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| July 9, 2015 |
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Good afternoon, Readers!
Downtown Corvallis will be abuzz with great deals this weekend as the annual Crazy Days sale spills out onto the sidewalks. Stop by Grass Roots to score an awesome deal on select books, puzzles, gifts and notions, CDs and more. While you're here, don't forget to look for Waldo! Start your search here and visit other downtown businesses that are in on the action. It's a great weekend to be downtown for adults and children.
Our very own morning release party for Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchman is this coming Tuesday at 9 a.m. -- join us at the bookstore for games, food, and the release of the sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird! The early mockingbird gets the worm: To guarantee a reserved copy, pre-order on our website, by telephone, or in-store.
Speaking of our new website, have you gotten acquainted yet? Take a look at new and updated sections, from specially priced books to local and regional authors. And please join us in giving a warm welcome to our newest staff member, Simmon! Stop by the bookstore for some of his excellent recommendations.
The complete Oregon Battle of the Books 2016 lists for all grades are also here -- get a jump on OBOB, or for our Kids' Summer Reading Challenge to earn a 20% off coupon and a chance to win raffle prizes.
Plenty more exciting new happenings in the bookstore: Keep scrolling for our new Reading Group selection for August and an event tonight all about sustainable living in Oregon.
Stay cool!
~ Marissa
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New Hardcovers
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by Jimmy Carter
[Non-Fiction]
At 90, Jimmy Carter reflects on his public and private life with a frankness that is disarming. He adds detail and emotion about his youth in rural Georgia, tells what he is proud of and what he might do differently. He discusses his regret at losing his re-election, but how he and Rosalynn pushed on and made a new life and second and third rewarding careers. He is frank about the presidents who have succeeded him, world leaders, and his passions for the causes he cares most about, particularly the condition of women and the deprived people of the developing world.
Hardcover; $28.00
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 9781501115639
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by Kim Stanley Robinson
[Fiction]
"Aboard a multigenerational starship bound for Tau Ceti, an engineer begins to suspect that the recent change to the ship's status (the two-decade-long deceleration process has begun, after nearly 160 years of travel) has caused unwanted and potentially disastrous changes to the delicate balance of the ship's ecosystems. Even more distressing, the engineer sees signs that the people themselves, who have spent their entire lives aboard the ship, are changing. Will the ship reach its destination safely, or is the expedition doomed? This is hard sf the way it's meant to be written: technical, scientific, with big ideas and a fully realized society. . ." - Booklist
Hardcover; $26.00
Publisher: Orbit; ISBN: 9780316098106
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by Louisa Hall
[Fiction]
 "In the near future, children. . .become so attached to their babybots -- lifelike, speaking dolls -- that the bots are banned. After the babybots are gathered up and shipped to the desert, the children start to stutter and then to freeze. One, Gaby, is only able to communicate with MARY3, a cloud-based intelligence thirsty for her story. Through excerpts from a variety of sources, the development of artificial intelligence is revealed, [including] letters from Alan Turing to his best friend's mother. . .Like all good robot novels, Speak raises questions about what it means to be human as well as the meaning of giving voice to memory." - Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $27.99
Publisher: Ecco Press; ISBN: 9780062391193
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by Ian Doescher
[Fiction]
 Alack the day! A noble lady in danger. A knight and squire in battle. And a forbidden love that's written in the stars. Once again, the quill of William Shakespeare meets the galaxy of George Lucas in an insightful reimagining that sets the Star Wars saga on the Elizabethan stage. The characters are familiar, but the masterful meter, insightful soliloquies, and period illustrations will convince you that the Bard himself penned this epic adventure. To Shmi or not to Shmi? Torn between duty to the Jedi, attraction to Padme, and concern for his beloved mother, yeoman Jedi Anakin Skywalker struggles to be master of his fate.
Hardcover; $14.95
Publisher: Quirk Books; ISBN: 9781594748073
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by Stephen Petranek
[Non-Fiction]
 Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable. It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within 20 years, humans will live on Mars. We'll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen.
Hardcover; $16.99
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 9781476784762
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New Paperbacks
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by Amy Bloom
[Fiction]
"Eva, age 12, knows her father as a sweet man who visits on Sundays, until her mother announces that his wife has died and they'll be paying him a visit. And so Eva arrives at a home she's never seen to live with her father and older half sister, Iris, whom she didn't know existed. . .[until] Iris escape[s] to Hollywood with the embarrassing but brainy and reliable Eva in tow. . ." -Booklist, Starred Review
"Imaginative . . . gloriously satisfying . . . These characters are separated by fate and distance, but form a vividly rendered patchwork American family (straight, gay, white, black, citizen, immigrant). Bloom transforms history to create a story of stunning invention, with characters that readers will feel lucky to encounter." - Publishers Weekly
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Random House Trade; ISBN: 9780812978940
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edited by Gardner Dozois
[Fiction]
 "First impressions are often lasting impressions, and the first -- and lasting -- impression of this massive, important anthology of sf short stories (nearly 40 in number) is delivered by the first story the reader encounters, 'The Fifth Dragon,' by British author Ian McDonald. . . a sublime example of current sf ingenuity in the short-fiction form. All stories gathered here, by such quality writers as Alastair Reynolds, Karl Schroeder, and Nancy Kress, keep the light of superiority shining brightly through all 700 pages. . . It is a highly informative overview of the past year in sf publishing. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Paperback; $22.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; ISBN: 9781250064424
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by Jane Smiley
[Fiction]
 "Jane Smiley, who won the Pulitzer Prize for A Thousand Acres, again uses Iowa as her stage, this time for. . .the first of a proposed trilogy that will cover 100 years of one family. In 1920, young Walter and Rosanna are starting to fill their little farmhouse with heirs. As the children grow, tiny Denby, Iowa, is buffeted by drought, Depression, war and change. Salt-of-the-earth farmers, the Langdons lead typical Midwestern rural lives: nature, extended family and small-town society define their days. Smiley's characters are a microcosm of America, all facing sweeping changes. . .Walter and Rosanna's fortitude -- and a little luck -- sees them through. . ."
Paperback; $15.95
Publisher: Anchor Books; ISBN: 9780307744807
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by Rainbow Rowell
[Fiction]
 "TV writer Georgie McCool is trying to have it all, but it becomes clear that she's failing when her husband, Neal, heads to Nebraska for a family Christmas with their kids -- without her. The career opportunity of a lifetime has appeared, but now her marriage may be ending as a result. What seems to be the setup for just another contemporary novel about midlife struggles takes a near-paranormal turn when Georgie finds a way to talk to Neal, but he's not the Neal who's just left her. Instead, she's talking to him in the past, right before they got engaged. . . Georgie goes back and forth between talking to the Neal she fell in love with and avoiding her rapidly crumbling current life. . . " - Kirkus Reviews
Paperback; $15.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; ISBN: 9781250049544
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by Edan Lepucki
[Fiction]
 The world Cal and Frida have always known is gone, and they've left the crumbling city of Los Angeles far behind them. They now live in a shack in the wilderness, working side-by-side to make their days tolerable in the face of hardship and isolation. But the tentative existence they've built for themselves is thrown into doubt when Frida finds out she's pregnant. Terrified of the unknown and unsure of their ability to raise a child alone, Cal and Frida set out for the nearest settlement. But in this unfamiliar world, where everything and everyone can be perceived as a threat, the couple must quickly decide whom to trust.
Paperback; $16.00
Publisher: Back Bay Books; ISBN: 9780316250832
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by Steven Levitt, Steven and Stephen Dubner
[Fiction]
 The New York Times bestselling Freakonomics changed the way we see the world, exposing the hidden side of just about everything. Then came SuperFreakonomics, a documentary film, an award-winning podcast, and more. Now. . . [Levitt and Dubner] . . .take us inside their thought process and teach us all to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally. . .[offering] a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems, whether your interest lies in minor lifehacks or major global reforms. . .Along the way, you'll learn the secrets of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, and why Nigerian e-mail scammers make a point of saying they're from Nigeria. . ."
Paperback; $16.99
Publisher: William Morrow & Company; ISBN: 9780062218346
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New For Young Readers
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 Friends Bear and Hare are going fishing, but the trip doesn't turn out the way either one expects! While Hare is putting together a picnic, Bear enthusiastically fishes...a hat. Then...a roller skate. Will Bear ever hook an actual fish? Maybe a little help from Hare can turn things around. Told and illustrated with Emily Gravett's characteristic flair, this start to a new picture book series for young readers is the perfect companion to friends of all sorts.
Hardcover; $15.99
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; ISBN: 9781481422895
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by Jacqueline Kelly
[Fiction]
Ages 9 to 12
 "Six years after debuting in Kelly's Newbery Honor winning The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, the budding Texas scientist returns, as curious and charming as ever, and now preoccupied with fauna instead of flora. Travis, one of Callie's six brothers, continually needs her help because of his bad choices in pets (armadillo, blue jay, raccoon, etc.). . .Meanwhile, the devastating 1900 Galveston hurricane sends refugees to Fentress that include an injured veterinarian, who finds an eager assistant in 13-year-old Callie, despite his reservations about a young lady working in an often gruesome field. Undeterred, Callie finds her passion at precisely the same moment she realizes how unfairly the deck is stacked against girls of her era. . . " - Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $16.99
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company; ISBN: 9780805097443
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by Lynn Weingarten
[Fiction]
Young Adult
 June and Delia used to be closer than anything. Best friends in that way that comes before everyone else -- before guys, before family. It was like being in love, but more. But one night a year ago, everything changed. They say Delia burned herself to death in her stepfather's shed. They say it was suicide. But June is certain she was murdered. And she owes it to her to find out the truth. . .which is far more complicated than she ever could have imagined. Sexy, dark, and atmospheric, Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Hardcover; $17.99
Publisher: Simon Pulse; ISBN: 9781481418539
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New Music
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Events at Grass Roots
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Thursday, July 9, at 7:00 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR
 For 15 years, Evelyn Hess and her husband David lived in a tent and trailer, without electricity or running water, on 20 acres of wild land in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. When they decided to build a house -- a real house at last -- they knew it would have to respect the lessons of simple living that they learned in their camping life. They knew they could not do it alone. Building a Better Nest chronicles their adventures as they begin to construct a house of their own, seeking a model for sustainable living not just in their home, but beyond its walls.
Evelyn Searle Hess lives in the foothills of southern Oregon's Coast Range. She currently weeds, writes, and tries to put up her garden produce before the critters get it. In spare moments she helps husband David with their life project, building a house. Hess's previous book To the Woods won the 2011 WILLA Literary Award for Best Creative Nonfiction.
Tuesday, July 14, at 9:00 a.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
Corvallis, OR
Join us at Grass Roots for games, food, and the release of Harper Lee's sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird! The early mockingbird gets the worm: To guarantee a reserved copy, pre-order online at our website, by telephone, or in-store.
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Community Events
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Darkside Show Times for 7/10-7/16
-PG-13 As unconventional and unwieldy as the life and legacy it honors, Love & Mercy should prove moving for Brian Wilson fans while still satisfying neophytes. Paul Dano, John Cusack, Paul Giamatti.
-Far From The Madding Crowd -PG-13 Those looking for a Downton Abbey fix between seasons will love this gorgeous new Victorian-era adaptation.
-The Wolfpack -R Locked away from society in an apartment on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the Angulo brothers learn about the outside world through the films that they watch. An engrossing portrait of a decidedly peculiar family.
-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.
-The Overnight -R Witty and unpredictable, The Overnight benefits from writer-director Patrick Brice's sure-handed touch and strong performances from a talented cast. Jason Schwartzman, Taylor Schilling.
Arts/Literary Events
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 St.
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.
Willamette Writers on the River presents 
An Evening with Oregon Poet Laureate Peter Sears
Monday, July 20, at 6:30-8:30 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church
114 SW 8th St.
Corvallis, OR
Peter will read from his own work and also provide writing prompts for the audience. With his excellent ear for the sound of language, he'll provide instant and valuable feedback to those who share their drafts. This will be an interactive event, so bring pen and paper.
Peter is the author of four full-length poetry collections: Tour, The Brink, Green Diver, and Small Talk. Peter is the founder of the Oregon Literary Coalition and co-founder of Friends of William Stafford and Cloudbank Books. He serves on the board of advisors for Fishtrap, and splits his time between Corvallis and Portland. He was appointed Oregon Poet Laureate in 2014 by Governor Kitzhaber.
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Community Events with Grass Roots
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"Sick Around the World" Showing
Thursday, July 16, at 7:00 pm
Darkside Cinema
215 SW 4th St.
Corvallis, OR
T. R. Reid, author of The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care, has created a PBS program, "Sick Around the World," that will be showing at Darkside Cinema.
In "Sick Around the World," Frontline teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies -- the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures. Grass Roots will be selling copies of The Healing of America at the event.
Saturday, July 25, at 7:00 p.m.
Russell Tripp Theater, Linn Benton Community College
6500 Pacific Blvd. SW
Albany, OR
 For all the rights and privileges enjoyed in the U.S., this country remains the only industrialized one that does not guarantee medical services to all its citizens. As a result, our health-care system ranks poorly when it comes to infant mortality, life expectancy, satisfaction, and overall performance. Reid traveled the globe to study the health-care systems of other democratic nations, such as France, Germany, Japan, the UK, and Canada, where medical services are available to every citizen, giving a clear picture of why we have a moral imperative to implement a health-care system for all Americans.
T. R. Reid has become one of the nation's best-known reporters through his books and articles, his documentary films, his reporting for the Washington Post, and his light-hearted commentaries on NPR's Morning Edition. Reid is a member of the board of the Health Research and Education Trust, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, and other community and educational institutions. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
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Store News
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Find Waldo Local
All July long, Grass Roots will be hosting Find Waldo Local! Here's what you need to know:
1. Stop at Grass Roots any time in July to pick up a passport and fill out your contact info.
2. Find Waldo at 10 local businesses in Corvallis and get a stamp at each one.
3. Return to Grass Roots for a Waldo button (optional).
4. Find Waldo at 15+ more businesses, then return to Grass Roots to enter a raffle to win a prize from participating businesses.
5. Join us for our Waldo celebration party on Saturday, August 1st at 2:30 p.m. We will have activities, draw names for the raffle, and give out prizes!
Current participating businesses are:
Grass Roots Books & Music
American Dream Pizza
Animal Crackers
Burst's Chocolate
Cyclotopia
Fingerboard Extension
Footwise
Francesco's
The Golden Crane
Gracewinds
The Inkwell Home Store
Irene's Boutique
Kaleidoscope Studios
Many Hands Trading
Mod Pod Décor
New Morning Bakery
Peak Sports
Sedlak's Boots and Shoes
Sibling Revelry
Soft Star Shoes
The Toy Factory
If you are a local business interested in participating, email our event coordinator Claire at events@grbookstore.com.
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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 -- see our display in the store for suggestions within genres! Also, the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library is a great place for recommendations and resources.
Genres include:
Adventure
Historical Fiction
Mystery
Nonfiction
Poetry
Science Fiction/Fantasy
Your Choice!
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Jigsaw
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Reading Group Selection
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Tuesday, August 4, at 6:30-8:00 p.m.
 Join Neé as she leads our August Reading Group with The Bees by Laline Paull, a 2015 finalist for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.
This brilliantly imagined debut tells the story of Flora 717, a devout young worker bee who finds herself in possession of a deadly secret. Flora 717 is a sanitation worker, a member of the lowest caste in her orchard hive, where work and sacrifice are the highest virtues and worship of the beloved Queen the only religion. But Flora is not like other bees. With circumstances threatening the hive's survival, her curiosity is regarded as a dangerous flaw, but her courage and strength are assets. But when Flora breaks the most sacred law of all -- daring to challenge the Queen's preeminence - enemies abound. . .
Regular Price: $15.99
On sale for: $13.60
Until Tuesday, August 4
Publisher: Ecco Press
ISBN: 9780062331175
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Night Stands
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Simmon
by Jeff Jenson, Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird, and Jonathan Case
[Fiction]
 This is a prequel to the summer '15 blockbuster, Tomorrowland, by award-winning director, Brad Bird. Before Tomorrowland is another exciting adventure about the creation of yesterday's future. If you are hoping for more robots, lasers, teleportation, and flying vehicles, you will not be disappointed. But there's more! This time around, the reader gets to meet the founders of Tomorrowland, some of the most prominent figures in the history of science.
Hardcover, $16.99
Publisher: Disney Press; ISBN: 9781484704219
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 Young and carefree, Maddy and Dalt start out building up their own whitewater rafting business in Ashland, when Maddy discovers she has multiple sclerosis, and is pregnant. The two must learn to take their snarky banter and naive worldviews and take care of each other, while grasping to who they used to be. While Maddy struggles to hide her pain and her downslide into the disease, Dalt plans for the future before Maddy is ready to admit what it might look like. If Not For This is the story of a family learning to grow together, and is ultimately a story of love.
Paperback, $15.95
Publisher: Red Hen Press; ISBN: 9781597095389
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