6 of the Best Armchair Travel Books from the PNW

The Pacific Northwest is known for a lot of things. Incredible natural scenery carved out by the last ice age. Lots of rain. Grunge music (I’ll always love Pearl Jam, and who can forget Nirvana?), fresh salmon, and majestic mountains. Iconic landmarks like Pike Place Market, Crater Lake, and Mt. Saint Helens. Hipsters who recycle. It’s also the birthplace of that global coffee franchise that shall not be named.

But the Pacific Northwest is also known to produce some great stories – both fiction and non-fiction. I may get some flack for this but I truly enjoy stories like the Twilight Series (sorry, but Ms. Meyers’ writing IS good, unlike that Fifty Shades debacle). Whether or not you are traveling, immersing yourself in a good book can be the next best thing. The Pacific Northwest has been a muse for countless authors and some phenomenal stories that have captured the spirit of the PNW, in both fiction and non-fiction.

Here are a few of the best books from Pacific Northwest authors to wet your whistle.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. The fact that this densely atmospheric tale is set on a fictional island does not at all take away from the fact that that island is located in a very real and beautifully isolated Puget Sound, Washington. This is a masterpiece of suspense set in the 1950s, where the fishing community is rattled by the discovery of a local fisherman who was drowned. A Japanese American who is accused of the ghastly deed, only to have revealed during the course of the trial a deeper mystery, and a haunting reminder of the atrocities of World War II. It is a captivating read.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. I just love a good period piece set in Seattle, don’t you? This one is based on the Panama Hotel in Seattle (the ‘gateway’ to Seattle’s Japantown) and centers around the factual story of one of the darker aspects of U.S. history. The hotel itself has an imposing surface along its position on South Main Street. But the real mystery lies in its darkened basement rooms. Dare to venture down here and you will find a jumble of possessions abandoned by Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps during World War II. This novel is about one man’s quest for finding a particular item in the hotel’s long-lost inventory, and the subsequent journey of the mind and heart that follows.

The Orchardist, by Amanda Coplin. This debut novel by the unmatched Amanda Coplin is written with breathtaking empathy and style. It’s the astonishing tale of a man who disrupts the exquisite harmony of his ordered life to finally open his heart and let the world in. And that world just happens to be…wait for it…compassion and love. All at once epic and intimate, atmospheric and evocative, these haunted characters unfold from a distinctive narrative voice – you won’t put this book down, I promise you that. It takes place in the rural foothills of the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, where a solitary orchardist named Talmadge tends his grove of fruit trees of apples, apricots, and plums.

The Good Rain: Across Time & Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, by Timothy Egan. I love this book because it is simply a wonderful, honest-to-gosh account of the very aspect of nature that makes the Pacific Northwest one of the best areas on Earth. Mr. Egan eloquently imparts his journeys throughout; from redwood forests to salmon fisheries, to the pristinely manicured gardens of British Columbia. His accounts tread expertly across the subjects of anthropology, history, and even politics. Each chapter explores a different area, and some might argue that some of his descriptions can fall under the guise of being too stereotyped, but then again, it was written 30 years ago, so take that for what you will.

Hole in the Sky: A Memoir by William Kittredge. William had a grandfather who, in 1911, began what he surmised would be paradise for himself and his future descendants. That is, a cattle ranch and farming empire encompassing more than 15,000 acres in southeastern Oregon’s Warner Valley. Over the years, he molded his land to fit the dream. But within three generations, this proposed Garden of Eden that had become a draw for the wealthy and privileged, soon fell into disarray. In this book, Kittredge recounts its untimely destruction – of the land, of the family – and of himself. Extramarital affairs, bouts with alcohol, the whole nine yards. He recounts everything with a tragic vividness few authors can match to produce a powerful indictment of materialism and the evils that accompany it. Namely, that which undermines the spirit and dissolves the human connection with the universe.

Yellowfish, by John Keeble. Lose yourself in the incredible story of Wesley Erks – an itinerant machinist and provocative “jack of all trades” who accepts a hefty sum in order to smuggle a ragtag group of illegal Chinese immigrants from Vancouver, B. C. to San Francisco during the heady days of the 1970s. Three of these unfortunate souls are known as the “Hong Kong boys”;  three teenagers, plus one fugitive, the son of a wealthy Chinese casino owner, have the means to settle a grudge with a secret Chinese American society, call the Triad. This story of the perilous journey of these hapless souls, along with a woman implicated in a double-cross scheme, is filled to the brim with both historical and fictional characters. It all conjures the story of the American West itself.

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