Grass Roots Books and Music — 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668
March 21, 2013
Contents
Newest Books
New in Paperback
Featured Books for Young Readers
Music
Events
News
This Week's Puzzle
Reading Group Selection
On Our Nightstands
Grass Roots Online — Contact Us
 
 

Spring Fever!

Hello, Spring! That's not a breeze outside, it's the sigh of relief from students as they finish their finals and look forward to a week doing anything but school work. It's a great time for everyone to do some reading for their own pleasure and enrichment. Do you enjoy a good mystery? Tami has some suspenseful recommendations. Planning on trying some new recipes? Pamela will tell you about her favorite cookbooks. Are you interested in science that's not in your textbooks? Ne� knows all about it. Thinking of escaping reality? Marissa has some favorite SciFi and Fantasy books you'll want to hear about it. Trying to keep your children engaged and interested in reading? Tiffany's an expert on children's books. Come in and cure what ails you with a great book!

See you in the bookstore!

Pamela.

 
Newest Books

A Tale for the Time Being

Ruth Ozeki

Nao is a 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, shy and bullied, determined to end it all to avoid her dreary life. Before she does, she plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun. Across the Pacific, Ruth is a struggling writer on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. On the beach she finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed ashore, filled with a curious collection of artifacts, including a collection of letters and a journal. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

Hardcover, $28.95

Publisher: Viking Books; ISBN: 9780670026630

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The Gate Thief (Mither Mages #2)

Orson Scott Card

In this sequel to The Lost Gate, Orson Scott Card continues his fantastic tale of the Mages of Westil who live in exile on Earth. Danny North is still in high school, but he is the son of the gods Odin and Gerd, and holds a great deal of power. He is so powerful, in fact, that The Families still want to kill him if they can’t control him. Having taken power from Loki, Danny is now responsible for the Great Gates; this possibly makes him a hero, but he’s about to come to understand just why Loki closed the gates all those centuries ago.

Hardcover, $24.99

Publisher: Tor Books; ISBN: 9780765326584

Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game

John Sexton, with Thomas Oliphant and Peter J. Schwartz

“I see great things in baseball, Walt Whitman rhapsodized in 1846. A century and a half later, Sexton and his collaborators see such great things in the game that they look to it for spiritual enlightenment. Readers learn how such enlightenment comes to fans in sacred places such as Wrigley and Forbes Fields, during rituals such as Opening Day and the seventh-inning stretch, through saints such as Christy Mathewson and Roberto Clemente, and by means of miracles such as The Catch made by Willie Mays and the perfect game thrown in the World Series by Don Larsen.”

Hardcover, $27.50

Publisher: Gotham Books; ISBN: 9781592407545

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Still Points North: One Alaskan Childhood, One Grown-Up World, One Long Journey Home

Leigh Newman

Leigh Newman’s childhood was split between opposite sides of the country. She spent her summers in the Alaskan wilderness with her father, fishing for salmon and hunting caribou, while she spent the school year with her mother in Baltimore at a private girl’s school. Moving between both worlds, Newman learned to never get attached to people or places, and to leave others before they left her. As an adult, she explores the lasting effects of her childhood, travelling the globe, never getting too attached to people or places.

Hardcover, $26.00

Publisher: Dial Press; ISBN: 9781400069248

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New in Paperback

The Orchardist

Amanda Coplin

“In a verdant valley in the Pacific Northwest during the early years of the 20th century, middle-aged Talmadge tends his orchards of plum, apricot, and apples, content with his solitary life and the seasonal changes of the landscape he loves. Two barely pubescent sisters, Jane and Della, both pregnant by an opium-addicted, violent brothel owner from whom they have escaped, touch Talmadge’s otherwise stoic heart, and he shelters and protects them until the arrival of the girls’ pursuers precipitates tragic consequences.” —Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Paperback, $15.99

Publisher: Harper Perennial; ISBN: 9780062188519

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The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency #13)

Alexander McCall Smith

Precious Ramotswe—Botswana’s best private investigator—faces a tricky situation when her personal and professional lives become entangled. Mma Ramotswe's is trying to help the beloved matron of the local orphange, Grace Makutsi adjusts to wedded bliss and a possibly crooked contractor, and the famed Clovis Andersen, author of No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’s manual, The Principles of Private Investigation, arrives in Botswana just in time to help.

“Part of the brilliance of this series (now in its thirteenth entry) is that what may seem like tiny cases expand into considerations of virtue, love, ambition, greed, and evil. And these meditations on life come as naturally as Precious looking up into the blue Botswana sky.” —Booklist Starred Review

Paperback, $14.95

Publisher: Anchor Books; ISBN: 9780307472991

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Oregon State University Baseball: Building a Legacy

Cliff Kirkpatrick

In the postseasons of 2005, 2006 and 2007, the Oregon State Beavers baseball team achieved a seemingly impossible dream and forever changed the culture of Northwest sports. After nearly a century of dismissal seasons as a wet-weather team, unable to compete with the southern baseball belt on the national stage, a run of three College World Series appearances and back-to-back titles earned the Beavers national respect. Inspired by his own coverage of the dramatic seasons, Corvallis Gazette-Times sportswriter Cliff Kirkpatrick recounts the program's rise to prominence and lasting legacy.

Meet the author at Grass Roots on April 25 at 7 p.m.!

Paperback, $19.99

Publisher: History Press; ISBN: 9781609498047

 
Featured Books for Young Readers

The Matchbox Diary

Paul Fleischman, Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Ages 5 to 9

When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home, she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather's diary, harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country, before he could read and write — the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn't enough food; a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game.

Hardcover, $16.99

Publisher: Candlewick Press; ISBN: 9780763646011

Art2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling: An Origami Yoda Activity Book

Tom Angleberger

Ages 8 to 12

Stick figures to the dark side only lead! To doodle like a Jedi you must learn! With this companion to the Origami Yoda series, author Tom Angleberger —with the help of the kids from McQuarrie Middle School —presents young Padawans with dozens of activities from the Star Wars universe. Padawans can learn how to fold R2-D2 and C-3PO, draw Jabba, and even build a fully functioning ChapStick rocket! May the doodles be with you!

Hardcover, $12.95

Publisher: Amulet Books; ISBN: 9781419705342

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Music

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Simone Dinnerstein & Tift Merritt

Night

Genre: Pop/Folk

This unexpected combination pairs an Americana songstress with an acclaimed classical pianist. Night features tunes from Merritt's songbook as well as standards from Billie Holiday, Henry Purcell, and more. ($11.95)

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Billy Bragg

Tooth & Nail

Genre: Pop/Folk

When Bragg was just starting out, he was an angry Brit spitting a folk-punk message of political inequality. Years down the road, his new album shows wisdom and nuance, reflecting on the lessons of time and mortality. ($14.95)

Kacey Musgraves

Same Trailer Different Park

Genre: Pop/Folk

At just 24 years old, this Texan has already been tagged as a songwriter who could change the face of mainstream country music. With a more progressive point of view and a sharp pen, Musgraves' first album has been praised by critics. ($10.95)

The Staves

Dead & Born & Grown

Genre: Pop/Folk

"Taking a cue from youthful folk revivalists like Laura Marling, Mountain Man, and the Pierces, Watford, England's The Staves blend the wistful cadences of classic British folk with breezy, Laurel Canyon-era Americana. The trio was formed in 2010 around the talents of sisters Emily, Jessica, and Camilla Staveley-Taylor." ($13.95)

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Low

The Invisible Way

Genre: Pop/Folk

The indie rock trio's tenth album in 20 years is produced by Wilco's Jeff Tweedy, who brings out a softer side of the band. In addition to a more intimate, acoustic sound, The Invisible Way finds member Mimi Parker carrying vocals on more tracks than ever. ($13.95)

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Anais Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer

Child Ballads

Genre: Pop/Folk

These "Child Ballads" can be traced back to a collection of 19th century English and Scottish folksongs from Francis James Child. Mitchell and Hamer trade vocals and instruments on a series of faithful recordings. ($12.95)

 
Events

Saturday, April 6 at 2 p.m.

Grass Roots Books & Music

227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis

Poetry Reading:

Tim Whitsel & Sarah Burant

We Say Ourselves and Verge

Kick off National Poetry Month at Grass Roots with a reading from two Eugene-area poets. Tim Whitsel and Sarah Burant both published their first collections last year. Stop by to hear these fresh voices.

Tim Whitsel grew up in northeastern Indiana, but came west as soon as he could. For six years Tim directed (or co-directed) Windfall, a monthly reading series at the Eugene Public Library. He lives on a 100-year floodplain northeast of Springfield, Oregon. We Say Ourselves is his first collection.

Sara Burant's favorite house-sitting clients are fellow poets because she can read from their ample libraries while taking care of their quirky pets. Her poems have appeared in Poetry East, Cloudbank, Prairie Schooner, and other journals. She makes her home in Eugene. Verge is her first collection.

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verge

Tuesday, April 9 at 7 p.m.

Grass Roots Books & Music

227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis

Steven E. Carpenter

Wildflowers of Bald Hill Meadows

Warmer weather and longer days mean wildflower season is just around the corner. Steve Carpenter returns to Grass Roots for a presentation that features the many wildflowers around Bald Hill Park in Corvallis. He is the author of two local wildflower guides: Wildflowers of Bald Hill Meadows, and Wildflowers of Marys Peak Meadows.

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Tuesday, April 16 at 7 p.m.

Grass Roots Books & Music

227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis

Poetry Reading:

Karen Holmberg

Axis Mundi: Poems

Corvallis poet Karen Holmberg will read from her second book of poems, Axis Mundi, winner of the John Ciardi Prize.

“Axis Mundi is a book made of elliptical fire and solid architectures. In these Linneaus-like lyric meditations, the adamantine grasp and the letting of the physical world form the balancing act of this spinning descent and ascension. We fall into the gaze of animals and insects, into mirrors, into this poet’s grounded aerial hunger and grief, teaching us what we know. Like the sweetbriar rose, whose name means both ‘wounds to heal’ and ‘poetry’, these poems are spun from both joy and dread. The result is sheer eloquence, both measured and wild - and a new poet’s voice that is unforgettable and utterly thrilling to encounter.” —Carol Muske-Dukes

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Upcoming Events

We have many more events coming up in the next few months! For a complete list of all of our upcoming events, please visit our website.

 
Community Events

Community Events

Darkside Cinema: Movies showing Mar. 22 to 28, showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.

  • West of Memphis –R: An examination of a failure of justice in the case against the West Memphis Three. A true-crime story that begins with a notorious murder case and grows into a chilling indictment of the American justice system.
  • Lincoln –PG-13: Lincoln offers proof of what magic can happen when an actor falls in love with his character. Because as great as Day-Lewis has been in his many parts, he has never seemed quite so smitten.
  • Zero Dark 30: The greatest manhunt in history. Guess how it ends?
  • Argo –R: Best Film of the Year Oscar!

Opportunities:

  • Call for Submissions, Campus Creature Census: The Spring Creek Project for Nature, Ideas, and the Written Word invites students, faculty, staff, and community members to participate in the Campus Creature Census at OSU. Prose, Field Guide Entries, Poetry, and Art submissions are all welcome. Register for the Census by April 15; submit your entry by May 1. Click here for complete details and guidelines.
  • Call for Submissions: For the summer 2013 issue of Oregon Humanities magazine, we want ideas, arguments, theories, and stories about "skin," as in: The one you're in. You have two chances to contribute to this discussion. Shorter responses (400 words) for our Posts section are due May 13. Visit their website to read the full call Posts submissions.
  • William Stafford Writing Contest: Teachers can mail submissions of their students’ work to Ooligan Press through April 2013. Selected student entries will be published in a book titled We Belong In History. The anthology will be released in January 2014 to help launch the yearlong celebration of William Stafford’s birth. Please visit the Contest website for additional information.
  • Poetry Marquee Submissions: The next time you are strolling along the Corvallis downtown waterfront, be sure to take a peek at the Madison Street side of the Great Harvest Bread building – you’ll be treated to periodically-rotating examples of local poetry.Submissions are being considered by The Arts Center of Corvallis for brief poems (a maximum of six lines) to appear on the Midway Theater marquee at the corner of Southwest First Street and Madison Avenue. Visit The Arts Center website for more information.
  • Inklings, an open critique group, is seeking new members. The group meets on 1st & 3rd Sundays from 11 am to 1 pm in the upstairs meeting room at Market of Choice on 9th Street and Circle Boulevard in Corvallis. Please contact Dinaz Rogers at [email protected] or 541-967-1911 if you have any questions.

Ticket Sales: Grass Roots sells tickets for local music events. Check our Community Calendar for upcoming events that we have available.

April 3-4, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

CH2M Hill Alumni Center, OSU

725 SW 26th Street, Corvallis

Grass Roots in the Community

Mindful Aging: 37th Annual Gerontology Conference

This two-day conference at Oregon State University will be held on April 3-4. The conference will feature workshops by leading geriatric professionals presenting current information for health and human services occupations in a wide variety of disciplines. This year’s keynote speakers are Eric Tangalos, MD, from the Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Research Center; Tarren Sterry, MS, from Visiting Nurse Service of New York Hospice Care; and Lawrence Scott Sherman, PhD, from Oregon Health and Science University Department of Cell and Developmental Biology Neuroscience Graduate Program. For more information and to register, please visit Conference website.

Books will be available to purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music.

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News

POETRY MONTH APPROACHETH!

April is fast approaching, and it’s bringing National Poetry Month with it! Celebrate your favorite literary art form with Grass Roots by signing up to receive our Poem-a-Day emails, join us in the store for one of our poetry readings, celebrate Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 18, and share a poem of your own at Community Poetry Night on April 30.

Poem-A-Day: We are offering to deliver a poem to your email every day in April! This year we are sharing the work of poets in our community, as well as personal favorites. If you’re a poet, please submit a poem to be included in our Poem-A-Day emails. Email your submissions to [email protected], use “Poem A Day” as your subject line, and include your name and a brief biographical sketch. This information should be brief—50 to 75 words. Deadline for submissions is March 29. Please note that not all submissions will be included as part of Poem-A-Day, and we cannot guarantee that your poem will be published.

Community Poetry Night: Another way to share your poem is at our 2nd Annual Community Poetry Night. It's an open mic night for the poetry lovers in our community to share their work, as well as the work of others that they admire. Stay tuned to the newsletter for more details in the future.

poetry

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Book Awards

PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: The PEN/Faulkner Foundation announced that Benjamin Alire S�enz is the winner of the 2013 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction earlier this week for his collection of short fiction, Everything Begins and Ends at the Kentucky Club. The prize honors the year’s best published works of fiction by American citizens. S�enz will join the other finalists for a reading on May 4 at the award ceremony at Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

 

 

Bancroft Prize: The winners of the 2013 Bancroft Prize for history are W. Jeffrey Bolster for The Mortal Sea: Fishing the Atlantic in the Age of Sail, and John Fabian Witt for Lincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American History. The Bancroft Prize is awarded annually by the trustees of Columbia University. Winners are judged in terms of the scope, significance, depth of research, and richness of interpretation they present in the areas of American history and diplomacy.

 

 

 

Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize: Marie Ponsot has won the 2013 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, sponsored by the Poetry Foundation and awarded each year to a living American poet "whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition."

Featured in the Store

Sample the Local Goodness: You already know there is a lot of locally-grown literary and musical talent, and that you can pick up the best titles at Grass Roots. Want to know more about our hometown favorites? Ne� has been doing her research; stop by the store and take a look at our roundup of local authors and musicians, and see what she discovered. From John Addiego, through Matt the Electrician, all the way down in the alphabet to Boyd Wilcox, you’ll find it here!

The Oregonian’s Readers Choice Award

Please vote for your favorite book by a 2013 Oregon Book Awards finalist. Nominees include Corvallis writers Katie Kacvinsky and Aria Minu-Sepehr! Voting ends Monday, April 1st at 5pm. The finalist with the most votes will be awarded the Oregonian's Readers' Choice Award at the awards ceremony on Monday, April 8, 2013 at The Gerding Theater.

 
This Week's Puzzle



Solve this week's jigsaw.
 
Reading Group Selection

Tuesday, April 2, 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Among Others

Jo Walton

Marissa leads our April discussion of Among Others, a Hugo- and Nebula-award winning fantasy. It’s the story of a young woman struggling to escape a troubled childhood, a brilliant diary of first encounters with the great novels of modern fantasy and science fiction, and a spellbinding tale of escape from ancient enchantment.

“Welsh teen Morwenna was badly hurt, and her twin sister killed, when the two foiled their abusive mother's spell work. Seeking refuge with a father she barely knows in England, Mori is shunted off to a grim boarding school. Mori works a spell to find kindred souls and soon meets a welcoming group of science fiction readers, but she can feel her mother looking for her, and this time Mori won't be able to escape.” —Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review

Publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 9780765331724

Paperback

Regular price: $14.99

On sale for $12.74 until April 2.

 

 

On Our Nightstands

Tami

The Coroner's Lunch

Colin Cotterill

This is the first in a series of nine books. They are set in Laos around the mid-1970s. Dr Siri Paiboun, 72, is the national coroner, actually the only coroner in the entire country. This is not a position he wanted, partly because he knows nothing about autopsies and also because after the war, he wanted a nice quiet retirement. However, he feels obligated. There are few trained professionals left in the country. Most fled during the war. These books are funny and irreverent with a host of well-written side characters. There's a bit of mysticism, too, as Siri sees the dead and they often move him closer to the mystery's solution.

Paperback, $14.00

Publisher: Soho Crime; ISBN: 9781569474181

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How to Clean a Hippopotamus: A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page

Symbiosis, the animal world equivalent to “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back”, is just too cool! How to Clean a Hippopotamus is a great introduction (age 6 and up) to many fascinating animal partnerships that both kids and adults will enjoy learning from. As you flip through pages of colorful cut paper illustrations you will learn about a nutty bird that happily cleans the teeth of crocodiles, a protective ant colony that safeguards the eggs of predatory birds, and a fish that acts as a seeing-eye-dog for a blind species of shrimp. I know. . . TOO COOL!

Paperback, $6.99

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; ISBN: 9780547994840

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Tiffany

Beautiful Ruins

Jess Walter

Ironic without being cynical, romantic without being sappy, Beautiful Ruins swept me away twice, first to a tiny Italian fishing village in the 1960’s and then to present-day Hollywood, following the fifty year trail of the missed love of an innkeeper’s son and an American actress. Along the way, author Jess Walter weaves in other stories of love lost and sometimes found, greed, redemption, and the nature of creativity. I kept wanting to read bits of the book aloud for the humor and skillful writing, and devoured the sweeping story practically without coming up for air.

The paperback release of Beautiful Ruins is scheduled for April 2.

Hardcover, $26.99

Publisher: Harper; ISBN: 9780061928123

 
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