On Wednesdays, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Bestseller list is published. Every week, we love to see what has been most popular in independent bookstores around our region. As we peruse the list, we ponder patterns. Then we present this weekly feature: Thursday Themes. This week, we noted bestsellers that had just been published since the holidays and …
Every Wednesday, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association publishes the regional bestseller list. On Thursdays, we celebrate Thursday Themes to shine a spotlight on some of the books from the list and give our brains a different way of thinking about books. Sometimes the themes come from the covers, sometimes the titles. On this week’s list, we …
An astronaut wakes up with amnesia, and discovers he is on a mission to save the world. This book is a return to what made The Martian such a great read. There’s a sarcastic but earnest narrator, many a life-threatening disaster, and so very much clearly and cleverly explained science. Once I started reading it, I could …
Initially skeptical to read a book about a young musician with just a couple albums out (who may not have even hit his creative peak yet), I quickly understood just why, in the year 2020, this book needed to come out. Using the framework of the 4 albums of Kendrick Lamar, Marcus J. Moore writes a …
Caste is an essential read, a lucid, no-holds-barred examination of race, our nation’s history, and the rigid caste system that has been such a destructive force to individuals, communities, and our democracy. Most people think of caste as a foreign system found in places like India. But Wilkerson, through her research, insight, and immersion, argues …
This was an entertaining and highly interesting read, a great pick for any fan of language, the internet, or both. In the words of the author, “Language is humanity’s most spectacular open-source project,” and the great thing about the advent of the internet is it allows scholars to analyze how language (specifically informal language) evolves …
Written by Seattle’s own [retired] city council member and social activist Nick Licata, this book is what so many of us need now more than ever. Think of it as an instruction manual for social change, perfect if your call to arms needs some direction. –AJ, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle, WA Get informed and …
Portland author and artist Joe Sacco won a 2014 PNBA Book Award for his 244-page illustrated panorama, The Great War. This month on Lithub, he has a stunning piece about our current crisis and how it might be seen in the future. It is titled Will We One Day Honor the Veterans of the Great …
. . .we have Wes Moore’s Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City. While the title sounds like it could be about any number of locations during the last few months, Five Days is about life in Baltimore after the death of Freddie Gray, back in 2015. Moore (with assistance from Erica L. …
…and speaking of building better tomorrows, we’re delighted to see Ibram X. Kendi has cleverly put out a baby board book. Timing is everything, and nothing happens overnight in book publishing, which makes the arrival of Antiracist Baby this week a marvel. Kendi, whose Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America and How to …
