June 26, 2008
|  |  | phone: 541-754-7668 address: 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis, OR
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| | Five Good Books
| | | | This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation
Brida
Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World
Made in the U.S.A.
The Sand Castle
| | This Land Is Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation Barbara Ehrenreich
Ehrenreich ( Nicket and Dimed) offers laughter on the way to tears in 62 previously published essays that show the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer. She investigates pockets of poverty among undocumented workers, military families, and recent college graduates. Ehrenreich's reach encompasses unemployment, health insurance, inflation, corporate spying, cancer studies, marriage education, the "abstinence training business" and "Disney's Princess products." Full of wit and generosity, these reports show once again that Ehrenreich is, as Molly Ivins said, “good for the soul.” Hardcover, $24.00
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc., ISBN-13: 9780805088403
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Paolo Coelho
This new novel incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize — love, passion, mystery, and spirituality. Brida is a young Irish girl who has long been interested in various aspects of magic, but she is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom who begin to teach her about the spiritual world, and she must struggle to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch. Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN-13: 9780061578939
| | | | | | Thank God for Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World Michael Dowd
Reverend Michael Dowd is at the forefront of a movement that takes the creation story revealed by science as the basis for a meaningful philosophy of our place in the universe. Thank God for Evolution! is a lively and accessible discussion of the reasons it is possible to view evolution as a divine process. As a Christian minister, Dowd especially addresses the concerns that Christians have about evolution, but this book contains insights that will appeal to people of all beliefs. Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA); ISBN-13: 9780670020454
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Billie Letts
This is the second Letts novel where a pivotal event occurs at a Wal-Mart. (The first was the author's bestseller Where the Heart Is.) Two long-neglected kids are being cared for by Floy, their alcoholic father's ex-girlfriend. When Floy suddenly dies in a megastore, the kids embark on an interstate search for their long-lost dad. Their journey casts them into deep trouble, but eventually leads them to a troubled "guardian angel" and the beginning of healing. Hardcover, $24.99
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; ISBN-13: 9780446529013
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Rita Mae Brown
This short novel brings back Juts and Wheezy, the infamous Hunsenmeir sisters previously introduced to readers in Six of One (1978), Bingo (1988), and Loose Lips (1999). The story unfolds on a single summer day in 1952, when the two make a day-trip to the beach accompanied by Jut's daughter and Wheezie's grandson. The day's events are simple, but Brown creates palpable tension throughout, largely with tightly constructed dialogue. Hardcover, $18.95
Publisher: Grove/Atlantic, Inc.; ISBN-13: 9780802118707
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| Featured Book for Young Readers
| | | | | The Magician: Book 2 of The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel
Michael ScottRecommended ages: Young Adult The magical adventure that began in The Alchemyst (2007) returns. The scene has shifted from California to Paris, the home of Nicholas Flamel. The gifted but untrained twins Josh and Sophie meet an array of immortal friends and foes —human and inhuman — from history and legend, including Joan of Arc, Niccolo Machiavelli, the Valkyries, and the giant reptilian Nidhogg. What's more, all of the gargoyles and grotesques of Notre Dame are brought to life. Josh and Sophie are the world’s only hope — if they don’t turn on each other first. Hardcover, $16.99
Publisher: Random House Children's Books; ISBN-13: 9780385733588  The Alchemyst (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1) has just been released in paperback.
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780385736008
$8.99
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| New in Paperback
| | | | The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War
Away
House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest
The Shack
| | The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Naomi Klein
Klein is one of the world's most famous antiglobalization activists and the author of the best seller No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Here, she shows how the global “free market” has been appropriated to build corporate oligarchies that ride roughshod over our most cherished democratic ideals. The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant economic ideology of our time, Milton Friedman’s free market economic revolution. In contrast to the popular myth of this movement’s peaceful global victory, Klein shows how it has exploited moments of shock and extreme violence to implement its economic policies in many parts of the world. Paperback, $16.00
Publisher: Picador USA ; ISBN-13: 9780312427993
| | | | | | Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War Joe Bageant
Deer Hunting with Jesus is web columnist Joe Bageant’s report on what he learned when he moved back to his hometown of Winchester, Virginia, which-like countless American small towns, is fast becoming the bedrock of a permanent underclass. In this trenchant, aggravating, humorous, and heartbreaking book, Bageant uses a combination of political commentary, reporting, and storytelling to explore what he describes as an unacknowledged class war in the United States. Paperback, $13.95
Publisher: Joe Bageant; ISBN-13: Joe Bageant
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Amy Bloom
Panoramic in scope, Away is the story of young Lillian Leyb, an innocent and accidental heroine. When her family is massacred in a Russian pogrom, Lillian comes to America alone, determined to make her way in a new land. When word comes that her daughter, Sophie, might still be alive, Lillian embarks on an odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska. "This novel reads like dry wood bursting into flame: desperate and impassioned, erotic and moving — absolutely hypnotic." - The Washington Post Paperback, $14.00
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group; ISBN-13: 9780812977790
| | | | | | House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest Craig Childs
One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the American Southwest is the fate of the Anasazi, the native peoples of Chaco Canyon who built a flourishing cultural center in the eleventh century and then disappeared 200 years later. Craig Childs draws on the latest scholarly research and a lifetime of exploration to shed new light on this compelling mystery. He vividly weaves his personal narrative with his numerous interactions with the foremost scholars on the subject. The book includes black-and-white photos and an extensive bibliography. Paperback, $14.99
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company; ISBN-13: 9780316067546
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William P. Young
The Shack is a direct result of the cross-pollination of a writer's imagination and a theologian's passion. It is the fictional story of Mack Philips, a man whose youngest daughter was abducted and possibly murdered in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him to that shack for a weekend. What he finds there changes his world forever. "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" Paperback, $14.99
Publisher: Windblown Media; ISBN-13: 9780964729230
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| Music
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Ry Cooder $18.95
Genre: 18.95
String-master Ry Cooder has always been a musical storyteller. This new album is based on a story about salt-flats racer Kash Buk, his band, and an extraterrestrial visitor. Musically, I Flathead ranges from country rockabilly to blues, shimmering exotica, Latin-influenced rock, swing, and mariachi music. Hear samples of I,Flathead at allmusic.com
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Alejandro Escovedo $$17.95
Genre: Pop/Folk
The versatile Texas singer-songwriter has created a musical soundtrack to pivotal moments in his long career. Some of the songs were co-written by Chuck Prophet, and many address specific moments or bands with which Escovedo played. Musically, Real Animal runs from the artist's typical rocking Americana to harder, nearly punk-influenced songs. Hear samples of Real Animal at allmusic.com
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Amos Lee $17.95
Genre: Pop/Folk
Amos Lee's third album has a more serious tone than his previous efforts. That signature organic sound is still present, but is now simmered with a heavier dose of blues and southern rock. Lee is joined by a band of studio legends. Hear samples of Last Days at the Lodge at allmusic.com
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Various Artists $17.95
Genre: Ethnic/World
Big Blue Ball is the much-anticipated collection of tracks culled from the all-star, pan-global collaborations that took place over three years of Peter Gabriel's legendary Recording Week gatherings at his studio. The eclectic lineup of artists includes Sinead O'Connor, Natacha Atlas, Papa Wemba, Marta Sebestyen, and the Holmes Brothers; in all, there are 75 artists from more than 20 countries. Hear samples of Big Blue Ball at allmusic.com
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Ottmar Liebert/Luna Negra $17.95
Genre: Ethnic/World
Each of the ten instrumental tracks, performed by Liebert's and the Luna Negra ensemble, are inspired by a specific place the New Flamenco guitarist has visited, from Marseille to Koln to Utah. The album has a full band sound , and Liebert's songs range from flamenco to elements of tango and rumba. Hear samples of Scent of Light at allmusic.com
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| Reading Group News
| | | | | Next meeting: Tuesday, July 1, 6:30 to 8:00 pm, in the cozy Grass Roots loft.
Book: The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy No experience or membership necessary: first-timers always welcome! Vancouver's Chinatown in the late 1930s and '40s provides the backdrop for this poignant first novel, told through the vivid reminiscences of three children of an immigrant Chinese family. The siblings grapple with their individual identities in a changing world as they strive to gain autonomy from the strictures of history, family, and poverty. The Jade Peony was selected by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the "100 Most Important Books in Canadian History" in 2005. It was also an American Library Association Notable Book of the Year in 1998, and was winner of the 1995 Trillium Award (shared with Margaret Atwood). 
Paperback, $14.95
Publisher: Other Press, LLC.
ISBN-13: 9781590512166
On sale for $12.71 (15% discount) until July 1
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| | On Our Nightstands
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Jack: The Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Lee Stewart Paperback, $6.99
Sandy:
The Other
David Guterson
Hardcover, $24.95
Tiffany:
Church of the Dog
Kaya McLaren
Paperback, $13.00
Melody:
Chemistry for Dummies
John T. Moore
Paperback, $19.99
Deborah:
The Host
Stephenie Meyer
Hardcover, $25.99
Anna:
The Cellist of Sarajevo
Steven Galloway
Hardcover, $21.95
Linda:
Teaching a Stone to Talk
Annie Dillard
Paperback, $13.95
Corrine:
The Jade Peony
Wayson Choy
Paperback, on sale: $12.71
See "Reading Group News" for more information
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