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Hot off the Press: New Nonfiction Books

Books for All Stages of Relationships

My Blind Date Went Blind! ...And Other True Stories of Dates Gone Wrong by Virginia Vitzthum (Workman Publishing, April 2010, $8.95). Former relationship columnist for Salon.com and author of I Love You, Let’s Meet: Adventures in Online Dating shares a collection of dozens of true stories of dates you’d never want to experience except, perhaps, to laugh about them afterwards. And then there are the few with happy endings that will renew your hope that anything is possible.

Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides by Ariel Meadow Stallings (Seal Press, February 2010, $16.95). Stallings offers an update on her first Offbeat Bride, which was published in 2007 with the subtitle “Taffeta-Free Alternatives for Independent Brides.” Not meant to be a step-by-step guide to DIY weddings, this new edition walks would-be brides through the emotional minefield of planning a nontraditional wedding. Her goal with the book: to cheer you on as you craft a wedding that is an honest and authentic reflection of you, your partner and the commitment you’re making to each other. The companion Web site, www.offbeatbride.com, hosts Stallings’ growing gallery of “wedding porn,” photos of offbeat wedding gowns and ceremonies, all posted to inspire outside-the-box wedding planning.

Thriving After Divorce: Transforming Your Life When a Relationship Ends by Tonja Evetts Weimer (Atria Books/Beyond Words, March 2010, $15). Weimer, an award-winning newspaper columnist, author and relationship coach, guides readers on how to use a divorce or difficult breakup as inspiration for positive change. She says that the key to a successful transition is in learning how to create a new authentic relationship with a partner in the absence of romantic love, and she looks at how to approach shared responsibilities involving children, mutual business interests, care of family members and other situations that require working together. Ultimately, she presents divorce as a transformative opportunity that can lead to a stronger, healthier and more fulfilling sense of self.

More Nonfiction from Northwest Authors

Closet Confidential (Style Secrets Learned the Hard Way) by Winona Dimeo-Ediger (Sasquatch Books, 2009, $18.95). Written by a popular Portland-based blogger (daddylikey. blogspot.com), this guide aspires to help real women with real bodies and real budgets find their own per sonal style. It includes a field guide to buying jeans, an A-to-Z guide on all things shoes and 50 style secrets.

Why Did I Buy This Book: Over 500 Puzzlers, Teasers, and Challenges to Boost Your Brainpower by Lynn Brunelle (Chronicle Books, 2009, $16.95). Brunelle, an Emmy Award-winning writer and best-sell ing author, challenges adults who want to keep their brains in tip-top shape. This isn’t your mom’s sudoku, she says, but a compilation of word games, visual spatial challenges, bad puns, logic puzzlers and more, all intended to clean up your hard drive and get the cerebral sparks flying.

Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs (Microcosm Publishing, 2009, $7). This primer on living cheaper and toxin free by Seattle DIY advocate Raleigh Briggs shows you how to cre ate natural cleansers, laundry soaps and body products, among other things, as well as how to plant a vegetable garden.

A Sensitive Liberal’s Guide to Life: How to Banter with Your Barista, Hug Mindfully, and Relate to Friends Who Choose Kids Over Dogs by The Uptight Seattleite (Gotham Books, 2010, $15). Here’s your chance to catch up on questionable advice from Seattle Weekly’s most popular columnist who remains, even in book form, strictly anonymous.

Standing By: The Making of an American Family in a Time of War by Alison Buckholtz (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2009, $24.95). This is a moving book about Buckholtz’s introduction to life as a military wife during her husband’s deployment from Whidbey Air Station to the Persian Gulf. Intended for a civilian audience, it sheds light on the day-to day struggles and strengths of military spouses and children.

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