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Grass Roots Books and Music
— 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668 |
| January 16, 2014 |
| Contents |
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| Newest Books |
The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches
Alan Bradley
Flavia de Luce returns for her sixth adventure.
“The body of Harriet de Luce, her mother who disappeared in a mountaineering accident when Flavia was about a year old, has finally been recovered, and has been transported to the family home in Bishop's Lacey for burial. As if that news wasn't dramatic enough, Flavia is dumbfounded when she finds that former Prime Minister Winston Churchill is on hand for the coffin's arrival at the railway station, and baffled when a stranger accosts her with a message for her father that ‘the Gamekeeper is in jeopardy.’ Confusion turns to horror when the messenger falls, or is pushed, beneath the wheels of the funeral train.” –Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Hardcover, $24.00
Publisher: Delacorte Press; ISBN: 9780385344050 |
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Hollow City
Ransom Riggs
Riggs’s sequel to Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children continues the unusual tale of Jacob and his new friends, discovering new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises.
“With evil wights and murderous hollowgasts in hot pursuit. . . Jacob and his nine young (in body, if not age) companions fling themselves through time loops to Blitz-torn London. The growing attachment between Jacob and kindhearted fire-conjurer Emma turns out to play a crucial role in the plot. After a brisk round of chases, captures, escapes and bombings—capped by a devastating reversal—the two end up separated from most of their allies but with a new talent that just might save ‘peculiardom’ from its seemingly all-powerful enemies.” –Kirkus Reviews
Hardcover, $17.99
Publisher: Quirk Books; ISBN: 9781594746123 |
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The Accidental Universe: The World You Thought You Knew
Alan Lightman
“In his brief but engrossing latest essay collection, theoretical physicist and novelist Lightman (Einstein's Dreams) offers insight into the ways that recent scientific discoveries shape our understanding of ourselves and our world. Each of the seven essays here explores the philosophical fallout from a particular corner of research. . . Lightman is one of the few physicists who can name-check the Dalai Lama, astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, Dostoevsky, and dark energy in the same work, while deftly guiding readers through discussions of modern physics and philosophy. Here he has composed a thoughtful, straightforward collection of essays that invite readers to think deeply about the world around them.” –Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Hardcover, $24.00
Publisher: Pantheon Books; ISBN: 9780307908582 |
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Perfect
Rachel Joyce
Eleven-year-old Byron is concerned about the two extra seconds added to time because of the leap year, and the difference those two seconds can make in the world—does something happen or not happen? He is telling his mother about this on a foggy morning drive to school when she hits a little girl on a red bicycle. While his mother seems not to have noticed, eleven-year-old Byron understands that from now on nothing can be the same. Over the days and weeks that follow, Byron's perfect world is shattered. Unable to trust his parents, he confides in his best friend, James, and together they concoct a plan. . . .
Hardcover, $25.00
Publisher: Random House; ISBN: 9780812993301 |
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A Star for Mrs. Blake
April Smith
Cora Blake is a librarian in a small Maine town, a single mother who lost her son in. Over a decade after the war’s end, she receives a letter from the U.S. government inviting her to be a part of the Gold Star Mother tour to visit his grave in Europe. Cora hopes she and the other mothers on the tour will be able to find the closure that has eluded them for so long. On their journey across the ocean to the cemetery in France they must deal with their differences in class and personality before they come together along the way to face the unexpected: a death, a scandal, and a secret revealed.
Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780307958846 |
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| New in Paperback |
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Instructions for the Wishing Light
Ann Staley
Local poet Ann Staley’s second collection features 89 poems will lead the reader inching toward spring blooming with the violets and the daffodils and arriving in the promise of a green season. These Northwest poems move steadily like the beating of one's heart, run deep, inspire, and illuminate a life lived to the fullest. U-turns, tangents, asides, monologues, second-guesses and conversations with the dead and missing - Ann Staley holds nothing in ransom. Indeed, you may find yourself simultaneously flinching and applauding. At the conclusion you will trust the words you have read and the woman who wrote them.
Celebrate the release of Staley's book with a reading at Grass Roots Books on Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.
Paperback, $9.95
Publisher: Booktrope Editions; ISBN: 9781620151853 |
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Vampires in the Lemon Grove: And Other Stories
Karen Russell
“There are only eight stories in Russell's new collection, but as readers of Swamplandia! know, Russell doesn't work small. She's a world builder, and the stranger the better. Not that she writes fantasy, exactly: the worlds she creates live within the one we know but sometimes they operate by different rules. . . . Russell's great gift—along with her antic imagination—who else would give us a barn full of ex-presidents reincarnated as horses? —is her ability to create whole landscapes and lifetimes of strangeness within the confines of a short story.” –Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Paperback, $14.95
Publisher: Vintage Books; ISBN: 9780307947475 |
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Benediction
Kent Haruf
“Colorado native Haruf returns to his fictional town of Holt, on the high plains of eastern Colorado. As Dad Lewis, a central figure in the community, lies dying, he looks out from his bedroom window over the familiar wheat fields and pastures dotted with black cattle. His wife, Mary, is constantly by his side, and daughter Lorraine has left a lackluster romance in Denver to come help. Only the Lewises' relationship with their absent son, Frank, clouds Dad's blessed life. Numerous neighbors stop by to keep Dad's spirits up despite being burdened with their own cares. . . As Dad's life slips away, these neighbors forge indelible bonds.” —Library Journal Starred Review
Paperback, $15.00
Publisher: Vintage Books; ISBN: 9780307950420 |
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The Lost Carving: A Journey to the Heart of Making
David Esterly
David Esterly was at a crossroad in his life when he first saw a woodcarving by 17th-century master Grinling Gibbons in a London church. Awestruck by its beauty, he chose to dedicate his life to learning the art—its physical rhythms, intricate beauty, and intellectual demands. Years later he is the foremost practitioner of Gibbons’s technique, and called upon to restore a carving lost in a disastrous fire at Henry VIII's Hampton Court Palace. It turned out to be the most challenging year in Esterly's life, forcing him to question his abilities and delve deeply into what it means to make a thing well.
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143124412 |
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Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler: A True Love Story
Trudi Kanter
In 1938, Trudi Kanter was a hat designer for the best-dressed women in Vienna. She led the glamorous life of a young designer in Europe, and fell in love Walter Ehrlich, a charming and romantic businessman. Once Hitler’s tanks rolled into Austria, the world this young Jewish couple knew collapsed, leaving them desperate to escape. Kanter’s memoir reveals the story of her journey from Vienna to Prague to London, seeking safety for herself and her love. It was her courage, resourcefulness and perseverance that kept both her and her beloved safe during the Nazi invasion and that make this an indelible memoir of love and survival.
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Scribner Book Company; ISBN: 9781476700281 |
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| Featured Books for Young Readers |
Freddie & Gingersnap
Vincent X. Kirsch
Ages 4 to 7
Freddie is a little dinosaur that wants more than anything to know what clouds are like. Gingersnap is a little dragon that wishes more than anything to fly. When Gingersnap in a failed first attempt at flight falls right on top of Freddie, the two glare at each other. Then they growl and hiss at each other. But when their individual howls and stomps find a common rhythm, their attempts at aggression transform into a dance of friendship and brings each of them that much closer to realizing his or her dream.
Hardcover, $16.99
Publisher: Disney Press; ISBN: 9781423159582 |
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| Music |
Bruce Springsteen
High Hopes
Genre: Pop/Folk
For The Boss' new release, he filtered through drawers of past, unfinished song projects, piecing together abandoned tunes and stray sounds for a new collection. Working with guitarist Tom Morello and producer Brendan O'Brien, High Hopes features both originals and covers.
($11.95) |
Rosanne Cash
The River & the Thread
Genre: Pop/Folk
As heard on NPR: "Each song is rooted in the Southern soil connecting the old Cash homestead in Arkansas to the family's ancestral Virginia homeland, expanding to survey the family's artistic roots in Alabama and Tennessee. Some narratives are fictional, while others mine family lore. Each unfolds in a subtle arc made three-dimensional by Cash's introspective lyrics and the genre-dissolving blend of country, soul and torch songs. . . "
($13.95) |
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
Give the People What They Want
Genre: Pop/Folk
The soul diva's new album was intended for release in 2013, but was postponed as Jones waged a battle against cancer. On the other side of that struggle, Jones now releases this upbeat, soulful collection of retro jams. ($15.95) |
Mary Chapin Carpenter
Songs From the Movies
Genre: Pop/Folk
The country-folk singer-songwriter revisits some of her best material, arranged for vocalist and orchestra. The resulting arrangements reveal the poetry and drama in Carpenter's songs.
($16.95) |
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Genre: Pop/Folk
The country-folk singer-songwriter revisits some of her best material, arranged for vocalist and orchestra. The resulting arrangements reveal the poetry and drama in Carpenter's songs.
($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! |
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| Events |
Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis |
Ann Staley
Instructions for the Wishing Light
Join us at Grass Roots to celebrate the release of local poet Ann Staley's second collection, Instructions for the Wishing Light.
Ann Staley’s second collection features 89 poems will lead the reader inching toward spring blooming with the violets and the daffodils and arriving in the promise of a green season. These Northwest poems move steadily like the beating of one's heart, run deep, inspire, and illuminate a life lived to the fullest. U-turns, tangents, asides, monologues, second-guesses and conversations with the dead and missing - Ann Staley holds nothing in ransom. Indeed, you may find yourself simultaneously flinching and applauding. At the conclusion you will trust the words you have read and the woman who wrote them.
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| Community Events |
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Community Events
Darkside Cinema: Movies showing Jan. 17 to 23, showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.
- All Is Lost –PG-13: After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face. Robert Redford.
- Broken Circle Breakdown –NR: The soundtrack is irresistible, the cast is enthralling and the passions are universal. Flemish and English.
- The Great Beauty –NR: Golden Globe Best Foreign Film of 2013.
- 12 Years a Slave –R: Golden Globe Best Picture of 2013.
Literary Events:
- OSU MFA Reading Series, featuring Alison Clement, Z Hitzel, and Hannah Baggott: Thursday, Jan. 16, 7:30 p.m., New Morning Bakery, Corvallis.
- Writers on the River presents Jason Brick, “Build Your Writing Platform in 12 Months”: Monday, Jan. 20, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Dennis Hall, First Presbyterian Church, Corvallis.
Opportunities:
- Academy for Lifelong Learning welcomes Oregon poet laureate Paulann Petersen, “Anyone’s Domain: Everyday Life of Poetry”: Thursday, Feb. 20 at 1:30 p.m.
First Congregational Church, 4515 SW West Hills Rd., Corvallis. Paulann Petersen was appointed as Oregon’s sixth poet laureate by Gov. Kulongoski for a two-year term and renewed by Gov. Kitzhaber. She queries, “Is poetry the domain of just a few, and the realm of the select, the elect?” Petersen resounds a fervent no! Poetry is as near and accessible as our own breath and heartbeat. She will be reading an array of her penned poems and divulging duties as Oregon’s poet laureate. Petersen will reveal the everyday life of poetry in locales ranging from the Caledonian Games in Athena, to Ione’s one-building K-12 Community School. Please join her to find out the active life of poetry in our state capitol’s legislative sessions and in the dedication of Oregon’s newest state park. Academy for Lifelong Learning is a program of the OSU Alumni Association, though membership is open to everyone. There is no charge to a sampling a class, and pre-registration is not required. For more information, please visit the ALL website.
Ticket Sales: Grass Roots sells tickets for local music events. Please call or stop by the store to see what's available. |
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Friday, Jan. 17 at 7:30 p.m.
The Valley Library Rotunda
OSU, Corvallis |
Literary Northwest Series
Natalie Serber & Jay Ponteri
This event is sponsored by the OSU MFA Program.
The Literary Northwest Series celebrates the burgeoning literary scene in the Willamette Valley and the Northwest. This winter reading features two writers from the Portland area.
Natalie Serber is the author of the story collection Shout Her Lovely Name, a New York Times 100 “Notable Books” of 2012 and a summer reading pick from O, the Oprah Magazine. She teaches writing at Marylhurst University in Portland, Oregon, and she is currently working on a novel set in Boring, Oregon.
Jay Ponteri directs the undergraduate creative writing program at Marylhurst University and Show:Tell, The Workshop for Teen Writers & Artists. His memoir, Wedlocked, was published by Hawthorne Books. His chapbook of short prose, Darkmouth Strikes Again, is being published by Future Tense Books, summer 2014.
Books will be available to purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music.
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Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Valley Library Rotunda
OSU, Corvallis |
Visiting Writers Series presents Gary Young
The Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by the OSU MFA Program.
Gary Young is a poet and artist whose honors include grants from the NEH, the California Arts Council, and two fellowship grants from the NEA. He’s received a Pushcart Prize, and his book, The Dream of a Moral Life, won the James D. Phelan Award. He is the author of Hands, Days, Braver Deeds, (Peregrine Smith Poetry Prize), No Other Life, (William Carlos Williams Award), Pleasure, and Even So: New and Selected Poems. His print work is represented in collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Getty Center for the Arts. In 2009 he received the Shelley Memorial Award from the PSA. He teaches creative writing, and directs the Cowell Press at UC Santa Cruz.
The event is free and open to the public and followed by a Q & A and book-signing. Books will be available to purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music.
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Saturday, Feb. 8
LaSells Stewart Center
OSU, Corvallis |
Insights into Gardening
This event is sponsored by the Benton County Master Gardeners Association and Oregon State University Extension Service.
Insights into Gardening is a day-long seminar offering practical, hands-on learning for home gardeners and gardeners-to-be. Whether you are an experienced or novice gardener, new to the area or an Oregon native, you will find plenty of ideas to make your gardening easier, more enjoyable and more successful. Please visit the Insight into Gardening website for registration information.
Books recommended by event speakers and general gardening books will be available to purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music. Discounts are available on select items. The onsite bookstore will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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Feb. 14 & 15
LaSells Stewart Center
OSU, Corvallis |
Spring Creek Project Winter Symposium: Transformation without Apocalypse: How to Live Well on an Altered Planet
This event is sponsored by the Spring Creek Project. Featuring Tim DeChristopher, Ursula K. LeGuin, Kim Stanley Robinson, Kathleen Dean Moore, Rob Nixon and other speakers. Please visit the Spring Creek Project website for more information.
Humans will be living differently in the very near future, perhaps occasioned by catastrophes brought on by overpowering forces of greed and climatic disintegration. But it’s also conceivable that we will choose, by acts of imagination and collective will, to create new narratives of how to inhabit the planet. This will require a radical re-imagining of who we are in relation to the world and how we ought to live. We have to be doing everything possible to end dependence on fossil fuels, stop the privatization of water, seeds, and the very atmosphere, and arrest climate chaos. But that work will fare better if we have tangible visions of new / old ways to live that promise thriving without exhausting the Earth. This symposium will engage the essential experiment, testing a different sets of ideas about how to live on Earth.
Books will be available to purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music.
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| News |
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| This Week's Puzzle |
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Solve this week's jigsaw.
(Editor's apology: I'm learning a new program and still need to work out some of my bugs. Consider it a challenge. . . ) |
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| Reading Group Selection |
Tuesday, Feb. 4, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
The Obituary Writer
Ann Hood
Neé leads the February Reading Group discussion of The Obituary Writer by Ann Hood, a sophisticated and suspenseful novel about the poignant lives of two women living in different eras.
On the day John F. Kennedy is inaugurated, Claire, an uncompromising young wife and mother obsessed with the glamour of Jackie O, struggles over the decision of whether to stay in a loveless marriage or follow the man she loves and whose baby she may be carrying. Decades earlier, in 1919, Vivien Lowe, an obituary writer, is searching for her lover who disappeared in the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. By telling the stories of the dead, Vivien not only helps others cope with their grief but also begins to understand the devastation of her own terrible loss. The surprising connection between Claire and Vivien will change the life of one of them in unexpected and extraordinary ways. |
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Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 9780393346770
Paperback
Regular price: $15.95
On sale for $13.56 until Feb. 4.
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On Our Nightstands |
 Erika
Angelopolis
Danielle Trussoni
Trussoni weaves several characters’ stories together to create the larger picture in Angelopolis. Having not read the first book, Angelology, I was able to pick up this sequel and instantly enjoy it. Trussoni portrays the stories beautifully, with intriguing language, and in such detail, that I do not feel like I have missed anything. The angels depicted feel real and the scenes are powerful and enticing. I love reading fiction that transports me; this book has me wishing for foreign creatures to live among us.
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143124863 |
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Kendall
Humans of New York
Brandon Stanton
Humans of New York started out as a blog on Tumblr and went on to become the favorite blog of the man who created Tumblr. I found it about a year ago, and was instantly hooked. Brandon Stanton may only photograph people in New York City, but the stories told are about all of humanity. Some are of great struggle and pain, others of accomplishment and happiness. Still others are simply gorgeous pictures of humans and their personal style, or amusing coincidences caught on camera. Stanton photographs souls, not bodies, and reminds us that we are all human.
Hardcover, $29.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; ISBN: 9781250038821 |
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Tiffany
Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales
Marta McDowell
This charming volume immediately captured my attention, with my love of gardening and of children’s books. Beautifully illustrated with Potter’s garden sketches and watercolors, illustrations from her works, and photographs of her gardens then and now, the book chronicles her development as a gardener. It also reveals the remarkably independent woman, artist, and landowner she was, despite the constraints of her family and the time in which she lived. McDowell includes horticultural information about the plants and flowers Potter tended, making the book practical as well as inspirational. And perhaps someday I can plan a trip to Potter’s beloved Hill Top Farm in England’s Lake District.
Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Timber Press; ISBN: 9781604693638 |
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