Books and Botanicals @ Eagle Harbor Books

Flying Bird Botanicals 

I was out on the floor the other day when our display designer, Charysse, was putting the finishing touches on this gorgeous Flying Bird Botanicals Tea vignette.  I immediately started to yearn for a big comfy chair to spend the afternoon in, wrapped up, warm, and reading.

Flying Bird Botanicals @ Eagle Harbor Book Co.

It’s February, Valentine’s Day, on the Puget Sound: the sky is lighter earlier and stays lighter longer every day – and this far north, that is a balm to our souls.  The daphne is blooming, the crocuses (crocii? Crocusi?) are up, the tulips are starting to break ground, but it is still sweater and boot weather.  A sighting of Rainier over the ferry’s port side is fleeting but it’s there, pink in the sunrise. It’s wet, it’s cold, and a hot drink is always welcome. 

 

And aren’t these teas pretty? They’re from Bellingham and are organic, ethically wildcrafted, and support local farmers.  It’s nice to know that a little well-earned break in the day is a good thing for a lot of different people and reasons! 

And with any good cup of tea (and we have some really cool cups from which to drink that tea) you need a good book: one of my recent favorites, perfect for this time of year, is The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend, by Katarina Bivald.  

Sara (a young woman from Sweden) and Amy (an old woman from Iowa) are pen pals and Sara is invited to come visit Broken Wheel for the holidays.  Unfortunately, Amy dies while Sara is on her way.  Having nowhere to go, the citizens of Broken Wheel insist she stay and live in Amy’s house for the remainder of her visit.  How were they to know she’d start a bookstore, or bring people together over books, or fall in love? TROBWR is a fun, sweet story of lives changed by books.  It is a wonderful story to share and is chockfull of great bookgroup ideas.  

We have a limited number of free bookmarks for TROBWR available.  They have a long list of each title mentioned in the book on the back. You may need a magnifier to read it, though - it’s a lot of titles!  (Sourcebooks. $16.99)

Oh, and by the way, this book and these teas would make a lovely Valentine's Day or birthday gift for a friend! And we wrap for free!
(Photo by Charysse Reaser) 

TAB at the Book Store: YA Books, Authors, Fun!

Recently at the store, insightful and passionate new voices have emerged from a group of local teen bibliophiles who meet here once a month.

Fueled by our Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of pre-publication titles, our TAB (Teen Advisory Board) members not only talk about their responses to YA books, they also write recommendations like the many you see by our booksellers. We’re proud of this exceptional group! Often the meetings are simply a chance to talk about books they are reading. We sometimes feel like flies on the wall, as they banter back and forth about everything from what kind of book cover art they DON'T like, why they don't want romance all the time, to when a character's voice sounds authentic. There is always a lot of enthusiasm at the end when they get to pick out newly available titles. 

 
Their reviews are well-written and insightful.  We share them with authors, and often get wonderful notes back. We put the reviews on the book shelves in the YA section, and will soon be using them in our quarterly print newsletter.

Sometimes visiting authors get together with our TAB! We recently hosted Seattle author Jennifer Longo for the debut of her latest, Up to this Pointe. And, above, our teens got to have an amazing talk with Nashville's Jeff Zentner about his upcoming book The Serpent King.

We learn a lot from our TAB members, and they are shaping the way we buy and market books for our YA readers!

Are you a teen interested in joining? Call us, or drop by the store for an application!

And thanks to TAB member Finn T. for the great pictures!