Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

"My Unforgotten Seattle" embraces disability

Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Lina Benson 
Photo provided by Lina Benson
By Lina R. Benson and Sally R. Yamasaki

A few months ago, author of "My Unforgotten Seattle" Ron Chew was interviewed virtually at Lake Forest Park’s Third Place Books about his memoir and preservation of Asian American history and the strength of its community leaders.

Epiphanies that turn to reality come to Ron Chew on his daily 20-mile runs. On one particular day, it struck him that several Seattle activists that he had worked with over the years were now gone and he was concerned that their stories might be lost forever. 

That epiphany inspired him to write his memories of growing up in Seattle as the son of parents who immigrated from China, and of the many people who have helped shape the communities that have too often been ignored. 

The result is his recently published memoir, "My Unforgotten Seattle."

I had heard so much about Ron’s book and couldn’t wait to dive into all the stories he collected. Bill Radke of KUOW described "My Unforgotten Seattle" as the “most Seattle book” he had ever read. 

It is a unique and rarely told story of Ron’s life woven into the history of Seattle’s International District which gives us an intimate experience with a significant part of Seattle history that you won’t see anywhere else.

Ron recalls his grandparents, undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. from China during the Chinese Exclusion Act, and because of this, shares how he came to understand on a deeper level his mother’s fear of her security as a U.S. resident, and the fear some immigrants live with today. 

Ron portrays the dignity and humanity behind the often-overlooked waiter who was his father at a well-known Chop Suey restaurant in the International District. We also get to know Lily Yamada, “an older woman with a bun of white hair,” who worked as a hairdresser at Uwajimaya and lived on the same floor as Ron. Lily was a survivor of the atomic bomb, a hibakusha, from Hiroshima. She told Ron about the horrific experience and what that meant to her.

As a young adult Asian American Trans-Racial Adoptee, I knew I wanted access to this captured history through the voice and lived experience of Ron, a Chinese American who was raised in Seattle. 

However, just like tens of millions of other Americans like me, reading for me means reading audibly, due to my learning disability. As a result, the way I access printed literature is through audio books.

Soon to be available in audiobook

One thing I’ve come to know about Ron is his life mission of being a disruptor for justice and that he’s always reaching a hand behind him to support future BIPOC generations to further this goal. 


To make his book more accessible, Ron’s latest project is creating an audio version of his memoir. A joint project between Chew Communications, partnering with Seattle’s Talking Book and Braille Library, and the International Examiner, they plan to have the audio book available later this year. 

Soon, I and many, many more, will be able to enjoy Ron’s memoir and the stories of the many unforgotten people who have helped shape the history of Seattle’s International District.



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Shoreline Schools and Third Place Books Black Books Fair ends Feb. 14

Saturday, February 13, 2021

Black Books Fair open through Sunday


The Black Voices: Black Books Fair ends at midnight this Sunday, February 14, 2021. 

In partnership with Third Place Books, this fundraiser is helping purchase books by Black authors for all Shoreline school libraries. 

Learn more and find ordering instructions HERE.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET: For your order to count towards the book fair, you must:
  • Check the box that asks if you are participating in a book fair towards the end of the check out screen
  • Then enter "Black Voices" in the ensuing text box
  • If you do not select the book fair participation box and enter the name of your school, we will not know that your order corresponds to this book fair, and it will not count towards the fundraiser.


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Purchase tickets for Cicely Tyson event Thursday

Wednesday, January 27, 2021


Thursday, January 28, 2021 - 3:00pm
This is a virtual event, and tickets are required!

Ticket includes one copy of Just As I Am.*

"In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson has not only succeeded as an actor, she has shaped the course of history." -President Barack Obama, 2016 Presidential Medal of Honor ceremony

"Just As I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside. In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. 
"Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. 
"I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by His hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say." --Cicely Tyson


Join Third Place Books, along with partners from around the country, for a special livestream event with Cicely Tyson!

Miss Cicely Tyson is an actress, lecturer, activist, and one of the most respected talents in American theater and film history. From her starring role on Broadway in The Blacks (1961), to the Emmy-nominated 1999 HBO film A Lesson Before Dying, her work has garnered critical and commercial applause for more than sixty years. 

Her two Emmys for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman made her the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Best Actress. In 2013, Miss Tyson won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful

A capstone achievement came in 2018, when she became the first Black woman to receive an honorary Oscar. The Board of Governors voted unanimously to honor her with the award, which came 45 years after her Academy Award nominated performance in Sounder.

*Books will be shipped to purchasers via USPS Media Mail. Please note that Third Place Books DOES NOT OFFER INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING.



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Wednesday authors from Third Place Books

Tuesday, January 26, 2021


Wednesday, January 27, 2021 - 7:00pm

This is a virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar!
Register for this livestream event here!

The odds of getting hit by a bus are 495,000 to 1. But the odds that you’re going to die some day of something? Exactly. 

In Case You Get Hit By A Bus will help even the most disorganized among us take control of our on- and off-line details so our loved ones won't have to scramble later. 

Breaking the task down into three levels, from the most urgent (like granting access to passwords), to the technical (creating a manual for the systems in your home), to the nostalgic (assembling a living memory), this clear, step-by-step program not only removes the anxiety and stress from getting your life in order, it's actually liberating.

Abby Schneiderman co-founder, and co-CEO of Everplans, is an industry expert in the areas of digital estate planning, technology, and consumerism, a Forbes.com Contributor and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and CNBC.

Adam Seifer, co-founder and co-CEO of Everplans, has helped create multiple huge online communities and networks and is an inventor on "the social networking patent" now owned by LinkedIn.

Gene Newman serves as Everplans' editorial and education director and has spent his career as a writer, editor, and content leader for Maxim.com, Hachette Filipacchi Digital, and other lifestyle properties.



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Tuesday authors presented by Third Place Books: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore and Madeline ffitch

Monday, January 25, 2021


Tuesday, January 26, 2021 - 7:00pm

This is a virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar

Register for this livestream event here!

Join us for an evening with this dynamic author duo, as we celebrate Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's acclaimed new book The Freezer Door, and the paperback release of Madeline ffitch's Stay and Fight!

When you turn the music off, and suddenly you feel an unbearable sadness, that means turn the music back on, right? When you still feel the sadness, even with the music, that means there's something wrong with this music. Sometimes I feel like sex without context isn't sex at all. And sometimes I feel like sex without context is what sex should always be.
--The Freezer Door

The Freezer Door records the ebb and flow of desire in daily life. Crossing through loneliness in search of communal pleasure in Seattle, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore exposes the failure and persistence of queer dreams, the hypocritical allure of gay male sexual culture, and the stranglehold of the suburban imagination over city life.

Ferocious and tender, The Freezer Door offers a complex meditation on the trauma and possibility of searching for connection in a world that relentlessly enforces bland norms of gender, sexual, and social conformity while claiming to celebrate diversity.

Helen arrives in Appalachian Ohio full of love and her boyfriend's ideas for living off the land. Too soon, with winter coming, he calls it quits. Helped by Rudy -- her government-questioning, wisdom-spouting, seasonal-affective-disordered boss -- and a neighbor couple, Helen makes it to spring. Those neighbors, Karen and Lily, are awaiting the arrival of their first child, a boy, which means their time at the Women's Land Trust must end.

So Helen invites the new family to throw in with her -- they'll split the work and the food, build a house, and make a life that sustains them, if barely, for years. Then young Perley decides he wants to go to school. And Rudy sets up a fruit-tree nursery on the pipeline easement edging their land. The outside world is brought clamoring into their makeshift family.

Set in a region known for its independent spirit, Stay and Fight shakes up what it means to be a family, to live well, to make peace with nature and make deals with the system. It is a protest novel that challenges our notions of effective action. It is a family novel that refuses to limit the term. And it is a marvel of storytelling that both breaks with tradition and celebrates it. Best of all, it is full of flawed, cantankerous, flesh-and-blood characters who remind us that conflict isn't the end of love, but the real beginning.

Absorbingly spun, perfectly voiced, and disruptively political, Madeline ffitch's Stay and Fight - now in paperback - forces us to reimagine an Appalachia--and an America--we think we know. And it takes us, laughing and fighting, into a new understanding of what it means to love and to be free.

Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore is the author of three novels and a memoir and the editor of five nonfiction anthologies. Her memoir, The End of San Francisco, won a Lambda Literary Award in 2014, and her previous book, Why Are Faggots So Afraid of Faggots? Flaming Challenges to Masculinity, Objectification, and the Desire to Conform, was an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book. Her novel Sketchtasy, was one of NPR's Best Books of 2018. She lives in Seattle.

Madeline ffitch co founded the punk theater company Missoula Oblongata and is part of the direct-action collective Appalachia Resist! Her writing has appeared in Tin House, Guernica, Granta, VICE, and Electric Literature, among other publications. She is the author of the story collection Valparaiso, Round the Horn.

Third Place Books Lake Forest Park
206-366-3333
17171 Bothell Way NE, #A101
Lake Forest Park WA 98155



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Pandemic Picks – Movie talk and great recommendations from Third Place Commons Wednesday, Jan 27


Wintertime lockdown is no fun and the events of the world can be exhausting. So take a break and treat yourself to a cinematic escape with guidance from folks who really know movies.

Tune in Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 7pm for Pandemic Picks: Movies!

If you’re a movie lover, you probably think you’ve streamed everything good by now, but not so fast. There are amazing discoveries out there to explore, and the Pandemic Picks panel is ready to help you find your next favorite movie.

Panelists Include:
  • SJ Chiro, Filmmaker
  • MĂłnica Guzmán, Author, Columnist, and Cofounder of the Evergrey
  • Lisa Palmatier, Director, ShoreLake Arts Gallery

Sometimes a well-timed movie break is just good self-care. So get great movie recommendations from local luminaries and content experts in this short, fun event, part of Third Place Commons TPC At Home series of online programs.

REGISTER HERE for Pandemic Picks: Movies!


And if you love talking movies, join the TPC Movie Club. Stream the monthly picks from home, then log in on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:30pm to discuss the featured selection and other good flicks with fellow movie lovers.

The next meeting of the TPC Movie Club will take place on Tuesday, February 9th when the group will discuss “Blinded by the Light.” It’s the joyful true story of a Pakistani teen in 1980s England who, faced with economic hardship and racial prejudice, discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen, and through Bruce, the inspiration to find his own voice as a writer.

What the critics say: “Like a life-affirming rock anthem, Blinded by the Light hits familiar chords with confidence and flair, building to a conclusion that leaves audiences cheering for an encore.”

The film is rated PG-13, is free to watch for Cinemax subscribers, and can be rented or purchased through most major streaming services.

Register here for the TPC Movie Club.


If books are your preferred escape, join the Commons Community Book Club, which meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 5pm. At the upcoming session on February 17th, the group will be discussing “The Clockmaker’s Daughter” by Kate Morton.

This bestselling novel is a mystery that unfolds across time. It’s the tale of an abandoned girl who grows up to be a thief turned artist’s muse in Victorian England, and of a long buried mystery unearthed 150 years later when a modern day archivist makes an unexpected discovery. So start reading and join the conversation!

Register here to join the Commons Community Book Club.

Third Place Commons, a community supported 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has been building real community in the heart of Lake Forest Park for over 20 years.

In addition to presenting its largest program, the Lake Forest Park Farmers Market, Third Place Commons now also fosters real community in digital space. 

To learn more, or to make a gift to support the Commons and the market, visit ThirdPlaceCommons.org



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Community Connections - Coming up from Third Place Commons

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

As we all struggle to navigate these very stressful times, community feels more important than ever. The pandemic may have separated us physically, but we don’t have to abandon our community support entirely thanks in part to Third Place Commons.

If you’re looking for chances to connect with your community, engage with issues of importance, or just to find some welcome opportunities to take a break from it all, check out these upcoming free events.

TPC Movie Club – Tues, Jan. 12 (and every 2nd Tuesday night) at 7:30pm

This month’s session focuses on “Selma,” the true story of the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that ultimately caused President Johnson to sign the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Oscar nominated for Best Picture and winner of Best Song, this universally acclaimed film will leave you inspired. Register here for the monthly TPC Movie Club. (Register just once for the link to use each month.)


What Is Dr. King’s Beloved Community and How Do We Achieve It? – Thurs, Jan. 14 at 7pm

A community conversation about the concept of Beloved Community, Dr. King’s global vision for a world in which “racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood.” How do we bring this estimable goal to life? How is it already manifesting in the real world? Register here to learn more and get inspired to take action.

Commons Community Book Club – Weds, Jan. 20 (and every 3rd Wednesday) at 5:00pm

The January chat will focus on the book Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. Two lovers in a country torn apart by a civil war hear rumors of mysterious doors that can whisk you away to other places. But if they can manage to find one and muster the courage to go through, where will they land and what dangers will they face? This unusual take on love and the refugee experience is a NYT bestseller that was awarded the LA Times Book Prize for Fiction and named one of the New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2017. Register here for the Commons Community Book Club. (Register just once for the link to use each month.)

(Note: As luck would have it, this monthly meeting just happens to fall on Inauguration Day this month. While it is currently still scheduled to move forward as planned, you may wish to check the online calendar for updates should current events impact this or any other planned programming.)


Pandemic Picks: Movies! – Weds, Jan. 27 at 7:00pm

Everyone needs a break from the news of the world now and then, especially in times of turmoil. Sometimes a cinematic escape is just good self-care. So tune in for Pandemic Picks: Movies!, the next installment in the popular series of programs where local leaders and content experts share their recommendations to get you through this wintery lockdown. Register here for Pandemic Picks: Movies!

TPC At Home

Of course, there are other ways to connect with community through the Commons, too, through all of the TPC At Home programs. These include weekly foreign language conversation groups (German on Mondays, French on Tuesdays, and Spanish on Thursdays at 5:30pm) and monthly Computer Q/As. Check the Third Place Commons online calendar for links to join to these welcoming and fun groups.

Third Place Commons, a community supported 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has been building real community in the heart of Lake Forest Park for over 20 years. In addition to presenting its largest program, the Lake Forest Park Farmers Market, Third Place Commons now also fosters real community in digital space. To learn more, or to make a gift to support the Commons and the market, visit ThirdPlaceCommons.org



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Leave Me Alone!

Saturday, January 9, 2021

Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol

Once there was an old woman who lived in a little house with a big family and a big stack of knitting.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" she shouts, as she leaves home for the forest, then leaves the forest for the mountains, the moon, and finally moves to the void on the far side of a wormhole -- which is a nice quiet spot to knit without distractions.

Share this fun picture book with kiddos ages 3 and up ... or with other adults who wouldn't mind going to the void just to get some peace and quiet.

Aarene Storms 
Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System 



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Third Place Books author events this week - all online


Tuesday, January 12, 2021 - 12:00pm
Virtual Event
This is a virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar! Register for this livestream event here!

B is for Beautiful, Brave, and Bright! And for a Book that takes a Bold journey through the alphabet of Black history and culture.

Letter by letter, The ABCs of Black History celebrates a story that spans continents and centuries, triumph and heartbreak, creativity and joy.

It's a story of big ideas--P is for Power, S is for Science and Soul. Of significant moments--G is for Great Migration. Of iconic figures--H is for Zora Neale Hurston, X is for Malcom X. It's an ABC book like no other, and a story of hope and love.

In addition to rhyming text, the book includes back matter with information on the events, places, and people mentioned in the poem, from Mae Jemison to W. E. B. Du Bois, Fannie Lou Hamer to Sam Cooke, and the Little Rock Nine to DJ Kool Herc.



Wednesday, January 13, 2021 - 7:00pm
Virtual Event
This is a virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar! Register for this livestream event here!

In Julia Ember's dark and lush LGBTQ+ romantic fantasy Ruinsong, two young women from rival factions must work together to reunite their country, as they wrestle with their feelings for each other.

Her voice was her prison...
Now it's her weapon.

In a world where magic is sung, a powerful mage named Cadence has been forced to torture her country's disgraced nobility at her ruthless queen's bidding.

But when she is reunited with her childhood friend, a noblewoman with ties to the underground rebellion, she must finally make a choice: Take a stand to free their country from oppression, or follow in the queen's footsteps and become a monster herself.

Julia Ember was born in Chicago, but raised in London and Edinburgh. She now lives in Seattle with her wife, where they are the proud parents of two cats and a very fluffy pony. She has previously worked as a teacher, bookseller and wedding cake decorator, and she is also the author of the Seafarer's Kiss duology. When she isn’t working on her prose fiction, Julia writes for video and app games.


Thursday, January 14, 2021 - 7:00pm
Virtual Event
This is a virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar! Register for this livestream event here!

For 50 years, Stephanie Plymale kept her past a fiercely guarded secret. No one outside her immediate family would have guessed that her childhood was fraught with every imaginable hardship: a mentally ill mother who was in and out of jails and psych wards throughout Stephanie's formative years, neglect, hunger, poverty, homelessness, truancy, foster homes, a harrowing lack of medical care, and ongoing sexual abuse.

Stephanie, in turn, knew very little about the past of her mother, from whom she remained estranged during most of her adult life. All this changed with a phone call that set a journey of discovery in motion, leading to a series of shocking revelations that forced Stephanie to revise the meaning of almost every aspect of her very compromised childhood.

American Daughter is at once the deeply moving memoir of a troubled mother-daughter relationship and a meditation on trauma, resilience, transcendence, and redemption. Stephanie's story is unique but its messages are universal, offering insight into what it means to survive, to rise above, to heal, and to forgive.

Stephanie Thornton Plymale is the CEO of Heritage School of Interior Design and the founder of the Heritage Home Foundation, a nonprofit serving families transitioning from homelessness. She lives with her husband and three children in Portland, Oregon.


Saturday, January 16, 2021 - 3:00pm
Virtual Event
This is a virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar! Register for this livestream event here!

Anthropologist Sophia Shepard is researching the impact of tourism on cultural sites in a remote national monument on the Utah-Arizona border when she crosses paths with two small-time criminals. The Ashdown brothers were hired to steal maps from a collector of Native American artifacts, but their ineptitude has alerted the local sheriff to their presence. Their employer, a former lobbyist seeking lucrative monument land that may soon be open to energy exploration, sends a fixer to clean up their mess. Suddenly, Sophia must put her theories to the test in the real world, and the stakes are higher than she could have ever imagined.

What begins as a madcap caper across the RV-strewn vacation lands of southern Utah becomes a meditation on mythology, authenticity, the ethics of preservation, and one nagging question: Who owns the past?

Todd Robert Petersen grew up in Portland, Oregon, and now teaches film studies and creative writing at Southern Utah University. Petersen's previous books include Long After Dark, Rift, and It Needs to Look Like We Tried. He and his family live in Cedar City, Utah, on the western edge of the Markagunt Plateau.

Liberty Hardy is a senior contributing editor for Book Riot and host of the popular All the Books! podcast. She lives in the great state of Maine, where she reads 500-600 books a year and hangs out with her three cats, who hate to read.



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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Night Raven

Monday, January 4, 2021

The Night Raven (Crow Investigations #1) 
by Sarah Painter

Lydia Crow was raised apart from her magic-using-mafiosa-esque family, but when she needs a place to go, her uncle invites her to "help him with a project" in London ... and she accepts. 

The project turns out to be finding Madeleine Crow, who is missing. Or is she?

Harry Dresden in London?
Stephanie Plum, but with magic?
Or Peter Grant if he were a woman ... and the niece of a Family don?

Actually, it doesn't really matter. The mystery is light, the writing is fun, the setting is familiar-but-different, and the magic in the world is intriguing. 

AND it's the first in a series that includes five titles already. I read it in a day, and eagerly await my turn with book #2 The Silver Mark. It's the perfect read for a rainy winter night.

Some cussing, some sexual situations (on- and off-page), some violence, plus magic.

Aarene Storms
Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org



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Third Place Books presents on zoom: Tara Moss, in conversation with Gertie Hirsch

Saturday, January 2, 2021


Wednesday, January 6, 2021 - 6:00pm
A virtual event, taking place via Zoom Webinar 

The war may be officially over, but journalist Billie Walker's search for a missing young immigrant man will plunge her right back into the danger and drama she thought she'd left behind in Europe in this thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in glamorous postwar Sydney.

Sydney, 1946. Though war correspondent Billie Walker is happy to finally be home, for her the heady postwar days are tarnished by the loss of her father and the disappearance in Europe of her husband, Jack. To make matters worse, now that the war is over, the newspapers are sidelining her reporting talents to prioritize jobs for returning soldiers. But Billie is a survivor and she's determined to take control of her own future. So she reopens her late father's business, a private investigation agency, and, slowly, the women of Sydney come knocking.

At first, Billie's bread and butter is tailing cheating husbands. Then, a young man, the son of European immigrants, goes missing, and Billie finds herself on a dangerous new trail that will lead up into the highest levels of Sydney society and down into its underworld. What is the young man’s connection to an exclusive dance club and a high class auction house? 
When the people Billie questions about the young man start to turn up dead, Billie is thrown into the path of Detective Inspector Hank Cooper. Will he take her seriously or will he just get in her way? As the danger mounts and Billie realizes that much more than one young man’s life is at stake, it becomes clear that though the war was won, it is far from over.

Tara Moss is an internationally bestselling author, human rights activist, documentary host, and model. Her crime novels have been published in nineteen countries and thirteen languages, and her memoir, The Fictional Woman, was a #1 international bestseller. She is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and has received the Edna Ryan Award for significant contributions to feminist debate and for speaking out for women and children, and in 2017 she was recognized as one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life.

Gretchen "Gertie" Hirsch is a passionate home seamstress, a sought-after sewing teacher, and the creator of one of the web’s most popular sewing blogs: Gertie’s New Blog for Better Sewing. She has written five books including Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses and Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. Gretchen now produces her own independent pattern line called Charm Patterns, creates exclusive content for her Patreon subscribers, and makes inspiring videos and tutorials for her YouTube channel Gertie’s World.

The War Widow (A Billie Walker Novel) (Hardcover)
By Tara Moss
$26.00
ISBN: 9780593182659
Availability: Out of stock, usually available in 3-10 days
Published: Dutton - December 29, 2020

 

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Book review by Aarene Storms: Gunslinger Girl

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Gunslinger Girl by Lyndsay Ely

Serendipity (Pity) has got to get out of the agricultural commune -- right now. But on her way to the city, things go terribly wrong and Pity ends up in the dead-end, last-ditch town of Cessation instead.

There, she finds both refuge and a good job as a sharpshooter for the local Chatauqua ... until a stranger with bad intentions arrives.

Dystopic Future meets Wild Wild West in this fast-moving adventure story. Strong characters, some gender diversity, a sweet romance, a bit of cussing, some sexual situations, several bullet wounds and really a lot of snakes.

Highly recommended in print or audiobook edition, ages 14 to adult.


Aarene Storms Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org



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Book review by Aarene Storms: A Game of Fox and Squirrels

Sunday, December 20, 2020

A Game of Fox and Squirrels by Jenn Reese

11-year-old Samantha and her older sister Caitlin have abruptly left their home in Los Angeles to live in Oregon with an aunt they've never met. 

Sam just wants to go back -- back home, to her parents, to her friends, and to the way her life was before she said something that changed everything.

When Aunt Vicky gives Sam a mysterious card game, Sam falls in love with the beautiful animal characters in the game: the clever squirrels, and especially the charming fox Ashander.

Ashander promises her an adventure and a reward, and Sam accepts the challenge. But somehow, the rules keep changing, and Sam isn't sure she can ever win this game.

Thinly-veiled metaphor often puts my teeth on edge, but this story was so deftly written that I kept turning pages and hoping that Sam and Caitlin would get the happy ending and safe home that every child deserves.

I won't spoil the ending for you, but I will say that it pleased me very much. The author's note at the back of the book is beautiful, and her website contains not only extra resources for those facing domestic abuse, but also rules for the actual card game -- including ideas for winning.

References to physical and emotional abuse, but no violence towards children on the page. This book may upset some readers; it might reassure others. Recommended for ages 10 to adult.

Aarene Storms Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Estranged by Ethan M. Aldridge

Sunday, December 6, 2020

Estranged by Ethan M. Aldridge

The Human Childe was changed with the son of the King and Queen of the Fae when both were very young. In the World Above, the elvish heir to the throne lives with parents and an older sister in modern Brooklyn. 

In the World Below, the boy doesn't even have a name. Then things go terribly wrong, and the Human Childe goes up into our world to seek the aid of the changeling who was swapped.

A modern changeling story? In graphic novel format? And there's a high-speed chase through the subway with a DRAGON?

Where do I sign up?

Really nice character-based story that touches base with traditional folklore before spinning off in new directions. The relationships remind me of the friends and family in the Mighty Jack and Zita the Space Girl books by Ben Hatke, written for a slightly older audience. 

This book is cataloged for the juvenile collection at my library, but I would comfortably hand it to readers ages ten to adult.

Sword fighting, political betrayals, dysfunctional families as well as functional and "found" family, magic, epic gayness and non-binary characters, fun artwork and a DRAGON. No cussing. Kissing, but no nekkidness or sex.

Aarene Storms Teen Services Librarian
King County Library System
astorms@kcls.org




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Book review by Aarene Storms: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Sunday, November 29, 2020

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

18-year-old Susan Arkshaw figures it's time to find out who her dad really is. Her mom has always been a bit ... fae ... about the topic. How hard could it be, really?

Well, first there is the "uncle" who isn't quite a vampire, and then there's a (left-handed) bookseller named "Merlin" who has skills that a secret agent would envy, and there's also his (right-handed) bookseller sister who has a different but equally freaky set of skills, and then also it's entirely possible that Susan's dad is a mountain....

If Sir Terry Pratchett had wanted to write a police procedural for Ben Aaronovich's "Rivers of London" series, it might turn out a lot like this. And, if you like that kind of thing, you'll probably like this.

Action, adventure, car chases, magic, death, minor cussing, creepy weird stuff, fancy tea, and a distinct possibility of sequels.

Recommended for ages 14 to adult.

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS astorms@kcls.org

Previous reviews by Aarene Storms HERE



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Book review by Aarene Storms: Dearest

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Dearest by Alethea Kontis

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving..
.

Friday Woodcutter is loving and giving, and kind to children, and talented with a needle, and considers herself the least magical person in the family.

Then she meets her true love: a handsome man who (with his six brothers) turns into a swan by day.

Tristan's family needs her help before the curse on his family becomes permanent. But there's an evil magician, an evil enchantress, and an evil henchman in the way.

Part Three of the Woodcutter Sisters story mostly does not stand alone, and doesn't weave in nearly as many folk tales as previous volumes. Still, there are magical people a-plenty, and a good roaring story and plenty of romance to keep readers turning pages and wishing the author would hurry up and finish writing Part Four.

No sex, no cussing, some blood, no gore, some scary elements, and quite a lot of magic.

Recommended for fans of the series, ages 14 to adult.

The events may not have happened; still, the story is true. --R. Silvern

Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS astorms@kcls.org



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Brier children’s author/illustrator helps Tooth Fairy soar with new storybook aimed at teaching kids about healthy dental habits

Thursday, November 19, 2020


Virtual Storytime set for 10am on Friday, November 20, 2020 via Brier Library website

The Tooth Fairy is launching her new storybook virtually – with some help from Brier-based children’s author Kelly Rae Bahr, who wrote and illustrated the book titled The Clean Teeth Club: A Tooth Fairy Tale.

As a champion for good oral health, the Tooth Fairy has expanded her popular in-person youth education program – The Tooth Fairy Experience – to include a virtual storytime featuring the new book, as well as an oral health learning opportunity for public libraries statewide.

The program, presented free by Delta Dental of Washington and developed in partnership with the School Nurse Organization of Washington (SNOW) and Arcora Foundation, is designed to help improve dental habits at an early age.

The Tooth Fairy – joined by Bahr, who will introduce the book – will be bringing her virtual program to Sno-Isle Libraries’ Brier Library at 10am on Friday, November 20. Her presentation also includes fun smile facts, proper brushing techniques, tooth science experiments and more!

The new storybook – published by Delta Dental of Washington – features a lively story about a young boy on a quest to find the perfect club to join – while learning some valuable lessons along the way. The book is designed for children 10 and under, leaving young readers eager for their next visit to the dentist.

Families interested in joining can register for this FREE Zoom online event at Sno-Isle.net/Brier. Upon registering, families will receive a Zoom link which will provide them access to the event.

“I am thrilled to have gotten the opportunity to collaborate with Delta Dental of Washington on my first picture book,” said author and illustrator Kelly Rae Bahr. 
“Tasked with making dental health appealing and even exciting to kids, I came up with a club that every kid can join in only three steps: The Clean Teeth Club. 
"My hope is that children will be inspired to follow the three quests to clean teeth and maybe even start a club of their own for their family and friends. Three cheers for healthy teeth and a squeaky-clean smile!”

Following the event, the storybook will be available for free digital viewing on The Tooth Fairy Experience website, and for check-out at the Sno-Isle Brier Library.

“It is so important to teach oral health from a young age and who better to learn it from than the Tooth Fairy herself," said Sno-Isle Library Associate Morgan Farrow.

For anyone interested in scheduling a presentation for their library, school or youth organization, a “Request a Tooth Fairy Visit” form on the program’s website www.TheToothFairyExperience.com or send an email to Hello@TheToothFairyExperience.com.

Delta Dental of Washington is the state’s leading dental benefit provider, covering nearly 3 million people in Washington state and nationally. As the only not-for-profit carrier dedicated to improving oral health in Washington, Delta Dental plays a vital role extending access to care for the underserved and vulnerable populations through the Arcora Foundation, corporate philanthropy and oral health advocacy. For more information, visit: www.deltadentalwa.com



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Book Review by Aarene Storms: The Meaning of Birds

Sunday, November 15, 2020

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown

Jess is still kind of a mess when she meets Vivi, between grieving the death of her dad and trying to curb her anger with classmates who harass the "gay girl". But Vivi changed all that. Vivi doesn't just love Jess, she also encourages Jess to pursue an artistic future.

And then, suddenly, Vivi died.

Reeling from loss, Jess retreats back into old (bad) habits to cope. She drinks, she skips schools, she gets into fights, and she throws out her art portfolio--because art reminds her of Vivi, and Vivi is dead.

The narrative skips back-and-forth in time, from scenes labeled "Then" featuring Vivi and Jess together, before Vivi got sick, alternating with scenes labeled "Now", when Jess tries to figure out how to think about her future.

This compelling story features flawed characters, including Jess and Vivi, and also their friends, families, and teachers.

Highly recommended.


Aarene Storms, youth services librarian
Richmond Beach and Lake Forest Park Libraries, KCLS astorms@kcls.org



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As Rugged as the Rest: A Young Marine’s Journey to Iwo Jima

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Joe Boy House did not have to go to war. As the only son in a farming family, he could have gotten a deferment and stayed home. That’s certainly what his parents hoped for. But like millions of other young men after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he answered the call to duty. 

As Rugged as the Rest follows the young Marine on his journey from bootcamp in San Diego to a speck of an island in the Pacific called Iwo Jima. His many letters to his parents and three adoring sisters chronicled his experiences, including a stint as “prison chaser” at the Navy brig in Bremerton, Washington.

Joe Boy was part of the formation of the Marine Corps’ 5th Division at Camp Pendleton and the rigorous amphibious training at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii. And finally, he hit the beaches of Iwo Jima, where one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history was fought.

More than 70,000 Americans landed on that tiny island. This personal story of one includes elements shared by them all.

~~~~
Author Janet Simmeline is a resident of Lake Forest Park. Joe Boy is her uncle and the book is based on his many letters home, interviews with his three sisters — all still living — and "a ton of other research."

There’s a Shoreline scene as well — where he takes a girl on a date to Playland on the shores of Bitter Lake, with its 85-foot Dipper roller coaster and “Canals of Venice.” 

The book is available on Amazon or can be ordered from Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park 206-366-3333.




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Talk TV and Books with Third Place Commons Nov 18

Tuesday, November 10, 2020


Do you love a great television binge in these housebound times, but find yourself running out of Netflix steam? Looking for your new favorite show?

Join Third Place Commons for Pandemic Picks: TV!, a short, fun TV talk where a panel of local arts leaders and TV experts offer their top, most binge-worthy picks to get you through the long, cold months ahead.

Panel includes:
  • Stephen Groening, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies, University of Washington
  • Lorie Hoffman, Executive Director, Shoreline Lake Forest Park Arts Council
  • Amy Whittenburg, Executive Director, Third Place Commons

Think you've already watched everything worth watching? Think again! Panelists will serve up selections old and new with something for every taste, so you’re sure to make some new discoveries or uncover classics you missed (or need to revisit).

Don't miss this chance to find your next TV obsession. Tune in to Pandemic Picks: TV! on Wednesday, November 18 at 7pm. Register here for Pandemic Picks: TV!

If you prefer to unwind with a good book, it’s not too late to join the Commons Community Book Club, which also meets next on November 18, at 5pm (and on the third Wednesday of each month).

For November, the club will be discussing “Daisy Jones and the Six,” a New York Times bestseller that was named a “best book of the year” by NPR, The Washington Post, and many others. It’s the fast-paced oral history of a fictional 70s era rock band’s meteoric rise and tumultuous fall, and it’s a quick, fun read that you can knock out in no time!

Of course, if you’re more of a movie buff, you can also join the TPC Movie Club tonight (November 10) at 7:30pm to talk movies with new friends and discuss this month’s pick, the Oscar winning Best Picture of the Year “Parasite.” Register here for the TPC Movie Club.

Third Place Commons, a community supported 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is celebrating its 20th anniversary of building real community in the heart of Lake Forest Park. In addition to presenting its largest program, the Lake Forest Park Farmers Market, Third Place Commons now also fosters real community in digital space. To learn more, or to make a gift to support the market and the Commons, visit ThirdPlaceCommons.org.



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