Local Literature

    Here in Lewis County, and southwest Washington in general, we are blessed with incredibly talented authors as well as an incredible history. Here are some of the books we carry in the store that you may not find elsewhere. If you are interested in purchasing any of these titles please contact us via email (booknbrush@gmail.com) or phone at (360)748-6221. Ordering these titles directly from our website is not available at this time.

 

Steeple to Sweat Lodge: Traveling cross-country with a shaman: by Roy I. Wilson

Paperback $14.95 

When his favorite Auntie suddenly traps Stan into taking an Indian shaman with him on a car trip tp Washington, D. C., he seethes with anger. He had looked forward to this trip for soooo long. Stan, a fundamentalist Christian from a small town in southwest Washington, knows that having this old man - an evil, heathen, pagan Indian shaman - along for the trip will ruin his entire journey.

Once his temper is back under control, Stan does what this bad situation seems to call for... he politely begins to Christianize his very odd passenger, who calls himself Seeing Wolf. But instead, Stan gets the surprise of his life and a remarkable opportunity to see his own world - and more importantly, his own life - through someone else's eyes.

 

 

 

Two Feathers: The Sequel to Sweat Lodge: by Roy I. Wilson

Paperback $14.95

THE MEDICINE WHEEL is an ancient symbol going back thousands of years. Traditionally associated with indigenous people, it is not usually put in the context of mainstream religions. However, that is exactly the bridge that Roy Wilson created in Two Feathers, a novel locking two disparate groups in a snowstorm with a Native American shaman. In conflict are a fundementalist religious group which has denounced the shaman's friend, Stan, a seeker of spirituality, and his more liberal group which has come to learn from the shaman. The snowstorm rages alongside with the discussion while Seeing Wolf, the shaman, reveals the messages of the Medicine Wheel and their intricate similarity to all religions. The story is sweetened by a romance and a tender first kiss.

 

 

 

 

Stories From Riffe, Wash.: by Buddy Rose

Paperback $15.95 ISBN: 9780989900201

In early 1968, the gates of City of Tacoma's Mossyrock Dam on the Cowlitz River in Lewis County, Washington closed and the 23.5 mile long reservoir behind the dam began to fill, inundating the former town sites of Riffe, Nesika and Kosmos. Thus ended the short-lived history of a fertile valley that had first been settled in the 1880s and 1890s; mostly by people from Appalachia who came west looking for a better life. The town of Riffe was named after one of those early settlers, Floyd Riffe, who came to the area from West Virginia in 1893 with a group of about 60 people. Riffe established a post office, named after him, that would eventually serve about 1,500 people until they were all forced to sell their homes and land and leave the valley so the City of Tacoma could build their dam. Stories from Riffe, Wash. is a collection of narratives that recalls some of those people, how they lived and died, and what it was like in the valley that now lies deep beneath the waters of Riffe Lake.

 

The Land Called Lewis: by Sandra A. Crowell

Hardcover $39.95 ISBN: 9780979451508

An excellent and comprehensive historical account of Lewis County history, from the first tribes to the closing of the Trans Alta coal mine in 2006. Wonderful historical photographs and fantastic research. A true Lewis County treasure.

 

 

 

 

Images of America: Chehalis: by Julie McDonald Zander

Paperback $21.99 ISBN: 9780738576039

"After Schuyler and Eliza Saunders staked out property in 1851, early pioneers referred to the soggy Chehalis River bottomland as "Saunders Bottom." The community of Claquato on a nearby hillside became a busy way station for travelers but only until enterprising business men like William West repeatedly flagged down passing trains, prompting railroad officials to establish a depot at Chehalis. Following an economic boom in the 1880s, fires in 1892 destroyed much of the business district. Chehalis thrived in the 1920s, suffered during the Depression and built partsfor B-17 bombers in a Boeing Company plant during World war II. An early-1950s Adventure in Cooperation forged even stronger community bonds, leading to the formation of the Chehalis Industrial Commission. Today, Chehalis has thriving retail and industrial areas and a renovated downtown promoted by members of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team."

 

A History of the Chehalis Industrial Commision: by Julie McDonald Zander and Gail Shaw

Paperback $12.99 ISBN: 9780984601981

"For decades businesses at the Chehalis Industrial Park have employed thousands of people who chose to raise their families in Lewis County, a community halfway between Portland and Seattle, only an hour away from the beautiful Pacific Ocean and pristine Cascade peaks. This book tells of early pioneers of industrial development who sold stock, railroad ties and spikes to raise money for a spur line to a Goodyear plant, then gathered on Saturdays to lay the track to save money. The park stands today as testament to a true Adventure in Cooperation." 

 

 

The Chehalis Story (DVD)

 

DVD $20.00 donation to The Chehalis Foundation

 A documentary presented by "The Chehalis Foundation" in support of projects that benefit our community.

 

 

 

Views Through My Lenses: by Helgi Heidar

Paperback $11.95 ISBN: 9780615808369

"Helgi Heidar, who traces his family history to cohorts of Leif Erickson, grew up near the Reykjavik airport in Iceland, interacting with American and British forces stationed near his home during World War II. He spent summers on a farm learning to milk cows and harvest hay. He visited the United States to study and drove a taxi in Washington D. C. The encouragement of friends and the grace of God helped him pursue a career in medicine, specializing in ophthalmology. In this memior, Dr. Heidar tells about his journey from his native Iceland to the town of Chehalis, Washington, where he cofounded the pacific Cataratct and Laser Institute."

 

 

Walkin' Joe and the Midnight Marauders: a Memior by Dennis R. Waller

Paperback $18.95 ISBN: 9781477655993

"A mysterious, dark giant and other strange, colorful characters come to life in "Walkin' Joe and The Midnight Marauders" - a frank memior of an eleven-year old and his bicycle gang awkwardly testing the adult world of 1954. A career journalist blends reporting and story telling of naive adventures, tempting explorations and plenty of mischief during a rural Iowa town's Centennial."

 

 

 

Big Jake: by B.N. "Bud" Durr

Paperback $16.95  ISBN: 9781929882908

"Big Jake is the story of a heroic Marine officer during the Vietnam War. Jake saves his buddy during a firefight between his platoon and a battalion of Viet Cong. The Viet Cong had set a trap for his platoon and anyone else that happens to wander in their territory. While under a heavy barrage of automatic weapons, Jake repeatedly goes out and rescues several of his men including his buddy. After sustaining several minor wounds and finally a head wound, he barely reaches safety. While recovering from his wounds he is tended to by his future wife. Jake later goes on to work with the CIA still serving as an officier. He eventually retires from the military and becomes a detective with his best buddy as his partner."

 

 

To and Fro on the U.S.S. Patrick: by B.N. "Bud" Durr

Paperback $16.00

After writing the author's autobiography, it was decided that his time spent just prior to and including his arrival back home, would make an interesting book for friends to learn what it was like serving in a Top Secret branch of the Army during the Korean Police Action. This account begins by explaining the unfortunate reason for time thus spent and the description of the different places in which the service was spent. It features the account of time spent in Formosa, and the love of a beautiful bar maid that made the tour more pleasant and interesting. It goes as far as explaining what the life of a particularly successful bar maid consists of, contrary to the general opinion of what bar maids are like.

The author relates his unfortunate luck with girls of purely American families, as opposed to that of an Asian girl. Upon returning home, his luck changes when he is introduced to his present wife of, now, fifty-four years, and finally happiness with the love of an American girl for a change."