2011 Awards Short-List

	Birds of Paradise Diana Abu-Jaber Miami, hurricanes, housing problems. These are just environmental touchstones around which this lush and poetic story turns. A child has run away, desperate to pay penance for the secret she carries. Five years later, as she approaches 18, we are dropped among the wreckage of the family she haunts. Such a beautifully written book about how hard it is to be—and to stay—a family. —PNBA Awards Committee W.W. Norton & Co.
	The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt With off-kilter wit and the kind of charm that would leave the Cohen Brothers tickled, deWitt has crafted a Western novel for people who think they don't like Westerns. Soft-hearted brother Eli's narration in the trail dust of gun-slinging brother Charlie is philosophical and funny—very funny—amidst a stark and violent backdrop. Filled with vividly drawn characters and sharp dialogue, The Sisters Brothers is a gritty, vibrant book. —PNBA Awards Committee Ecco/HarperCollins
	West of Here Jonathan Evison Evison gleefully chews up the Northwest landscape from 1890—when dreamers, drifters, entrepreneurs, scoundrels and hardworking settlers dove in with unrestrained ambition to harness the wilderness for profit and posterity—to 2006 when their descendants face the consequences of that wild enthusiasm. The Olympic Peninsula is some of the most beautiful country in the world, and Evison has paid tribute to it. —PNBA Awards Committee Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill/Workman
	Ed King David Guterson A rollicking modern-day version of the Oedipus Rex tragedy, this wickedly funny story possesses the cynicism of Tom Wolfe mixed with the absurdity of Carl Hiassen. Beginning with a slow and dangerous seduction, the novel picks up speed as each new character is introduced, fearlessly taking on contemporary societal themes as it builds to a thrill-ride climax. The story features a cadre of rather despicable but entertaining characters who are caricatures of the 1980's Me Generation. Original, brave and superb. —PNBA Awards Committee Knopf/Random House
	Feathers Thor Hanson Feathers are pretty remarkable. And reading about them in Thor Hanson’s well-researched book is like sitting down for a lively chat with a particularly bright friend. Such enthusiasm, thorough research and rich language! Like the best teachers from our school days—fun. —PNBA Awards Committee Basic Books/Perseus Books Group
	Maphead Ken Jennings One-part history, one-part sociology and one-part personal memoir, Ken Jennings' story takes us on a fascinating route through the world of maps. Visit the National Geography Bee; witness the obsessive practices of geocaching and map collecting; face up to America's geographic illiteracy; and learn of Jennings' own lifelong fascination with maps. Whether you're stricken with cartophilia or not, Maphead makes for a charming, enlightening and thought-provoking read. You will be much more aware of your surroundings and how you navigate them after you turn the last page. —PNBA Awards Committee Scribner/Simon & Schuster
	The Bled: Poems Frances McCue An elegant, sharp book that has been written out of grief but not overpowered by it. Think of this book alongside Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking or Joyce Carol Oates' A Widow's Story. The fact that this is poetry not prose means that the narrative arrives in a more imagistic way, lyrically, with the haunting silences that poetry lets in more readily. This book is a concentrated thing, a small, gracefully constructed diorama set before us. —PNBA Awards Committee Factory Hollow Press
	Shards Ismet Prcic Families visiting the country on the weekend, browsing the shops, going to dinner. Bosnian families whose lives are just like ours—then one day, they are not. Powerful, gorgeous writing—complicated without a hint of intellectual grandstanding. This novel is a difficult treasure. —PNBA Awards Committee Black Cat/Grove/Atlantic
	Reamde Neal Stephenson Honoring his cyberpunk roots while adopting the best devices of the contemporary thriller—Russian mafia, international entrepreneurs, hackers and hustlers, kidapping, shoot-outs and explosions—Stephenson delivers the thrills and a few lessons on humanity. Even though Reamde weighs in at a hefty 1,056 pages, the speed of the ride makes it feel like a flash. —PNBA Awards Committee William Morrow/HarperCollins
	Habibi Craig Thompson The intricate artwork in this book weaves the beauty of Arabic calligraphy and traditional patterns into a story that feels simultaneously ancient and modern, starkly realistic and mythological. And the discovery doesn't end with the last sentence of the story. The footnotes add another stunning dimension. The appeal of this book will reach far beyond comics fans. Habibi should take its place alongside groundbreaking classics such as Maus and Persepolis. —PNBA Awards Committee Pantheon Books/Random House
	Putting Makeup on Dead People Jen Violi A young adult novel for any bookshelf. The prose is crisp, refreshing and effortless, the characters fully realized and vivid, the dialogue believable and well chosen. There is a clean loveliness to this book, a light in it, despite its dark topic. —PNBA Awards Committee Hyperion/Disney Book Group
	Chronology of Water Lidia Yuknavitch Genuine and generous, this memoir risks much and succeeds powerfully. Language, repetition, imagery—a striking story is being told here, but the way it's told is even more striking. The book becomes experiential, which fosters an intimacy between the writer and reader. You will be moved. —PNBA Awards Committee Hawthorne Books
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PNBA offers our sincere congratulations to the authors of these Shortlist books, and we encourage our member stores to give these books the extra attention they so deserve. We also encourage owners and employees of our member stores to send your comments in support of personal favorites among this Shortlist to thom@pnba.org, by Friday, November 25. Those comments will be forwarded to the Committee for consideration.

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) is a non-profit association of independent bookstores from five Northwest states, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The Association produces educational and promotional events and materials for its members and offers literacy, free speech and author promotional vehicles through its member stores. Since 1965, our annual Book Awards have recognized such luminary figures in Northwest literature as Ivan Doig, Ursula LeGuin, David James Duncan, David Guterson, Jon Krakauer, Chuck Palahniuk, and Sherman Alexie. Many of these authors were honored by PNBA before they received national attention. A history of past winners of the Pacific Northwest Book Award can be viewed on the Book Awards homepage.

PNBA's Award Committee is comprised of nine volunteer booksellers from our member stores, throughout the region. Committee members considered more than 290 nominated titles published during 2011 for a 2012 award. In early November the Committee chose these twelve titles, from which the winners will be selected. The winners, a maximum of six books, will be determined by the Awards Committee in late December. They will then be announced in January 2012 and promoted by our member stores during the winter and spring of 2012.