In Daniel Tam-Claiborne’s Transplants, a chance encounter at a university campus in rural Qixian sets the lives of two young women on radically different trajectories: Lin, a reticent Chinese student who ends up matriculating at a community college in rural Ohio, and Liz, a grieving Chinese American ESL teacher who stays in China to learn …
From KUOW, the Seattle area NPR station, on Tuesday May 20, 2025: Patricia Murphy and Katie Campbell reported Tuesday afternoon: After more than 100 years in business as an independent bookstore, the University Book Store in Seattle’s U District will soon be home to Barnes & Noble. The bookseller, which has about 600 stores across …
Beloved bestselling author Tom Robbins died this week at the age of 92 at his home in La Conner, WA. Robbins was an influence and friend to many in the Pacific Northwest literary world. The fact that his backlist has remained so available is testament to his talent and popularity. Here is just a sampling …
“An Idaho school board banned 23 books. So a local bookstore gave out copies for free” –npr’s James Dawson on “All Things Considered” NPR’s “All Things Considered” broadcast this story about how Boise’s Rediscovered Books is working to ensure access to books. The store gathered donations to provide free books to the community. They have …
This charming book is a collection of the essays from the popular NPR radio show/podcast BirdNote. The inestimable Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology has had a vital role in this series from its inception. The “chapters” are short species accounts ranging from the general to the esoteric to the more scientific, each a different aspect about a bird …
A fascinating look into the total solar eclipse of 1878 and the lives of three scientists who traveled to witness the rare event. Baron paints this moment in American history in full color, complete with train robberies, rival astronomers, and Thomas Edison and his newest invention, the tasimeter. –Mary Jo S., Powells.com Are you planning …
On July 10, 2017, NPR aired “Octavia Butler: Writing Herself Into The Story” by Karen Grigsby Bates about Octavia Butler, beloved scifi author who lived in Seattle from 1999 until her death in 2006. Octavia Butler used to say she remembers exactly when she decided to become a science fiction writer. She was 9 years …
I love when a local author I admire is everywhere I look. This week, it’s been that way with Maria Semple. She kept popping up in my twitter and facebook feeds because she’s been so dang busy! She was on NPR. She was at King’s Books. Somehow she worked some Hermione time-turner-type magic and had …
Alison Bechdel, author of the comic “Dykes to Watch Out For,” strikes a chord with a look back on her family life. This memoir told in graphic novel form is easy to devour in one sitting. The drawings and short dialogue actually slow you down in a good way and help you focus on the …
On Tuesday February 3, it was announced that Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins, will publish Go Set a Watchman, a 304-page novel featuring characters from Harper’s debut– and thus far, famously only– novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, set 20 years later in the same fictional Southern town. Although as of the writing of this post …
