Island Books

In the last few weeks I’ve noticed a definite change in the air. Leaves are starting to crunch under my feet, I’m pulling out my knitted shawls and cozy sweaters, and I’m settling down with a hot cup of tea and fat historical novels. 

I’ve always loved books set in other times, from L.M. Montgomery’s Prince Edward Island at the turn of the century, to Sharon Kay Penman’s novels of thirteenth century Wales. I devoted a whole blog to my love of Dorothy Dunnett and her excellent Lymond Chronicles, as well as my serendipitous finding of Amy Snow by Tracey Rees. Across the counter I’ve confessed to customers that most historical knowledge I possess, patchy and uneven as it is, comes from reading historical fiction and not from what I learned in school days. I’ve always found it easier to remember the broad strokes of historical facts when I’ve invested in the personal lives of historical figures through a good story. Anglophile that I am, my knowledge base is concentrated heavily in England, to the detriment of most other places.

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Many customers have come into the store and been surprised when we talk about online orders through our website. We, in fact, do have a website that does online orders where you can peruse and choose books from the comfort of your home.

As the holiday season looms over us, I thought this would be a great opportunity to share some of the lesser-known aspects of our website and how to use them. Did you know that you can make a wish list for books with us online? Or that you can buy eBooks? Well, you will be an expert by the time this post is over ...continued.

As you know, we consider Island Books to be more than just a bookstore; we consider it a community gathering place and hub for thoughtful discussions on a wide variety of topics. To that end, we'll be hosting all of the the City Council Candidates in a series of Meet and Greet the Candidate events at Island Books on consecutive Sundays in October (beginning this weekend).

Our vision is to offer voters and candidates in our community the opportunity to discuss visions for Mercer Island and views on the key issues for the city in an informal setting (on a series of Sundays). These events will be similar to the author events we frequently host and each candidate will be available for a one hour session. Each candidate will have the opportunity to present, take questions and casually mingle with the attendees. There will be no debate time or moderator - the time will belong to the individual candidates to use as they wish to communicate their vision, positions and thoughts on key issues.

This series will begin this Sunday at 3:45pm and will continue for the following two Sundays. The full schedule is below. We look forward to seeing you and our city council candidates engaging on issues that are important to our community