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| November 13, 2014
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Greetings! We've got the newsletter back in full swing this week, with the exception of staff Night Stands--those will be back next week.
Make sure you check out the Gazette Times today (Thursday) for the PNBA Holiday Catalog and coupon! The 2014 catalog is out and features some of the best titles in all categories this holiday season, and serves as a great tool to start planning your shopping list. The catalog coupon runs through 11/24, and provides for a 15% discount on two or more catalog titles (20% for I-Card holders). You can also find the titles listed right here, and pick up a copy in the store!
Look below in Store News for info on our specialty priced books, which gets you a head start on bargain shopping this holiday season.
Have a great weekend! ~Jenny |
New Hardcovers
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by Stephen King
[Fiction]
 King offers his expected unmatchable suspense in a novel that certainly sounds deeper than your average chillfest. Sometime in the mid- to late 20th century, Rev. Charles Jacobs arrives in young Jamie Morton's small New England town with his alluring wife and wows the community. Then, when tragedy strikes Jamie's family, Jacobs lashes out violently at God and religious belief and is therefore banished. Years later, Jamie, a drug-addicted rocker still running from familial woe, encounters Jacobs and enters into a relationship that turns positively Faustian. The conclusion promises to rock us to our bones while echoing Hawthorne and Poe.
Hardcover; $30.00
Publisher: Scribner Book Company; ISBN: 9781476770383
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| Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace
by Anne Lamott
[Non-Fiction]
 "Lamott (Help, Thanks, Wow) returns with an essay collection that tackles tough subjects with sensitive and unblinking honesty. Her subject matter is often dark, deriving from the travails of aging and mortality that Lamott, who is now 60, has observed in recent years. Most of the essays involve people Lamott knows who are either dead or suffering from a terminal disease: her best friend who had cancer; her friends' two-year-old daughter with cystic fibrosis; her mother with Alzheimer's, to name a few. But even when considering these hardships, Lamott remains optimistic. . ." -Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $22.95
Publisher: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 9781594486296
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Family Furnishings: Selected Stories, 1995-2014
by Alice Munro
[Fiction]
 ". . . In reading these stories--or rereading them, as will be the case for most of us--what is refreshingly obvious is that Munro has retained all the distinctive characteristics and qualities that set her fiction apart from the outset, including her apparently effortless but actually word-perfect style, her use of family history to inform the contemporary domestic situations she so vividly employs in her stories, the quotidian nature of her characters and their plights (which, ultimately, gives her stories their wide appeal), and the purposeful elimination of nonessential detail to permit a novel's worth of substance to comfortably fit into a short story's confined space. . . " -Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $30.00
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9781101874103
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No Hero: The Evolution of a Navy SEAL
by Mark Owen
[Non-Fiction]
 ". . . Owen offered a first-person account [No Easy Day] of the killing of Osama bin Laden. This new work again told with writer Maurer describes other SEAL missions in which Owen took part. Owen says this book is not 'another navel-gazing battle memoir'; instead, it focuses on 'the most important moments' that took place during unnamed missions, 'and the lessons from each one that define me.' The book, he says, is a 'way to honor my brothers in the SEAL community,' some of whom died in service to the country. After several chapters describing the arduous SEAL training, Owen and Maurer provide fast-paced accounts of a series of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. . ." -Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $27.95
Publisher: Dutton Adult; ISBN: 9780525954521
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Watch Me: A Memoir
by Anjelica Huston
[Non-Fiction]
 Picking up where A Story Lately Told leaves off, when Anjelica Huston is 22 years old, [this book] is a chronicle of her glamorous and eventful Hollywood years. She writes about falling in love with Jack Nicholson and her adventurous, turbulent, high-profile, spirited 17-year relationship with him and his intoxicating circle of friends. She writes about learning how to act, about her Academy Award-winning portrayal of Maerose Prizzi in Prizzi's Honor, [and] about her collaborations with many of the greatest directors in Hollywood, including Wes Anderson, Richard Condon, Bob Rafelson, Mike Nichols, and Stephen Frears.
Hardcover; $27.99
Publisher: Scribner Book Company; ISBN: 9781476760346
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New Paperbacks
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 Sheriff Walt Longmire is reading A Christmas Carol in his office on December 24th when he's interrupted by the ghost of Christmas past: a young woman with a hairline scar across her forehead and more than a few questions about Walt's predecessor, Lucian Connally. Walt doesn't recognize the mystery woman, but she seems to know him and claims to have something she must return to Connally. With his daughter, Cady, and his undersheriff Vic Moretti in Philadelphia for the holidays, Walt is at loose ends, and despite the woman's reticence to reveal her identity, he agrees to help her.
Paperback; $12.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143125877
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 In this thoughtful, affectionate collection of interviews and letters spanning three decades, beloved poet Gary Snyder talks with South African writer and scholar Julia Martin. Over this period many things changed decisively--globally, locally, and in their personal lives--and these changing conditions provide the back story for a long conversation. It begins in the early 1980s as an intellectual exchange between an earnest graduate student and a generous distinguished writer, and becomes a long-distance friendship and an exploration of spiritual practice.
Paperback; $17.95
Publisher: Trinity University Press; ISBN: 9781595342515
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 "Progressive talk show host Hartmann. . . argues that the financial crash of 2008 was just a precursor for the larger-scale disruptions to come in 2016. The author situates his prognosis for the years ahead within a view of the history of the republic in which democracy is pitted against what he calls, borrowing from Franklin Roosevelt, 'Economic Royalists.' These Royalists, typified by the billionaire Koch brothers and others, demand unrestricted expansion for free markets and minimal, or no, taxation on their financial returns. Hartmann argues that they are responsible for policies that have produced unprecedented inequality while hollowing out the core of what used to be the United States' world-leading manufacturing capability. . ." -Kirkus Reviews
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Twelve; ISBN: 9780446584821
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 The epic tale of two families wrestling with questions of loyalty, liberty, and love during the American Revolution. At the dawn of the American Revolution, young Isabella Linwood is poised to marry a well-to-do English nobleman. Meanwhile her true love, Eliot Lee, has just joined George Washington's army. In Catharine Maria Sedgwick's classic tale of two families torn apart by war, the loyalist Linwoods and revolutionary Lees must reckon with their beliefs and desires in a young republic still defining itself.
Paperback; $15.99
Publisher: Harper Perennial; ISBN: 9780062356130
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New For Young Readers
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The Magic Half
by Annie Barrows
[Fiction]
Ages 8 to 12
 "Not only is 11-year-old Miri a middle child, but she's stuck between two sets of twins, neither of which will let Miri tag along as they explore the nooks and crannies of the family's new house. Good thing Miri has a wild imagination to keep her company and a powerful belief in magic, too. She needs both for this clever take on the through-the-looking-glass(es) adventure that Barrows (Ivy and Bean) spins for her. Magic is just a way of setting things right, Miri learns after peering through an eyeglass she discovers in her room and then suddenly finding herself in the company of a girl who could almost be Miri's twin, except that the year is now 1935. . ." -Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $7.99
Publisher: Bloomsbury U.S.A.; ISBN: 9781619636255
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Unbroken (the Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive
by Laura Hillenbrand
[Non-Fiction]
Young Adult
 "Growing up in Torrance, California, Louis Zamperini was a wild boy, a rebel who found redemption in running, ultimately competing in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Then, in 1941, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and became a bombardier, whose plane was shot down over the Pacific. Thus began a remarkable story of survival. For 47 days, he floated on a raft with scant food and water, surrounded by sharks. Finally, he was picked up by Japanese forces and made a prisoner of war. He was routinely and savagely beaten and humiliated by a sadistic guard the other prisoners nicknamed the Bird. Not released until the end of the war, Zamperini returned to the States. . ." -Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $19.99
Publisher: Delacorte Press; ISBN: 9780385742511
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New Music
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Genre: Pop/Folk
T Bone Burnett has gathered an all-star team to write music for Basement Tapes-era Bob Dylan lyrics. Along with Burnett are collaborators Elvis Costello, Marcus Mumford, Jim James, and more.
($10.95) |
Genre: Pop/Folk
Frontier Ruckus is a hyper-literate Michigan band, fronted by Matthew Milia. Like Decemberists or Mountain Goats, Frontier Ruckus play a theatrical brand of folk-rock.
($14.95) |
Genre: Pop/Folk
As heard on NPR: "The Irish singer-songwriter's 2002 debut O yielded many lavish orchestral flourishes, and even a foray into opera near the end, but Rice himself always seemed a reluctant star. After 2006's 9, he quietly retreated from the public eye and relocated to Iceland, barely popping up publicly since, so the arrival of these eight new songs comes as a welcome and periodically thrilling surprise."
($13.95) |
Genre: Pop/Folk
This new collection divides tracks between originals and covers. Give My Love is Faithfull's 20th record, celebrated 50 years of performance.
($15.95) |
Events at Grass Roots
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Thursday, November 13, 7:30 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
When Barbara Drake and her husband left Portland and moved to a small farm in western Oregon's Yamhill Valley in the late 1980s, they saw it as a temporary relocation-they would return to the city eventually. But as the couple's experiences on the farm multiplied-training herding dogs, enlisting a pair of traveling dowsers to help them find a good well, and stargazing in a singular nighttime darkness-they decide to hang on to their rural life as long as possible.
Barbara Drake articulates the lessons she's learned from her long stint of country living in her new book, Morning Light. Replete with records of native wildflowers, an encounter with an elderly man who lived on her farm eighty years ago, and an old family recipe for wild blackberry pudding, Morning Light is an appreciation and exploration of the landscape of western Oregon, and readers will come to know it better through the book.
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Sunday, November 16, 3:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
When Hieu Nguyen, a Portland high school teacher, is accused of sexual misconduct by two of his students, his close friend and colleague Nate Davis tries to lend support. But Nate has recently been assaulted by a former student in the school parking lot, an event that brings on not only sharp anxiety, but a final push into a long- deferred quest to find out what happened to his uncle, a drifter and a Vietnam veteran.
Mark Pomeroy lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, where he was born in 1969. He has received an Oregon Literary Fellowship for fiction and a residency at Caldera Arts. His short stories, poems, and essays have appeared in Open Spaces, The Wordstock 10, Portland Magazine, The Oregonian, the Waco Tribune-Herald, and What Teaching Means: Stories from America's Classrooms. A former classroom teacher, he holds an MA in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, where he was a Fellow in Teaching.
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Christine Wallace
Prepare to Come About
Wednesday, November 19, 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
Christine Wallace writes with great clarity and honesty--and at times, with humor--about navigating the highs and lows of family, career and love in her gripping memoir Prepare to Come About. Wallace chronicles her wildly successful business that brought her accolades and awards, radio and TV interviews. However, as her professional life skyrockets, her family's lives spiraled down. She unflinching shares tales of teenage children in crisis, family pressures and chaos that illuminate the struggles of many working families.
Christine Wallace is the author of two books including The Pocket Doula and Prepare to Come About. Her work has appeared in the literary journal Clover (vol. 3, 2012, vol. 6, 2014). Christine was founder and CEO of "Gracewinds Perinatal", a nationally award winning business. She is the mother of five children and a grandmother of six. Recently retired first mate and port captain on the schooner Zodiac, Christine holds a USCG 200-ton captain's license. She currently resides in the Pacific Northwest onboard an ex-forestry boat with her husband, youngest daughter and a boat-cat named Lucky Jack.
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Friday, November 21, 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
Despite Oregon's watery reputation, the state has lacked a field guide for its many celebrated rivers and streams--until now. Preeminent river conservationist, photographer, and author Tim Palmer's Field Guide to Oregon Rivers is an unprecedented reference that profiles 120 waterways throughout the state, from the Alsea to the Williamson.
With drawings by William E. Avery.
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Thursday, December 4, 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
When Penelope Easton, a young, vigorous, sensible WWII veteran with a Masters in Public Health Nutrition, embarked on a journey to Territorial Alaska to serve as the dietary consultant for the Alaskan Health Department, she could not anticipate the deplorable health-related conditions that she would find. The author observed the effects of measles and tuberculosis epidemics, educational philosophies that opted to teach Native children only in English, a scarcity of imported food supplies, and the derision of native foodways.
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Community Events
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Darkside Show Times for 11/14-11/20
Whiplash-R Intense, inspiring, and well-acted, Whiplash is a brilliant sophomore effort from director Damien Chazelle and a riveting vehicle for stars J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller. 97% ON RT!
20,000 Days On Earth-NR Revealing yet respectful, 20,000 Days on Earth is essential viewing for any Nick Cave fan.
Laggies-R Keira Knightley frees herself of the trappings of costume drama to deliver a delightfully loose and engagingly funny performance.
My Old Lady-PG-13 A cross-cultural, comedic drama. Kevin Kline, Maggie Smith
Arts/Literary Events-OSU MFA Reading Series Presents Scott Latta, Lacey Rowland, Gretchen Schrafft, and Dahlia Seroussi at New Morning Bakery, Thursday, November 13, 7:30 p.m.-Conversation from the Corrine: Bets Cole @ The Arts Center Thursday, Nov. 13 @ 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Bets Cole talks about her artwork. Conversations are always free and open to the public. Bring your lunch and your questions. Bets Cole is a plein aire painter and painter of portraits. One of her portraits was recently featured in the Around Oregon Annual. For complete information, visit website here.-Honeybees: New Writing & Research Friday, November 14 at 7:30 p.m., Corvallis Public Library: Join the Spring Creek Project for a celebration of honeybees. The main event is a launch for a new book, Winged: New Writing about Bees with readings by editors Melissa Reeser Poulin and Jill McKenna Reed and contributors: Kristin Berger, Adrienne Flagg, Charles Goodrich, Lois Leveen, and Sarah Marshall. We've also invited the OSU Honeybee Lab/Master Beekeeping Program to speak about their work. They'll be bringing beekeeping equipment, an observation hive, and more!-OSU MFA Program Presents Visiting Writer Kazim Ali Friday, November 21, 7:30 p.m., Valley Library Rotunda; Kazim Ali is a poet, essayist, fiction writer and translator. His books include several volumes of poetry, including Sky Ward (Wesleyan University Press, 2013), The Far Mosque, winner of Alice James Books' New England/New York Award, The Fortieth Day (BOA Editions, 2008), and the cross-genre text Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities (Wesleyan University Press, 2009). For more info, visit site here. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event. Opportunities-Funny Bone Workshop Saturday, November 15th, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Imagine Coffee, 5460 SW Philomath Blvd., Corvallis. The fee is $37.59. The lively interactive workshop will present tried and true humor techniques, mind-tickling writing exercises, creating funny characters, the joy of being with other writers. And laughs. Lots and lots of laughs. Short film clips will be shown to get us in a mirthful state of mind. If you're writing a humorous piece, you are encouraged to bring in the first 250 words to share with the other participants. Call Linda at 541-929-6343 or email at 2hamners@gmail.com for more info.
-Willamette Writers on the River Presents "Social Networking for Writers" with Orit Ofri at the Coast, Sunday, November 16, from 2-4 p.m. in Newport. You may know Orit Ofri as a familiar face at WWotR meetings and co-chair of the Willamette Writers Salem Chapter, but she's also a social media expert. She'll offer a free workshop on social networking for writers. This two-hour interactive workshop will define author platform and show what an on-line presence can do for writers. Participants will learn about blogs and other social networks, and the presentation will include specific ingredients for a successful social platform. Students will learn how to decide which social media networks to use and how to maximize time spent working on them. For full details, check out this link here.
-Willamette Writers on the River November Program, Monday, November 17, 2014, 6:30-8:30 PM, First Presbyterian Church 114 SW 8th Street (enter Dennis Hall at 9th & Monroe), Corvallis, Oregon; Jana Zvibleman will speak on "Feeding Back, How to Make the Most of Critique Sessions." Your writers' group or friends may tell you your piece is "interesting" or they "like it" or they "don't get it." Maybe they tell you how to rewrite it. But how can they give, and how can you hear, responses that will really help you with your writing? Using ideas from Peter Elbow's book Writing Without Teachers, I have found comfortable, insightful and very informative ways to give and receive feedback of value. Writers of poetry and any type of prose, and visual artists too, have used this approach to help each other hone their craft.
-Linn-Benton Community College "Poetry Birdhouses: Building Community." LBCC invites Oregon poets living in Linn and Benton counties to submit 1-3 poems to be considered for a public art project in the courtyard of the Albany campus, "Poetry Birdhouses: Building Community." Five wooden birdhouses have already been embellished/transformed by visual artists-but the project is not yet complete. Each birdhouse needs a poem to be affixed on the inside door which measures 4" x 8." Poets can write a poem in response to a particular birdhouse or on the general themes of home, shelter, community, birds, nature, or journeys. A small journal will then be placed inside each birdhouse to encourage responses to the birdhouses and poetry. Cash awards of $50 will be allocated to each selected poet. Deadline: Poems RECEIVED by Nov. 17. For complete guidelines about this creative project, please contact Victoria Fridley, Arts & Aesthetics Resource Team Chair at LBCC @ victoria.fridley@linnbenton.edu or 541/917-4708.
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Store News
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Awards 
Isabel Allende will be one of 19 people to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom this year. President Obama says this award is presented to "these citizens [who] have made extraordinary contributions to our country and the world." Congrats to the author of The House of Spirits, Ripper, and Maya's Notebook (just to name three of twenty-one)!
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 Specialty Priced Books are placed on a several displays throughout the store right now (including the kids section). These are nicely discounted books and gifts, up to 75% off, so come in and get them while they last!
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 NaNoWriMo has begun! If you are seeking writerly inspiration we've got lots of books divulging writing tips, advice, and methods by the experts. There's Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook, if you are interested in fine-tuning word choice; Norman Mailer's The Spooky Art: Thoughts on Writing which will help you confront the daily task of being a novelist; or Natalie Goldberg's The True Secret of Writing, who teaches us the Zen pleasures of writing as a practice each of us should investigate. These and many, many more! |
Jigsaw
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Reading Group Selection
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 Join Claire as she leads the December Book Group with The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson. Using the persona "The Thunderbolt Kid" as a springboard, Bill Bryson re-creates the life of his family and his native city in the 1950s in all its transcendent normality-a life at once completely familiar to us all and as far away and unreachable as another galaxy. It was, he reminds us, a happy time, when automobiles and televisions and appliances (not to mention nuclear weapons) grew larger and more numerous with each passing year, and DDT, cigarettes, and the fallout from atmospheric testing were considered harmless or even good for you. In his funny memoir, Bryon travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was. Regular Price: $15.99
On sale for:$13.59
Until Tuesday, December 2
Publisher: Broadway Books
ISBN: 9780767919371
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Night Stands
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