Blue Willow Content's blog

Book Bites: Feast!

Are you ready to cozy up with a book as the calendar turns to cooler months? You've come to the right place — we're still in the middle of the big fall publishing push, and we've been spoiled by all of this year's wonderful new releases. Here, we're collecting another dozen of our very top picks, including new efforts from familiar names like Jason Reynolds, the Pumphrey brothers, Sophie Blackall, Stuart Gibbs, Eoin Colfer, Mary Kay Andrews, and Viet Thanh Nguyen. In other words, it's an absolute feast — dig in!

Book Bites: Extra, Extra!

Folks, the shipments of new books are coming in fast and thick, so we're back ahead of schedule with another batch of staff reviews highlighting a more of our recent favorites that have hit our shelves in the last... 20 minutes or so. There's something below for everyone — sweet read-alouds, gripping YA, rom-coms, thrillers, and weighty nonfiction. Grab a stack and dig in — quick, before another new shipment arrives and we do this all over again!

Book Bites: Books Are Golden

Have you been doing a lot of reading this summer, friends? As we continue to rack up triple-digit days, we find that we honestly don't have the energy for much else. It suits us fine, really — our industrial-strength A/C has been keeping us nice and cool and it's great to catch up on some of the new books coming out that we might not have had time for otherwise... at least until next week's new releases arrive and we start all over again. In the meantime, we've collected a dozen of our new favorites below — read on!

Book Bites: Bad Joke, Good Books

Q: Is that a hole in your bookshelf?

A: You'd better Patchett! (Sorry, sorry.)

It's true, though: There's a new novel from the one and only Ann Patchett gracing our shelves (but it would look much better on yours), plus fresh offerings from other fast favorites like Elizabeth Acevedo, Peter Heller, or Gillian McAllister. What are you looking for in your next book: A good family read-aloud? A graphic novel? Romantic banter? Family drama? An overlooked piece of history? You'll find all of that and more below. Read on!

Book Bites: Twelve Good Books and True

Anyone else hoping to never hear the phrase "heat dome" ever again? The silver lining in all of this is that nobody can blame you for lounging around and reading all day — after all, what else is there to do? Stop by and see us if you're in need of a fresh stack. The shop A/C is working great, and we have plenty of new temptations to distract you from the weather or keep you company by the pool. If the dozen new titles below don't catch your eye, fret not — we've got plenty more where that came from. 

Book Bites: Cool Books for Hot Weather

Could it get any hotter? (Don't answer that.) There's only one thing to do in weather like this: Pay us a visit and head home with a pile of books to read. Happily, it's a great time of the year for new releases. We've got a fresh batch of sweet picture books, adventurous middle grade, beach reads, mysteries, literary masterpieces, memoirs, and more waiting for you on our shelves. Read about a few of our new favorites, then stop in and enjoy a blast of our cranked A/C. Don't forget to pick up your Summer Reading Bingo card — it's a great time to kick back and fill in some squares. (Just maybe not "read outside.")

Book Bites: Icons

Boy, are y'all in for a treat. Consider the following list of authors: Julie Murphy. Lisa See. Isabel Allende. Ali Hazelwood. Helen Ellis. Now, you might assume that you just read an incomplete list of Blue Willow's favorite authors. And you wouldn't be wrong. But what makes that list extra exciting is that each of these powerhouse authors has a new book on our shelves, waiting for you to swing by and snap it up. And that's not all — we're also buzzing about a fun YA that's perfect for Pride, a brand new middle grade fantasy, the latest from Andre Dubus III... even a rip-roaring tale of a pirate queen. You'll find all of that and more in our latest roundup of staff picks. Read on!

Book Bites: Mysteries, Histories, Rom-Coms, & More

Are you ready for summer reading? We sure are — we have our annual summer bingo cards ready to go (bingo starts June 1), a loaded calendar of author events, and even a special new program for all our rom-com fans. The only things missing are some great summer books for your list... but we can help you with that! This week, we're highlighting twelve fresh favorites that we think would be great choices to kick off your season's reading. We've got mysteries, histories, thrillers, rom-coms, and more waiting for you — dig in!

Book Bites: Summer!

Well, folks, we're officially calling it: Summer is here in Houston. If the upper-80s temperatures haven't already tipped you off, just take a look at our bookshelves. We're sporting a great new mix of beach reads, rom-coms, family sagas, and great book club choices that are just begging to be added to your summer reading list. Stop in for a stack, stick an umbrella in your drink, and settle in somewhere comfy — it's the perfect time of year to breeze through a book.

Book Bites: Shelve Twelve

How's your summer reading list shaping up? Because ours is looking absolutely great (if perhaps a little ambitious, in terms of its length), thanks to another wave of incredible new releases now gracing our shelves. Do you want to start with a steamy rom-com as the weather heats up? A graphic novels that pack a punch? Mystery? Thriller? Historical fiction? Memoir? You'll find all that and then some among our most recent batch of staff picks. Decisions can be tough, so here's our best advice: Squeeze all twelve onto your shelf and work your way through them in the months ahead. You won't be disappointed.

Pages