I met Rob Phillips a few weeks ago. He had on a mask. So, I might not be able to recognize him on the street after COVID-19. I have, however, read his Yakima Herald Republic column for years. I love the comfortable way he writes, never exuding the expert outdoorsman vibe that keeps others from …
Be sure to read the full list, with recommendations from booksellers around the country, but why not start here, with favorites from Portland and Seattle booksellers? John Rember, A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World (University of New Mexico Press) Jeremy Garber, Powell’s, Portland: John Rember’s A Hundred Little Pieces on the End of the World collects …
Matt Ruff is mercurial, and you never know what he’s going to do next. With 88 Names, he tackles the whole online persona/MMORPG thing (also known as “I Know What We’re All Doing This Summer”). Our protagonist is John Chu, who runs a sherpa business, which is a thing where neophytes get guided through the hard …
Instead of a hare with a pocket watch, it’s an enigmatic man with a proposition who leads our unnamed narrator down the rabbit hole. His offer is unusual, but lucrative: if she is willing to relinquish her identity entirely to work as a stand-in for a reclusive young actress until she is well enough to …
