Recent titles of interest to Whatcom readers
Here are new nonfiction, fiction and children’s books by Whatcom County writers and illustrators.
NONFICTION
▪ “Five Thousand Brothers-in-Law: Love in Angola Prison” by Shannon Hager. In her memoir, the Whatcom County writer delves into the world of prisons, dysfunctional families and the often-violent streets of New Orleans. Hager was nurse at Louisiana State Penitentiary when she fell in love with an inmate who was a prison pastor.
▪ “The Grand Lady of Mount Baker; A History of the Mount Baker Lodge From 1927-1931” by Mike Impero of Whatcom County. The large-format, photo-heavy book explores the history of the magnificent mountain lodge that burned down a few years after it was built.
▪ “Gibraltar: The Story of My Heart; A Journey from Heart Surgery to Athlete” by Johannes Lisiecki of Lynden. Stirred into action by open-heart surgery, Lisiecki became a long-distance swimmer with the goal of swimming the 12 miles between Morocco and Spain.
▪ “On Silver Wings” by Kristin Noreen. The Bellingham bicyclist recounts the trauma and challenge of recovering from major injuries she suffered after a driver knocked her into a ditch on Hannegan Road.
▪ “The Miracle of Life at La Jolla Cove” by David Sattler. The WWU psychology professor and award-winning photographer captures the coastal world of nature just north of San Diego in 145 full-color images. Many of the marine birds animals and birds in the book also inhabit the Northwest.
▪ “More Murders in the Fourth Corner; True Stories of Whatcom & Skagit Counties’ Earliest Homicides” by Todd Warger. Eleven murder stories from the 19th and early 20th centuries are detailed by Bellingham historians Todd Warger and Jim Berg and by Seattle writer Daryl McClary
▪ “Sea and Smoke: Flavors from the Untamed Pacific Northwest” by Blaine Wetzel and Joe Ray. Wetzel, the celebrated Lummi Island chef at The Willows Inn and a James Beard Award winner, co-writes his first cookbook, one that chronicles his determination to create a world-class dining destination in an unlikely location. Recipes include smoked mussels, and herring roe on kelp with charred dandelions.
FICTION
▪ “Queen of the World,” “The Prince Collector,” “Princess Way” and “King Seized” by Kira Cul’tofay. The Bellingham author’s four “Royal Seasons” fantasy fiction novels are written as a series with multibook storylines, but can be read as stand-alone tales.
▪ “A Dangerous Descent” by Bellingham writer Marian Exall. In the second installment in her mystery series, Sarah McKinney’s search for her mentor’s estranged daughter takes her to rural France, where she uncovers a troubled history that parallels her own.
▪ “Michaelangelo’s Renaissance” by Michael A. Kominsky of Bellingham. The 1999 pipeline disaster in Bellingham inspires the 673-page novel that explores corporate conspiracy, intrigue, greed, and murder.
▪ “The Gilded Hour” by Bellingham author Rosina Lippi, writing as Sara Donati. Lippi returns to historical fiction with the story of Anna and Sophie, descendants of characters from her “Wilderness” series.
▪ “Greenfellas” by Bellingham writer Robert Lopresti. In the comic crime novel, a New Jersey mobster decides to save the environment by any means necessary.
▪ “Prison of the Soul” by James V. Smith. The former Bellingham resident sets his novel in a juvenile prison at Larrabee Point, where a teacher from an abused background tries to hammer learning into his kids’ heads. He fails, and sets out to learn from his kids before he can finally connect.
▪ “Straight Into Darkness” by Robert L. Slater. The Bellingham writer’s young adult, science fiction novel is the sequel to his “All Is Silence.” In “Darkness,” Lizzie, who survived a pandemic that killed most of humanity, finds herself pregnant after an end-of-the-world, one-night stand. She’s “protected” by her family and local government, but doesn’t like to be controlled.
This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 5:05 AM with the headline "Recent titles of interest to Whatcom readers."