Editors Note: The 13th Annual Public Library Association Conference took place this week at the Portland Convention Center, and this is the fourth (read the first here, the second here, and the third here) in a series of dispatches from Reading Local contributor Teresa Bergen on her experiences at PLA 2010.

Three librarians delivered their popular two-minute reviews program at PLA’s early Friday morning session. Robin Beerbower, a librarian from Salem, covered crime fiction. Bill Baars of the Lake Oswego library reviewed nonfiction. And Carissa Barrett, a Lake Oswego reference librarian, told us about general fiction. All focused on new releases by full or part time Northwest residents.

All three had so many fabulous sounding books that I asked them if they would send their lists of recommendations to Reading Local. But they are all busy people, so that might take a while. In the meantime, I will include a few of each genre that sounded especially interesting to me.

Beerbower began her presentation by reading a passage about a prisoner in the Oregon State Penitentiary that takes the prison librarian hostage and threatens to kill him. Farther into her talk, Beerbower revealed that the excerpt was from Fugitive (Harper) by Portland’s own legal thriller writer Phillip Margolin. “Okay, Phillip Margolin is the one who wrote about frying librarians,” she said. “But he really likes us.” Margolin is known for his breakneck plots. Beerbower said Fugitive won’t let thriller fans down.

Also on the librarian theme, she recommended the Miss Zukas series by Jo Dereske. Miss Zukas is a prim librarian/detective in a thinly fictionalized town based on Bellingham, Washington.

The short story collections Seattle Noir (Akashic) and Portland Noir (Akashic) both made her list. Because they’re divided into sections based on neighborhoods, “they’re a good way to get to know a city, unless you’re looking for travel brochure descriptions,” Beerbower said.

Silver Borne (Ace) is the newest from Patricia Briggs, who writes a series about a female Tri-Cities Volkswagen mechanic who turns into a supernatural coyote at night.

Beerbower said that Still Missing (St. Martin’s Press) by Chevy Stevens is the best psychological thriller she’s read in a long time. Stevens lives on Vancouver Island and her book will be out in July.

The coolest sounding nonfiction book was The Map as Art (Princeton Architectural Press) by Katherine Harmon. Described as experimental cartography from modern artists, this book features pictures of maps made from plywood, skin, paint and souvenir tea towels. “Don’t let it replace your GPS,” Barrs warned.

Eden Within Eden (OSU Press) also sounded promising. James J. Kopp wrote this survey of Oregon’s communal history from the 1800s into the 21st century. Baars said it was academically oriented and not an easy read, but full of great information.

Carissa Barrett’s reviews were longer and more in depth. She raved about Misfits and Other Heroes (Dzanc Books) by Bend writer Suzanne Burns. This short story collection includes one about the relationship between an average sized woman and the world’s smallest man, and a story about single women who share an apartment across from the fire station and try to lure fire fighters over with baked goods.

Tom Robbins’ B is for Beer (Ecco) tells about six year old Gracie, who wants to understand why all the men in her life love beer so much. Gracie tries beer and is visited by the beer fairy, who teaches her about beer making. This very strange sounding book is supposedly Robbins’ attempt to write for children. While Barrett said she can’t recommend it for kids, she think adults will enjoy it.

Barrett mentioned two novels that were based on the true story of a man and his daughter discovered living in Portland’s Forest Park: My Abandonment (Mariner Books) by Peter Rock, and When She Flew (NAL Trade) by Jennie Shortridge.

Jess Walter’s The Financial Lives of the Poets (Harper) sounds entertaining and funny. The main character, an unhappy man who works in finance, lives out his dream of starting a website that gives financial advice in verse. When this fails disastrously, and he loses his job, he turns to dealing pot to his contemporaries.

The list of new releases by Northwest writers goes on and on. Makes me proud to live in such a literary part of the country.

Image credits IndieBound.

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