From the Phinney Books/ Madison Books Team in Seattle, WA: It’s been a bit quiet on the newsletter side of things here, in part because we’ve had quite a bit going on, and in part because many of us have been in and out of town during the summer, but most of all because we …
To & Fro can be read in any direction—start with “To” or begin with “Fro,” flip back and forth between the two, and be delighted by how they intersect. . . . There is no wrong way to read! Only heartfelt characters, beautiful imagery, and a story where there is no ending but lots to …
This is my favorite kind of non-fiction book—a failure. Which is to say that it isn’t a biography of the influential mid-century poet Frank O’Hara, although it’s full of biographical detail and wise analysis of his life and work. It also doesn’t offer definitive answers about the fraught relationship between distant fathers and their underappreciated …
A stunning, uplifting work of art celebrating a national initiative that preserves what’s good in the world. In 1973, the US congress passed, with bipartisan support, the Endangered Species Act, an attempt to ensure our collective future by protecting animals that were then threatened with extinction. Fifty years on, we’re still, as ever, on …
Cheers and best wishes to Sally McPherson of Broadway Books in Portland, OR and James Crossley of Madison Books in Seattle, WA! Sally McPherson has been a co-owner of Broadway Books, but is retiring from that significant role (and hopefully finding more reading time). Sally will continue to be a significant part of the store …
Books are always on my mind—what I’m currently reading, what I plan to read next, and what was most memorable about the book I just finished. Most often, when I’ve finished a book I’ve loved, I let it linger with me for at least several days before I pick up a new book—to think about …
James Crossley (Madison Books) and Miriam Landis (author of the new middle-grade novel Lauren in the Limelight) were colleagues at Island Books, Mercer Island, WA. They reunited for this exclusive interview for nwbooklovers.org. James: We’ve known each other a long time, and while you’ve worn many hats over the years, I know you best from …
Ten years is a long time to wait, but well worth it in this case. Nicola Griffith’s Hild is one of my favorite historical novels ever, as my review in this newsletter from a while back will show. That book brought its eponymous protagonist into early adulthood, and Griffith is at last carrying her story forward through maturity in …
Authored by a teacher/librarian, This Is a Story imparts to the smallest page-turners, in a gentle, entertaining way, what a wondrous and deeply human experience it is to open a book and establish a connection to the big world around them. It’s a lovely read (or read-aloud) but for me, it’s Lauren Castillo’s illustrations that make …
In the fall of 2022 we lost one of the world’s leading men of letters, Spain’s Javier Marías. We shared the news with sadness on our blog, but included a hopeful tidbit: that we’d see one more novel from him. Here we are in the spring of 2023, and here it is. Retired spy Tomás Nevinson is lured …
