This Saturday, April 27th we are celebrating our local bookshops, authors and literary figures with Indie Bookstore Day! All day, participating Utah bookstores will be hosting fun events like scavenger hunts, story times and author pop-ups. It’s the perfect time to show your favorite bookshop some love, or get out and explore a store you’ve never been to before.
As you stop by local bookshops, be sure to ask them for this year’s Indie Bookstore Map with a list of participating bookshops in Utah. Reader’s can step up to the challenge of visiting them all in one year to win gift certificates from participating locations.
To give our readers a headstart with their summer reading goals, we asked some of our favorite Utah booksellers to recommend new books from local authors. If you want to get your hands on one of these titles, support local businesses by picking up a copy at your friendly, neighborhood bookstore.
Picks from Anne Holman at The King’s English Bookshop
The King’s English Bookshop
1511 S. 1500 East, SLC. kingenglish.com
Uprising by Jennifer Nielsen
Jennifer Nielsen, the current Ambassador for Children’s Literature in Utah, has a new teen historical fiction about a young girl during the Warsaw ghetto uprising in WWII.
The Unwedding by Ally Condie
Ally Condie is going in a new direction
with an adult murder mystery from
Grand Central.
| Tales of the Titans, written by Shannon Hale and Steve Orlando, illustrated by Dean Hale, Javier Rodríguez and others |
Picks from Kaitlyn Mahoney at Under the Umbrella
Under the Umbrella
11 W. 200 South, SLC. undertheumbrellabookstore.com
Board to Death by CJ Connor
This queer cozy (“quozy,” if you will!) mystery is set in Sugar House, so local readers will have a blast recognizing the landmarks in the hip neighborhood. It’s low stakes and perfect for anyone looking for a little romance to go with their mystery.
Wake the Others by Willy Palomo
Viscerally gut-wrenching with each page turn, Wake the Others is a bilingual book of poetry—half memoir and half biography—that wrestles with the legacy of the Salvadoran Civil War. The beautiful sharpness of this book will stay with you and haunt you. (Palomo recently moved out of Utah, but has a long history as a local Utah poet.)
Picks from Jennifer Rug at Golden Brain Books
Golden Braid Books
151 S 500 East, SLC. goldenbraidslc.com
| Black Utah: Stories From a Thriving Community by the Utah Black Chamber |
| Through Love Pain is Healed: 101 Poems of the Heart by Jalaluddin Rumi, translated by Rasoul Shams |
Pick from Aaron J. Cance at The Printed Garden
The Printed Garden
9445 S. Union Square, Sandy. theprintedgarden.com
Sky’s End by Marc J. Gregson
This fast-paced sci-fi/fantasy thriller comes out of the gate strong and not only does it not relent at any part of the narrative but continues to raise the stakes several times until the tension is nearly unbearable. The world that Gregson has actualized is provocative and fascinating, and his characters are easy to identify with and engaging. It’s as well-paced and gripping as Brandon Sanderson’s best work.
Pick from Courtney Stookey at Lovebound Library
Lovebound Library
145 E. 900 South, Salt Lake City. @loveboundlibrary
Happy Place by Emily Henry
This book embraces some complex themes of grief and sadness, and I’ve personally never had a book be so meaningful to me. It inspired me to open Lovebound actually!
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
A great fantasy for anyone who is coming off their ACOTAR hangover. In between all the character building and world building, there is an intriguing romance and twist ending.
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