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Grass Roots Books and Music
— 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668 |
| November 07, 2013 |
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| Newest Books |
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
Doris Kearns Goodwin
“A friendship that turned sour, broke a political party in two and involved an insistent, omnipresent press corps. Cantor and Boehner? No: Teddy and Taft. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Goodwin (Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, 2005, etc) may focus on the great men (and occasionally women) of history, but she is the foremost exponent of a historiographic school that focuses on the armies of aides and enactors that stand behind them. . . It's no small achievement to have something new to say on Teddy Roosevelt's presidency, but Goodwin succeeds admirably. A notable, psychologically charged study in leadership.” –Kirkus Reviews
Hardcover, $40.00
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 9781416547860 |
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The Valley of Amazement
Amy Tan
“Lulu, an American, is the only white woman running a first-class courtesan house in Shanghai in 1905. . . She relies on her loyal associate, Golden Dove, to help her create an enclave of confidentiality, courtly seduction, and voluptuous pleasure for the city's most influential men. Her lonely young daughter, Violet. . . Shocked to be outed as half-Chinese, [she] thinks. . . this exposure is only the beginning of an all-out assault against her sense of self and freedom. In her first novel in eight years, Tan (Saving Fish from Drowning, 2005) returns to her signature mother-daughter focus as she pulls back the curtain on an aggressively sexist society after the fall of the last Chinese dynasty precipitates monumental change.” –Booklist (Starred Review)
Hardcover, $29.99
Publisher: Ecco Press; ISBN: 9780062107312 |
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This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
Ann Patchett
“This is the story of how best-selling novelist Patchett (State of Wonder, 2011) became a writer. As a young child in California and, after her parents' divorce, Nashville, she knew she had to write, and she was fortunate, as she so warmly and vividly explains, in her writing teachers Allan Gurganus, Grace Paley, and Russell Banks and in her success supporting herself by writing nonfiction for magazines and newspapers, beginning with Seventeen and extending to the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Vogue, and Gourmet. Patchett now assembles a retrospective set of 22 sterling personal essays to form an episodic, piquant, instructive, and entertaining self-portrait.” –Booklist (Starred Review)
Hardcover, $27.99
Publisher: Harper; ISBN: 9780062236678 |
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The Minor Adjustment Beauty Salon (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency #14)
Alexander McCall Smith
“The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency could be about to lose its #2 investigator in Smith's endearing 14th installment of the bestselling Botswana-set series (after 2012's The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection). One hardly needs the renowned deductive powers of agency head Mma Precious Ramotswe to notice the growing bulk beneath the increasingly voluminous garb of recently married second-in-command Mma Grace Makutsi. But the normally frighteningly efficient assistant stays mum as the pair try to establish whether the young 'nephew' attempting to claim a dead man's estate is in fact an imposter.” –Publishers Weekly
Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Pantheon Books; ISBN: 9780307378415 |
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O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound
Garrison Keillor
“Half the Masters of the House (of light verse) to whom Keillor dedicates this collection: Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Roger Miller are great song lyricists, and Ogden Nash wrote. . . rhymes for Kurt Weill, among others. Keillor has sung plenty of those bards' works on A Prairie Home Companion; his guests on the show, more. Unsurprisingly, then, music permeates his comic verse. . . It's full of out-and-out song parodies, such as Home on the Plains (instead of ‘Range,') Nikolina (same title as, wryer story than the Swedish American vaudeville standard of the same name), Dark (not ‘Blue') Skies, and cleverest, perhaps, Episcopalian, to be sung to ‘Ain't Misbehavin'.” —Booklist
Hardcover, $20.00
Publisher: Grove Press; ISBN: 9780802121615 |
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The Lost Art of Mixing
Erica Bauermeister
Bauermeister’s sequel to The School of Essential Ingredients revisits Lillian’s restaurant, picking up the stories of old characters and new as their lives intersect in sometimes unexpected ways. Food, memory, and love all play significant roles in this collection of stories woven together to form a warm-hearted novel. Their lives collide and mix with those around them, sometimes joining in effortless connections, at other times sifting together and separating again, creating a family that is chosen, not given.
“Using Lillian's restaurant as the hub for a cast of widely varied characters, Bauermeister explores the intersections of community, food, belonging, and memory.” —Booklist
Paperback, $15.00
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780425265031 |
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On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks
Simon Garfield
“A vivid foray into the romance of maps. . . Garfield (Just My Type: A Book About Fonts, 2011, etc) . . . starts with Eratosthenes, Strabo and Ptolemy, [then] digs into the mysterious allure of maps after the strange interruption in mapmaking that followed Ptolemy for more than 1,000 years. Longer chapters provide lively histories of great maps, cartographic phantoms like the Mountains of Kong in Africa or the detective work of Dr. Snow's London cholera map. Garfield is equally at ease with treasure maps. . . or when ruminating on the great blank spots in 19th-century maps of Africa, suggestive of empty territory for the imperial taking.” –Kirkus Reviews
Paperback, $17.00
Publisher: Gotham Books; ISBN: 9781592407804 |
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The Onion Book of Known Knowledge: A Definitive Encyclopaedia of Existing Information
The Onion
Replete with an astonishing assemblage of facts, illustrations, maps, charts, threats, blood, and additional fees to edify even the most simple-minded book-buyer, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge is packed with valuable information-such as the life stages of an Aunt; places to kill one's self in Utica, New York; and the dimensions of a female bucket, or "pail." With hundreds of entries for all 27 letters of the alphabet, The Onion Book of Known Knowledge must be purchased immediately to avoid the sting of eternal ignorance.
Paperback, $20.00
Publisher: Little Brown and Company; ISBN: 9780316133241 |
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The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Defender of the Realm, 1940-1965
William Manchester, Paul Reid
William Manchester’s epic three-volume biography of Winston Churchill is completed by Paul Reid, whom Manchester handed the task over to shortly before his death in 2004. While covering the final 25 years of Churchill’s life, most of the focus is on his leadership of Great Britain through WWII when he organized his nation’s military response and defense, compelled FDR to support the Allies, and personified the "never surrender" ethos that helped the Allies win the war. More than twenty years in the making, The Last Lion presents a revelatory and unparalleled portrait of this brilliant, flawed, and dynamic leader.
Paperback, $20.00
Publisher: Bantam; ISBN: 9780345548634 |
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The Storyteller
Jodi Picoult
“At 25. . . Sage shuns almost all human contact, save for her coworkers and her funeral-director boyfriend, Adam. . . married to another woman. Sage ventures out of her comfort zone to befriend Josef Weber, an elderly retired teacher, who throws her world into chaos when he tells her that he's a former SS officer and asks her to help him end his life. Sage, whose grandmother Minka survived the Holocaust, reaches out to the Department of Justice and is connected with Leo Stein, a charismatic attorney and Nazi hunter. Leo travels to New Hampshire to investigate Sage's claims, which leads them to Minka, who shares a surprising connection to Josef.” —Booklist
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Atria Books; ISBN: 9781439102770 |
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| Featured Books for Young Readers |
Cinders: A Chicken Cinderella
Jan Brett
Jan Brett (The Mitten, The Three Snow Bears,) who has the ability to create gorgeous watercolor and gouache illustrations that are as elaborate as Russian Easter eggs, has a new book set in a wintry wonderland. Set in 18th-century Russia, Cinders the chicken is left behind when her stepsisters Pecky and Bossy receive an invitation to a “feathered frolic” from Prince Cockerel. A mysterious guest arrives, who, with magic and feathers, transforms Cinders into a sight to be seen. Look closely at Brett’s decorative border images, and you’ll get hints as to what comes next.
Hardcover, $17.99
Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780399257834 |
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Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck
Jeff Kinney
Ages 8 to 12
The eighth title in the New York Times bestselling Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Hard Luck opens on protagonist Greg Heffley newly friendless, abandoned by his best friend Rowley Jefferson, and wondering what to do next. Making new friends in middle school can be tough, but will Greg let hard luck get to him? Or is he going to dive right in? Author Jeff Kinney is also an online game developer/designer and has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.
Hardcover, $13.95
Publisher: Amulet Books; ISBN: 9781419711329 |
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Champion: A Legend Novel
Marie Lu
Young Adult
“The conclusion to Lu's Legend trilogy . . . With the political transition established and the Patriots quiet, June and Day appear to have the opportunity to close their romantic distance. But there are lessons neither has learned about how much power to grant the past, and it's easier to focus on the virtues of separation. That is, until geopolitical reality comes roaring back to complicate every bond and every choice. . . A happy-ever-after glow was never in the cards for these two, but Lu displays a hint of Charlotte Bronte in the resolution her characters find.” –Publishers Weekly
Hardcover, $18.99
Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons; ISBN: 9780399256776 |
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| Music |
Bright Eyes
Christmas Album
Genre: Holiday
Conor Oberst and company originally released this collection in 2002, with proceeds to benefit their local AIDS charity. While Oberst's vocals assure that the album is set apart from other holiday faire, the choice of songs and arrangements are respectfully traditional. ($13.95) |
Various Artists
Divided & United: Songs of the Civil War
Genre: Pop/Folk
"Many of the songs on Divided & United: The Songs of the Civil War had been long relegated to the dustbins of history before executive producer Randall Poster decided to pair the 19th century tunes with contemporary artists such as Steve Earle and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. But beyond giving fresh treatments to nearly three dozen songs and commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the project also delivers an allegory for the political polarization of the U.S. today." –LA Times ($16.95) |
Drag the River
Drag the River
Genre: Pop/Folk
This Fort Collins, CO alt-country band has weathered countless breakups and line-up changes, remaining true to their sandpaper-rough take on bar-band country. The songs on their new album have been played in concert for years, but are being released in their final studio versions for the first time. ($13.95) |
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 |
Saturday, Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Author Event
Morris Walker
The Lives of Carl Atman
Morris Walker joins us at Grass Roots to discuss The Lives of Carl Atman, his inspiring book about the lasting and animating force of love that transcends the boundaries of time. An author with a long history of writing short stories, essays, articles, songs, poems, countless scripts and comedy routines, Walker has always been keenly sensitive to the cycles of life, whether in the mineral, plant, or animal kingdom. With a song in his heart practically from birth, many of his lyrics have reflected an unconscious knowing about cycles of birth and death. Walker’s belief in soul mates becomes obvious in one of the book’s themes—why we’re here and the meaning and purpose of life.
Walker writes: “We continue to make the same mistakes until we get the life lesson right in this lifetime or the next. In the end, my life won’t have been about how much money I made or how famous I became as a result of writing books and music or entertaining. Rather, I hope it will be about the love and compassion I gave to my family and to others.” Through numerous lifetimes, Walker artfully crafts an interesting story that allows Carl Atman to learn this lesson, too.
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Thursday, Nov 14 at 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Poetry Reading
Nazifa Islam
Searching for a Pulse
Grass Roots Books & Music will be hosting Nazifa Islam for a reading from her debut poetry collection, Searching for a Pulse, focused on the story of Rosemary, who wants to love and to be loved but finds it tragically impossible. Nazifa Islam grew up in Novi, Michigan, earned her B.A. in English from the University of Michigan, and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at Oregon State University.
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| Community Events |
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Community Events
Darkside Cinema: Movie showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.
This show will END Thursday, November 7th.
THE SUMMIT: The story of the deadliest day on the world's most dangerous mountain, when 11 climbers mysteriously perished on K2.
These shows will be HELD OVER Friday, November 7th.
WADJDA: (Subtitled Arabic) An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school's Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest. 99% on Rotten Tomatoes!
INEQUALITY FOR ALL: A documentary that follows former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich as he looks to raise awareness of the country's widening economic gap. Plays this week with the short
THE VIGIL, by Molly Woodstock Gard, about the peace vigil activists in front of the Benton County Courthouse.
These shows will OPEN Friday, November 8th.
ENOUGH SAID: Wryly charming, impeccably acted, and ultimately quite bittersweet, Enough Said is a grown-up movie in the best possible way. James Gandolfini, Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
HOW I LIVE NOW: The harsh beauty of the English countryside shines through in Kevin Macdonald's harrowing teen survival yarn.
22 BULLETS: A superbly well-made and performed action film. Jean Reno. French and English.
Showtimes for the week starting Friday, November 8th will be posted on the Darkside Cinemas website that morning.
Literary Events: Visit our Community Calendar for details on these events and others in the area.
- Poetry Slam: The LBCC Benton Center, LBCC Student Leadership Council, LBCC Poetry Club present Word Mob: A chance to hear the poetic voices of LBCC students. Open to the public with snacks provided. Friday, November 8th at 7:00 p.m. LBCC Benton Center Student Lounge 757 NW Polk Ave., Corvallis, OR 97330.
- Random Reviews: Larry Landis reviews Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Timothy Egan: Wednesday, Nov. 13, noon to 1 p.m., Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, Corvallis.
Opportunities:
- Writers on the River: Monday, Nov. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church, Corvallis
Kate Ristau will offer the presentation “Putting Away the Red Pen: Editing With Purpose”. Bring a current draft of your writing, or use a sample draft for an interactive editing workshop. Dialogue, exposition and description will be looked at specifically to help you know when to edit, and when to leave it be!
- Call for Submissions:
The Bard Deluxe Awards presented by The Bear Deluxe Magazine
Attn: Emerging Oregon poets focused on a “sense of place”
Deadline: Jan. 13 (email or postmark)
Not a famous poet yet? You can be declared a Bard Deluxe by submitting up to 3 unpublished, place-based poems to The Bear Deluxe Magazine (bear@orlo.org or 810 SE Belmont Studio 5, Portland OR 97214). To enter this free contest, judged by Oregon Poet Laureate Paulann Petersen, you must be a current or former Oregonian. Winners will receive publication, reach our 44,000 readers and be invited to perform their work. Visit www.orlo.org for complete submission guidelines and further details.
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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Friday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m.
The Valley Library at OSU
Corvallis |
The Literary Northwest Series Presents
Charles Goodrich and Mary Szybist
The Literary Northwest Series will host authors Charles Goodrich and Mary Szybist at OSU. Grass Roots Books & Music will sell their books at this event.
Charles Goodrich is the author of three volumes of poems, Going to Seed: Dispatches from the Garden, Insects of South Corvallis, and, just out from Silverfish Review Press, A Scripture of Crows, and a collection of essays about nature, parenting, and building their house, The Practice of Home. He now serves as Director for the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word at Oregon State, a program that hosts writers' residencies, literary readings, and symposia at the intersection of literature, environmental science, and ethics.
Mary Szybist is Assistant Professor of English at Lewis & Clark College, and received her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She is the author of Granted (2003), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Incarnadine, a finalist for the National Book Award, published by Graywolf Press in 2013. The latter collection was just shortlisted for the 2013 National Book Award in Poetry. She was one of two recipients of the 2009 Witter Bynner Award, selected by Poet Laureate Kay Ryan for the Library of Congress.
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| News |
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Book Awards
Ingram Content Company: Ingram's Reading Group Selections for the month of November include The Last Runaway by Tracy Chevalier, and Jodi Picoult’s The Storyteller. Picoult, master of gritty revelations such as My Sister’s Keeper, creates a tale of Holocaust survivors, scars, and freshly baked bread. Chevalier writes about an English Quaker who becomes drawn into the society-defining Underground Railroad, and must make choices with high stakes at hand. Chevalier is author to the art history love-letter novel, Girl With a Pearl Earring.
Village Books: The Bellingham, WA bookstore has chosen a few “Unexpected Favorites” for their November 2013 newsletter. Included are The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by alternative-fairy-fantasy master Holly Black, The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan, about the muses of Degas, and the classic The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. All are strong titles for readers who dislike reading the mainstream. See which of these books you can find in our Staff Favorites web pages, or on our favorites shelves! |
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Featured in the Store
Signed by the author: We are pleased to announce that we have autographed copies of Sue Grafton’s latest work featuring Detective Kinsey Millhone, W is for Wasted, as well as Amy Tan’s new novel The Valley of Amazement. |
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Welcome Adam!
Adam comes to us from New England. He moved to Oregon to attend graduate school at OSU, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. In addition to being a writer and passionate bookseller, he has been a theatrical set designer, radio DJ, long distance hiker, and ice truck driver. Needless to say, his taste in books and music runs a wide gamut. When not reading or playing board games, Adam bangs on his keyboard, trying to tease a novel into existence. |
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| This Week's Puzzle |
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| Reading Group Selection |
Tuesday, Dec, 3 at 6:30 p.m.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
Ransom Riggs
Maddy leads her first book group.
Riggs’ novel hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and stayed on the chart for over 52 weeks consecutively.
“Jacob and his father travel from their home in Florida to Cairnholm Island off the coast of Wales, which, during the war, housed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. . . Nearly 50 unsettling vintage photographs appear throughout, forming the framework of this dark but empowering tale, as Riggs creates supernatural backstories and identities for those pictured in them (a boy crawling with bees, a girl with untamed hair carrying a chicken). It's an enjoyable, eccentric read, distinguished by well-developed characters, a believable Welsh setting, and some very creepy monsters.” –Publishers Weekly |
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Publisher: Quirk Books
ISBN: 9781594746031
Paperback
Regular price: $10.99
On sale for $9.35 until Dec 3.
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On Our Nightstands |
 Jill
Home
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison’s powerful writing always urges me to rethink my assumptions . . . and this short novel is no exception. The story centers around Frank Money, a traumatized Korean veteran, who’s on his way home to segregated Lotus, Georgia. His memories, brokenness, reluctance and courage give us glimpses of the black experience in the 1950’s, while also reminding us of our shared human quest for an undamaged sense of home and self. Once again, Toni Morrison hands us a complex story rich in theme, fact, and metaphor, packaged in her sometimes blunt and often lyrical writing, which endures long after you finish the final page.
Paperback, $14.00
Publisher: Vintage Books; ISBN: 9780307740915 |
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Nee
The Unfeathered Bird
Katrina Van Grouw
The Unfeathered Bird displays the naked truth of what’s hiding just beneath the surface of our feathered friends. With nearly 400 illustrations of actual specimens, this book is for anyone with an affinity for birds or art. It is for both the ardent bird lover and the casual backyard birdwatcher. It delves spectacularly into the natural history of birds, connecting anatomical form with behavior and evolution. The whole of the book is remarkable, but the images of articulated bird skeletons in action (the albatross in flight, the pouting pigeon, and the hunting sparrow hawk) are brilliant!
Hardcover, $49.95
Publisher:Princeton University Press ; ISBN: 9780691151342 |
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Erika
Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Vegan Recipes for Every Day of the Week
Isa Chandra Moskowitz
I began perusing Isa Does It page by page with slips of paper. Top slips for recipes I had to try and bottom slips for ones I could create that evening with ingredients I already had. After getting into a third of the book, I had marked almost every other page. My strategy was not working and I’d have to delay my quest for the best dinner recipe that night. I picked the Chandra Malai Kofta, a creamy Indian meatball dish. It didn’t disappoint! I had to add this book to my collection and will continue to indulge in new tasty vegan meals.
Hardcover, $30.00
Publisher: Little Brown and Company; ISBN: 9780316221900 |
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Kendall
Hard Times Require Furious Dancing: New Poems
Alice Walker
As soon as I read the title, I knew this would be the book for me. Alice Walker's most recent book of poetry is heartbreaking, in exactly the right ways. There are poems that remind you what wounds you still have to heal. But more importantly, there are poems which remind you that there is always a way to go on. With art intermittently combined amid her words throughout the book, it makes for an engaging and stirring experience.
Hardcover, $18.00
Publisher: New World Library; ISBN: 9781577319306 |
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