This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter by Anders Morley When setting off on a solo cross-country ski journey during the coldest months of a Canadian winter, an ordinary person might be discouraged by having chronic knee problems flare up the first day on the trail, forcing a return to the … Read more
Astra by Cedar Bowers Canadian writers Cedar Bowers and Michael Christie may be the latest literary power couple. Christie’s book “Greenwood” — which was reviewed last week in the Cascadia Daily News — is this year’s Whatcom READS selection; Christie will be speaking in Whatcom County March 3–5. Christie’s wife Bowers is no slouch either. Her debut novel “Astra” … Read more
The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson This year’s Whatcom READS title, “Greenwood” by Michael Christie, imagines the near future, where eco-tourists pay top dollar to experience one of the last surviving old growth forests. While “Greenwood” is not overtly science fiction, the effects of climate change are certainly a major element in … Read more
Small World by Jonathan Evison Screeching brakes, shattering glass, passenger names on a manifest, a retirement party that never happens. Jonathan Evison shows his hand on the first page of his new novel, “Small World,” described by Kirkus Reviews as “a bighearted, widescreen American tale.” Knowing that the characters will all find themselves in this … Read more
Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail by Heather “Anish” Anderson In summer 2013, Bellingham-based Heather “Anish” Anderson set the fastest, unsupported time on the Pacific Crest Trail. She recounted the 60 day, 17 hour, 12 minute thru-hike in her 2019 memoir “Thirst: 2,600 Miles to Home.” It is an exhilarating personal tale … Read more
Cascadia Revealed: A Guide to the Plants, Animals & Geology of the Pacific Northwest Mountains by Daniel MathewsOld Barns of Whatcom County: Photos and Poems by Jeff BarclayInside My Sea of Dreams: The Adventures of Kami and Suz by Susan Conrad If gift-giving is part of your holiday tradition, think about keeping it local with … Read more
The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave Sometimes when the world is heavy, a book that’s not too complicated and not too dark can be just the thing for a rainy or windy weekend. The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave fits the bill. It’s not quite a thriller, not quite a mystery, … Read more
At the Edge of the Haight by Katherine Seligman One night several years ago while driving through Golden Gate Park, journalist Katherine Seligman and her husband were stopped by a frantic man who jumped in front of their car, pleading with them to stay with him and saying that someone was threatening to kill him. … Read more
Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson Set in the redwood forests of Northern California near the Oregon border, Ash Davidson’s impressive debut novel, Damnation Spring, tells the story of a logging family and community clinging to a vanishing way of life. Davidson sets her story during the late 1970s, when the National Park Service is expanding, taking … Read more
Yellow Bird: Oil, Murder, and A Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch The recent media frenzy over the murder of 22-year-old Gabby Petito is drawing some disheartening comparisons to the attention paid to the alarming number of missing indigenous women across the United States. In South Dakota alone, there are … Read more