This year’s Narrative Nonfiction holiday gift guide is filled with tales of adventure, discovery, history, struggle, and triumph. There’s a story for every reader on your list!
Uncharted
by Kim Brown Seely
Faced with an empty nest, a couple embarks on an epic voyage across land and sea, seeking the mythical blonde Kermode bear—and their truest selves. They impulsively buy a big broken sailboat, learn to sail it, and head out onto the Salish Sea to an expanse of untamed wilderness. Wise and lyrical, this heartfelt memoir recounts their voyage of discovery into who they were as individuals and as partners, unfolding amid the stunningly wild archipelago on the far edge of the continent.
House Lessons
by Erica Bauermeister
From New York Times Bestselling Author Erica Bauermeister comes a memoir about the power of home and the transformative act of restoring one house in particular. In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Bauermeister takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us. A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in.
Unsettled Ground
by Cassandra Tate
A Washington State Book Award Finalist, this highly-readable, myth-busting history of the Whitman Massacre—a pivotal historical event in the American West—includes the often-missing Indian point of view. The massacre led to a war of retaliation and the extension of federal control over present-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and Wyoming. Today, the Whitmans are more likely to be demonized as colonizers than revered as heroes, and this book presents the Cayuse Indian side of the story too.
Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name
by David M. Buerge
A Seattle Times “Top 10 Book of The Decade by a Washington Author,” this is the first thorough historical account of Chief Seattle and his times–the story of a half-century of tremendous flux, turmoil, and violence, during which a Duwamish and Suquamish war leader became an advocate for peace and strove to create a successful hybrid racial community.
Become America
by Eric Liu
A New York Times Book Review New and Noteworthy Book, a Washington State Book Award Winner, and a Silver Nautilus Book Award Winner, here is a collection of 19 “civic sermons” from renowned civic evangelist, writer, and former White House speechwriter and deputy domestic policy adviser, Eric Liu—stirring explorations of current and timeless topics about democracy, liberty, equal justice, and powerful citizenship. This book will energize you to get involved to help rebuild a country that you’re proud to call home.
How to Raise a Feminist Son
by Sonora Jha
Beautifully written and deeply personal, this book follows the struggles and triumphs of one single, immigrant mother of color to raise an American feminist son. From teaching consent to counteracting problematic messages from the media, well-meaning family, and the culture at large, Jha offers an empowering, imperfect feminism, brimming with honest insight and actionable advice.
