"Solidarity Stories" about the longshoremen's union leads list of new Northwest books

Local books |

"Solidarity Stories: An Oral History of the ILWU" by Harvey Schwartz (University of Washington Press, $50 hardcover, $24.95 paperback). Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union recall "their lives at work, on the picket line, and in the union." Schwartz, who compiled these memoirs, discusses the book at 6 p.m., June 8, University Book Store, 1754 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, free (253-272-8080 or www.ubookstore.com), and 2 p.m., June 13, Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., Seattle, free (206-624-6600 or www.elliottbaybook.com).

"The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife" by Janna Cawrse Esarey (Touchstone, $15). Sailing memoir by a Seattle author, about her and her husband's mishap-plagued two-year voyage across the Pacific.

"Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West" by Dennis Paulson (Princeton University Press, $29.95). Field guide to all 348 western species of dragonflies and damselflies in the American West. Paulson is the former director of the Salter Museum of Natural History at the University of Puget Sound.

"The Little Black Book of Violence: What Every Young Man Needs to Know About Fighting" by Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder (YMAA Publication Center, $24.95, www.ymaa.com). Two Seattle teachers of Goju Ryu karate give tips on "awareness, avoidance, and de-escalation to help stave off violence."

"Barking Buddha: Simple Soul Stretches for Yogi and Dogi" by Brenda Bryan (Skipstone, $12.95). A Seattle yoga instructor and massage therapist explains "doga": "partnering with your dog for Hatha-based stretches, massages and simple meditations."

"Oxygen" by Carol Cassella (Simon & Schuster, $15). New in paperback: debut novel by a Seattle anesthesiologist and medical writer, about a medical malpractice suit. Times reviewer Wingate Packard praised "the ethics of the drama, and Cassella's portrayal of the very real and contemporary flaws in our health-care system."

"Classic Western Stories," compiled by Cooper Edens (Chronicle, $19.99). The Seattle children's writer-illustrator throws in everything from "Clementine" to "Rocky Raccoon," in this compilation of Western tales and poems that features vintage illustrations by N.C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer and others.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com