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Browse: Home / contemporary fiction

contemporary fiction

Dec

20

2022

Annie Bloom’s Showcases Local Portland Authors

From Portland’s Annie Bloom’s Books: Books from Local Authors Want another way to shop local this holiday season? Pick up one (or more!) of these wonderful 2022 books from Portland authors. Lost Restaurants of Portland, Oregon (Paperback) by Theresa Griffin Kennedy A full menu of unforgettable events and historical milestones. Delve into the Rose City’s …

Aug

15

2022

TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo

When a meme mocking her cousin’s body hair becomes the talk of the school, TJ Powar begins to wonder how and why something as natural as hair is seen as disgusting or unclean—she then decides to discontinue her shaving and waxing regimens to test just how much it affects her social status. TJ Powar Has …

May

4

2022

The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka

Julie Otsuka’s novels are literary gems, and Swimmers joins its predecessors—The Buddha in the Attic and When the Emperor was Divine—as a work of uncommonly lyrical beauty and pathos. The loss of a public swimming pool to a series of mysterious cracks developing on the bottom disperses a tight and quirky community of lap swimmers. …

May

3

2022

Linda Stewart Henley in Conversation with Jody Hadlock

Jody Hadlock had some great questions for Linda Stewart Henley about her latest novel, Waterbury Winter. JH: Tell us in one or two sentences what your book is about. LSH: It’s about a man and his attempt to overcome problems that have prevented him from following his calling as an artist. JH: How did you …

Apr

27

2022

Lost and Found in Paris by Lian Dolan

Looking for an excuse to feel good? Well, look no further. Lian Dolan has given us a fine specimen of a feel-good read, filled with the not-too-much pain of a marriage breakup, a quick trip to Paris, an unexpected loss, and a scavenger hunt with clues. Oh, right… there’s a little romance thrown in for …

Jan

25

2022

2

remarks

Anthony Doerr

Work and Play: An Original Essay by 2022 PNBA Award Winner by Anthony Doerr

By the time he was twenty-nine, Charles Darwin had puzzled his way toward two-thirds of his theory of natural selection. He understood that plants and animals passed traits (hair color, say, or beak shape, or flower scent) down to their offspring. And he understood that those traits were not passed down perfectly. We resemble our …

Nov

30

2021

Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo

A beautifully-written story that explores identity, race, colonialism, and the unique perspective of the African diaspora. The Sankofa is mythical bird that flies forward while looking back, and this theme is brought out in this novel– as the protagonist must come to terms with her own messy and tumultuous past before she can find solace …

Nov

19

2021

Foggy photo of a white house with a light on

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin

Lynette has been saving for three years for a down payment to buy the North Portland house she lives in with her mother and developmentally disabled brother. The owner is giving them a good deal, but Lynette has lousy credit, so her mother has to take out the loan. However, at the last minute they …

Sep

7

2021

A queer look at college inspired by “Emma”

From OregonLive/ The Oregonian September 4, 2021: The start of the new school year makes it a fitting time to pick up Portlander Margot Wood’s debut young adult novel, Fresh, a queer retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma that spans its protagonist’s freshman year of college. Quick recap for those who haven’t encountered Emma in a while: …

Sep

6

2021

There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura

I loved this! The oddball narrator might have been irritating if I didn’t find her so relatable–her musings/fixations/insights felt like gentle personal attacks, and they often left me snorting out loud. Read, cringe, and carefully consider whether you’re a moderate or radical rice cracker company worker. It’s important, probably. –Ellen, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, …

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