Hello, Readers!
A month has already come and gone in 2025 and boy have we been busy! We have already hosted three book club meetings, an author event, a midnight release party, and made a big announcement (did you see it on our social media?)! The cold and snow won’t stop us at BHB from bringing you amazing books and events, so let’s recap what’s happened so far, and what’s coming up at Blue House Books!
Did you know Blue House Books hosts THREE book clubs a month?! Silent Book Club is hosted the first Tuesday of every month, and is an opportunity to bring a bit of socializing to a normally solitary activity; Our Banned Book Club meets the third Sunday of each month, and we focus on reading books that have been banned or challenged in the US, because we believe in the freedom to read; and finally, the Blue House Book Club meets the last Tuesday of every month, where we read a variety of titles, often based on cultural holidays and popular new releases! Check out all the details on our website to RSVP to whichever book club fits you best!
On January 20th, we hosted a Midnight Release Extravaganza for the highly anticipated third book in the Empyrean series, Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros! It was incredible! Guests picked the quadrant they wanted to enter, then completed activities and challenges for prizes! Of course the Riders quadrant was the largest, but Healers and Scribes were well represented, and we had one brave Infantry soldier! We also hosted a cosplay contest, with Liam Mairi winning first place, a rider winning second place, and the adorable Andarna winning third place! Finally, trivia helped us round out the night, and when the clock struck midnight, excited readers were handed their book and rushed home to read! Or.. in most cases I’m guessing.. sleep, because most of us were in our 30s or older and it was a Monday night.
To wrap up our January event programming, we hosted BHB bestselling author Annelise Ryan at Public Brewing Company to celebrate the release of Beast of the North Woods, the third in her wildly popular Monster Hunter Mystery series! Annelise was interviewed by fellow Wisconsin mystery writer Amy Pease (Northwoods), and the crowd of 75 readers had an amazing time!
Can you believe we do this much at a local indie bookstore?! Make sure you’re checking out our events calendar to see what other amazing authors we have coming in next! Spoiler alert: New York Times bestselling author Scott Turow is on that list!
Now, on to that big announcement! One of my favorite things I love about the indie bookselling industry is that we stay competitive and are well supported by partner companies in order to be competitive. While it’s true we can’t always offer the lowest price, we make up for that by providing an amazing shopping experience, hosting all these fantastic events, and staying involved in our community. One of the ways we stay competitive and relevant is by offering audiobooks through Libro.fm! It’s an audiobook subscription app, same as other similar apps, but a portion of each sales goes to your favorite indie bookstore! Now, I’m so excited to say, we can now offer ebooks in the same way!
Bookshop.org, originally an online retailer that offered an alternative to buy physical books that didn’t support another billionaire, has launched ebooks on their website! Every purchase of an ebook directly supports independent bookstores, either your local indie, or bookstores as a whole. You can find all the details here, and you can start reading right away!
That’s all for now, I’ll leave you with our current bestselling titles and a few exciting new releases! Happy Reading!
–Sam
This week’s bestsellers
- Beast of the North Woods by Annelise Ryan
- The Crash by Freida McFadden
- Northwoods: A Novel by Amy Pease
- Presumed Guilty by Scott Turow
- A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan
- All of Us Villains by Amanda Food & C L Herman
- Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
- Remembrance by Rita Woods
- At the Bottom of the Garden: A Novel by Camilla Bruce
- Death in the Dark Woods by Annelise Ryan
New releases
- The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
- Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
- Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks
- Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
- The Snowbirds by Christina Clancy
- Dream Girl Drama by Tessa Bailey
- Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff
- Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowen Ivey
- Source Code: My Beginnings by Bill Gates
- Isola by Allegra Goodman
