Building on a Theme: More Books to LEGO Set Pairings

Our April Book Club pick is made of a little magic, a little dystopia, and a whole lot of heart. In the not-too-distant future, protagonist Rainy sets sail across a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed bookselling wife. Despite the chaotic storms and restless corpses of the lake, the real trouble begins on land in a crumbling society full of desperate, illiterate people. With the help of strangers, new friends, and a surprising sense of humor, Rainy’s personal quest grows into a much wilder adventure. Read about the inspiration for the novel in Leif Enger’s B&N Reads Guest Post. 

When LEGO labels something as a working model, they mean it. I’m still not convinced this set isn’t an actual lighthouse that has been magically resized to fit on your coffee table. The motor and battery pack power the cozy fireplace in the cottage and the lighthouse’s rotating light with actual Fresnel lens. Removable parts of the set show off the detailed interiors, including the cave with hidden treasure. Of course, the real treasures are the bricks we built along the way. That’s how the saying goes, right? 

So, you’ve read A Gentleman in Moscow, you’ve binged the TV series, and now you’re looking for more episodic Amor Towles content to fill the empty space in your life. Look no further than Table for Two: a collection of short stories taking you from New York City to the Golden Age of Hollywood. Follow a stellar cast of characters as they navigate chance encounters and the complications that follow, told with Towles’ signature humor and wit. Readers of Rules of Civilitywill recognize Evelyn Ross in the story “Eve in Hollywood.” 

As a kid, I dreamed about being an author: hunched over a clacking typewriter and magically producing literary greatness. Now I know that writing is mostly staring at a blank page and contemplating the futility of existence, but the LEGO Ideas Typewriter keeps the childhood dream alive. This replica is the closest you can get to a classic typewriter without hitting every estate sale in the country. The keys clack, the type bars lift to touch the ribbon, and the carriage moves when you type! Feed paper into the platen roller and create the next modern classic. Fun fact: you can still see the influence of typewriters on modern computers. The enter key used to be the “return” key, as in “carriage return,” and some enter keys still have a symbol indicating the movement of a typewriter carriage. 

Other Authors: “You can’t write a stellar summer romance with more than one classic trope in it!” 

Abby Jiminez: “Hold my daiquiri.” 

The fan favorite author of the Part of Your World series and The Happy Ever After Playlist returns with a summer read sweeter than the cakes that first made her famous. Justin and Emma are both cursed: every person they date breaks up with them and immediately finds their soulmate. Together, the two hatch a plan to cancel out their curses by dating each other for the summer, then breaking up. They aren’t expecting the universe and love to have summer plans of their own. 

Men may come and go, but LEGO is forever. Get your sweetheart a bouquet that lasts longer than the summer. Sure, LEGO bricks may not smell like real roses, but they never die, you can’t be allergic to them, your cats can’t eat them, and you can combine them with other LEGO Flowers for the perfect centerpiece. They’re also the ideal gift for those of us with black thumbs. (To be fair, my cactus was fine until my parrot ate it. Speaking of birds…) 

When life feels like it’s for the birds, those same birds can turn things around. Amy Tan, author of the modern classic The Joy Luck Club, looked to the peace of her backyard to escape the growing hatred and divisiveness in the world. In observing the avian friends who came to visit, she found the opportunity to connect to nature in a meaningful way and imagine the world through their bird’s-eye view. 

For those of us without backyards to attract the local bird population, the LEGO Icons Kingfisher brings the wonder of the outdoors, indoors. The kingfisher — known for fishing techniques that put human anglers to shame — is depicted emerging from the water with a fresh catch. The water setting with buildable reeds doubles as a display stand, adding that extra touch of nature to your living room without tracking dirt on the carpet.  

There’s something about celestial phenomena that brings people together, and not just in the “setup for a disaster novel” kind of way. Eclipses are the crowd favorite, inspiring the plots of many books and movies. Released just in time for the April 8^th solar eclipse, Eclipse and Revelation explores the phenomenon behind the phenomenon in science, history, the arts, and beyond. 

Technic sets have always been amazing, but this one is out of this world. Turn the crank on the interactive model to watch realistic orbits of the moon around the Earth and the Earth around the sun. LEGO is great at making learning fun, so the set comes with printed details about how these orbits affect the phases of the moon and the seasons. This is the set to have for teachers, budding astronomers, and anyone who thinks space is super cool. Movie buffs especially will have fun recreating that pivotal scene from Pitch Black. 

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of the first Star Wars prequel, The Phantom Menace (brb, gotta go have a Millennial crisis). So, it’s only fitting that the iconic film gets a prequel of its own to celebrate the occasion. Set in the year before The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: The Living Force follows Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, and the Jedi Council as they seek to bring aid to a distant planet. But after years without a Jedi presence in the sector, a more sinister group has assumed control, and they’ll kill the Council to keep it that way. In Obi-Wan’s words, “this hasn’t been our day for warm welcomes.” Grab our Exclusive Edition for a double-sided mini poster! 

Coincidentally enough, this year also marks the 25^th anniversary of LEGO Star Wars. One of the first commemorative sets is everyone’s favorite astromech, who’s only gotten one update in 22 of those 25 years. Originally released as a Technic set, the new and improved R2-D2 is twice as technical, featuring all of the tools and gadgets used to get the heroes in and out of trouble. Hack the Death Star, zap your enemies, and save the galaxy! You’ll have to make the famous “droid scream” noises yourself, though.