Local books | A new collection from prizewinning Seattle poet Heather McHugh

New releases

"Upgraded to Serious" by Heather McHugh (Copper Canyon, $22). This new collection from the Seattle poet (and recent winner of a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation) focuses on "changes in physiological and technological life." McHugh reads 7 p.m. Nov. 2, Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St., Seattle; free (206-624-6600 or www.elliottbaybook.com).

"Historic Photos of Puget Sound" by David Wilma (Turner, $39.95). A coffee-table book of black-and-white photographs taken between the 1850s and 1970s. Wilma lives in Seattle and on Whidbey Island.

"Loud Bones: The Jewelry of Nancy Worden" by Michelle LeBaron and Susan Noyes Platt (Tacoma Art Museum/University of Washington Press, $40 hardcover, $24.95 paperback). A retrospective of the Seattle artist who explores "the female experience in the United States."

"An Old Chaos" by Sheila Simonson (Perseverance Press, $14.95). Simonson's second mystery set in fictional Latouche County, on the Columbia River Gorge, takes a deadly landslide as its starting point. Simonson lives in Vancouver, Wash.

"Breakfast at Sally's: One Homeless Man's Inspirational Journey" by Richard LeMieux (Skyhorse, $14.95). New in paperback: a businessman's account of his descent into unemployment, depression and homelessness. LeMieux lives in Bremerton.

"Just Breathe Normally" by Peggy Shumaker (Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press, $14.95). Paperback reprint of a memoir about recovery from a near-fatal bicycling accident. Shumaker teaches in the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.

"Ghost in the Machine" by Patrick Carman (Scholastic, $14.99). The Walla Walla writer's second "Skeleton Creek" novel, for ages 9-12, provides clues in its text that lead readers to a related Web site.

"Life in the Boreal Forest" by Brenda Z. Guiberson, illustrated by Gennady Spirin (Holt, $16.99). Children's picture book about the flora and fauna of the great northern forests that spread across Scandinavia, Russia, Alaska and Canada. Guiberson lives near Seattle.

Seattle Times staff

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