Port Book & News — February 2026

In the harbor today: a gigantic container ship, stacked to the sky with enigmatic boxes in every color. What is in them?

40,000 identical garden gnomes, all slightly wrong somehow
A single IKEA bookshelf that takes up an entire container because of the assembly instructions
Bubble wrap. Just... all of it.
Items from an Etsy shop with a five-month shipping estimate
Vibes, refrigerated

Who knows? There's always something out there on its way to somewhere else. Living here on the Strait, I'm getting used to wondering where things are headed.

Today my eyes don't even rest on it, because today is the day that Black Ball ferry readies for its first trip after its seasonal hiatus, and what could be a more welcome sight? In this town we have the off-season and then we have the all-the-way off-season, and here's to the end of that. With no escape valve to Canada here, no influx, it feels like our circulation is cut off a little bit. Like the town's foot has fallen asleep. Now we can take a few tentative steps before we really get moving.

We are concocting plenty of fun stuff for spring and stocking the shelves with a frankly alarming number of new items. Right now we would just encourage you to take advantage of our Shoulder Season Reading Challenge and get that free coffee drink. Details below. Come by and say hello. We'd love to see you.

Our Own Book Bingo

Get into a reading groove with our Shoulder Season Reading Challenge!

Pick up a bingo card next time you're in the shop, or download and print one at home. When you finish a book that fits a prompt, write the title in the square. Complete five in a row and win a free coffee drink from Buena Luz Bakery.

Each book can only count for one square (no doubling up!), and each card earns one drink. The challenge runs February 1 through May 1, so you've got a nice long window.

We can't wait to see what you read, and remember to thank Buena Luz for being a part of this.

Get into a reading groove with our Shoulder Season Reading Challenge!

Staff Picks

Travelling Tree by Michio Hoshino

A positively delightful collection of short essays from a renowned Japanese wildlife photographer who loved the wilderness of Alaska enough to move there, eventually dying by fatal bear attack while on a shoot in the Kamchatka Peninsula. Poignant reflections from a keen observer of both nature and people. Billed as a modern classic in Japan with half a million copies sold, and just now translated into English for the first time, this lives up to the hype. Thanks for putting this in my hands, Helena!

—Steven

Buckeye by Patrick Ryan

Here's one of those multi-generational drama syou don't see much anymore. Two Ohio families, bound by a secret from 1945, unfold across decades. This honestly felt like a 900-page epic the author truncated to 464 pages and I wanted more. Thanks for the recommendation, Crystal!

—Steven

New Books

The Secret of Snow by Tina Harnesk (Feb 3)

A Swedish debut (already a hit in Scandinavia) exploring Sámi culture through the intertwined stories of an elderly couple and young newcomers in a remote northern village.

This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page (Feb 3)

After her fiancé's death, Tilly receives 12 books from him—one for each month—to help her move forward.

It's Not Her by Mary Kubica (Feb 3)

Two families at a secluded lake resort become entangled in a chilling crime and mysterious disappearance.

Operation Bounce House by Matt Dinniman (Feb 10)

A man must fight for his planet against impossible odds when gamers from Earth attempt to remotely annihilate it in this epic, fast-paced novel from the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit and staff fave Dungeon Crawler Carl.

The Wandering Queen by Claire Heywood (Feb 10)

A retelling of the founding of Carthage through the eyes of Queen Dido, from the author of Daughters of Sparta.

Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson (Feb 10)

Three lives across generations are connected by an American woman's mission to find homes for abandoned mixed-race children in post-WWII Germany.

A Hymn to Life by Gisèle Pelicot (Feb 17)

The courageous French woman who waived her right to anonymity in a sexual assault case tells her story for the first time. Her declaration that "shame must change sides" became a global rallying cry.

The Astral Library (Deluxe Limited Edition) by Kate Quinn (Feb 17)

A young woman discovers a hidden library where people can escape into their favorite books, but a shadowy enemy threatens everything.

Coming Soon

A World Appears by Michael Pollan (Feb 24)

Science writer extraordinaire Pollan explores consciousness from scientific, philosophical, and psychedelic perspectives. As usual, he talks to everybody worth talking to and follows his own personal journey through heady territory with enjoyable pace.

Cover of Working Boats: Safety, Salvage, and Rescue

Working Boats: Safety, Salvage, and Rescue by Tom Crestodina (Feb 24)

Featuring exploded views of 8 brave working boats built to save lives, save ships, and raise wrecks, this beautiful picture book (and follow up to Crestodina's beloved-by-staff 'Working Boats') dives deep into the everyday lives of those assisting with daring rescues at sea and the dangers they face every day. There's even a Port Angeles shipwreck in there! Too fun to pass up.

Now I Surrender by Álvaro Enrigue (Mar 3)

A woman’s desperate flight from an Apache raid unfolds into a sweeping tale of the Mexico–US border wars. Orchestrated with a stunningly imagined cast of characters, both historical and purely fictional, 'Now I Surrender' radically recasts the story of how the West was “won.”

Kin by Tayari Jones (Mar 10)

From the bestselling author of 'An American Marriage', two motherless daughters from Louisiana follow vastly different paths—one to Spelman College, one on a perilous search for the mother who abandoned her. Ann Patchett calls it "Tayari Jones's very best work."

Famous Last Words

In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery.

Cormac McCarthy, The Road

Gritty, elemental, ambiguous but somehow lucid. McCarthy surely was a one-of-one.

Speaking of elemental investigations, our friends at the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center have put together fascinating exhibition called Eternal Echoes and asked us to help by stocking books related to the show. It examines historic death rituals alongside emerging contemporary practices, and the books are just as interesting as you might imagine. The Fine Arts Center is also presenting The Living Experience at the Field Hall on March 8, and we will be selling books for Megan Rosenbloom, author of Dark Archives, after the event. We'd love to see you there!

The Living Experience at Field Hall