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| June 11, 2015 |
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Hello, Readers,
We hope you're all staying cool as best you can in this heat wave!
As summer approaches, we have exciting news for Reader parents: If your child is between the ages of 5-12, Grass Roots wants you to participate in our Kids' Summer Reading Challenge!
To participate, stop by the store and pick up a challenge form listing 10 book genres. Find a book from each of the genres to read or listen to. Return the form to Grass Roots between June 15th - August 16th with 4 different genres completed and you'll get a 20% off coupon good toward any one children's book and a raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes.
Want more raffle tickets? Keep reading! If you complete 8 different genres you'll get a second ticket, and if you complete all 10 you'll get a third!
What else is new in the bookstore, you ask? Dive into new novels from Sarah Hall and Stephanie Kallos, read an urgent call to action about seafood sustainability in paperback, and check out a special baby book by Jimmy Fallon just in time for Father's Day!
Keep scrolling for the latest...
See you in the store,
~ Marissa
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New Hardcovers
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by Tom Clynes
[Non-Fiction]
"When Taylor Wilson was 14 years old, he became the world's 32nd person to achieve nuclear fusion. He had shown creative genius early, constructing rockets in his backyard. . .progressing to experiments with radioactive elements and particle acceleration. Today, after having produced innovations in medical isotopes and nuclear weapons detection, Wilson is regarded as an up-and-coming [champion] for the energy industry. In this book, Clynes (editor, Popular Science) asks how society can foster young talent such as Wilson's. . .Ultimately [he] concludes that society must do more to nurture young talent if we wish to address pressing problems such as climate change. . ." - Library Journal
Hardcover; $25.99
Publisher: Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; ISBN: 9780544085114
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by Sarah Hall
[Fiction]
What does it mean to live on the edge, outside of. . .one's comfort zone? In prize-winner Hall's (The Beautiful Indifference) new novel, zoologist Rachel Caine, estranged from her family in England's Lake District, is in Idaho monitoring the status of wolves as part of a wildlife recovery program when she learns that her mother, Binny, a tough and emotionally distant old bird, is dying. . .Hall also addresses touchy political issues, such as the public acquisition of private land, environmental restoration, and the Scottish independence movement. . .Hall has created an absorbing portrait of a woman and her conflicted relationships with family, homeland, and identity." - Booklist
Hardcover; $25.99
Publisher: Harper; ISBN: 9780062208477
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by Michelle Goldberg
[Non-Fiction]
"Indra Devi was renowned as the First Lady of Yoga in the West, but her flamboyantly dramatic story has never been fully told until now. Investigative journalist Goldberg. . .tracks her chimerical subject around the world to chronicle Devi's intrepidly improvised, nomadic, and seemingly charmed life with awe and skepticism. Born Eugenia Peterson in Riga, Latvia, in 1899, [Devi]. . .took on the [roles of] yoga teacher to the stars. . .and half of an alternative-medicine power couple whose clients included Igor Stravinsky and Marilyn Monroe. Throughout this whirlwind biography, Goldberg provides fresh and enlightening insights into the evolution and impact of modern yoga. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $26.95
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN: 9780307593511
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by Stephanie Kallos
[Fiction]
Charles Marlow teaches his high school English students that language will expand their worlds. But linguistic precision cannot help him connect with his autistic son, or with his ex-wife, who abandoned their shared life years before, or even with his college-bound daughter who has just flown the nest, until a series of events forces him to think back on his decisions. With the help of an ambitious art student, an Italian-speaking nun, and the memory of a boy in a white suit who inscribed his childhood with both solace and sorrow, Charles may finally be able to rewrite the script of his life.
Hardcover; $27.00
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; ISBN: 9780547939742
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by Mark Gonnerman
In 1997, Mark Gonnerman organized a yearlong research workshop on Gary Snyder's Mountains and Rivers Without End at the Stanford Humanities Center. Members of what came to be known among faculty, students, and diverse community members as the Mountains & Rivers Workshop met regularly to read and discuss Snyder's epic poem. This book captures the excitement of these gatherings and invites readers to enter the poem through essays and talks by David Abram, Wendell Berry, Carl Bielefeldt, Tim Dean, Jim Dodge, Robert Hass, Stephanie Kaza, Julia Martin, Michael McClure, Nanao Sakaki, and Katsunori Yamazato. It includes an interview with Gary Snyder, appendices, and other resources for further study.
Hardcover; $28.00
Publisher: Counterpoint LLC; ISBN: 9781619024564
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New Paperbacks
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by Terry Pratchett
[Fiction]
 Ever since a wizardly experiment inadvertently brought about the creation of Roundworld (Earth, that is), the wizard scholars of Unseen University have done their best to put things on the right course. When Charles Darwin writes the wrong book and reverses the progress of science, Unseen University's wizards must once again save Roundworld from an apocalyptic end and change history back to the way it should have been. Darwin's Watch explores the reverberations of major scientific advances on our planet and our culture, the dangers of obscurantism, and the theory of evolution as you have never seen it before.
Paperback; $15.95
Publisher: Anchor Books; ISBN: 9780804168984
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by Matt Burriesci
[Non-Fiction]
 Dead White Guys is a timely defense of the great books, arriving in the middle of a national debate about the fate of these books in high schools and universities around the country. Burriesci shows how the great books can enrich our lives as individuals, as citizens, and in our careers. Extending the argument first made by Anna Quindlen on the act of reading itself, Burriesci reminds us all of the enormous impact reading has on our lives. After his daughter was born prematurely in 2010, Burriesci set out to write a book about 26 "great books," from Plato to Karl Marx, and how their lessons have applied to his life.
Paperback; $17.95
Publisher: Viva Editions; ISBN: 9781632280176
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by Lev Grossman
[Fiction]
 "The third and concluding volume in Grossman's epic Magicians trilogy finds former High King Quentin ejected from the magical kingdom of Fillory and, in short order, given the boot from a too-brief teaching stint at his old alma mater, Brakebills. What is Quentin to do? At loose ends, he joins a ragtag group of magicians -- including Plum, an expelled Brakebills student -- on a quest to find a mysterious case, contents unknown but presumed to be invaluable. Meanwhile, it appears, amid intimations of apocalypse, that Fillory is coming to an end. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Plume Books; ISBN: 9780147516145
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by Sam Kean
[Non-Fiction]
 "Science writer Kean (The Disappearing Spoon) delves into the strange ways we've learned about the workings of our brains, rejuvenating with invigorating detail anecdotes that otherwise receive only brief textbook mention. Even his organization, with each chapter devoted to a particular scientific discovery, is assembled to be most effectively processed by the brain and its capacities for chunking smaller units of information. Reading this collection is like touring a museum of neuroscience's most dramatic anomalies, each chapter taking us to a different place and time. . . " - Publishers Weekly
Paperback; $17.00
Publisher: Back Bay Books; ISBN: 9780316182355
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by James Smythe
[Fiction]
 How far would you go to save your family from an invisible threat? In this terrifyingly original thriller from the author of The Explorer, ClearVista is used by everyone and can predict everything. It's a daily lifesaver, predicting weather to traffic to who you should befriend. Laurence Walker wants to be the next President of the United States, and ClearVista will predict his chances. It will predict whether he's the right man for the job. It will predict that his son can only survive for 102 seconds underwater. It will predict that Laurence's life is about to collapse in the most unimaginable way.
Paperback; $14.99
Publisher: Borough Press; ISBN: 9780008126452
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by Paul Greenberg
[Non-Fiction]
 In 2005, the United States imported five billion pounds of seafood, nearly double what we imported 20 years earlier. Bizarrely, during that same period, our seafood exports quadrupled. American Catch examines New York oysters, Gulf shrimp, and Alaskan salmon to reveal how it came to be that 91 percent of the seafood Americans eat is foreign -- proposing a way to break the current destructive patterns of consumption and return American catch back to American eaters.
"Blue Ocean Institute fellow Greenberg offers an optimistic perspective on the connection between preserving our salt marshes and restoring America's offshore seafood production. . ." - Kirkus Reviews
Paperback; $17.00
Publisher: Penguin Books; ISBN: 9780143127437
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New For Young Readers
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by Jimmy Fallon
[Fiction]
Ages 1 to 3 (But really for the parents!)
 Your baby's first word will be . . ."Dada!" Right? Everyone knows that fathers wage a secret campaign to ensure that their babies' first word is "Dada!" But how does it work? One of the most popular entertainers in the world and NBC's The Tonight Show host, Jimmy Fallon, shows you how.
Board Books; $7.99
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; ISBN: 9781250071811
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by Peter Sis
[Fiction]
Ages 4 to 8
 ". . .Joe is happy to convince his grandfather that he deserves a special trip planned for later in the summer. He is definitely not forgetting about his schoolwork. Joe is reading, writing a book, solving word problems, studying history, and even learning cartography. What he doesn't mention is that he is learning all of this through his fascination with ice cream. Joe eats it and draws it, builds it and dreams it, and even knows the ins and outs of how it came to be. When Joe finds out where they are going on their special trip, it is the cherry on top of a fantastic summer. . ." - School Library Journal
Hardcover; $17.99
Publisher: Scholastic Press; ISBN: 9780545731614
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New Music
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Ryan Adams
Genre: Pop/Folk Adams served to usher in the alt-country sound with his early band Whiskeytown. This collection features an intimate live concert from Adams, with tunes from throughout his solo career.
($10.99) |
Sonny Landreth
Genre: Pop/Folk "The recordings mark a return to the guitarist's musical roots, presenting a bold, big-sounding collection of tracks that swagger like the best of classic rock, climb to heights of jazz-informed improvisation and remain deeply attached to the emotional and compositional structures that are at the core of the blues." - Blues Magazine ($15.98) |
HoneyHoney
Genre: Pop/Folk HoneyHoney is L.A.-based duo Suzanne Santo and Ben Jaffe, sharing instrumental and vocal duties. Produced by Dave Cobb, their third release features gritty grooves and southern-flavored Americana.
($15.98) |
Melissa Etheridge
Genre: Pop/Folk
Fiery rocker Etheridge burst on the scene in 1988 with her debut solo album. Recorded live at the Orpheum Theater, this new collection features new and classic cuts.
($14.98) |
Events at Grass Roots
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Margaret Grundstein
Tuesday, June 16, at 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR
 In 1970, Margaret Grundstein abandoned her graduate degree at Yale and followed her husband, an Indonesian prince and community activist, to a commune in the backwoods of Oregon. Together with 10 friends and an ever-changing mix of strangers, they began to build their vision of utopia. Naked in the Woods chronicles Grundstein's shift from reluctant hippie to committed utopian -- sacrificing phones, electricity, and running water to live on 160 acres of remote forest with nothing but a drafty cabin and each other. Grundstein, (whose husband left, seduced by "freer love") faced tough choices. Could she make it as a single woman in man's country? Did she still want to? How committed was she to her new life?
Margaret Grundstein is a photographer, a psychotherapist in private practice, and the owner/ director of a preschool in Venice, California. She has a B.A. from Goddard College, a Masters in Urban Planning from Yale University, and a Masters in Family Therapy from Loyola Marymount. Naked in the Woods is her first book.
Linda Ly
The CSA Cookbook will help you cook your way through a CSA box (or farmers' market or backyard bounty) with 106 seasonal recipes that utilize every edible part of the plant, from leaves and flowers to stems and seeds. Think of it as a nose-to-tail approach -- for vegetables! You'll find globally inspired recipes that turn a single plant into several meals with as little waste as possible. If you grow your own food at home, you might be surprised to learn you can eat the leaves from your pepper plants, or pickle the seed pods from your radishes.
Linda Ly is the voice behind the award-winning blog Garden Betty, called the "Best in Gardening" by Country Living and seen in HGTV and Better Homes and Gardens. As a member of Slow Food USA, Linda delights in growing, harvesting, preserving, and cooking all the food that comes from the earth.
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Community Events
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Darkside Show Times for 6/12-6/18
-Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
-PG The audience for whom this sequel is targeted will enjoy the predictability of a well-executed sequel. Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith.
-R This intelligent examination of our fascination with science is impeccably realized, despite a modest budget. Ex Machina spans sci-fi philosophy and a romantic triangle, but ultimately it's a horror movie where the monsters are men.
-5 Flights Up -PG-13 What a pleasure to see a simple, finely tuned dramedy about real adults with real emotions in a real-life situation. Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton.
-100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared -R Eccentric, wry, and highly entertaining.
Arts/Literary Events
Sizzling Summer Book Sale
Saturday, June 27, at 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and
Sunday, June 28, at 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library (Main Meeting Room)
645 NW Monroe Ave.
Corvallis, OR
The Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library will have a Sizzling Summer Used Book Sale on Saturday and Sunday, June 27-28. Fiction, gardening, cooking, travel books & more on sale. Quality hardbound and paperback books will be available for all ages. CDs and DVDs also! Most books are $1-$4. Doors open at 9:00 a.m. for members of the Friends of the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. Become a member at http://friendsofthecbclibrary.org/.
Melinda Marie Jetté 
At the Hearth of the Crossed Races: A French-Indian Community in Nineteenth-Century Oregon, 1812-1859
Saturday, July 11, at 1:30 p.m.
Benton County Museum, Moreland Auditorium
1101 Main Street, Philomath, OR
Despite the force of Oregon's founding mythology, the Willamette Valley was not an empty Eden awaiting settlement by hardy American pioneers. Rather, it was, as Jetté explores, one of the earliest sites of extensive intercultural contact in the Pacific Northwest: French Prairie, so named for the French-Indian families who resettled the homeland of the Ahantchuyuk Kalapuyans, provides a window into the multi-racial history of the Pacific Northwest and a community that challenged notions of white supremacy, racial separation, and social exclusion.
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Community Events with Grass Roots
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Store News
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Kids' Summer Reading Challenge
If your child is between the ages of 5-12, Grass Roots wants you to participate in our Kids' Summer Reading Challenge! Stop by the store and pick up a challenge form listing 10 book genres. Find a book from each of the genres to read or listen to. Return the form to Grass Roots between June 15th - August 16th with 4 different genres completed and you'll get a 20% off coupon good toward any one children's book and a raffle ticket for a chance to win prizes.
Want more raffle tickets? Keep reading! If you complete 8 different genres you'll get a second ticket, and if you complete all 10 you'll get a third!
Need help finding a book to read? Grass Roots' friendly booksellers are happy to provide you with a recommendation. Also, the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library is a great place for recommendations and resources.
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Uncorked event recap
What an amazing evening of author readings, wine and cider refreshments, and toe-tapping tunes live in the bookstore! We and attendees shared the privilege of listening to selections from memoirs by Melissa Hart, Valerie Willman, and Kelly Kittel (pictured above), as well as the old-timey folk harmonies of Tamara & Bruno. Each reading moved and inspired us. Keep watching our in-store events calendar for more like this to come! |
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U.S. Poet Laureate named; Plutarch Award; SFWA Nebulas
Juan Felipe Herrera has been named the 21st U.S. poet laureate by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, who said his poems "champion voices, traditions and histories, as well as a cultural perspective, which is a vital part of our larger American identity." Herrera, the first Mexican American to take up the mantle, will begin his year-long tenure in September, succeeding Charles Wright.
Penelope Fitzgerald: A Life by Hermione Lee won the Plutarch Award for best biography of 2014, as selected by members of Biographers International Organization.
The winner of this year's Nebula Award, sponsored by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, in the novel category is Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer. |
Jigsaw
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Reading Group Selection
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Tuesday, July 7, at 6:30-8:00 p.m.
 Join Claire as she leads our July Book Group with If Not For This by Pete Fromm, a four-time winning author of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Literary Award.
After meeting at a boatman's bash on the Snake River, river runners Maddy and Dalt embark on a lifelong love affair. They marry on the banks of the Buffalo Fork, sure they'll live there the rest of their days. Forced by the economics of tourism to leave Wyoming, they start a new adventure, opening their own river business in Ashland, Oregon: Halfmoon Whitewater. They prosper there, leading rafting trips and guiding fishermen into the wilds of Mongolia and Russia. But when Maddy, laid low by dizzy spells, both discovers she is pregnant and is diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, they realize their adventure is just beginning.
Regular Price: $15.95
On sale for: $13.56
Until Tuesday, July 7
Publisher: Red Hen Press
ISBN: 9781597095389
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Night Stands
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Claire
by Kelly Kittel
[Non-Fiction]
 Breathe is a love story to Kelly Kittel's family, to her children both alive and dead. This memoir is beautifully written as it is tragic. Once I started, I needed to finish. To read what happened to Noah, Kelly's 15-month-old son run over by her 16-year-old niece. And the story of Jonah, who died from a mistake by Kelly's doctor. When Kelly's in-laws turn on her, and my anger started to build on behalf of the author, I knew this story would stick with me. While this memoir helps us learn how to grieve, it also shows us just how much love a family can sustain amidst tragedy.
Paperback; $18.95
Publisher: She Writes PR; ISBN: 9781938314780
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