Dear Gentle Reader,

How in the world is this the last newsletter for June? We are just getting started!?! Before the month passes us by, make sure you peruse the colorful display we have front & center for Pride. We have plenty of books highlighting LGBTQIA+ authors and characters featured there, but you can always find these books on our shelves year-round! If you want to read with Pride, we have you covered.

This weekend at McIntyre’s you can get that poetry itch satisfied with a Sunday reading, sponsored by the North Carolina Poetry Society, at 2pm. The featured poets Hans VanderHart, Pat Riviere-Seel and Crystal Simone Smith,

McIntyre’s will be open next Friday, July 4th, for our regular hours 10-6. Also worthy of note, Roost (our outdoor wood fired pizza venue) will be open as well. So come out and celebrate with us. Grab a beer on tap while waiting for your pie and head over to wander the bookstore.

All summer long we’re collecting books for donation to Chatham Reads and CORA. You can find the wishlist on our website or on display at McIntyre’s. These book donations will be given out to children and families alongside deliveries from CORA’sSNACK! program. These titles are the ones students MOST requested during the Books on Break book fairs, so we know they will be very appreciated!

Summer is in full swing, so it feels time to uncork our summer reading recommendations over the next few blasts. First up, some from Pete, Sarah C. and Keebe…

PETE
Who’s Your Founding Father; Discovering the MecDoc in the True Cradle of American Independence by David Fleming
Who say’s history has to be stuffy because this sure isn’t. It’s fast, it’s fun, and best of all it’s perfect for the summer! This is the story of the Mecklenburg Document, a document I’d never heard of until I read this. So, what is it? Well, it’s the first colonial declaration of independence from England and it was written in Charlotte, NC, transported secretly up the East coast to Philadelphia to the colonial congress where Thomas Jefferson then plagiarized it, covered it up, and etched his name in history. The author, a former writer at Sports Illustrated who lives in Charlotte, has in a very Bill Bryson-esque way. After having visited archives and cemeteries, chased down any clue and character across the globe, Fleming states a very strong case for this piece of lost history.

Witness 8 by Steve Cavanagh
In the dictionary under the definition of ‘page turner’ is a photo of Steve and the words ‘the real deal!’ Just kidding, but it could be true because any Cavanagh book is an insomniac’s dream. Hours and hours of reading deep into the night because even if you want to sleep, you can’t. The pages are almost literally turning by themselves. Witness 8 is a perfect example. He brings back his titular hero, defense lawyer Eddie Flynn, and crafts a multi-layered whodunnit and courtroom drama. It begins with a murder, involves an international assassin coming after Eddie, and ends with a stunning resolution that you will never see coming. This is Steve at his best!

The Wild Dark; Finding the Night Sky in the Age of Light by Craig Childs
Craig Childs is my favorite naturalist writer bar none. His approach to nature, history, science or anything that interests him, takes angles that make you think differently after you’ve heard him out. In The Wild Dark, he and his best friend set out from Las Vegas, possibly the most illuminated city on earth, and bike cross country in search of the darkest night. After 130+ miles they finally leave the glow of Vegas behind and find the darkest of the dark just before the stars come out and light up the heavens in a way quickly being lost to our modern society’s need for illumination. Along the way he talks about native Americans and their astronomical prowess, explores the evolution of the lightbulb, and ruminates on the physical changes perpetual light causes in the natural world from bird migration to our own inability to rest properly. Extremely readable, you won’t look at the night sky the same way again.

SARAH C.
Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil by Oliver Darkshire
How about a spot of cozy fantasy this summer? Isabella Nagg is living a grim and uninspired life when she suddenly becomes the owner of a wizard’s grimoire. Surprising herself, she becomes quite adept at wielding its spells. Teaming up with a snarky talking cat, she has to save her town from a troublesome tribe of goblins, a crazed entrepreneur, the walking dead, and her own grumpy and clueless husband. Chockful of hilarious footnotes, I found myself laughing out loud, cheering on Isabella, and eagerly awaiting her next adventure. If you like Terry Pratchett, be sure and check this one out!

The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard
I have never had much interest in Westerns until I happened upon Elmore Leonard’s stories of the Old West. Crackling dialogue, great gunfights, and memorable characters await you in this volume of stories. Conmen, hombres, lawmen, and folks playing both sides of the law are all trying to grab a piece of the treasure the West promised–be it gold, land, or the right to live freely–and there is no one better to tell their stories than the grand master himself.

KEEBE
Bruno, Chief of Police by Martin Walker
With Martin Walker’s upcoming visit on Saturday, July 12th at 11am, I was casting about for something to read and thought to give this series, that Pete recommended to me, a try.  I am loving it so much I have knocked down the first three and have the next two in the series on deck!

If you (like me) are worried Homeland Security might not let you back in the country if pondering a trip abroad (hahaha!), here’s your answer. Bruno is the lone gendarme in his beloved town of St. Denis in the Dordogne region of southwest France. The books are so steeped in French cooking, life and history, that even the most ardent Francophile is sure to still mine great tidbits. Entertaining, twisty, and just what I need to escape. Armchair travel at its best.

The Usual Suspects,

Pete, Johanna, Sarah G,. Tyler, Amy, Sarah C. and Keebe