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| November 12, 2015 |
Greetings, Readers,
The annual Pacific NW Booksellers Association Holiday Catalog is here, released in the Gazette Times today -- or pick up a copy in the store!
Get a 15% discount on any two featured titles in the catalog (20% for Grass Roots frequent buyers) through November 23 using the catalog coupon. This offer includes some of the best titles across all genres this holiday season, and it's a great way to plan your holiday gift list. You can view the catalog on our website here.
The deals keep on coming with our freshly stocked bargain books on a huge variety of subjects -- too many to include here!
Keep scrolling for the latest releases...
Have a great weekend,
~Marissa |
New Hardcovers
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by Bill Nye
In Unstoppable, Bill Nye crystallizes and expands the message for which he is best known and beloved. That message is that with a combination of optimism and scientific curiosity, all obstacles become opportunities, and the possibilities of our world become limitless. With a scientist's thirst for knowledge and an engineer's vision of what can be, Nye sees today's environmental issues not as insurmountable, depressing problems but as chances for our society to rise to the challenge and create a cleaner, healthier, smarter world. As Bill shares his vision, he debunks some of the most persistent myths and misunderstandings about global warming.
Hardcover; $26.99
Publisher: St. Martin's Press; ISBN: 9781250007148
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by Jon Meacham
[Non-Fiction]
In this brilliant biography, Jon Meacham, the Pulitzer Prize winning author, chronicles the life of George Herbert Walker Bush. Drawing on President Bush's personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the 41st president and his family, Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times...From the Oval Office to Camp David, from his study in the private quarters of the White House to Air Force One, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the first Gulf War to the end of Communism.
Hardcover; $35.00
Publisher: Random House; ISBN: 9781400067657
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by Mitch Albom
[Fiction]
 In Mitch Albom's epic new novel, the voice of Music narrates the tale of its most beloved disciple, Frankie Presto, a Spanish war orphan raised by a blind music teacher. At nine years old, Frankie is sent to America in the bottom of a boat. His only possession is an old guitar and six magical strings. But Frankie's talent weaves him through the musical landscape of the twentieth century as he elevates to a rock star himself. Yet his gift becomes his burden, as he realizes that he can actually affect people's futures: his guitar strings turn blue whenever a life is altered. . .
Hardcover; $25.99
Publisher: Harper; ISBN: 9780062294418
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by Ann Hood
[Non-Fiction]
"Novelist and knitting enthusiast Hood's charming follow-up to Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting will make even the most reluctant knitter look anew at those skeins of yarn. Each of the 12 writers included in the collection provides particular insight into the needle-craft, along with reflections on how knitting is related to inner life. . .Sprinkled throughout the book are a variety of knitting patterns from U.S. yarn stores, giving a unifying aspect to the book and implying that regardless of politics, geography, or lifestyle, anyone can reap the rewards of this timeless craft." - Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $25.95
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; ISBN: 9780393246087
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by Edmund de Waal
[Non-Fiction]
"Following up on his award-winning, internationally best-selling family history, The Hare with Amber Eyes, ceramic artist de Waal reveals the depths and permutations of his life-shaping fascination with porcelain, which has been so maniacally treasured worldwide that it's called white gold. . .de Waal brings a historian's ardor for detail and a poet's gifts for close observation and radiant distillation to this exquisite chronicle of his extensive porcelain investigations and arduous pilgrimages. . .De Waal's passionately and elegantly elucidated story of porcelain, laced with memoir and travelogue, serves as a portal into the madness and transcendence of our covetous obsession with beauty." - Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $27.00
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; ISBN: 9780374289263
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New Paperbacks
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by Scott Nadelson
[Fiction]
From Oregon Book Award-winning author Scott Nadelson ( The Next Scott Nadelson: A Life in Progress) comes a funny, moving, episodic new novel. Paul Haberman was happy living alone in the city until he met Cynthia, an enchanting suburban single mother. After he moves to New Jersey to marry her, Paul's life reshapes itself dramatically around his new family and home, evolving over the years in ways he could never have imagined. Nadelson reveals the quiet beauty, doubt, and longing of a blended family's life in the unglamorous American suburbs.
Paperback; $15.95
Publisher: Engine Books; ISBN: 9781938126338
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New For Young Readers
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 Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. Gerald and Piggie are best friends. In I Really Like Slop!, Piggie invites Gerald to try her favorite food . . . slop. But Gerald is not so sure he's going to like it. At all. . .
Hardcover; $9.99
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion; ISBN: 9781484722626
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by Kenneth Oppel
[Fiction]
Ages 10 and up
 "Steven's parents just had a baby, Theo, but there's something wrong with him, and a pall of worry and sadness falls over his family. Meanwhile, a papery wasp's nest appears under the eaves of the house, just outside Theo's room, and Steven starts to dream of an angelic wasp who promises to fix whatever's wrong with the baby. . .Steven, who has a therapist to deal with his anxiety, believes he, too, is broken, and it isn't until he understands the grotesque lengths to which the wasps plan to go that he accepts Theo -- and himself -- for all his imperfections. . ." - Booklist, Starred Review
Hardcover; $16.99
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers; ISBN: 9781481432320
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by Richelle Mead
[Fiction]
Young Adult
 "Fei lives in a mountain village whose inhabitants have been deaf for generations, relying on artists like her for their daily news. . .The price of survival is the mountain's gold and silver, and the majority of the population works in the mines. But now Fei's people, including her beloved sister, are starting to go blind, which will mean their extinction. . .[Fei] and her childhood friend Li Wei embark on a desperate effort to avert her people's horrifying fate. . .a fablelike story that melds folktale, sacrifice, romance, and the stark realization of humanity's capacity to exploit others for profit." - Publishers Weekly
Hardcover; $19.99
Publisher: Razorbill; ISBN: 9781595147639
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New Bargain Books
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Amazing deals this week include an entire case of bargain cookbooks perfect for holiday gifting, and a bold array of cocktail and bartending guides that will make your spirits bright!
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New Music
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Events at Grass Roots
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Tuesday, November 17, at 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Grass Roots Books & Music
227 SW 2nd St.
Corvallis, OR
Beyond the War on Invasive Species offers a much-needed alternative perspective on invasive species and the best practices for their management based on a holistic, permaculture-inspired framework. Utilizing the latest research and thinking on the changing nature of ecological systems, Orion closely examines the factors that are largely missing from the common conceptions of invasive species, including how the colliding effects of climate change, habitat destruction, and changes in land use and management contribute to their proliferation. Beyond the War on Invasive Species demonstrates that there is more to the story of invasive species than is commonly conceived.
Tao Orion is a permaculture designer, teacher, homesteader, and mother living in the southern Willamette Valley of Oregon. She teaches permaculture design at Oregon State University and at Aprovecho, a 40-acre nonprofit sustainable-living educational organization.
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Community Events
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Darkside Show Times for 11/13-11/19
-Dying To Know: Ram Dass & Timothy Leary -NR An intimate portrait of two friends, Ram Dass & Timothy Leary, the era they shaped, and their exploration of the next frontier -- death. Narrated by Robert Redford. Director Gay Dillingham will be at the Darkside Friday, November 13 for a Q&A!
-Experimenter -PG-13 In 1961, famed social psychologist Stanley Milgram conducts a psychology experiment in which people think they're delivering electric shocks to an affable stranger strapped into a chair in another room. Peter Sarsgaard, Winona Ryder.
-Labyrinth Of Lies -R Upon learning that many former Nazis returned to their pre-war lives with no penalty, an ambitious German prosecutor (Alexander Fehling) vows to bring them to justice.
-Truth -R Controversy surrounds CBS anchor Dan Rather (Robert Redford) and "60 Minutes" producer Mary Mapes (Cate Blanchett) after the network broadcasts a report about President George W. Bush and his military service.
Arts/Literary Events
Willamette Writers on the River: Monthly Meeting
with Alison Clement
"Writing and the Agitation of Memory"
Monday, November 16, at 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 
First Presbyterian Church
114 SW 8th St.
Corvallis, OR
Alison will help us look at the use of memory in both fiction and nonfiction writing. She'll guide us in writing exercises to create brief autobiographical sketches, which can become the basis for longer pieces. We'll talk about the use fiction writers make of characters, events, and stories from their private lives. We'll also discuss memoir as a way to explore the nature of memory, and consider the difference between getting the facts right and telling something that's true.
Alison Clement is the author of Pretty Is As Pretty Does and Twenty Questions. She has been awarded an Oregon Literary Fellowship and a Joyce Carol Oates Graduate Commencement Award, and now teaches writing at Linn-Benton Community College.
Reviewed by Patricia Lacy; sponsored by the Friends of the Library
Wednesday, November 18, at 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library
645 NW Monroe Ave.
Corvallis, OR
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Community Events with Grass Roots
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Crazy Eights Author Event (Albany)
Saturday, November 14, at 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Albany Public Library
2450 14th Ave. SE
Albany, OR
Speed dating, only with authors! Each author will have eight minutes to address the audience about their life as a writer and introduce a featured book. It will be a fast-paced literary slam. A mixer, wherein the authors will interact one-on-one with members of the audience to discuss their work and personally sign books, will follow the rapid-fire presentations. Grass Roots will be selling books at this event.
Authors include:
- Bill Cameron (Friends of Mystery Award for County Line forthcoming title Accelerant)
- K.B. Dixon (Oregon Book Award finalist, The Sum of His Syndromes; Eric Hoffer Award)
- Molly Gloss (Oregon Book Award winner, Falling From Horses; PNBA winner)
- Lisa Ohlen Harris (Oregon Book Award finalist, The Fifth Season)
- Justin Hocking (Oregon Book Award winner, The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld)
- Jane Kirkpatrick (Noted for 23 historical novels, WILLA Awards, Oregon Book Awards finalist)
- Jody Seay (Oregon Book Award fiction finalist, The Second Coming of Curly Red)
- Molly Best Tinsley (Oregon Book Award winner, Throwing Knives; thriller Broken Angels)
- Emcee: George Byron Wright (Noted for Oregon-based novels; In the Wake of Our Misdeed)
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Store News
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NEW! Storiarts scarves and Litograph prints
Grass Roots is proud to carry literary art and apparel for your bookish life!
From Oregon-based company Storiarts, we offer handmade, unique scarves featuring excerpts from classic books. These soft infinity scarves will keep you so warm and cozy all winter long, while showing off your love of literature!
We also have high quality, matted wall art created from the entire text of classic books, courtesy of Litographs! From Origin of the Species to The Great Gatsby, these readable conversation pieces are only $18.95 each.
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National Outdoor Book Award; World Fantasy Award; Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
Kim Heacox has won a National Outdoor Book Award for his novel, Jimmy Bluefeather (recently featured at an event at Grass Roots!).
The winners of the 2015 World Fantasy Awards include The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell in the Novel category.
André Alexis won the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize for Fifteen Dogs.
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Jigsaw
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Reading Group Selection
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Tuesday, December 1, at 6:30 to 8:00 p.m.
 Join Neé as she leads our December reading group with The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall, a NYTimes.com Editor's Choice and a Los Angeles Times Book Prizes Finalist.
Humans live in landscapes of make-believe. We spin fantasies. We devour novels, films, and plays. Even sporting events and criminal trials unfold as narratives. Yet the world of story has long remained an undiscovered and unmapped country. Now Jonathan Gottschall offers the first unified theory of storytelling. He argues that stories help us navigate life's complex social problems just as flight simulators prepare pilots for difficult situations. Storytelling has evolved, like other behaviors, to ensure our survival. Drawing on the latest research in neuroscience, psychology, and evolutionary biology, Gottschall tells us what it means to be a storytelling animal and explains how stories can change the world for the better.
Regular Price: $14.95
On sale for: $12.71
Until Tuesday, December 1
Publisher: Mariner Books
ISBN: 9780544002340
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Night Stands
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Mica
[Non-Fiction]
I first discovered Mark Hogancamp and his alternative reality when Bruce Jenner won the ESPY Ashe Courage Award, and there was a Facebook backlash that ironically included a powerful image created by Hogancamp, who is a hate-crime survivor. I spent probably an hour learning more about the life of Hogancamp -- an artist so committed to the realism of his imaginary WWII world that he fills his toy Army vehicles with rocks and takes them for miles-long walks to authentically wear down the seams on the tires. Welcome to Marwencol invites the reader into the world not just of Marwencol, a fictitious Belgian town in WWII populated by Barbies and action figures, but to Hogancamp, his artistic process, and his inspiration.
Hardcover, $29.95
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