April 10, 2008
|  |  | phone: 541-754-7668 address: 227 SW 2nd Street, Corvallis, OR
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| | A Note from Jack - The Wealth of Spring
| | | | | Here at Grass Roots, we're doing the opposite of "spring cleaning." There tends to be a post-holiday lull from publishers, but new books are "springing" forth now in abundence. Most of our orders have arrived, and our shelves are filling up with new titles as well as old favorites. As I've worked my way through a mountain of book catalogs, we've also stocked some wonderful slower-selling titles and small-quantity new releases. I think this is one of the true joys of independent bookselling — finding quirky titles that make great reading and stimulate fresh thinking. The Grass Roots Reader just doesn't have space to list all the great new titles that deserve your consideration. So, come by and browse as you hunt for that perfect gem. We are also beginning our annual CD demo sale, cumulating with July’s Crazy Days downtown sale. These demos are "new" (never put out for sale) and are $10 each or 2 for $15. You can even make us an offer for larger quantities. We will reduce the price each month until Crazy Days. There is a lot of great music just waiting for you. A reminder: If you would like to receive our April “Poem A Day” in celebration of National Poetry Month, just send us a note (groots@peak.org) with Poetry Subscribe in the subject line. - Jack
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| Five Good Books
| | | | Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon — and the Journey of a Generation
The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
The Third Angel: A Novel
Lavinia: A Novel
| | Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon — and the Journey of a Generation Sheila Weller
Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon are among the most enduring and important women in popular music. This alternating biography reads like a novel — except it's all true. Sheila Weller captures the character of each woman and gives a balanced portrayal enriched by a wealth of new information. Her account helps us understand how three female superstars survived male chauvinism, romantic disaster and late-career neglect by the music industry to become icons. Hardcover, $27.95
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Trade, ISBN-13: 9780743491471
| | | | | | The Sum of Our Days: A Memoir Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers Peden (Translator)
In Allende's acclaimed memoir Paula (1995), the Chilean-born novelist told the story of her tumultuous life in the form of a letter to her beloved, recently deceased daughter. This follow-up picks up where the previous book left off, in the guise of keeping the spirit Paula informed of the goings-on in her extended family. The narrative centers on the complex network of relationships as Allende continues to work through the grief over her daughter's death. Hardcover, $26.95
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN-13: 9780061551833
| | | | | | Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex Mary Roach
Roach is not like other science writers. She doesn't write about genes or black holes or Schrödinger's cat. Instead, she ventures out to the fringes of science, where the oddballs ponder how cadavers decay (in her debut, Stiff) and whether you can weigh a person's soul (in Spook). Now she explores the sexiest subject of all. It takes skill to pack a book full of scientific information and to do it with care and thoughtfulness. It takes another kind of talent to do it with wit, humor, and pure enjoyment. Bonk succeeds at both. Hardcover, $24.95
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.; ISBN-13: 9780393064643
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Alice Hoffman
In this elegant and stunning novel, veteran heartstring-puller Hoffman (Oprah Book Club selection Here on Earth; Seventh Heaven) weaves an original story that charts the lives of three women in love with the wrong men. The London-based narrative beings in 1999, then moves back in time. Hoffman interweaves the three stories, gazing unerringly into forces that cause some people to self-destruct and others to find inner strength to last a lifetime. Hardcover, $25.00
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group; ISBN-13: 9780307393852
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Ursula K. Le Guin
In The Aeneid, Vergil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks in the poem. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the world of ancient Italy. Le Guin is famous for creating alternative worlds, and she approaches Lavinia's world, from which Western civilization arose, as unique and strange as any fantasy. "It's a novel that deserves to be ranked with Robert Graves's I, Claudius." - Publishers Weekly Hardcover, $24,00
Publisher: Harcourt; ISBN-13: 9780151014248
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| For Readers of All Ages
| | | | | Once Upon a Time in the NorthPhilip PullmanAge Range: Young Adult Fans of the His Dark Materials trilogy will want to read this prequel novella. It's 35 years before the trilogy, and young aeronaut Lee Scoresby has arrived on Novy Odense in the North, looking for work and adventure. Kids will enjoy the extras, such as the pull-out board game Peril of the Pole ("for four to six players and their daemons") and "newspaper" clippings. The book is illustrated throughout with small engravings. Hardcover, $12.99
Publisher: Random House Children's Books; ISBN-13: 9780375845109
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| New in Paperback
| | | | Infidel
Dog Years: A Memoir
Free Food for Millionaires
Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution
I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali
One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following the murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission. In this profoundly affecting memoir, Ali tells her astonishing life story — her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West. Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken freedom fighter. Paperback, $15.00
Publisher: The Free Press; ISBN-13: 9780743289696
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Mark Doty
Doty narrates his memoir with soft-spoken dignity as he celebrates the 16 years he shared with his two beloved retrievers, Beau and Arden. The two dogs become his intimate companions, his solace, and eventually the very life force that keeps him from abandoning all hope during the darkest days following the death of his life partner. Dog Years is a woven with profound reflections on our feelings for animals and the lessons they teach us about life, love, and loss. (Mark Doty's books of poetry and nonfiction have been honored with such distinctions as the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the T. S. Eliot Prize.) Paperback, $13.95
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers; ISBN-13: 9780061171017
| | | | | | Free Food for Millionaires Min Jin Lee
In her engrossing first novel, Min Jin Lee tells the story of Casey, an angry young Korean-American woman, raised by status-conscious immigrant parents in Queens, who falls out with them after she graduates from college. As she navigates Manhattan, we see her life and the lives around her, culminating in a portrait of New York City and its world of haves and have-nots. The story explores the complex layers we inhabit both in society and within ourselves. Paperback, $13.99
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; ISBN-13: 9780446699853
| | | | | | Alice Waters and Chez Panisse: The Romantic, Impractical, Often Eccentric, Ultimately Brilliant Making of a Food Revolution Thomas McNamee
This adventurous book charts the origins of the "local market cooking" culture. When Francophile Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971, few Americans were familiar with goat cheese, cappuccino, or mesclun. But it wasn't long before Waters and her crew of dreamers inspired a new culinary standard incorporating ethics, politics, and the conviction that the best-grown food is also the tastiest. Based on unprecedented access to Waters and her inner circle, this is a delicious rags-to-riches saga. Paperback, $13.99
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA); ISBN-13: 9780143113089
| | | | | | I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman Nora Ephron
Ephron chronicles her life as an obsessed cook, passionate city dweller, and hapless parent. But mostly she speaks frankly and uproariously about life as a woman of a certain age. Courageous, funny, and unexpectedly moving in its truth telling, I Feel Bad About My Neck is a book full of truths and laugh out loud moments that will appeal to readers of all ages. Paperback, $12.95
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group; ISBN-13: 9780307276827
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| Music
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Anonymous 4 $15.95
Genre: Classical
One of GR's best-selling classical ensembles (an a cappella women's quartet specializing in early music) sing 21 selections from the Codex Calixtinus, a 12th Century illuminated manuscript dedicated to St. James the Greater. The selections range from simple chant to almost dissonant polyphony.
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Marcia Ball $16.95
Genre: Pop/Folk
This is the Louisiana pianist/singer-songwriter's first studio album in five years. The album's moods run from upbeat party tunes and peppy Cajun and Zydeco zingers to ballads and love songs. All are delivered with Ball's husky, soulful voice and driven by her nimble boogie-woogie piano. There's a ballad duet with Dr John that gives both singers a chance to croon.
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Karan Casey $17.95
Genre: Irish/Celtic
The lead singer for Solas releases her fifth solo album. Casey has developed into a singer of great subtlety who can communicate emotions with a dazzling range, and these songs force her to do just that.  Recommended if you like: Maire Brennan (Clannad) and Karen Matheson (Capercaillie)
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Pacifika $16.95
Genre: Ethnic/World
This Vancouver, BC-based trio comes from a variety of backgrounds, with a Peruvian-Canadian lead singer (a former member of the West End Girls), a guitarist with some prog on his résumé, and a jazz/metal/dub bassist. Asuncion offers forward-thinking world music with a stylistic blend of jazzy beats, electronica, and Latin flavor.
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Joel Rafael $16.95
Genre: Pop/Folk
California folk singer-songwriter Rafael has dedicated much of his musical life to the songs of Woody Guthrie. Here, he returns to contemporary acoustic songs, both originals and covers of tunes by Steve Earle and Jack Hardy. Recommended if you like: John McCutcheon, Levon Helm
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| | Special Events
| | | | | Melissa Haggins, Patchwork of the Soul: A Quilt of Healing and WholenessSunday May 10, time TBD Using the quilt as a symbol and metaphor has historical roots across many cultures. In Patchwork of the Soul, the authors (the book is co-authored by Jennifer Gaye) create a quilt of their own lives through personal reflections that reveal their life lessons. They offer paths to guide readers through individual healing processes. Melissa will also be offering a workshop on creating a quilt based on the principles discussed in her book.
Larry Weinstein, Grammar for the Soul: Using Language for Personal Change
Saturday May 17, time TBD
Weinstein shows that simple grammar such as syntax and punctuation can be tools for change and growth, just as yoga and the martial arts are used for self-improvement. He compares the realm of grammar to a kind of psycho-social gymnasium, where — instead of weights, a treadmill, mats, and a balance beam — one finds active verbs, passive verbs, periods, apostrophes, dashes, and a thousand other pieces of linguistic equipment. He suggests that we change who we are when we change our verbal conduct.
David Barsamian
Friday, May 16th or Sunday May 18, Oddfellows Hall
David Barsamian is the award winning founder and director of Alternative Radio, the independent weekly series based in Boulder, Colorado. He is a radio producer, journalist, author and lecturer. He has been working in radio since 1978. His interviews and articles appear regularly in The Progressive and Z Magazine.
Jo Dereske, author of the Miss Zukas mysteries
Saturday May 24, details TBD
Molly Gloss, The Hearts of Horses
Wednesday June 4, Corvallis Arts Center, details TBD
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| Reading Group News
| | | | | Next meeting: Tuesday May 6, 6:30-8:00 pm, in the Grass Roots loft.
Book: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak No experience or membership necessary: first-timers always welcome!
Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence by stealing until she encounters something she can’t resist – books. With the help of her foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors and with the Jewish man hidden in her basement. This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.  Paperback, $11.99
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
ISBN-13: 9780375842207
On sale for $10.19 until May 6.
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| On Our Nightstands
| | | | |  Here's what we've been reading this week.
Jack:
The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur
Daoud Hari
Hardcover, $23.00
Sandy:
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, And Carly Simon — And The Journey Of A Generation
Sheila Weller
Hardcover, $27.95
See "Five Good Books" for more information.
Tiffany:
The Book Thief
Markus Zusak
Paperback, $11.99
See "Reading Group News" for more information.
Melody:
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Mary Roach
Hardcover, $24.95
See "Five Good Books" for more information.
Deborah:
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman
Paperback, $5.95
Anna:
Loving Frank
Nancy Horan
Paperback, $14.00
Linda:
The Things Between Us: A Memoir
Lee Montgomery
Paperback, $14.00
Corrine:
Prodigal Summer
Barbara Kingsolver
Paperback, $14.95
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