Bonnie Garmus with Jeff Martin — 'Peck & Peck'

Third Place Books is delighted to welcome Bonnie Garmus to our Lake Forest Park store for a conversation about Peck & Peck: the story of a young man whose life is forever changed when he is hired by the most prestigious—and dysfunctional—poetry journal in the world. Magic City Books co-founder Jeff Martin joins in conversation. Tickets are required in advance.

"I'm absolutely over the moon about Bonnie Garmus' new novel. It is EXACTLY what I needed to read right now. Charming, uplifting, soulful, and original, this is the perfect successor to Lessons in Chemistry. If you loved Elizabeth Zott, you will adore Batter Gray. Book clubs will adore this novel. I loved it." —Kristin Hannah, author of The Women

What you need to know:

• All tickets come with a pre-signed copy of Peck & Peck.
• Bonnie will be available to personalize books after the event. She will also sign copies of Lessons in Chemistry.
• Signing lines for popular events can run for several hours. Please plan accordingly! Signing line priority is based on the order in which guests check in night-of. Check-in will open at 6:00pm. Contact us with any accessibility inquiries.
• Tickets must be purchased through Eventbrite. Pre-ordering the featured book will not grant you access to the event.
• If you are unable to attend the event, your book will be placed on hold at our Lake Forest Park store. You may request to have your book transferred to our Ravenna or Seward Park neighborhood stores.

Copies of Peck & Peck and other books by Bonnie Garmus will be available for purchase at the store.

Having trouble registering? See Eventbrite's troubleshooting FAQ here.

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of global sensation Lessons in Chemistry returns with an irresistible, delightful, and tender literary novel set in the publishing world of 1980s New York City about a young man whose life turns upside down when he is hired by the most prestigious, secretive, and dysfunctional poetry journal in the world: the renowned Peck & Peck.

Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest.

It’s 1982, New York City. Crime is on the rise, muggings are in the streets, and Batter Gray, recent college graduate with a skill that no one wants—an “ear” for poetry—is worried about his future. While all of his friends have real jobs, he’s folding T-shirts at the Gap. As for love? No. Not unless you count Sallie Mae, the student loan tyrant. He hears from Sallie all the time.

But when Batter gets a dream job at Peck & Peck, the most prestigious poetry quarterly in the world, his life moves into the literary fast lane. Soon Batter is knee-deep in the secret war between the two Editors in Chief, the famous Peck brothers—twins and enemies—as well as being privy to the private affairs of their thirty-nine editors, whose professed mission is the same: Find originality. Reward creativity. Burn the rest.

And by burn, they mean incinerate. Because at Peck & Peck, “good” isn’t good enough, “interesting” doesn’t cut it, plagiarists aren’t tolerated, and parolees run the mailroom. Still want to submit your poem? Go with God.

Welcome to another dazzling and unforgettable novel from Bonnie Garmus. If you loved Lessons in Chemistry, you will love Peck & Peck.

Bonnie Garmus is a coffee-dependent American novelist. Her debut novel, Lessons in Chemistry, was a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, a Goodreads Choice Best Book of the Year, spent nearly two years on the New York Times bestseller list and was named by Times readers as one of the top 100 books of the 21st century. Translated into over forty languages, Lessons in Chemistry was honored with sixteen international literary awards and made into an Apple TV limited series. Peck & Peck is her second novel.

Jeff Martin is the Chief of Creative Strategy and Storytelling at Seattle Art Museum and President/Co-Founder of the nonprofit Magic City Books in Tulsa, OK. Over two past two decades, Jeff helped transform a “flyover city” into a literary Mecca hosting thousands of authors including Sir Salman Rushdie, Ann Patchett, Rachel Maddow, Tom Hanks, and so many more. In a recent New York Times profile, David Sedaris hailed Jeff as the “Literary King of Tulsa.” Jeff and his wife Molly (and two dogs) moved to Seattle this past spring.

Founded in 1998 in Lake Forest Park, Washington, Third Place Books is dedicated to the creation of a community around books and the ideas inside them. With locations in Lake Forest Park and Seattle's Ravenna and Seward Park neighborhoods, Third Place Books is proud to serve the entire Seattle metro area. Learn more about their event series at thirdplacebooks.com/events.