Although I’m a cat lover, I’ve spent my career studying the evolution of lizards. As my career progressed, it never occurred to me to investigate cats. They’re too hard to study (ever tried following one?), plus, I thought there was no interesting cat research being done. Then I learned I was completely wrong—cat scientists are conducting great work using cutting-edge techniques. So I decided to teach a freshman class on the science of cats, hoping to lure in cat-loving students and then teach them how scientists study nature, using cats as the vehicle. The class was a success, but something unexpected happened: I became hooked on cat science myself!
In this lively and entertaining book, Tucker brings a journalist’s perspective to explaining how scientists and conservationists conduct their work to understand cats and their impact on the natural world. I particularly liked how she traveled to places around the world to see first-hand both the scientists and the cats.
Most amusingly, while discussing the cat-transmitted disease toxoplasmosis, which causes mice to be attracted to the scent of cats, she wonders whether climbing a small, boulder-packed hill in Africa where lions may have been lurking was evidence that she herself was infected.
A New York Times bestseller about how cats conquered the world and our hearts in this "deep and illuminating perspective on our favorite household companion" (Huffington Post).
House cats rule bedrooms and back alleys, deserted Antarctic islands, even cyberspace. And unlike dogs, cats offer humans no practical benefit. The truth is they are sadly incompetent mouse-catchers and now pose a threat to many ecosystems. Yet, we love them still.
In the "eminently readable and gently funny" (Library Journal, starred review) The Lion in the Living Room, Abigail Tucker travels through world history, natural science, and pop culture to meet breeders,…
I am, first and foremost, a reader. I started writing because my debut novel, releasing September 7, wouldn’t leave me alone. Dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction tends to have that impact on me as a reader, so I wanted to create that same impact in other readers. Lately, my TBR has been dominated by indie-authored books, given my own decision to pursue indie publishing. I love the dystopian classics—especially Alduous Huxley, Kurt Vonnegut, and George Orwell- and I read the latest traditionally published dystopian books. But I find indie authors like the ones I’ve featured here tell compelling stories about important topics that perhaps many traditional publishers won’t publish.
Originally intended as a screenplay, this is rife with vivid imagery and fast-paced action. From the jump, I was hooked, staying up all night to finish the book. It is set in the aftermath of the apocalypse in Seattle, WA.
I loved the developing romance between Beth and Ryker and how Myhre threw us for a few loops along the way. It has heart-pounding action, vibrant interpersonal relationships, and a great atmosphere. If I were at the end of the world, I’d want Beth and Ryker on my team! Fans of other post-apocalyptic indie authors, Harley Tate, Kyla Stone, and Nate Johnson, will enjoy this fast-paced post-apocalyptic romantic thriller.
Was it love at first sight? Fate had other plans. At the dawn of the apocalypse, a naïve, but resourceful woman must fight her way through nature, humankind and herself to reunite with her family.
Beth has cocooned herself in routine after a devastating family tragedy upended her world years ago, but a chance encounter with a Marine named Ryker sends ripples through her carefully guarded world. He is smitten. She is unsure.
The city is thrown into chaos when a missile strikes near Spokane, testing Beth's newfound optimism. As strife escalates, Beth must lead her friends on a perilous…
I'm a queer author and illustrator who has always had a passion for unique and boundary-pushing comics and graphic novels. It's a genre that has spoken to me throughout my life and this list converges my love for the format as well as the subject matter that's impacted the most vulnerable and pivotal times of my own life. So much of my experience being alive has been about figuring out who I am, and that's what my own graphic novel deals with. It seems fitting that I'd recommend a list of books that details others doing the same as I have, but in their own way.
A truly singular book that details a semi-fictionalized account of a transgender sex worker surviving in Seattle. Depicted as a cute anthropomorphic dog-like creature, the story follows her as she meets with various clients and navigates her own identity struggles and in-progress transition (not to mention her own safety in her dangerous line of work). A deeply emotional and raw story that still manages to retain its own dark sense of humor throughout.
(Deals with themes of drugs, sex, and violence. 18+ only.)
A
surprisingly honest and touching account of a trans girl surviving through sex
work in Seattle. With excerpts published in Eisner nominated anthology ISLAND,
the full colour volume, drawn and painted by Remy Boydell is an unflinching
debut graphic novel. Written by Michelle Perez
I’m E.S. Luck, author of The Wastelander, a post-apocalyptic romance that blends the grittiness of post-apocalyptic fiction with steamy romance. I’ve always had a deep interest in the idea of living after the apocalypse. Fundamentally, apocalypse narratives are about human resilience, a concept that’s rich with storytelling opportunities. I’m also an avid romance reader. I love the tension, buildup, and deep exploration of love's many forms. Post-apocalyptic romance ratchets that tension up to eleven and introduces the possibility of love that transcends even the end of the world…and if that’s not compelling and deeply desirable on a basic human level, I don’t know what is.
This is a standalone novel that truly feels complete, and that’s something that I don’t often say about standalones (I love series and hanging out with characters long-term, what can I say). Liv is a spoiled, helpless heroine that you initially want to strangle, but somehow, she manages to grow on you anyway. Joshua is a taciturn mountain man who barely grasps the concept of feelings, having been raised in a brutal fashion by his father.
The romance between these two is a slow burn, but I love that it shows them giving each other what they need most, and having Liv slowly work her way into Joshua’s hard heart is a sweet and satisfying end to a sometimes-harrowing story about love and survival.
When I started college in Seattle, I expected that I would change. What I didn’t expect was that I would change into someone starving, filthy, and prone to sleeping tangled in blackberry bushes to protect myself from predators of the animal and human variety.
No one knows why the lights went out. One minute there was Instagram and ice cream and the next, nothing. Black. Darkness absolute.
There was power rumored in the east, settlements with wind energy that were still thriving amidst the chaos. I fled the west coast with a small group, chasing a sliver of hope. That…
I’ve worked on the frontlines of the hospital, clinic, and delivery rooms for the last 25 years and in global settings after traumatic disasters…As a physician activist, Justice is my act of service. And yet, the moment I found out my young son had a fatal illness, fighting for Justice felt elusive. Until I started fighting for myself. Until I realized that if I walked back toward my unfathomable pain, I could find something revolutionary... Joy. Now, this work of finding Joy has become my most potent medicine for my patients and myself. It is my mission to make sure everyone knows Joy is accessible. No matter what.
I had to put this book in because sometimes it gives me great Joy to get lost in a good story, especially one where women come out victorious.
This is set in Seattle, where I currently live, which also was fun and literally I turned page to page and lost track of time. It’s been a long time since I’ve read fiction and reading this was pure Joy. At the end, I wanted it to keep going and am secretly hoping for a sequel!
I’m a Hollywood native, writer/actor/mixed-media artist/creative compulsive. When I was a kid, I was really close to my older brother who was an addict. Unfortunately he never stopped using and died too young. I dealt with it by allowing the experience to inspire me. In my recent young adult novel, Just a Girl in the Whirl, the father character is inspired by him. I express myself through all art forms in order to make my way in the world and I love reading about other female characters who do the same! I’m a lifelong optimist and I love feeling inspired and inspiring others to love themselves, find the humor in everything, and create!
This book is about twin Israeli-American teenage girls whose mom has Huntington’s disease and the different ways they go about handling that as individuals and how it affects the sister’s relationship. I love the way religion is handled in this book, with each sister’s different take where it concerns their Judaism. It’s about life, death, and sisterhood. I loved it.
Eighteen-year-old twins Adina and Tovah have little in common besides their ambitious nature. Viola prodigy Adina yearns to become a soloist-and to convince her music teacher he wants her the way she wants him. Overachiever Tovah awaits her acceptance to Johns Hopkins, the first step on her path toward med school and a career as a surgeon.
But one thing could wreck their carefully planned futures: a genetic test for Huntington's, a rare degenerative disease that slowly steals control of the body and mind. It's turned their Israeli mother into a near stranger and fractured the sisters' own bond in…
I love fiction that takes me somewhere I don't know and reveals to me things I never knew. This story is also a tender love story: not in a schmaltzy sense, though. It tells of human cruelty and compassion, flawed and beautiful relationships, loyalty, misguided and progressive patriotism, and the ending is satisfying. The characters are well drawn and have you rooting for them. What more do you want from a novel? These are certainly things I aspire to in my own writing.
1986, The Panama Hotel The old Seattle landmark has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has made a startling discovery in the basement: personal belongings stored away by Japanese families sent to interment camps during the Second World War. Among the fascinated crowd gathering outside the hotel, stands Henry Lee, and, as the owner unfurls a distinctive parasol, he is flooded by memories of his childhood. He wonders if by some miracle, in amongst the boxes of dusty treasures, lies a link to the Okabe family, and the girl he lost his young heart to, so…
I love noir fiction and the hard-boiled detective novels that often best exemplify the genre. Both Dashiel Hammet’s Sam Spade and Raymond Chander’s Marlowe are two men who will sacrifice everything for the truth, no matter the cost. There is a stark beauty in that. Fantasy, the genre of myth, carries the deepest, most poignant truths. These are the hard truths that can break a hero’s heart, as in Gilgamesh, or give you the bittersweet ending of The Lord of the Rings. Blending them produces some of my favorite stories, stories I love to read as the fog rolls in, listening to the music of heartbreaking jazz.
Not all noir fiction are detective stories, and this is one of the best.
Dolly is a thief with a past who has promised to turn over a hard to acquire a magical mask to pay her debts. As she tightens her noose on her mark for the con she’s going to use to pull off the theft, she must face the biggest danger any con artist must face, getting emotionally involved. The price of failure will be more than just her life, but the lives of people she wishes she didn’t care about.
I was on the edge of my seat and couldn’t put this book down.
Marion Deeds's Comeuppance Served Cold is a hard-boiled historical fantasy of criminality and magic, couched in the glamour of Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.
"[A] beautifully constructed magical heist in turn-of-the-century Seattle."-Mary Robinette Kowal
Seattle, 1929-a bitterly divided city overflowing with wealth, violence, and magic.
A respected magus and city leader intent on criminalizing Seattle's most vulnerable magickers hires a young woman as a lady's companion to curb his rebellious daughter's outrageous behavior.
The widowed owner of a speakeasy encounters an opportunity to make her husband's murderer pay while she tries to keep her shapeshifter brother safe.
This collection of short essays chronicles daily delights for a year. A much-needed reminder that we need to seek out and notice small moments of delight, even when they aren’t obvious. I’ll be reading this one again.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER As Heard on NPR's This American Life 'The delights he extols here (music, laughter, generosity, poetry, lots of nature) are bulwarks against casual cruelties . . . contagious in their joy' New York Times
The winner of the NBCC Award for Poetry offers up a spirited collection of short lyric essays, written daily over a tumultuous year, reminding us of the purpose and pleasure of praising, extolling, and celebrating ordinary wonders.
Among Gay's funny, poetic, philosophical delights: a friend's unabashed use of air quotes, cradling a tomato seedling aboard an aeroplane, the silent nod of…
As a kindergarten teacher and a mother of three boys, I live at the intersection of weird and wonderful, so I expect nothing less from my library. Indie authors offer unique points of view, aren’t afraid to break the rules, and are motivated by their passion for the craft of writing. I'm drawn to those writers who let the voices in their heads lead the way, creating characters you become invested in from page one. I love writing around my characters, because once I have them developed, the books tend to write themselves. Some of my best storylines are ones where my characters took over and led me in weird and wonderful directions.
This book is unlike anything I have ever read before. I love that it is quirky and bizarre, yet meaningful and relatable at the same time. Elizabeth Fountain puts a piece of her soul into her characters, which is what makes this story memorable. Having grown up with schnauzers as pets, I especially love that she gives a schnauzer some of the best lines in the book. Talking dogs, vivid characters, aliens that resemble snot, and a world in peril – what more could you ask for?
Louise Armstrong Holliday is the last person on Earth you’d expect to save the human race. But when she uncovers proof that her boss is an alien the color of lime jelly gone horribly wrong, and is at the center of a plot to destroy humanity, Louie decides to do exactly that. She begins a journey from her company’s suburban Seattle office park to the old cities and castles of Eastern Europe. Along the way, Louie is attacked by flying books, overly-sensitive bat-crow monsters, and her own self-doubts. She must learn the truth about her closest friend, stand up to…
