Koh approaches her historical novel with an unwavering interest in the human heart & the way politics, war, & things of such scale affect the realms of intimacy and interpersonal relationships. Koh uses language with the utmost elegance, her prose is poetic & confident with imagistic, memorable metaphors. Her characters feel flesh & bone; yearning …
A beautiful collection of nature essays from an array of black essayists & poets– A Darker Wilderness is a literary treasure trove. As each writer sets about drawing upon an archival object to use as a portal for their own ruminations on the American natural world & memory, the sum of these personal histories & …
Pirates + Magic + Powerful Women + Phenomenal Character Development + Gorgeous Writing = The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi. This equation is the making of my favorite things, and S. A. Chakraborty did it beautifully. Can’t wait for the next one! –Rachel, Browsers, Olympia, WA Find the right formula for your next perfect read at …
Max is a farm cat who was “as much trouble as ten kittens” in his youth. These days, he is a “mighty hunter” with his own room “filled with squirrel tails” and a secret nighttime life. Based on the author’s own cat, this book and its simple but expressive watercolor illustrations remind me of my …
The Washington Center for the Book (an affiliate of the Library of Congress Center for the Book administered by Washington State Library) has selected 30 finalists in seven categories for the 2023 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by Washington authors in 2022. This is the 57th year of the program, formerly called the …
A short but lingering novel… Elisa Shua Dusapin’s debut novel is ripe with atmosphere and a haunting sense of liminality. A young woman living in the tourist town of Sokcho befriends the enigmatic French graphic novelist who visits unconventionally in the dead of winter. She hopes to show him Sokcho’s barren truth, but finds herself …
From the Seattle Public Library’s Shelf Talk blog August 23, 2022. Title links go to SPL page; book cover links go to Bookshop.org. Your local independent bookstore is happy to help you find these books! Congratulations to 39 finalists in eight categories for the 2022 Washington State Book Awards (WSBA) for outstanding books published by …
I am obsessed with Zevin’s writing style. She eloquently tells the story, through dual perspectives, of Sam and Sadie, estranged childhood friends who come back together to create a video game in the 90s. With flashbacks, flashforwards (in the form of magazine interviews) and references to discrimination, racism, and physical disability, I was immediately hooked. …
Of course I was captured right away by the wonderful world building in “The Book Making Habits of Select Species,” and while this book of short stories is perfect for any “Black Mirror” fan, fascinated by technology’s impact on humanity, it is also so much more. This book is a fantastic blend of sci-fi, speculative, …
Grace Campbell of Olympia and Laura Stanfill of Portland met at Mineral School in Mineral, Washington, during a 2018 parent residency week. Grace Campbell is the Fiction Editor at 5×5 Literary Magazine. Her roots are in flash/microfiction, where she has been published in journals like Brevity, Hobart, Joyland, and Midway. Her work has been featured …
