by Betty MacDonald

A memoir of newly-married Betty MacDonald who settles with her husband in a remote chicken ranch located near Chimacum, on the Olympic Peninsula. Her sisters, moved by her unique – and rather squalid – lifestyle encouraged her to write this book.

by David Guterson

The story is set north of Puget Sound on San Piedro Island in 1954, shortly after WWII. A fisherman is found bizarrely drowned in the net on his boat and a local Japanese American fisherman is charged with the murder. The intricate legal exchanges in the subsequent trial capture the interest of the entire island and reveal there’s more at stake than the one man’s guilt. This book is compelling historical fiction covering a very difficult period of history.

by Kristin Hannah

Firefly Lane is a powerfully told story of two Seattle best friends as they travel from childhood to careers, marriage, and family. There is a sequel, Fly Away. Firefly Lane was adapted into a miniseries. Inspired by her experiences at the University of Washington., an unforgettable story of a lifelong friendship. She’s written a sequel, Fly Away.

by Garth Stein

Meet Enzo, a dog so unique, he’s nearly possessing a human soul. He prepares to reincarnate in the next life as a human being by self-educating through TV, and listening to his master, Denny Swift, a race car driver This popular book was made into a movie starring Patrick Dempsey. Enzo helps Denny through life’s challenges and sees a lot of parallels between human life and his master’s obsession, car-racing.

by Michael Crichton

Thomas Sanders is a budding professional at a Seattle-based multinational computer firm, Digicom. His bright career is threatened by an accusation of sexual harassment by a high-powered executive in the company, who also happens to be his former lover. This book was also made into a movie starring Michael Douglas and Demi Moore.

by Maria Semple

Seattle mom Bernadette, worn down by years of trying to live a life she never wanted, melts down and disappears. The husband and daughter left behind search for her, a bit of an epic quest that takes them to Antarctica, as they come to terms with the upheaval in their lives.

by Tom Robbins

A contemporary fairy tale that takes place in the Seattle area and Hawaii. Characters include influential Arab figures and a royal family in exile. Leigh-Cheri, an environmentalist, falls in love with Benard Mickey Wrangle, an outlaw in a love affair that occurs in a pack of Camel cigarettes in this absurd romance. Tom Robbins is a prolific writer and resident of Washington state.

by Kelli Estes

Inspired by true events, this is a story of a Seattle girl, Inara Erickson, who stumbles upon an intricately stitched sleeve hidden in her late aunt’s house. The sleeve has coded messages about a catastrophic event in the 1880s. What she unearths startingly intertwine her life with that of Mei Lein, a Chinese girl who lived a hundred years earlier.

by Tobias Wolff

A memoir of the author as a young boy and a tumultuous childhood rocked by his parent’s divorce. Wolff is separated from his father and brother and forges a solid bond with his mother, as they move from place to place, settling in Seattle with a new stepfather. Themes include vulnerability, self-identity, and survival.

by Erica Bauermeister 

This tale centers on eight students who converge for monthly cooking lessons in Lilian’s kitchen As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that these Seattle students are seeking out a recipe that will tackle concerns that go far beyond the kitchen.

by E.L. James 

This bestselling novel and unusual love story took the United States by storm as it tracked a relationship between Anastacia Steele, an English literature grad, and Christain Grey, a handsome billionaire. Grey leads Anna into a world of bondage and fetishism. Set in Seattle, the books targets mature audiences. Fifty Shades of Grey series is a trilogy of erotic novels; Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker, and Fifty Shades Freed.

by Debbie Macomber

An impressive tale of four women who meet in a knitting class in a downtown Seattle yarn shop. Lydia Hofman offers classes in knitting socks at her shop when Elisa Beaumont, an elderly divorced woman, Bethanne Hamlin, a woman who was abandoned by her husband for another woman, and Courtney Pulaski, an overweight teenager meet for companionship. It’s the second book in the Blossom Street series by Debbie Macomber. The first, The Shop on Blossom Street, is also set in Seattle.

by Sarah Jio

Claire Aldridge is a journalist for the Seattle-Herald. After a miscarriage, she is assigned to cover a story about a winter storm. In doing so, she unearths the story of a three-year-old boy who vanished during such a storm 80 years earlier. Her investigations into the event bring her to startling realizations about her past.

by Sarah Jio

The story of Emily, a writer reeling from a brutal divorce, who retreats to Bainbridge Island. As she researches for her next novel, she stumbles into a 1943 red velvet diary belong to a puzzling woman named Esther. Some of the diary entries seem mysteriously linked to happenings in her own life.  

by Sherman Alexie

A compilation of twenty-four short stories that cleverly weave memory, and fantasy around the Spokane Indian reservation. Told with passion and charm by Thomas Build-the-Fire, and other native people, the stories tackle topics like addiction, baseball, humor, and automobile accidents. 

by Jess Walter

In the last week before the 1980 presidential elections, Vince Camden, a crook in Spokane, gets up at 1:59 a.m and pockets his cache of stolen credit cards then heads to a donut shop for his witness-protection job. While meeting a politician before dawn he encounters a zealous detective and finds out his fellow credit-scammer is dead with a bullet lodged in his head. 

by Jamie Ford

The year is 1986 and Henry Lee is with a group of curious onlookers gathered outside the iconic Panama Hotel ins Seattle. It’s been boarded for years. Harry’s childhood memory is triggered when the new hotel owner unravels a distinctive Japanese parasol left by Japanese families who were sent to internment camps during World War II. The Panama Hotel still exists.

by Jamie Ford

After moving to Seattle, Ernest Young, a 12-year-old orphan boy from China, is confused as he discovers he is the prize that’s given away at the 1909 World Fair. Half a century later, at a second Seattle World Fair, Ernest Young’s daughter, an investigative journalist, takes him for a trip down memory lane and a past that still haunts the family.

by Stephenie Meyers

The Twilight Saga a quartet of vampire-inspired fantasy romance novels. Twilight, the debut novel was published in 2005. It’s the story of Isabella Swan, a high school teenager who migrates to small-town Forks, located on the Olympic Peninsula. She falls in love with Edward Cullen, a 104-year-old vampire. It’s a precarious balance that of passion and peril. The complete Twilight Saga series includes Twilight (2005); New Moon (2006); Eclipse (2007); Breaking Dawn (2008). This series was as popular with adults as it was with young adults. There are Twilight tours offered in Forks.

by Thomas Mullen

Philip Worthy is the adopted son of the founder of Commonwealth, a small outpost located in the remote Pacific Northwest. It’s a refuge for workers fleeing exploitation. The story evolves as the town faces challenges because of the need to self-quarantine during the 1918 pandemic. The book was written over a decade ago, but feels like it could have been written in 2020.

by Judith Ryan Hendricks

Wynter Morrison, a baker at Queenstreet Bakery, Seattle, is in a romantic relationship with Mac. She’s shattered when he leaves only to receive letters from him that jolt her into self-introspection and self-discovery. Other books in the series include Bread Alone and Baker’s Blues.

by Amanda Coplin

A story of Talmadge, a lonesome orchardist who tends his fruit trees at the base of the Cascade Mountains. The story follows his offer of refuge to two runaway girls and the sensational implications of his kind gesture.

by Laurie Frankel

Unmarried Jill gets pregnant while in college. With her two close Seattle friends, she comes up with a tri-parenting plan. It fails spectacularly., but along the way, there are big life lessons of friendship and family.

by Betty MacDonald

Hot on the heels of her popular debut collection of memoirs, The Egg & I, Betty MacDonald hilariously narrates the desperation to get a job to fend for her two juvenile daughters during the Great Depression. She returned to her mother on Vashon Island after an unsuccessful chicken farming enterprise and a failed marriage. 

by Kristin Hannah

Set in Seattle and Alaska, this novel follows the story of a damaged Vietnam veteran and the toll his injuries – physical and mental – take on his family. It’s a mother-daughter love story as well as a story of a struggle to survive.