Gallery Bookshop 2018 Summer Staff Favorites

A sweeping and tragic debut novel perfect for fans of The Wrath and the Dawn and Megan Whalen Turner.

The Bird and the Blade is a lush, powerful story of life and death, battles and riddles, lies and secrets from author Megan Bannen.

Enslaved in Kipchak Khanate, Jinghua has lost everything: her home, her family, her freedom . . . until the...

A truly original psychological crime novel about a missing child and the scandal that erupts in the aftermath, brilliantly plotted with a shocking twist

She was certain it was Daisy in the flower costume. . . .

When eight-year-old Daisy Mason vanishes from her family's Oxford home during a costume party, Detective Inspector Adam Fawley knows that... Read more »

The Order of Time

“I was drawn to this book, the third in Rovelli's recent series of short introductions to the mind-blowing propositions of modern physics, by its inexhaustibly poignant and fascinating subject: time. He spends the first half of the book explaining why time doesn't exist, and the second half explaining why, at least for us lesser mortals, it does. (That he does so, in the audio version, in the deliciously elegant voice of Mr. Cumberbatch, is a wonderful bonus.) It is indeed mind-blowing, while also being movingly human, and while it is short (just four-plus hours in listening time), I expect I'll have to listen at least once more for some of these simply stated but earth-shiftingly difficult concepts to start fitting into my brain.”

Tom, Phinney Books

There There

“A stunning debut novel by an original voice. Twelve characters of Native American descent, interrelated by birth or chance, struggle with the competing forces of cultural history and modern urban existence. Their stories build separately before colliding powerfully in the book’s final pages at The Big Oakland Powwow. I was riveted.”

Keltie, Parnassus Books

A determined 12-year-old girl bikes across the country in this quirky and charming debut middle grade novel.

Introverted Bicycle has lived most of her life at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. When her guardian, Sister Wanda, announces that Bicycle is going to attend a camp where she will learn to make friends, Bicycle says no way... Read more »

Circe

“This remarkable journey into mythology brings the ancient gods directly and viscerally into the present. Circe is a perfect mashup of elegant language, glorious storytelling, and exquisitely modern sensibilities. Miller's telling left me awed and moved by Circe and her story, all while wishing I could invite her over for a glass of wine on the porch. How this amazing author so perfectly melds the human and the divine, creating a story both immediate and epic, is dazzling.”

Beth Albrecht, The Magic Tree Bookstore

This powerful debut thriller from "a major new talent" (Kirkus) set in a poor, rural community where loyalty is everything, "packs an emotional punch" (Lisa Gardner) as the daughter of a meth kingpin is forced to choose between family, or freedom.

Never cut the drugs--leave them pure.
Guns are meant to be shot--keep them loaded.
Family is... Read more »

In this stunning bestseller praised as "our era's Handmaid's Tale," a fierce new power has emerged—and only women have it (Washington Post). 

In The Power, the world is a recognizable place: there's a rich Nigerian boy who lounges around the family pool; a foster kid whose religious parents hide their true nature; an ambitious American... Read more »

A Reese's Book Club Pick and New York Times Bestseller

“Fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine will love The Cactus.” —Red magazine

An unforgettable love story that shows sometimes you have to embrace the unexpected.

Susan Green is like a cactus: you can't get too close. She likes things perfectly ordered and predictable. No surprises. But... Read more »

“Smart and funny, with characters so real and vulnerable, you want to send them care packages. I loved this book.” —Rainbow Rowell

From debut author Mary H.K. Choi comes a compulsively readable novel that shows young love in all its awkward glory—perfect for fans of Eleanor & Park and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.

For Penny Lee, high... Read more »

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

“Eleanor Oliphant has quickly become one of my favorite fictional characters, and this novel one of my favorite books. Eleanor is completely original and the right kind of weird. Her life and her past, combined with such kindhearted characters, made for a compulsively readable, heartwarming story that I did not want to put down. I can't wait for this book to come out so many more can fall in love with Eleanor. Highly, highly recommended.”

Kaitlin Smith, Copperfield's Books

Meddling Kids

“I have an abiding fondness for kooky premises executed well, and Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids is as kooky as they come. In 1977, the tween members of the Blyton Summer Detective Club solved their last case and went their separate ways. Now it's 1990 and the man they sent to jail has been paroled. These former detectives have unfinished business, so one of them resolves to get the gang back together to find out the dark truth behind that final case. Meddling Kids is a pop-culture savvy, uproarious romp but also an action-packed horror-thriller. Highly recommended for fans of Christopher Moore and Ernest Cline, or anyone seeking a little laughter, nostalgia, or escapism.”

Susan Tunis, BookShop West Portal