

5510

Lakeway Drive, Bellingham, WA 98225

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

CONTEMPORARY

CULTURAL CRITICISM

Democracy Now!: Twenty Years Covering the Movements Changing America

by Amy Goodman, David Goodman, Denis Moynihan

available in April, hardcover, Simon and Schuster

This book looks back over the past twenty years of Democracy Now! and considers that, as the courts and government abdicate their responsibilities, it has fallen to ordinary people to hold the powerful to account. Amy gives voice to these leaderful, not leaderless, movements. This is the guiding principle of Democracy Now!, which is front and center in this powerful, important work.

While the City Slept: A Love Lost to Violence and a Young Man's Descent into Madness

by Eli Sanders

available now, hardcover, Dutton

In this riveting, probing, compassionate account of a murder in Seattle, Eli Sanders offers a deeply reported portrait, in microcosm, of the state of mental health care in this country—as well as an inspiring story of love and forgiveness. It shows what can happen when a disturbed member of society repeatedly falls through the cracks.

Listen, Liberal: Or, What Ever Happened to the Party of the People?

by Thomas Frank

available in March, hardcover, Metropolitan Books

With his trademark sardonic wit and lacerating logic, Frank lays bare the essence of the Democratic Party's philosophy. A form of corporate and cultural elitism has largely eclipsed the party's old working-class commitment, he finds. For certain favored groups, this has meant prosperity.

But for the nation as a whole, it is a one-way ticket into the abyss of inequality.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis

by Robert D. Putnam

available in April, paperback, Simon and Schuster

"Much of the current debate about inequality has a strangely abstract quality, focusing on the excesses of the 1 per cent without really coming to terms with what has happened to the American middle class...Into this void steps Putnam, with a truly masterful volume that should shock Americans into confronting what has happened to their society."

—Francis Fukuyama

100 Million Years of Food: What Our Ancestors Ate and Why It Matters Today

by Stephen Le

available now, hardcover, Picador

Traveling the world to places as far-flung as Vietnam, Kenya, Nova Scotia, and Iowa, Le visits people producing food using traditional methods as well as modern techniques, and looks at how our relationship to food has strayed from centuries of tradition to mass-produced assembly lines dependent on chemicals that bring with them a host of problems.

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America

by Kevin M. Kruse

available in April, paperback, Basic Books

We’re often told that the United States is, and always has been a Christian nation.

But historian Kevin Kruse reveals that the idea of a Christian America originated in the 1930s when businessmen enlisted religious activists in their fight against FDR’s New Deal. Provocative and authoritative, his book reveals how this alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.

You May Also Like: Taste in an Age of Endless Choice

by Tom Vanderbilt

available in May, hardcover, Knopf

From the best-selling author of Traffic, a brilliant and entertaining exploration of our personal tastes—why we like the things we like, and what it says about us. With both blue and red versions of its striking cover, You May Also Like starts a conversation about taste at very first glance: which color do you prefer?

Spring 2016

45

Evicted: Poverty and Profit

Current Events

in the American City

by Matthew Desmond

available in March, hardcover, Crown Publishing

In vivid, novelistic prose, Desmond takes us deep into the white trailer parks and black ghettoes of Milwaukee, using the moment of eviction as a window into extreme poverty, economic exploitation, and human resilience. Based on years of embedded fieldwork and painstakingly gathered data, Evicted provides intimate, memorable, often wrenching portraits of life at the bottom.

The Long Shadow of Small Ghosts: Murder and Memory in an American City

by Laura Tillman

available in April, hardcover, Scribner

This is the harrowing, profoundly personal investigation of the causes, effects, and communal toll of the very brutal murders of three young children by their parents in the poor border city of Brownsville, Texas. Tillman probes these murders to examine a host of significant, culturally relevant subjects, among them dire poverty, immigration, mental illness, religion and superstition, and the death penalty.

War is a Lie, Updated 2nd Edition

by David Swanson

available in April, paperback, Just World Books

War is a Lie is a thorough refutation of every major argument used to justify wars, drawing on evidence from numerous past wars, with a focus on those that have been most widely defended as just and good.

This is a handbook of sorts, an engaging, always informative manual that can be used to debunk future lies before the wars they’re deployed to justify have any chance to begin. Veteran antiwar activist Daniel Ellsberg calls it "a terrific tool for recognizing and resisting war lies before it's too late."

At the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship A Free Event!

David Swanson Thursday, April 14th, 7pm

Co-presented by Veterans for Peace, Whatcom Peace and Justice Center and the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship.

Real people.

Real issues.

Your local online information source

Bellingham

City Club

Sharing the stories that remind us why we love to live, work and play in Whatcom County

City Club is a non-partisan civic organization with over 450 members that offers programs and speakers on important issues in our community.

Everyone Welcome!

Meetings are from 12 to 1:30 p.m. on the 4th Wednesday of each month at Northwood Hall 3240 Northwest Avenue, Bellingham

For more information and lunch/ticket pricing, visit

www.bellinghamcityclub.org 46

Spring 2016

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

REAL PEOPLE TRUE TALES

The Battle for Room 314: My Year of Hope and Despair in a New York City High School

by Ed Boland

available now, hardcover, Grand Central Publishing

Ed Boland is a brave man! He gave up his successful career in an education-related non-profit to move to the trenches and teach in an inner city high school. This book chronicles his struggles and successes. The stories of his students lives give a depth of understanding to the many difficulties they face and the challenges they present to our educational system. Boland tells his story with humor and compassion—but no fairy tale ending, just thought-provoking honesty. –Chris

If at Birth You Don't Succeed: My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny

by Zach Anner

available now, hardcover, Henry Holt & Co

This is the unlikely, but not unlucky, story of a man who couldn't safely open a bag of Skittles, but still became a fitness guru with fans around the world. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll fall in love with the Olive Garden all over again, and learn why cerebral palsy is, definitively, "the sexiest of the palsies."

Lab Girl

by Hope Jahren available in April, hardcover, Knopf

Acclaimed scientist Hope Jahren has built three laboratories in which she’s studied trees, flowers, seeds, and soil. This, her first book, might have just been a revelatory treatise on plant life. And Lab Girl is all that, but it is also so much more: Jahren also shares with us her inspiring life story, in prose that takes your breath away.

Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

by Michael V. Hayden

available now, hardcover, Penguin Press

For ten years, Hayden participated in every major event in American national security, the fallout and consequences of which are still unfolding today. His perspective is truly unmatched, and his goals in writing this book are simple and unwavering: no apologies. No excuses.

Just what happened, and why. As honest and candid as it is revelatory.

Charlotte Brontë: A Fiery Heart

by Claire Harman available in March, hardcover, Knopf

Charlotte Brontë famously lived her entire life in an isolated parsonage on a remote English moor with a demanding father and siblings whose astonishing childhood creativity was a closely held secret. The genius of Claire Harman’s biography is that it transcends these melancholy facts to reveal a woman for whom duty and piety gave way to quiet rebellion and fierce ambition.

Wild by Nature: From Siberia to Australia, Three Years Alone in the Wilderness on Foot

by Sarah Marquis

available now, hardcover, Thomas Dunne Books

The pledge is a commitment to buy, in any given month, one fewer book from online sellers and chain stores and one more book from Village Books and Paper Dreams.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Marquis takes you on the trail of her tenthousand-mile solo hike across the remote Gobi desert from Siberia to Thailand.

She survived mafia, drug dealers, thieves on horseback who harassed her tent every night for weeks, temperatures from subzero to scorching, life-threatening wildlife, a dengue fever delirium in the Laos jungle, tropic ringworm in northern Thailand, dehydration, and a life-threatening abscess.

Spring 2016

47

GIFTS CLASSES & TOURS at The Bureau 217 West Holly Downtown Bellingham TheBureauBellingham.com

Sunny's Nights: Lost and Found at a Bar on the Edge of the World

by Tim Sultan

available now, hardcover, Random House

"There is a corner turned, a direction taken. There is a door opened in everyone's history that they can identify as the moment life, for better or worse, took a different course."

Meeting Sunny Balzano in his bar is like meeting a New York version of Hemingway, Hitchcock, and The Godfather all wrapped up with the assorted eccentrics one meets in a Brooklyn waterfront bar. Meet Sunny's world—legendary stories that aid Tim Sultan's memoir of self-realization in the most unlikely setting. Mythic descriptions and stories about whom George Plimpton once referred as "that most extraordinary man." I was amazed I was reading a memoir, NOT fiction! —Fran

Love, Loss, and What We Ate: A Memoir

by Padma Lakshmi

available in March, hardcover, Ecco

Poignant and surprising, this is Lakshmi's extraordinary account of her journey from a humble kitchen, ruled by ferocious and unforgettable women, to the judges' table of Top Chef and beyond. A memoir rich with sensual prose and punctuated with evocative recipes, it is alive with the scents, tastes, and textures of a life that spans complex geographies both internal and external.

Braving It: A Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey into the Alaskan Wild

by James Campbell

available in May, hardcover, Crown Publishing

50% OFF CLASS ADMISSION WITH PURCHASE OF ONE FULL-PRICE TICKET February-April present this coupon for discount 48

Spring 2016

"If your idea of a good time is hordes of mosquitoes and windchills of 50 below, you are not your average dad. And if you invite your teenage daughter to enjoy these with you and she says yes, she may not be your average daughter. This is a great story of what it means to love, trust and test your kids."

—Lenore Skenazy, author of Free-Range Kids

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Building Community One Book at a Time

Biography Kill 'Em and Leave: Searching For the Real James Brown

In Other Words

by Jhumpa Lahiri, Ann Goldstein available now, hardcover, Knopf

In Other Words, an autobiographical work written in Italian, investigates the process of learning to express oneself in another language, and describes the journey of a writer seeking a new voice.

Presented in a dual-language format, this is a book about exile, linguistic and otherwise, written with an intensity and clarity not seen since Vladimir Nabokov: a startling act of self-reflection and a provocative exploration of belonging and reinvention.

Lust & Wonder: A Memoir

by Augusten Burroughs

available in April, hardcover, St. Martin's Press

In chronicling the development and demise of the different relationships he's had while living in New York, Burroughs examines what it means to be in love, what it means to be in lust, and what it means to be figuring it all out. This is the intimate and honest memoir that his legions of fans have been waiting for.

The Sound of Gravel: A Memoir

by James McBride

available in April, hardcover, Spiegel & Grau

In his first non-fiction book since The Color of Water, McBride acts on a tip from a Brown family member and goes in search of the “real” James Brown. What he discovers, as he travels the country talking to the musicians, family members, and friends who knew Brown or who are preserving his legacy, is a dramatic and complicated story of race, music, the American South, and ultimately America today.

The Lovers: Afghanistan's Romeo and Juliet, the True Story of How They Defied Their Families and Escaped an Honor Killing

by Rod Nordland

available now, hardcover, Ecco

This book will do for women's rights generally what Malala's story did for women's education. It is an astonishing story about self-determination and the meaning of love that illustrates, as no policy book could, the limits of Western influence on fundamentalist Islamic culture and, at the same time, the need for change.

The Hope in Leaving: A Memoir

by Ruth Wariner available now, hardcover, Flatiron Books

The Sound of Gravel is Ruth Wariner's unforgettable and deeply moving story of growing up in a polygamist Mormon doomsday community. The thirty-ninth of her father's forty-one children, Ruth is raised in a home without indoor plumbing or electricity on a farm in the hills of Mexico, where polygamy is practiced without fear of legal persecution.

by Barbara Williams available in March, hardcover, Seven Stories Press

Williams remembers having one hope as a child, “the hope in leaving and doing better next time.” But poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, and injustice pursued her family wherever they went.

Williams writes, “We grew up like wild animals with the wrong set of instincts for our environment.” It might be said it’s a miracle she survived to bring us these stories.

I Swear I'll Make It Up to You: A Life on the Low Road

by Mishka Shubaly

available in March, hardcover, PublicAffairs

Mishka Shubaly had his world shattered when within twenty-four-hours in 1992, he survived a mass shooting on his school’s campus and learned that his parents were getting divorced. Shubaly swore to avenge the wrongs against his mother, but instead plunged into a toxic love affair with alcohol. Two decades later, his life changed again when a fateful five-mile run after a bar fight inspired him to clean up his life. And when he finally reconnected with his estranged father, he discovered the story of his childhood was radically different from what he thought he knew.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

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History

U.S. HISTORY Rightful Heritage: Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Land of America

by Douglas Brinkley

American Ghost: A Family's Haunted Past in the Desert Southwest

available in March, hardcover, Harper

by Hannah Nordhaus

FDR brilliantly positioned his conservation goals as economic policy to combat the severe unemployment of the Great Depression. During its nine-year existence, the Civilian Conservation Corps put nearly three million young men to work on conservation projects, including building trails in the national parks, pollution control, land restoration to combat the Dust Bowl, and planting over two billion trees.

available in March, hardcover, Harper

Now in Paperback!

The Great Divide: The Conflict between Washington and Jefferson That Defined America, Then and Now

by Thomas Fleming

available March, Paperback, Da Capo Press

In the months after her husband's death, Martha Washington told several friends that the two worst days of her life were the day George died, and the day Thomas Jefferson came to offer his condolences. Though history tends to cast the early years of America in a glow of camaraderie, there were, in fact, many conflicts among the Founding Fathers—none more important than the one between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

"I don't believe in ghosts. Or at least I didn't, until I read Hannah Nordhaus's carefully sifted and exquisitely well-told reconstruction of a frontier family well known to my hometown of Santa Fe. Here is a very different sort of a Western, a deeply feminine story with a strong whiff of the paranormal— Willa Cather meets Stephen King." —Hampton Sides

The Struggle for Sea Power: A Naval History of the American Revolution

by Sam Willis

available now, hardcover, W.W. Norton & Co.

This is a great, sprawling history of the various navies that participated in the American Revolution, and the changes in the balance of power between navies around the world that radiated out from it. Willis points out that naval power was the deciding factor in the revolution, and this is a riveting account of this history.

Slide Show!

At Village Books

Brilliant Beacons: A History of the American Lighthouse

by Eric Jay Dolin

available in April, hardcover, W.W. Norton & Co.

Eric Jay Dolin Friday, May 13th, 7pm

In a work rich in maritime lore and brimming with original historical detail, Eric Jay Dolin, the best-selling author of Leviathan, presents an epic history of American lighthouses, telling the story of America through the prism of its beloved coastal sentinels. Containing over 150 photographs and illustrations, Brilliant Beacons vividly reframes America's history.

The Age of the Vikings

by Anders Winroth

available in March, paperback, Princeton University Press

The Vikings maintain their grip on our imagination, but their image is too often distorted by myth. It is true that they pillaged, looted, and enslaved. But they also settled peacefully and traveled far from their homelands in swift and sturdy ships to explore. The Age of the Vikings tells the full story of this exciting period in history. Drawing on a wealth of written, visual, and archaeological evidence, Anders Winroth captures the innovation and pure daring of the Vikings without glossing over their destructive heritage

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World History Letters to Poseidon

by Cees Nooteboom

available now, hardcover, MacLehose Press

"Nooteboom is an immensely civilized and civilizing writer, rich in curiosity and armed with a dazzling literary style.

Those who already know his writing will not be surprised to discover that...he is more than a match for the trident-bearing earth-shaker, god of the sea . . . This is a sparkling little book, filled with wonder."

—The Spectator

Building Community One Book at a Time

Finally, The Full Fairhaven Story

by Chuck Robinson

F

or years readers have sought a comprehensive history of Fairhaven, and found none. There were bits and pieces scattered through a number of books, but nothing that told "the long flow of history in a sequential and chronological way," as author Brian Griffin describes it.

Now Brian has done it. In the second week of December Fairhaven: A History reached the shelves of Village Books, and in three short weeks sold enough copies to attain the number 20 spot on our 2015 best-seller list.

Brian describes the book as "a long story of human vision and aspiration punctuated with crushing defeats, and great recoveries."

The origins of the book are touching.

When Brian Griffin visited Bob Moles in his final days he promised him that he would write the story of Boulevard Park.

Moles had chaired the Rotary Club committee that brought about the park. As Brian describes it, the story of Boulevard Park "just grow'd like Topsy." As he wrote the Boulevard Park book Brian found more and more information on Fairhaven, and realizing that the book had never been written, began to give it some thought. Later, encouraged by a group of Fairhaven folks, he made his decision to proceed.

In 2008, a short time after the publication of Boulevard Park, Brian began the process of writing the book a little at a time, finishing a short piece or a chapter and putting it away for months before resuming. He continued doing research, largely at the Washington State Regional Archive, housed in the Goltz Murray Building at WWU. He also corresponded with C.X. Larrabee II, grandson of C.X. Larrabee, who he describes as "witty and urbane, and a wonderful source of historical information."

In spite of being raised in Bellingham and living here his entire adult life, Brian found some big surprises in his research.

"I was surely surprised to learn that Fairhaven had a little hospital before St. Joseph's, and that the building is still there on Douglas Avenue," says Brian. He likewise was surprised that Edward Cowgill's house had been moved first to Knox Avenue, and then to Donovan, where it still exists. Brian was also excited to learn that Arbor Day trees that were planted in 1896 still exist on State Street and in front of Lowell School.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Brian believes a couple of men who figure heavily in Fairhaven's history deserve their own books, including Nelson Bennett who wrote an autobiography which he concluded before the time he bought Fairhaven.

Brian describes him as "a great character with an amazing life." He also says that if he gets inspired that he may write the biography of J.J. Donovan. "I admire him so much, and I know more about him than anyone living.

I kind of feel an obligation," he says.

Often described as a "Renaissance man," the former insurance salesman is a painter, a luthier, an entrepreneur, a writer, and a civic leader. He is the person most responsible for the Fairhaven Village Green and Depot Market Square. When queried about how he finds time to do all of these things he reminds folks that he retired twenty-four years ago. "Got to do something other than mow the lawn," he says, "and I won't do that anymore."

So, what's he up to after the completion of Fairhaven: A History? First, he's written another book. In contrast to the seven-year journey of writing the Fairhaven book, he says "I did it in a day." The book is Beaulah, A Crow's Story, and is about a crow raised by Brian and his sister. Once he finds an illustrator, it will be published as a 24-page book. He also claims that he's "got to finish the ukuleles I am working on. At my age (Brian is 83) you take it one day at a time."

Everyone who knows Brian Griffin would attest to the fact that he has more energy and accomplishes much more than most folks half his age. We're guessing you'll see a lot more from him in the next few years.

The Chuckanut Radio Hour Sunday, March 13, 1:30pm at Bellingham Theatre Guild

Brian Griffin –Fairhaven: A History $5 - proceeds to benefit Bellingham Theatre Guild Spring 2016

51

Travel

Fifty Places to Camp Before You Die

White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World

by Chris Santella

available in May, hardcover, Abrams

Featuring the world’s top spots for sleeping under the stars and enjoying outdoor recreational activities that make camping such a time-honored tradition, this book will appeal to novice campers and seasoned outdoor-lovers alike. Sampling favorite US National Parks destinations as well as more exotic locales in Italy, Chile, France, Botswana, Germany, and more, the author includes helpful information and tips.

The Almost Nearly Perfect People: Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia

by Michael Booth

by Geoff Dyer

available in May, hardcover, Pantheon

Geoff Dyer weaves stories about places to which he has recently traveled with images and memories that have persisted since childhood. Dyer tries “to work out what a certain place—a certain way of marking the landscape—means; what it’s trying to tell us; what we go to it for.”

Atlas of Lost Cities: A Travel Guide to Abandoned and Forsaken Destinations

by Aude de Tocqueville

available now, hardcover, Picador

Michael Booth explains who the Scandinavians are, how they differ and why, their quirks and foibles, and explores why these societies have become so successful and models for the world.

Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterized by suffocating parochialism, and populated by extremists of various shades.

available in April, hardcover, Black Dog and Leventhal

Atlas of Lost Cities reveals the fascinating destinies of 44 once-thriving communities and centers of commerce and culture, which exist today as vacant ruins, where only far off memories and ghosts remain.

Beautiful, original artwork shows the location of the lost cities and depicts how they looked when they thrived.

Brand new is so overrated.

OPENING DAY: JUNE 7, 2016

Home furnishings hand-built from upcycled materials by our REvision Division.

THE

RESTORE

COMMUNITY JOBS TRAINING HELPING PEOPLE GET BACK TO WORK.

2309 Meridian Street in the Fountain District | 360.647.5921 | re-store.org

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Spring 2016

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

Science The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe

by Stephon Alexander

available in April, hardcover, Basic Books

Stephon Alexander is a theoretical physicist specializing in the interface between cosmology, particle physics, and quantum gravity. He is also a jazz musician. Combining his two loves, he presents a new theory of the universe: sound as the link between Einstein’s relativity and quantum mechanics.

Sex in the Sea: Our Intimate Connection with Kinky Crustaceans, Sex-Changing Fish, Romantic Lobsters and Other Salty Erotica of the Deep

by Marah J. Hardt

Following the Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting

by Thomas D. Seeley

available in April, hardcover, Princeton University Press

Following the Wild Bees is a delightful foray into the pastime of bee hunting, an exhilarating outdoor activity that used to be practiced widely but which few people know about today. Thomas Seeley, a world authority on honey bees, vividly describes the history and science behind this lost pastime and how anyone can do it. Following the Wild Bees is both a unique meditation on the pleasures of the natural world and a guide to the ingenious methods that compose the craft of the bee hunter.

Restless Creatures: The Story of Life in Ten Movements

available now, hardcover, St. Martin's Press

by Matt Wilkinson

With wit and scientific rigor, Hardt introduces us to the wet and wild sex lives of ocean life and the innovative solutions that promote rather than prevent successful sex in the sea. Part science, part erotica, Sex in the Sea discusses how we can shift from a prophylactic to a more propagative force for life in the ocean.

available now, hardcover, Basic Books

Mind & Heart Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart

by James R. Doty, M.D.

available now, hardcover, Avery

"From the moment in his childhood when a simple act of kindness changed the course of his own life to his founding a center to study compassion at Stanford University, Jim Doty's life illustrates how each of us can make a difference. We can make the world a more compassionate place." —His Holiness the Dalai Lama

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

The story of life as told through the evolution of locomotion, author and zoologist Matt Wilkinson brings a new framework for evolution discussions, claiming life's imperative has always been to MOVE. An entertaining and engaging read, Wilkinson is a great science communicator with vivid examples and crazy questions, such as: How do you reverse-engineer pterodactyl flight?

Relationships The Man's Guide to Women: Scientifically Proven Secrets from the "Love Lab" About What Women Really Want

by John Gottman, Ph.D. and Julie Schwartz Gottman available now, hardcover, Rodale

Gottman's book is based on 40 years of scientific study, much of it gleaned from the popular couple's workshops and the "love lab" at the University of Washington. It's written primarily for men because new research suggests that it is the man in a relationship who wields the most influence to make it great or screw it up beyond repair.

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Booked at the Baker Series

Terry Tempest Williams Join us as we welcome Terry Tempest Williams to the Mount Baker Theatre. She will present her latest book, The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks.

For years, America's national parks have provided public breathing spaces in a world in which such spaces are steadily disappearing, which is why close to 300 million people visit the parks each year. Now, to honor the centennial of the National Park Service, Terry Tempest Williams brings us a literary celebration of our national parks, what they mean to us, and what we mean to them.

Tickets $5—available soon at Village Books and Mount Baker Theatre

Wednesday, June 15, 7pm

A Free Event!

At Village Books in Fairhaven

A Woman's Guide to the Wild: Your Complete

Ken Wilcox

Outdoor Handbook

by Ruby McConnell, Teresa Grasseschi available in March, paperback, Sasquatch Books

For women who enjoy hiking, camping, backpacking, or those inspired by Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, this is the definitive guide to being a woman in the great outdoors.

This handbook covers the matters of most concern to women, from “feminine functions” in the wilderness to how to deal with condescending men, as well as the basics of wilderness survival tailored to women’s unique needs.

Firebreathing Dragons!

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FIND ME IN PAPER DREAMS!

Friday, May 27th, 7pm

Hiking Whatcom County, Sixth Edition

by Ken Wilcox

available in May, paperback, Skookum Peak Press

Just in time for Ski to Sea, Ken Wilcox presents the freshly updated edition of his comprehensive guidebook to the trails of Whatcom County. You’ll find all your favorite hikes here, as well as 15 new hikes! Join Ken as he shares his longawaited new book.

Can't make it on May 27th? Come on down and join in the Ski to Sea festivities in Fairhaven on Sunday, May 29th.

Ken Wilcox will be signing copies of his new book from 2-4pm at Village Books.

Pre-order your copy today!

Shop 24 hours a day at villagebooks.com

Nature The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness

by Sy Montgomery

available in May, paperback, Atria

"Diving deeper than Jules Verne ever dreamed, The Soul of an Octopus is a page-turning adventure that will leave you breathless. Has science ever been this deliciously hallucinatory? Boneless and beautiful, the characters here are not only big-hearted, they're multi-hearted, as well as smart, charming, affectionate...and, of course, ambidextrous."

–Vicki Constantine Croke, author of Elephant Company

Village Books is a Dog-Friendly Store!

The Wonder of It All: 100 Stories from the National Park Service

The Genius of Birds

by Jennifer Ackerman

available in April, hardcover, Penguin Press

According to revolutionary new research, some birds rival primates and even humans in their remarkable forms of intelligence.

Ackerman not only tells the story of the recently uncovered genius of birds but also delves deeply into the latest findings about the bird brain itself that are revolutionizing our view of what it means to be intelligent.

The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures

by William DeBuys

available in March, hardcover, Little, Brown and Company

"The Last Unicorn is a book you simply must read. For one thing Bill DeBuys has a real gift for storytelling. And this story, the quest for an animal that was driven to the point of extinction almost as soon as it was "discovered", is a true adventure."

—Jane Goodall, Ph.D.

At Village Books in Fairhaven

by The Yosemite Conservancy available in March, paperback, Yosemite Conservancy

Since the founding of the National Park Service in 1916, thousands of NPS employees and volunteers have devoted themselves to preserving our public lands.

These 100 true stories from current and past NPS employees make for an engrossing, funny, and often moving read. These writers welcome visitors, ride the rails, collar caribou, reenact history, and face the mystery every day of the wild, all for America’s public lands.

Great Tide Rising: Towards Clarity and Moral Courage in a time of Planetary Change

by Kathleen Dean Moore

available now, hardcover, Counterpoint

Philosopher and nature essayist Kathleen Dean Moore takes on the essential questions: Why is it wrong to wreck the world? What is our obligation to the future? What is the transformative power of moral resolve? What are useful answers to the recurring questions of a storm-threatened time? What stories and ideas will lift people who deeply care, inspiring them to move forward with clarity and moral courage?

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

A Free Event!

Steve Olson Saturday, May 21st, 7pm

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

by Steve Olson

available in March, hardcover, W.W. Norton & Co.

Mount St. Helens was perhaps the most notable volcano eruption in American history. Olson explores the natural history of the disaster, the deadly decisions surrounding it (danger zones were set much too close to allow logging to continue), and the deaths that resulted.

This books reflects the intersection of nature and the various forces that have shaped the nation—it's truly a thrilling narrative.

Thank you for your continued support.

We wouldn't be here without you!

Spring 2016

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The Arts Fashion & Beauty The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History

by Robin Givhan

available in March, hardcover, Flatiron Books

In 1973, five Americans faced off against five French designers considered the best in the world. The American energy and fearless models sent the audience reeling.

By the end of the evening, the Americans had transformed their place on the world stage and sowed the seeds for changing the way race, gender, sexuality, and economics would be treated in fashion for decades to come.

Photography

Advanced Style: Older and Wiser

by Ari Seth Cohen

available in April, hardcover, PowerHouse Books

This fabulous book features gorgeous photos along with 22 short essays (by the subjects of the book) distilling the wisdom and lifestyle secrets of some of Ari Seth Cohen’s favorite Advanced Style ladies. It also includes an introduction from the always fabulous and witty Simon Doonan, for a celebration of smashing senior style!

Art of Loneliness

Beaches

The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone

available in May, hardcover, Abrams

available now, hardcover, Picador

Gray Malin is the artist of the moment for the Hollywood and fashion elite. His awe-inspiring aerial photographs of beaches around the world are shot from doorless helicopters, creating playful and stunning celebrations of light, shape, and perspective, as well as summer bliss. Combining the spirit of travel, adventure, luxury, and artistry, Malin built his lifestyle brand from a deep passion for photography and interior design, wanderlust and adventure.

Traveling deep into the work and lives of some of the century's most original artists, among them Andy Warhol and Edward Hopper, The Lonely City is not just a map, but a celebration of the state of loneliness. It's a voyage out to a strange and sometimes lovely island, adrift from the larger continent of human experience, but visited by many— millions, say—of souls.

by Gray Malin Enterprises, Inc.

Performing Arts — True Tales The Sun and The Moon and the Rolling Stones

by Rich Cohen

available in May, hardcover, Spiegel & Grau

A panoramic, stylish narrative history of the Rolling Stones, viewed through the highly subjective, opinionated, and impassioned lens of Vanity Fair contributor Cohen, who traveled with the band in the 90s as a young reporter for Rolling Stone. This book is for every reader of Life by Keith Richards who can’t get enough.

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by Olivia Laing

Small Town Talk: Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock

by Barney Hoskyns

available in March, hardcover, Da Capo Press

In the 1960s, when New York City folkscene musicians grew tired of city life, they decided to “get it together in the country.” They headed for the town of Woodstock and nearby Bearsville, where manager Albert Grossman had established his personal fiefdom of studios and restaurants. Here, counterculture revolutionaries like Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Paul Butterfield, and Todd Rundgren, along with such guests as Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix, relaxed, turning the once-sleepy hollow into a funky Shangri-La.

Building Community One Book at a Time

Do It!

Tidying Up Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up

by Marie Kondo

available now, hardcover, Ten Speed Press

This is Kondo's companion book to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and takes the process one step further. In response to our culture's over-consumerism, Kondo says, if it doesn't "spark joy," let it go. If you love it, fold it, organize it. Tidiness creates calmness. –Cindi

You can follow Village Books on Twitter.

Each day we tweet about book events, new books, and book-related topics. We are @VillageBksBham.

Create One Year Wiser: The Coloring Book— Unwind with Weekly Illustrated Meditations

by Mike Medaglia

available in March, paperback, Abrams

Reflect on the wisdom of the world’s great thinkers while coloring in the beautiful hand-drawn illustrations of Zen Buddhist practitioner Mike Medaglia. The 52 illustrated meditations within this book will leave readers inspired by the words of thinkers from Mahatma Gandhi to Virginia Woolf, soothed by the meditative act of coloring, and empowered by a more mindful, calm, and creative approach to life.

Like us on Facebook! Make sure to select Get Notifications so you'll always see our posts about local events and other book-related topics. Go to Facebook.com/VillageBooks.

You can also find and follow Village Books and Paper Dreams on Instagram (village_books). #Tag your favorite VB/PD photos!

Success with Asperger's Good Trouble: Building a Successful Life and Business with Asperger's

by Joe Biel

available in March, paperback, Microcosm

In 1996, everything about Joe Biel’s life seemed like a mistake. He was 18, he lived in Cleveland, he got drunk every day, and he had mystery health problems and weird social tics. Finally diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, this is the story of how, over 20 years, Joe turned a litany of continuing mistakes and seeming wrong turns into a happy, fulfilled life, and a thriving publishing business (Microcosm Publishing) that defies all odds.

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

You can also find us on Pinterest (VBandPD)

Parenting Love That Boy: What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips, and My Son Taught Me About a Parent's Expectations

by Ron Fournier

available in April, hardcover, Harmony Books

Ron Fournier is a political columnist in Washington, D.C. He has an important career covering presidential politics, but he is also the father of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome. This is his personal story of parenting his son Tyler, getting to really know and accept him. While it is particularly about the challenges of Asperger's, there are valuable messages for all parents about parental expectations and valuing our children for who they are. –Chris

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Maturity

Health

How to Grow Old:

The Well Path: Lose 20 Pounds, Reverse the Aging Process, Change Your Life

Ancient Wisdom for the Second Half of Life

by Marcus Tullius Cicero translated and with an introduction by Phillip Freeman

by Jamé Heskett, MD

available in March, hardcover, Harper Wave

available in March, hardcover, Princeton University Press

Worried that old age will inevitably mean losing your libido, your health, and possibly your marbles too? Well, Cicero has some good news for you. In How to Grow Old, the great Roman orator and statesman eloquently describes how you can make the second half of life the best part of all—and why you might discover that reading and gardening are actually far more pleasurable than sex ever was.

The author of this book, a medical doctor, begins by explaining the biology of metabolism, aging, and hormones. She takes a holistic approach, emphasizing a balanced lifestyle—nutrition, physical activity, improving circulation, and lowering stress. She includes an 8-week plan and recipes for healthy soups to realize the goal of the "well path"—a sustainable healthy lifestyle. –Chris

Main Street Entrepreneur: Build Your Dream Company Doing What You Love Where You Live

Business

by Michael Glauser

available in May, hardcover, Entrepreneur Press

During an amazing bicycle ride from the west coast of Oregon to the east coast of Virginia (4,000 miles, 45 days, 246 hours on a bike seat, climbing 155,000 vertical feet, and visiting more than 100 cities across the country) the author conducted interviews with over 100 remarkable small-town entrepreneurs. These innovative business builders are living in attractive places and flying under the radar of regular business attitudes.

Consolidated into nine keys to success, their stories are the very foundation of grass-roots business building.

EUROPEAN SOAPS with pure Shea Butter

FIND ME IN PAPER DREAMS!

In Fairhaven 1050 Larrabee Ave, Suite 102 360-752-2956 Walk in Clinic: Saturday & Sunday 9:30am-4:00pm

By Appointment: Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm Same day appointments usually available

Mitchell Kahn, MD

Julie Kahnamoui, ARNP

Comprehensive Primary Care -- Adolescent to Geriatric

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Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

PNBA BOOK AWARDS 2016 PACIFIC NORTHWEST BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION AWARD WINNERS

2016

Each year since 1965, the PNBA Awards have celebrated exceptional books written by Northwest authors.

Congratulations to this year’s winners!

Call Me Home

by Megan Kruse (Seattle, WA) In this beautifully written, haunting family drama, Kruse explores themes of abuse, fear, love, longing and home.

An absolutely gripping read from an amazing debut author also recognized as a 2015 National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. (published by Hawthorne Books)

The Triumph of Seeds:

How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History

by Thor Hanson (San Juan Island, WA) This is the kind of accessible science writing that keeps readers engrossed, never realizing how much knowledge they’re picking up along the way. Who knew that seeds could be so fascinating? Hanson’s narrative voice and personal anecdotes make for easy and enjoyable reading—and learning. (published by Basic Books) •Thor Hanson will be at Village Books in Fairhaven April 7th to promote his new children's book!

Undermajordomo Minor

by Patrick deWitt

(Portland, OR)

When Lucy leaves his childhood home to accept a vague position at Castle Von Aux, the decision guarantees his life will never be the same. A demented Baron, a secret letter, a couple of pickpockets, a very large hole, and true love all play integral parts in this quirky quasi-modern fairytale. Weird, funny, dark and delightful. (published by Ecco Press)

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Children & Other Wild Animals

by Brian Doyle (Portland, OR) From Herman the Sturgeon to his own children, in his signature poetic prose, Doyle observes the fascinating creatures that share his world. This is a work of gratitude, a book that celebrates others—human or otherwise—and their unique ways of coloring our world. As a reader, you cannot help but catch Doyle’s contagious appreciation. (published by Oregon State Univ. Press)

The Game of Love and Death

by Martha Brockenbrough

(Seattle, WA)

Like a perfectly paced black-and-white film on a lazy Sunday afternoon, this magical, romantic story is about love in all its variations, soaring and musical, sad and beautiful all at once. Published for YA, this sophisticated story will also be loved by adults lucky enough to discover it somewhere other than their usual shelf. (published by Arthur A. Levine Books) • Martha will be at Village Books in Fairhaven May 7th for Children's Book Week!

Unicorn on a Roll:

Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure

by Dana Simpson (Auburn, WA) Simpson perfectly captures what it’s like to be a fourth-grader. But the real magic of this book is not the spot-on depiction of childhood or even the self-enamored unicorn; it’s her use of whip-smart humor and pop culture mining to appeal to both kids and adults that makes this book sparkle. (published by Andrews McMeel)

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National

Children’s Book Week

Keep an eye on VillageBooks.com for even more Children's Book Week events!

May 2nd-8th, 2016

Celebrating Children's Books!

Join us at Village Books as we celebrate Children’s Book Week (CBW) through a variety of kids’ events. Established in 1919, CBW is the longest-running national literacy initiative in the country. Every year, commemorative events are held nationwide at schools, libraries, bookstores, homes—wherever young readers and books connect! It is a truly national celebration, with events taking place from coast to coast. Following are some of the fun events we have planned for the week. More activities are in the works so keep an eye on villagebooks.com or sign up for our weekly eNewsletter so you don't miss a thing!

VB donates 10% of all kids’ book purchases made during Children's Book Week to the children’s departments of the city and county libraries!

Tuesday, May 3, 10:30am

Story Time with Claire Join Claire in the Kids Section at 10:30am for a half an hour of stories, songs, and movement as we read and get silly about books! Author not attending.

Saturday, May 7, 10:30am

Keith Negley

Meet the Author/Illustrator!

—Tough Guys Have Feelings Too Join us in the Readings Gallery as we welcome Keith Negley, author of Tough Guys Have Feelings Too. Did you know wrestlers have feelings? And knights. Even superheroes and ninjas feel sad sometimes.

In fact everyone has feelings—especially dads who love their children!

Saturday, May 7, 2pm YOUNG ADULTS!

Martha Brockenbrough

Meet the Author!

—The Game of Love and Death Flora and Henry were born a few blocks from each other, innocent of the forces that might keep a white boy and an African American girl apart. But what Flora and Henry don't know is that they are pawns in a game played by the eternal adversaries Love and Death.

See page 62 for more Fairhaven events an page 41 for events in Lynden!

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Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

YOUNG READERS Their Families & Educators

PICTURE BOOKS The Jungle Book

Every Day Birds

by Rudyard Kipling

by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, illustrated by Dylan Metrano

available in March, hardcover, HarperCollins

available now, hardcover, Orchard Books

Young readers are fascinated with birds in their world. After reading Every Day Birds, families can look out their windows with curiosity—recognizing birds and nests and celebrating the beauty of these creatures! This book focuses on twenty North American birds, with poems and descriptions written by the author and beautiful paper-cuttings by first-time picture book illustrator Dylan Metrano.

Mowgli has everything he's ever needed: his wolf pack family, his friends Baloo and Bagheera as teachers, and the jungle wilderness as his playground. But can he escape the evil tiger Shere Khan? And does he even belong in the jungle to begin with?

The beautiful, vibrant illustrations are among some of my favorites, managing to bring Kipling's classic tale to life in a wondrously stunning new way. —Hana

Super Happy Magic Forest

Chicken Lily

available now, hardcover, Scholastic

available in April, hardcover, Henry Holt and Co.

by Lori Mortensen, illustrated by Nina Victor Crittenden

by Matty Long

It’s always a good sign when you let out a laugh-snort when you see a book for the first time and that was indeed the case here. Between the huge range of characters, including talking mushrooms and sparkly unicorns, and the “mystery” at the heart of the story, this book is a blast to read. —Sarah

STORY TIME with Claire

Chicken Lily may be a lot of things—a careful colorer, a patient puzzler, and a quiet hide-and-seeker—but brave has never been one of them. That's why, when a school-wide poetry jam is announced in class, Lily is terrified. When Lily's friends Baabette and Pigsley try to encourage her, Lily realizes that she must put her best claw forward and prove that even chickens aren't chicken all the time.

Every Saturday AND Every Tuesday from 10:30-11am in the Kids Section Brambleheart: A Story About

Finding Treasure and the Unexpected Magic of Friendship

Quackers

by Henry Cole

available in March, hardcover, Knopf

If you enjoyed A Nest For Celeste then you will also enjoy the very sweet Brambleheart. Dear Twig feels like he does not fit in among the other students even though he tries so very much. And then one day he stumbles upon an interesting secretive creature that changes his life. An adorable story with illustrations just as wonderful. —Kelly E.

by Liz Wong Quackers is a duck. He has whiskers and he purrs but he’s a duck. All is well at the pond until Mittens the cat comes along and explains that Quackers is actually a cat. A fun book about not always fitting in but enjoying what life brings. —Sarah

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

available now, hardcover, Katherine Tegen Books

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Another

Fun Children's Book Week Event!

Sunday, May 8, 2pm

TEA WITH MOM in the Book Fare Café In celebration of Mother's Day, we will be hosting a teatime in Book Fare Café on the mezzanine level of the Village Books in Fairhaven. Bring your children and enjoy some tasty treats, a few stories, a craft, and good company. Tickets are $6 per person and can be purchased at the main counter at Village Books or by calling 360-6712626. Seating is limited so buy your tickets today!

FUN for KIDS

MORE

Friday, March 11, 10:30am

Fairhaven

Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues

Purple Friday Story Time Got the Bedtime Blues? So does Pete.

Join us for a story time and craft that will help you cure those blues! Author not attending.

Thursday, April 7, 7pm

Bartholomew Quill:

A Crow's Quest to Know Who's Who

Tour the animal kingdom from a crow’s point of view in this whimsical mix of science and poetry. The rhyming story and beautiful illustrations of Pacific Northwest wildlife make this a fun read-aloud for the whole family.

ELANA AZOSE Never Insult a Killer Zucchini

Kids’ Activity!

When Mr. Farnsworth, the science-fair judge, declares that he loves zucchinis, the Killer Zucchini is smitten. But when Mr. F admits he likes to "eat" zucchini with ranch dressing, the Killer Zucchini gets steamed and attempts to exact his revenge on the snack-loving judge using the other science-fair projects as his means to an end. Don't miss this fun event!

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SPRING BREAK SCIENCE FUN Featuring experiments from Asia Citro's Curious Kids Science Book.

Join Claire in the Readings Gallery for an hour of science and fun! Author not attending.

THOR HANSON

Thursday, May 26, 2pm

Friday, April 8, 10:30am

Friday, April 29, 10:30am

Robo-Sauce

Purple Friday Story Time School's out! Join us for a story time and craft that celebrates this tale of Imagination, Transformation, and Robot Domination! Author not attending.

Friday, June 10, 10:30am

The Magical World of Strega Nona

Purple Friday Story Time School's out! Join us for a special story time where we will celebrate everyone's favorite grandmother-witch, Strega Nona. Author not attending.

Purple designates teacher workdays/no school on Bellingham School District calendars—thus Purple Friday Story Times!

Building Community One Book at a Time

When Spring Comes

History of Fun Stuff:

by Kevin Henkes

A Ready-to-Read Level 3 Series

available now, hardcover, Greenwillow

paperback, Simon Spotlight

In winter the trees are sticks, it's cold, the grass is brown. But before long, things begin to bloom, new life is born, and spring is in the air! It is a glorious time, even if spring does change its mind a lot, and the alliteration Henkes brings to the table coupled with the simple yet striking illustrations make this new work special indeed. —Hana

The Deep Dish on Pizza!

by Stephen Krensky illustrated by Daniel Guidera

Snoozies

animal socks & kids slippers

FIND ME IN PAPER DREAMS!

The Stellar Story of Space Travel

by Patricia Lakin illustrated by Scott Burroughs Aptly named, the History of Fun Stuff series is just that—a history of really fun subjects explained and illustrated with emerging readers in mind. With additional science, social studies, and math applications included as extras, these educational gems are new favorite reads in our family. Other titles include The Scoop on Ice Cream, The Way the Cookie Crumbled, and The High Score and Lowdown on Video Games. Parents, get ready to pick up some fun facts as well—you'll wow 'em at the next trivia night! —Kelly C.

Young Readers

United Way of Whatcom County UnitedWayWhatcom.org

INCREASING CAPS & GOWNS Our focus on Education has helped to increase literacy for Whatcom kindergartners by 10%, a sure sign of future grads. United Way is about more than short-term charity for a few; we’re about building opportunity for everyone.

United Way of Whatcom County UnitedWayWhatcom.org

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

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Spring Show!

Three Classics by Mercer Mayer The Neighborhood Playhouse Presents

• There's an Alligator Under My Bed, • A Nightmare in My Closet, and • Something in My Attic

April 20th–24th at The Firehouse Performing Arts Center, 1314 Harris Ave.

Music & lyrics by Stuart Kenny, Book by James Larson

When nighttime comes and the lights go out, there always seems to be something lurking in the shadows… The Neighborhood Playhouse finishes its 2015-2016 season with this trio of classic Mercer Mayer stories that take a close look at the things that go bump in the night—to find that they're not all as scary as they first appear.

Proving that conquering your fears just takes a little effort (and maybe a little food), this delightful musical adaptation is sure to tickle both the young and the young at heart. Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.

TNP always offers a Pay What You Can Performance. Check the website for more information.

Performances Wednesday, April 20th 10am and 12:30pm Thursday, April 21st 10am, 12:30pm and 7pm Friday, April 22nd 10am,12:30pm and 7pm Saturday, April 23rd 2pm and 5pm & Sunday, April 24th 2pm

TNP Voted Best Family Friendly Activity in Bellingham!

For more information, go to theneighborhoodplayhouse.net.

Tickets $10/$15 on sale March 1st at Village Books and on brownpapertickets.com

Echo Echo

by Marilyn Singer available in March, hardcover, Dial Books for Young Readers

Marilyn Singer has created yet another collection of her ingenious reverso poems, this time holding up the mirror to classical Greek myths. Each tale is told in a single poem that, when read in reverse, reveals another meaning.

As with Mirror Mirror and Follow Follow, readers will delight in uncovering the dual points of view in well-known legends such as Pandora's Box and Echo and Narcissus, among others. Thoughtful explanatory notes about the original myths accompany each poem, and acclaimed artist Josee Masse's clever painting contribute beauty plus visual meaning.

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OFF 20% POETRY !

ALL April

Kids Magnetic Poetry

Build imagination, creativity and reading skills!

KIDS' KIT 360 magnetized words and word fragments for creative fun and learning.

KID GENIUS Fun magnetic word tiles that flip over to a synonym on the other side! A great vocabulary builder for all ages.

STORY MAKER Create Silly sentences and stories with magnetic phrase tiles! Nouns, verbs, and prepositions are divided by color—very cool!

Building Community One Book at a Time

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

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Middle Readers Pax

by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Jon Klassen available now, hardcover, Balzer + Bray

One of the best stories of friendship, loyalty, and love that I have ever read. Peter and Pax are one, boy and fox, separated by war and determined to find one another, no matter what. Their unwavering love for each other is overwhelming and Pennypacker's writing is top-notch in conveying their bond.

Add to it the illustrations by Jon Klassen, and you have a truly gorgeous read. –Claire

The Adventures of Lettie Peppercorn

by Sam Gayton, illustrated by Poly Bernatene available now, hardcover, Margaret K. McElderry Books

Lettie can't go outside. She doesn't know why, only that it is dangerous for her. So when a merchant comes along peddling his new invention called "snow", Lettie is fascinated, and the journey that follows, told in Gayton's enchanting words, is nothing short of incredible. –Hana

2016 AWARD WINNERS Newbery Medal The Newbery Medal for children’s literature was awarded to Matt de la Pe ñ a f o r Last Stop on Market Street, which finds beauty in unexpected places, explores the difference between what’s fleeting and what lasts, acknowledges inequality, and testifies to the love shared by an African-American boy and his grandmother.

Michael L. Printz Award

Randolph Caldecott Medal

L a u r a Ru by has won the 2016 Michael L. Printz Award which honors the best book written for teens, for her book, Bone Gap. Told from alternating viewpoints, Bone Gap perfectly melds elements of fairy tales, myths, gothic romance, and magic realism into the story of Finn, who lives in a town with gaps in the very fabric of time and place.

The 2016 Caldecott Medal, which recognizes picture book illustrations, was awarded to illustrator Sophie Blackall for Finding Winnie which is the real-life story of a Canadian veterinarian who rescues a little black bear and names her Winnie for his hometown of Winnipeg. Winnie eventually ended up in the London Zoo, where she became a favorite of author A.A. Milne and his son Christopher Robin — and the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh.

Ready, Set, Vote!

Voting for the 9th annual Children’s & Teen Choice Book Awards (CCBA) opens March 8th at ccbookawards.com! Unlike other national children’s book awards, the CCBAs let kids and teens choose the winning book of the year in four categories.

How cool is that?

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Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

Middle Readers Ravenous

by MarcyKate Connolly available now, hardcover, HarperCollins

Greta's little brother Hans has been captured by a witch! As if that isn't bad enough, the witch travels in a hut with chicken feet, and she plans to eat him. To save Hans, Greta strikes a bargain with the creature, but can she keep her end? Taking place in the same land as Connolly's earlier work Monstrous, Ravenous can be read as a companion or stand on its own. –Hana

The Goblin's Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice

by Andrew Chilton

available now, hardcover, Knopf

A plot to take over the kingdom, a boy without a name, Plain Alice who is accidentally kidnapped instead of Princess Alice, and a goblin full of puzzles. Sounds like a brilliant fairy tale to me! And boy, does The Goblin's Puzzle deliver on that promise. –Hana

The Thickety:

OCDaniel

by Wesley King available in April, hardcover, Simon & Schuster

Being the water boy for the Erie Hills Elephants lets Daniel be invisible and unnoticed. This book shows all the struggles of OCD while gripped in the back and forth of growing up, giving a fresh perspective on compulsion and adventure. Featuring teenage crushes, mysterious notes, and understanding how to be different when that really is what you are. —David

Summerlost

by Ally Condie

available in April, hardcover, Dutton

It's the first real summer since the devastating accident that killed Cedar's father and younger brother. But now Cedar and what’s left of her family are returning to the town of Iron Creek for the summer.

They re just settling into the house when a boy named Leo, dressed in costume, rides by on his bike. Intrigued, Cedar follows him to the renowned Summerlost theatre festival. Soon, she not only has a new friend in Leo and a job working concessions at the festival, she finds herself surrounded by mystery.

The Keepers;

Well of Witches

The Harp and the Ravenvine

by J.A. White

by Ted Sanders

available now, hardcover, Katherine Tegen Books

available in March, hardcover, HarperCollins

If you have been following the dark and suspenseful tale of siblings Kara and Taff, then you are on the edge of your seat just as much as I am.

Well, wait no longer! The third book in the brilliantly spine-tingling Thickety series is here. Kara seeks to reverse the horrid spell laid on her father, but the only one who can reverse it is the one who cast it, meaning Kara must seek out an old enemy... If you haven't yet read the series but are intrigued (as you should be), check out A Path Begins, the beginning of Kara Westfall's journey. –Hana

The Keepers is a new favorite series of mine. In the first volume, The Box and the Dragonfly, we met Horace and Chloe, two kids embarking on an impossible adventure. Now, in the second installment, Ted Sanders expands on the world of The Keepers, and with that expansion comes new people, new perils, new answers, and an endless amount of new questions. Now, where is number three...? –Hana

Cover-to-Cover Adventure Youth Book Group This is a book group for kids 8-12 years of age led by Hana of Village Books. We examine and explore the story we have read through discussions, crafts, activities, and games every second Tuesday of the month from 4-5pm in the Readings Gallery.

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Young Adult Anna and the Swallow Man

by Gavriel Savit

available now, hardcover, Knopf Books for Young Readers

Sword and Verse

by Kathy MacMillan

available now, hardcover, HarperTeen

This strange and atmospheric tale about a young girl and an enigmatic man roaming Poland during WWII is so haunting and beautiful I can't stop thinking about it.

Reminiscent of The Book Thief but much quieter, the language is lovely, moving, and heartbreaking. This is one to savor folks...every last page. -Claire

The Shadow Queen

Raisa is a slave in the kingdom of Qilara, a land where writing is the language of the gods and only a limited number within the royal court are permitted to learn. When Raisa unexpectedly becomes one of the selected few, she thinks her dreams have come true. That is, until the day her world is rocked by the Resistance approaching her for aid, making her question the world she knows, her own beliefs, and the right for everyone to have the power of the written word. –Hana

The Passion of Dolssa

by C.J. Redwine

by Julie Berry

available now, hardcover, Balzer & Bray

Okay, I know what you're thinking.

ANOTHER retelling of Snow White? Are you serious? But trust me! The Shadow Queen is something special. Princess Lorelai is a fugitive, and has been living the majority of her life training for one thing: Kill Queen Irina, the wicked sorceress who has taken not only her throne from her, but her father as well. When a prince comes along seeking Irina's aid in banishing the ogres terrorizing his land, he becomes the huntsman, tasked in bringing the princess's heart to the queen. The dark and riveting story that follows is beautiful, breathtaking, and nerve-wracking in all the best possible ways. –Hana

available in April, hardcover, Viking

In mid-thirteenth century Provence, Dolssa de Stigata is a fervently religious girl who feels the call to preach, condemned by the Inquisition as an "unnatural woman," and hunted by the Dominican Friar Lucien who fears a resurgence of the Albigensian heresy; Botille is a matchmaker trying to protect her sisters from being branded as gypsies or witches—but when she finds the hunted Dolssa dying on a hillside, she feels compelled to protect her, a decision that may cost her everything.

The Smell of Other People's Houses

by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

available now, hardcover, Wendy Lamb Books

The Serpent King

by Jeff Zentner

available in March, hardcover, Crown

Dill and his friends Lydia and Travis are in their last year of high school in their small town. Dill is trying to escape from the stigma of his father while Lydia is creating fashion for her blog and Travis is busy reading the newest installment in his favorite fantasy series. These friends, facing an uncertain future and sometimes an unstable present, are simply trying to find their way as individuals and as friends. —Sarah

Thank you for your continued support.

We wouldn't be here without you!

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This little book packs a powerful punch.

The Smell of Other People's Houses is all about the invisible connections we have to one another and the bonds that bring us home. The story alternates between four narrators whose stories draw closer and closer to one another, and affect each other in turns. Heartbreaking and complex, these character feel real and are never underestimated or dismissed due to their youth. Instead their youth is what makes the story ring true. It's truly a book for the senses as each home brings with it a smell of comfort or pain. While reading, one is encouraged to think about the emotional connections we have to smells and the memories they can conjure. This book broke my heart and caused me to hope as very few pieces of literature have caused me to do lately. It's my number one pick this spring. –Hayden

Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Fri & Sat 10am-10pm • Sun 10am-7pm

YA RC .

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Young Adult

Review Committee Recommendations

Enjoy reviews of the latest and greatest Young Adult books to hit the streets in recent and upcoming months.

Looking for gifts? Don't miss our in-store Y.A.R.C. display that is always up-to-date and evolving with the best reviews by teens, for teens!

The Dark Days Club

When We Collided

by Alison Goodman

by Emery Lord

available in April, hardcover, Bloomsbury

When We Collided follows Vivi, a teenage girl suffering from bipolar depression and a past that she can’t outrun, as she spends the summer with her mother in a small California town. There she meets Jonah, a boy trying to handle the death of his father, his mother’s own depression, and his rambunctious siblings. Emery Lord expertly portrays mental illness with brutal honesty, while still weaving a hopeful and empowering story. Fans of Lord and first-time readers alike will appreciate her trademark wit and contemporary feminism, and will savor this one long after they’ve finished the last of Lord’s cutting edge, game changing novel. –Hannah M., age 16

available now, hardcover, Viking Books for Young Readers

It's 1812, and Lady Helen Wrexhall's debut is eclipsed by only one thing, the mysterious reputation of her late mother. But once Lady Helen's housemaids begin to disappear, and the notorious Lord Carlston enters the scene, Helen is swept up into a conspiracy beyond her wildest dreams. Supernatural meets Downton Abbey in this Regency thriller by Alison Goodman.

Romance, intrigue, and demons run rampant in The Dark Days Club which will leave readers asking for more. –Emma W., age 19

The Serpent King

by Jeff Zenter

available in March, hardcover, Crown Books for Young Readers

The Glass Sword

by Victoria Aveyard

available now hardcover, Harper Teen

In this heart-wrenching sequel to the New York Times Bestselling novel, Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard continues to wow. After the devastating betrayal by the boy she thought loved her, Mare is on the run and collecting an army to overthrow him. No longer alone as the only Red with Silver powers, she focuses on tracking down the other ones and training them to fight. Filled with action, romance, death and betrayal, this book is sure to leave you aching for the next one. —Gretal M., age 15

The Serpent King is a brilliant novel about the senior year of three friends and the choices and hardships they faced. The characters' stories of home life, college, confusing futures, depression, and the next step in the journey is felt to be very relatable. As the story gets darker and darker around halfway through, and it seems like it's just about to tip into a depressing lull, the author Zentner smacks you with the totally unforseen and continues to completely change the characters' paths around, leaving you with a lighthearted, satisfied feeling of resolution. The writing style and character development are amazing and well done. Definitely a must-read and read again.

–Maddie M., age 17

Find More Y.A.R.C. recommendations on page 71.

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Fairhaven Store Hours: Mon-Thurs 10am-9pm • Building Fri & SatCommunity 10am-10pmOne • Sun Book10am-7pm at a Time

Secrets of Solace

Twenty Questions for Gloria

available in March, hardcover, Delacorte Books for Young Readers

available in April, hardcover, Wendy Lamb Books

The Secrets of Solace is an amazing blend of science fiction and fantasy. In a world where artifacts from other planets fall from the sky in meteor storms, strange technology and a mix of the alien and the familiar exist, we find Lina Winterbock.

Apprenticed among the Archivists, a nation of people devoted to the study of these artifacts, Lina is an outcast. Friendless and scorned by her master, Lina finds solace in her deepest secret: in a cavern beneath her home, the stronghold of Ortana, she has discovered an airship. Little does she know that this airship is the key to saving thousands of lives. –Oliver M., age 14

Gloria was missing for 15 days. At least, this is how the police see it. To Gloria, it was the adventure of a lifetime. And it was only made possible by the appearance of one person, Uman, the charming new kid who refuses to conform to society’s expectations. With him, Gloria finds an escape from a life that has lost its shine. However, when she returns, the police are full of questions. While the interview format adds a unique touch, Twenty Questions for Gloria reads as smoothly as any novel. And like any good novel, it keeps you wondering until the end. –Brynna K. age 15

by Jayleigh Johnson

by Martyn Bedford

Scarlett Epstein Hates it Here

by Anna Breslaw

Young Adults Recommend...

available in April, hardcover, Razorbill

In the Lycanthrope High fandom, Scarlett Epstein is a big name. But in her own high school? Not so much.

But when her favorite TV show is canceled and her long time crush starts dating her worst enemy, Scarlett must take matters into her own hands... and write more fanfiction. Funny and full of heart, Anna Breslaw's Scarlett Epstein Hates it Here is a superb coming of age novel. Not to be missed. –Emma W., age 19

2016

Sunday, June 26, 9:30am-5pm at Village Books in Fairhaven

SAVE THE DATE!

The Write On! Teen Writers Conference is back, and 2016 is sure to be its most exciting year yet.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, June 26, for a full day of inspiring and engaging writing workshops for teens ages 13-18, with a world-class faculty of writers and poets. Attendees will have the opportunity to work with authors from a variety of genres and disciplines in focused breakout sessions, and share their work in an open mic at the end of the day.

The Write On! Teen Writers Conference is presented in partnership with Whatcom Young Writers and Whatcom Community College.

Keep an eye our for early-bird registration deals—coming soon at whatcomcommunityed.com.

A Chance for Teen Writers to Learn, Write, and Network!

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

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TUNE IN to hear selected

Literature Live! events

— Don’t miss the last two shows of our 87th season

August: Osage County

April 22 – May 8, 2016

Anything Goes

on your RADIO or computer!

KAVZ 102.5 FM , the Voice of the South Fork Valley, proudly broadcasts Lit Live programs four times a week Monday - Thursday at noon!

Hear more at KMRE 102.3 FM Mondays at noon!

June 10 – 26, 2016

We’re adding an elevator to our historic building. Read more about the project and discover how you can donate and give access to the arts to everyone in our community. http://btg4thefuture.com

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Are YOU Receiving VB's eNewsletter?

Once a week, Village Books sends out an email newsletter packed full of store and book information including our latest LitLive! events, sale dates, and on occasion, store coupons! Twice each week, we provide Shelf Awareness for Readers book reviews. If you’re not currently receiving these updates and would like to, you may sign up in the store or, even easier, do it at VillageBooks.com today!

Literature LIVE!

EVENTS

VB’s Literary Events Program

Additions & changes to this schedule will occur so check out

VillageBooks.com

to stay updated–or even better, let us come to you!

Register online for the Village Books eNewsletter!

MARCH Sunday, March 6, 4pm POETRY! GROUP POETRY READING featuring Judith Skillman, Christianne Balk, Carol White Kelly, and Jeffrey Morgan!

Friday, March 11, 10:30-11:30am KIDS! PURPLE FRIDAY! STORY TIME featuring Pete the Cat and the Bedtime Blues by James Dean Got the Bedtime Blues? So does Pete. Join us for a story time and craft that will help you cure those blues! Author does NOT attend.

Saturday, March 12, 4pm ABBE ROLNICK –Cocoon of Cancer: An Invitation to Love Deeply

Cocoon of Cancer is a book of inspiration for those diagnosed with cancer, their caregivers, and family. Writing in “real time,” the patient and caregiver offer an insider’s look at how life changes forever when the word cancer is uttered. A realistic and hopeful work, it keeps one centered and also provides tips on how to manage life and illness.

Sunday, March 13, 1:30pm

At the Bellingham Theatre Guild!

THE CHUCKANUT RADIO HOUR featuring BRIAN GRIFFIN –Fairhaven : A History Join us as we welcome Brian Griffin, author of Fairhaven: a History, to the Chuckanut Radio Hour! Tickets are $5—proceeds will benefit the Bellingham Theatre Guild.

Read more about Brian and this new book on page 51.

Join us as we welcome four acclaimed regional poets to the Readings Gallery!

Tuesday, March 8, 7pm Fiction!

BILLIE LIVINGSTON –The Crooked Heart of Mercy From acclaimed Canadian novelist Billie Livingston comes this powerful U.S. debut that unfolds over a riveting dual narrative an unforgettable story of ordinary lives rocked by hardship and scandal that follows in the tradition of Jennifer Haigh, A. Manette Ansay, and Jennifer Egan.

Simmering with dark humor and piercing insights, The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a startling reminder that redemption can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Wednesday, March 9, 7pm KRISSY MOEHL –Running Your First Ultra:

Slide Show!

Customizable Training Plans for Your First 50K to 100-Mile Race

With fifteen years running and competing around the world under her belt, Krissy Moehl is a top female ultramarathon runner, respected by her peers and an inspiration to runners everywhere. Between Moehl's positive and encouraging attitude and her deep knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport, there's no one better to prepare and train you for your first ultra and beyond.

Sunday, March 13, 4pm NORMAN FISCHER –Experience and Magnolias All At Once A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Norman Fischer has been publishing poetry since 1979.

Founder and teacher of the Everyday Zen Foundation, he is one of the most highly respected Zen teachers in America, regularly leading Zen Buddhist retreats and events. – Presented in Partnership with Red Cedar Zen Community

Monday, March 14, 7pm Local Author!

TARINI BAULIYA –Saved From Enlightenment: The Memoir of an Unlikely Devotee

Saved From Enlightenment is a memoir of one woman’s life viewed through the lens of her relationship with her spiritual teacher of over twenty years. Her candid, touching, and humorous stories are told in a voice that is authentic, wry and irreverent.

Events take place in the Readings Gallery of Village Books and are FREE unless otherwise noted.

STORY TIMES

Thursday, March 10, 7pm Slide Show!

NICK KELLY & RAY DECK III –Over Bellingham Bellingham, Washington is a special place. Celebrate our city with Over Bellingham, a first of its kind coffee table book full of stunning photos taken from the skies over Bellingham. You’ll find new views, perspectives, and angles like you’ve never seen before. Over Bellingham was created by the team behind Bellingham Wins.

Every Tuesday and now Every Saturday at 10:30am

KIDS!

Join Claire in the Kids Section every Tuesday and Saturday at 10:30am for a half hour of stories, songs, and movement as we read and get silly about books!

If you can’t make it to an event, just call us to arrange for autographed copies!

Keep turning for more events!

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Literature LIVE!

EVENTS

Events take place in the Readings Gallery of Village Books and are FREE unless otherwise noted.

Wednesday, March 16, 7pm Memoir, Local Author!

STEVE KINK –Changing Tides & Times

Wednesday, March 23, 7pm ANNIE BOOCHEVER –Bristol Bay Summer

Local Author!

Against the backdrop of the Bristol Bay salmon fishery (site of the highly contested proposed Pebble Mine), thirteen-year-old Zoey struggles with her parents’ divorce, her mom’s bush-pilot boyfriend, and the pangs of growing up during her summer in the “real” Alaska. Annie Boochever tells a compelling tale of a divided family living a remote lifestyle where getting along as a team is a matter of survival.

Thursday, March 24, 7pm SEAN BEAUDOIN –Welcome Thieves

Short Fiction!

This is a story about how commercial fishing, politics, and education advocacy permeated the life and career of the author, Steve Kink.

With the values learned from his Croatian and Irish upbringing, he was propelled on a mission to create change in politics and public education.

Reminiscent of works by Karen Russell or George Saunders, Welcome Thieves is Beaudoin’s first foray into fiction for adult readers, and this remarkable collection offers an honest portrayal of the complexities of adult life. Read a staff review of this book on page 16.

Friday, March 18, 7pm MICHAEL DALEY –Of a Feather

Friday, March 25, 7pm M.A. DEMERS –The Point Between

Poetry!

Michael Daley was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He later took vows and prepared to become a Catholic priest. Upon leaving religious life, he was wild in the streets, protesting wars and seeking a life of experience. In addition to seven chapbooks, he has published three full-length collections of his poetry.

Saturday, March 19, 2pm JUAN F. THOMPSON –Stories I Tell Myself:

Memoir!

Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson lived larger than life, and pulled it up around him in a mad effort to make it as electric, angerridden, and drug-fueled as possible. Now, Juan Thompson tells the story of his father and of their forty-one fraught years together.

He writes of the many dark times, of how far they ricocheted away from each other, and of how they found their way back before it was too late.

Saturday, March 19, 7pm Local Author!

JAN BOWEN –It’s Not That Complicated: How to Create a Personalized Template of Alignment

Every facet of your being—physical, mental, and spiritual—has the capacity to bring joy and fulfillment to your everyday life. Jan L. Bowen will help you develop a Personal Template of Daily Practices, a Structure of Tactics, and a Bundle of Exceptional Resources to not only realize your purpose, strengths, and passions, but to use them to sustain healthy alignment as your life changes.

Tuesday, March 22, 7pm HANNAH CRUM & ALEX LAGORY –The Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea

Brewing your own kombucha at home is easy and fun. You can get exactly the flavors you want, and for a fraction of the cost of store-bought. This complete guide, from the proprietors of Kombucha Kamp, shows you how to do it from start to finish, with illustrated step-by-step instructions and recipes for 286 different flavor combinations.

Mystery!

Bestselling mystery novelist Lily Harrington has been found dead by an apparent suicide in the oddball haven of Point Roberts. Worried the truth will be buried with her, Lily teams up with the detective from her novels to influence the investigation and catch her killer in this metaphysical mystery!

Saturday, March 26, 4pm J.A. JANCE –Clawback In bestselling author J.A. Jance’s latest thriller, Ali Reynolds faces her most controversial mystery yet, solving the murder of a man whose Ponzi scheme bankrupted hundreds of people, and left them seeking justice—or revenge.

Sunday, March 27, 4pm SHANN RAY –American Copper

Fiction!

As Evelynne Lowry, the daughter of a copper baron, comes of age in early 20th century Montana, the lives of horses dovetail with the lives of people and her own quest for womanhood is not only about America’s hidden desire for regeneration through violence but the ultimate cost of forgiveness and the demands of atonement.

Monday, March 28, 7pm Open Mic with Laurel Leigh Village Books invites everyone to enjoy local talents as they share their own stories, poems and essays. Published and unpublished writers are encouraged to attend and enjoy a welcoming audience.

There is no charge for most Village Books Literature Live events. Event costs are offset by customer book purchases; in order to maintain our robust program, we urge you to purchase those event books that interest you.

Thank you for supporting Literature Live Events!

Keep turning for more events!

If you can’t make it to an event, just call us to arrange for autographed copies!

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Literature

LIVE!

so far in

APRIL

Friday, April 1, 7pm BHARTI KIRCHNER –Goddess of Fire

Fiction!

About to be burned alive on her late husband’s funeral pyre, 17-year-old widow Moorti is rescued from a gruesome fate by a passing British merchant. Thus begins an extraordinary love story and incredible journey as the humble village girl Moorti transforms herself into Maria, becoming one of the most powerful women in India.

Sunday, April 10, 4pm Realities of Advanced Medical Intervention with Nurses Cathy McConechy & Koala Conelly This presentation addresses, in frank terms, what Advanced Medical Interventions are and what they mean to you and your family. Nurses Cathy and Koala bring their decades of experience in Intensive Care Units to this informative and accessible discussion of Advanced Care Planning.

Thursday, April 14, 7pm A Free Event at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship!

DAVID SWANSON –War is a Lie

Join Seattle poet Joan Fiset as she presents this memoir of her mother and the history they share.

War is a Lie is a thorough refutation of every major argument used to justify wars, drawing on evidence from numerous past wars, with a focus on those that have been most widely defended as just and good. This is a handbook of sorts, an engaging, always informative manual that can be used to debunk future lies before the wars they’re deployed to justify have any chance to begin. Veteran antiwar activist Daniel Ellsberg calls it "a terrific tool for recognizing and resisting war lies before it's too late."

Join us for an evening with David Swanson, Co-presented by Veterans for Peace, Whatcom Peace and Justice Center and the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship.

Tuesday, April 5, 7pm LARRY KORN –One Straw Revolutionary: The

Thursday, April 14, 7pm Poetry Group Reading from Noisy Water in celebration of National Poetry Month!

Sunday, April 3, 4pm JOAN FISET –Namesake

Memoir!

Philosophy and Work of Masanobu Fukuoka

One-Straw Revolutionary represents the first commentary on the work of the late Japanese farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka (1913 –2008), widely considered to be natural farming’s most influential practitioner. Larry Korn distills his experience of more than thirty-five years of study with Mr. Fukuoka, and readers will delight in this personal insight into one of the world’s leading agricultural thinkers. –Presented in Partnership with Transitions Whatcom

Thursday, April 7, 7pm PNBA Award Winner!

THOR HANSON –Bartholomew Quill

KIDS!

KIDS! Friday, April 8, 10:30am Spring Break Science Fun with Claire Featuring experiments from Asia Citro's Curious Kids Science Book! Join us in the Readings Gallery for an hour of science and fun for kids ages 5-10! Author does NOT attend.

Fiction, Local Author!

British-trained Norwegian intelligence agent Tore Haugland is a jossing—a patriot—sent to a fishing village on Norway’s west coast to set up a line to receive weapons and agents from England via the “Shetland Bus.” Posing as a deaf fisherman, his mission is complicated when he falls in love with Anna Fromme, a German widow with secrets of her own. In wartime, love and trust are not always compatible.

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Saturday, April 16, 4pm Local Author!

LESLIE WHARTON –Phoenix Rising: Stories of Remarkable Women Walking Through Fire How would you go on if you lost everything? Phoenix Rising is a collection of women’s writings on wildfire. Gain insight into the terror they felt as flames engulfed their communities, the dark desperation that followed, and how they worked to recreate a life from the ashes.

Local Author,

Thor Hanson’s first children’s book is the story of Bartholomew Quill, a crow who’s trying to figure out what he is.

Saturday, April 9, 7pm J.L. OAKLEY –The Jossing Affair

Join the contributors to the Noisy Water Anthology as they read their work in this showcase of Whatcom County poets.

Saturday, April 16, 7pm Northwest History!

FLOYD MCKAY –Reporting the Oregon Story:

How Activists and Visionaries Transformed a State

Oregon entered a new era in 1964 with the election of Tom McCall as Secretary of State and Bob Straub as State Treasurer. Their political rivalry formed the backdrop for two of Oregon’s most transformative decades, as they successively fought for, lost, and won the governorship. Veteran Oregon journalist Floyd McKay had a front-row seat.

Sunday, April 17, 4pm Local Author!

MATTHEW THUNEY –Bucolia: Hijinks in the Hinterlands Everything started falling into place when Matthey Thuney and his wife moved to the hinterlands of northwest Washington. There, he rediscovered his journalistic muse, reporting on his bumbling attempts to adapt to country living.

Read more about these and other Lit Live! events at VillageBooks.com!

Tuesday, April 19, 7pm JIM LYNCH –Before The Wind

Fiction!

Presented in Partnership with the Community Boating Center “Jim Lynch does for sailing what A River

Runs Through It did for fly-fishing. A family whose religion is sea, wind, and motion. All the complexities and exhilarations of family, failure, and the ties that hold us together set to the addictive rush of hulls slicing through water. A beautiful book that smells of the sea with every turn of the page.” —Luis Urrea Hear Jim read at the Jansen Art Center and take a writing class with him in Lynden! See pages 41-42 for information.

Friday, April 22, 7pm STEVE TOUTONGHI –Join

Speculative Fiction!

In the tradition of classic speculative fiction from David Mitchell and Philip K Dick, Join is a literary sci-fi thriller that brings to life the "future of the mind" in which humans can merge consciousnesses to form permanent “Joins,” expanding life and consciousness—but at what cost? Read more on pg 19.

Saturday, April 23, 7pm EVELYN HESS –Building a Better Nest: Living Lightly at Home and In the World

For fifteen years, Evelyn Hess and her husband lived in a tent and trailer in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range.

When they decided to build a house, they knew it would have to respect the lessons of simple living that they learned in their camping life. Building a Better Nest chronicles their adventures as they seek a model for sustainable living not just in their home, but beyond its walls.

Sunday, April 24 Annual Dirty Dan Days Festival! on The Fairhaven Village Green In 1854, Dan Harris arrived on the shore of Bellingham Bay as a 21-year-old adventurer. He became a legend as a homesteader, land owner, smuggler, hotel owner, and seaman. Celebrate Fairhaven’s “unscrubbed” founder at this event, featuring live music and activities on the Village Green.

Monday, April 25, 7pm Open Mic with Laurel Leigh Village Books invites everyone to enjoy local talents as they share their own stories, poems and essays. Published and unpublished writers are encouraged to attend and enjoy a welcoming audience.

Thursday, April 28, Doors at 6:30pm, Show at 7pm THE CHUCKANUT RADIO HOUR in the Heiner Theatre at WCC

featuring Washington State Poet Laureate TOD MARSHALL Celebrate National Poetry Month with us as we welcome Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall to the Chuckanut Radio Hour! Tickets $5 available now at Village Books and brownpapertickets.com. Read more on page 29.

Friday, April 29, 10:30-11:30am PURPLE FRIDAY! STORY TIME KIDS! featuring Robo-Sauce

by Adam Rubin and Daniel Salmieri!

Join us for a story time and craft that celebrates this tale of Imagination, Transformation, and Robot Domination!

Authors DO NOT attend.

Friday, April 29, 6pm Whatcom Literacy Council Trivia Bee at Bellingham High School Come cheer on our team, the Village Idiots, as the Whatcom Literacy Council Trivia Bee and Silent Auction celebrates twenty years! The Silent Auction begins at 6pm, and the Trivia Bee begins at 7pm. Ken Jennings returns to co-host with local KAFE Radio personality Scotty VanDryver.

Read more about this fun event on page 5.

Saturday, April 30, 10am-7pm Independent Bookstore Day! Join the party! Along with our friends and colleagues around the nation, we’ll be celebrating independent bookstores and the communities that support them (that’s you, by the way) today! Stop by for some great activities and surprises, and to purchase exclusive Independent Bookstore Day items. See pg 2 for more!

so far in

MAY

Thursday, May 5, 7pm REVEREND BILLY –The Earth Wants You! Reverend Billy and his choir of singingactivists are on the front lines of creative direct action, and here they offer up a distillation of the passion, the inspiration, and the hopes for love and survival that fuel their work. In a mix of essays, polemics, surrealist scenarios and news flashes from the frontlines, Reverend Billy answers the question, "What are we to do?" with a resounding chorus of "Take Action now!"

Local Author/ Children’s Book Week Illustrator!

Saturday, May 7, 10:30am KEITH NEGLEY –Tough Guys Have Feelings Too

KIDS!

Did you know wrestlers have feelings? And knights? Even superheroes and ninjas feel sad sometimes. In fact, everyone has feelings—especially dads who love their children! Keith Negley is a nationally recognized illustrator and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and New Yorker.

Young Children’s Book Week Adults Saturday, May 7, 2pm MARTHA BROCKENBROUGH –The Game of Love and Death

PNBA Award Winner!

Flora and Henry were born a few blocks from each other, innocent of the forces that might keep a white boy and an African American girl apart. But what Flora and Henry don't know is that they are pawns in a game played by the eternal adversaries Love and Death. In the rainy Seattle of the 1920s, romance blooms among the jazz clubs, the mansions of the wealthy, and the shanty towns of the poor. But what is more powerful: Love? Or death?

KIDS! Children’s Book Week Sunday, May 8, 2pm TEA WITH MOM in the Book Fare Café!

Celebrate Mother’s Day with us at Book Fare Café! Bring your children and enjoy some tasty treats, a few stories, a craft, and good company. Tickets are $6 per person and can be purchased at the main counter at Village Books. Space is limited so buy your tickets soon!

If you can’t make it to an event, just call us to arrange for autographed copies!

Keep turning for even more events!

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Friday, May 13, 7pm ERIC JAY DOLIN –Brilliant Beacons:

Slide Show!

A History of the American Lighthouse

In a work rich in maritime lore and brimming with original historical detail, Eric Jay Dolin, the best-selling author of Leviathan, presents an epic history of American lighthouses, telling the story of America through the prism of its beloved coastal sentinels.

Thursday, May 19, Doors 6:30pm, Show 7pm in the Heiner Theatre at WWU

THE CHUCKANUT RADIO HOUR Featuring STEVE MARTINI, author of Blood Flag Join us as we welcome bestselling author Steve Martini to the Chuckanut Radio Hour for his latest Paul Madriani novel! In Blood Flag, Madriani takes on a new homicide case in which Emma Brauer-Nunn has been accused of ‘mercy killing’ her elderly father. Tickets $5 available at Village Books and on brownpapertickets.com. Read more on page 29.

Saturday, May 21, 7pm STEVE OLSON –Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

For months in early 1980, scientists, journalists and ordinary people listened anxiously to rumblings in the long quiescent volcano Mount St. Helens. In this riveting story of volcanic disaster, Olson richly weaves together survival narrative with scientific, natural, and social history, bringing to life stories of the volcano’s victims and survivors to portray the disaster as a multifaceted turning point.

Wednesday, May 25, 7pm ASHLEY SWEENEY –Eliza Waite

Fiction!

In 1898, Eliza Waite leaves a stagnant life in the San Juan Islands to join the tumultuous Klondike Gold Rush. Part diary, part recipe file, and part history, this powerful, moving novel about trailblazing, reinvention, and grit delivers a riveting read about a raucous and colorful time in American history.

Thursday, May 26, 2pm Kids’ Activity!

ELANA AZOSE KIDS! –Never Insult a Killer Zucchini When Mr. Farnsworth, the science-fair judge, declares that he loves zucchinis, the Killer Zucchini is smitten.

As the judge makes his way through the exhibits, the Killer Zucchini tries to show his affection. But when Mr. F admits he likes to EAT zucchini with ranch dressing, the Killer Zucchini gets steamed and attempts to exact his revenge on the snack-loving judge using the other science-fair projects as his means to an end.

Additions & changes to this schedule will occur so check out VillageBooks.com to stay updated–or even better, let us come to you!

Register online for the Village Books eNewsletter!

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Spring 2016

Friday, May 27, 7pm KEN WILCOX –Hiking Whatcom County, Sixth Edition Just in time for Ski to Sea, Ken Wilcox presents the freshly updated edition of his comprehensive guidebook to the trails of Whatcom County. You’ll find all your favorite hikes here as well as 15 new hikes! Join Ken as he shares his long-awaited new book.

Sunday, May 29 It All Ends in Fairhaven!

Come on down and join in the Ski to Sea festivities! Ken Wilcox, author of Hiking Whatcom County, will be signing copies of his book at Village Books from 2-4pm.

Monday, May 30, 7pm Open Mic with Laurel Leigh Village Books invites everyone to enjoy local talents as they share their own stories, poems and essays. Published and unpublished writers are encouraged to attend and enjoy a welcoming audience.

JUNE Saturday, June 4, 2pm SUZANNE NELSON –Serendipity’s Footsteps

save the dates!

Young Adult Fiction!

From Nazi Germany to a modern-day orphanage in the American South, three girls separated by decades and thousands of miles are about to give up when a single pair of shoes binds them all together.

Friday, June 10, 10:30-11:30am KIDS! PURPLE FRIDAY! STORY TIME featuring The Magical World of Strega Nona

by Tomie DePaola Join us for a special story time where we will celebrate everyone's favorite grandmother-witch, Strega Nona. Author does NOT attend.

Wednesday, June 15, Doors at 6pm, Show at 7pm at the Mount Baker Theatre TERRY TEMPEST WILLIAMS –The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America’s National Parks

Join us as we welcome Terry Tempest Williams to the Mount Baker Theatre as part of our Booked at the Baker Series! To honor the centennial of the National Park Service, Terry Tempest Williams brings us a literary celebration of our national parks, what they mean to us, and what we mean to them. Tickets $5—available soon at Village Books & Mount Baker Theatre. Read more on page 54.

Thank you for supporting Literature Live Events!

Building Community One Book at a Time

All over the world, filmmakers are crafting works of exhilarating imagination and creativity - just for kids!

Pickford Film Center presents the 2016 Bellingham Children’s Film Festival, showcasing innovative and fun films from around the globe PLUS sing-alongs, an ice-cream social, and interactive art projects in the lobby.

Opening Day: $7 for kids / $10 for PFC members / $12 for general admission All prices: $5 for kids / $7.50 for PFC members / $10.75 general admission

Opening Day Party Saturday, March 19

1:00 - Animated Shorts 60m,

Ages 4+

Itʼs the Best of the Fest from the Childrenʼs Film Festival Seattle, curated by Liz Shepard.

This diverse collection of colorful characters will delight the whole family.

12:30 - 3:30 - Interactive Art Projects in the lobby

3:00 - The Okee Dokee Brothers - Through the Woods: An Appalachian Adventure featuring an in-theatre performance and sing along of Campfire Songs and Children’s Favorites with Spencer Willows 75m, Ages 4+ The grammy award winning Okee Dokee Brothers embarked on a month-long trek on the Appalachian Trail to hike, camp, meet mountain musicians, play and wrote the songs that make up their 2nd adventure album.

4:30 - 5:30 - ice cream social sponsored by

Fun Continues For 2 Weekends!

Sunday, March 20

1:00 - Live Action Short FIlms -

60m, Ages 4+ Stories from around the globe! Another fabulous collection from Liz Shepard & the Best of the Fest from the Childrenʼs Film Festival Seattle.

3:00 - Moomins on the Riviera - 80m, Ages 4+ In this hand drawn animation feature celebrating Tove Janssonʼs original comic strips, The Moomins set sail for the Riviera along with Little My & Snorkmaiden on a sea journey that after storms and desert island dangers takes their unity to the test.

proceeds benefit

Saturday, March 26

11:30 am - Cuddly Critters -

56m, Ages 2+ This sweet, bright package features a variety of non-verbal shorts appropriate for young children. Also available for school screenings!

12:30-3:30 Let your Artsy flag fly with art projects in the lobby

1:00 - Live Action Shorts - 60m, Ages 4+ 3:00 - Moomins on the Riviera - 80m, Ages 6+

Sunday, March 27

1:00 - Animated Shorts -

60m, Ages 4+

12:30-3:30 Let your creative juices flow! Visit our art station in the lobby!

3:00 - All the Time in the World -

89m, Grades 4-8 Suzanne Crocker leaves her daily life behind in search of a simpler life with her family in the Yukon for nine months. See what the world would be like without technology. Fascinating!

Special school screenings throughout the week! Programs include: All the Time in the World (kids 8+), Cuddly Creatures (for kids 2+) and, exclusively for classrooms: Indigenous Showcase (kids 8+) Talk to your kids’ teachers! Book today. Contact Grace Schrater, Education Outreach Coordinator for more info: grace@@@pickfordfilmcenter.org

360-671-2626 • 800-392-BOOK • villagebooks.com

Spring 2016

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1200 11th St. Bellingham, WA 98225 360.671.2626 www.VillageBooks.com Whatcom County’s Favorite Bookstore since 1980 Building Community One Book at a Time

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EST. 2014