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April 30, 2015
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Dear Readers,

We think literature deserves a party, and so do you.


Grass Roots Books cordially invites you to our inaugural Independent Bookstore Day Party!
This Saturday, May 2nd will be jam-packed with deals, giveaways, and surprises:

 

All Day: 20% off featured staff picks, books from Indie Presses, local authors, and more!

10:00 a.m.: Book giveaways

 

11:00 a.m.: Meet your local authors, including: Elena Passarello, Ann Staley, Linda Carroll, Rick Borsten, Wendy Madar, John Addiego, Lena Lingemann, Edwin Wollert, Jeff Davis, and Frances Stilwell

 

1:00 p.m.: Brigittine Monk fudge tasting and 20% off all cookbooks 

 

2:00 p.m.: CALYX Press of Corvallis discusses the importance of independent bookstores and presses 

 

3:00 p.m.: Local author reading and signing by Greg Warburton (more details in Store Events)

 

4:30 p.m.: Beer tasting with local brewery Mazama and 20% off all beer and wine books

 

According to the official Independent Bookstore Day website, "Independent bookstores are not just stores, they're community centers and local anchors run by passionate readers" -- that means you. This Saturday, come celebrate the journey of Grass Roots in your community since 1971...and, of course, the joy of books! 

 

See you this weekend, Readers,

 

~ Marissa

New HardcoversNHardcovers

by Karl Ove Knausgaard
[Fiction]  

"Book 4 of Knausgaard's highly regarded magnum opus, a multivolume autobiographical novel, picks up with 18-year-old Karl Ove traveling to Hafjord in northern Norway to teach at a local school. But before the first week of classes has ended, he is invited to two different parties, and at least one student, an attractive young woman, shows up unannounced at his flat. When not busy teaching, out partying, or attempting to begin his career as a writer. . .much of the humor in book 4 derives from Karl Ove's sexual misadventures, [while his] habitual drinking begins to resemble his own father's alcoholism. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review

Hardcover; $27.00

Publisher: Archipelago Books; ISBN: 9780914671176

by Oliver Sacks
[Non-Fiction]  

". . . Neurologist Sacks (Musicophilia) explores the complexities of his adult experience, including his homosexuality, which yielded a number of intense but transitory affairs; obsessions with weight lifting and motorcycles. . .and a ravaging addiction to amphetamines. While Sacks's physical and emotional lives are more prominent here than in past writings, he's still fascinated with the mind and presents absorbing disquisitions on Tourette's syndrome, autism, visual processing, and the Darwinian struggle of mental processes. . .closely following his announcement that he has terminal cancer, [the autobiography] is a fitting retrospective of his lifelong project of making science a deeply humanistic pursuit." - Publishers Weekly

Hardcover; $27.95

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780385352543

by Jane Smiley
[Fiction]  

"Smiley continues the multigenerational, cross-country saga of the Iowa-rooted Langdon family she began in Some Luck. . .First-born Frank, a darkly glamorous former WWII sniper with an eidetic memory, glides into the upper echelons of the booming postwar weapons and oil industries. . .Frank's wife fears the atomic bomb, lies to her psychoanalysts, and drinks too much, while their daughter is drawn into Reverend Jim Jones' Peoples Temple, and their twin sons practice a violent form of sibling rivalry. . . Smiley demonstrates an incisive historical perspective, virtuosic omniscient narration, [and] a gift for sparring dialogue. . .in this grand story of an iconic American family." - Booklist, Starred Review 

 

Hardcover; $26.95

Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780307700322

by David Browne
[Non-Fiction]  

Fifty years after they first came together and changed the sound of rock 'n' roll, the Grateful Dead remain one of rock's most beloved bands -- a musical and cultural phenomenon that spans generations and paved the way for the world of jam bands and the idea of independently released music. Readers will find themselves inside their communal home in Haight-Ashbury during the band's notorious 1967 bust; behind the scenes in the studio, and in the midst of the Dead's legendary band meetings. Browne takes us deep into the world of the Dead in ways that will be eye-opening even to the most rabid Deadheads.

Hardcover; $30.00

Publisher: Da Capo Press; ISBN: 9780306821707

by Dr. David Perlmutter
[Non-Fiction]  

Debilitating brain disorders are on the rise -- from children diagnosed with autism and ADHD to adults developing dementia at younger ages than ever before. But new research is revealing that the health of your brain is, to an extraordinary degree, dictated by the state of your microbiome -- the vast population of organisms that live in your body and outnumber your own cells 10 to one. Dr. Perlmutter explains how the microbiome develops from birth and evolves based on lifestyle choices, and how nurturing gut health through a few easy strategies can alter your brain's destiny for the better.

Hardcover; $28.00

Publisher: Little Brown and Company; ISBN: 9780316380102

New PaperbacksNPaperbacks

by Karl Ove Knausgaard
[Fiction]


A family of four -- mother, father, and two boys -- move to the south coast of Norway, to a new house on a newly developed site. It is the early 1970s and the family's trajectory is upwardly mobile: the future seems limitless. In painstaking, sometimes self-lacerating detail, Knausgaard paints a world familiar to anyone who can recall the intensity and novelty of childhood experience, one in which children and adults lead parallel lives that never meet. Perhaps the most Proustian in the series, Knausgaard writes vivid, technicolor recollections of childhood, his emerging self-understanding, and the multilayered nature of time's passing, memory, and existence.

Paperback; $16.00

Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux; ISBN: 9780374534165

by Sandra Tsing Loh
[Non-Fiction]

"Performer-humorist Loh isn't going crazy. She is heading straight into menopause, and her experiences and thoughts on the topic are hilarious, comforting, and enlightening. . .As she points out, by 2015 nearly one-half of American women will be menopausal. Moreover, many of these same women will be also working, raising children, and taking care of their parents. Sound grim? Or, perhaps, sound familiar? Loh has cleared this treacherous, necessary path with her own wildly humorous story, a few facts here and there, and her funny and eye-opening summations of advice from the many change-of-life books she has plowed through. . ." - Booklist

Paperback; $15.95

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 9780393351095

by Ian McEwan
[Fiction]

Fiona Maye is a leading High Court judge who presides over cases in the family court. But her professional success belies private sorrow and domestic strife. There is the lingering regret of her childlessness, and now her marriage of 30 years is in crisis. At the same time, she is called on to try an urgent case: Adam, a beautiful 17-year-old boy, is refusing for religious reasons the medical treatment that could save his life, and his devout parents echo his wishes. Time is running out, and Fiona's judgment has momentous consequences for them both.

Paperback; $15.00

Publisher: Anchor Books; ISBN: 9781101872871

by Brian Catling
[Fiction]

Next to the colonial town of Essenwald sits the Vorrh, a vast -- perhaps endless -- forest. It is a place of demons and angels, of warriors and priests. Sentient and magical, the Vorrh bends time and wipes memory. Now, a renegade English soldier aims to be the first human to traverse its expanse. Armed with only a strange bow, he begins his journey, but some fear the consequences of his mission, and a native marksman has been chosen to stop him. Around them swirl a remarkable cast of characters, including a Cyclops raised by robots and a young girl with tragic curiosity.

Paperback; $15.95

Publisher: Vintage; ISBN: 9781101873786

by Jodi Picoult
[Fiction]

"Picoult's (The Storyteller) novel explores grief, memory, and motherhood through the unlikely lens of elephant behavior. Jenna Metcalf was three years old when her mother, Alice, disappeared from the elephant sanctuary where she worked as a researcher. Ten years later, Jenna is ready to launch a search. After poring over her mother's research journals, consulting the Internet, and visiting her father in the mental institution where he's been since shortly after the disappearance. . .Jenna finds new evidence at the now-closed sanctuary and begins to piece together the events of the night her mother disappeared. . ."

Paperback; $16.00

Publisher: Ballantine Books; ISBN: 9780345544940

by Craig Johnson
[Fiction]

Walt is sinking into high-plains winter discontent when his former boss, Lucian Conally, asks him to take on a mercy case in an adjacent county. Detective Gerald Holman is dead and Lucian wants to know what drove his old friend to take his own life. With the clock ticking on the birth of his first grandchild, Walt learns that the by-the-book detective might have suppressed evidence concerning three missing women. Digging deeper, Walt uncovers an incriminating secret so dark that it threatens to claim other lives even before the sheriff can serve justice -- Wyoming style.

Paperback; $16.00

Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143126973

New For Young ReadersYReaders

The Secret Garden: A Flowers Primer (BabyLit Books)
by Jennifer Adams
[Fiction]
Ages 1 to 4

BabyLit is a fashionable way to introduce your toddler to the world of classic literature. With clever, simple text by Jennifer Adams, paired with stylish design and illustrations by Alison Oliver.



Board Books; $9.99

Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers; ISBN: 9781423638728

The Skunk
by Mac Barnett
[Fiction]
Ages 4 to 8

When a skunk first appears in the tuxedoed man's doorway, it's a strange but possibly harmless occurrence. But then the man finds the skunk following him, and the unlikely pair embark on an increasingly frantic chase through the city, from the streets to the opera house to the fairground. What does the skunk want? It's not clear -- but soon the man has bought a new house in a new neighborhood to escape the little creature's attention, only to find himself missing something. . .This slyly hilarious tale brings together picture book talents Mac Barnett and Patrick McDonnell for the first time.

Hardcover; $17.99

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press; ISBN: 9781596439665

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures
by Maggie Stiefvater and Jackson Pearce
[Fiction]
Ages 8 to 12

Here's a list of things Pip Bartlett can talk to: Unicorns; Miniature Silky Griffins; Bitterflunks; basically, all magical creatures. Here's a list of things she can't talk to (at least, not very well): Parents; teachers; basically, all people. Because of a Unicorn Incident at her school (it was an accident!), Pip is spending the summer with her Aunt Emma at the Cloverton Clinic for Magical Creatures. At first, it's all fun, games, and chatting with Hobgrackles, but when Fuzzles appear and start bursting into flame at the worst possible places, Pip and her new friend Tomas must take action.

Hardcover; $16.99

Publisher: Scholastic Press; ISBN: 9780545709262

New MusicNMusic


Charlie Parr
Stumpjumper
Genre: Pop/Folk

From Minnesota, Parr has built a career as a self styled folk artist, from releasing his own music to a commitment to playing solo. Stumpjumper marks a new era for Parr, who has signed to Red House, and is joined by a band to back his energetic acoustic numbers.
($17.98)

The Weepies
Sirens
Genre: Pop/Folk

From Portland, Deb Talan and Steve Tannen make a pop friendly contemporary folk. Sirens is released in the wake of Talan's treatment and recovery from breast cancer.
($13.98)

Jesse Cook
One World
Genre: World

The Canadian guitarist and composer was one of the creators of what became "nuevo flamenco." One World incorporates rhythmic influences from as far afield as the Middle East and South America.
($16.98)

Josh Groban
Stages
Genre: Classical

Best known as a popular classical vocalist, Groban's new album takes his music in a new direction. Stages finds Groban focusing on tunes from musical theatre, with guests including Kelly Clarkson, Chris Botti, Audra MacDonald, and more.
($18.98)

Natalie Macmaster and Donnell Leahy
 One
Genre: Celtic/Irish

The Cape Breton fiddle master makes great Celtic music with the frontman for Leahy. Together, they make primarily instrumental music reaching across the Irish spectrum, including MacMaster's first recorded vocal track.
($16.98)
Events at Grass RootsEventsGRR

Greg Warburton

Saturday, May 2, at 3:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR

Warburton's Winning System gives you powerful techniques to quickly and effortlessly focus your mind and control your emotions so you can consistently perform at your best under the pressure of competition. Take advantage of the latest in brain science and energy psychology by applying this comprehensive and innovative set of training tools for mental and emotional self-management.

Greg Warburton grew up living and breathing sports. A traumatic leg amputation at age 27 didn't slow him down-he remains a lifelong athlete. His own life experience and a 30-year counseling career enabled him to develop a training system that transforms athletes into champions. 

Ana Maria Spagna

Saturday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR

What skills will you need after a global catastrophe? Whether it's the end of oil, an environmental disaster, or something entirely unforeseen, Ana Maria Spagna outlines 100 skills you'll find indispensable for life after the apocalypse. You'll need to know how to barter, perform basic first aid, preserve food, cut your own hair, clean a chimney, navigate by the stars, stitch a wound, darn socks, and sharpen blades.

Ana Maria Spagna lives in Stehekin, Washington, a remote community in the North Cascades. After working many years on backcountry trail crews, she now teaches at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. She's the author of three previous books: Now Go Home, Potluck, and Test Ride on the Sunnyland Bus, and the forthcoming Reclaimers.

Marie Friend

Wednesday, May 13, at 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR

Dreams: Mirrors Of Your Soul is a fascinating journey into all the many facets of dreaming; from Astral Flying to Things That Go Bump In The Night, this book is full of 'corridors,' leading you to your Inner Knowledge of Self, that are waiting to be explored. Not only does Dreams lead you by the hand into understanding your dreams, but the author validates your personal dream world with actual proof of this fact.

Marie Friend was born and raised in England within a family environment that considered that anything paranormal was perfectly normal. Her maternal great-grandparents were Welsh gypsies and her Mother had psychic abilities. Marie has had precognitive dreams for as long as she can remember.
Community EventsCommunityEvents

Darkside Show Times for 5/1-5/7

-Song Of The Sea -PG Boasts narrative depth commensurate with its visual beauty, adding up to an animated saga overflowing with family-friendly riches. 99% on RT!

-Merchants of Doubt -PG-13 A documentary that looks at pundits-for-hire who present themselves as scientific authorities as they speak about topics like toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and climate change.

-Desert Dancer -PG-13 Afshin Ghaffarian risks everything to start a dance company amidst his home country of Iran's politically volatile climate and the nation's ban on dancing.

-White God -R Thirteen-year-old Lili is devastated when her father sets her dog loose on the streets. Still innocently believing love can conquer any difficulty, Lili sets out to find her dog and save him.

-Adult Beginners -NR The kind of comedy that goes down easy even as it looks at the hard stuff.

-What We Do in The Shadows -NR  Smarter, fresher, and funnier than a modern vampire movie has any right to be, What We Do in the Shadows is bloody good fun.


Arts/Literary Events

Mary Christina Wood

Thursday, April 30, at 7:00 p.m.
LaSells Stewart Center, C&E auditorium
875 SW 26th St.
Corvallis, OR

Environmental law has failed us all. As ecosystems collapse across the globe and the climate crisis intensifies, environmental agencies worldwide use their authority to permit the very harm that they are supposed to prevent. Growing numbers of citizens now realize they must act before it is too late. This book exposes what is wrong with environmental law and offers transformational change based on the public trust doctrine.

Mary Christina Wood is the Philip H. Knight Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the school's Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program at UO.

Symposium: "Remaining Wild: Writing Beyond Wally and Ed," with David Gessner, Tim Jensen, and Ana Maria Spagna

Friday, May 8, at 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
112 Memorial Union, Horizon Room
Corvallis, OR

What's with all the "wild" talk lately? Are we obsessed with wild lands and wild minds because, as with most things in nature, we're losing them? Or are we trying to point to an essential but hard-to-define quality of good writing and inspired living? In their novels and non-fiction, as in their lives, Edward Abbey and Wallace Stegner showed us very different styles and strategies for constructing literatures and lives. 

by David Laskin
Reviewed by Jonathan Katz; sponsored by the Friends of the Library

Wednesday, May 13, at 12:00 - 1:30 p.m.
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
645 NW Monroe Ave.
Corvallis, OR

Willamette Writers on the River: Monthly Meeting
Chris Bernard
"Finding My Story, Losing My Voice"

Monday, May 18, at 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church, Dennis Hall
114 SW 8th St.
Corvallis, OR

The remarkable story that became Chasing Alaska: A Portrait of the Last Frontier Then and Now all but fell into Bernard's lap. Bernard will talk about his adventures in writing and publishing about the Last Frontier, focusing on the benefits of self-discipline and self-delusion, and the things you should be willing to sacrifice in service to your story. 

C.B. Bernard's book is a Publishers Weekly Top 10 Travel Pick and National Geographic top book choice and finalist for a 2014 Oregon Book Award. A career writer for more than two decades, C.B. Bernard has worked as a newspaper and magazine journalist, among other things.

Community Events with Grass Roots

David Gessner

OSU Visiting Writer Series

Friday, May 8, at 7:00 - 9:30 p.m.
Valley Library Main Floor Rotunda
201 Southwest Waldo Place
Corvallis, OR

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, EcotoneGrass Roots will be selling books at this event.

Molly Gloss
Thursday, May 21, at 7:00 pm.
Troubadour Music Center
521 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR

In 1938, 19-year-old ranch hand Bud Frazer sets out for Hollywood with his sights set on becoming a stunt rider in the movies -- and hoping to rub shoulders with the great screen cowboys of his youth. On the long bus ride south, Bud meets Lily Shaw, a bold, outspoken young woman with her heart set on becoming a screenwriter. The two form an unlikely friendship that will carry them through their tumultuous days in Hollywood -- and as it happens, for the rest of their lives.

Molly Gloss is a fourth-generation Oregonian who lives in Portland. Her novel The Jump-Off Creek was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for American Fiction, and a winner of both the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and the Oregon Book Award. The Hearts of Horses, published in 2007, is the novel of a young woman breaking horses for several ranchers in Eastern Oregon in the winter of 1917. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
Store NewsStoreNews

Independent Bookstore Day is May 2


Celebrate all that you love about your local, independent bookstore -- join us at Grass Roots for discounts on books published by independent presses, staff picks, and more! The day's festivities will include:

 

10:00: Book giveaways

11:00: Local authors in the store for signings and recommendations, including Elena Passarello, Ann Staley, Linda Carroll, Lena Lingemann, Wendy Madar, Frances Stilwell, Rick Borsten, Edwin Wollert, and John Addiego

1:00: Brigittine Monk fudge tasting

2:00: Why support your independent bookstore and small presses?

3:00: Author reading and signing by local author Greg Warburton

...and more until 5:30

 

See you there!

Mother's Day Cookies

  

Mother's Day Ischler Cookies
Community Supported Baking
Friday, May 8th

Melarova Baking returns as a part of the Community Supported Baking program at Grass Roots, and the second offering of the 
year is just in time for Mother's Day! The 
Ischler Cookie is direct from the Austro-
Hungarian Empire: a buttery walnut sandwich cookie held together with a tangy apricot filling and drizzled with a fine chocolate bead. Choose from either an elegant golden gift box or a fun, spring-like pillow box package. 

Purchase online by May 6th for in-store pick-up on May 8th (not sold through Grass Roots).

Not sure? How about a free sample? Starting tomorrow and going through the weekend (May 1st - 3rd) receive a free sample cookie with a Grass Roots purchase. Come on in, pick up a Mother's Day card, taste for yourself and be ready to place an order!

Learn more about Melarova Baking and place your online order for pick-up here.
Oregon Native Plant Awareness Week


On behalf of the Native Plants Society of Oregon, get to know what's blooming in your own backyard with our books featuring Wildflowers of Bald Hill Meadows, Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest120 Wild and Flavorful Edibles from Alaska Blueberries to Wild Hazelnuts, and more.
2015 James Beard Foundation Awards; Heinz Award

The winners of the James Beard Foundation's book awards include Cookbook of the Year: Yucatn: Recipes from a Culinary Expedition by David Sterling; Beverage: Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail by Dave Arnold; and Cooking from a Professional Point of View: Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes by Nicolaus Balla and Cortney Burns. To view the full list of winners, visit the JBF website.

Cartoonist Roz Chast, author of the bestselling graphic memoir Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?, was named this year's recipient in the arts & humanities category of the $250,000 Heinz Award honoring "exceptional Americans for their creativity and determination in finding solutions to critical issues both here and abroad."
JigsawJigsaw

Solve this week's jigsaw!
Reading Group SelectionReadingGroup

Tuesday, May 7 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Join Kendall as she leads our May Book Group with Elizabeth Kolbert's The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize.

Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us. In prose that is at once frank, entertaining, and deeply informed, New Yorker writer Kolbert tells us why and how human beings have altered life on the planet in a way no species has before, compelling us to rethink the fundamental question of what it means to be human.

Regular Price: $16.00
On sale for: $13.60
Until Tuesday, May 5
Publisher: Picador USA
ISBN: 9781250062185
Night StandsNightStands

Tiffany

by Pam Mu�oz Ryan
[Fiction]
Ages 10 to 14

Four stories intertwine like musical notes played on the magic-infused harmonica at the heart of  them. Framed in fantasy but grounded in history, the book begins in 19th century Europe when three enchanted princesses rescue a boy lost in the woods. In turn, he promises to set them free by passing on the harmonica a gypsy gave him, which now contains their spirits. Decades later, the harmonica finds its way first to Friedrich, a  birthmark-scarred boy in Germany who wants to be a conductor just at the time of the rise of Hitler in 1933. Then to Mike, an orphaned young pianist in Philadelphia desperately trying to keep him and his younger brother together and out of an orphanage in 1935. And finally to musically-gifted Ivy Lopez in 1942 California, where her Mexican-American family caretake a farm for an interned Japanese family. How these three children find strength, courage, and kindness when faced with danger, adversity, and cruelty makes for a moving and adventurous read, especially as their stories come together in the end.

Hardcover; $19.99

Publisher: Scholastic Press; ISBN: 9780439874021

Claire

by Bill Bryson
[Non-Fiction]

One of the funniest travel narratives I've ever read, this is a shining moment for Bill Bryson. He regales his stories of Australia, its history, and lists each and every way the local flora and fauna will kill you. Did you know that one of Australia's Prime Ministers walked into the ocean, never to be heard from again? I do now, along with his stories of the outrageous people he interacts with. Travel writing has never been this hilarious, curious, and wondrous.


Paperback; $15.99

Publisher: Broadway Books; ISBN: 9780767903868

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