Dancing with Rose by Lauren Kessler

One journalist?s riveting - and surprisingly hopeful - in-the-trenches look at Alzheimer?s, the disease that claimed her mother?s life. ike many loved ones of Alzheimer?s sufferers, Lauren Kessler was devastated by the ravaging disease that seemed to turn her mother into another person before claiming her life altogether. To deal with the pain of her loss, and to better understand the confounding aspects of living with a disease that afflicts four and a half million people every year, Kessler enlisted as a caregiver at a facility she calls Maplewood. Life inside the facility is exhausting and humbling, a microenvironment built upon the intense relationships between two groups of marginalized people: the victims of Alzheimer's and the underpaid, overworked employees who care for them. But what surprises Kessler more than the disability and backbreaking work is the grace, humor, and unexpected humanity that are alive and well at Maplewood.

Dancing with Rose is forceful and funny, clear-eyed and compelling. An intriguing narrative about the relationships and realities of end-of-life care, it stars an endearing cast of characters who give a human face to what has always been considered a dehumanizing condition. Illuminating and beautifully written, Kessler's immersion offers a new, optimistic view on what Alzheimer?s has to teach us.

About the Author

Lauren Kessler is the author of five works of narrative nonfiction, including the Washington Post bestseller Clever Girl and the Los Angeles Times bestseller The Happy Bottom Riding Club. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, O magazine, and The Nation. She directs the graduate program in literary nonfiction at the University of Oregon.

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

Tree of Smoke showed every sign of being Denis Johnson's "big book": 600+ pages, years in the making, with a grand subject (the Vietnam War). And in the reading it lives up to every promise. It's crowded with the desperate people, always short of salvation, who are Johnson's specialty, but despite every temptation of the Vietnam dreamscape it is relentlessly sober in its attention to on-the-ground details and the gradations of psychology. Winner: National Book Award. Winner: Pacific Northwest Booksellers Book Award.

This is the story of Skip Sands?spy-in-training, engaged in Psychological Operations against the Vietcong?and the disasters that befall him thanks to his famous uncle, a war hero known in intelligence circles simply as the Colonel. This is also the story of the Houston brothers, Bill and James, young men who drift out of the Arizona desert into a war in which the line between disinformation and delusion has blurred away. In its vision of human folly, and its gritty, sympathetic portraits of men and women desperate for an end to their loneliness, whether in sex or death or by the grace of God, this is a story like nothing in our literature.

Tree of Smoke is Denis Johnson?s first full-length novel in nine years, and his most gripping, beautiful, and powerful work to date.

About the Author

Denis Johnson is the author of five novels, a collection of poetry and one book of reportage. He is the recipient of a Lannan Fellowship and a Whiting Writer?s Award, among many other honors for his work. He lives in northern Idaho.

Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending March 23, 2008

Three northest authors on the Northwest Bestsellers list this week: The Think About Life is that One Day You'll be Dead by David Shields, The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. And, Alaska author Sue Henry's paperback edition of The Refuge is on the list this week, too. Week ending March 23, 2008.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Hearts of Horses, Molly Gloss
2. The Appeal, John Grisham
3. Red Bird, Mary Oliver
4. Lush Life, Richard Price
5. Change of Heart, Jodi Picoult
6. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
7. Dreamers of the Day, Mary Doria Russell
8. Another Thing to Fall, Laura Lippman
9. Out Stealing Horses, Per Petterson
10. The Soul Thief, Charles Baxter

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
2. Beautiful Boy, David Sheff
3. I Am America (and So Can You!), Stephen Colbert
4. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara and Camille Kingsolver, Steven Hopp
5. The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, David Shields
6. The Zookeeper's Wife, Diane Ackerman
7. The Daring Book for Girls, Andrea Buchanan, Miriam Peskowitz
8. The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby
9. Reconciliation, Benazir Bhutto

MASS MARKET

1. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
2. What the Dead Know, Laura Lippman
3. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
4. Atonement, Ian McEwan
5. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
6. The Shape Shifter, Tony Hillerman
7. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
8. Next, Michael Crichton
9. The Refuge, Sue Henry
10. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
2. The Battle for Skandia (Ranger's Apprentice, Book 4), John Flanagan
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
4. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Jeff Kinney
6. Gallop!, Rufus Butler Seder
7. The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, #4), James Patterson
8. Fancy Nancy Bonjour, Butterfly, Jane O'Connor, Robin Preiss Glasser (Illus.)
9. Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3), Stephenie Meyer
10. Pat the Bunny, Dorothy Kunhardt

The Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and Book Sense. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest.

Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending March 16, 2008

Again, just two northest authors on the Northwest Bestsellers list this week: The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Week of March 16, 2008.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Hearts of Horses, Molly Gloss
2. Lush Life, Richard Price
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
4. Change of Heart, Jodi Picoult
5. Red Bird, Mary Oliver
6. The Appeal, John Grisham
7. Dreamers of the Day, Mary Doria Russell
8. World Without End, Ken Follett
9. Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, Anne Rice
10. Duma Key, Stephen King

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
2. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
3. The Dangerous Book for Boys, Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden
4. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara and Camille Kingsolver, Steven Hopp
5. The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby
6. A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah
7. The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, David Shields
8. Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks
9. The Three Trillion Dollar War, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Linda J. Bilmes
10. The Daring Book for Girls, Andrea Buchanan, Miriam Peskowitz

MASS MARKET

1. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
2. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
3. In Dublin's Fair City, Rhys Bowen
4. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, Merriam-Webster (Eds.)
5. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
6. The Shape Shifter, Tony Hillerman
7. Whitethorn Woods, Maeve Binchy
8. New Comprehensive A-Z Crossword Dictionary, Edy Garcia Schaffer (Ed.)
9. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
10. The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. Gallop!, Rufus Butler Seder
2. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Jeff Kinney
4. Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3), Stephenie Meyer
5. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
8. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
9. The Nixie's Song (Beyond The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1), Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black
10. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices From a Medieval Village, Laura Amy Schlitz, Robert Byrd (Illus.)

The Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and Book Sense. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest.

The Thing About Life is that One Day You'll be Dead by David Shields

The Thing About Life is that One Day You'll be Dead
by David Shields

Mesmerized?at times unnerved?by his ninety-seven-year-old father?s nearly superhuman vitality and optimism, Seattle author David Shields undertakes an investigation of the human physical condition. The result is this exhilarating book: both a personal meditation on mortality and an exploration of flesh-and-blood existence from crib to oblivion?an exploration that paradoxically prompts a renewed and profound appreciation of life.

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The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw by Bruce Barcott

The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw
by Bruce Barcott

Award-winning Seattle author Bruce Barcott chronicles Sharon Matola?s inspiring crusade to stop a multinational corporation in its tracks. Ferocious in her passion, she and her confederates?a ragtag army of courageous locals and eccentric expatriates?endure slander and reprisals and take the fight to the courtroom and the boardroom, from local village streets to protests around the world.

"Barcott?s compelling narrative is suspenseful right up to the last moment." ?Publisher's Weekly

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Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending Mar. 9, 2008

Just two northwest authors on this week's NW Bestsellers list: The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Week ending March 9, 2008.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Hearts of Horses, Molly Gloss
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
3. Change of Heart, Jodi Picoult
4. Lush Life, Richard Price
5. The Appeal, John Grisham
6. An Incomplete Revenge, Jacqueline Winspear
7. Red Bird, Mary Oliver
8. The Commoner, John Burnham Schwartz
9. World Without End, Ken Follett
10. The Outlaw Demon Wails, Kim Harrison

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
2. The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
3. The Dangerous Book for Boys, Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden
4. Beautiful Boy, David Sheff
5. The World Without Us, Alan Weisman
6. The Third Jesus, Deepak Chopra
7. The Thing About Life Is That One Day You'll Be Dead, David Shields
8. The Age of American Unreason, Susan Jacoby
9. Old Friend From Far Away, Natalie Goldberg
10. The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw, Bruce Barcott

MASS MARKET

1. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
2. Atonement, Ian McEwan
3. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
4. What the Dead Know, Laura Lippman
5. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, Merriam-Webster (Eds.)
6. The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory
7. Slaughterhouse-Five, Kurt Vonnegut
8. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
9. Deep Storm, Lincoln Child
10. The Overlook, Michael Connelly

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
3. Gallop!, Rufus Butler Seder
4. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, Jeff Kinney
6. Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3), Stephenie Meyer
7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
8. The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1), Tony DiTerlizzi, Holly Black
9. New Moon, Stephenie Meyer
10. Goodnight Moon, Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd (Illus.)

The Pacific Northwest Independent Bestseller List is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and Book Sense. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest. Books are available through northwest-books.com.