PowellsBooks.Blog
Authors, readers, critics, media − and booksellers.

To: Emily, who loves a grim tale made Gorey
From: Liza, who’s totally not listening to “Love Song for a Vampire” right now

To: My friend’s kiddos, who learned to read with Gerald and Piggie and still adore them
From: Aunt Madeline

To: My non-geeky friends: Here’s a superhero just for you, African American and intergalactic, a truly bad-ass peacemaker
From: Doug

To: My mom, who sends me photo updates on the neighborhood birds she's named
From: A person who lives in awe and fear of our feathered friends

To: My sister who loves the Outlander series and keeps rereading the previous books
From: The sibling who likes finding the perfect book for you

To: My thesis advisor, who sat through my theatrical mash-up of Euripedes’s Medea, Electra, and Hecuba
From: Rhianna (P.S. I love you, I’m sorry)

To: My father, who’s seen much of the world, and reads the best fiction it has to offer
From: Your son, who’s looking forward to traveling again soon (maybe)

To: My favorite armchair historian
From: Your podcast-obsessed friend who wants to get you hooked on Mike Duncan so we can talk about Revolutions

To: My friend who knows there’s so much of our history that’s been silenced
From: Your friend who loves to unearth secrets with you

To: My girlfriend, who often quotes Younger while knitting
From: Your partner, who preferred Bunheads

To: My nephew who's starting to think through the big existential questions
From: Your aunt, who's still working it out

To: My sister, whose idea of hiking is walking to the bakery down the block
From: Her older sibling who walks seven miles to run errands

To: My bulgogi-loving hubby, who doesn’t think it’s a meal without meat
From: The doenchang-savvy wife excited to prove you wrong

To: My sci-fi obsessed dad, who's memorized all the Douglas Adams books
From: Your donut-loving daughter

To: My friends who miss live shows and make the best end-of-the-year playlists
From: The beneficiary of your impeccable music taste

To: Ben, who made me read The Monk
From: Gabrielle, who wants to you read medieval nuns done right

To: My coworker, who’s always reading big books or contemplatively staring off into the middle distance
From: Your colleague, who keeps looking but has never seen anything over there

To: My brother who loves great fiction when he’s not out marching for justice
From: Your sister

To: My thriller-loving friend who patiently answers my questions about the news
From: Your nervous, doomscrolling buddy

To: Myself. Have you SEEN these illustrations? (Also, my niece, who’s super into Rick Riordan’s oeuvre)
From: A Myth-tery Bookseller (with a delightfully terrible sense of humor)

To: My daughter: you may not have actual sisters, but you have so many kinswomen in spirit
From: Your mother

To: My husband, a reader who likes his fiction of-the-moment and his satire cutting
From: Your husband, who is sticking with escapist sci-fi for now, but you do you

To: My son, who obliterated Pax
From: Your dad, who wishes you’d go easier on this one. I might want to read it after you.

To: My wonderful but pedantic philosophy-loving uncle
From: Your niece, who is looking forward to arguing about existentialism and allegorical interpretations with you

To: My friend who always knows more about the coolest musicians
From: Your friend, who has listened to your playlists exclusively for years

To: A friend who’s a school counselor, well-meaning and curious older relatives, and myself
From: The More You Know, the Kinder You Can Be

To: My wife, who appreciates beauty and wisdom
From: Your husband, who has always looked to you for both qualities

To: Friendly Ghosts and Friends to Ghosts
From: A potential pal who needs hide-and-seek buddies

To: My Bay Area friends and sister in Seattle: let the best city debate begin
From: Your friend in Portland, where the airport is indisputably the best

To: The DM of my D&D group, who loves the macabre mythos of revenants and reliquaries 
From: My Character Is Gonna Get Possessed Now I Just Know It

To: My sister, because she'll be as enthralled with Willa's voice as I am
From: Your sister, who's dying to talk about it with you

To: My uncle, who still hasn’t learned the futility of trying to talk sports to me
From: Your nephew, who totally knows who Larry Bird is (he was in McDonald’s commercials)