For the second year, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) unveiled its Book Awards Shortlist live on the show floor at the association’s Fall Tradeshow, Sept. 29, 2025. These honorees are now being promoted throughout PNBA’s 170-store membership. Selected by an Awards Committee of independent booksellers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska, the following …
I keep a spreadsheet that lists every book I’ve read since 2010. It’s the most consistent and representative record of my life that I have—a life spent reading. I can look back and see that I spent the summer of 2015 reading or rereading Jane Austen novels, and the summer of 2016, all of Sarah …
On Monday, April 1, booksellers from around the region gathered in Portland with authors and publishers following a booksellers’ education session from the American Booksellers Association. The Authors on the Map book signing and a happy hour hosted by Forest Avenue Press, Counterpoint Press, and Tin House Books were an opportunity for booksellers to meet …
When Amtrak recently announced plans for its Residency for Writers program, Scott Sparling, like many writers, took notice—maybe even special notice, thinking he might just be, in some twisted poetic sense, an ideal candidate. After all, who better to capture inspiration between the rails than a writer who happens to have a lively freight-hopping past? …
“Portlander Kevin Sampsell’s hometown serves as the backdrop for his new novel about two recently split 30-somethings and parents trying to build a new life together. This is Between Us is five chapters, each encapsulating a year in the life of the relationship and developing family. The story is presented in a journal style somewhere …
“The history of Africa, the history of women, life, death, betrayal, forgiveness and the amazing love that underlies everything, crosses race and culture and time . . . this book sums it all up.”—Pepper Parker,
Vintage Books, Vancouver, WA. Read more and buy Agaat from Vintage Books.
Like a freight train rolling through a series of quirky small towns (he loves train metaphors), Scott Sparling's latest blog post has to pass through certain places to get where it's going, but you won't mind a pause or two in Vietnam Era Christmas Land how to get a phd or Uncomfortable Family Gatheringville on …
