“Oregon Cycling Sojourner: A Guide to the Best Multi-Day Tours in Oregon (Into Action Publications, $17.95) by Ellee Thalheimer, is a guide for adventurous souls who long to hit the Oregon road with their bikes for extended periods of time. This guide features 8 multi-day bike tours in every part of the state, including complete camping …
“For me it’s always a happy celebration when we get a new book by Timothy Egan, one of my all-time-favorite narrative nonfiction writers — and judging by the awards he’s received (including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award) I’m not alone in that assessment. Hot off the press is Egan’s new book about …
“Many people think that hallucinations happen only to ‘crazy’ people. Wrong, of course. They happen to people who are suffering from sensory deprivation (this is what a ‘vision quest’ is). They happen to people who are ill, or injured, or having migraine headaches. They happen to those who are intoxicated. They happen when certain drugs …
“If you ever get a chance to see Sherman Alexie in person, do it. He is the most amazing speaker: smart, funny, smart, opinionated, smart, provocative—did I mention smart??? But if you can’t see him in person, for goodness sakes read his books. (By the way, the Multnomah County Library system picked two of Alexie’s …
“A quirky little novel that is both thoughtful and gleeful, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan is simultaneously a mystery and an ode to bookstores and ‘old’ knowledge (versus ‘Google’ knowledge), mostly set in a hole-in-the-wall independent bookstore in San Francisco. Can tangible books and new media exist happily side by side? With a plot ‘as …
“Another very sweet new series comes from northwest native (she grew up in my hometown of Walla Walla) Deborah Underwood (who now lives in the Bay Area) and is illustrated by Renata Liwska: The Quiet Book, The Loud Book, and now The Christmas Quiet Book, celebrating the quiet sounds of the holiday season. The series is …
“Jon Meacham won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his biography of Andrew Jackson, American Lion. This year he explores the complexities of one of our early presidents in Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power. The book brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times, presenting Jefferson the politician and president, a …
“Julie Richardson, co-author with Cory Schreiber of the fabulous Rustic Fruit Desserts, has written another winner with her newest cookbook, Vintage Cakes: Timeless Recipes for Cupcakes, Flips, Rolls, Layer, Angel, Bundt,Chiffon, and Icebox Cakes for Today’s Sweet Tooth (Ten Speed Press, $24). Julie spends most of her days baking cakes and other goodies for Baker …
“We had originally intended to discuss this book—Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon—under the heading ‘Nonfiction Sleepers.’ It certainly qualified: a well-researched social commentary, an excellent read, and a thoroughly under-appreciated book. However, Solomon’s book was just named one of the top five nonfiction books of 2012 by the New York …
“The Yellow Birds is a debut novel about a soldier coming of age and about the psychological aftermath of war. In Al Tafar, Iraq, twenty-one-year old Private Bartle and eighteen-year-old Private Murphy cling to life as their platoon launches a bloody battle for the city. Bound together since basic training when Bartle makes a promise to …
