New and Notable Northwest Nonfiction

 

Would you like to “read local” this fall? From history to art to the great outdoors, there’s something for anyone interested in exploring the Pacific Northwest through 20 nonfiction books coming out this late summer and fall.

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History buffs.
In Abandoned North Cascades, Debra Huron uncovers deserted buildings taken over by nature. Brad Holden uncovers the life of the “Johnny Appleseed of LSD” in Seattle Mystic Alfred M. Hubbard. Take a deep dive into two Seattle neighborhoods with Magnolia: Midcentury Memories, the third book from the Magnolia Historical Society, and Belltown Exposed where Staci Bernstein uncovers the storied history of the Belltown neighborhood. True crime fans will sink their teeth into Bryan Johnston’s Deep in the Woods, about the disappearance of 9-year-old George Weyerhauser in 1935.

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Art and Design lovers.
From the Seattle Art Museum (SAM) comes Barbara Earl Thomas: The Geography of Innocence, highlighting the work of the Seattle-based artist as she reexamines Black portraiture; the accompanying exhibit is at SAM through January 2, 2022. Also from SAM is Frisson, featuring nineteen works of abstract expressionism recently acquired and on exhibit from October 15, 2021 to November 27, 2022. From the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds comes Kenjiro Nomura, American Modernist, which explores the work of the acclaimed Japanese-born artist who made a name for himself in Seattle.

National Park Service Founders Day on August 25

This Wednesday, August 25, is National Park Service Founders Day, and while Washington doesn’t have the most (that belongs to California) we do have three amazing National Parks right at our doorstep: North Cascades National Park, Olympic National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park. The Library has a bountiful collection for all your National Park needs: art, travel guides, stories, and more! Here are a few that caught my eye!

Art & History

• The Art of the National Parks
• Ansel Adams’ Yosemite
• Leave It as It Is: a Journey Through Theodore Roosevelt’s American Wilderness by David Gessner
• That Wild Country: An Epic Journey Through the Past, Present, and Future of America’s Public Lands by Mark Kenyon
• Tahoma and Its People: a Natural History of Mount Rainier National Park by Jeff Antonelis-Lapp

Maps & Travel Guides

Jacob Lawrence’s American Struggle

In March, the Seattle Art Museum will host a timely exhibition, Jacob Lawrence:  The American Struggle. Best known for his work The Migration Series, Lawrence set his sight on the American Revolution creating a series of 30 painted panels between 1954 and 1956, focusing on historical events occurring from 1775 to 1817. It is interesting to note that Lawrence developed this series during another time of struggle and strife in the country, the Civil Rights era.

The Seattle Art Museum’s show will reunite these works for the first time since 1958.

For some artists, their work is to create visual narratives. Through their work they provide their singular perspective on historical events. Such is the work of Jacob Lawrence. Lawrence brings us to key moments of a history centuries away that, yet, links to the present.

Today, One Mighty and Irresistible Tide of history sweeps over the nation. As you are well aware, we have been visited upon by multiple, simultaneous struggles that have swept us up Against Wind and Tide of forces unforeseen in our lifetime.

Quilting through lockdown

Entertaining oneself while at home on lockdown can be challenging during this most hard time. Now we can get actual books during curbside pick-up it’s great to see some beautiful art!  If you can have hobbies that keep your mind and body active, you are less likely to be depressed. During the summer, it is possible to have many exuberant outdoor hobbies; during the winter, having one is difficult. There are a variety of crafting projects one can delve into, yet I decided to re-examine my fascination with quilting, so I created a list of recent books from the last 4 or 5 years that sound intriguing.

Why does one quilt? You could find it in Why We Quilt by Thomas Knauer. One woman writes, “The quilts in our homes all send this same message: you are warm; you are safe; you are loved.” I got into quilting due to the love in the log cabin quilt by my great grandmother Nellie, so I wanted to make one for my brother’s wedding. I was not able to immerse myself in a quilting bee like the one in the older book,  The Quilt, by Gary Paulsen so I took a class.

Wintering Over: Art in Shades of Dark and Light

Winter, like life, comes in shades of dark and light. Herein lies the drama of an indispensable duo meant to be seen, in multitudes of splendor, in paintings photographs and drawings.

Let us go into the season with an Invocation of Beauty seeking not, its Genesis but Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico and Antonio Berni’s Juanito and Ramona.

Let us bask in some Remembered Light knowing that The Disappearance of Darkness cannot erase our Night Vision for it is vision we are seeking. It is a widening, expansive vision that we need to see us through.