February's Book of the Month
Almost every month, we present a Book of the Month, a new book that we're so crazy about, we evangelically guarantee it 100%.
This month's book is Shaun Tan's Tales from Outer Suburbia. Here's KPR's recommendation:
Shaun Tan's hypnotic last book, The Arrival, was the wordless story of a stranger in a strange land. His brilliant drawings and dizzying imagination make it a book one can go back to over and over. With Tales From Outer Suburbia, Tan has done it again, only he has added text to his mesmerizing drawings.
But even though it is packaged as a children's book, I'm not so sure. I've read the stories herein to my kids (age 7 & 10), but there is a complexity here that's grown up.
In one story, a man who has beaten his dog to death has his house mysteriously catch fire, and while rescuing his belongings, the dogs of the neighborhood exact their revenge by peeing on all of his belongings. The other stories are an eclectic mix: "Undertow" tells of the time a whale-like creature mysteriously ends up on a suburban lawn and brings a few hours of peace to a troubled household; "Stick Figures" is the story of mysterious beings who move silently through town and are abused by young and old alike; and "Our Expedition" is the story of two boys who set out to discover what lies beyond where the map of their town ends.
Haruki Murakami need not write a children's book now, because this is the book he would have written. Like Murakami, Tan's stories have a dreamlike disorientation that makes perfect sense at the time.
Click here to buy a copy (with free shipping!) or stop by the store soon for your copy.
|
Section moves
We know it's kind of annoying, but each fall we carefully condense the store to make room for our fabulous calendar selection, and every February, we expand the most in-demand sections to offer you more of what you're buying now.
We've just started the process, but to give you a hint of what's to come: CDs have been reduced a bit to make room for more new science fiction and mysteries. New books on music will move and expand, too. At the main store, we'll also be expanding children's books, journals and stationary, and more.
Thank you for your patience as we gently reconfigure the store. PLEASE ask if you have any questions or need directions.
|
|
|
Greetings!
Warm greetings, friends.
Today we announce another attempt to keep your business with us, your locally owned independent bookstore: free shipping on any of the new books featured in today's newsletter. And c'mon, really, it feels good to pay sales tax as the law requires, doesn't it? If we continue to avoid sales tax, some other tax will be raised somewhere along the line, right?
Getting off my high horse, here's what's in today's email update from Green Apple: our book of the month, a heavily illustrated "kid's" book that we guarantee any grown-up will love; other new book releases we're excited about; a creepy new addition to our popular Staff Favorites display; two unique events: one funny, one sexy; and a brief update on section moves in progress throughout the store.
Oh, and we hope to have our brand-new blog up and running in the next week or so. Just what the world needs, right? I know, I know. All I can say it that we promise a more irreverent, entertaining, personal bookstore blog. And if no one likes it, we'll quickly go back to what we do best: herding dust bunnies.
We hope to see you in the store soon, and thanks, as always for your business.
--Pete et al.
|
|
New Books We're Excited About; free shipping!
About 1,000 new titles arrive in our store each month (and that's probably only 5% of what's published each month!). To help you sort through that morass, we highlight only a few select books in each month's newsletter. Here's what caught our proverbial collective eye this month:
This authorized prequel to the Maltese Falcon; a surprisingly inspiring history of the destruction of books; a book of skateboard photography; a hefty coffee table book on Bay Area Graffiti; an excellent historical thriller; and a fictional collection of Jewish folk tales.
Click here to read more about this month's picks. Free shipping in the USA on any of these featured newsletter titles!
|
Staff Faves: The Tenant
By far, the bestselling bookcase in our store is our Staff Favorites display in the main store. This display highlights what makes Green Apple different from any other store, and it's a (free!) presentation of the knowledge, expertise, and experience of dozens of well-read, passionate booksellers. Keep them gainfully employed and try a Staff Favorite today! You'll thank them for the tip.
Here's a recent addition to that display, a creepy page-turner:
"Roland Topor, one of the artists and filmmakers behind the cult animated film 'Fantastic Planet,' is also the author of one of the creepiest psychological horror stories I have ever read. I started and finished The Tenant in a night (it's that compulsive), increasingly shocked and amused by the inextricable series of events that engulf Trelkovsky after he moves into a new apartment building. Despite, or perhaps because of, its horror, The Tenant is full of morbidly funny moments, and its conclusion is a perfect example of the classic twist ending." --Sparks
|
Event #1: Harmon Leon and Bucky Sinister; Feb 18
Join Green Apple in welcoming two funny authors at one event. Harmon Leon's latest book is THE AMERICAN DREAM: Walking in the Shoes of Carnies, Arms Dealers, Immigrant Dreamers, Pot Farmers, and Christian Believers. Therein, Harmon Leon explores how our basic freedoms are interpreted by the country's wildly diverse populace. An expert in infiltrating the institutions of everyday life, Leon has accomplished such feats as gaining entrance into the Scientology Celebrity Center in LA and duping Judge Joe Brown with a fab  ricated case right in his own TV courtroom. An internationally known comedian and award-winning author, Leon puts his skills as a social chameleon to task in THE AMERICAN DREAM. Bucky Sinister's newest book is Get Up: A 12-step Guide to Recovery for Misfits, Freaks, and Weirdos. Says Bucky: "12-Step recovery was my last resort. I was highly cynical and skeptical
of the whole community and process. But it worked for me. Since
then, a lot of friends, friends of friends, and random strangers on
MySpace have asked me how I reconciled my atheism and my creative life
with sobriety and 12 Step. This book is all about that."
Harmon Leon and Bucky Sinister will appear at
Annie's Social Club
on February 18th at 8:00 PM.
917 Folsom St. (@ 5th St) |
Event #2: Suicide Girls
Lately SuicideGirls has gone from a "membership-only pin-up website" to encompass magazines, tours, and books, their latest called Suicide Girls: Beauty Redefined, featuring more of their trademark pictorials and style. Some Suicide Girls will be there to talk shop and sign books. 21+ only.
Friday, February 27 at 8:00 pm
SuicideGirls at the 540 Club
(540 Clement, just a few doors down from our stores)
|
|
|
|
|
