Grass Roots Books and Music — 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668
October 10, 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
 
 

Hello new friends,

I couldn�t have asked for better weather to ring in my first few weeks as editor of the Grass Roots Reader! I don�t know about you, but I have been walking everywhere. As you are turning on your heat or stocking up on firewood, and using apples and pumpkins in all you eat and drink, come check out our new displays of spooky books at the front of the store and in the children�s section! It�s time to watch The Shining.

See you in the bookstore!

Maddy

 
Newest Books

Longbourn

Jo Baker

It�s Downton Abbey for the legendary literary Bennett family! A mysterious new footman arrives at Longbourn with a secret connection to the Bennetts, and young housemaid Sarah falls for him. Minor characters from Austen�s beloved novel have a stronger role here, with a sympathetic rendering of Mr. Collins and a particularly sinister Mr. Wickham.

"A must-read for fans of Austen, this literary tribute also stands on its own as a captivating love story . . . Baker takes many surprising risks in developing the relationships between the servants and the Bennets, but the end result steers clear of gimmick and flourishes as a respectful and moving retelling." �Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Hardcover, $25.95

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780385351232

Dog Songs

Mary Oliver

�Winner of both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, Oliver (American Primitive) continues to build her legacy with this latest collection of new and selected poems, marking 50 years since her first book of poetry was published. Oliver's keen intuition of the natural world has allowed her to invent a poetic voice distinct to the American landscape and unmatched by that of her contemporaries. Here she is relaxed and at home in poems that read like songs and tell the stories of her companionship�the experience of love, trust, loss, grief, joy�with the animals she's spent a lifetime getting to know.� � Library Journal

Hardcover, $26.95

Publisher: Penguin Press; ISBN: 9781594204784

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The Circle

Dave Eggers

�The latest offering from Eggers (A Hologram for the King) is a stunning work of terrifying plausibility, a cautionary tale of subversive power in the digital age suavely packaged as a Silicon Valley social satire. Set in the near future, it examines the inner workings of the Circle, an internet company that is both spiritual and literal successor to Facebook, Google, Twitter and more, as seen through the eyes of Mae Holland, a new hire who starts in customer service . . . Soon she's not alone in asking questions as its ultimate goal comes into view; even her closest friends and family suspect the Circle is going too far in its desire to make the world a better, safer, more honest place.� � Publishers Weekly

Hardcover, $27.95

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780385351393

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Doomed

Chuck Palahniuk

�Our heroine returns! Madison Spencer, daughter of misguided movie stars, pudgy outcast, and resident of Hell, finds herself stranded on Earth for one year as punishment for missing her curfew on Halloween . . . As Maddie works through the time she spent with her grandparents in decidedly down-home upstate New York, she realizes her life might have been molded by something sinister from the beginning. All the while, her parents, taking her tongue-in-cheek advice from an accidental phone connection, have begun their own religion. As the world follows her movie star parents, Maddie becomes responsible for sending people to Hell en masse, accidentally upsetting the balance between God and Satan.� � Library Journal

Hardcover, $24.95

Publisher: Doubleday Books; ISBN: 9780385533034

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The Mountain: My Time on Everest

Ed Viesturs

�In this amiable history/memoir hybrid, noted high-altitude climber Viesturs discusses the joys and tribulations to be found on the world's highest mountain and his successful quest to climb every peak over 8,000 meters. Few know more about Everest than Viesturs, who has participated in 11 expeditions there and spent over two years on its slopes . . . Whether he's discussing his own initial failure to summit Everest, or Jean-Marc Boivin's demented paraglide down the mountain, he remains calm, measured, and informative. This can be a handicap, as readers might forget just how dangerous the mountain can be.� � Publishers Weekly

Hardcover, $27.00

Publisher: Touchstone Books; ISBN: 9781451694734

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New in Paperback

Bertie Plays the Blues: A 44 Scotland Street Novel

Alexander McCall Smith

If you haven't met the residents of 44 Scotland Street yet, there is no better time, since everyone seems to be in the midst of new beginnings.

New parents Matthew and Elspeth must muddle through raising their triplets, Angus and Domenica are newly engaged, Domenica is dealing with the return of an old flame, while Big Lou has begun the search for a new one. And in seven-year-old Bertie's family, there's a shift in power as his father Stuart starts to stand up to overbearing mother, Irene�and then there's Bertie, who has been thinking that he might want to start over with a new family and so puts himself up for adoption on eBay.

Paperback, $15.00

Publisher: Anchor Books; ISBN: 9780307948496

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Living Beautifully: With Uncertainty and Change

Pema Chodron

�With her characteristic clarity, Buddhist nun Chodron (When Things Fall Apart) once again explores how Buddhist ideas can help individuals live joyful lives. Her framework is three traditional vows: refrain from harm, take care of others, and accept the world as it is. . . Drawing in particular from the wisdom of her teacher, the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the American-born nun and popular writer shows how the �real cause of suffering is not being able to tolerate uncertainty,� with the resulting struggle to cling to a �fixed identity.�� �Publishers Weekly

Paperback, $14.95

Publisher: Shambhala Publications; ISBN: 9781611800760

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Here, There, Elsewhere: Stories from the Road

William Least Heat-Moon

�Acclaimed travel writer Least Heat-Moon (Blue Highways) wanders off in every direction in this scintillating collection of short writings. Culled from 30 years of magazine articles, these pieces roam across terrain both familiar and exotic. Many find magic in mundane patches of America, from improbably delicious fried-fish stands on Minnesota's Lake Superior shore to oddly idyllic Gulf Coast industrial canals and Seattle's rebel micro-breweries. Others survey stranger climes: tiny Japanese garden farms crowded with bawdy roadside gods; Mayan villages in the Yucatan, their ancient fertility dances and traditional sorcery barely varnished by Catholicism. . . There is a dazzling variety of places, people and curiosities, linked by a highway of funny, perceptive, generous prose.� �Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Paperback, $18.00

Publisher: Back Bay Books; ISBN: 9780316067539

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The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

Ayana Mathis

In 1923, fifteen-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment. After the death of her firstborn twins, Hattie gives birth to nine more children whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave. She vows to prepare them for the calamitous difficulties they are sure to face in their later lives, to meet a world that will not love them, a world that will not be kind. Captured here in twelve luminous narrative threads, their lives tell the story of a mother�s monumental courage and the journey of a nation.

Paperback, $15.95

Publisher: Vintage Books; ISBN: 9780307949707

The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change

Al Gore

From the former vice president comes An Inconvenient Truth for everything�a frank and clear-eyed assessment of six critical drivers of global change in the decades to come.

Ours is a time of revolutionary change that has no precedent in history. With the same passion he brought to the challenge of climate change, and with his decades of experience on the front lines of global policy, Al Gore surveys our planet's beclouded horizon and offers a sober, learned, and ultimately hopeful forecast. In The Future, Gore identifies the emerging forces that are reshaping our world.

Paperback, $18.00

Publisher: Random House Trade; ISBN: 9780812982893

 
Featured Books for Young Readers

Dinosaurology: The Search for a Lost World

Candlewick Press

Ages 8 to 12

It�s 1907, and an expedition to the Lost Island of Yannapalu reveals a colony of living, breathing dinosaurs!

"An Edwardian-style story. . . interactive elements such as flaps, pull-outs, packets of glitter, and shiny relia add three-dimensional interest. The illustrations, both in full color and archival black and white, are appealing and informative. Presented as a journal documenting an expedition searching for a lost world in which dinosaurs still roam, the story includes maps, current scientific facts, and up-to-date particulars relating not only to the study of dinosaurs but also to the science of paleontology and the men and women who led the field in the discovery and study of those old bones." �School Library Journal

Hardcover, $19.99

Publisher: Candlewick Press; ISBN: 9780763667399

The House of Hades (Heroes of Olympus)

Rick Riordan

Ages 8 to 12

At the conclusion of The Mark of Athena, Annabeth and Percy tumble into a pit leading straight to the Underworld. The other five demigods have to put aside their grief and follow Percy's instructions to find the mortal side of the Doors of Death. If they can fight their way through the Gaea's forces, and Percy and Annabeth can survive the House of Hades, then the Seven will be able to seal the Doors on both sides and prevent the giants from raising Gaea. The stakes are higher than ever in this adventure that dives into the depths of Tartarus.

Hardcover, $19.99

Publisher: Disney Press; ISBN: 9781423146728

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The Eye of Minds (Morality Doctrine)

James Dashner

Young Adult

Michael doesn't mind spending time in his NerveBox, aka "Coffin," �it protects his physical body while he's in the VirtNet, a virtual world where he can meet friends, rack up Experience Points in games, and occasionally is killed. When that happens, he is Lifted to the Wake, where he emerges sore but otherwise physically unharmed. When Michael witnesses a true suicide on VirtNet, he is troubled by the fellow gamer's last words and her warnings about a man named Kaine. Days later, Michael is kidnapped by VirtNet Security agents, who make him an offer he can't refuse: track down the cyber-terrorist Kaine so the virtual world will again be safe. � School Library Journal

Hardcover, $18.99

Publisher: Delacorte Press; ISBN: 9780385741392

 
Music

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Matt the Electrician

It�s a Beacon, It�s a Bell

Genre: Pop/Folk

Matt the Electrician crafts sharp narratives with equal measures heart and home. Evidence: It�s a Beacon, It�s a Bell. A Corvallis favorite, the longtime Austin resident�s excellent new album showcases a seasoned songwriter in top form. ($15.00)

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Patty Griffin

Silver Bell

Genre: Pop/Folk

The Americana singer-songwriter recorded Silver Bell in 2000 as the follow-up to Flaming Red. It was shelved, however, following label troubles. Released after 13 years, Silver Bell provides a bridge between the more upbeat, rocking and soulful sound of Griffin's earlier years and her more restrained, graceful later work. ($13.95)

Amos Lee

Mountains of Sorrow, Rivers of Song

Genre: Pop/Folk

Amos Lee's new album was recorded in Nashville, featuring the songwriter's longtime touring band. Guests on the country- and roots-themed collection include Alison Krauss, Mickey Raphael, Patty Griffin and more. ($13.95)

Lindi Ortega

Tin Star

Genre: Pop/Folk

From Nashville by way of Canada, Tin Star marks Ortega's third album. The alt-country record tells the story of a young woman who moves to Nashville in pursuit of a music career.
($9.95)

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David Lanz

Movements of the Heart

Genre: New Age

"Movements of the Heart is Lanz�s first CD of all new original piano solos since his 2008 release, Painting the Sun. Beloved throughout the world for his silky piano touch and soulful music from the heart, Lanz returns with some of his most passionate music to date." �MainlyPiano.com
($18.95)


Although we specialize in new releases, Grass Roots can usually get you any album that's still available.

 

 

Ask at the the store!

 
Events

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

Community Events

Darkside Cinema: Movies showing XX to XX, showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.

  • PATIENCE STONE �R (Subtitled Persian): A startling fantasy of Muslim feminist empowerment that allows the Iranian-born actress Golshifteh Farahani to put on what amounts to a one-woman show.
  • BLUE CAPRICE �R: Smart, sobering, and quietly chilling, Blue Caprice uses its horrible true-life story � and some solid performances � to underscore the dreadful banality of evil.
  • LEE DANIEL�S: THE BUTLER �R: Forest Whitaker stars with Robin Williams, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Liev Schreiber.
  • IN A WORLD �R: �Savvy, screwball, feminist comedy gem.�

 

 

Friday, Oct. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

The Valley Library, Oregon State University
Corvallis

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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Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m.

The Valley Library, Oregon State University
Corvallis

Reading and Presentation

R. Gregory Nokes

Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory

This event is cosponsored by OSU Libraries, Grass Roots Books & Music, and OSU Press.

OSU Press author R. Gregory Nokes will read and discuss his newest book, Breaking Chains: Slavery on Trial in the Oregon Territory.

In Breaking Chains, R. Gregory Nokes tells the story of the only slavery case adjudicated in Oregon's pre-Civil War courts--Holmes v. Ford. Through the lens of this landmark case, Nokes explores the historical context of racism in Oregon and the West, reminding readers that there actually were slaves in Oregon, though relatively few in number.

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Saturday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m.

LaSells Stewart Center, C & E Auditorium

875 SW 26th Street, Corvallis

Braiding Sweetgrass: Environmental Science and Creative Writing

With Alison Hawthorne Deming and Robin Kimmerer

Robin Kimmerer and Alison Hawthorne Deming are explorers of the interface between environmental sciences and creative expression. Join us for reading and conversation exploring what good things can happen when analytical and imaginative traditions work in tandem.

The evening will be a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program, and will feature Robin Kimmerer�s just-released new book, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, an inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative. Alison Hathorne Deming is the author of The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World.

Since its inception in 2003, Long-Term Ecological Reflections has hosted more than 40 writers-in-residence at the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest, and sponsored field symposia on challenging topics such as �The Meaning of Watershed Health� and �New Metaphors for Restoration.� Writings produced by our writers-in-residence have appeared in prominent national publications such as The Atlantic, Orion, and OnEarth.

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News

Book Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature: The Swedish Academy announced Thursday morning that Alice Munro has just won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Munro, who "In a really short space of time. . . can provide a fully realized story that provides remarkable insight into human beings, their shortcomings, their complexities, their loves, their lives,' (Lynn Neary, NPR) is the first Canadian born-and-raised author to win the prize. Some of her most wonderful short story collections include Too Much Happiness and Something I�ve Been Meaning to Tell You, as well as her novel Lives of Girls and Women.

Top of the Valley Readers Choice

Vote for Grass Roots to win the Top of the Valley Readers Choice Award! The 2013 Top of the Valley awards are sponsored by the Corvallis Gazette-Times and the Albany Democrat-Herald. People can vote for the top three in each of 76 subcategories�within Top Bites, Top Shops, Top Nightlife, Top Places or Top Honors�between Oct. 11 and Oct. 27. Voting starts Friday; don't forget to shout out for your favorite places. Winners will be announced on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28. Let everyone know about your favorite bookstore by voting for Grass Roots Books & Music!

 

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This Week's Puzzle



Solve this week's jigsaw.
 
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

Publisher: Harper Perennial

ISBN: 9780062188519

Paperback

Regular price: $15.99

On sale for $13.60 until Nov. 5.

 

 

On Our Nightstands

Erika

Big Vegan: More Than 350 Recipes No Meat/No Dairy All Delicious

Robin Asbell

A few years ago I took a cooking class with Robin, the author of this book. Robin introduced me to all kinds of new treats and techniques that evening. The tastiest was her recipe for creamy cashew gravy made with cashews and roasted vegetables. I had never thought of using nuts before to create such a flavorful cream. It is because of Robin that I am a truly satisfied vegan today. Giving up cheese was almost a deal-breaker for me but since I can create nut substitutions, I am one happy lady! Big Vegan teaches you innovative cooking techniques to create both nutritious and delicious food. The book has a bountiful variety of flavor filled recipes that anyone and everyone can enjoy.

Paperback, $29.95

Publisher: Chronicle Books; ISBN: 9780811874670

10 Kendall

Fangirl

Rainbow Rowell

I picked up Fangirl after Tumblr chose it to be the first book for their book club. I expected a pretty typical young adult fiction book. I did not expect it to be about me my freshman year of college. Anxiety ridden, determined not to talk to anyone during the day, or in my room with my roommate. With the quirky and fun voice of Cath guiding me, I found myself four chapters in when I told myself I'd read two. Maybe the similarities will stop freaking me out soon. . .

Paperback, $18.99

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; ISBN: 9781250030955

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Linda

Of Walking in Rain

Matt Love

This wondrous book, written with love, by Love, is all about our glorious Oregon Valley-Coastal Rain. Using chapters set in the fall of 2012, October, November, and December, Love, a teacher in Newport, follows the season with stories and observations about the abundance of Rain. It is refreshing to read this humorous, insightful, and serious documentation of Rain, and how it so very much affects our life styles and ways of living here. This is the perfect book to read right now!

Paperback, $20.00

Publisher: Nestucca Spit Press; ISBN: 9780974436470

Maddy

Xo Orpheus: Fifty New Myths

Edited by Kate Bernheimer

For anyone who has been offended (or bored) by mythology � or God forbid, been forced to read Ovid�s Metamorphoses � this anthology of reimagined myths is much fresher. The title, Xo Orpheus, is meant to recognize that today�s world has no use for the ancient gods we�ve long written out of our literature. Authors like Edith Pearlman recreate a modern mythology: an elderly couple becomes telephone poles connected by wire when they tell a stranger their wish of never having to leave one another. A mysterious three �Sisters� of Emily Dickinson are connected to the grisly deaths of students researching Dickinson. Who are the people in these stories, and who are the gods?

Paperback, $18.00

Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143122425

 
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