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Holiday Hours
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|  Independence Day Hours Thursday, July 4 11 a.m. to 4-ish p.m. |
Dizzy days at Grass Roots!
There is so much new at Grass Roots this month, it makes me kind of dizzy. There are fond farewells, joyful welcomes, events to keep July hopping, and good heavens I can barely keep track. . .
We were sad to say goodbye to two wonderful employees at the end of June. Gabrielle is leaving to start grad school, and Marissa is getting married later this month and moving on to different opportunities. We wish them both the best of luck in their golden futures!
All news is not sad. We are delighted to welcome Susan to our family of booksellers; you'll be hearing a little more from her in the next week or two. Stop by the store, introduce yourself, and talk books!
Don't know what to do with yourself the rest of the month? You can always go on the hunt for Waldo! Children and adults have already discovered this fun activity and our striped-shirted friend throughout downtown. Come into the store for a passport and spend a day visiting some of our favorite neighbors while you search for Waldo. Stickers, coupons for Waldo books, and other prizes may be in your future. . .
Local poet Charles Goodrich recently released a new collection, and we are thrilled to be hosting a book launch and reading on July 11 at the Troubadour Music Center down the street. He will be joined by fellow poet Gary Lark; I'm looking forward to this wonderful evening of poetry, and I hope you are too!
Oh, and I'm back! I've returned from two weeks off rested up and with a new last name. Do not fear, I am still the same cheesy-book loving fiend you know. See you in the bookstore!
Pamela.
P.S.: The full format newsletter returns next week!
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| New Books | |
Whistling Past the Graveyard
Susan Crandall |  Nine-year-old spitfire and runaway Starla Claudelle sets out for Nashville in search of her mother Lulu, who left years ago to become a famous singer. The South is on the brink of the civil rights movement, and Mamie, Starla's strict grandmother, has been the closest thing to family she's had growing up. But sassy Starla has high hopes for meeting her momma again, and having the family she's always dreamed of. Walking a lonely country road, she accepts a ride from Eula, a black woman traveling with a white baby - embarking on a trip that will change Starla's life forever. Fiction Hardcover; $24.99 Publisher: Gallery Books; ISBN: 9781476707723 |
Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain
Patricia Churchland
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 "That the human mind is an entirely material entity has implications both unsettling and rich, according to this fascinating excursion into neuroscience and philosophy. Churchland. . . presents a tour of cutting-edge brain research that grounds consciousness, personality, thoughts and feelings in neural structures, electrochemical signaling, hormones, and unconscious information processing. She applies these findings to some of philosophy's great moral, ontological, and metaphysical questions, asking how genetic and environmental influences affect violence and criminality, how altruism evolved in our mammalian forebears, how hormones and brain structure might determine sexuality, and how our sense of self and not-self emerges from the brain's internal communications." - Publishers Weekly Non-fiction
Hardcover; $26.95
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 9780393058321
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A Scripture of Crows
Charles Goodrich
|  "Charles Goodrich here writes a manifesto for world change one compact epiphany at a time. Administrator of local discoveries, he names himself a 'commonist,' loyal to the local, to the democracy of creatures, to the light, keen blade of the language opening the envelope of our sleep. . . These poems are a restorative in their deft humor and quiet promise. They will change your days, if not your life." -Kim Stafford Celebrate the release of this local poet's newest book with Grass Roots at the Troubadour Music Center on July 11 at 7 p.m. He will be joined by fellow Oregon poet Gary Lark, reading from his new release, Without a Map. Poetry Paperback; $16.00 Publisher: Silverfish Review Press; ISBN: 9781878851635 |
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New in Paperback
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Little Century
Anna Keesey
|  "The title refers to a little town in the midst of the vastness of Oregon, where at the turn of the 20th century, sheepmen and cattlemen vie for grazing territory as well as for the love of 18-year-old Esther Chambers. Recently orphaned, Esther travels from Chicago in search of Ferris 'Pick' Pickett, a distant relative, [and] finds out that if she can live in [his homestead]. . . she can claim it as her own. Keesey introduces us to a large cast of Oregonians here. . . and examines the ferocity of frontier life with an unromantic and penetrating gaze." - Kirkus Reviews Fiction Paperback; $16.00 Publisher: Picador USA ; ISBN: 9781250033369 |
Back to Blood
Tom Wolfe
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 Tom Wolfe casts his satirical eye over Miami, offering a big, panoramic story of the new America. (While one of his characters declares that Miami is not America.) It begins with police officer Nestor Camacho speeding across Biscayne Bay, into the feverous landscape of the city populated by a modern melting pot: the Cuban mayor, the black police chief, an Anglo sex-addiction therapist and his Latina nurse, a light-skinned young woman from Haiti and her Creole-spouting little brother, Jewish retirees, and a shady bunch of Russians. "Within a masterfully strategized plot, Wolfe works his sardonic mojo to mock both prejudice and decadence and demolish the art world, reality TV, tawdry fame, and journalism in the digital age. . . [This] is a shrewd, riling, and exciting tale of a volatile, divisive, sun-seared city where everybody hates everybody." -Booklist Starred Review Fiction
Paperback; $18.00
Publisher: Back Bay Books; ISBN: 9780316036337
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The Uncommon Appeal of Clouds: An Isabel Dalhousie Novel
Alexander McCall Smith
|  "In Smith's delightful ninth novel featuring Isabel Dalhousie, Isabel, 'somebody who sorts out people's difficulties when she's not editing the Review of Applied Ethics,' assists a wealthy Scottish gentleman, Duncan Munrowe, with a tricky situation. One of Munrowe's favorite paintings, a Poussin, has been stolen, and he wants her help in dealing with the thieves (there's talk of a ransom). . . The almost too-good-to-be-true Isabel does her usual thing -talking, listening, and puzzling through the ethical implications of things -to bring about a fitting, and just, resolution." -Publishers Weekly Fiction Paperback; $14.95 Publisher: Anchor Books; ISBN: 9780307949233 | |
Sweet Tooth
Ian McEwan
|  "With grace, assurance, and credibility, McEwan assumes a female persona in this first-person remembrance, narrated from the vantage of 40 years later. Serena Frome is a smart, attractive, Cambridge-educated young woman who is recruited by her older lover for the MI5 intelligence agency. She is slotted into a secret program called Sweet Tooth, designed to cultivate writers likely to produce novels ideologically in tune with the government. Spydom is, of course, fraught with betrayal, and Serena is not immune to that common pitfall." -Booklist Starred Review Fiction Paperback; $15.95 Publisher: Anchor Books ; ISBN: 9780345803450 | |
The Beautiful Mystery: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
Louise Penny
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 "Penny's (A Trick of the Light) eighth elegant entry in her Agatha Award-winning series is a locked-room mystery set in a remote monastery deep in the wilderness of northern Quebec. There are 24 cloistered monks. One is dead. There are only 23 suspects. The monks have taken a vow of silence, except that they made the most beautiful recording of Gregorian chant ever heard. And it caused a schism. And then a murder. Chief Inspector Gamache and Jean-Guy Beauvoir of the Surete du Quebec come to investigate the murder and the difficulties in this formerly peaceful order that caused it." -Library Journal Starred Review Fiction
Paperback; $15.99
Publisher: Minotaur Books; ISBN:9781250031129
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New for Young Readers
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Penguin on Vacation
Salina Yoon
Ages 3 to 6
|  "Penguin is tired of snow. Yearning for something exciting, he decides to head for a sandy beach. . . But this new adventure isn't quite what he expected. He can't ski or sled or even skate on sand. When a curious red crab sees Penguin's distress, he asks, 'Are you lost?' 'No, I'm on vacation,' says the frustrated and bewildered bird. Crab takes Penguin under his claw and shows him the ropes. The joys of the beach become clear to Penguin with Crab's friendship, as they play the sunny days away together." - Kirkus Reviews Fiction Hardcover; $14.99 Publisher: Walker Childrens ; ISBN: 9780802733979 |
The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell
Chris Colfer
Ages 8 to 12
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Alex and Conner are twins with different views on the beloved fairy tales their recently deceased father used to share with them; Alex is enraptured by the stories, while Conner thinks the characters lack commonsense. For their twelfth birthday, their grandmother gives them an enchanted book that sends them hurtling into the Land of Stories, where the "happy endings" they're familiar with are never the actual ending of the story. In a land of well-known characters in unexpected situations, the biggest challenge is collecting items for the Wishing Spell that will return them home-if the Evil Queen doesn't get them first.
Fiction
Paperback; $8.00
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; ISBN: 9780316201568
| | The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book 1
Jasper Fforde
Ages 10 to 14
|  "In this start to the Chronicles of Kazam series, magic has been steadily weakening for years in the United Kingdom. Once sorcerers had the ear of the king, but now the best they can do is levitate a carpet just enough to deliver pizza. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange has run Kazam Mystic Arts Management ever since her beloved boss, the Great Zambini, disappeared. It's been tough to keep the part employment agency, part enchanter retirement home running. Then magicians start seeing visions of the death of the last dragon, and to her astonishment, Jennifer learns that she is the last dragonslayer. Her duty, though, is anything but clear." -Booklist Paperback; $7.99 Publisher: Graphia Books; ISBN: 9780544104716 |
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| Store Events |
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Thursday, July 11 at 7 p.m.
Poetry Reading and Book Launch Charles Goodrich & Gary Lark Troubadour Music Center 521 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis Join Grass Roots Books & Music to celebrate poetry and the new releases of Charles Goodrich and Gary Lark. |  Charles Goodrich's newest collection of poetry is A Scripture of Crows from Silverfish Review Press. Kim Stafford says: "Charles Goodrich here writes a manifesto for world change one compact epiphany at a time. Administrator of local discoveries, he names himself a 'commonist,' loyal to the local, to the democracy of creatures, to the light, keen blade of the language opening the envelope of our sleep... These poems are a restorative in their deft humor and quiet promise. They will change your days, if not your life." Goodrich serves as Director for the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word at Oregon State University.
 Gary Lark's newest collection of poetry is Without a Map from Wellstone Press. Maxine Scates says: "In poem after compelling poem, Lark gives voice to lives which all too often go unheard, lives lived in rural towns, trailer courts and farm houses on the back roads, places where he has grown up, lived and worked, listening all along to the stories that truly matter: what it means to lose a job, and what it means to have one; what it means to fight in wars whose memory never leaves and what it means to be lost then found again." He worked for the Corvallis-Benton County Library for eleven years, and now lives with his wife Dorothy in Oregon's Rogue valley.
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Find Waldo in Corvallis!
July 1-31
Throughout Downtown Corvallis
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Waldo is returning to Corvallis this summer! Where is he hiding? All over downtown, and it's your challenge to find him!
Grass Roots Books & Music is hosting a month-long scavenger hunt to Find Waldo through downtown Corvallis in July. The famous children's book character in the striped shirt and black-rimmed specs is visiting twenty-five different local businesses throughout our community this July. Those who spot him can win prizes, including stickers, book coupons and more. From Soft Star Shoes to Great Harvest Bakery, from The Drawing Board to Sedlak's Boots & Shoes, Waldo figures are showing up throughout downtown Corvallis.
Stop by the store to begin your search, or visit our website for a list of participating businesses and more information.
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Store News
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Kobo Mini Summer Sale
|  Planning on summer travel but your reading list is too big to fit in your suitcase? It's a great time to buy a Kobo Mini eReader! June 19 to July 18 only it is available at the low price of $39.99. Come into the store, see the Kobo Mini in action, and pick one up. The Kobo Mini offers portability as the world's smallest, lightest, full-featured** eReader - it easily fits in your pocket, purse, or carry-on luggage. Don't forget -- when you create a Kobo account through Grass Roots, every eBook you purchase at KoboBooks.com supports your local bookstore. Visit our website for more information. *Limited to stock on hand and prepaid special orders. Kobo eReaders are not available for purchase online. Please come into the store for availability or call 541-754-7668. **Full-featured is defined as having a touchscreen, WiFi connectivity, and a suite of advanced reading features. |
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Grass Roots Reading Group
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Tuesday, August 6, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
Jonathan Evison
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis
|  Pamela leads August's literary road trip with The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison, winner of the 2013 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award. Following a family tragedy, Benjamin Benjamin is left with little in the world, so he enrolls in a class called the Fundamentals of Caregiving to prepare himself for a new profession. He quickly learns that the class provided little that is actually helpful when he is assigned to Trevor, a 19-year-old in the advanced stages of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The job gives Benjamin a renewed sense of purpose to his life, and the unlikely pair soon set off on a cross country road trip to see Trev's estranged father, visiting can't-miss roadside attractions, picking up hitchhikers, and being pursued by a mysterious Buick Skylark.
Paperback; $14.95 Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill; ISBN: 9781616203153
On sale for $12.71 until Aug. 6, 1013. |
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Grass Roots Books and Music
227 SW 2nd Street
Corvallis OR 97333
541-754-7668
Send us an email. Visit our website: www.grassrootsbookstore.com 
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