Island Books's blog

Kay Wilson worked for Island Books from 2000 until 2016. Now Kay and her husband live on Lummi Island, surrounded by a field with two big gardens and many fruit trees. She helps raise money for the local library by running a book sale in the summer, partly to help the community and partly to feed her need to be buried in books. Their three children and old friends are scattered around, and Kay says going to visit them is a lovely way to be out in the world.

Miriam: Can you tell me about how you came to work at Island Books? Who did you work with, and what was happening in the world then?

Happy Pride Month! If you follow us on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook, you know that we've fallen into June wholeheartedly. Bookseller Nancy designed some awesome Pride t-shirts for us, and we have displays featuring amazing books by queer authors and starring queer characters for all ages. I made it my unintentional mission to read several of the amazing new releases for teen and young adult readers (they were on my list of books I wanted to read, I just so happened to read several in a row, and they're all I've read this month). I've been delighted by all of them. Sometimes I just need to immerse myself in feel-good books that overflow with humor, love, and friendship; these books have an abundance of those necessary ingredients. Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See in particular felt timely—what with graduation season upon us—and was just one such of those perfect, light-hearted reads.