New books by Washington authors, or of local interest

New books with local ties

"The Jewel of Medina" by Sherry Jones (Beaufort Books, $24.95). The Spokane author's controversial debut novel, set in seventh-century Arabia and portraying a girl who marries the Prophet Muhammad at age 9.

"Sweet Spot" and "Sweet Trouble" by Susan Mallery (HQN, both $6.99). The second and third installments in the Seattle writer's trilogy about a single mother fleeing and then returning to Seattle to "face her demons" — including her child's father and her unsympathetic sisters.

"Home & Away: The Old Town Poems" by Kevin Miller (Pleasure Boat Studio, $15). A book of poems by a Tacoma teacher, in which he "drafts people, characters, images and events out of their familiar locations ... and weaves them into new situations."

"An Uncommon Christian: James Brainerd Taylor, Forgotten Evangelist in America's Second Great Awakening" by I. Francis Kyle III (University Press of America, $35) and "Of Intense Brightness: The Spirituality of Uncommon Christian James Brainerd Taylor," edited by I. Francis Kyle III (University Press of America, $27). A biography of the Protestant spiritual leader (1801-1829) and an anthology of his letters and journal entries. Biographer-editor Kyle lives in Port Angeles.

"Buffalo Bill's Defunct" by Sheila Simonson (Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Co., $14.95). The author of the Lark Dodge mystery series ("Malarkey," "Mudlark") delivers a new whodunit about an investigator trying to correct a mistake he made in a case about stolen Native American artifacts. Simonson lives in Vancouver, Wash.

"Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster in the Antarctic, 1910-13" by Richard Farr (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $19.95). A Seattle writer's book for young adults about Robert F. Scott's Antarctic expeditions, as seen through the eyes of participant Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

"Adventures of Riley: Polar Bear Puzzle" and "Adventures of Riley: South Pole Penguins" by Amanda Lumry and Laura Hurwitz (Scholastic, $16.99). Two picture books for children, about a boy who checks how wildlife is doing in the Arctic and Antarctic. Lumry lives in Bellevue.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com