QuickTake:

From Zombie comics, to Pre, to a Ken Kesey classic and an indie singer’s coming-of-age memoir, here is a starter list of books that hit close to home. Did we miss your favorite?

We’re a pretty well-read part of the world, I would say, with oodles of authors, a strong literary culture and a statue and mural of a famed writer smack-dab in our cities’ two downtowns.

But have you read up on Lane County lit itself? Here’s a starter guide — this is a living list, so if I’ve left out your favorite, drop me a line at annie@lookoutlocal.com, and I’ll update my roundup and include a shoutout to you.

‘Sometimes a Great Notion’ by Ken Kesey

I think the Lane County commissioners would excommunicate me if I didn’t include a book by Ken Kesey, our local patron saint of counterculture and Oregon literature. I’m picking up this book to start during my own stretch of time off this week.

Kesey’s novel after “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Sometimes a Great Notion” is about the life of the Stampers, a family on the Oregon Coast whose livelihood revolves around logging, during a labor dispute. Or at least, that’s what I’ve heard! No spoilers, please.

Available at Bookshop.

‘The Front Runner: The Life of Steve Prefontaine’ by Brendan O’Meara

You may think you’ve read all about Steve Prefontaine’s legendary running career and its untimely end as the 50th anniversary of his death came earlier this year. But this book, written by Brendan O’Meara and released earlier this year, is a new piece of narrative journalism that came from O’Meara’s more than 150 original interviews with Prefontaine’s family, friends, teammates and competitors, trying to unpack Prefontaine’s 24 years of life to understand how he became so prolific in his short career.

Available at Bookshop.

‘Crying in H-Mart’ by Michelle Zauner

This 2021 bestselling memoir from indie rock musician Michelle Zauner isn’t strictly about her band Japanese Breakfast or her life in music; it’s about her relationship with her mother, Chongmi, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2014, and her own relationship with her Korean-American identity.

Zauner was born in South Korea but raised in Eugene; the WOW Hall was an early performing spot for her after she started learning guitar, inspired by Karen O and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, an experience she recounts in the book. (My colleague Lillian Schrock-Clevenger mentioned she read this book in our staff’s music listening roundup, because she spent this year listening to a lot of Japanese Breakfast.)

Available at Bookshop.

‘Echoes From the Set’ by Katherine Wilson

I interviewed Katherine Wilson about her memories of director Rob Reiner during the filming of “Stand By Me,” but that’s just one chapter in her lengthy history in Oregon film. Wilson worked on “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and dozens of other Oregon film productions — taken together, her memoir isn’t just an outline of one woman’s career, but a history of film and filmmakers in Oregon.

Available at Bookshop.

‘Fat, Drunk, and Stupid’ by Matty Simmons

OK, did you really just want to know more about “Animal House”? No worries. This 2012 history of the film, its production and what happened when the rowdy National Lampoon crew rolled into 1970s Eugene is your guide. Author Matty Simmons would know: he was a producer of “Animal House” and the founder and CEO of National Lampoon.

Available at Bookshop.

‘iZombie’ by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred

The short-lived television series changed its setting to Seattle, but the original comic series “iZombie” is set in Eugene. It features some very recognizable settings as backdrops for its story about a zombie gravedigger detective: intersections of downtown Eugene, the McDonald Theatre, the University of Oregon campus and a Victorian home that very much resembles the Shelton McMurphey Johnson House.

Available at ThriftBooks, either as the complete series omnibus, or start with issue 1.

‘Small Sacrifices’ by Ann Rule

OK, maybe a true crime pick isn’t the most serene read for you to pick up — but this book, by legendary Pacific Northwest crime writer Ann Rule (“The Stranger Beside Me”), is a flashback to when the country had its eyes on Lane County for the trial of Diane Downs, a young mother accused of killing one of her three children and injuring the other two. Downs, now 70, was denied parole earlier in December.

Available at Bookshop.

I have read some of these titles, but not all of them — any Lookout readers interested in a book club for the new year? In any case, happy reading.