Local offerings: Anthology proceeds to benefit tsunami survivors

"Elemental: The Tsunami Relief Anthology," edited by Steven Savile and Alethea Kontis, introduction by Arthur C. Clarke (Tor, $13.95). Four Seattle-area authors — Brian Herbert, Eric Nylund, Syne Mitchell and William C. Dietz — contributed to this science-fiction/fantasy anthology, assembled to benefit victims of the Dec. 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami. All proceeds go to Save the Children Foundation's Asia Tsunami Relief program.

"The War Against the Common Good" by D.W. Sid Olufs and David Feller Schuman (Chandler Sharp Publishers, $25, www.chandlersharp.com). An examination of the conservative effort since 1980 "to reduce the size and effectiveness of government, based on the belief that the results of the free market are always good and the results of government action are always bad." Co-author Olufs is a professor of political science at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

"Pacific Northwest Camping Destinations" by Mike and Terri Church (Rolling Home Press, $19.95). Advice on RV and car-camping sites in Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.

"Full Circle Passage" by K.L. Punches (Treble Heart Books, $13.50). A man on the run from a broken marriage signs up as watch captain for a wealthy businessman in a sailboat race around the world, in this novel by two Seattle-area authors (real names: Ki and Linda Punches).

"A Sudden Country" by Karen Fisher (Random House, $13.95). New in paperback: a first novel by a Lopez Island writer, about an 1847 wagon-train journey from Iowa to the Whitman mission on the Columbia River. Inspired by handed-down oral histories and letters of Fisher's family, the book was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Times reviewer Valerie Ryan wrote: "There is a really good story here: the pioneer push West, shorn of every vestige of romance."

" Big Bosoms and Square Jaws: The Biography of Russ Meyer, King of the Sex Film" by Jimmy McDonough (Three Rivers, $14.95). Paperback edition of a book about the filmmaker who gave us "Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" and "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." McDonough lives in Amboy, Clark County.

"Touring Swedish America: Where To Go and What To See" by Alan H. Winquist and Jessica Rousselow-Winquist (Minnesota Historical Society Press, $24.95). This updated guide to Swedish America includes a chapter on Washington state attractions.

"Hannah West in the Belltown Towers" by Linda Johns (Sleuth Puffin/Penguin Young Readers, $5.99). A whodunit for children ages 10 and up, about a 12-year-old "aspiring artist, and budding sleuth" investigating art thefts in Seattle. Author Johns fills the book with sly references to local landmarks and art events.

Michael Upchurch,

Seattle Times book critic