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Literary Arts, Annie Bloom’s Books, Powell’s and Broadway Books each told us what their No. 1-selling books were for the month of July. Here’s what Portland is reading:
Literary Arts
Access by Rebecca Grant
Portland journalist Rebecca Grant takes a decade’s worth of reporting on abortion access and reproductive rights and puts it in her newest book. For those seeking help, the book includes a list of resources, as well as the champions who helped pave the way toward reproductive justice (Oregon’s on that list, as Grant told WW last month).
Powell’s
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The novel follows teacher-turned-astronaut Ryland Grace as he emerges from a coma, with amnesia, also in space, and slowly makes heads or tails out of a mission to save the darkening earth. The 2021 sci-fi book may be getting a little interest bump from the upcoming film adaptation starring Ryan Gosling, but who are we to say?
Annie Bloom’s
The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard
It’s not sci-fi or space, but speculative fiction can get just as out there. The Other Valley follows 16-year-old Odile, a quiet teen who decides to cross her town’s heavily guarded gates. And what does she find on the other side? The same town, but 20 years ahead in time. Grief, time travel, and magical realism all ensue.
Broadway
On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder
Ready to help preserve any semblance of democratic freedom (please, please say yes)? Through reflecting on the past, and what might be ahead, Timothy Snyder offers ideas on how we might resist a veer toward authoritarianism.
