Local books | Elegant coffee-table books on Seattle history and architecture

Local books |

Two handsome coffee-table books — one about Seattle history by local author J. Kingston Pierce, the other about the public works of Seattle architectural firm Miller | Hull — top this week's list of books of local interest.

"Seattle Yesterday and Today" by J. Kingston Pierce, photography by Robert Holmes (West Side Publishing, $24.95). The veteran local writer ("Eccentric Seattle") contrasts our city's past and present.

"The Miller | Hull Partnership: Public Works" edited by Lauren Nelson Packard, layout by Miller | Hull (Princeton Architectural Press, $50). Opulently packaged overview of the Seattle architectural firm's public works, including the South Lake Union Discovery Center, Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, Pierce County Environmental Services Building and Kitsap County Administrative Building. The book juxtaposes floor plans and architectural elevations with handsome color photographs of the finished buildings.

"A Different Shade of Blue: How Women Changed the Face of Police Work" by Adam Eisenberg (Behler, $15.95, www.behlerpublications.com). The Commissioner of Seattle Municipal Court tells the story of policewomen in the U.S. through the voices of 50 women on the Seattle Police Department. Why Seattle? Because, in 1912, it became one of the first American cities to hire policewomen. Foreword by Ann Rule. Eisenberg reads at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave. N.E., Seattle, free (206-525-2347 or www.ravennathirdplace.com) and 1 p.m. Friday, Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., Seattle, free (206-624-6600 or www.elliottbaybook.com).

"Getting to Calm: Cool-headed Strategies for Parenting Tweens and Teens" by Laura S. Kastner and Jennifer Wyatt (ParentMap, $19.95). Parental advice. Kastner is a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, Wyatt a writer-teacher-mother who lives in Seattle.

"Libertarian Nation: The Call for a New Agenda" by James Walsh (Silver Lake, $19.95). Political commentary by a coastal Washington author, dismissing both neo-cons and liberals as "yesterday's partisans," and calling for a return to "the philosophical roots on which the nation was founded." Walsh is also the author of "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work ... and Why They're More Common Than Ever" (published, it's worth noting, in 1998).

"The Weight of Silence: Invisible Children of India" by Shelley Seale (Dog's Eye View, $16). A part-time Seattleite's book about India's 25 million parentless children and the organizations — orphanages, aid foundations — that try to rescue them.

"Running for My Life" by Ann Gonzalez (WestSide Books, $16.95). A young-adult novel by a Seattle writer about a 14-year-old girl coping with her mother's schizophrenia.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com