The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister

Seattle author Erica Bauermeister's debut novel, The School of Essential Ingredients, follows the lives of eight students who gather in Lillian's Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class.

It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. Students include Claire, a young mother struggling with the demands of her family; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer learning to adapt to life in America; and Tom, a widower mourning the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her students' lives. One by one the students are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of Lillian's food, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another.

Brought together by the power of food and companionship, the lives of the characters mingle and intertwine, united by the revealing nature of what can be created in the kitchen. This is a gorgeously-written novel about life, love, and the magic of food.

About the Author

Erica Bauermeister's love of slow food and slow life was cemented by her two years of living in northern Italy with her husband and children. She has taught literature and creative writing at the University of Washington and currently lives in Seattle with her family. The School of Essential Ingredients is her first novel.

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Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending Jan. 18, 2009

Remaining on the Northwest Bestseller list this week are: Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos, The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig and, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman fell off the list for the first time in months. Week ending Jan. 28, 2009.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
2. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski
3. Plum Spooky, Janet Evanovich
4. The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
5. The Host, Stephenie Meyer
6. The Eleventh Man, Ivan Doig
7. Sing Them Home, Stephanie Kallos
8. A Mercy, Toni Morrison
9. Beat the Reaper, Josh Bazell
10. Home, Marilynne Robinson

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Dewey, Vicki Myron
2. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
3. Food Matters, Mark Bittman
4. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
5. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
6. Annie Leibovitz at Work, Annie Leibovitz
7. The Invention of Air, Steven Johnson
8. American Lion, Jon Meacham
9. The Owl and the Woodpecker, Paul Bannick
10. Weird Washington, Al Eufrasio, Jefferson Davis

MASS MARKET

1. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett
2. Marley & Me, John Grogan
3. Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
4. Friend of the Devil, Peter Robinson
5. Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates
6. The Cruelest Month, Louise Penny
7. Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
8. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
9. The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
10. Friends in High Places, Donna Leon

CHILDRENíS TITLES

1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, Jeff Kinney
2. New Moon (Twilight, Book 2), Stephenie Meyer
3. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
4. Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3), Stephenie Meyer
5. Breaking Dawn (Twilight, Book 4), Stephenie Meyer
6. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling
7. Inkheart, Cornelia Funke
8. The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
9. Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope, Nikki Grimes
10. Inkspell, Cornelia Funke

The Pacific Northwest Indie Bestseller List, as brought to you by northwest-books.com, IndieBound and PNBA, is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and IndieBound. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest.

Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge, 1867-1957

by Terry Toedtemeier (Editor), John Laursen (Editor)

In the 1860s, when the first photographers arrived, the Columbia River Gorge still looked much the same as it had when Lewis and Clark made their way down the river in 1805. In the mid-twentieth century, the character of the river was fundamentally altered by the construction of hydroelectric dams. Terry Toedtemeier and John Laursen have selected more than 130 images-most of them previously unpublished and many of them never before available for public view-by some three dozen photographers to chronicle the history of photography in the Gorge. Under $50, hardcover.

Read more about this book at northwest-books.com.

Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending Jan. 11, 2009

Stephanie Kallos' new book, Sing Them Home, is on the Northwest Bestsellers list in its first week on bookstore shelves. Sing Them Home is a moving portrait of three siblings who have lived in the shadow of unresolved grief since their mother's disappearance when they were children. Three older books are on the list again, having stayed on the list for several months. They include: The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman. Week ending Jan. 11, 2009.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
2. The Eleventh Man, Ivan Doig
3. The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
4. Sing Them Home, Stephanie Kallos
5. The Host, Stephenie Meyer
6. A Mercy, Toni Morrison
7. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski
8. Plum Spooky, Janet Evanovich
9. The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb
10. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Dewey, Vicki Myron
2. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
3. Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas L. Friedman
4. Food Matters, Mark Bittman
5. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
6. The Invention of Air, Steven Johnson
7. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
8. Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina Garten
9. Animals Make Us Human, Temple Grandin, Catherine Johnson
10. Flat Belly Diet!, Cynthia Sass, Liz Vaccariello

MASS MARKET

1. The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
2. The Appeal, John Grisham
3. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, Merriam-Webster
4. Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates
5. Marley & Me, John Grogan
6. The Road, Cormac McCarthy
7. Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris
8. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
9. Dead to the World, Charlaine Harris
10. The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett

CHILDREN'S TITLES

1. New Moon (Twilight, Book 2), Stephenie Meyer
2. Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3),Stephenie Meyer
3. Breaking Dawn (Twilight, Book 4), Stephenie Meyer
4. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
5. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling
6. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie
7. Gallop!, Rufus Butler Seder
8. Swing!, Rufus Butler Seder
9. The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
10. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

The Pacific Northwest Indie Bestseller List, as brought to you by northwest-books.com, IndieBound and PNBA, is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and IndieBound. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest.

A Country Called Home by Kim Barnes

With her acclaimed memoir In the Wilderness Kim Barnes brought us to the great forests of Idaho, where geography and isolation shape love and family. Now, in her luminous new novel, she returns to this territory, offering a powerful tale of hope and idealism, faith and madness.

It is 1960 when Thomas Deracotte and his pregnant wife, Helen, abandon a guaranteed future in upper-crust Connecticut and take off for a utopian adventure in the Idaho wilderness. They buy a farm sight unseen and find the buildings collapsed, the fields in ruins. But they have a tent, a river full of fish, and acres overgrown with edible berries and dandelion greens. Helen learns to make coffee over a fire as they set about rebuilding the house. Though Thomas discovers he can?t wield a hammer or an ax, there is a local boy, Manny?a sweet soul of eighteen without a family of his own?who agrees to manage the fields in exchange for room and board. Their optimism and desire carry them through the early days.

But the sudden, frightening birth of Thomas and Helen?s daughter, Elise, changes something deep inside their marriage. And then, in the aftermath of a tragic accident to which only Manny bears witness, suspicion, anger, and regret come to haunt this shattered family. It is a legacy Elise will inherit and struggle with, until she ultimately finds a hope of her own.

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Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos

The latest from Seattle author Stephanie Kallos is a moving portrait of three siblings who have lived in the shadow of unresolved grief since their mother?s disappearance when they were children.

Everyone in Emlyn Springs knows the story of Hope Jones, the physician's wife whose big dreams for their tiny town were lost along with her in the tornado of 1978. For Hope's three young children, the stability of life with their preoccupied father, and with Viney, their mother's spitfire best friend, is no match for Hope's absence. Larken, the eldest, is now an art history professor who seeks in food an answer to a less tangible hunger; Gaelan, the son, is a telegenic weatherman who devotes his life to predicting the unpredictable; and the youngest, Bonnie, is a self-proclaimed archivist who combs roadsides for clues to her mother's legacy, and permission to move on.

When they're summoned home after their father's death, each sibling is forced to revisit the childhood tragedy that has defined their lives. With breathtaking lyricism, wisdom, and humor, Kallos explores the consequences of protecting those we love. Sing Them Home is a magnificent tapestry of lives connected and undone by tragedy, lives poised?unbeknownst to the characters?for redemption.

Order through northwest-books.com

Northwest Bestsellers - wk ending Jan. 4, 2009

Just three Northwest authors on the Northwest Bestsellers list this week, including: Ivan Doig's The Eleventh Man, Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain, and Christopher Paolini's Brisingr. Week ending January 4, 2009.

HARDCOVER FICTION

1. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
2. A Mercy, Toni Morrison
3. The Eleventh Man, Ivan Doig
4. The Host, Stephenie Meyer
5. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski
6. The Private Patient, P.D. James
7. The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein
8. The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb
A Lion Among Men, Gregory Maguire
2666, Roberto Bolano

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell
2. Dewey, Vicki Myron
3. The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch
4. When You Are Engulfed in Flames, David Sedaris
5. Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas L. Friedman
6. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan
7. Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics, Ina Garten
8. The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008, Paul Krugman
9. Alex & Me, Irene M. Pepperberg
10. Flat Belly Diet!, Cynthia Sass, Liz Vaccariello

MASS MARKET

1. Marley & Me, John Grogan
2. The Appeal, John Grisham
3. The Audacity of Hope, Barack Obama
4. The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, 4th Edition, Merriam-Webster
5. The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger
6. Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
7. Mortal Danger, Ann Rule
8. T Is for Trespass, Sue Grafton
9. New Comprehensive A-Z Crossword Dictionary, Edy Garcia Schaffer (Ed.)
10. Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card

CHILDREN?S TITLES

1. New Moon (Twilight, Book 2), Stephenie Meyer
2. Twilight, Stephenie Meyer
3. Eclipse (Twilight, Book 3), Stephenie Meyer
4. Breaking Dawn (Twilight, Book 4), Stephenie Meyer
5. The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling
6. The Tale of Despereaux, Kate DiCamillo
7. Swing!, Rufus Butler Seder
8. Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3), Christopher Paolini
9. Gallop!, Rufus Butler Seder
10. The Book Thief, Markus Zusak

The Pacific Northwest Indie Bestseller List, as brought to you by northwest-books.com, IndieBound and PNBA, is based on reporting from the independent booksellers of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and IndieBound. Most of these books aren't books from the Pacific Northwest, but are books that are currently selling well in the Pacific Northwest.

Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz

Ex-cop Luther Malone, lifelong member of the secretive paranormal organization known as the Arcane Society, is waiting to meet Grace Renquist. Hired as an aura-reading consultant in the quest for a murder suspect, she's got zero field experience. She's from tiny Eclipse Bay, Oregon. She's a librarian, for heaven's sake.

As for Grace, she's not expecting much either from Malone, who walks with a cane and isn't so good with a gun. Nice résumé for a bodyguard.

But even before they reach their hotel in Maui-where they'll be posing as honeymooners-Grace and Luther feel the electric charge between them. Problem is, they need to remain vigilant day and night, because it soon becomes clear there's more going on here. Rogue sensitives-operatives for the underground group Nightshade-are pouring into the luxury resort like there's a convention. Grace recognizes those dark spikes in their auras. She saw the same pattern in someone else in another life-a life she hasn't revealed to Luther or anyone else. And she understands how dangerous these people can be . . . especially with those para-hunters at their sides.

While the pair's employers at Jones & Jones scramble to get them backup, Luther and Grace have to think on their feet. The criminals in their midst aren't just high-level sensitives: They've enhanced their talents with a potent-and unpredictable- drug. And as Grace knows all too well, if you don't control your powers, your powers will control you.

About the Author

Seattle writer Jayne Ann Krentz is the author of fifty New York Times bestsellers. She has written contemporary romantic suspense novels under that name, as well as futuristic and historical romance novels under the pseudonyms Jayne Castle and Amanda Quick, respectively.

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