what's new

Aug

18

2015

Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

Face Out

Last Bus to Wisdom
by Ivan Doig

“Ivan Doig’s last book, finished before his April 9, 2015 death, is a story that is destined to live through its readers forever. I savored Donal/ Red Chief/ Scotty’s tales of life and adventure, high jinks and mischief, cowboys and hoboes, love and family. This is one of my top three fiction favorites of 2015… Loved it.” —Janis Segress, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA   “Donal Cameron lives with his grandmother on the Double W ranch in the Two Medicine Country …

Aug

18

2015

Ivan Doig, as drawn by Brad Craft

Celebrating Ivan Doig Day

I KNEW IVAN DOIG AS A WRITER before I knew him as a friend, and even though by the end I knew the friend as well as I have known anyone, the writer never ceased to loom over me. It was as if Twain or Cather had strolled off the page and shown up for …

Aug

17

2015

Indi Surfs

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Indi Surfs
by Chris Gorman

Wow, this book just jumps off the shelf! The Day-Glo realism of surf-dad Gorman’s illustrations explode his simple, boldface story of paddling, falling, and persevering into something unlike anything else in our picture-book section. It’s a tribute to his intrepid daughter that will charm grownups and mesmerize little readers with its bravery, awe, and beauty. …

Aug

14

2015

Christine Deavel

The Storefront

Christine Deavel of Open Books:
Not Quite Bidding Goodbye

This week, Christine Deavel, co-owner of Open Books: A Poem Emporium in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle and bookseller for 26 years, announced that she is moving on from the store to accept a position as a family and patient liaison at Harborview Medical Center. Below, we have her sweet letter to Open Books’ customers, followed by an …

Aug

13

2015

A Test of Wills

One Nightstand

A Test of Wills by Charles Todd

A good friend introduced me to Charles Todd, a mother and son writing team. They live on the East Coast of the United States. I cannot imagine how difficult a task that might be but they pull it off in the final product. I just finished reading A Test of Wills (published in 1996), which is …

Aug

12

2015

Fire Season

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Fire Season by Philip Connors

Every April, Philip Connors leaves behind civilization–his wife, bartending job and small-town life in New Mexico–to work as a fire lookout. In Fire Season he captures all of the beauty and enchantment of spending a summer in solitude, in a lookout perched high above the Gila Wilderness, while sparing the reader any sense of monotony …

Aug

11

2015

1remark
Kim Heacox

Conversations

Jimmy Bluefeather:
Kim Heacox’s Alaska

Jimmy Bluefeather, the new novel from award-winning writer, photographer, and conservationist Kim Heacox, is the first work of original adult fiction released by Alaska Northwest Books in fifty-six years of publishing. The collaborators recently got together to discuss their groundbreaking effort. AN: Alaska roots this novel and plays a large part in the overall story line. How does the …

Aug

10

2015

Going Somewhere

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Going Somewhere by Brian Benson

If you loved Wild, here you go!  Cheryl Strayed’s recommendation caught my eye, and it’s entirely apt.  Rachel and Brian share a dream of bicycling across the U.S., and this is the story of their ride.  It’s exciting and brutally honest, and weirdly compelling. Don’t ask me why but I love books like this! —Georgiana, …

Aug

7

2015

Jack Cady

Borrowed Copy

The Cady Collection

I’ve been a Northwesterner for quite a while, more than half my life, but Jack Cady got here long before me. He was born in Ohio in 1932, served in the Coast Guard in Maine, conscientiously objected to the war in Korea, graduated from the University of Louisville in Kentucky, drove trucks and did other …

Aug

6

2015

Baseball Codes

Face Out

The Baseball Codes
by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca

Summer is here and baseball is in full swing. The greatest game has the written rules of the umpires and the unwritten code of the players. Turbow’s book sheds light on the Code using hilarious anecdotes of players past and present; tracking the evolution of the Baseball’s Code to the modern era. This book had …

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