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| March 5, 2015 |
Hello, Readers...
It's nearly time to spring forward! Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour this Sunday. All this sunshine has us looking forward to going out, getting some fresh air, and cracking open a good book. This week, we've got the newest from such bestsellers as Joseph Kanon, David Guterson, and Lisa See, as well as some amazing events celebrating local authors. Mark your calendars!
~ Marissa
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New Hardcovers
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by Kazuo Ishiguro [Fiction]
"In Ishiguro's first novel since 2006 ( Never Let Me Go), the award-winning author reinvents himself once again [with a] fable-like story about an elderly couple, Axl and Beatrice, who reside in a [British] village that is made up of underground warrens and is sometimes menaced by ogres. One day they get it into their heads to track down their son, who vanished years ago, although they cannot remember exactly why. In fact, their whole village seems to be struggling with memory loss, with residents forgetting from one day to the next key incidents and people from their pasts. . ." - Booklist
Hardcover; $26.95
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780307271037
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by Christophe Andre [Non-Fiction]
Stop doing, stop moving, stop twisting and turning. These are the first steps toward inner calm and increased mental clarity, says psychiatrist and leading meditation practitioner Christophe Andre, whose internationally bestselling book guides readers through the art of mindfulness beginning with art itself. Beautifully illustrated in color throughout, Andre curates a collection of classic and esoteric works, from Rembrandt to Hopper to Magritte, providing a lucid commentary on the inner workings of each painting -- as he describes the dynamic on the canvas, he turns to the reader's own reactions, exploring the connection between what we see and what we feel.
Hardcover; $27.95
Publisher: Blue Rider Press; ISBN: 9780399175633
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by Cecilia Ekback [Fiction]
"Ekback's thrilling debut, part historical fiction, part murder mystery, part supernatural chiller, takes place in Lapland in 1717. Resourceful Maija, [her husband] and their two daughters, Frederika and Dorotea, have left their native Finland to settle in rural Sweden. . .but, almost immediately, Frederika stumbles on the badly mutilated body of a neighbor. The villagers are convinced it was a wolf attack, but Maija suspects murder. [Her inquiries are] met with resistance from both her neighbors and the church, which wields considerable authority. And looming over the village is. . .Blackasen Mountain, which seems to harbor a malevolent spirit. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $26.00
Publisher: Weinstein Books; ISBN: 9781602862524
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by Ruth DeFries [Non-Fiction]
Our species long lived on the edge of starvation. Now we produce enough food for all 7 billion of us to eat nearly 3,000 calories every day, an astonishing thing in the history of life as to verge on the miraculous. MacArthur fellow and Columbia University professor Ruth DeFries tells the story of how it happened, of the ratchets -- the technologies and innovations, big and small -- that quadrupled our population in a century and grow food fast, propelling our species from hunters and gatherers on the savannahs of Africa to shoppers in the aisles of the supermarket.
Hardcover; $27.99
Publisher: Basic Books (AZ); ISBN: 9780465044979
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by Joseph Kanon [Fiction]
"In his seventh thriller, Kanon ( Istanbul Passage) [returns] to postwar Berlin. . .Author Alex Meier fled Germany for the United States when the Nazis began persecuting Jews. Now, he has been invited back, along with other renowned authors, as culture becomes part of the Cold War between East and West. But Alex's situation is precarious. . .owing to his intransigence when facing the congressional witch hunt for communists. Recruited as a spy with the promise of exoneration, Alex soon finds himself dealing with issues of trust and his own survival as the East German secret police force him to become an informer. . ." - Library Journal
Hardcover; $27.00
Publisher: Atria Books; ISBN: 9781476704647
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New Paperbacks
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by John Eliot Gardiner [Non-Fiction]
Johann Sebastian Bach is one of the most unfathomable composers in the history of music. How can such sublime work have been produced by a man who (when we can discern his personality at all) seems so ordinary, so opaque -- and occasionally so intemperate? John Eliot Gardiner is regarded as one of the composer's greatest living interpreters, explaining in wonderful detail the ideas on which Bach drew, how he worked, how his music is constructed, how it achieves its effects -- and what it can tell us about Bach the man.
Paperback; $18.95
Publisher: Vintage; ISBN: 9781400031436
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by Noah Strycker [Non-Fiction]
"Birds are fascinating, and the more we humans study them, the more similarities we find between ourselves and our feathered neighbors. Strycker, editor of Birding magazine and author ( Among Penguins), here combines the latest in ornithological science with snippets of history and his own vast experience in the field to hatch a thoroughly entertaining examination of bird behavior. Some avian behaviors don't apply to humans -- the almost magical homing abilities of pigeons, the incredible sense of smell of turkey vultures. . .but many seemingly incredible bird actions have parallels in our own lives. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 9781594633416
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by David Guterson [Fiction]
"People struggle to connect with each other in this succinct but ambitious collection of 10 stories from the [PEN/Faulkner award-winning] author. . .Some return to Guterson's customary Pacific Northwestern milieu, but elsewhere he ranges abroad. . .'Paradise' observes a man and a woman struggling through the awkwardness of their first few dates, while in 'Tenant,' a landlord obsesses over a new renter whom he has never met. 'Politics' explores the superficial yet fraught relationship between a beggar and those he solicits, and 'Krassavitseh' follows a father and son as they navigate Holocaust memorials in Germany with an enigmatic tour guide." - Publishers Weekly
Paperback; $14.95
Publisher: Vintage; ISBN: 9780345807427
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by Jim Robbins [Non-Fiction]
"Inspired, some would say driven, by a near-death experience, Michigan nurseryman David Milarch expanded his innate love of trees into a decade-long quest to seek out and protect the world's oldest and largest trees from the mass extinction he foresaw as their fate. Nearly alone in his belief that such long-lived relics must possess genetic traits of resiliency, Milarch founded the Champion Tree Project, a global mission to clone these majestic trees. . .[A] clarion call to those concerned with the fate of the world's forests as well as of the stately shade trees in their own backyards." - Booklist
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau; ISBN: 9780812981292
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by Lisa See [Fiction]
". . .Three young women, Grace, Helen, and Ruby, meet and form an unlikely but strong bond in San Francisco in 1938. . .Grace has run from an abusive father in the Midwest; Helen is trapped by her traditional family in Chinatown after a devastating loss; Ruby is Japanese, desperate to pass as Chinese to stay employed as the U.S. moves closer to war with Japan. They become performers at the Forbidden City Nightclub and face the difficulty of being Asian in an Occidental world, as well as the additional conflict of prejudice within their own community. . ." - Publishers Weekly
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Random House Trade; ISBN: 9780812982824
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by Helen Oyeyemi [Fiction]
In the winter of 1953, Boy Novak arrives by chance in a small town in Massachusetts, marries a local widower, and becomes stepmother to winsome Snow Whitman. A wicked stepmother is a creature Boy never imagined she'd become, but elements of aesthetic obsession begin to play themselves out when the birth of Boy's daughter, Bird, who is dark-skinned, exposes the Whitmans as light-skinned African Americans passing for white. Boy, Snow, and Bird must ask how much power surfaces really hold in this Snow White fairy tale brilliantly recast as a story of family secrets, race, beauty, and vanity.
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Riverhead Books; ISBN: 9781594633409
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New For Young Readers
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by Kate Messner [Fiction]
Ages 3 to 8
In this exuberant and lyrical follow-up to the award-winning Over and Under the Snow, discover the wonders that lie hidden between stalks, under the shade of leaves . . . and down in the dirt. Explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year! Up in the garden, the world is full of green -- leaves and sprouts, growing vegetables, ripening fruit. But down in the dirt exists a busy world -- earthworms dig, snakes hunt, skunks burrow -- populated by all the animals that make a garden their home.
Hardcover; $16.99
Publisher: Chronicle Books; ISBN: 9781452119366
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New Music
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Events at Grass Roots
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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 a reading and signing 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 prot�g� 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 3/6-3/12
Two Days, One Night -PG-13 The beauty of the film is in its simple, honest analysis of the human condition -- and in Ms. Cotillard's powerfully good performance. Subtitled French.
Birdman -R A thrilling leap forward for director Alejandro Gonz�lez I��rritu, Birdman is an ambitious technical showcase powered by a layered story and outstanding performances from Michael Keaton and Edward Norton. Winner of Best Picture.
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!
Arts/Literary Events
Tragedy Full Of Joy: Stories By Bernard Malamud
Majestic Reader's Theatre Company
Saturday, April 25 at 7:00 p.m. & Sunday, April 26 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
Majestic Reader's Theatre Company Majestic Theatre Lab 115 SW 2nd St. Corvallis, OR 97333
In honor of Bernard Malamud's 101st birthday, The Majestic Reader's Theatre Company and The OSU School of Writing, Literature and Film present Tragedy Full Of Joy: Stories by Bernard Malamud, directed by Robert Leff. Elena Passarello, David Turkel, and Robert Leff have adapted four of his short stories: "Steady Customer," "A Wig," "The Jewbird," and "The Magic Barrel." Malamud, a major mid-twentieth century American writer, was a member of the Oregon State English Department from 1949 to 1961. While living in Corvallis, he wrote the novels The Natural, The Assistant, and the short story collection The Magic Barrel, which won the 1959 National Book Award for Fiction.
An Evening with David Gessner
OSU Visiting Writer Series
Friday, May 8, at 7:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Valley Library Main Floor Rotunda 201 Southwest Waldo Place Corvallis, OR 97331
David Gessner is the author of the forthcoming book, All the Wild that Remains: Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner and the American West, and eight others including Sick of Nature, The Prophet of Dry Hill, and Return of the Osprey, which was chosen by the Boston Globe as one of the top 10 non-fiction books of the year and the Book-of-the-Month club as one of its top books of the year. Gessner is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and founder of the national literary journal, Ecotone.
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Community Events with Grass Roots
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Jenny Boully
OSU Visiting Writers Series
Friday, March 6, at 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 books include The Book of Beginnings and Endings, 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, at 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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Thursday, April 2, at 7:00 p.m.
LaSells Stewart Center
C&E Auditorium
875 SW 26th St.
Corvallis, OR 97333
Join The Spring Creek Project for a reading and signing with John Marzluff and his new book, Welcome to Subirdia: Sharing Our Neighborhoods with Wrens, Robins, Woodpeckers, and Other Wildlife. This excellent book documents engagingly how wildlife has adapted to urban and suburban areas, often in surprising ways. Marzluff, Ph.D., is professor of Wildlife Science at the University of Washington and author of four books and over one hundred scientific papers on various aspects of bird behavior. He is the recipient of the A. Brazier Howell, Board of Directors, and H.R. Painton awards from the Cooper Ornithological Society. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
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39th Annual OSU Gerontology Conference
Thursday, April 2 - Friday, April 3 (all day) CH2M HILL Alumni Center 725 SW 26th Street Corvallis, OR 97333
This two-day conference, held at Oregon State University, will feature workshops by leading geriatric professionals presenting current information for health and human services occupations in a wide variety of disciplines. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
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Store News
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RBC Taylor Prize Award
Plum Johnson won the $25,000 RBC Taylor Prize for literary nonfiction, which is given to an author "whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style and a subtlety of thought and perception," for They Left Us Everything. The jury praised They Left Us Everything as "beautifully observed and written with great warmth and wit," calling it a "story of love, loss and legacy, written with compassion and humor."
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Our list of magazine titles is ever-changing, and this week we're excited to bring you four new selections: Birds & Bloom, Computer Arts, Salmon Trout Steelheader, and The Economist by popular demand. Be sure to grab the latest edition before it's gone -- we sell out fast!
You may have also noticed a rather impressive furniture addition in the store. Corvallis Waldorf School is raffling an heirloom maple and walnut hope chest, handcrafted by Bill Brock, estimated at $2,500 -- and it could be yours! A limited number of raffle tickets are available here at Grass Roots at $10 each, and proceeds will benefit the CWS tuition assistance program. This beautiful piece is only on display in the bookstore throughout March! Raffle drawing will be held April 24. For more information, visit the CWS website.
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Jigsaw
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The jigsaw puzzle remains on indefinite hiatus as we continue to work through technical difficulties with the website that helps us construct it. Thanks for your patience!
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Reading Group Selection
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Tuesday, April 7, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Join Adam as he leads our April Book Group with Bernard Malamud's The Magic Barrel: Stories -- in keeping with the production of Tragedy Full of Joy: Stories by Bernard Malamud by the Majestic Reader's Theatre Company (see Arts/Literary Events above!).
Bernard Malamud's first book of short stories, The Magic Barrel, has been recognized as a classic from the time it was published in 1959. The stories are set in New York and in Italy (where Malamud's alter ego, the struggling New York Jewish Painter Arthur Fidelman, roams amid the ruins of old Europe in search of his artistic patrimony). It is a book about New York and about the immigrant experience, and a high point in the modern American short story. Few books of any kind have managed to depict struggle and frustration and heartbreak with such delight, or such artistry.
Regular Price: $15.00
On sale for: $12.75
Until Tuesday, April 7
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
ISBN: 9780374525866
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Night Stands
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Adam
Edited by Marjorie Sandor [Fiction]
The Uncanny Reader, edited by local author Marjorie Sandor, celebrates those stories that haunt us without being ghost stories, that unsettle us against all logic and reason. The uncanny is that feeling you get when something is just off, but no matter what you do you can't exactly identify the source. It is a collection chock-full of strange encounters, odd children, and all too lifelike mechanical marvels. Collected here are works that span the globe over 150 years and features authors both well-known and obscure. Though every story is perfect in its own right, among my favorites are Karen Russell's "Haunting Ophelia," the story of two boys, obsessed with finding their drowned sister, and China Mieville's "The Foundation," which follows an unofficial building inspector that is haunted by his part in wartime construction projects that were literally built on blood.
Paperback; $21.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; ISBN: 9781250041715
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Claire
by Orson Scott Card [Fiction]
In this science fiction classic, the balance of intelligence and compassion in 6-year-old Ender Wiggin has rendered him the best candidate for commander of the fleet in the war against an alien race. He must first, however, ace battle school, navigating the complex nature of schoolhouse politics raised up to the level of a battlefield. The nuanced morality and compelling writing style make Ender's Game a page-turner.
Paperback; $7.99
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction; ISBN: 9780812550702
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Kendall
by Bridget Watson Payne [Non-Fiction]
Amateur photography has never looked so good -- or been so accessible. The ability to document one's life or surroundings has, for most of history, been for the upper class with money to spend on supplies, or the skills of others. If you wanted a picture of yourself, you had to hire someone to paint you. Later on, you needed someone with a giant camera. But now, you can capture a moment with one button. Throw on a filter and you have art. This is what Instagram has brought us and this book provides a beautiful sampling of this art.
Paperback; $12.95
Publisher: Chronicle Books (CA); ISBN: 9781452123356
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