I got to read an early copy of Outlawed last year and have been impatiently waiting until it went on sale and I could share it. This book deftly recasts the Western genre through a queer, feminist lens, with lots of fun and adventure along the way. In an alternate 1890s where any woman who can’t …
Originally published for OLY ARTS by Molly Gilmore. Jonah Barrett wouldn’t be insulted if anyone said their first book was monstrous. That’s because Barrett’s short-story collection Moss Covered Claws, dropping March 18, is all about monsters. Barrett of Olympia, a filmmaker, fantasy writer, and OLY ARTS contributor, is launching the book with an online reading and talk at …
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages is a remarkably restful piece of quiet fantasy that I can’t recommend enough. Set in the queer quarters of 1940 San Francisco, we follow the budding romance between two women: an artist for the pulps and a singer newly arrived trying to find a place to belong. That’s it. And …
The Paragon Hotel has been my favorite historical fiction recommendation since it first published. It has so many things to love, a daring escape across the country, a crime to solve, a child to find, and characters to love. Set in segregated Oregon, you’ll find out things you never knew, while turning the pages as …
The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association is happy to announce the 2021 Book Awards Shortlist, selected by a committee of independent booksellers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. This year’s committee chose the following 12 finalists, crafted by Northwest authors and illustrators, from a list of nearly 400 nominated titles published during 2020. The six …
This delightfully illustrated graphic memoir is an emotional and straightforward account of self-discovery and acceptance. Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, explores coming to terms with eir genderqueer identity and asexuality in a way that is personal, thoughtful, and educational. Kobabe’s self-aware recollections range from uncomfortable and painful to awkward and joyful and liberating. The artwork …
From the blog of Third Place Books (Lake Forest Park, Ravenna, Seward Park), WA. By Allie. We are so excited to celebrate Latinx authors and the contributions they make to the literary world! In fraught times, it is important to celebrate the diversity that truly makes this country great. And I may be biased as …
Last Friday afternoon, as part of the week’s virtual regional trade show, booksellers from around the Pacific Northwest watched members of the PNBA Book Awards Committee present a selection of books they are excited about for the 2021 Book Awards. This post is the second part of the list of books mentioned during that session. …
Last Friday afternoon, as part of the week’s virtual regional trade show, booksellers from around the Pacific Northwest watched members of the PNBA Book Awards Committee present a selection of books they are excited about for the 2021 Book Awards. About 400 titles have been nominated for the award (more were arriving during the conference). …
Saidiya Hartman’s Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments contains some of the most imaginative, inventive, and radical history writing I’ve ever encountered. Taking as her subjects the black women excluded from the US historical archive, Hartman challenges and unsettles dominant understandings of who “makes” history. In vibrant and ecstatic prose, Hartman tells the story of how the wayward, the …
