This week, 600 booksellers gathered in Denver for the 11th annual Winter Institute, a 3-day educational conference for people who own or work in independent bookstores, hosted by the American Booksellers Association (ABA). The ABA started a new tradition on the opening night: a backlist book swap. “Backlist” titlesare books that have been around (the opposite of …
Though I am a southwesterner by birth and possibly by inclination, I have lived much of my adult life in the Northwest. Fifteen years ago my wife and I bought 40 acres in the remote mountains of northern Idaho where we spent altogether too much of our time fixing fence, cutting firewood and plowing snow. …
A committee of independent booksellers has announced the winners of the 2011 Pacific Northwest Book Awards. The committee chose four books from its Shortlist and are honoring a fifth author with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Congratulations to Brady Udall (The Lonely Polygamist), Karl Marlantes (Matterhorn: A Novel of Vietnam), Anthony Doerr (Memory Wall), Sarahlee Lawrence (River House: …
“Golden Richards is a husband and father whose four wives and 28 children compete for his time while he tries to make a living as a builder. Without vilifying the polygamist lifestyle, Brady Udall sets a very ordinary man into an overwhelming family situation. This is a family at a crossroads, and through them we …
