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| February 26, 2015 |
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Dear Readers,
This week is a bittersweet moment in our newsletter's history -- I, Jenny, am signing off as your weekly editor and handing the reins over to bookseller, Marissa. The official transition happens this week as I head back to my Midwestern roots. I've had a great time compiling the newsletter content, selling books to the good people of Oregon, and living here in the incomparable Pacific Northwest. I will miss everything, and I'll miss the store. But one door closes, and another one opens. So with that lingering and benevolent thought, I'll let Marissa introduce herself...
Hello, Readers! Marissa here, rejoining the Grass Roots family to step in for the irreplaceable Jenny. You're sure to find me with my nose in fantasy fiction, and my heart set on writing my own. As for what's new on our shelves, we've got the latest from Christopher Moore in paperback and a just-released children's book by the illustrator of the beloved Wildwood series. Stop on by and say hi!
~Jenny and Marissa
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New Hardcovers
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by Geronimo T. Johnson
[Fiction]
 ". . .Southerner D'aron Davenport is having a tough time adjusting in his freshman year at Berkeley (aka Berzerkeley). Then he falls in with fellow misfits Candace, a fresh-faced Iowan who claims Native American heritage, aspiring comic Louis, and black prep-school grad Charlie. When D'aron reveals in history class that his hometown holds an annual Civil War reenactment, his friends decide to stage a performative intervention as a form of protest. However, weighed down by their misconceptions about the South as well as their hyperliberal, overly intellectualized theories about race and history, the students find that their actions have tragic, unintended consequences. . ." - Booklist
Hardcover; $25.99
Publisher: William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 9780062302120
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by Joe Kirschvink and Peter Ward
[Non-Fiction]
 Charles Darwin's theories, first published more than 150 years ago, still set the paradigm of how we understand the evolution of life -- but scientific advances of recent decades have radically altered that understanding. In fact, the currently accepted history of life on Earth is flawed and out of date. Now two pioneering scientists, one already an award-winning popular author, deliver an eye-opening narrative that synthesizes a generation's worth of insights from new research. Drawing on their years of experience in paleontology, biology, chemistry, and astrobiology, Ward and Kirschvink show that many of our long-held beliefs about the history of life are wrong.
Hardcover; $30.00
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; ISBN: 9781608199075
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by Elliot Ackerman
[Fiction]
 "When Aziz's older brother, Ali, is hideously injured in a Taliban bombing, the young Afghan must join the Special Lashkar, a U.S.-funded militia, to ensure that Ali is cared for. [Although] his brother [is] never far from his thoughts, Aziz learns to be a soldier and dreams of taking badal (revenge) against Gazan, the leader of the Taliban. . . Soon enough, Aziz also learns that this type of war has no sides; it seems altogether fluid as its participants do whatever promises them financial advantage. Can anything break the cycle of such fighting?" - Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $25.00
Publisher: Scribner Book Company; ISBN: 9781476778556
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by Reif Larsen
[Fiction]
 "The gripping story of Radar Radmanovic, born in Elizabeth, N.J., in 1975, begins with his coal-black skin which came as a total surprise to his white parents. The troubled couple take young Radar to northern Norway for an experimental electric-shock procedure that will alter his skin color. There, they meet a tight-knit group of secretive physicists/puppeteers who call themselves Kirkenesferda. They stage elaborate avant-garde puppet performances in the middle of war zones and recruit Radar's father, an expert radio and TV engineer. . .[A] sprawling, engrossing novel about the ravages of war and the triumph of art. " - Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $29.95
Publisher: Penguin Press; ISBN: 9781594206160
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by Jonathan Lethem
[Fiction]
 Jonathan Lethem's third collection of stories uncovers a father's nervous breakdown at SeaWorld in "Pending Vegan"; a foundling child rescued from the woods during a blizzard in "Traveler Home"; a political prisoner in a hole in a Brooklyn street in "Procedure in Plain Air"; and a crumbling, haunted "blog" on a seaside cliff in "The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear." Each of these locates itself in Lethem-land, which can be discovered only by visiting. . .Lethem finds the uncanny lurking in the mundane, the irrational self-defeat seeping through our upstanding pursuits, and the tragic undertow of the absurd world(s) in which we live.
Hardcover; $24.95
Publisher: Doubleday Books; ISBN: 9780385539814
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New Paperbacks
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Edited by Marjorie Sandor
[Fiction]
 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. 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. Edited by award-winning author Marjorie Sandor, a professor in the MFA program in creative writing at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
Paperback; $21.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; ISBN: 9781250041715
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by Phil Klay
[Fiction]
(Winner of the 2014 National Book Award)
 "Klay's stories are sensational, with vivid characters, biting dialogue, and life within and beyond the Afghan and Iraq wars conveyed with an addictive combination of the mundane and the horrifying. A soldier reenters civilian life after the surreal wartime task of shooting dogs that eat corpses. A rookie takes part in a raid on insurgents and then eats cobbler. Two soldiers agree to swap responsibility for a killing. . . Redeployment is most remarkable, though, for the questions it asks about the aims and effects of war stories themselves, and Klay displays a thoughtful awareness of this literary tradition. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143126829
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by John Brockman
[Non-Fiction]
 The bestselling editor of This Explains Everything brings together 175 of the world's most brilliant minds to tackle Edge.org's 2014 question: What scientific idea has become a relic, blocking human progress? The answers are as surprising as they are illuminating. Steven Pinker dismantles the working theory of human behavior; Richard Dawkins renounces essentialism; Sherry Turkle reevaluates our expectations of artificial intelligence; Nina Jablonski argues to rid ourselves of the concept of race; Alan Guth rethinks the origins of the universe; and much more. Profound, engaging, thoughtful, and groundbreaking, this anthology will change your perceptions and understanding of our world.
Paperback; $15.99
Publisher: Harper Perennial; ISBN: 9780062374349
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by Christopher Moore
[Fiction]
 "Moore's mash-up of Othello and The Merchant of Venice with Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado' is a standout sequel to Fool, his twisted retelling of King Lear from 2009. After a dastardly trio of Venetians (including Iago) plot to bury alive Pocket the fool for thwarting an attempt to cook up a new Crusade from which they'd hoped to profit. . .he attempts to rescue his motley companions with his friend Othello's help, and to warn the general that a plot's afoot. Moore's imaginative storytelling, bawdy prose, [and] puns aplenty. . .succeed in transforming two classical tragedies into outrageously farcical entertainment. . ." - Publishers Weekly
Paperback; $15.99
Publisher: William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 9780061779770
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by Emma Donoghue
[Fiction]
 "During the scorching summer of 1876, Jenny Bonnet, an enigmatic cross-dressing bicyclist who traps frogs for San Francisco's restaurants, meets her death in a railroad saloon on the city's outskirts. Exotic dancer Blanche Beunon, a French immigrant living in Chinatown, thinks she knows who shot her friend and why, but has no leverage to prove it and doesn't know if she herself was the intended target. . .Blanche searches desperately for her missing son while pursuing justice for Jenny, but finds her two goals sit in conflict. . .[An] engrossing and suspenseful tale about moral growth, unlikely friendship, and breaking free from the past." - Booklist, Starred Review
Paperback; $17.00
Publisher: Back Bay Books; ISBN: 9780316324670
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New For Young Readers
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by Carson Ellis
[Fiction]
Ages 4 to 8
 Influential artist Carson Ellis makes her solo picture-book debut with a whimsical tribute to the many possibilities of home. Home might be a house in the country, an apartment in the city, or even a shoe. Home may be on the road or the sea, in the realm of myth, or in the artist's own studio. A meditation on the concept of home and a visual treat that invites many return visits, this loving look at the places where people live marks the picture-book debut of Carson Ellis, acclaimed illustrator of the Wildwood series and artist for the indie band the Decemberists.
Hardcover; $16.99
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA); ISBN: 9780763665296
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New Music
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Genre: Pop/Folk
Guitarist/vocalist Grey and Mofro have been making soulful blues music together since the turn of the century. Ol' Glory marks their seventh collaboration, including elements of gospel, rock, and funk. ($15.98) |
Events at Grass Roots
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Liz Carlisle
Wednesday, March 11, at 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books and Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR 97333
Grass Roots welcomes Liz Carlisle for reading and signings of her book, Lentil Underground. Liz Carlisle is a fellow at the Center for Diversified Farming Systems at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography, also from Berkeley, and a B.A. from Harvard University. A native of Missoula, Montana, and a protégé of Michael Pollan, she tells the remarkable story of an unheralded group of Montana farmers who have defied corporate agribusiness by launching a unique sustainable food movement.
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Community Events
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Darkside Show Times for 2/27-3/5
-Birdman -R
Winner of Best Picture.
-Map To Stars -R
David Cronenberg on life in Hollywood.
-Somewhere Else Tomorrow -NR
We believe firsthand experiences in foreign cultures will contribute to our world becoming more tolerant, understanding, and peaceful.
-Leviathan -R Enormously captivating, a study of oppression, human nature, and the effect of the two things upon each other. Nominated for Best Foreign Film! (Subtitled Russian)
-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.
-Last Five Years -PG Adapted from the hit musical. Anna Kendrick.
Arts/Literary Events
Check back next week!
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Community Events with Grass Roots
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Edited by Marjorie Sandor
Thursday, Feb. 26 7:30 p.m.
Oddfellows Hall
223 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR 97333
Join us for the launch of The Uncanny Reader: Stories from the Shadows, edited by Marjorie Sandor. Doors open at 7 p.m. 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 31 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 16 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.
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Oregon Small Farms Conference
Saturday, Feb. 28
LaSells Stewart Center
875 SW 26th St.
Corvallis, OR 97333
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.
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by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortíz
Ava Helen & Linus Pauling Memorial Lecture for World Peace
Wednesday, March 4, 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Austin Auditorium
875 SW 26th Street
Corvallis, OR 97333
Professor Roxanne Dunbar-Ortíz will be the 32nd annual lecturer in this series. She will speak about her book An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, revealing how Native Americans actively resisted expansion of the U.S. empire for centuries. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
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Jenny Boully
Friday, March 6, 7:30 p.m.
Valley Library Rotunda
121 The Valley Library
Corvallis, OR 97331
Jenny Boully's work has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry, The Next American Essay, Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present, and other places.
Her other books include not merely because of the unknown that was stalking toward them (Tarpaulin Sky Press), [one love affair]* (Tarpaulin Sky Press), and The Body: An Essay (Essay Press, first published by Slope Editions). Her chapbook of prose, Moveable Types, was released by Noemi Press. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
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Kurt Fausch
Monday, March 9, 7:00 p.m.
Troubadour Music Center
521 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR 97333
Rivers and streams supply our water and capture our imaginations. We seek the more pristine ones to fish or paddle, to hike along or simply sit and watch. But what is it we are seeing? What is essential about streams and rivers for us as humans? In For the Love of Rivers, stream ecologist Kurt Fausch draws readers across the reflective surface of streams to view and ponder what is beneath, and how they work. Fausch is a professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University, where he has taught for 33 years. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
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Store News
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Awards
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, was the overall winner of the Red House Children's Book Award. The prize, owned by the Federation of Children's Book Groups and administered by the Book People, is the only national book award entirely voted for by children from a shortlist across the U.K. |
Sometimes the most intriguing titles are the most unexpected! Our crafty staff has dived into the rabbit hole of weird, wonderful, and oddly specific books in our latest store display. If you prefer learning about the lives of political figures in picture form, check out Hillary: The Coloring Book. Or maybe you're craving a sweet treat but don't feel like sharing -- Best Mug Cakes Ever is for you. And gather inspiration with creative astrophysical, mathematical, and biological tattoo designs that also serve as excellent conversation pieces in Science Ink. Discover your next offbeat read on our shelves! |
Jigsaw
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Jigsaw:
We are in the middle of figuring out some technical difficulties with the website that helps us construct the weekly jigsaw. We know the jigsaw is loved, and we are trying our best to get to the bottom of some mysteries. You'll be apprised as the info comes in.
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Reading Group Selection
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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
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Night Stands
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Marissa
by Jean Zimmerman
[Fiction]
 Exceptional historical fiction should be well-researched and richly detailed, and Zimmerman definitely delivers. In Manhattan during the Gilded Age, the wealthy Delegates "adopt" Bronwyn, an alleged feral child, and prime her for high society. What follows is a gripping, wild read when her suitors begin turning up dead. Combining Victorian pomp with gothic horror, the novel delves into matters of exploitation, nature vs. nurture, and encroaching Westernization, all unreliably narrated by the Delegates' Harvard-educated son, whose obsession with Bronwyn proves to be a great flaw -- and possibly his downfall. I was glued to the pages and speculating until the last.
Hardcover; $27.95
Publisher: Viking Adult; ISBN: 9780670014859
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Linda
by Nicholas Carr
[Non-Fiction]
 This is one of those books where the jacket cover fascinated me -- drew me to it with its tactile relief of shattered glass. I am glad it did, for Nicholas Carr has done a complimentary job of research, history, pondering and setting forth positive answers to our continuously growing and troubling dependence on machines, especially computers. Carr has eloquently posed the continuous question of whether computers, cell phones, etc. are good for us and what it is they are taking from us as well. The dichotomy of the goodness of machines, versus what we as humans sacrifice by using them, is expressed well.
Hardcover; $26.95
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 9780393240764
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