“A great swath of American history is let loose in this beguiling tome. And it all starts in a garden in Germany where Fredrick lurks behind a hedge preparing to serenade his ladylove, Jette. It’s not a union smiled upon by Jette’s social-climbing mother. She forbids them contact so, of course, they go underground and …
I read a lot of books but in the past year or so I noticed that I had slowed down. Way down.
Anacortes bookseller Patti Pattee informs us that her town has murals of its “famous” residents all over the place, but that local artist Christine Olsen has, “added a whole new element.” Pattee should know. One of these elements lives on the side of her bookstore, Watermark Book Co. The Bookworm Sasquatch went up in August, featuring—this …
“Dream of Paris, dream of winter. Written after a fourteen-year silence, these ‘dreams’ (fiction? memory? koan?) are a delightful companionable and mysterious lot. Written in French, published in French and English.—Karen, Elliott Bay Book Company. Buy The Facts of Winter from Elliott Bay Book Company.
“Based on the author’s real-life grandmother, a child of the Great Depression and a nurse for an African-American abortion physician in the 1950’s, this novel beautifully captures the voice of a woman torn between ethics and money, personal integrity and social acceptance. I read this twice (something I rarely-to-never do), and must say it was …
Christopher Howell is a stalwart figure in Northwest poetry and publishing. A professor at Eastern Washington University, where he was a senior editor at EWU Press, he runs Lynx House Press, a small independent publisher. His tenth collection of poetry, Gaze, was published early in 2012 by Milkweed Editions. Meeting Chris Howell, one finds him …
“I admire a story that wrecks me, and The Fault in Our Stars is one such beast. Cancer’s a dominant character, but love is more so. By no means an easy read, this is a story to read. Hazel, the narrator, is a quick-witted teenager, a girl learning to navigate herself, her sickness, her family …
“The Village on Horseback is a collection of poetry, prose, snippets of fiction and two novellas by Jesse Ball. Perfect for travelers or handy to have on a nightstand, it is equally charming and thought-provoking.”—Andrew, Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, WA. Buy The Village on Horseback from Eagle Harbor Book Company.
“Among other things, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex, which was a National Book Award winner and covered an event that was an inspiration and backdrop of Herman Melville’s classic Moby-Dick. I’ve never read Moby-Dick, and it is unlikely I would read as much into the …
“I read this as slowly as possible over the course of a year, and when I finished it, started right back at the beginning.”—Ruth, Fireside Books, Palmer, AK. Buy Pilgrim at Tinker Creek from Fireside Books.
