Seattle’s Madison Books shared this photo of staff favorites with a caption summarizing some of the booksellers’ favorite books of 2025: Amy’s favorites include Ioffe’s Motherland and Newitz’s Automatic Noodle. Meghan’s include Wynn-Williams’ Careless People and Greig’s The Book of I. Christina’s include Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and Alameddine’s The True True …
A funny and penetratingly honest story of three generations of Palestinian women, Zora, Naya, and Arabella, that spans geography, politics, and familial expectations. Family secrets, matchmaking, and ambition bring the granddaughter, Arabella, a New York City theater director, to stage a play in Palestine. Arabella confronts her family’s history along with her grandmother’s and mother’s …
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 …
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 …
I did not expect a book written by someone who works in a rare books store to be so entertaining. From his first days as an apprentice rare bookseller, when he was assigned a desk more suited for a munchkin than his lumbering 6’ frame, Oliver Darkshire humorously describes his experiences and the unique individuals …
This entry comes from a National Book Award-winning novel that investigates familial and social trauma in the Black communities of rural Mississippi, wrapping its plot in layers of beautiful, magical realist prose. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward “I like to think I know what death is. I like to think it’s something I could …
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 …
