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Grass Roots Books and Music
— 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis OR 97339 — 541-754-7668 |
| Month 27, 2014 |
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This week the store is celebrating music, magazines, and Easter. We have some truly excellent new magazine titles, big-time concerts to prepare for, and can see the Easter Bunny peeking around the corner of the not-so-distant future. Lots of book titles for every interest and age range are out this week, and the events just keep on coming. Take a look!
~Jenny |
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| Newest Books |
The Bohemians: Mark Twain and the San Francisco Writers Who Reinvented American Literature
Ben Tarnoff
“California was always crawling with scribblers, Tarnoff remarks, while San Francisco, a promising metropolis far from the horrors of the Civil War, engendered a thriving publishing culture supported by voracious, opinionated readers. Four very different writers who just so happened to share contempt for custom and a taste for satire ended up joining forces as the Bohemians: young, bold Mark Twain; Bret Harte, whose dandyish appearance belied courageous defiance (though he did hide his Jewish heritage); the vulnerable, lovable, and clandestinely gay Charles Warren Stoddard; and independent Ina Coolbrith, who concealed her family's Mormon connection and the horrors of her brief marriage. Tarnoff energetically portrays this quartet within a vital historical setting, tracking the controversies they sparked and the struggles they endured.” -from Booklist
Hardcover, $27.95
Publisher: Penguin Press; ISBN: 9781594204739 |
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Hacking H(app)Iness: Why Your Personal Data Counts and How Tracking It Can Change the World
John C. Havens
Futurist John C. Havens offers an optimistic view on the increasingly overwhelming digital age in his latest issues book. Havens makes a point of highlighting the personal benefits of emerging technologies most commonly associated with monolithic data gathering companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon; he describes the theory of “sharing” culture, and tells us that we can reclaim our datafied selves for direct, personal profit. Not only will we be happier, he argues, but we will be more aware of our emotions and well-being.
Hardcover, $26.95
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin; ISBN: 9780399165313 |
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The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
Gabrielle Zevin
A faded sign hangs above the porch of the Victorian cottage that is home to Island Books. It bears the adage "NO MAN IS AN ISLAND; EVERY BOOK IS A WORLD."A. J. Fikry, the bookstore’s irascible owner, is about to discover what that means. The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry reminds us of what saves us all from a life of loneliness and isolation: our sense of empathy; our ability to love and be loved; our willingness to care and be cared for.
Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Algonquin Books; ISBN: 9781616203214 |
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Rules for Becoming a Legend
Timothy S. Lane
“Lane's debut novel combines themes of hero worship, high school basketball, and unrealistic expectations placed on teenagers by adults trapped in small-town purgatory. Jimmy ‘Kamikaze’ Kirkus, a hoop prodigy, picks up the stardom gauntlet his father Todd ‘Freight Train’ Kirkus dropped two decades earlier. Blue-collar fans of Oregon's Columbia City expect the team to win a state championship, but Jimmy self-destructs by purposely running full tilt into the gym's brick wall. News spreads in a small town like ‘lighter fluid on a barbeque,’ and Jimmy is taunted for being crazy or soft. Flashbacks to Freight Train's own self-destruction are intermixed with Jimmy's present-day dilemmas on and off the court.” -from Library Journal
Hardcover, $26.95
Publisher: Viking Books; ISBN: 9780670014880 |
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| New in Paperback |
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My Wish List
Gregoire Delacourt
This is a story about tantalizing possibility. Middle-aged protagonist Jocelyne lives in a French town, resigning herself to the small pleasures of provincial life when one day all this is interrupted by a winning lottery ticket. Slammed with a ridiculous and intimidating amount of money for the first time in all her 47 years, Jocelyne begins to devise a fluctuating list over what to do with her still-secret money. Focused on the mini perils of domestic life and strife, readers will be won over by author Delacourt’s quintessential French charm.
Paperback, $15.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143124658 |
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The River of No Return
Bee Ridgway
In Bee Ridgway's wonderfully imaginative debut novel, a man and a woman travel through time in a quest to bring down a secret society that controls the past and, thus, the future. Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time, and soon, Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time.
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Plume Books; ISBN: 9780142180839 |
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Prague Fatale
Philip Kerr
September 1941: Reinhard Heydrich is hosting a gathering to celebrate his appointment as Reichsprotector of Czechoslovakia. All of his guests are high-ranking Party members and each is a suspect in a crime as yet to be committed: the murder of Heydrich himself. Indeed, a murder does occur, but the victim is a young adjutant on Heydrich's staff, found dead in his room, the door and windows bolted from the inside. Now, searching for the killer, Gunther must pick through the lives of some of the Reich's most odious officials.
Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143122845 |
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The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth
Mark Mazzetti
“Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times national security correspondent Mazzetti demonstrates in horrifying, persuasive detail how the new-style warfare approved by both George W. Bush and Barack Obama has led to controversial assassinations by the U.S. government and blowback yielding new terrorists determined to harm American citizens. The author pulls together the strands from the White House, CIA and Department of Defense, operating especially in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia to explain how the CIA shifted from a usually nonlethal spy agency to a ‘killing machine, an organization consumed with man hunting.’” -from Kirkus Reviews
Paperback, $17.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143125013 |
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The Interestings
Meg Wolitzer
From bestselling author Wolitzer comes a dazzling, panoramic novel about what becomes of early talent, and the roles that art, money, and even envy can play in close friendships. The summer that Nixon resigns, six teenagers become inseparable. Decades later the bond remains powerful, but so much else has changed. Marriages, breakups, surprising unions, and unexpected professional turns mark this book as a document of life’s mutability against a backdrop of social and political transitions.
Paperback, $17.00
Publisher: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 9781594632341 |
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| Featured Books for Young Readers |
The Mark of the Dragonfly
Jaleigh Johnson
Ages 10 to 14
“It is a harsh life for Piper, an orphan who makes her living salvaging meteor-storm debris and repairing small machines in Scrap Town #16. When she rescues an unconscious girl, Anna, from the wreckage of a travelers' caravan and discovers that the girl is under the protection of the king of the Dragonfly Territories, Piper knows that returning Anna to her family is the perfect chance for her to start a new life. But getting there will require a trip on the expensive and dangerous 401, a beautiful old train with mysterious guards. And that's not their only roadblock: Anna has lost her memory.” -from Booklist
Hardcover, $16.99
Publisher: Delacorte Press; ISBN: 9780385376150 |
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Oliver's Tree
Kit Chase
Ages 3 to 6
Oliver the elephant loves playing hide-and-seek but cannot tag his friends, Lulu and Charlie, when they hide in trees—their favorite spots—so they work together to find a tree where all three can play together. Depicted in warm watercolors, this deceptively simple story of friendship, cooperation, and team work will reinforce basic concepts such as high/low, tall/short in an artistic, humorous, and gentle way.
Hardcover, $16.99
Publisher: Putnam Publishing; ISBN: 9780399257001 |
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| Music |
Various Artists
Tribute to Bob Dylan in the 80s: Volume One
Genre: Pop/Folk
Bob Dylan's 1980s records found him in a challenging place personally and creatively. This collection features tunes from that period, performed by Deer Tick, Blitzen Trapper, Glen Hansard, and more. ($13.95) |
Special Consensus
Country Boy: Bluegrass Tribute to John Denver
Genre: Pop/Folk
One of bluegrass music's foremost bands pays tribute to the legendary songwriter. The band is joined by Claire Lynch, Jim Lauderdale, Rhonda Vincent, and others. ($16.95) |
Simone Felice
Strangers
Genre: Pop/Folk
Singer-songwriter Felice was a member of the Felice Brothers and Duke & the King before releasing his first solo record. Strangers features rootsy folk music, backed by Felice's brothers, Lumineers, and more. ($13.95) |
Caetano Veloso
Abraçaço
Genre: Pop/Folk
“Abraçaço is the last part of a trilogy that began in 2006, produced by [Veloso’s] son Moreno and played with the Banda Çe, a trio of young, exciting musicians that represent the new Brasil, accepting their own rock influences (Radiohead, Vampire Weekend) and using them to re-interpret the musical heritage of a country where music is too often driven by stereotypes.” –from Allmusic.com ($18.95) |
Lang Lang
Romance of Rachmaninoff
Genre: Classical
“. . . [T]here are undoubtedly many who are discovering Lang Lang for the first or second time, for whom [this]. . . collection is a real convenience that brings some of his most popular recordings into one blockbuster package. The two piano concertos and the rhapsody recommend themselves. . . ” –from Allmusic.com ($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 |
Wednesday, April 2, 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St., Corvallis |
Adrianne Harun
A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain
Adrianne Harun will read from A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain. In this mysterious and chilling novel, girls are vanishing from the sides of a notorious highway in the isolated Pacific Northwest. Leo Kreutzer and his friends are barely touched by these disappearances—until a series of enigmatic strangers arrive in their remote mountain town, beguiling and bewitching them.
After this reading there will be an opportunity for a brief Q & A session, and author book signing.
Adrianne Harun teaches in the MFA program at Pacific Lutheran University, and is the author of the short story collection The King of Limbo. |
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Friday, April 4, 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St., Corvallis |
Holly Hughes
Sailing by Ravens
Mariner and naturalist Holly Hughes has experienced first-hand the practical and philosophical consequences of navigating difficult waters. In Sailing by Ravens, she gathers wisdom gained from thirty seasons working off Alaska's shores, weaving personal experience and her love of the sea with the history and science of navigation. In this collection of poems, she deftly navigates "the wavering, certain path" of a woman's heart, finding that sometimes the best directions to follow are those that come from the natural forces in our lives. |
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Wed., April 9, 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St., Corvallis |
Abby Phillips Metzger
Meander Scars
These stories explore the scarring of the Willamette River region from an environmentalist’s point of view, taking care to illuminate the tender areas of riparian beauty that remain. For all those interested in nature conservation, sustainability, and the great outdoors. |
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Upcoming Events
We have many more events coming up in the next few months! For a complete list of all of our upcoming events, please visit our website. |
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| Community Events |
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Community Events
Darkside Cinema: Movies showing 3/28 to 4/3, showtimes daily, Darkside Cinema, Corvallis. Visit their website for showtimes.
- Enemy–R “Enemy is a bewilderingly skillful metaphysical thriller combining Swiss-watch engineering and surrealism, like one of Dali's melted timepieces.” -from Star Tribune
- Philomena—Pg-13 Equal parts uplifting tearjerker, odd-couple comedy, and righteous screed against abuse of power in the name of religion. Judi Dench.
- Tim’s Vermeer—Pg-13 You don't even need to care about art to be entertained by this clever, swift documentary.
Opportunities:
- Diane Hammond, Friday's Harbor - Orcas in Captivity Thursday, April 3 at 7-8:30 p.m. With the release of the controversial documentary Blackfish, killer whale captivity has become a hot-button topic. Novelist Diane Hammond will give a slide presentation about her experiences as killer whale Keiko's press secretary in the late 1990's and how it inspired her latest novel, Friday's Harbor. This event is sponsored by the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. Books will be available for purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music at this event.
Ticket Sales: Grass Roots sells tickets for local music events. Please call or stop by the store to see what's currently available.
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Wed., April 16, 7:30 p.m.
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon |
Steve McQuiddy
Here on the Edge
Twenty years in the making and packed with original research, Steve McQuiddy’s Here on the Edge is the definitive history of the Fine Arts Group at Waldport during World War II, documenting how their pacifist actions resonated far beyond the borders of the camp. This reading will appeal to readers interested in peace studies, World War II history, influences on the 1960s generation, and in the rich social and cultural history of the West Coast.
Books will be available for purchase from Grass Roots Books & Music at this event. |
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| News |
Featured in the Store
Wildflowers of Bald Hill Meadows, Revised and Expanded by Steven Carpenter has hit our bookshelves this week. The first edition was 135 pages, which has now been expanded to 173 pages. This expanded edition includes a total of 82 species. The section on “Native American Uses” has been updated to designate uses by tribe, as not all tribes used the plants for the same purpose. Data for flowering dates has been updated to reflect information found in the Oregon Flora Project Atlas database, and scientific and common names have been updated to reflect recent changes in the Oregon Flora Project. A metric ruler has been added to help with field measurements of plant parts. |
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Concerts, concerts, concerts!
Our Upcoming Concerts Store Display is up in the music section. Have you been anticipating the spate of shows due to hit our area in spring? We have! Take a look at our music section for albums like Drive-By Truckers’ English Oceans (hear them in Portland April 24), Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings’ Give the People What They Want (see them April 1 in Portland), and Sarah Jarosz’s Follow Me Down (who will be right here in Corvallis May 8). |
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Chocolate and Stickers and Eggs, Oh My!
A Young Readers’ Easter Display shelf is featured in our kids section to herald in the happy sunshine that’s surely on its way to stay. Check out some great reads for the kiddos with titles such as Here Comes the Easter Cat by Deborah Underwood (leave those hairballs for the carpet, Easter Cat; bring on the chocolate!); Pinkalicious: Eggstraordinary Easter by Victoria Karr (replete with colorful Easter-themed stickers inside); and Ollie’s Easter Eggs by Olivier Dunrea (with bright primary-colored eggs bound in this lovely board book for your beginning reader).
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New Magazine Titles for Grass Roots
Seeing the Everyday magazine is all about finding meaning in the ordinary. It features personal stories, children’s quotations, research articles, book reviews, biographies, and is advertisement-free. The current issue, "Attachment," has beautiful high-resolution photos of candid kitchen scenes and family get-togethers. This is a lovely document.
Paleo Magazine is the first, and only, magazine dedicated to the Paleo lifestyle and ancestral health. They are dedicated to providing their readers with the information they need to live healthy, active lives. Each bi-monthly issue is packed with the latest research, exercise, and nutrition. They also offer interviews, inspirational stories, recipes, reviews, info to raise Paleo kids, and much more!
Kiki Magazine is great for your girls! Kiki has a unique point of view. They are an independent magazine owned and operated by women who care about girls. They are mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters, and friends. Kiki uses the college fashion design curriculum to tap into girls' creativity. Through fashion, readers explore business, fine art, craft, history, world culture, math, and even chemistry. They discover that having fun with style and artistry is completely compatible with intelligence and creativity.
Zoobooks is intended for children ages 6-12, and is full of amazing photos and illustrations. It's won many awards through the years for its kid-friendly writing and art. Each issue focuses on one animal, helping kids explore the animal's habitat, social habit, and more! |
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| This Week's Puzzle |
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| Reading Group Selection |
Tuesday, April 1, 6:30-8 p.m.
A Tale for the Time Being
Ruth L Ozeki
Tiffany will be leading our April reading group discussion of A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Check our staff favorites section to see what Tiffany had to say about it in her review.
Nao is a 16-year-old Japanese schoolgirl, shy and bullied, determined to end it all to avoid her dreary life. Before she does, she plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun. Across the Pacific, Ruth is a struggling writer on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia. On the beach she finds a Hello Kitty lunchbox washed ashore, filled with a curious collection of artifacts, including a collection of letters and a journal. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao's drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future. |
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Publisher: Penguin Books
ISBN:9780143124870
Paperback
Regular price: $16.00
On sale for $13.60 until April 1.
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On Our Nightstands |
 Erika
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
A pilot breaks down in the desert and the Little Prince crosses his path. Day by day the Little Prince reveals his secrets to the pilot and with each one a lesson is learned. The language and poetry of this beloved children’s book makes for a heartfelt read. Suited for all ages this story is sure to leave an impression on you. From the tale of his rose to his feelings about grown-ups, this story is one of a kind.
Paperback, $10.00
Publisher: Harvest Books; ISBN: 9780156012195 |
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Kendall
Divergent (Divergent Trilogy)
Veronica Roth
You may find yourself losing interest in dystopian society stories—but there’s a reason we find them so fascinating and Divergent delivers completely. I read it in two days, entirely sucked in by the story and the world. It’s an easily accessible, consuming read. While it may rely a little too heavily on the love story, it still manages to get the reader thinking “Who would I be in this world?” and “How would I respond?”, hopefully, with the result that we carry on better afterward.
Paperback, $9.99
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books; ISBN: 9780062289858 |
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| Grass Roots Online — Contact Us |
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