Islander Chris Austin will read from his new book in the series, “The Mostly True History of Vashon and Maury Islands,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Vashon Bookshop.

Austin, who is also the circulation manager for The Beachcomber, compiled the second book — with the subtitle, “Criminal Elements” — from his column, “It’s Your History,” featured weekly in The Beachcomber.

Austin peruses the archives of the Heritage museum to find factual but amusing stories about Vashon’s history. Though the articles are clearly written in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, Austin remains a committed history buff as well as a humorist. He believes history is more accessible if delivered with humor and finds value in remembering the past.

“Everything has a history,” Austin said, “and it explains a lot of what is happening today — how we got to where we are now.”