Ken Kesey and fellow Merry Prankster Ken Babbs bring us a “real American Western” based upon events from the 1911 Pendleton Round Up, which he first heard around campfires as a child in eastern Oregon. Filled with real life colorful characters and great, snappy dialogue, the Kens craft a wonderful American Tall Tale, exaggerated and …
Elizabeth MacKintosh, a writer, had a major impact on my life. She is also known as authors Gordon Daviot and Josephine Tey. Unfortunately, she died in 1952 at the peak of her career. I first “met” her through a tour of the Tower of London in August 1962 just before entering my junior year of …
Before she was known for her memoir Wild, Cheryl Strayed was writing advice columns under the pseudonym Dear Sugar. The essays collected in this book are unlike any other advice pieces I’ve ever read; they’re filled with empathy and gut-wrenching honesty and are the perfect thing for someone who might be feeling a little (or a …
Two true stories are told side by side here– that of the lead architect of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, and that of a serial killer who uses the fair to lure victims to his hotel. Elevating, yet creepy. Yet elevating. Oooh, but creepy. –Diana, Village Books, Bellingham and Lynden, WA It’s not quite …
One of my childhood favorites. Justin doesn’t like to do “women’s work,” but a few days at his grandfather’s ranch teaches him more lessons than he can ask for! Great middle grade read! –Derrick, The Well-Read Moose, Coeur d’Alene, ID Revisit old book friends and introduce them to new readers at The Well-Read Moose and …
A graphic novel starring Ada Lovelace — often regarded as the first computer programmer — and Charles Babbage, the inventor of the computer. Padua supposes an alternate reality where Lovelace and Babbage build the world’s first computer together, and they use it to fight crime, among other mathematical tasks. The Thrilling Adventures is unlike any …
Every ten years a cold and fearsome wizard known only as the Dragon takes a young woman from Agnieszka’s village; it’s a sacrifice they must endure to keep their village safe from the corrupted, malevolent Wood. No one knows what the women must endure in the Dragon’s castle, but they always return changed. When Agnieszka …
Before I start celebrating all of the festive holiday-themed Romance novels you can curl up with as the weather tuns cold and the nights grow longer and you need a break from all of the forced cheer, I need to address a huge, huge mistake in last month’s column. I forgot to include My Fake …
From Mountaineers, this book is an intimate work of art elegantly inventorying the peaceful giants that give the Northwest its serene beauty. From mighty cedars to dainty scrub oaks this guide gives you everything you need to both celebrate and understand the tree species covered within. Steven Arno imparts his wealth of knowledge and Ramona …
I should perhaps be focusing on Coats’s newest book, the middle-grade fantasy The Green Children of Woolpit, but it’s just come out and well, I haven’t read it yet. But I really want to, based on how much my daughter and I enjoyed Coats’s earlier novel, The Many Reflections of Miss Jane Deming. I can’t …
