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Grass Roots Books and Music
— 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668 |
| October 3, 2013 |
| Contents |
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We did say there'd be growing pains, didn't we? Please excuse any editorial or design flaws this week. And sincere apologies for the absence of a jigsaw puzzle. We appreciate your patience and understanding! |
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| Newest Books |
Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2: The Complete and Authoritative Edition
Mark Twain
“The great American author, aided by his scholarly editors, continues to spin out a great yarn covering his long life. . . . Twain emerges as an unflinching social critic with a long list of targets, including the robber barons of his day and imperialist militarists like Leonard Wood. Twain is, as ever, a sharply honed and contrarian wit, as quick to lampoon himself as anyone else. Twain admirers will find this volume indispensable and will eagerly await the third volume.” – Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
Hardcover, $45.00
Publisher: University of California Press; ISBN: 9780520272781 |
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The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert
“The author of the phenomenally successful memoir Eat, Pray, Love returns to fiction with her first novel in 13 years. . . [She] tells the rich, highly satisfying story of scholar Alma Whittaker. Born to Henry Whittaker, the richest man in Philadelphia, who rose from his station as the son of a lowly gardener to an import tycoon, Alma has the benefit of wealth and books. . . but her plain appearance and erudition seem to foretell a lonely life until she meets gifted artist Ambrose Pike. . . Gilbert, in supreme command of her material, effortlessly invokes the questing spirit of the nineteenth century, when amateur explorers, naturalists, and enthusiasts were making major contributions to progress.” – Booklist Starred Review
Hardcover, $28.95
Publisher: Viking Books; ISBN: 9780670024858 |
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David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants
Malcolm Gladwell
David and Goliath challenges how we think about obstacles and disadvantages, offering a new interpretation of what it means to be discriminated against, or cope with a disability, or lose a parent, or attend a mediocre school, or suffer from any number of other apparent setbacks, demonstrating how much of what is beautiful and important in the world arises from what looks like suffering and adversity. In the tradition of Gladwell's previous bestsellers—The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, and What the Dog Saw—David and Goliath draws upon history, psychology, and powerful storytelling to reshape the way we think of the world around us.
Hardcover, $29.00
Publisher: Little Brown and Company; ISBN: 9780316204361 |
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The Rosie Project
Graeme Simsion
Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept genetics professor, decides it’s time he found a wife. In his orderly manner, Don designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a sixteen-page, scientific survey to filter out the drinkers, the smokers, the late arrivers.
Rosie Jarman is all these things. She also is strangely beguiling, fiery, and intelligent. And while Don quickly disqualifies her as a candidate for the Wife Project, as a DNA expert Don is particularly suited to help Rosie on her own quest: identifying her biological father. When an unlikely relationship develops, Don is forced to confront the realization that, despite your best scientific efforts, you don’t find love, it finds you.
Hardcover, $24.00
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 9781476729084 |
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| New in Paperback |
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In Sunlight and in Shadow
Mark Helprin
In the summer of 1946, New York City pulses with energy. Harry Copeland, a World War II veteran, has returned home to run the family business. Yet his life is upended by a single encounter with the young singer and heiress Catherine Thomas Hale, as each falls for the other in an instant. They pursue one another in a romance played out in Broadway theaters, Long Island mansions, the offices of financiers, and the haunts of gangsters. Catherine's choice of Harry over her longtime fiancé endangers Harry's livelihood and threatens his life. In the end, Harry must summon the strength of his wartime experience to fight for Catherine, and risk everything.
Paperback, $15.95
Publisher: Mariner Books; ISBN: 9780544102606 |
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Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity
Andrew Solomon
Solomon’s startling proposition is that being exceptional is at the core of the human condition—that difference is what unites us. All parenting turns on a crucial question: to what extent should parents accept their children for who they are, and to what extent should they help them become their best selves. Drawing on ten years of research and interviews with more than three hundred families, Solomon mines the eloquence of ordinary people facing extreme challenges.
Elegantly reported by a spectacularly original and compassionate thinker, Far from the Tree explores how people who love each other must struggle to accept each other—a theme in every family’s life.
Paperback, $21.50
Publisher: Scribner Book Company; ISBN: 9780743236720 |
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Boleto
Alyson Hagy
Will Testerman is a young Wyoming horse trainer determined to make something of himself. Money is tight at the family ranch, where he's living again after a disastrous end to his job on the Texas show-horse circuit. He sees his chance with a beautiful quarter horse, a filly that might earn him a reputation, and spends his savings to buy her. Armed with stories and the confidence of youth, he devotes himself to her training in a variety of settings. The novel explores our intimate relationships with animals and money, against the backdrop of a new West that is changing forever.
Paperback, $15.00
Publisher: Graywolf Press; ISBN: 9781555976637 |
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The Time Keeper
Mitch Albom
BlurbFrom the author who's inspired millions worldwide with books like Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven comes a fable about the first man on Earth to count the hours, the man who became Father Time. After being punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift, Father Time returns to Earth along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time. The fable invites readers to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it, and how precious it is.
Paperback, $14.99
Publisher: Hyperion Books; ISBN: 9781401312855 |
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| Featured Books for Young Readers |
Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses
Kimberly and James Dean
Ages 4 to 8
Pete the Cat is back in New York Times bestselling artist James Dean's picture book Pete the Cat and His Magic Sunglasses, written by Kimberly Dean. Pete the Cat wakes up feeling grumpy—nothing seems to be going his way. But with the help of some magic sunglasses, Pete learns that a good mood has been inside him all along.
Hardcover, $17.99
Publisher: HarperCollins; ISBN: 9780062275561 |
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Mr. Wuffles!
David Wiesner
Ages 4 to 8
In a near wordless masterpiece that could only have been devised by David Wiesner, a cat named Mr. Wuffles doesn't care about toy mice or toy goldfish. He's much more interested in playing with a little spaceship full of actual aliens—but the ship wasn't designed for this kind of rough treatment. Between motion sickness and damaged equipment, the aliens are in deep trouble.
When the space visitors dodge the cat and take shelter behind the radiator to repair the damage, they make a host of insect friends. The result? A humorous exploration of cooperation between aliens and insects, and of the universal nature of communication involving symbols, "cave" paintings, and gestures of friendship.
Hardcover, $17.99
Publisher: Clarion Books; ISBN: 9780618756612 |
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The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two
Catherynne M. Valente
Ages 10 to 14
"One of the most extraordinary works of fantasy, for adults or children, published so far this century." —Time magazine, on the Fairyland series
September misses Fairyland and her friends Ell, the Wyverary, and the boy Saturday. She longs to leave the routines of home and embark on a new adventure. Little does she know that this time, she will be spirited away to the moon, reunited with her friends, and find herself faced with saving Fairyland from a moon-Yeti with great and mysterious powers.
Hardcover, $16.99
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; ISBN: 9781250023506 |
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The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There
Catherynne M. Valente
(New in Paperback)
Ages 10 to 14
September has longed to return to Fairyland after her first adventure there. And when she finally does, she learns that its inhabitants have been losing their shadows—and their magic—to the world of Fairyland Below. This underworld has a new ruler: Halloween, the Hollow Queen, who is September's shadow. And Halloween does not want to give Fairyland's shadows back.
Paperback, $7.99
Publisher: Square Fish; ISBN: 9781250034120 |
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| Music |
The Blind Boys of Alabama
I'll Find a Way
Genre: Pop/Folk
The Blind Boys of Alabama have been performing in one form or another since 1939. Their recent albums have seen them pairing their traditional gospel with a more contemporary lineup. Produced by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, I'll Find a Way pairs them with Elvis Costello, Merril Garbus, My Brightest Diamond, and more.
($11.95) |
Blitzen Trapper
VII
Genre: Pop/Folk
From Portland, Blitzen Trapper's seventh album pulls together sonic elements from throughout their career. VII features bits of country-rock, indie pop, glam-rock and more.
($13.95) |
Dr. Dog
B-Room
Genre: Pop/Folk
Dr. Dog began their career as a Philadelphia band playing lo-fi indie rock. Their new collection seeks a more natural, soulful sound. Towards that end, the songs were largely recorded live to tape.
($15.95) |
Wood Brothers
Muse
Genre: Pop/Folk
Wood Brothers began as a one-time project between Chris and Oliver Wood. The success of that first collaboration has led to several albums blending Americana, jam-band sounds, jazz and blues. Muse is produced by Buddy Miller.
($12.95) |
Dwight Yoakam
21st Century Hits: Best of 2000-2012
Genre: Pop/Folk
After three decades playing his Bakersfield country songs, Yoakam was recognized this month as Americana Artist of the Year. This new collection takes a look at tunes from his more recent releases.
($15.95) |
Although we specialize in
new releases, Grass Roots can usually get you any album that's still available.
Ask at the the store! |
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| Events |
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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Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Poetry Reading
Ann Staley, with Steve Jones
Enjoy an evening of poetry at Grass Roots to celebrate the release of Ann Staley’s new poetry collection. She will be joined by her friend and fellow poet Steve Jones. |
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Monday, Oct. 28 at Noon
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Author Signing
Marilyn Morton
Haunted Independence, Oregon
Marilyn Morton, founder and chair of the annual Ghost Walk in Independence, joins us at Grass Roots to meet readers and sign copies of her new book, Haunted Independence, Oregon.
In her book, Morton introduces the spirits of Independence, OR, who whisper to passersby and tickle the spines of the curious. A young woman who threw herself from a window upon learning of her lover's death. . . Patients who underwent crude surgeries a century past and whose quiet moans linger on. . . A mysterious skeleton uncovered by a local business owner in the shadowy recesses of an attic. . . A doll that inexplicably relocates to different parts of the local museum at night. . . Mischievous or downright chilling, the ghosts of Independence offer a doorway to the city's colorful past. |
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| Community Events |
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Community Events
Darkside Cinema: Movies showing Oct. 4 to 10, showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.
- LEE DANIEL’S: THE BUTLER –R: Forest Whitaker stars with Robin Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber.
- THE SPECTACULAR NOW –R: Ponsoldt has created a coming-of-age movie that won't leave you rolling your eyes.
- TOUCHY FEELY –R: “Why white people are annoying.” Ellen Page
- IN A WORLD –R: “Savvy, screwball, feminist comedy gem.”
- BLUE JASMINE –PG-13: Woody Allen directs a superb cast led by Cate Blanchett.
Literary Events: Visit our Community Calendar for details on these events and others in the area.
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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Friday, Oct. 25
Music at 6:30,
Reading at 7 p.m.
Whiteside Theater
361 SW Madison Ave., Corvallis |
The Magic Barrel: A Reading to Fight Hunger
The Magic Barrel: A Reading to Fight Hunger rolls again this year to raise funds for the Linn Benton Food Share. The liveliest literary event of the year features a dazzling lineup, led by this year’s emcee, National Book Award winner Barry Lopez. This year’s readers are Robert Crum, Matthew Dickman, Henry Hughes, Lauren Kessler, Wendy Madar, Elena Passarello, Gina Ochsner, Susan Jackson Rodgers, and Joe Wilkins. Blues musicians Dave Plaehn and Jeff Hino will perform starting at 6:30 p.m., and again during intermission and after the event. The readings will start a 7 p.m.
For the second year in a row, The Magic Barrel will be held in the historic Whiteside Theatre, a 1920s Italian Renaissance movie palace in downtown Corvallis under restoration. A reception will feature free hors d’oeuvres and sweets as well as wine from Miracle Winery. There will be a silent auction of a beautiful intaglio print donated by award-winning artist and OSU professor Yuji Hiratsuka, entitled Fruit Handlers. Authors will greet listeners and sign books, which will be available for purchase from Grass Roots Books and Music.
Admission is a suggested donation of $9 at the door, but listeners are encouraged to give what they can. Nobody is turned away for lack of funds. All proceeds will go to Linn Benton Food Share to fight hunger in the Corvallis-Albany community. Last year’s event raised more than $5,000 for the food bank.
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| News |
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Nominate Grass Roots for a Top of the Valley Readers Choice Award!
Nominations are now open for the 2013 Top of the Valley awards, sponsored by the Corvallis Gazette-Times and the Albany Democrat-Herald. People can nominate the best in a broad range of 76 subcategories—within Top Bites, Top Shops, Top Nightlife, Top Places or Top Honors—before Oct. 7. The top three in each category will be eligible to win, based on voting between Oct. 11 and Oct. 27. Winners will be announced on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28. Let everyone know about your favorite bookstore by nominating Grass Roots Books & Music! Visit the Top of the Valley 2013 Readers Choice website to nominate your favorites today!
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Book Award
Stone Award: Acclaimed author Tobias Wolff is the second winner of Oregon State University’s Stone Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement. The biennial award is given to a major American author who has created a body of critically acclaimed work and who has—in the tradition of creative writing at OSU—mentored young writers. Wolff will be presented with the Stone Award at the Portland Art Museum on May 21, and will visit the Oregon State campus in Corvallis on May 22 to give a public reading. In the spring, OSU Master of Fine Arts program students will lead “Everybody Reads” programs featuring a selected book by Wolff, with events at libraries, book clubs, and independent bookstores.
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Grass Roots Bestsellers
The bestselling books at Grass Roots for the month were. . . an interesting mix. Want to know more? Here are the reports:
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| Reading Group Selection |
Tuesday, Nov. 5, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The Orchardist
Amanda Coplin
Tiffany leads the exploration of this month’s book, The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin.
A reclusive farmer’s lonely harmony in the rural Pacific Northwest is disrupted when two pregnant teenage girls steal his fruit at the market. When he doesn’t give chase, they appear at his farm seeking sanctuary from the armed men who hunt them. The man is forced to spontaneously open his heart and jeopardize his own sheltered safety in this debut novel about turn-of-the-century America.
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"Beautifully written, so alive to the magnificence of the land and the intricate mysteries of human nature, that it inspires awe rather than depression." —Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
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Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN: 9780062188519
Paperback
Regular price: $15.99
On sale for $13.60 until Nov. 5.
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On Our Nightstands |
 Jill
The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild
Lyanda Lynn Haupt
I began reading this book within days of glimpsing a family of coyotes, three bucks, and a heron while going about my weekly routine, so it’s been a perfectly timed read! A naturalist and eco-philosopher, Ms. Haupt models how we can be responsible and responsive to the wild beings that inhabit our cities. Her chapters—sectioned into “The Furred”, “The Feathered”, and “The Branching and the Rooted”—are grounded in good science, brightened with humor, and realistic about the tangle of tensions that wildlife brings into our ordered lives. Her interweave of science, anecdote, and history is a friendly invitation to revive our relationship with all things wild.
Hardcover, $27.00
Publisher: Little Brown and Company; ISBN: 9780316178525 |
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Neé
The Diary of Edward the Hamster, 1990-1990
Miriam Elia and Edward Elia
Edward is not your ordinary hamster (Mesocricetus Auratus). His capacity for emotion is overwhelming, crippling his every thought. He is a fascinating study in animal behavior. Paranoia and obsessive repetitive routines stunt his capacity to bond with human counterparts. There is a piece of Edward in all of us. It pains me that there is but one volume to Edward’s diary, we humans could learn much from this creature. I urge you to thoroughly study this diary if you seethe with existential angst, are tickled by dark comedy, or have ever bonded with a small rodent. —Dr. C. L. Rose, Specialist in Rodent Linguistics and Philosophy
Hardcover, $14.95
Publisher: Blue Rider Press, a Member of Penguin Group; ISBN: 9780399165979 |
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Tiffany
The Bone Season
Samantha Shannon
Launching what promises to be a sweeping seven book series, The Bone Season introduces an alternate universe populated by a clairvoyant minority hunted by the totalitarian force Scion in 2059 England. “Voyant” Paige Mahoney works for an underworld crime lord as a dreamwalker, able to enter people’s minds. Captured by Scion, Paige finds herself in the lost city of Oxford (now called Sheol 1) ruled by the Rephaim, a powerful otherworldly race who enslave clairvoyants to fight the monstrous Emim. Sounds complicated? It is. But in a wonderfully creative way, with a strong heroine and a richly imagined world. I’ll be hoping Suzanne Shannon writes quickly, as we await the rest of the series.
Hardcover, $24.00
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; ISBN: 9781620401392 |
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