December 6, 2007
|  |  | phone: 541-754-7668 address: 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis, OR
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| | "Old Friends"
| | | | | One of a bookseller's favorite things about the holidays is the opportunity to connect with old friends. This month, we see many of our loyal customers, and we get to talk about good books and music all day long! As people come in seeking the perfect gift, we discover ways to connect titles, authors, and subjects to a wide variety of interests. We will never meet many of the recipients of these books, but we love being part of the treasure-hunt. This year, I'm using new software that allows independent bookstores to anonymously share inventory data. In comparing Grass Roots to similar independent stores around the country, I've found some undiscovered gems. I've also rediscovered some of my favorite titles (my book "old friends") that are still in demand but have been out of stock here. Maintaining a broad inventory is top priority for the funds we collect from selling our Independence Cards. Bookstores typically return books to the publisher when they don't sell within a certain period of time. The Icard funds help insulate important books from this process so we can keep them on our shelves. After all, you can't bump into them while browsing if they aren't here! As long as the books are valued by our friends, we will try to find a place for them. This careful selection of inventory is one of the distinguishing features of an independent bookstore — along with quality service and commitment to our community. If you haven't looked at the sections in our loft lately, I think you will be pleased at the depth and variety of the collections. I have also added many titles to the fiction, history, and arts & crafts sections. And, of course, our children's department is filled with treasures! I have had a lot of fun during this (re)discovery process. I hope, in turn, that you'll have fun finding that perfect book. Jack
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| Five Good Books
| | | | T is for Trespass
Enclosure
Inside the Not So Big House
Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds
Gods Behaving Badly
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Sue Grafton
This 20th Kinsey Millhone crime novel (after 2005's S Is for Silence) is Grafton's most direct confrontation with the forces of evil. Beginning slowly with the day-to-day life of the private eye, the horror of the novel builds with excruciating tension as the reader foresees the awfulness that lies ahead. The suspense lies in whether Millhone will realize what is happening in time to intervene. Hardcover, $26.95
Publisher: Penguin Group, ISBN-13: 9780399154485
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Andy Goldsworthy
Since 1995, prominent artist Andy Goldsworthy has been working on a series of artworks in his native Northwest England focused on sheepfolds — old stone enclosures used for herding, sheltering, and washing sheep. This artwork is accompanied by additional work related in various ways to sheep, including a spectacular series of large sheep paintings — paintings made by the hoof-prints of sheep. Hardcover, $60.00
Publisher: Abrams,Harry N Inc, ISBN-13: 9780810993914
| | | | | | Inside the Not So Big House Sarah Susanka and Marc Vassallo
New in paperback
Sarah Susanka is one of the leading residential architects in the United States. Her first book, The Not So Big House, topped best-seller charts. Here, she covers the close-up detail of house design, explaining how to personalize a home and make it more functional with special built-in details. Her goal is "to help you make a house that, even before any of your belongings are brought in, still expresses something of your inner spirit and passion for life." Paperback, $21.95
Publisher: Taunton Press, Incorporated; ISBN-13: 9781561589845
| | | | | | Sightings: Extraordinary Encounters with Ordinary Birds Sam Keen, Mary Woodin (Illustrator)
Sam Keen, the best-selling author of Fire in the Belly, has spent a lifetime reflecting on nature. Sightings is a collection of essays about bird watching. Blessed with moments of beauty and the insight to recognize them, Keen translates the marvels of nature into the language of heart and soul. Hardcover, $14.95
Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC; ISBN-13: 9780811859769
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Marie Phillips
In this disarmingly matter-of-fact farce, the gods of Olympus are alive and living in a tumbledown house in modern-day London. But, they have a serious problem: their powers are waning, and a minor squabble between Aphrodite and Apollo has escalated into an epic battle of wills. Two perplexed humans become caught in the crossfire, fearing not only for their own lives, but for the survival of humankind. Hardcover, $23.99
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; ISBN-13: 9780316067621
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| | Music
| | |      | | | | Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall Rufus Wainwright $22.95 (2-disc set)
Genre: Folk/Rock
It was daring, but Rufus Wainwright pulled it off. Re-creating, song by song, Judy Garland's famed 1961 Carnegie Hall concert, he brought his own special magic to the famed stage. Backed by an orchestra, the show featured Wainwright's covers of legendary tunes such as "That's Entertainment," "Come Rain or Come Shine," and "Over the Rainbow" (with his mother, Kate McGarrigle).
| Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Soundtrack $18.95
Genre: Soundtracks
The movie recreates sounds from the past as it parodies many artists from the last several decades, including Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, and Buddy Holly. The film and album were recently featured on NPR.
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Govinda $16.95
Genre: New Age
This second album by Govinda showcases atmospheric, violin-based music, flavored by gypsy, Celtic and Spanish world influences.
| Barenboim Birthday Edition: The Pianist Daniel Barenboim $34.95 (5-disc set)
Genre: Classical
Barenboim plays Bach (The Well-Tempered Clavier), Mozart, Schumann, Piazzolla, and others.
| Barenboim Birthday Edition: The Conductor Daniel Barenboim $34.95 (5-disc set)
Genre: Classical
This compilation features Barenboim conducting several European orchestras in the works of Wagner, Scriabin, Mozart, Elgar, Mahler, and others.
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| | Last Week's Special Events
| | | | | The store hosted some wonderfully festive events last week. First, Mari Le Glatin Keis introduced her beautiful new book, The Art of Travel with a Sketchbook. Several participants shared their experiences in creating their own journals and sketchbooks. Then, several members of Eugene's Red Hat Society joined C. Lill Ahrens to celebrate the release of More Sand In My Bra: Funny Women Write From The Road, Again. This is part of the wonderful Traveler's Tales series of books. Among many memorable quotes, probably the most relevant (see the photos!) one was "Everyone looks good in a Feathered Boa." We certainly closed out the year with some great events. Thanks again to Charles Goodrich, Gary Lark and Eleanor Berry. We enjoy producing these little celebrations, so please let us know if you have any ideas for future events. | | | | ^ back to Table of Contents | |
| Congratulations to Alison Clement, Oregon Book Award Winner
| | | | | Corvallis author and school librarian Alison Clement was looking at a list of Oregon Book Award finalists earlier this year, deciding whether to order some of the books for the library. That's how she learned that she had been named a finalist for the Ken Kesey Award for the Novel. This past Sunday, at a sold-out ceremony at the Portland Art Museum, Clement's novel Twenty Questions" won the award. Clement said she had long wanted to write a novel about "personal and political violence and the connection between the two." The novel is about a grade-school cook who avoids being murdered through chance and becomes involved in the lives of the children at her school. The Oregon Book Awards are presented annually for the finest accomplishments by Oregon writers who work in genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, drama and young readers literature. Congratulations, Allison. Other winners:
- H. L. Davis Award for Short Fiction
The Dead Fish Museum by Charles D'Ambrosio
- Award for Literary Nonfiction
When Broken Glass Floats by Chanrithy Him
- Frances Fuller Victor Award for General Nonfiction
Democracy Reborn: The Fourteenth Amendment and the Fight for Equal Rights in Post-Civil War America by Garrett Epps
- Sarah Winnemucca Award for Creative Nonfiction
The Things Between Us by Lee Montgomery
- Stafford/Hall Award for Poetry
The Sky Position by Tom Blood
- Eloise Jarvis McGraw Award for Children’s Literature
Not in Room 204 by Shannon Riggs
- Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature
Alphabet of Dreams by Susan Fletcher
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