A Book Shelf from Elliott Bay

Published by Steve Campion. Category: History

It doesn’t take a lazy, rainy day to get my nose in book. I’ve usually got bookmarks in at least three books at any one time, in fact, and one of them typically has something to do with the Pacific Northwest. And why not? There have been many well-written narratives, histories and other non-fiction about Washington. Finish one and another rolls off the presses.

I asked the people at Seattle’s Elliott Bay Book Company to recommend some personal favorites about the Northwest to share with WA-List readers. Elliott Bay is one of the largest independent bookstores in the region and seemed the perfect place to ask. Alex Gholz was up to the challenge. He offered two dozen books for us. Some are new, some are classics, and a couple wander over the state line to Portland and Idaho. Each of them caught his interest. If you’re like me, you’ll find at least one new book here for your easy chair or nightstand. Have you read any of them? Please leave a comment below.

Elliott Bay Book Company

Location: 1521 Tenth Avenue, Seattle.

Phone: 206-624-6600, 800-962-5311

Website: www.elliottbaybook.com

NORTHWEST BOOK PICKS FROM ALEX GHOLZ OF THE ELLIOTT BAY BOOK COMPANY

Sons of the Profits by Bill Speidel “Personal favorite: Classic history of Seattle’s founding”		The Big Burn by Timothy Egan
Skid Road by Murray Morgan “Personal favorite: Classic history of Seattle”		Curve of Time 50th Annversary Edition by Wylie Blanchet
Kinsey Photographer by Kinsey		Seattle in Black and White by Joan Singler “Personal favorite: 1960’s race relations in Seattle/Congress of Racial Equality [CORE]”
Historical Atlas of Washington and Oregon by Derek Hayes		Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition by Alan Stein “Personal favorite”
On American Soil by Jack Hamann		The Collector by Jack Nisbet
Made in Hanford by Hill Williams “History of the Atomic Bomb”		Atomic Frontier Days by John Findlay
Revolution In Seattle by Harvey O’Connor “Labor Activist O’Connor’s memoir, republished in 2009”		Winning the West for Women by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal
The Bitters Waters of Medicine Creek by Richard Kluger “Personal favorite: Great history of NW Tribes”		Dark Rose: Organized Crime and Corruption in Portland by Robert Donnely
The Final Forest by William Dietrich		Emerald City: An Environmental History of Seattle by Matthew Klingle
The Weather of the Pacific Northwest by Cliff Mass “THE Weather book for the NW”		Skyjack: The Hunt for D. B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray
Northwest Trees by Stephen Arno		Seattle Architecture by Maureen Elenga “Personal favorite”
Driving Home by Jonathan Raban “Raban’s collection of essays. Phenomenal.”		Walking Seattle by Clark Humphrey