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Grass Roots Books and Music
— 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668 |
| September 19, 2013 |
| Contents |
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Change is in the air. . .
Autumn is always a season of change, and this year that is especially true in our beloved bookstore. There are actually more new faces than familiar faces working behind the counter at Grass Roots these days, but that's a great thing. Fresh faces bring fresh ideas and new perspectives. I am handing over my comfortable seat editing the Grass Roots Reader after next week and eagerly making changes in my own life. Our new staff members are playing around with new Social Media avenues, reading like ferocious beasts, and getting down with the new music. It's all a lot to take in, but the transition will be a joyous one. There may be some bumps along the way, but we are all friends here and will help each other along. That part of Grass Roots will never change.
See you in the bookstore!
Pamela. |
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| Newest Books |
Bleeding Edge
Thomas Pynchon
It is 2001 in New York City, in the lull between the collapse of the dot-com boom and the terrible events of September 11. There may not be quite as much money around as there was at the height of the tech bubble, but there's no shortage of swindlers looking to grab a piece of what's left. Maxine Tarnow is running a nice little fraud investigation business, chasing down different kinds of small-scale con artists, until she starts looking into the finances of a computer-security firm and its billionaire geek CEO, whereupon things begin rapidly to jam onto the subway and head downtown. . .
Hardcover, $28.95
Publisher: Penguin Press; ISBN: 9781594204234 |
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Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist
Bill McKibben
Bill McKibben is not a person you'd expect to be handcuffed and behind bars, but that's where he found himself in the summer of 2011 after leading the largest civil disobedience in thirty years, protesting the Keystone XL pipeline in front of the White House. With the Arctic melting, the Midwest in drought, and Irene scouring the Atlantic, McKibben recognized that action was needed if solutions were to be found. This is McKibben's account of the two necessary and mutually reinforcing sides of the global climate fight—from the center of the maelstrom and from the growing hive of small-scale local answers. With empathy and passion he makes the case for commitment on both levels.
Hardcover, $26.00
Publisher: Times Books; ISBN: 9780805092844 |
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Still Foolin' 'em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys?
Billy Crystal
“If you've been paying attention for the last few decades, you're probably familiar with the career of Billy Crystal. . . Why, you might be wondering, do I need to read the book when I already know the guy? Here's one reason: the book is massively laugh-out-loud funny. . . Crystal, who turned 65 in March 2013, reflects on his life and career and the joys of aging, and the book has a lot of surprises . . . Hollywood memoirs don't come much more entertaining than this one, and the book reinforces one thing we've always known about Crystal: he's a genuinely funny, genuinely nice guy.” —Booklist
Hardcover, $28.00
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company; ISBN: 9780805098204 |
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Men We Reaped: A Memoir
Jesmyn Ward
In five years, Jesmyn Ward lost five young men in her life—to drugs, accidents, suicide, and the bad luck that can follow people who live in poverty, particularly black men. Dealing with these losses, one after another, made Jesmyn ask the question: Why? And as she began to write about the experience of living through all the dying, she realized the truth—and it took her breath away. Her brother and her friends all died because of who they were and where they were from, because they lived with a history of racism and economic struggle that fostered drug addiction and the dissolution of family and relationships.
Hardcover, $26.00
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; ISBN: 9781608195213 |
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The Fountain of St. James Court; Or, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman
Sena Jeter Naslund
How do writers and painters get their ideas, and what are the hard realities of such seemingly glamorous and romantic lives? New York Times bestselling author Naslund explores the transformative power of art, history, and love in the lives of creative women. In this, Naslund presents the reader with an eye-opening alternate vision of The Artist: not an angry young man but a woman of age and hard-won experience who has created for herself, against enormous odds, a fulfilling life of thoroughly realized achievement.
Hardcover, $26.99
Publisher: William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 9780061579325 |
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| New in Paperback |
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The Moth
Catherine Burns
In the tradition of book anthologies created from public radio programs such as StoryCorps and This I Believe, The Moth collects the best storytelling straight from their archive of more than 3,000 shows since the first Moth Evening in 1997. From James Braly's struggling with what to do when his three-year-old son wants a pink bicycle, to Dr. George Lombardi's flying to India to save Mother Theresa's life, to former U.S. Press Secretary Joe Lockhart's oversleeping after a long night in a Moscow bar and missing Air Force One on his first international trip, these 40 stories range from sublime to heartbreaking to hilarious.
Paperback, $15.99
Publisher: Hyperion Books; ISBN: 9781401311117 |
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Asunder
Chloe Aridjis
Marie's job as a guard at the National Gallery in London offers her the life she always wanted, one of invisibility and quiet contemplation. But amid the hushed corridors surge currents of history and violence, paintings whose power belies their own fragility. After nine years there, Marie begins to feel restless. A winter trip to Paris, brings the arrival of an uninvited guest and an unexpected encounter and tears open her carefully contained world.
Paperback, $13.95
Publisher: Mariner Books; ISBN: 9780544003460 |
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Bruce
Peter Ames Carlin
"This is a Bruce bio like no other. Carlin's dogged research, tough-minded prose, and above all, ability to draw out the previously private thoughts of almost everyone involved in this remarkable story combine to transform much of what we thought we knew about Bruce. Carlin's recounting of Springsteen's personal and professional struggles, and those of the members of the mighty E Street Band, make this a quintessential American story and one that will resonate, and inspire, as long as the music itself does." —Eric Alterman, author of It Ain't No Sin to Be Glad You're Alive: The Promise of Bruce Springsteen
Paperback, $18.00
Publisher: Touchstone Books; ISBN: 9781439191835 |
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A Hundred Flowers
Gail Tsukiyama
Chairman Mao made the “Hundred Flowers” proclamation in 1957, declaring a new openness in society at the start of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Shortly after, university professor Sheng Ying is dragged away by the police for writing a letter critical of the government, and sent to a labor camp for reeducation. His wife, son, and father are left behind, struggling to make sense of his absence, while facing their own guilty secrets and striving to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling.
Paperback, $15.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; ISBN: 9781250022547 |
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| Featured Books for Young Readers |
I'd Know You Anywhere, My Love
Nancy Tillman
Ages 3 to 7
“Young children adore pretending to be animals, and Tillman's insight into the wish to turn into another creature powers this book. The narrator . . . claims that infallible radar allows her to identify the child she loves no matter what animal form the child decides to adopt. . . Each verse subtly affirms an aspect of the child's appearance . . . and Tillman's silky, digitally painted spreads show the woman interacting in joyful and inventive ways with each animal: crouched in a field with a baby pig, ice skating with bear cubs, and dancing with blue-footed boobies. – Publishers Weekly
Hardcover, $17.99
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; ISBN: 9780312553685 |
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Fortunately, the Milk
Neil Gaiman
Ages 8 to 12
“The day starts out innocently enough: the young narrator and his sister discover there is nothing but OJ in the fridge and ask their dad to go to the corner store to save them from the tragedy of milk-less Toastios. When Dad belatedly returns, he spins a story about his return trip, wherein he was kidnapped by aliens, accidentally accessed the time/space continuum, journeyed with a talking stegosaurus in a hot-air balloon, escaped pirates, befriended sparkly ponies, and saved the universe from certain disaster, all while holding onto the all-important dairy product. . .” – Bulletin of Center for Child Books
Hardcover, $14.99
Publisher: HarperCollins; ISBN: 9780062224071 |
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Frozen (Heart of Dread #1)
Melissa de La Cruz and Michael Johnston
Young Adult
More than a century after a catastrophic disaster wiped out most of humanity and covered much of the earth with ice, New Vegas, a city once covered in bling is now blanketed in ice. Young blackjack dealer Nat is looking for a way out, and decides to embark on a dangerous journey to the mythical land, Blue. They say it's a paradise, where the sun still shines and the waters are turquoise. More importantly, it's a place where Nat won't be persecuted, even if her darkest secret comes to light. But passage to the Blue is treacherous, if not impossible, and her only shot is to bet on a ragtag crew of mercenaries.
Hardcover, $17.99
Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780399257544 |
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| Music |
Elvis Costello & The Roots
Wise Up Ghost and Other Songs
Genre: Pop/Folk
Elvis Costello began his career as an angry young punk. Since those early years, he has demonstrated his musical flexibility by collaborating with everyone from T-Bone Burnett to the Brodsky Quartet and Allen Toussaint. This new collection finds him working with the funk/soul/hip hop band The Roots. ($13.95) |
Jack Johnson
From Here to Now to You
Genre: Pop/Folk
Since his debut album more than a decade ago, Johnson has built a career on laid-back, groove-oriented folk-rock. From Here to Now to You injects a bit more pop into the equation, brightening his trademark surf sound. ($13.95) |
The Band of Heathens
Sunday Morning Record
Genre: Pop/Folk
This Austin, TX band has established a reputation as a stellar live band. Their sound is built on equal amounts Americana and New Orleans groove. This new studio record pares down the band to its two primary songwriters, and focuses increasingly on the subtleties of songwriting. ($14.95) |
The Gyuto Monks of Tibet
Chants: The Spirit of Tibet
Genre: World
The Gyuto Monks are renowned for their tradition of overtone singing. Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Tibetan Declaration of Independence, their new album mixes chant with Tibetan musicians and contemporary production. ($13.95) |
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| Events |
Saturday, Sept. 21,
3:30 to 7 p.m.
Downtown Corvallis
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Rhapsody in the Vineyard
Stop by Grass Roots Books & Music to sample wines from Capitello Wines during the Downtown Corvallis Association’s Rhapsody in the Vineyard event. The event features several Oregon wineries, offering samples of their finest vintages at participating downtown retailers. Drop in and tell us about your favorite tastings of the evening, and sample a wonderful wine while browsing our shelves. |
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Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Aimee Lyn Eaton
Collared: Politics and Personalities in Oregon's Wolf Country
Co-Sponsored by Oregon State University Press and Grass Roots Books & Music.
Collared tracks the events that unfolded when wolves from the reintroduced population of the northern Rocky Mountains dispersed west across state lines into Oregon. In a forthright and personal style, Aimee Lyn Eaton takes readers from meeting rooms in the state capitol to ranching communities in the rural northeast corner of the state. Using on-the-ground inquiry, field interviews, and extensive research, she documents the story of how wolves returned to Oregon and the repercussions of their presence in the state. |
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Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m.
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis |
Ian Doescher
William Shakespeare's Star Wars
Co-Sponsored by Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library and Grass Roots Books & Music
Worlds collide in Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare's Star Wars. The author joins us this afternoon to read from and discuss his Shakespearean rendition of Star Wars, followed by a book signing.
Return once more to a galaxy far, far away with this sublime retelling of George Lucas's epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare's greatest plays. 'Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearsome Stormtroopers, signifying. . . pretty much everything. |
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Saturday, Oct. 19 at 2 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Poetry Reading
John Sibley Williams, with Guest Reader
Sam Roderick Roxas-Chua
Grass Roots Books & Music will be hosting two renowned Northwest poets for a reading and book launch. Both writers and literary community leaders, John Sibley Williams (Portland) will be launching his latest collection, Controlled Hallucinations, alongside Fawn Language author Sam Roderick Roxas-Chua (Eugene). |
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| Community Events |
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Community Events
Darkside Cinema: Movies showing Sept. 20 to 26, showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.
- In A World. . . –R: A funny, well-written screwball satire for film buffs, In a World. . . proves an auspicious beginning for writer, director, and star Lake Bell. “Savvy, screwball, feminist comedy gem.”
- Austenland – PG-13: A romantic comedy about a 30-something woman whose lifelong obsession with all things Jane Austen lead her to an eccentric theme park based on the author's writings.
- Blue Jasmine –PG-13: Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine finds the director in peak late-period form — and benefiting from a superb cast led by Cate Blanchett.
- The Way, Way Back –PG-13: Steve Carell, Sam Rockwell. What else do you need?
Literary Events: Visit our Community Calendar for details on these events and others in the area.
- UN International Day of Peace celebration, An afternoon of Poetry: Saturday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m., Church of the Good Samaritan, Corvallis.
- Nye Beach Writers’ Series presents Keith Scribner, The Oregon Experiment: Saturday, Sept. 21, 7 p.m., Newport Visual Arts Center, Newport.
- Oregon Book Awards Author Tour presents Brian Doyle: Sunday, Sept. 22, 2 p.m., Eugene Public Library, Eugene.
Opportunities:
- Call for Submissions: Ooligan Press seeks creative nonfiction and personal essays from LGBTQ writers of the Pacific Northwest for the anthology More than Marriage (working title), edited by Carter Sickels. Deadline: November 15, 2013. For more information, please visit the Ooligan Press website.
- 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 drogersor@msn.com 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. |
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Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m.
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
645 NW Monroe Ave., Corvallis |
Author Event
Paul Bogard
The End of Night, Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light
The Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word welcomes Paul Bogard back to Corvallis.
A starry night is one of nature's most magical wonders. Yet in our artificially lit world, three-quarters of Americans' eyes never switch to night vision and most of us no longer experience true darkness. In The End of Night, Paul Bogard restores our awareness of the spectacularly primal, wildly dark night sky and how it has influenced the human experience across everything from science to art.
Grass Roots Books & Music will have books available for purchase at this event. |
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Friday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Location TBD |
OSU Visiting Writers Series
Nick Flynn
The Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by the OSU MFA Program.
Nick Flynn is the author of three memoirs: The Reenactments, The Ticking is the Bomb: A Memoir of Bewilderment, and Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, which won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for the Art of the Memoir. He is also the author of three books of poetry. He has been awarded fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The Library of Congress, The Amy Lowell Trust, and The Fine Arts Work Center. Some of the venues his poems, essays and non-fiction have appeared in include The New Yorker, the Paris Review, National Public Radio’s This American Life, and The New York Times Book Review.
All events are free and open to the public and followed by a Q & A and book signing. Grass Roots Books & Music will have books available to purchase at the event. |
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| News |
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Book Awards
Academy of American Poets Prizes: The Academy of American Poets announced the winners of its annual series of poetry prizes last week. This year over $200,000 was awarded to poets at various stages of their careers. This year’s winners include:
- Wallace Stevens Award, for outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry: Philip Levine
- Academy of American Poets Fellowship, for distinguished poetic achievement: Carolyn Forché
- Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, for the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous year: Patricia Smith, Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah
- James Laughlin Award, for an outstanding second book of poetry: Jillian Weise, The Book of Goodbyes
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Featured in the Store
Welcome Maddy! This week we have another new bookseller to introduce you to. Maddy will be taking over as the editor of the Grass Roots Reader in October, and of course she loves books!
Madeleine Moum, or Maddy, graduated this past June from the University of Oregon with a B.A. in English and minors in Creative Writing and music. Find out more about her, and what she likes to read, on our website. (And stop into the store to say hello!) |
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eBook Specials
Fill up your favorite electronic reading device with Kobo eBooks purchased through Grass Roots. To make it even easier, publishers offer discounts on select titles. Find your next book here! |
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| This Week's Puzzle |
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| Reading Group Selection |
Tuesday, Oct. 1, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
Jan-Philipp Sendker
Kendall leads her first Reading Group discussion with The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker. A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present, as a young woman from New York journeys to a small village in search of her missing father.
“Sendker's debut is a lush tale of romance and family set in mid-twentieth-century Burma. Four years after her father mysteriously disappeared, Julia Win traces him to the small town of Kalaw after finding a love letter among his possessions addressed to a woman named Mi Mi. In Kalaw, an old man named U Ba approaches her, promising to tell her the story of her father's life before he came to New York and met her mother. . . A beautiful tale bound to enchant readers on this side of the Atlantic.” –Booklist |
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Publisher: Other Press
ISBN: 9781590514634
Paperback
Regular price: $14.95
On sale for $12.70 until Oct. 1.
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On Our Nightstands |
 Pamela
Yes, Chef
Marcus Samuelsson
Marcus Samuelsson is a frequent personality on Food Network these days. He’s dapper and cool, and I sometimes forget that he’s a chef, but when you do watch him cook he is a wizard with flavors. Reading his memoir gave me a greater understanding of his background (an Ethiopian orphan adopted by a family in Sweden), his culinary curiosity, his adventurous palate, and his fascinating story. He talks about challenges he faced—racism growing up and in professional kitchens, his personal life—but doesn’t bog down the book with woe. He is full of wonder, and his book is a must-read for anyone with an interest in professional cooking.
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Random House Trade; ISBN: 9780385342612 |
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Tiffany
The Rage
Gene Kerrigan
Post-recession Ireland still struggles to regain its financial footing and recover from the lingering scandals of Catholic Church abuse as hoodlum Vincent Naylor and his brother Noel plan a heist which goes terribly wrong. In the aftermath, Vincent sets out on a vengeful killing spree while Det. Sgt. Bob Tidey tries to stop him. (I don’t read mysteries that are too graphically violent, and Kerrigan manages to convey the violence without describing it in detail.) Intricately plotted, gritty, and morally complicated, The Rage rightfully won Britain’s CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel of the Year.
Paperback, $17.00
Publisher: Europa Editions; ISBN: 9781609450922 |
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Neé
The Sound and the Furry
Spencer Quinn
This was my first time with Chet and Bernie. For some of you, this is your sixth case with the dynamic duo – and now I see why! This book is easy to pick-up without reading the others, and the characters are richly developed almost immediately. Bernie is a detective full of rough humor, raw emotions, and smarts. Chet is our lovable narrator, who enjoys the little things in life and uses his powerful nose to sniff out clues. (Oh, did I mention Chet is a dog?) The mystery and suspense are well crafted, but the most memorable experience was seeing the world through Chet’s eyes!
Hardcover, $25.00
Publisher: Atria Books; ISBN: 9781476703220 |
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