Gallery Bookshop & Bookwinkle's Children's Books

A magical story - part Alaska homesteading, part fairy tale. I liked the wild beauty of The Snow Child, and the relationships that grow around her. Is she "real", or a snow-induced figure of the imagination? Recommended by Alena

This is not your ordinary mystery. Sure,there's a murder, a crack detective and a battle of wits -- but you feel for all of the characters. Part Dostoyevsky, part Doyle with a hint of opera -- The Devotion of Suspect X is an intricate gem.

Recommended by Joan

Recommended by Johanna

How did Jack Reacher, the hero of Lee Childs' novels, become the man he is? This movel goes back to the beginning...why he left the military...for a story that's never been told. Recommended by Katy

Recommended by Christie

Not a sappy book! The science of flowers mixed with the feelings of being unloved in the best families and the worst foster care homes. I opened this book on a Saturday afternoon and didn't look up until page 106; continued reading as night fell and morning came. Recommended by Mary

Recommended by Joan

Recommended by Sally

This is a beautifully written story of love, hope and survival during WWII. It will pierce your heart and renew your faith in humanity. Recommended by Joan

I thought about sending The Passage to my brother just to make my sister-in-law crazy, but really I'd send it because I know they both would love it. Let me warn you -- once you pick up this amazing, addictive post-apocalyptic thriller, you'll be lost. (Hey, I wasn't the only book lover here reading into the wee hours, captured by The Passage.) I wish I could read it for the first time -- you are so lucky!! Recommended by Jane

Recommended by Terry

Recommended by Joan: "The women at Fort Hood, TX, are connected by loneliness, stress and the fear they might become war widows. These stories provide a moving look at war we won't find in Hollywood or on cable TV. One of the stories gets its title from a sign on the gate at Fort Hood, which reads: "You've Survived the War, Now Survive the Homecoming." The writing is excellent, and the author is herself a military wife."

I loved this big gorgeous novel, whose characters and story lines flow, merge, and diverge like the streams and channels of a river. It spans more than 100 years in the fictional town of Port Bonita, Washington, and the surrounding wilderness. (Full disclosure: my grandparents lived in Port Bonita's alter ego, Port Angeles, for 50 years before they passed away. My extended family lives there still, and I'm not sure but my cousin Howie just might be the basis for minor character Jerry Reinhalter.) The novel has a wonderfully ambitious scope and is peopled by crowds of masterfully developed, fully realized people. Evison pulls together grand themes including our relationship to the land, what we make of our past and what we owe the future ... but his writing style is unpretentious and delightful. It's a combination of big ideas and down-to-earth, friendly delivery that's perfectly suited to this quintessentially American novel. Recommended by Christie.

This is a novel that will gently haunt you, the people and places coming back to you at unexpected moments long after you finish reading. It revolves around two Australian men, forty years apart: what separates them and what they share. Recommended by Christie.

Gorgeous, gorgeous writing. There were countless lines that perfectly captured a sensation or emotion that I recognized instantly but had never fully noticed or understood; that's one of the things that breathtaking prose can do. The book is short, but requires your full attention. It's ghost story, it's a love story, it's lovingly researched historical fiction; it's Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets John Steinbeck. Set in the early 20th century in Locke, a town of Chinese immigrants on the Sacramento river delta, Water Ghosts bears repeat reading and would make an excellent book club pick. Recommended by Christie

July 15, 1988, graduation night. A one-night encounter for Dexter & Emma, a very unlikely pair, going their separate ways -- gone but not forgotten as their lives diverge, intersect and collide. A snapshot every July 15 for 20 years. Witty, clever, mesmerizing and at times unbelievably sad, Best novel I've read in a long, long time. Recommended by Terry

The perfect summer lazy days on vacation book to read. Action! Adventure! Intrigue! And good science written by an underwater archaeologist. Recommended by Katy