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Feb. 12, 2015
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Hello, Readers!

Happy Early Valentine's Day! There's still time to pick up your loved ones some classy cards or Brigittine Monk fudge. Swing by Grass Roots for these necessities. =)

Also, if you placed an order for your Hugs and Kisses cookies through Melarova Baking, be sure to look at our Store News section for details on
how to pick up your order. 

I really am the bearer of good news this week: JIGSAW IS BACK. Check it out. 

Finally, did you know David Duchovny (of
X-Files fame) just came out with a book? Well, we've got that, too. Along with all the other great books and music this week. Keep reading!

~Jenny
New HardcoversNHardcovers

by Neil Gaiman
[Fiction]
 
"Everything that endears Gaiman. . . to his legions of fans is on display in this collection of short stories (and the occasional poem): his gift for reimagining ancient tales, his willingness to get down into the dark places, his humor. Most of these stories have been published elsewhere, except for the new American Gods story 'Black Dog' (which does not disappoint), but the collection as a whole does add up to something bigger than it seems. . . Full of all manner of witches and monsters and things that creep in the night, this collection will thoroughly satisfy faithful fans and win new ones-if there's anyone out there left unconverted." -Kirkus Reviews

Hardcover; $26.99

Publisher: William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 9780062330260

by David Duchovny
[Fiction]
 
". . . [David Duchovny's] debut novel is a charming fable about dignity and tolerance, complete with anthropomorphized animals. . . The book is narrated by Elsie Bovary, a cow on a small farm in upstate New York. . . Upon learning how cows are slaughtered, Elsie plots her escape. To aid her efforts, she agrees to team up with Jerry. . . a Torah-reading pig who plans to use kosher dietary laws to his advantage in Jerusalem, and Tom Turkey, who wants to move to Turkey. . . After the obligatory training montage, the trio are off in their human disguises, traveling from Turkey to Israel to Palestine and finally Mumbai. . ." -Kirkus Reviews

 

Hardcover; $24.00

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux; ISBN: 9780374172077

by Michael Crummey
[Fiction]
 
"Sweetland is both a place a small island off Newfoundland and a person Moses Sweetland, and both have seen better times. The provincial government is offering resettlement money to Sweetland residents, but only if everyone agrees to leave. Moses Sweetland is 69 years old and has been disfigured by an industrial accident. When the story opens, he is the only person aside from the man considered the island idiot who opposes the government's proposition. He's under plenty of pressure to accept, but the island named for his ancestors, where he takes his great-nephew rabbit hunting and hands down family legends, is the only place Moses can imagine living. . . Moses is a memorably strong-willed character, whose manner of thinking and speaking are dying out. . ." -Publishers Weekly

Hardcover; $24.00

Publisher: Pantheon Books; ISBN: 9781101870013

by Anne Tyler
[Fiction]
 
"Three generations of Whitshanks have lived in the family home in Baltimore since the 1920s, in which they have loved, squabbled, protected secrets, had children, and, in some cases, led inauthentic lives. Using her signature gifts for brilliant dialog and for intricately framing the complex messiness of parental and spousal relationships, Tyler beautifully untangles the threads that bind and sometimes choke all of them, especially Red and Abby, the last Whitshank homestead occupants. In 2012, Red and Abby are in their late 70s, and their fractious children rally to the modern dilemma of the sandwich generation--caring for aging resistant parents in their home safely, while raising their own children. . ." -Library Journal

 

Hardcover; $25.95

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9781594633089

New PaperbacksNPaperbacks

by Cynthia Bond
[Fiction]
(Oprah's Book Club 2.0 Selection)

"Ephram Jennings, the son of a backwoods preacher, has been in love with the beautiful Ruby Bell ever since childhood. But Ruby has been so badly used by the men in her small African American town of Liberty, Texas, that she flees for New York City as soon as she is able, in search of the mother who abandoned her. When Ruby's best friend dies, Ruby returns home, only to succumb to the bad memories that haunt her still. . . But Ephram still sees her as the lighthearted girl with pigtails, running free in the woods. And so he begins his long, sweet courtship. . . always treating her with kindness. At long last, out from under his overbearing sister's dominion, he feels himself come alive. . ." -Booklist, Starred Review

Paperback; $16.00

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780425273838

by Carol Deppe
[Non-Fiction]
Local Author

"This thoughtful book is a guide for growing tomatoes, squash, and greens, but its most significant contribution is Deppe's approach to gardening. She encourages the gardener to cultivate an intuitive relationship with plants and almost a sixth sense about when to actively work in the garden, and when to stand back and let the plants do the growing they need to do. She calls it the Tao of gardening, a form of 'non-doing' or 'doing that which gives maximum effect for the minimum effort, ' so that unnecessary action has been eliminated. . . She further enjoins the gardener to create a relationship with the garden, knowing what needs tending what needs to be left alone. . ." 
-Publishers Weekly

Paperback; $24.95

Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company; ISBN: 9781603584876

by Scott Stossel
[Non-Fiction]

"In this captivating and intimate book, the editor of the Atlantic spares no detail about his lifelong struggle with anxiety and contextualizes his personal experience within the history of anxiety's perception and treatment. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in seven Americans currently suffers from some form of anxiety. Stossel. . . whose assorted phobias and neuroses began to manifest when he was a toddler, provides an exceptionally relatable and frequently hilarious account of a modern sufferer: the endless combinations of therapy and drugs, pharmaceutical and otherwise; the inevitable mishaps of a public figure who is terrified of flying, enclosed spaces and speaking in public; the delicate negotiation between managing psychological torment and being a husband and father. . ." -Kirkus Reviews

Paperback; $16.95

Publisher: Vintage; ISBN: 9780307390608

by Nickolas Butler
[Fiction]

"Butler uses multiple narrators to tell the story of a group of friends, born and raised in Little Wing, Wis., in this affecting but precious debut novel. The book opens with Hank, who became a farmer and stayed in the small town to raise a family with his wife Beth. Lee, the indie rocker who made it big but regularly comes back to Little Wing, has his say, along with Kip, who traded commodities in Chicago but has moved back. And Ronnie is a little 'slow, ' damaged by rodeo riding. Their voices and their memories create a rich, overlapping narrative that is, at bottom, a love letter to the Midwest and its small, mostly forgotten towns. . ." -Publishers Weekly

Paperback; $16.00

Publisher: Scribner Book Company; ISBN: 9781476730639

by Kurt Timmermeister
[Non-Fiction]

"Timmermeister (Growing a Farmer: How I Learned To Live off the Land), the owner of Kurtwood Farms in bucolic Vashon Island, WA, discusses how he set out to create an autumn dinner for friends. The reader may be astounded to discover that the process began nearly two years before the guests arrived, with the birth of the calf that provided the milk for the cheese and butter. Slowly, the author walks the reader through the seasons, animals, plants, and people who contributed to the meal. His profound love for food and for his farm is conveyed through his straightforward descriptions; he writes with a beguiling simplicity that makes farming accessible and reveals the depth of his expertise. . ." -Library Journal

Paperback; $15.95

Publisher:W. W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 9780393350630

New For Young ReadersYReaders

by Salina Yoon
[Fiction]
Ages 2 to 4

"Bear finds a lost toy bunny in the forest and adores it instantly. Bravely, he does the right thing by putting up 'Found' notices and searching diligently for the bunny's owner. Just when he thinks no one will claim it, Moose recognizes his lost lovey. Bear prepares for a tearful parting, but Moose has outgrown the toy (as indicated by his necktie) and gladly passes it on to an appreciative Bear. . . Humorous touches include a bulletin board of clever LOST flyers and a little bird who follows Bear around, clearly interested in Floppy's fate. A touching, satisfying story that models healthy love between people and their toys." -School Library Journal

 

Board Books; $7.99

Publisher: Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children's Books; ISBN: 9780544334649

by Nick Bruel
[Fiction]
Ages 7 to 10

"In this seventh installment in the series, readers are introduced to the process of writing and illustrating a book in a fun and humorous way. Bruel employs his signature style of addressing readers directly; he begins the book with a step-by-step demonstration of how to draw Bad Kitty and moves on to describe the necessary ingredients of a successful story. Through the process of describing story elements such as protagonist, antagonist, and conflict, the author creates some scenarios that Kitty finds objectionable (most notably, an all-turnip diet), but eventually she convinces him to rewrite the story in her favor. . ." -School Library Journal

 

Paperback; $6.99

Publisher: Square Fish; ISBN:9781250056795

by Rick Yancey
[Fiction]
Young Adult

"Aliens have come to Earth, bringing death with them. First, they killed all electrical devices. Then, they flooded coastal cities. Next was a pandemic, spread by birds. Their fourth wave of destruction are snipers, 'sleeper agents' planted long ago, who awaken to kill humans. Cassie is sixteen, surviving alone with her best friend-an M16 assault rifle. She is targeted by a fourth wave sniper, but rescued by farm boy Evan, who has depths to him that Cassie cannot fathom. 'Zombie' is seventeen, a former high school athlete now being trained to kill aliens in humanity's last-gasp effort at survival: a child army. Zombie is a squad leader, and his squad gets a new recruit, a very tiny five-year-old boy named Nugget, who awakens protective instincts in Zombie. . ." -Voice of Youth Advocates

 

Paperback; $10.99

Publisher: Speak; ISBN:9781250056795

New MusicNMusic


Genre: Pop/Folk

Texas songwriter Keen has built a career with his wry, gritty Americana portraits of life in the Lone Star State. This selection of covers allows Keen to fulfill a dream to create a record entirely of bluegrass standards. 
($13.98)

 Martin Sexton
 Mixtape of the Open Road
Genre: Pop/Folk

The contemporary folk singer-songwriter's 8th album is designed to serve as a "mix tape" for enjoyment on the open road. The original tunes demonstrate Sexton's distinct and soulful vocal delivery. 
($16.98)

 Rhiannon Giddens
 Tomorrow Is My Turn
Genre: Pop/Folk

Giddens came to prominence as a member of Carolina Chocolate Drops. The singer, violinist, and banjo player's solo record is produced by T Bone Burnett, and follows Giddens' muse through folk, gospel, blues, and historical music.
($16.98)

Genre: Pop/Folk

McPherson's debut solo record generated a huge hit in the "North Side Gal" song. A couple years later, McPherson has contemporized his retro-rockabilly sound with some more modern elements. 
($15.98)

 Father John Misty
I Love You Honeybear
Genre: Pop/Folk

"Father John Misty" is John Tillman, who served as drummer and vocalist for Fleet Foxes, and also recorded as J Tillman. In the character of Father John Misty, Tillman's tongue-in-cheek music might recall a more contemporary Harry Nilsson, with dramatic turns and romantic flourishes. 
($13.98)
Events at Grass RootsEventsGRR

Karen McPherson and Tim Shaner
 
Karen McPherson
Skein of Light
Tim Shaner

Thursday, February 12, at 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR 
 
The poems in Karen McPherson's
Skein of Light pull and gather toward horizons of reflection in language that repeatedly reveals what it can and cannot do. The poet maps landscapes of memory where sharp-edged questions disturb the stillness and where the personal and human are threaded through a natural world made legible in flights of birds, bending grasses, rock striations

Karen McPherson is the author of the chapbook Sketching Elise and the 2014 volume of poems Skein of Light. A professor of French at the University of Oregon, she has also published two scholarly monographs and a book-length translation of the poetic essays of Quebec poet Louise Warren.

Tim Shaner's
Picture X is a journey through the "poethics" of nature writing in a time marked by the catastrophes of war and impending environmental collapse. Rather than heed Thoreau's admonishment to leave the domesticated world behind on one's walks through the Wild, Shaner does the opposite, bringing the schizophrenic chatter of postmodernity into the built environment of the park.


Tim Shaner is the author of Picture X (Airlie Press 2014). He has an MA in Creative Writing from Antioch University (London) and a Ph.D. from SUNY-Buffalo's Poetics Program. From 2008-2014, Shaner curated A-New Poetry Reading Series @ DIVA in Eugene. He teaches writing at Lane Community College.
LBCC Writers' Workroom 10th Anniversary Celebration

Thursday, February 19, at 7 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR 
 

Since the inception of Linn-Benton Community College's (LBCC) Writers' Workroom in 2004, many stories critiqued in the class held at The Benton Center in Corvallis are now award-winning and/or published. LBCC Instructor C. Lill Ahrens is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the class by emceeing a gala reading by several of the award-winning, published authors including: 

Lois Jean Bousquet, Lisa Burchett, Michael Coolen, Harry Demarest, Gary Gibson, Linda Elin Hamner, Ken Holt, Valerie Lake, Genny Lynch, Lois Rosen, Dee Roy, Patricia Smith, Nancy Weber, and Dick Weinman.

Community EventsCommunityEvents

Darkside Show Times for 2/13/-2/19

-Still Alice -PG-13 A gripping performance from Julianne Moore, and a heartfelt drama that honors its delicate themes with bravery and sensitivity. Best Actress Oscar Nom!

-Mr. Turner -R An exploration of the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner's life. 4 Oscar Noms.

-The Theory Of Everything -PG-13 Five Oscar Noms.

-Interstellar-PG-13 A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in an attempt to ensure humanity's survival. Mathew McConaughey.

-Whiplash -R Oscar Nom for Best Picture.


Arts/Literary Events

-Sweet Home Public Library and the Willamette Writers on the River are co-hosting an Open-Mic Event Bring your stories and poems -Read for applause-All skill levels and genre welcome! Thursday, February 12th, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Guidelines for Reading:
*Sign up table begins at 6:15 pm.
* First to sign up is first to read. Total number
of readers will be limited by available time.
* Time limit per reader is 7 minutes.
* Only one prose piece is allowed during the 7-minute time frame.
Or Join the Audience. If you don't care to read, please come hear some talented writers present their work!

-Crossroads International Film Festival Sun, February 15, 1 p.m. - 9 p.m. Darkside Cinema, 215 SW 4th St, Corvallis, OR The 9th Annual Crossroads International Film Festival features 6 engaging films from around the world. The festival is every Sunday in February at the Darkside Cinema. Screenings are usually 1pm, 4pm and 7 pm. Admission is $6 per ticket; discounted 6-ticket Passports are available for $30.

-Willamette Writers on the River "Playing with Form in the Short Story" with Susan Rodgers Monday, February 16th, 6:30-8:30 PM, First Presbyterian Church, 114 SW 8th Street (enter Dennis Hall at 9th & Monroe) Corvallis, Oregon; Mark your calendar for February 16th. That's when our regular third-Monday-of-the-month meeting will feature writer Susan Jackson Rodgers guiding us through the topic of "Playing with Form in the Short Story." In this interactive presentation, Susan will introduce several exciting story forms that can free writers from the linear design of traditional short stories (conflict, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).


-David Wood, "Mission to Earth" 
Land Art and Sustainability
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. 
The way we are living is unsustainable. We cannot go on like this. If art allows us to see things anew, can it also help reshape our dwelling on earth? David Wood will look at the legacy of earth art, and discuss his own IntraTerrestrials project and other recent work.
David Wood is W. Alton Jones Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, a well-known scholar in Continental and Environmental Philosophy, and in the last year also an appreciated environmental artist who combines his philosophical perspective with environmental and land art.

-Friends of the Library BIG Book Sale Friday, Feb. 20, *6:00 PM-9:00 PM (*Friends members may enter at 4:00PM), Saturday, Feb. 21, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM, Sunday, Feb. 22, 10:00-3:00 PM. The Friends of the Library HUGE annual sale of used books at the Benton County Fairgrounds, with all proceeds benefitting the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. A wide assortment of books at very affordable prices. Sale continues on Saturday and Sunday. Come early for the best selection! Benton County Fairgrounds, 110 SW 53rd Street, Corvallis. Friends of the Library members will be allowed early entry on Friday Feb 21 at 4 p.m.

-"Writing about Animals in the Age of Extinction," Writing Workshop with author Melissa Hart Saturday, February 21, 2015 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM Avery House Nature Center, Corvallis, OR; Offering readers a single animal among a species for our consideration allows us to engage-emotionally and intellectually-with that creature and, hopefully, to work toward its survival. This workshop examines published descriptions of animals for how writers use characterization, sensory details, and researched facts to bring the individual to life without resorting to anthropomorphism. We'll play with figurative language and do some writing and reading in an upbeat, supportive environment. The workshop if free, but pre-registration is required. Limited to 15 participants. REGISTER HERE.


Opportunities

-Agha Shahid Ali Poetry Prize Deadline: March 31, 2015
Honoring the memory of a celebrated poet and a beloved teacher, the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry is awarded annually and is sponsored by The University of Utah Press and The University of Utah Department of English. $1,500 Cash Prize and Publication from the Press; $500 and reading in The University of Utah's Guest Writers Series from The University of Utah Department of English. We are now on Submittable. Manuscripts must be in English and should be between 48 and 100 pages. Manuscripts are due March 31st with a fee of $25. Check our website for more information go here. 

-The Prime Number Magazine Awards Deadline: March 31, 2015
Three categories: Poetry, Short Fiction, Creative Nonction. First prize in each category wins $1,000; Second Prize wins $250. First, Second, and Third Prizes published in Prime Number Magazine. Guidelines here.

-Torch Memorial Prize for Creative Nonfiction Judge: Eula Biss Deadline: April 1, 2015
First prize: $500 (and publication in NAR) Judge: Eula Biss. The winning essay will be revealed at our bicentennial celebration in June 2015. Enter online at northamericanreview.wordpress.com. Rafael Torch died in 2011, at the age of 36, after a courageous four-year attempt to overcome sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Rafael, whose award-winning work and vivid essays have appeared in many journals including Crab Orchard Review, Antioch Review, North American Review, wrote with honesty, insight and wit. At the time of his death, Rafael's immediate family included his beloved wife, Emily Olson-Torch and 4-month-old son, Rocco James.


Community Events with Grass Roots

Melissa Hart and Elena Passarello
 
Elena Passarello

Sat. Feb. 21, 7:00 p.m.
Corvallis Public Library
645 Northwest Monroe Avenue
Corvallis, OR
 
From Farinelli, the eighteenth century castrato who brought down opera houses with his high C, to the recording of "Johnny B. Goode" affixed to the Voyager spacecraft,
Let Me Clear My Throat dissects the whys and hows of popular voices, making them hum with significance and emotion. There are murders of punk rock crows, impressionists, and rebel yells; Howard Dean's "BYAH!" and Marlon Brando's "Stella!" and a stock film yawp that has made cameos in movies from A Star is Born to Spaceballs. The voice is thought's incarnating instrument and Elena Passarello's essays are a riotous deconstruction of the ways the sounds we make both express and shape who we are-the annotated soundtrack of us giving voice to ourselves.

Melissa Hart, a desperately lonely young divorcée and L.A. transplant, finds herself stranded in rainy Eugene, Oregon, working from home in the company of her two cats and two large mutts. At the local dog park, she meets a fellow dog owner named Jonathan: a tall, handsome man with a unibrow and hawk-like nose. When he invites her to accompany him on a drive to Portland to retrieve six hundred pounds of frozen rats and a fledgling barred owl, sparks fly!

Their courtship blossoms in a raptor rehabilitation center where wounded owls, eagles, falcons, and other iconic birds of prey take refuge and become ambassadors for their species. Initially, Melissa volunteers here in order to "sink her talons" into her new love interest, but soon she falls hopelessly in love with her fine feathered charges: Archimedes, a gorgeous snowy owl; Lorax, a serene great-horned owl; and Bodhi, a baby barred with a permanently injured wing. Even as human-habituated birds, they retain a wildness that hoodwinks even the most experienced handlers. Overcoming her fears, Melissa bravely suffers some puncture wounds to get closer to these magnificent creatures.

Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
Edited by Marjorie Sandor

Thursday, Feb. 26 7:30 p.m.
Oddfellows Hall
223 SW 2nd St
Corvallis, Oregon

Join us for the launch of The Uncanny Reader: Stories from the Shadows, edited by Marjorie Sandor. Doors open at 7 pm. Uncanny Performances begin at 7:30, followed by dancing. Cash bar, live music, and refreshments. Uncanny attire and masks highly encouraged.

From the deeply unsettling to the possibly supernatural, these thirty-one border-crossing stories from around the world explore the uncanny in literature, and delve into our increasingly unstable sense of self, home, and planet. The Uncanny Reader: Stories from the Shadows opens with "The Sand-man," E.T.A. Hoffmann's 1817 tale of doppelgangers and automatons--a tale that inspired generations of writers and thinkers to come. Stories by 19th and 20th century masters of the uncanny--including Edgar Allan Poe, Franz Kafka, and Shirley Jackson--form a foundation for sixteen award-winning contemporary authors, established and new, whose work blurs the boundaries between the familiar and the unknown. These writers come from Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Poland, Russia, Scotland, England, Sweden, the United States, Uruguay, and Zambia--although their birthplaces are not always the terrains they plumb in their stories, nor do they confine themselves to their own eras. Contemporary authors include: Chris Adrian, Aimee Bender, Kate Bernheimer, Jean-Christophe Duchon-Doris, Mansoura Ez-Eldin, Jonathon Carroll, John Herdman, Kelly Link, Steven Millhauser, Joyce Carol Oates, Yoko Ogawa, Dean Paschal, Karen Russell, Namwali Serpell, Steve Stern and Karen Tidbeck.

Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
 

Oregon Small Farms Conference

Saturday, Feb. 28
LaSells Stewart Center
875 SW 26th St
Corvallis, Oregon

This daylong event is geared toward farmers, agriculture professsionals, food policy advocates, students and managers of farmers markets.

Twenty-four sessions will be offered on a variety of topics relevant to Oregon small farmers including small farm profitability, meat processing, orcharding and much more! This year will also include a track in Spanish.

Speakers will include farmers, OSU Extension faculty, agribusiness representatives and more. 


 

Register for the event online here

 

Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.  

Store NewsStoreNews





Community Supported Baking
Valentine's Hugs & Kisses
Friday, February 13th

Don't forget to collect your Hugs & Kisses!

Like you'll really need reminding! If you ordered some of Melarova Baking's delicious shortbread cookies for Valentine's Day, don't forget to pick them up tomorrow, Friday, Feb. 13th in Grass Roots either on your lunch break (11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.) or after work (4:00 - 6:30 p.m.). See you tomorrow!

To learn more about Melarova Baking, go to www.melarovabaking.com.

JigsawJigsaw

IT'S BACK! Hit up this week's jigsaw here!
Reading Group SelectionReadingGroup

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
by Ann Patchett
Tuesday, March 3 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Join Tiffany as she leads our March Book Group with Ann Patchett's This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage.

"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

 

Regular Price: $15.99
On sale for:$13.59
Until Tuesday, March 3


Publisher: Harper Perennial
ISBN: 9780062236685

Night StandsNightStands

Neé

by Adam Voorhes and Alex Hannaford
[Non-Fiction]

You don't have to be a fan of Mary Roach, or Halloween, or Grey's Anatomy to find this book utterly fascinating. This beautiful, unique book is a labor of love and obsession. Like Dr. Frankenstein, Adam Voorhes and Alex Hannaford bring this collection of forgotten brains back to life. They rescued them from a dark grave in a university basement, and showed off how exceptional they are in high quality, professional photos. They also present the medical insights these ethereal beings still have to offer through careful research into the deformities showcased in this collection.

 

Hardcover; $39.95

Publisher: powerHouse Books; ISBN: 9781576877081

Linda

by Karen Abbott
[Non-Fiction]

Abbott's history of four very different and intriguing women during the Civil War is a gem of fine narrative form and storytelling. Deeply entwined in Civil War events, and keenly paying close attention to details, this book is fascinating knowledge of the lives of strong, daring women and what they contributed to their sides (North and South) of the war. It is good to have a so well-researched documentation of these women's contributions.

 

Hardcover; $27.99

Publisher: Harper; ISBN: 9780062092892

Jenny

by Sarah Fragoso
[Non-Fiction]

The Paleo diet is something I know only nebulously, but because I must eat gluten and dairy-free, I've found that many "paleo" labeled recipes make some of the best and easiest homemade meals for my restrictions. My affection for all southeast Asian cuisine drew me to Sarah Fragoso's straight-forward Thai cookbook, which breaks down all the Thai ingredients, where you can find them (even if your area doesn't provide easy access to things like lemongrass or leaf lard (what?!). The beginning thoughtfully covers these basics to make any of the following accessible, easy, authentic dishes like Spicy Cucumber Salad, Panaeng Curry, or your own Thai chili paste. 

 

Paperback; $29.95

Publisher: Victory Belt Publishing; ISBN: 9781628600148

Adam

by Sam Inglis
[Non-Fiction]

Here is one for the audiophiles out there. Recently I started reading the series 33 1/3. Each novella-length volume asks one author to explore an album they find influential. Depending on the author, the volumes can be journalistic, memoir-esque, or entirely fictional. For a good cross section check out Sam Inglis's fervent argument that Harvest is the must underrated Neil Young album; Mountain Goats frontman, John Darnielle's, Masters of Reality which uses the fictional diary of teen psychiatric patient to challenges the early belief that heavy metal was somehow corrupting kids. From Dusty Springfield to Kanye West, the one thing that is true across the series is that you will want to listen to the albums when you are done reading. 

 

Paperback; $14.95

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic; ISBN: 9780826414953

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