Three Trees Books

“… Whether Departure(s) is mostly fiction or not, there is a lot of its author in it, including Barnes’s reckoning with the blood disorder he has been living with since he was diagnosed in 2020, his long preoccupation with dying and grief, and his mordant sense of the indignities and lost opportunities we’re prey to in love. The story he promises to deliver is a love story, that of two friends he met at university in the 1960s, that time of touted but rarely experienced sexual freedom. Julian played matchmaker to Stephen (tall, gangling, uncertain) and Jean (tart and attractive); as the third wheel he was deeply invested in the success of their love and insulted when they broke up. Time is swift, and forty years later, he tries again, watching as their rekindled affair produces joys, betrayals, and disappointments of a different order.

“Life and memory can be so . . . quixotic, don’t you find?” Barnes uses both his novelistic memory and his (real?) personal diary entries to examine not just the quixotic relationship of Jean and Stephen but his writer’s eye upon it, and how his efforts in their behalf add up in the end. Having promised them he’d never write about them, he breaks the promise to fulfill one, amply, to his readers, in this delightful and poignant novelist’s game that only Julian Barnes knows how to play.”

Hey Three Trees Books-ers! Our sister biz Dry Spell Bottle Shop is having its very first sale! ☺️ 40% off all coffee / mushroom coffee, teas and hot chocolate. This is an *online only* discount (in-store pickup and local Burien delivery available): https://www.dryspellbottleshop.com/shop/coffees-teas-hot-chocolate/UL37VRUVM27T2IZVJDFJ54SN

Yay! Our newest biz, Dry Spell Bottle Shop, was featured in a cool KNKX Public Radio story on Wednesday morning!

Seattle’s non-alcoholic options grow as young people cut back As Gen Z experiments with NA options, NA bottle shops like Burien’s Dry Spell are seeing new interest.

Save the date! Three Trees Books welcomes Kay Smith-Blum - debut author of “Tangles”, a cold war love story.

Tagging our friends so they can see our winner!

This month’s Tiny Book Club pick is “The Three of Us” by Ore Agbaje-Williams. The started write-up calls it “an original and potent comedy of manners with an ingenious final twist.” Lots of copies are available at and online at www.threetreesbooks.com. Hope you can join us for the in person book club meeting May 6th!

Just a little indie bookstore ‘support activities ranking’ we whipped up for you all (and to feed IG’s 2022 algo, 😂) H/T to “Castles, Ranked” - a hilarious one woman show that needs a lot more recognition, IMO. 🏰 Is there a way to see a recording of that show online? I hope so. Someone tell me where to find that please. Thx. 🙏

Next Wednesday we’ll meet at the bookstore to discuss “I Who Have Never Known Men” by Jaqueline Harpman, translated by Ros Schwartz. Then next month’s pick is “The Three of Us” by Ore Agbaje-Williams. So excited about both of these titles, and can’t wait to hear what you all think. Join us! All are always welcome and there’s no shame if you haven’t read or finished the books (you may just have to tolerate spoilers, lol).

And don’t forget you can gift a 6 or 12 mo subscription to our Tiny Book Club to friends and loved ones! 🎁📦