October 25, 2007
|  |  | phone: 541-754-7668 address: 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis, OR
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| | Memories of a Special Book Swap
| | | | | Several years ago, I produced a concert by a folksinger named Christine Lavin. When she toured by car, Christine asked that all publicity include a request to bring a give-away book to the show. She would collect these books and carry them to her next concert. In turn, at intermission, she would lay all the books collected at the previous concert at the foot of the stage and invite the audience to partake. For this particular concert, she was flying in and out and couldn't carry books. So, I gathered volumes from my shelves and donations from friends and brought them to the show – about 100 in all. Christine commented that, based on her experience, there were far too many and asked me to remove ½ of them, which I did. At intermission, she put those 50 books out and watched in amazement as people lovingly examined them. Within a few minutes, they had all been adopted by their new owners. Backstage later, she confided that we should have put all 100 out. "I've never seen quite that many booklovers in one place," she admitted. Anna | | | ^ back to Table of Contents | |
| Five Good Books
| | | | Bill of Wrongs: The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights
Ghost
The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice
Shakespeare: The World as Stage
Life: Selected Quotations
| | Bill of Wrongs: The Executive Branch's Assault on America's Fundamental Rights Molly Ivins and Lou Dubose
Ivins got the idea for Bill of Wrongs while touring America to speak out in defense of free speech. Initially, she planned to write about the ordinary people who were doing extraordinary things to safeguard our liberties. But the focus changed as she became concerned about recent threats to our cherished freedoms. Ivins and Lou Dubose (co-author of Shrub and Bushwacked) describe the attack on America’s constitutional guarantees with keen eyes for hypocrisy and their special touch of humor. Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, ISBN-13: 9781400062867
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Alan Lightman
Lightman’s first novel, Einstein’s Dreams, became an international best seller, and The Diagnosis was a finalist for the National Book Award. Now he's written a stunning story about a quiet, modest man who, upon being fired from his job, takes a temporary position at a mortuary. And there, alone one evening, he sees something that he cannot comprehend - something that no science can explain, something that will force him to question everything he believes in. Hardcover, $23.00
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group, ISBN-13: 9780375421693
| | | | | | The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice Julia Cameron
Cameron's ground-breaking The Artist's Way (1992) and its follow-up books and have encouraged countless writers, painters, actors, and musicians to find their true voices. This new book is a compilation that includes The Artists Way, Walking in This World, and Finding Water. Stressing the importance of process over product, Cameron advises creators to cultivate an attitude of exploration, wonder, and faith. Hardcover, $29.95
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) ; ISBN-13: 9781585426300
| | | | | | Shakespeare: The World as Stage Bill Bryson
Bill Bryson has entertained readers with his wacky worldview and wanderlust. Now, in this addition to James Atlas's Eminent Lives series, Bryson does what he does best: gathering little facts that others might overlook to paint a portrait of the world in which the Bard lived. Bryson delves into subjects as diverse as the reliability of the existing images of Shakespeare, a brief history of the theater in England, and the continuing debates about whether Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon really wrote Shakespeare's works. Hardcover, $19.95
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; ISBN-13: 9780060740221
| | | | | | Life: Selected Quotations Paulo Coelho
This collection of selected quotes from Paulo Coelho's work is a must–have for fans. A beautiful book with color artwork by the renowned Norwegian artist Anne Kristin Hagesaether, it contains inspirational quotes from such beloved Coelho titles as Eleven Minutes, The Valkyries, The Devil And Miss Prym, The Zahir, and the mega-bestseller The Alchemist. Whether read in one sitting or savored gradually, this is a visually stunning and enlightening look into Coelho's perspective on life. Hardcover, $16.95
Publisher: Harper Collins; ISBN-13: 9780061374814
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| For Young Readers
| | | | | Book of a Thousand DaysShannon HaleBook of a Thousand Days is based on the Grimm Brothers' fairy tale, Maid Maleen. With Shannon Hale’s lyrical language, this forgotten but classic fairy tale is reimagined and reset on the central Asian steppes. It is a completely unique retelling filled with adventure and romance, drama and disguise. Shannon Hale is the Newbery Honor–winning author of Princess Academy as well as the highly acclaimed and award-winning Books of Bayern. To learn more, visit www.squeetus.com/stage/books_b1000.html. Hardcover, $17.95
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books; ISBN-13: 9781599900513
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| New in Paperback
| | | | Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder
What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories
The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them
There Is No Me without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children
The Private Lives of the Impressionists
| | Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder Kenny Moore
No other coach has had a greater impact on the sport of running than Bill Bowerman. As track coach at the University of Oregon, he won four national team titles and his athletes set 13 world and 22 American records. He also invented the waffle-soled running shoe that helped found Nike, and coached the track and field team at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. Author Kenny Moore, a former Olympic athlete and senior writer for Sports Illustrated, trained with Bowerman at the University of Oregon. Paperback, $17.95
Publisher: Rodale Press, Incorporated ; ISBN-13: 9781594867316
| | | | | | What We Say Goes: Conversations on U.S. Power in a Changing World Noam Chomsky
In this collection of conversations, Noam Chomsky explores the most immediate and urgent concerns: Iran’s challenge to the United States, the deterioration of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, the rise of China, the growing power of the left in Latin America, the Democratic victory in the 2006 U.S. midterm elections, and the upcoming presidential race. As always, Chomsky presents his ideas vividly and accessibly, with uncompromising principle and clarifying insight. Paperback, $15.00
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Incorporated; ISBN-13: 9780805086713
| | | | | | The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories Susanna Clarke
Fans of Clarke's bestselling Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell will be pleased with this book, as the stories collected here are very much cut from the same cloth. The stories (seven previously published and one original tale, "John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner") deal with fairies and the history of English magic, and are told in the same Victorian style that made JS&MN so distinct. Paperback, $13.95
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; ISBN-13: 9781596913837
| | | | | | The Book That Changed My Life: 71 Remarkable Writers Celebrate the Books That Matter Most to Them edited by Joy Johannessen and Roxanne J. Coady
Coady is a Connecticut bookseller who believes so deeply in the power of books that she established the nonprofit Read to Grow Foundation. Here, she takes a populist approach in this collection of 71 lively favorite-book essays. The contributors — wrestlers, actors, singers, monks, Nobel Prize winners, chefs, politicians, writers — tell about the single book that changed the way they see themselves and the world around them. Paperback, $11.00
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA); ISBN-13: 9781592403172
| | | | | | There Is No Me without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children Melissa Fay Greene
Two-time National Book Award nominee Melissa Fay Greene puts a human face on the African AIDS crisis with this powerful story of one woman working to save her country’s children. After losing her husband and daughter, Haregewoin Teferra, an Ethiopian woman of modest means, transformed her home into an orphanage and world-wide adoption agency. At its heart, this is a book about children and parents, wherever they may be. Paperback, $15.95
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; ISBN-13: 9781596912939
| | | | | | The Private Lives of the Impressionists Sue Roe
Set against a panoramic rendering of their turbulent times, Roe tells of Manet, Pissarro, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, Sisley, Morisot, and Cassatt. Defining each artist in terms of both their individuality and their complex interactions, the result is a comprehensive and revealing group portrait. The entwined stories are fascinating and heartbreaking. Paperback, $17.95
Publisher: Harper Perennial; ISBN-13: 9780060545598 | | | | | | | | ^ back to Table of Contents | |
| Music
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Neil Young $18.95
Genre: Folk/Rock
Years ago, Neil Young recorded an album called Chrome Dreams, which was reportedly destroyed in a fire. The "rebirth" of the album returns Young to his more fiery rock and roll days, and features members of Crazy Horse and the Blue Note Horns.
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Alison Krauss and Robert Plant $18.95
Genre: Folk/Rock
This is an album that presents two artists laboring creatively to create a third, distinct thing. Krauss and Plant share vocals on a few tracks and sing separately on a few as well. The magic of this encounter is that it draws the two out of their comfort zones.
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Justin Currie $16.95
Genre: Celtic
This is a straightforward solo debut album by the former leader of the Scottish band Del Amitri. Its sumptuous set of lovely, meticulously arranged ballads are sung with earnest emotion and empathy.
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Cecilia Bartoli $17.95
Genre: Classical
This is a tribute album. Maria Malibran was the world's first true opera diva: a Spanish mezzo-soprano born in Paris in 1808 who became a concert-hall sensation and muse to Rossini and Bellini (a theatre in Venice bears her name). Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli's tribute is vibrantly performed, original in concept, and meticulously researched.
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| DVD: 10 Questions for the Dalai Lama
| | | | | This movie had a very popular run at the Dark Side. How do you commit to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray during his visit to the monastery in Dharamsala, India. The film also incorporates historical footage of various cultures, including extensive footage shot covertly in Tibet. DVD: $24.95 | | | | ^ back to Table of Contents | |
| Special Events
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Sunday, October 28, 2pm, Grass Roots
Robert Mason, My Stretch in the Service
Robert served in the American occupation of Japan at the end of the war and recounts the events that transformed him from a nineteen-year-old kid to a twenty-one-year-old adult. He is a professor emeritus at OSU.
Monday, October 29, 7pm, Grass Roots
Steven Vedro, Digital Dharma
Vedro uses the seven chakras - the basic energy centers in the body that link our physical selves to higher levels of consciousness - as a model for achieving Digital Dharma. A nationally renowned telecommunications consultant, Vedro is a popular conference speaker and leads an energy healing practice in Madison, WI. You can read more about Steve Vedro at webpages.charter.net/vedro/Chakras%20Home.htm
Monday, November 12, 7pm, Grass Roots
Ann Vileisis, Kitchen Literacy: How We Lost Knowledge of Where Food Comes from and Why We Need to Get It Back
Ann Vileisis is a writer and historian. In Kitchen Literacy, she discusses how a greater understanding of the origins of the food we eat can lead us to healthier and more sustainable choices. You can read an interview with Ann at kitchenliteracy.org/interview.html
Saturday, November 17, 7pm, Grass Roots
Local authors read their work
Charles Goodrich ( Heavy Mulching, Eleanor Berry ( Green November) and Gary Lark ( Men at the Gates). Charles and Gary have had their poems read by Garrison Keillor on his show.
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| On Our Nightstands - What We're Reading
| | | | | - Jack - Marilyn Merlot and the Naked Grape: Odd Wines from Around the World by Brian Doyle
Paperback $16.95 - Sandy - The Grail: A Year Ambling & Shambling Through an Oregon Vineyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir Wine in the Whole Wild World by Brian Doyle
Paperback $18.95 - Tiffany - The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Hardcover $15.00 - Simon - Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett
Paperback $14.95 - Melody - World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Paperback $14.95
- Deborah - Braindead Megaphone by George Saunders
Paperback $14.00
- Anna - The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine by James Le Fanu, M.D.
Paperback $16.00 - Michael - Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
Paperback $17.99
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| Looking Ahead
| | | | | These titles are due out next week:
- The Quiet Girl: A Novel
Peter Hoeg (author of Smilla's Sense of Snow) $26.00 - A War of Gifts: An Ender Story
Orson Scott Card $12.95 - A Free Life: A Novel
Ha Jin $26.00 - Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure
Michael Chabon $21.95 - The Daring Book for Girls
Andrea Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz $24.95
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