Northwest booksellers name PNBA winners

The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) has announced the winners of the 2008 Pacific Northwest Book Awards. The honorees are:

Sherman Alexie, of Seattle, for "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," his young-adult novel which also won the National Book Award.

Jim Harrison, for his novel "Returning to Earth" (Harrison lives part-time in Montana).

Denis Johnson, of Idaho, for his novel "Tree of Smoke," which also won the National Book Award.

Lauren Kessler, of Oregon, for her nonfiction book "Dancing with Rose: Finding Life in the Land of Alzheimer's."

Aryn Kyle, of Montana, for her debut novel, "The God of Animals."

Matt Ruff, of Seattle, for his novel "Bad Monkeys."

The six books were chosen from nearly 200 nominees by a committee of independent booksellers from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The winners will be feted at a reception for PNBA members in Portland on March 29.

Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times book critic