All Hail the King of the Seas!

 

With Shark Week starting July 5th, our shark-obsessed Boswellian Phoebe pushed for a Shark Week table to showcase all of the shark-related literature we have in the store. Due to her enthusiasm, Boswell has officially become part of one of the summer's biggest pop culture phenomena with the inaugural Shark Week table! As someone who is both terrified and fascinated by sharks, and who has been watching Shark Week for most of her 23 years, Phoebe is uniquely equipped to recommend books about sharks. Here are some of her favorites from the table with their corresponding shark species. Thoughts from Phoebe:

 

The Peter Benchley Collection is a must for any Shark Week table. We don't have a regular old copy of Jaws, but who would want that when this collection filled with multiple sea beasts is available? Plus, it's a bargain book, which means it's $5. I would be hard-pressed to find any shark and book lover who wouldn't pay that amount for this collection of books. The only drawback to this book is that the shark on the cover is not a Great White; it's an Oceanic White Tip.  I am trying my best to get over it (and failing)--but it remains the Tiger Shark of the Shark Week table. Tiger Sharks are indiscriminate in their eating habits, and this book is indiscriminate in its audience because anyone of any age (maybe not those under 8 who don't want to fear the ocean forever) would enjoy it.

 

Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart have a pop-up book called Encyclopedia Prehistorica: Sharks and Other Sea Monsters. This one is pretty self-explanatory. I mean, it has sharks that pop out at you. Robert Sabuda is a master of paper pop-outs, and this book doesn't disappoint. (There are other creatures included as well, although sharks are clearly the best.) This book is the Sand Tiger Shark of the Shark Week table because just like you can't look away from the ragged teeth of that shark in the tank, you can't help but look at the wonderful pop-ups in this book.

 

Neighborhood Sharks by Katherine Roy is indisputably the best book ever. And no, I do not mean the best book about sharks, I mean best overall book in the history of creation. Beautiful watercolors of the Great Whites hunting off the coast of the Farallon Islands in California grace the cover and the first few pages of this incredible book. Even better, the book includes tons of facts about sharks, their eating habits, and their oceanic ecosystem. Any bookseller in the store can tell you how obsessed I am with this book. It's beautiful and informative, and it includes conservation efforts. Neighborhood Sharks also earned a Robert F. Sibert honor for being one of the best illustrated nonfiction books of 2014. I am 23 years old, and I would be ecstatic if someone bought me this book because it is awesome. This book is the Great White Shark--the apex predator--of the Shark Week table because, just like the Great White stealth-attacks its prey, this book stealth-attacks your attention with its cover and you never see it coming.

 

So there you have it! Phoebe's top picks off the Shark Week table. Come check out Boswell's first ever Shark Week table for more books to sink your teeth into--and let us know what your favorite books about sharks are.