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!

Every Sunday, we sit down and look at our weekly sales and see what makes our bestseller list. It's really fun to see what changes from week to week! Since we report our sales to both the New York Times and the American Booksellers Association (which compiles the Indie bestsellers lists from independent bookstores), our sales have an impact on what people are reading across the country!

Sometimes there is a runaway bestseller, often based on word of mouth or (most often) the words of an EHBC bookseller. This week that book is Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, which tells the fascinating story of the University of Washington rowing team that stunned the world with a victory at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Other bestsellers are driven by author events here and elsewhere on Bainbridge Island. Island author Barbara Berger's beautiful children's picture books take up a good part of our bestsellers list this week because of the wonderful show of her art at the newly opened Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (if you haven't been, you must go!).

The visit to Eagle Harbor Books by Seattle Times science writer Sandi Doughton put her book on earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest, Full Rip 9.0, high on our charts. Her conversation with Bainbridge writer Bruce Barcott made for a extremely interesting afternoon.

Finally, summer reading is big business in our bookstore and this year the lists of suggested reads for Hyla Middle School have sold well, and not just to Hyla families! Come see our table with their suggestions -- there are some great reads for middle schoolers.

So what books are making the bestsellers list in your home this summer? Are you looking for easy summer escapes? Do you like to read the newest and hottest titles? Or are you burrowing into nonfiction books in preparation for a summer adventure? We'd love to hear!