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
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw It’s not surprising that Deesha Philyaw’s story collection The Secret Lives of Church Ladies was a National Book Award finalist. Her writing is confident, moving, insightful and real. Each of the nine stories is deliberately and finely crafted. Philyaw (pictured) begins with an epigraph by southern poet Ansel … Read more
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-centered Planet by John Green What do Canada Geese, Diet Dr. Pepper, and the song “Auld Lang Syne” have in common? In the mind of author John Green, these disparate topics become pitch-perfect prompts for essays exploring life in the Anthropocene, the current geologic age defined by human activity’s … Read more
Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat by Jonathan Kauffman There is no shortage of “hippie food” in Bellingham. Between the Wednesday and Saturday Farmers Markets, the Community Food Co-op, CSA Farm Boxes, meat shares, Whole Foods, and community gardens—we’re up to our ears in whole grains, organic produce, kombucha, … Read more
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead Author Maggie Shipstead was not on my radar until picking up her latest novel, Great Circle, and now I’m wondering how I missed her previous novels. An epic, swashbuckling novel that spans a century, described by The Telegraph as “a masterclass in historical fiction,” Great Circle’s two engaging heroines are daring and adventurous women, determined … Read more
Under the Wave at Waimea by Paul Theroux Known primarily as a travel writer, Paul Theroux’s latest novel definitely incorporates his skill for deeply observing and writing about different locales. Reading Under the Wave at Waimea felt, at times, as if I’d been transported to Hawaii, complete with the sound of the surf and warm sand beaches, … Read more
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline Scorching summer days call for some escape reading—engrossing books that transport you to another time and place so you can ignore the heat at home. Christina Baker Kline’s latest novel, The Exiles, does just that, sailing from 1840s London to Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in what is now … Read more