#BookBingoNW2020: Two Books by the Same Author

Can’t believe this is our last Book Bingo square post! It’s definitely been an added challenge to stay focused. I’ve found with two books by the same author that you can go back to some of those authors you love. Re-read your favorite novel of theirs and grab one of theirs you haven’t read yet and tah-dah! Two squares done!

As a reminder Book Bingo ends September 8th and there are so many ways to get your card counted. Check out our Book Bingo page on how to play. And if you have any additional questions reach out to us on Ask Us!

T. Greenwood: I have read quite a few of Tammy’s books over the years and have found that they are all equally amazing. Her story telling creates a reality that will have you believe the characters live in your everyday life.

Breathing Water
This was the first book I read by the author, it chronicles an abusive relationship. Effie Greer confronts the ghosts of her past by going back to face the trauma of a violent day. She finds strength in the unexpected.

Rust & Stardust
Sally Horner was kidnapped in 1948 by Frank La Salle, who in order to win her trust pretended to be an FBI agent. This novel is a fictionalization of the true story that inspired Nabokov’s Lolita, but told from the perspective of Sally.

#BookBingoNW2020: Set in a City of Literature

Now that summer is truly underway, it’s time for a book bingo check-in. How’s it going? Do you need a few more suggestions for books set in Cities of Literature? We thought you might need some recommendations for books to read, so we asked our colleagues in the thirty-eight other Cities of Literature to recommend some titles.

We’ll start with books that are available digitally from The Seattle Public Library. The titles below are just a small selection of titles set in Cities of Literature around the world. If reading printed books is more your style, you can purchase books through Bookshop.org by supporting your favorite local indie bookstore in the process or see if curbside service will work for you!

Books Set in a City of Literature

Milan, Italy
The Eight Mountains by Paolo Cognetti

This classic Italian coming-of-age story features Pietro and Bruno, who meet one summer as children and whose friendship endures the years and their divergent paths.

Book Series by Volume – Classic Edition

Today’s Book Series by Volume looks at a few ‘classic’ series that have stood up to time fairly well. A reminder: all series are measured in hardback as we all know that’s the only proper way.

Image from Fantastic Fiction, http://www.fantasticfiction.com

The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis – Filling over 1/3 of a cubic foot, this seven-book series seems rather small for my bookcase, but the enjoyment I get re-reading these books every few years fills the rest of the shelf snugly. Ostensibly written for the younger set and first published in 1950, the series has been in constant print since 1956. There has been considerable discussion over the years over Lewis’ allegorical use of religious and mythological themes, especially in the first book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

#BookBingoNW2020: Mentioned in another book

Book Bingo is still underway, and some of those squares may be giving you trouble. Here are some suggestions for the mentioned in another book square.

The beauty of this category is that there are so many books about books to choose from. Additionally, so many books mention other books in them, naturally and surreptitiously, that the possibilities are endless. I just finished a novel, Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis, which is about five queer women’s lives under a dictatorship in Uruguay and this cropped up towards the end:

She was happy. Even under the regime, she managed to be happy. Her favorite book, now, was a used paperback she’d found at the street market at Tristán Narvaja: a translation of To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, who was British, and dead now, La Venus said, we were never alive at the same time and yet she saw right into me, this book is my Bible and Lily Briscoe is the only Jesus I need.”

Hopefully, you find inspiration in such serendipitous ways!

In Case You Missed It: Juneteenth Book Fest

The beauty of our present moment where more of our lives are convening on screens is that you can catch more author events and panels than ever before. On Juneteenth this year an incredible array of Black authors for readers of all ages met as a part of the Juneteenth Book Fest to discuss their writing, publishing, readers, the state of the world, and how important it is to celebrate and uplift Black voices in books.

The Juneteenth Book Fest offered a full day of panels featuring Black authors and their stories. You can find the full series here, but here are some highlights:

 

The “Capturing the Moment: What it Means to Write Black Stories Right Now” panel features authors Tiffany D. Jackson, Angie Thomas, Bethany C. Morrow, and L.L. McKinney, moderated by Julian Winters, “discuss what it means to write Black stories in this moment, during this movement, for change.”

The “Black Love: Writing Black Romance” panel with Alyssa Cole, Rebekah Weatherspoon, Beverly Jenkins, and Farrah Rochon is a delight! They share insights on traditional publishing versus self-publishing, the challenges Black romance writers face, and the joys of writing Black love stories. Oh, and Beverly Jenkins starts smoking and singing the praises of speculative fiction towards the end!

Angie Thomas

Ashley Woodfolk

Beverly Jenkins

Alyssa Cole

Tiffany D. Jackson

Eboni Dunbar