Green Apple Books and Music Newsletter
July 2010
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Greetings!
Where are you and why aren't you at Green Apple? We miss you. photo by Robin Allen
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from your lair (or is everyone at Camp Mather?), here are Seven New Books We Like,
our Book of the Month, and several
exciting author events on the
near horizon. And if you have kids, check out our
Summer Reading Program below. Any voracious young reader who reads 20 books this
summer gets a $5 store credit to Green Apple (they don't have to buy any of those 20 here). So brave the fog, call in sick to work, make a
date to meet someone on Clement Street for dinner, then
come browse the 100,000+ goodies we've curated. Oh, and here's our blog, our Twitter feed, and our (new!) Facebook page--join us in cyberspace! Thanks for
reading, Pete et al |
July's Book of the Month by David Mitchell
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 The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Each month, we present a new book that we enthusiastically recommend. Really enthusiastically recommend. This month's choice was endorsed by multiple Green Applers (not to mention by Dave Eggers on the front page of the NY Times Sunday Book Review last week). Buy it now and thank us later. Here's Nick's "shelf-talker." Many of the (few) people who say they don't like David Mitchell call his books inaccessible. I can understand this and will start by saying the The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is not one of those books.This is a beautiful, remarkable, and--yes--accessible work of literary genius. There are few books, classics included, that I have enjoyed as much as this book. It has a very historical majesty to it but feels modern at the same time. De Zoet is a wonderful protagonist in a book full of mystery and danger. This book will continue to be read as long as people are reading. Don't think any further. Just buy it. -NPB |
July Author Events
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| July 16: James Kaelan's Zero Emissions Book Project
Green A  pple is thrilled to be a stop on James Kaelan's 1900 mile bike tour to promote his new book, We're Getting On. The first edition of the book,
published by Flatmancrooked Press, is 100% green,
recycled, and post-consumer. But that's not all: the covers are
made of seed paper that, upon burial, germinate and grow into birch
trees, allowing the book to offset its own carbon footprint ten times
over. Fittingly, We're Getting On is a series of
interconnected short stories and novellas which explore youth,
dissolution, the impact technology has on the modern world, and what
happens when one tries to live completely off the grid. Details here. July 22: Noir City Smackdown (or Beat LA!) Join Green Apple Books when we take our Noir on the road, raise a glass to the history of mystery in San Francisco, and let those rapscallions from LaLa land know which collection of tales is the hardest-boiled! That's right you'ze mugs, on Thursday, July 22nd Green Apple will be hosting a Noir City Smackdown, with the editors of San Francisco Noir 1 and 2 (Peter Maravelis) and Los Angeles Noir 1 and 2 (Denise Hamilton), along with a couple of very special guests certain to tip the scales in The City's favor: Eddie Muller (The Czar of Noir) and Cara Black (bestselling author of the Aimee Leduc Investigation series).  This four person panel presents a unique opportunity for readers of all types to become exposed to the tightest prose this side of a roscoe; and if you're already an aficionado of the tough stuff then you know just how good this line-up is...and I don't mean like 'the usual suspects. This FREE event will be held in the oh-so-noir subterranean event space of Cantina, right next to the Rex Hotel. It's a bar ('natch), so leave the kids at home when you help Dashiell Hammett whup-up on Raymond Chandler.
Details: Noir Night at Cantina (580 Sutter @ Mason) Thursday, July 22 from 7:00 - 8:30PM with Peter Maravelis, Denise Hamilton, Eddie Muller and Cara Black |
Save the Date
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| VERY special August author events
Green Apple has somehow scored renown baseball writer Howard Bryant (August 5) and two-time National Book Award finalist Howard Norman (August 11) . Please mark your calendars. Details to come, but if Green Apple is to keep getting such fantastic authors, we need butts in the chairs, so please plan to join us.
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Seven New Books We Like
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 The Lovers by Vendela Vida (Ecco)
This is a haunting novel of loss, grief, the redemptive promise of travel, and so much more. It's a sharp, taut book that builds subtly to a dramatic finish. Its author, Vendela Vida, is a local literary luminary, a co-founder and editor of the Believer magazine, and a perennial favorite of Green Apple.
 What is Left the Daughter by Howard
Norman (HMH)
Here's a mesmerizing new novel by the two-time National Book Award finalist/friendliest author Howard Norman. This, his newest novel, has all the moral complexity and gripping narrative drive as his best-known novel (The Bird Artist, currently on our Staff Favorites display). N.B. Howard Norman will be appearing at Green Apple on August 11. Mark your calendar.
The Wave Watcher's Companion by  Gavin Pretor-Pinney (Perigree)
From the author of the popular Cloudspotter's Guide comes a book about waves in all of their many manifestations: mostly water, but also light, sound, and more. This is a passionate enthusiast's exploration of waves that begins with a massive surfable cloud and ends with the
majestic Pacific ocean, making side trips along the way to reveal the ups and downs of brain waves, radio waves, infrared waves, microwaves, shock waves, light waves.
 Seasonal Fruit Desserts: From Orchard, Farm, and Market
by Deborah Madison (Broadway)
Summer might not be the time you think about firing up the oven or standing over a hot stove (unless you live in our foggy neighborhood), but when the final result is one of these soothing concoctions, well....Deborah Madison needs no introduction, and her latest is a perfect summer treat. Filled with cobblers, tarts, crisps, puddings and more, this book will have you heading out the door and to your local farmer's market in no time.
Lost States by Michael Trinklein (Quirk)
In 1941, a man named Gilbert Gable had an idea- split off an area of Northern California and Southern Oregon and form a new state, called Jefferson. On Dec. 4, 1941, Jefferson unilaterally declared its independence from the union and inaugurated its first governor. Three days later Pearl Harbor was bombed, and mostly everyone forgot about it. This book is filled with the stories of Jefferson and 73 other would-be states. A fascinating, fully-illustrated overview of forgotten history. The cover even folds out into a woulda coulda (but maybe not shoulda) map of the U.S.A.
 How Did You Get This Numberby Sloane Crosley (Riverhead)
Readers ate up Crosley's first book of hilarious personal essays, I Was Told There'd Be Cake. Now comes a second round with stories about European vacation disasters, the inexhaustible nuances of life in New York, and playing the role of bridesmaid . . . in Alaska. Smart, clever, and frank, her stories are as intimate, and embarrassingly eccentric, as the thoughts we keep to ourselves.
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Knopf)
We would love this book even it didn't feature a character who once worked at Green Apple. Set partially in San Francisco's late '70's punk scene, here's what the San Francisco Chronicle had to say about it: "Jennifer Egan is a rare bird: an experimental writer with a deep commitment to character, whose fiction is at once intellectually stimulating and moving. . . . It's a tricky book, but in the best way. When I got to the end, I wanted to start from the top again immediately, both to revisit the characters and to understand better how the pieces fit together. Like a masterful album, this one demands a replay."
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Summer Reading Program for young people
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 Read 20 books to earn $5 Green Apple credit
It is that simple. If you're 15 or under, and you read 20 books this summer, we'll give you a $5 store credit. Just visit THIS PAGE on our website to print out the paperwork, and get reading! |
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Thanks for reading!
Sincerely,
Pete et al
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