blue willow content team's blog

Houston’s own YA superstar J. Elle returns to the shelves this month with Ashes of Gold, the epic finale of her bestelling Wings of Ebony duology. Friends, the book is going to knock your socks off, and we can’t wait to share it with you soon — in fact, we’re lucky enough to be hosting a virtual event with the author on January 12 to help celebrate its publication. J. Elle appear in conversation with fellow YA author Brigid Kemmerer, and we’ve been looking forward to it for months. There’s more exciting news, too: If you buy your copy of Ashes of Gold with us before January 7, it will be signed and personalized by the author — who’s also kicking in an exclusive bookmark! 

We had the chance to catch up with J. Elle before our event and ask her a few questions about the new book, writing Houston, and what’s next. Check out our conversation below — and we’ll see you on the 12th!

The year in publishing is winding down, the holidays are creeping up, and we’ve been busy at the shop ordering books for next spring. But good books can come along at any time, evidenced by our latest roundup of staff picks. Don’t let these titles get lost in the end-of-year shuffle — there are great options below for just about every type of reader. So clear some space on your TBR and plan to come see us sometime soon!

If you’ve been following the store for a while, you know that we love to share our favorite recent releases with you here on the blog. Some weeks, we’re especially excited about a group of new novels. Other times, we’re all about middle grade or YA. But on occasion, the stars align and we can deliver a classic all-ages, all-genres bookish lovefest. This is one such occasion! Enjoy, friends.

Good news, YA readers: Our teen section is overflowing with amazing new books for you to read. Here, we’ve collected some of our favorite new YA picks across a variety of genres—including a heartrending memoir that’s one of our favorite books of the year. 

Many of the reviews below come from members of our Teen Advisory Board, a great group of dedicated Houston-area readers. If you like what you see below, consider checking out our YA First Editions Club subscription — each title for the subscription is hand selected by the board. And with subscriptions starting at just three months, it’s a perfect gift for the YA reader in your life — or for yourself! 

As we turn the calendar to October, new books continue to fall onto our shelves fast and thick. Here, we highlight some of the new releases we’re most excited to share with you — from picture books by staff favorites Kevin Henkes and Bob Shea, to new middle grade novels from Kate diCamillo and RJ Palacio, to Anthony Doerr and the latest exploits of the Thursday Murder Club. Grab your favorite comfy chair and settle in — there’s great reading ahead.

Store favorite Rex Ogle (Free Lunch) has a new YA memoir coming out next month, and we can’t wait for you to read it. It’s called Punching Bag, and it follows Rex through an adolescence marked by poverty and domestic violence. It’s a powerful read, each heartache underpinned by moments of light. In her review for the store, events coordinator Cathy Berner described the book thusly: “We can tell that Rex is walking beside us as we get glimpses of love and of hope. And at the end, we know Rex survived and has thrived. This is an extraordinary memoir that's a hard, but vitally important, read.”

Below, read an exclusive Q&A between Cathy and Rex. Then, be sure to register for the Punching Bag launch event on October 5. Rex will be interviewed by Isaac Fitzgerald, and it’s a conversation you won’t want to miss.

The evenings are a little cooler, the mornings a little crisper, and our shelves a little fuller with new books from favorite authors. Could it be the start of fall? A look at our events calendar certainly offers a clue—it’s stuffed to the brim with big names like Marie Lu, R.J. Palacio, Dhonielle Clayton, Amor Towles, Rick Riordan, Rick Bragg, Eoin Colfer… Okay, it’s official. 

This week, we have a variety of books from some of our most cherished, familiar favorites. Any week that brings us a new series from Alex London, picture books from Dan Santat and Carter Higgins, more Skunk and Badger, Wiley Cash, Ruths Ozeki and Hogan, Bernard Schlink… Let’s just say it’s a great time to come visit us. We’ll see you soon!

There’s a new middle grade fantasy series that should soar to the top of your TBR pile: Battle Dragons, by bestselling author and friend of the shop Alex London. As Cathy puts it, the series hits “the sweet spot for middle grade fantasy: It's set enough in the real world to allow new fantasy readers an easy entry to the genre and the incredible world building draws fantasy fans in immediately.” Plus, there’s thrilling adventure, plenty of humor, and, well lots of dragons!

Suffice it to say, we’re thrilled to be hosting Alex to celebrate the launch of book one, Battle Dragons: City of Thieves, on September 21. He’ll appear in conversation with Kwame Mbalia, and you won’t want to miss it. Until then, tide yourself over with our Q&A on the series below!

Wow, y’all. Fall publishing season is officially here, and boy has it ever started off with a bang. We’ve received box after box of exciting releases over the past two weeks, including new books by some of our very favorite authors. In the middle grade section, how about Nic Stone, Katherine Applegate, and Sara Pennypacker? For adult fiction, we’ve got Helen Hoang, Colm Toíbín, and Lisa Jewell. Throw in a great novel by writer and musician Josh Ritter, an adorable early reader book, and a poignant memoir of immigration, and it’s clear: A trip to the bookstore is in your future. We’ll see you soon!

Summer is winding down, school is back in session, and here at the shop we’re preparing for another busy fall publishing season. There are a lot of really exciting books coming our way in the next couple of months (Kate DiCamillo! Amor Towles! Jennifer Mathieu!), but we don’t want you to miss out on a few last summer releases that we think you’ll love. Here, we’ve collected our most recent favorites, ranging from a tender middle grade novel to the autobiography of a tennis legend. The ball’s in your court: Which books can we serve up for you this week?