Grass Roots Books and Music

Lit-Mag-Love-Train

2012-01-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

I love literary magazines. It isn’t hard to do. They’re packed with beautiful and strange and provocative material. I love them! So much! For the times they make my chest feel wonderfully inadequate, and for those when I have to squirm, often in awe, and for others when I don’t know what to know, or to think, really, except that there’s something to the words that I can’t keep myself from wanting.

I want as many people on my lit-mag-love-train as I can get; there are quite a few already, but I’m greedy: I want more. And it’s not even my train, I’m just a passenger. But I’m on it, I’m snacking, it’s fun, I’m meeting stories, poems and essays, reviews, critiques, interviews, sometimes people I know, a lot of times not. I make friends. I’m not the most outgoing person, but stories

(stories because they’re what I tend towards, although I’ve been lately very much enjoying interviews in The Paris Review, the reading of them feeling to me a little how I do when walking around at night as people’s curtains are wide and house innards visible, which is to say completely curious and sometimes covetous and other times comforted, maybe a little freaked out, as freaky as it may be to read what I’ve just revealed, but it’s true: I like to see what people are doing, or what a room does by itself, and interviews, in their many ways, provide that same satisfaction, about heads and processes and approaches; also, I’ll take any tight poem that wrings its extra out and leaves me with chewy, rich prose, which, really, is what I look for in stories, too, so we’re back, at last, to what I started with),

stories have a way of making me feel at home, even when I’m unfamiliar with the structure. But when I’m unfamiliar, I’m curious, so come the questions, to which I receive answers, or part of one, or nothing, really, that I can do much with at all, but even then, these bodies have invited me to ask, which is some of the most fun, revelatory engagement: how does the writer make this feeling in me, how does this character get away with saying that, how can something so mundane and originally familiar be suddenly so tilted and terrifying? How! Do! They! Do it?!

I sound a little like a nut. I’m some of one, sure.

Before I worked at G. Roots, I grew up visiting here, brought by parents to pick through kids’ books and, later, coming on my own to wander the store until I remembered a day contains time and tasks within its time needing done and then, because I’d lost all track of things, I skedaddled. And then I came back. This happened in high school, in college on breaks to home, and then when I moved home but worked elsewhere, and then again during times back from grad school, and now that I’m here and one of the GR bees I get to be with the shelves every day I’m in, and then on some days I’m not expected, too, because I just can’t help myself. All my time in here was, and is still, research – isn’t that the best? That all these guts be things that, to interact with, will yield good, even if I don’t always like or get it, and then the times that I do. Still, at some point down some road, I’ll benefit from having run into the material, I know it, I’ve felt it, I’ll feel it again. It’s fantastic.

So maybe I’m not so much a nut as I am a smart cookie. Like one of those from the bakery two doors down, built of super dough full of seeds and carob and the sweet and the salt and the nuts, slivers of them, or meal, for texture, taste. Maybe.

Are you on my train yet? Have you heard its horn? Are you making your hands like a megaphone and yelling CALYX as we blow past, Corvallis, or is there a toot that sometimes sounds like a tone the eco(system) would make, or others like something tin, maybe a house in our valley’s rain and wind, and sometimes you can tell that it’s not in Paris anymore, though that’s where it began, that lilt. Sometimes it’s public. Sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s normal, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s the way a box might sound, a coffin, maybe, if somehow you got in it and shouldn’t have and were doing your best, then, to get out. To sound the alarm. Some! Are! Jubila(n)t! Others strictly poet(ry)ic.

In college, then grad school, I got myself into all the bookstores I could find, which, in grad school, in my little Wyoming town alone, made for four independents and a Hasting’s box, cruising their contents, looking not only for books but lit mags, too, old ones, new ones, going home and searching online for them, taking any found to my basement to cull, erecting towers of them on the bedside table. Researching. Because each one is an anthology, a sampler, of what the editors found interesting, what they felt fit their call for submissions, if they had one; what, at the heart of it all, moved them. It’s insightful stuff, seeing what moves people, and if you’re writing, that kind of information is indispensable. You might be hoping to publish. You might be hoping to start your own little animal to put on the train or maybe to have in your yard, to feed, to exercise, to love. Perhaps you’re hoping for direction. Perhaps you’ll find just the place that’s been looking for you, and you it.

This town, beaver as it is, is one lucky duck, too, beefy with writers, many of whom work at the university, and many in the MFA Program in Creative Writing. MFA meaning, among other things, even more writers working on collections or novels or chapbooks and, writers, am I lucking into you reading this? Will you be visiting us to find not only the books but the literary magazines, too, ready here to inspire, full of what the big guns and kids are doing these days with language and story, dripping with discoveries. And then: just who will you find who wants to eat your story or poem or essay because it’s too good to let go once received? Come and decide! Do you see this? Visit! We’ll sweeten the deal, up the ante, ticket you for the lit-mag-love-train by offering a discount to students who come for a journal and mention their studentness. Like: Hey, I’m in the MFA. Or: Hey, I’m in high school and dig journals. Or: Get this, I’m in undergrad and this whole literary magazine thing really, really revs me, you know? I know. I’ve been there. I’m there right now, which is here, ready to welcome all you about to stream in. To point you to shelves and hear your suggestions for more journals. I will nerd out about literary magazines with you any time you want. Seriously. And remember, I’m not the most outgoing. But when it comes to this, if nothing else, I grin a lot and flap my hands and yeah, I ooo and ahhh and point and elbow and everything. Whatever it takes to get you stoked about these gems with me, supporting writers sticking their prosey, poetic necks out, and editors and/or publishers sticking out their pockets, and all of them their hearts, giving us these thoughtfully arranged words to build worlds in our heads and make us feel.

The Power of Mooch

2012-01-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

The life of a grown up can be a busy place. We’ve all been there. And although we are all lucky enough to live in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, there are times when the solace and wisdom found in the nature around us is overlooked or forgotten. These are the times nature can help us the most. The birds the trees, the bugs the leaves, and even our very own cats and dogs can connect us to something that is still and soothing.

Finding this can be profound, at least, but it doesn’t have to be melodramatic all the time. It can be simple, succinct and fun. This is exactly why I love reading the comics and children’s books of Patrick McDonnell so very much. Not only is he an award winning cartoonist who declaratively illustrates our companionship with and love of nature and animals, he is a real crusader for animal rights. He sits on the national board of directors for the humane society and regularly works with animal protection groups.

His collections of comic strips are always great to have when you need a pick up. My copy of Stop and Smell the Roses at home has well worn pages that I have opened many times for a quick and quirky dose of animal wisdom. His newest collection, Our Little Kat King, is even better! Mooch & Earl, and other various woodland and suburban creatures, bring a smile to the face and the feeling that everything is right with the world.
Recently, his collaboration with Eckhart Tolle was released in paperback. Guardians of Being: Spiritual Teachings from Our Dogs and Cats is one of those books that I buy in bulk and give away as often as possible. Each page presents one of McDonnell’s illustrations, and words by Eckhart Tolle that remind us to live in the present moment. They direct the reader to look to their pets as Zen masters who always live in the now. It is poignant, heartwarming and most importantly applicable in our everyday lives.

What Tolle says in Guardians of Being sums up McDonnell’s illustrations pretty well saying, “Everything natural –every flower, tree, and animal – has important lessons to teach us if we would only stop, look and listen.” Patrick McDonnell so effortlessly shows us that in our busy lives we can be present, content, and compassionate. What’s even more, and probably the most important is that he allows us to share this with our children.

Over the years, McDonnell has written several children’s books. They all follow a similar picture book format, featuring around forty pages of his wonderful comic illustrations alongside delightful lines of text. The Gift of Nothing was his very first children’s book. In it Mooch the cat doesn’t know what to get Earl the dog as a gift because he already has everything. In the end he discovers that he can give Earl a moment; a precious present moment with his best friend. This cute story has a very Zen feel. I have used it during story time often- both with the physical book and as an interactive oration. In either situation children love the book and understand the message.
In Just Like Heaven Mooch the cat wakes up to quite a foggy day and decides he must be in heaven. The story is a look at everyday beauty and wonder. The people and places we love are to be appreciated here and now. It reminds me of my foggy morning commutes. Is heaven really just a place on earth? In South, McDonnell actually leaves out print and tells a story just with pictures. I love reading this particular story with children and letting them help tell the story as we go through each of the illustrations. A small bird is left behind by the flock when they fly south. Who will help him find his way??? Mooch of course! The simplest of his books is probably Wag!, which explores what makes Earl the dog’s tail really get going. Earl knows the secret to the joy of life. Do you?

One of my very favorite picture books is Hug Time, which was recently released in a board book version. How exciting! It can be shared with even younger folks now. Jules the kitten goes on a mission to hug the whole world! He hugs a giraffe, tree, petite pudu and even a “species brand new!” It’s all so precious!
And of course, what better way to connect our children with the wisdom and beauty of nature than through a picture book version of Dr. Jane Goodall’s biography? Me…Jane presents the story of a young Dr. Jane Goodall who wanted most of all to live with and help animals. Then what do you know? She does. The story is laid out a little different than his previous books with anecdotes straight from Goodall’s autobiography. When Jane was young, she and Jubilee (her stuffed chimpanzee) started the Alligator Society for young naturalists. McDonnell includes well executed illustrations from her ‘nature notebook’ as she explores the wilderness around her, including squirrels and chickens! Not only does this book challenge children to explore and learn from the world around them, it also shows them that big dreams can, and do, come true. Kids aren’t the only ones who need to be reminded of this. We all do.

I think Patrick McDonnell says it best himself -“The world is so big…And yet so small. It’s time that we embrace it all.”

What's cookin'?

2011-06-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

It is lunch time at Grass Roots, so it must be time to discuss food. At least we should talk about books about food. Oh, I do love a good cookbook...

The inventory surveys we asked people to complete a few weeks ago has brought some lovely changes to our shelves, including an increased cooking section with more variety. (Thanks for the feedback!) One of the significant changes I noticed right away is more ethnic cookbooks. Yum!

We've included a few Indian cookbooks in our inventory, including 660 Curries: The Gateway to Indian Cooking by Raghavan Iyer, and How to Cook Indian by Sanjeev Kapoor, who is quite the celebrity chef in the rest of the world. Personally, I am not familiar with Indian cuisine, but there are over 1,100 recipes between these two books. That sounds like a pretty good foundation to me, and one to explore. You could make a night of it and read A Passage to India by E.M. Forster with your book group, and enjoy a recipe out of one of these cookbooks.

Italian cooking is something I have considerably more experience with, though I there's no way I could compete with Giada. The Glorious Pasta of Italy by Domenica Marchetti may just up my game, however. Sadly, I'm a sucker for a well-designed cookbook with nice pictures, but that is not the only reason I admire this one. There's a lot of information about pasta here, including buying and using dried pasta, a glossary of pasta shapes, and recipes and tips for making your own pasta at home. (I admit I cheat; I use a Kitchenaid. But it's still delicious!) It also covers basic sauces, but then it moves beyond. Bake it, sauce it, stuff it--heck, you can even make it sweet! If you love pasta, you've got to check this one out.

I can not not talk about international cookbooks without mentioning something French. This recommendation, however does not include pretty pictures. To make up for it, there is a recipe for Oreilles de Veau Farcies, Sauce Bernaise. I'm not going to translate that for you. The French Menu Cookbook, a classic tome by Richard Olney, will do that for you. It's a tidy little book organized with menus and wine pairings. If you think an evening reading The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathlenn Finn while nibbling on Fonds d'Artichauts aux Deux Mousses with a fine wine is your idea of a good time, I recommend this book.

Surely that's enough to keep your mouth watering until you come by and visit us. If you can't wait, you can click on the titles that interest you, and the link will take you right to our fantastic new website, www.grassrootsbookstore.com. Easy browsing and ordering right there!

Hopefully, though, you'll still come by and visit us. See you in the bookstore!

Pamela.

Greetings from the bookstore!

2011-05-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were worried, I just want to reassure you that Grass Roots Books & Music is still here. We are even moreso still "HERE" since we have a new website. The new and improved grassrootsbookstore.com is awesome. You should definitely go take a look at it if you haven't seen it. Go ahead. I'll wait.

See what I mean? You can order from home and check our inventory from home whenever it strikes your fancy. And if by chance you have emptied your list of "books to read" (If you're like me, that will NEVER happen...), you can always check in with our staff recommendations. You'll find everything from our Nightstand reviews from the Grass Roots Reader newsletter, to specialized lists of Children's, Local, and Seasonal titles. And more is to come! (My Cooking recommendations will be coming soon!)

It has also been a few couple of months for events in the store, so it's really no wonder I haven't had time to blog. For poetry month in April, we hosted a wonderfully diverse crowd of local poets. May has been aflame with more local authors, and we have more planned in June. There are many local writers with new books out this year, and we're hosting three of them next month. George Estreich will join us June 4 at 2 p.m. for a reading and signing, Marjorie Sandor will lead a memoir-writing workshop on June 11 at 2 p.m., and Katie Kacvinsky will be here June 25 at 2 p.m. for a reading and signing. So much going on! (And more to come... Kathie Sever July 14...Laurie Notaro October 1...I could just squeal!) Follow along here, be our fan on Facebook, sign up for our newsletter, or stop by the store to keep up with what's new!

Certainly more new stuff will follow. I've seen some exciting changes in a few sections as a result of our recent surveys (Cooking and Crafts! YES!) which I will be talking about more in depth very soon. Our new website will keep improving, I (hopefully we...) will blog more often, and we'll work even harder to make shopping at Grass Roots your best book shopping experience ever. (Just please let us know how we can do that!)

With all that's new, however, somethings never change: I'll see you at the bookstore!

Pamela.

New Music Tuesday

2011-02-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

It's another week, and a new batch of music has hit the shelves. Thanks to our music buyer, Scott, we have reveiws to share:

Adele, 21 $11.95

Torchy, soulful London singer evokes white soul singers like Amy Winehouse and Duffy, but reaches further back for influence, to Dusty Springfield and Etta James. Her second album focuses on her syrupy, sweet voice, perfect for her songs about broken hearts.

Builders and the Butchers, Dead Reckoning $12.95

This Portland quintet's fifth album ranges from folk to back porch bluegrass to gutbucket blues, all fueled by a raucous garage spirit. Renowned for their kinetic live performances, their new effort seeks to recreate that energy on disc.

Johnny Cash, From Memphis to Hollywood: Bootleg Vol 2 $15.95

The second album in a series that brings to light rare, archival tracks from Cash's early career. This new collection features cuts from Cash's personal tapes, recorded between 1954 and 1970, including many from his Sun Studio sessions.

Cave Singers, No Witch $14.95

The third full-length album by this harmony-heavy Seattle folk-rock outift. "No Witch is grander and more lush than The Cave Singers' previous efforts. It's also a nervier, scrappier affair: greasy guitars buck and rear up; Eastern-influenced blues snake through songs; gospel choirs rise up like tidal waves."

G. Love, Fixin' to Die $10.95

G. Love has always occupied a rare space between folk, blues and hip hop. On his new CD, produced by and with insturmental help by the Avett Brothers, the singer takes a big step towards percussion-heavy roots music.

Gibson Brothers, Help My Brother $19.95

IBMA Award winners, Eric and Leigh are widely recognized as the finest brother duet in bluegrass music today.Their tenth release features 12 tracks, most of which are originals, feature guest spots by Alison Brown, Ricky Skaggs and Claire Lynch.

Johnny Irion & Sarah Lee Guthrie, Bright Examples $12.95

The husband and wife duo's second full-length album is produced by Vetiver's Andy Cabic and Thom Monahan. The 12 original songs highlight the duo's patented country rock songwriting and rich vocal harmonies beautifully intertwining with Vetiver's West Coast pastoral psych-rock aesthetic. Special guests include Mark Olson and Gary Louris.

Loch Lomond, Little Me Will Start a Storm $13.95

"Elegant yet uneasy, this intriguing Portland sextet echoes the nervous grace of Arcade Fire and the New Pornographers, minus the electric charge. Frontman Ritchie Young can sing delicate and high or mournful and low, and while his dense chamber-pop songs employ clarinet, violin, mandolin, and marimba, they never feel overwrought."

Low Anthem, Smart Flesh $13.95

The unique Rhode Island multi-instrumentalists straddle both traditional and modern folk, blues and even jazz and neo-classical elements. Recorded in an abandoned factory, the songs, "shuffle like a Crescent City dirge played on an Appalachian dusty road."

Sean Rowe, Magic $15.95

Like a hybrid of Leonard Cohen and Greg Brown, the New York singer songwriter sings in a rusty baritone, frequently backed only by a picked guitar and cello, with occasional piano.

Blues/Jazz
Various Artists, Alligator Records 40th Anniversary Celebration $17.95

Celebrating 40 years of releases, the seminal blues label collects 2 discs of their favorite tracks from across the years. Artists include Koko Taylor, Marcia Ball, Buddy Guy, JJ Grey and more.

Irish/Celtic

Celtic Thunder, Heritage $18.95

A frequent presence on PBS fundraisers, these Irish music veterans combine traditional elements of Celtic music with dramatic orchestral flourishes and contemporary rock.

Kids

Putumayo Artists, Acoustic Dreamland $15.95

Chosen especially for moments of relaxation and rest, the label's new collection features calming pieces played by Hem, Daniel Martin Moore, Lucy Kaplansky and more.

New Music Tuesday

2011-02-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

Apologies for the late publication. It's been one of those weeks... Time to soothe that savage beast with some fresh music!

Pop/Rock

* Nicole Atkins, Mondo Amore $13.95
The New Jersey singer-songwriter's follow-up to her critically praised 2007 Neptune City. A lot has changed since then, including Atkins' band and label, but what remains is the artist's dramatic, orchestra "pop noir."

* Drew Holcomb, Chasing Someday $12.95
"To counter the Nashville hokum-heavy stereotype of big hats, steel guitars and tear-in-your-beer emotion of a man's relationship with his tractor, there's the gloriously un-twang music of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.Holcomb's savvy combination of earnest midwestern rock and folksy southern charm have burnished his reputation and dramatically expanded his audience."

* Jessica Lea Mayfield, Tell Me $15.95
The singer-songwriter's second album is produced by Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach, who brings fuzzed-out guitars and a retro spirit and sound to Mayfield's songs. The eclectic mix blends bits of blues, country and jazz.

* Various, The Music Inside: Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings $10.95
A tribute to the music of the country music legend. Contributors include Jamey Johnson, Shooter Jennings, Patty Griffin and more.

* Over the Rhine, Long Surrender %15.95 DEMO
The husband and wife duo's new album is produced by iconic songwriter and instrumentalist Joe Henry. In addition to providing instrumental help, Henry contributes his trademark atmospheric touch, as well as an increasing jazz emphasis to the duo's cinematic folk-pop.

* Danny Schmidt, Man of Many Moons $17.95
"The arrangements are bare and revealing. It's just Danny and guitar with bass, a tiny bit of piano and harmonica, and some haunting vocal support from fellow Red House artist, Carrie Elkin and Raina Rose. The songs center around the tricky concept of commitment, and the result is another glimpse into the complicated psyche of this talented, Austin-based emerging singer-songwriter."

* Teddy Thompson, Bella $13.95
Thompson's fifth album of melodic folk-pop. The son of Richard and Linda Thompson fills Bella with more upbeat, buoyant melodies than on previous efforts. The album also continues the artist's recent flirtation with Roy Orbison-esque classic country.

* Wailin' Jennys, Bright Morning Star $17.95 DEMO
The third studio album by the Canadian female trio highlights the Jennys strength as songwriters and instrumentalists, as well as harmony vocalists. Heather Masse, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody composed all but one of the album's tunes, which weave traditional and contemporary folk and americana.

New Age

* Yanni, Truth of Touch $16.95
The new age legend's first new collection since 2003. Yanni's compositions bring together the orchestral with the electronic, incorporating world music influences throughout.

New Music Tuesday

2011-02-02T17:43:00.000-08:00

Are you tired of listening to Justin Bieber yet? Stop by and check out the newest CDs in stock at Grass Roots this week!

Pop/Rock

Hot Club of Cowtown, What Makes Bob Holler $17.95
With their guitar/violin/bass and vocal line-up, the Hot Club puts their special spin on the 1940s Western swing of Bob Wills. This tribute was released first in the UK, where it vaulted into the top 10 for several weeks.

Bobby Long, Winter Tale $11.95
British singer-songwriter Long first came into the public eye with a contribution to the soundtrack to the teen vampire movie Twilight. The poetry and guitar-centered music on his debut CD have been likened to Leonard Cohen playing the music of Ryan Adams.

> David Lowery, Palace Guard $11.95
As a bandleader, Lowery formed and fronted the seminal indie bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. For his debut solo CD, Lowery channels the quirky jam-inspired sounds of his previous bands into a more intimate, acoustic direction.

North Mississippi Allstars, Keys to the Kingdom $13.95
In the wake of their father Jim Dickinson's passing Cody and Luther Dickinson gathered friends at their Zebra Studios to record a tribute to the legendary producer and musician. Keys to the Kingdom features guest spots by Ry Cooder, Mavis Staples, Alvin Youngblood Hart and more.

Todd Snider, Live: the Storyteller $16.95
This 2-disc set features the contemporary americana singer-songwriter's greatest hits, recorded live with a backing band. It also highlights Snider's prowess and good humor as a storyteller as he tells the tale behind his tunes.

Tennis, Cape Dory $13.95
As featured on NPR, this husband and wife duo play retro pop music in the spirit of the 1960s. Some of the album's songs were inspired by boat trip along the Eastern seaboard.

Kids
Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Songs From a Zulu Farm $13.95

The celebrated South African vocal ensemble present their second album for young listeners. Sung primarily in the Zulu language, the songs also feature the sounds of farm animals and children.

New Music Tuesday

2011-01-27T16:50:00.000-08:00

Tuesday is typically the day of the week that new music releases come out, and there are lots of them this week! Some are being featured in the Grass Roots Reader, but there is so much more out there. Here's what you might miss:

Pop/Folk

Carrie Elkin, Call it My Garden ~ $17.95
Contemporary folk and americana singer-songwriter's third release demonstrates a laid-back spirit as Elkin gathers with a group of industry friends and collaborators in the kitchen of a friend's house. The albums is produced by Colin Brooks (Band of Heathens) and fellow singer-songwriter Danny Schmidt.

Lori McKenna, Lorraine ~ $16.95
McKenna began her career with a piece on NPR focusing on her identity as a homemaker and mother of three children who lived a working class life and was a songwriter on the side. Since, her songs have been performed by several mainstream country artists, and her solo CDs have garnered critical praise. McKenna's new release is inspired by stories of her own mother's life.

James Vincent McMorrow, Early in the Morning ~ $11.95
From Ireland, folk pop with mostly acoustic guitars, occasional drums and vocals, buoyed by banjo and electric piano. McMorrow's album was considered one of the best of the year by Irish critics.

Lynn Miles, Fall For Beauty ~ $16.95
Canadian folk-americana artist has a beautiful catch in her voice and a way with a story. Miles' new CD features a more polished production, as well as a fuller band sound behind her melodic tunes.

Redbird, Live at the Cafe Carpe ~ $16.95
Redbird is both the name of the album and the loose affiliation of three acclaimed American songwriters- Kris Delmhorst, Jeffrey Foucault and Peter Mulvey. This live recording features tunes originally recorded by artists as diverse as Rickie Lee Jones, Neil Young, Merle Haggard and more.

John Renbourn, Palermo Snow ~ $18.95
Drawing on his recent excursions to Italy and its rich musical heritage Renbourn delivers another classic album of gentle, but engaging, guitar music. Seduced by the romantic grip of the area and its people he delivers a beautiful album that can only be described as timeless.

Classical

Helene Grimaud, Resonances ~ $18.95

Stop by and have a listen...ask us what we like!

You big teaser!

2011-01-26T16:48:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I ached for Spring.

It was sunny and about 50 degrees, which is downright BALMY. At least if felt balmy, but I think the lack of gloom may be starting to affect my perception of the world in winter.

I felt inspired to walk along the river front from the parking lot to the store. The river is clearly swollen and murky-smelling, but there were other people out there. Adn there were buds on the trees and shrubs. That is always a good sign! People were in and out of the store all day, and the streets were practically teeming with walkers. Okay, that may be exaggerating. It's nice to see people out and about instead of holed up in their houses, though. When I walk on the street to and from my car, I notice the bulbs poking up from the planters. It makes me so jealous, and it makes me want to get my hands dirty. Time to find some good gardening books, I suspect.

Today, however...sigh, today... It is gray gloom again and I can see people's breath when they're walking by our windows. It reminds me that it is still time to curl up in a chair at home with a nice cup of tea and a good book.

On my nightstand right now?
An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin
Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson
Winona's Pony Cart by Maud Hart Lovelace
The Four Seasons Book of Cocktails: Tips, Techniques, and More Than 1,000 Recipes from New York's Landmark Restaurant by Greg Connolly, Charles Corpion, John Varriano, and Fred DuBose
The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball

Clearly, I'm going to be busy for a while...

What are you reading right now? Is it varied, or do you stick to one book and/or topic at a time? How many more days until Spring???

I'll be waiting it out behind the counter. See you at the bookstore!

Pamela.

What's a teenager to read?

2011-01-13T15:52:00.000-08:00

In the great scheme of things, I'm not old. I'm in my mid-30s. I like to call it "Bookstore Middle-aged" because the last few years my ages has planted me pretty squarely among college students and twenty-somethings, and others older than me. It's just me...hangin' out here...in the middle...

One of my favorite books. My recommendation.

From this perspective, I remember the books I loved as a child. I remember the books I escaped with on my breaks home from college. I remember most of the books I've read in the 13 years I've been working in bookstores. But there's this gap in my reading memory...what the heck did I read while I was in high school? I have always been a voracious reader, and it surprises me that beyond what was required of me in school, I don't remember reading.

I guess it's possible I didn't read for pleasure much in those years. (Well, except maybe Sweet Valley High books... Don't judge me.) During those years I didn't live in the library district, and I certainly didn't have expendable income at that time.


One of this year's winners.

Maybe this gap in my reading memory is why I have such a hard time recommending books to readers in the14-19 age group. There are so many variables involved, not the least of which is the maturity level of the reader in question. Even for grade schoolers, I always ask myself, "What was I reading at that age?". I can't do this with teenagers, though, so I have to review the books of my adult reading life to gauge their appropriateness for this age group. Fortunately, the Alex Awards make this easier when my own reading interests diverge from that of the other reader.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-01-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

My most-anticipated read of 2011.

Okay, I see how it is. Are you sitting in front of your computer right now going, "Uh...you know it's already a week into it, right?" Well, now I do. Things were pretty wonderfully busy in the store over the holidays and we are settling back into our habits of bringing you great books--and news and entertaining tidbits from the world of books.

January is the time for our buyers to pour through catalogs to scout out the next great thing. From the world of literary gossip, I can already tell you that new books are expected from Chuck Palahniuk, Jean Auel, Sarah Vowell and David Foster Wallace's final novel.
Looking for more? Here's what The Guardian, The Millions, and The Daily Beast all have to say.

That should help you to at least get a start on your list of books to read this year. We'll be here to tell you more about them and get them in for you!

See you at the bookstore!

Pamela.

Best of the Year: The Best Book I Read This Year (Via The Atlantic)

2010-12-10T08:52:00.000-08:00

These are not the best books that I read personally this year, but these are the best titles read by the editors and writers at The Atlantic. One of these titles, however, is one of my very favorite books ever. I like that this list covers a nice combination of new and old titles. Sometimes we just need to go back and pick something off of that "To read" list from years ago...

The Best Book I Read This Year (Via The Atlantic)

Best of the Year: Via Band of Thebes: 80 Authors Select the Best LGBT Books of 2010

2010-12-10T08:47:00.000-08:00

This list of 100 titles selected by 80 authors is really expansive and varied. Mainstream media often overlooks titles in the LGBT category, so this is a great opportunity to find something fantastic to read--or a great gift--that you might have missed elsewhere.

Via Band of Thebes: 80 Authors Select the Best LGBT Books of 2010
This book received the most mentions on the list. Incidentally, it was also nominated for the National Book Award.

Best of the Year: Authors choose their favorite books of 2010 at Salon.com

2010-12-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

So when they were slacking off and not writing their own stories this year, what were writers reading? I'm pretty sure it wasn't this blog or the Grass Roots Facebook page, but Salon.com made sure and asked a few:

Author favorites of 2010 at Salon.com
OMG! Curtis Sittenfeld (who wrote one of my favoritest books ever, Prep) picked this book. I read this book this year, too! We're, like, besties now!

Best of the Year: A&E Gift Guide from The Oregonian

2010-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

In my quest for awesome gift guides, I thought I better look somewhere local, too. The Oregonian impressed me for including a couple of books that tie in to the TV show Mad Men. Hello! I love Mad Men. Maybe you'll find something here for yourself.

A&E Gift Guide from The Oregonian

Best of the Year: COOKBOOKS!

2010-12-06T08:57:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't heard, my friends, I do LOVE a good cookbook. When looking at lists of gift suggestions and best books of the year, it's almost always the cookbooks I really want to read over. Is there something I missed???

The Huffington Post website has made this subject remarkably easy for me to post, as they did a post yesterday featuring Best Cookbook of 2010 lists from various sources. If you're a cookbook fan like me, you will appreciate all of these great resources in one convenient location. Here they are; begin drooling now.

Best of the Year: COOKBOOKS! via Huffington Post.

Best of the Year: Holiday Books Gift Guide from the L.A. Times

2010-12-04T16:15:00.000-08:00

The L.A. Times' book sections is grand and respectable, and their list of holiday gift recommendations in books is pretty darn awesome, too. It is wonderfully broad, and divided into some handy subject categories, including the oh-so-challenging-unless-you-read-them categories of Graphic Novels and Young Adult. I'm also a really big fan of the LA Times' layout on this page because it's so visual. It really gives you the opportunity to judge the books by their covers, but if you click on the cover, they give you a description of it as well.

Holiday Books Gift Guide from the L.A. Times
My personal choice: It's a Book by Lane Smith. It is a fanTAStic children's picture book about how absorbing real books are, as opposed to electronic media.

Best of the Year: Best Books to Give to Kids...

2010-12-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

Recommending great books to give to kids is challenging for me. I don't have kids, I don't know a lot of kids, and I don't really read too many kids books. A picture book will often catch my eye, but if a customer is looking for a book for an 11-year-old who reads above their grade level, I might have a problem. Fortunately, we have a GREAT children's book buyer who makes sure we have a wonderful variety to choose from. Then there are lists like this on the internet that really help me narrow it down:

Best Books to Give to Kids...Even Those You Don't Know Very Well
From the EarlyWord blog.

Best of the Year: Best Film Books for 2010

2010-12-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

Sadly, not everybody is a reader and a book lover. I know, I know--how can that BE? It is true, however. That's when those of us who are book lovers need to find ways to present our friends and family with gifts that promote reading through their other interests. Sure, you could just buy that movie lover a boxed set of their favorite movies, but why not a book about their favorite director or actor? Aha... Here's a great list from the Huffington Post to give you some ideas in that direction:

Best Film Books for 2010

You're going have to supply the popcorn yourself, though.

Best of the Year: The Daily Beast Holiday Book Guide

2010-12-02T16:42:00.000-08:00

I like this list from the Daily Beast because it is not the usual cast of characters. If you're looking for a really nice book for someone who would like something a little different, one of these titles may just hit the spot. I am especially enamored of the hardcover, annotated edition of Pride and Prejudice. It's sort of like pop-up video for literature, but when the book is so well-loved I don't mind the side trips.

The Daily Beast Holiday Book Guide

Best of the Year: O Magazine's Top 10 Books of 2010

2010-12-01T16:01:00.000-08:00

I'll say this for Oprah: she has done great work to promote reading and books, and has certainly helped bookstores survive. For this reason, I present to you the list of the Top 10 Books of 2010 from O Magazine. Read on, Oprah.

O Magazine's Top 10 Books of 2010

Best of the Year: NYT 100 Notable Books of the Year

2010-11-27T15:38:00.000-08:00

There is no shortage of good books in the world to present as gifts. The New York Times has narrowed it down to their 100 Notable Books of the Year. I guess it's not the "best" or their "faviorites" or event "bestselling"--but you should at least take note.

The NYT Notable 100

Book Brahmin: Christian Wiman

2010-11-27T14:43:00.000-08:00

I always love Shelf Awareness's "Book Brahmin" interviews with authors. This week S.A. spoke with Christian Wiman, the editor of "Poetry" magazine. He has a new book of poetry out, "Every Riven Thing." He also offers some great recommendations for poetry-lovers.

Book Brahmin: Christian Wiman

Enjoy!

--Mica

November 2010 Poetry Magazine

Christian Wiman

Trending: #FridayReads

2010-11-18T11:15:00.000-08:00

I love a good resource for book recommendations, and I just saw this in Shelf Awareness this morning. I don't Tweet on Twitter (and Grass Roots doesn't...yet), but they have a Facebook page now, too. Check it out!

Trending: #FridayReads

Cookie Cravings

2010-11-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

In case you don't know us very well, we are VERY fond of food at Grass Roots. We are fond of cooking and baking and eating and sharing and reading about food. Most of us come from small households, so any baking tends to yield shareable amounts, because really--who can eat that many cookies??? Well, as a team we manage quite well, thank you. And cookies continue to tempt, especially with such a fantastic selection of cookbooks focused on cookies out this fall. Get comfortable with a glass of milk while I tell you about my favorites.


Hardcover, $18.00

Gourmet magazine is heartbreakingly missed, but at least the publisher still collects the best recipes from its pages and compiles them in a book. Recently they published The Gourmet Cookie Book, and I have to say: I WANT IT. I can assure you that the Polish Apricot-Filled Cookies are labor-intensive, but completely delicious and worth it. (Grandma used to make Kolacky, which I suspect are the same thing. Gourmet's are better than Grandma used to make. Don't tell her I said that.) And there are the Scandinavian Rosettes that my Honey would like...and Glittering Lemon Sandwich Cookies...and Chocolate Peppermint Bar Cookies... Beyond all this goodness, the photography is FANTASTIC. I hope you don't have to wait until Christmas to lay your hands on this one...

Paperback, $25.95

Sometimes when you're craving a cookie, you're not exactly certain what it is you're craving, but you might be able to describe it as crunchy, crispy, chewy or gooey. That's where Alice Medrich's book Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies comes in. Do not fear, since she also explores Chunky and Flakey, insuring there's something for everyone. The book is short on photography (I really love to see what I'm baking) but long on creativity. Some of her recipes delve into dietary restrictions, and some explore unique flavors. When I say there's something for everybody, I really mean it!

Paperback, $19.95

Now that we've baked all of these cookies, what are we going to do with them? Bestowing them on our co-workers and customers is an obvious option that we delight in. If we ever decide to get organized and plan a holiday cookie exchange, Very Merry Cookie Party: How to plan and Host a Christmas Cookie Exchange, by Barbara Grunes and Virgina Van Vynckt. Now then, right on the front cover this book are some spritz cookies. I LOVE me some spritz cookies! I even have an electric cookie press just like Grandma used to use. It's like a gun that shoots cookie dough, and it makes a very satisfying "WHIRRRRR" sound when I use it. That is neither here nor there, but I like the sentimental factor of finding spritz cookies in this book. AND there's a recipe for Toffee Squares. It's like another little shout out to Grandma Kelm from this book! This book also helps you plan your Cookie Party, offering themes and ideas for appropriate accoutrements.

I am ready for my hot cocoa now! Really. NOW. Time to explore these recipes some more and create a little treat for the store. I'll let you know how it goes...

See you at the bookstore, brushing crumbs off the counter!

Pamela.

Something for those cozy, rainy evenings ahead...

2010-10-26T22:02:00.000-07:00

The last week has been full of abolutely golden autumn days, with just a touch of crispness in the air. All afternoon I've heard customers waxing poetic about the weather. It comes with extra poignancy as I peek ahead into the future on Yahoo Weather and see that which we dread: THE RAINY SEASON. Sigh...

Typically I'm able to embrace our damp winters with a warm heart and some enthusiasm. This year is more of a challenge, since summer seems to have barely set foot in the Willamette Valley. The rain is coming, though, so I'll remind myself of the bright side of the dim: fuzzy wool yarn, bamboo knitting needles, and delicious cookies. Now that's my idea of a cozy way to greet the weather.

Two books have arrived that I am rather eager to get my mitts on. The first is Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics by Debbie Stoller. I have long admired Stoller's work, since it was while having her first book awkwardly cracked open on a coffee shop table that I learned to knit. No, I haven't made it far beyond scarves and dish rags (plus two cup cozies and ONE lonely sock), but I like to aspire to greatness. Stoller's newest work goes far beyond the basics, and includes 41 patterns for garments and accessories. There are even some sassy new scarves that I might try.

The other knitting book with allure that is within my reach (and the abilities of my stash) is Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders: 101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks by Judith Durant. See that? Beyond socks! Perhaps I could knit my lone sock a friend that is not a sock, yet conveniently color coordinates! I would be knitting beyond the sock... There are some really really really adorable scarves in here at any rate. Ah, the Loveliness! Oh, the yarn! Sigh, the happiness!

These things should keep my hands busy for a little while. Well, that and the flutter of my fingers over the keyboard in November for NaNoWriMo. Perhaps I will be more successful with that than with my regular blog posts here. Sorry, but the stack of books waiting at home for me is just so distracting...

In between my distractions, I'll see you at the bookstore!
Pamela.

A Very Literary Halloween

2010-10-25T14:06:00.000-07:00

Halloween is fast approaching, and that means costume time!!! (I'm very excited.) Here are a few tips for those of you who want to make Halloween a book-appreciative event and could use some ideas.

1. Do you want your costume to translate immediately? It helps to dress as a character that has a visual trademark.

Think: Alice in Wonderland, Frankenstein's monster, Sherlock Holmes, Hester Prynne, Hamlet, or even Edward from the Twilight series (hmmm...that may not qualify as literary...). These are usually easy costumes because they require one or two signature props (Alice wears a puffy blue dress and white pinafore; Holmes has his hat and pipe; Frankenstein's neck plugs; Prynne's scarlet A; Hamlet carries Yorick's skull; Edward has that dreamy glittery complexion).

Example:

Hamlet--a costume you can whip up at home

2. Supporting characters are a fun option that may make fellow partygoers pause for thought. Rooster Cogburn of "True Grit," The Queen of Hearts, Zaphod Beeblebrox from "A Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy," a Siren from "The Odyssey," Miss Havisham from "Great Expectations," and Ophelia covered in seaweed are just a few ideas.

Zaphod Beeblebrox

Dickens' Miss Havisham

Add some seaweed and a frown for a more sinister Ophelia.

3. Some costumes are destined to be misinterpreted, and others are simply too obscure for accurate translation. Embrace it! Go as your favorite character, even if that means your Laura Ingalls is thought to be a random prairie girl until you correct people. If it really drives you nuts, carry around a copy of the book that your character stars in. Fun ideas: Leonard Maltin of movie review fame; the guy that stole Jonathan Franzen's glasses (I've been trying to persuade our receiver, Michael, to do this!); Mikael Blomkvist or Lisbeth Salander from "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (make sure to carry a faux-MacBook and a cup of coffee); Sookie Stackhouse from "True Blood;" and Penelope from "The Odyssey"

Who?...OH, that movie guy...What's-his-na--that's right, Leonard Maltin!

4. On a related note, there are a few authors that have enough of a look to hold up to imitation. My favorites are Anne Rice (somebody please do this!), Edgar Allen Poe, Hunter S. Thompson, and Sylvia Plath.

Guess who! Hunter S. Thompson's a bit batty.

5. For readers who will be spending Halloween surrounded by adorably costumed children, here are some kid-friendly costume ideas: Mrs. Frisby from "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" (white mouse with a cape); a Hogwarts instructor; the Man in the Yellow Hat (perhaps with a little stuffed monkey wrapped around an arm, or, um, see below); Waldo of "Where" fame; you can even get the whole family involved for an Alice in Wonderland or Wizard of Oz theme.

The Man in the Yellow Hat and Curious George.


Fun for the whole family

Have a great Halloween, everyone!

NaNoWriMo Approacheth

2010-10-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

National Novel Writing Month is bearing down upon my head! Whatever will I write about? Whatever will YOU write about? Don't know what I'm talking about? Oh, let me tell you of the terrors and triumphs of NaNoWriMo...

For someone who has always wanted to write a book, NaNoWriMo is an inspiring challenge. Give yourself a deadline, and the words will just pour fourth. That's the premise anyway.

What NaNoWriMo does is give you 30 days--the month of November--to write a 50,000 word novel. Doesn't sound like much, right? After all, it breaks down to about 1,667 words a day. Totally doable. To make it easier, you're joining approximately 360,000 other writers around the world to accomplish the same task. You're a team!

And then you start crunching out the words.

I can only speak for myself, really, but during those 30 days I have cranked out some of the worst drivel of my entire life. Inane dialog. Unnecessary descriptions. Superfluous words. Just to get a word count!

It makes one question one's worthiness as a writer. It makes one question one's sanity. Relationships suffer. Health suffers. Typing fingers suffer.

Don't fret! There is help! The Office of Letters and Light (I don't make this stuff up) has a website full of suggestions, connections to other local NaNo'ers, and inspiration at http://www.nanowrimo.org/. You're not in this alone. There's also a fantastic book called No Plot, No Problem: The Low-Stress Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days by Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo. I find it to be quite handy for any aspiring writer.

But in the end, if you've stuck with it, you have written a book. Look, Ma! A novel of my very own! The satisfaction is immeasurable, and that's a good thing. You're not winnin' anything else for that piece of piddly writing.

However, you can bask in the glow of success. You're a writer! You've written a book!

Go forth to plod and plot.
See you in the bookstore--when I'm not plodding myself!

Pamela.

Postcard from Paradise

2010-10-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

I realize this post is a little belated. In mid-September I took a vacation to Hawaii with My Honey, and I did in fact send postcards to the store. However, I didn't get to share them with all of my Grass Roots friends. My vacation mostly entailed sitting around by pools and on beaches, my nose in a book or soaking up the sun. (Had to stock up on my vitamin D while I could!) So here, I bring you a bookish-themed post about my vacation.

First of all, I have to say I made good use of guide books (My Honey is more of an online person himself.), and found the Hawaii: An Explorer's Guide book to be particularly interesting to read, as well as helpful. It's more than just a list of hotels, restaurants and places to see; there's actually backstory on the history of the places and people of the islands. Another useful series of guides is Hawaii Revealed, which may also be known as the blue books about Hawaii. They cover out of the way places and give honest opinions, even if they're negative. I found the writing style to be kind of annoying, but even skimming it revealed great information.

Pearl Harbor is this far away from Portland.

Crew's Library on the USS Missouri

Where did we go once we got there? Well, we started on Waikiki Beach, which was everything I heard it would be. Ahem. I am very glad we were there in the off-season, and we left just about exactly when we were ready to. My postcard from Oahu? It features the crew library on the USS Missouri. Unfortunately while we were visiting Pearl Harbor, a movie was being filmed on "The Mighty Mo", and we didn't get access to everything visitors usually do. Boo on them. I forgave them, however, because I got to see the library and the pie kitchen. (Can you imagine a whole kitchen with a battery of ovens just for pies? AWESOME!)

Representing Grass Roots at Volcanoes National Park.

Next we hopped over to the Big Island for two nights in Hilo, two nights north of Kona, and a stop at Volcanoes National Park and South Point in between. The volcano was pretty awesome, but all we saw was steam. And at night? We saw colored steam. Well, boo on the lava, but I enjoyed it anyway. And it turns out Mark Twain visited the volcano as well. I decided I need to bond with my literary brethren and had my picture taken where he was. (Look where Grass Roots has been!) South Point was pretty cool; it's the southern most point in the United States.

Book. And Maui beach.

We had to finish up our visit to Hawaii on Maui. I love Maui. I love laying by the pool and having people bring my drinks. I also enjoy laying in a lounge chair on the beach reading a book. Sigh... My postcard from Maui features a page of my favorite reading material on my vacation, The Group by Mary McCarthy. It was fantastic and scandalous. I admit, I sometimes struggled to keep track of all the characters, but I was interested in their lives. Oh, I did enjoy it.

Now I am settled in back at home, working my way through different books and getting back into my routine at the bookstore. It is nice to be home in Corvallis, but it's always nice to dream of exciting new places to go. For now, I think I'll hold onto my memories from Hawaii.

Aloha, friends!
Pamela.

October Events at Grass Roots!

2010-10-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

October is shaping up to a great month at Grass Roots. I'm super excited because cooking and children's picture book titles are starting to arrive for the holiday shopping season. Woo hoo! October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month, so be aware of it!

Reading Group
There are some awesome events coming up this month, in and out of the store, as well. Important to note first is that the book group meeting date has changed this month. Please join our discussion of The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon on Tuesday, Oct.12 (moved from Oct. 5) at Grass Roots, 6:30 to 8 p.m.

Lecture and Book Signing
On Tuesday, Oct. 5, Grass Roots will be selling books at the Marcus Borg lecture, entitled "Christian and American: Then and Now", at the First Presbyterian Church in Corvallis. The event is part of the celebration for the opening of the church's new John and Nancy Dennis Conference Center and Fellowship Hall, and proceeds from book sales will go to the building fund. The event is free and open to the public, and begins at 7 p.m.

Author Signings and Discussions
The third weekend in October will be a busy at Grass Roots, as we will be hosting two author events.

On Saturday, Oct. 16, we are hosting Debra Daniels-Zeller, the author of The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook at 3 p.m. Even if you're not a vegetarian, Debra has some great recipes for using our local, seasonal produce. After stopping by the farmer's market that day, get some lunch downtown, then come by Grass Roots for ideas on what to do with your purchases!

On Sunday, Oct. 17, Penelope Scambly Schott will be at Grass Roots, reading from and discussing her new book of poetry Crow Mercies. The book is published locally by Calyx Press. The event starts at 3 p.m.

Also, don't forget to check out our calendar at the bottom of the blog--it includes all of our store events, as well as local events we are a ticket outlet for. As always, you can stay abreast of what's going on at Grass Roots by receiving our weekly online newsletter, The Grass Roots Reader, following us on Facebook, and of course checking in with us here. And never hesitate to stop by and say hello!

See you at the bookstore--soon, I hope!
Pamela.

Book Brahmin Plus: Nancy Pearl

2010-09-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

I realize it's been a while since we posted on our sweet little blog, so I'm jumping in with a cheater today. I just read this entertaining interview with Nancy Pearl, and wanted to share it with my friends.

By the way, I love reading interviews like this, because I like to decide if the authors are being pompous or genuine. I think Nancy Pearl sounds lovely.

I also think about how I will answer the questions when I'm a bestselling author.

Enjoy!

Book Brahmin Plus: Nancy Pearl

See you at the bookstore, Nancy Pearl in hand!
Pamela.

It'll always be books for me!

2010-08-28T16:03:00.000-07:00

I am experiencing technical difficulties. Actually, I had numerous problems all of last week, resulting in my inability to access our Facebook fan page, my inability to update our staff reviews on our website, my inability to watch Project Runway off the Tivo on Sunday night, and a particularly bizarre dream last night where I woke up mumbling something about some social media application that I couldn't think of the name of, although I was SURE it existed... Thankfully I went back to sleep after that last one. At any rate, it was a rough week between me and technology.

I keep these things in mind as I continue to see headlines regarding the increased market share of e-books in the literary world. I try to keep these things in mind when I see commercials for the iPad. (I don't NEED an iPad, but gosh I sure do like their advertising...) I am confident that there will always be people like me: In the September issue of Wired magazine, of all places, a reader wrote in and confessed to killing a scorpion by slamming a book down on top of it. Would you like to attempt that with your e-reader? Take that, Kindle.

I am not afraid of technology. I'm addicted to Facebook (stupid Bejweled Blitz...), and clearly even I can write up a blog. It's not fear that drives me to hold onto my books. It's an undeniable desire to hold that book in my hand, to feel the pages. And I don't think I need to tell you about the smell of books. Admit--y'all know what I'm talking about.

So if ever you can't find me, just look for the girl with her nose in a book, her glasses halfway down her nose as she absorbs as many of those words as she can....

See you at the bookstore!
Pamela.

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

2010-08-24T16:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was inspired by Christopher McDougall's "Born to Run"" and made up a lovely display of running books, and thought I would, creatively, make an accompanying sign encouraging customers to "run amok." I then thought, hmmm, my recollection of the use of "amok" is the movie Hocus Pocus from the late '90s. And I decided to make sure "amok" meant what I thought it meant. It didn't.

Rather than encouraging customers to run about freely and without care, perhaps with a little wildness, I was actually inciting a murderous rampage. Because that's what amok means, according to multiple dictionaries: "in a frenzy to do violence or kill" (The American Heritage Dictionary). Its secondary definition ("in a jumbled or confused state") is not much better.

Now my lovely and very creative sign encourages customers to "run wild."

Is there a word whose meaning has taken you totally off guard? (It happens more than I like to admit.)

Happy Reading,

--Mica

p.s. Bonus points if you can name the quote in the title!

Our B-Day Boy, Charles Bukowski, and His Words of Insight

2010-08-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Today is the birthday of the man who said:
"The nine-to-five is one of the greatest atrocities sprung upon mankind. You give your life away to a function that doesn't interest you. This situation so repelled me that I was driven to drink, starvation, and mad females, simply as an alternative."

A happy day to the "laureate of lowlife," Charles Bukowski (1920-1994)!

Follow the link to read his poem two nights before my 72nd birthday.

--Mica

Book Brahmin: Mary Robinette Kowal

2010-08-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

Great interview with a local-ish author! Mary Robinette Kowal is a a Portland writer/puppeteer/voice actor (as well the VP of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) , and her list of current reads and favorite books looks very enticing. Is it bad that I want to be her when I grow up?

Book Brahmin: Mary Robinette Kowal

Happy reading!

~Mica

Bookselling is harder than you think

2010-08-12T08:57:00.000-07:00

View from behind the counter at Grass Roots.

I know many people who fantasize about working in a bookstore. They dream of sitting behind a counter, reading books all day while they occasionally smile at a customer. I hate to burst your bubble, but it is actually a lot of work if you're doing it right. I have been working in bookstores for about 12 years now, and I am still exhausted at the end of the day. There is still always something to learn. There are still books being published that I want to read.

What does it take to be a bookseller, you ask? It is far more than a love of reading. Liking people helps, or at least the ability to act like you like people when you're having a bad day. So important. Enthusiasm and good cheer helps, too.

As for the job description, I stumbled upon this quote on the Huffington Post blog today, in an article by Anis Shiva highlighting Twig Book Shop in San Antonio, TX, in which he interviewed bookstore manager Claudia Maceo Sharp:

When I first began to work at Viva and found the tasks to be so complicated, my colleagues would chide me, albeit lovingly, by saying, "And you thought we were just a bookstore." It is a fantasy to think that you can sit behind a counter and read until a customer comes up to pay for a book. Bookselling requires physical and mental stamina. Ordering books requires poring over catalogs with publishing representatives, vendors, and authors. These days a bookseller must have a comfort level with various computer programs from point of sale programs to search engines and publication designs. Boxes of books come daily that must be unboxed, received, and shelved. Organizational skills go beyond alphabetizing. Marketing books once they are in takes retail and design sense. Shelves must be culled of books that are not selling and returned to the publishers or authors. And there is always dusting and sweeping to be done. Oh yeah, and then read, read, read. I used to feel like all I had time to read was the back of a book. After a year as manager that has improved somewhat.

The glamorous life!
I have found booksellers to share a common ideal about the world. We care deeply about our communities, about the power of the written word throughout the centuries, the importance of sharing the stories of our human condition. We are finding and even creating new ways to connect with each other, between various organizations and businesses, in partnerships and special projects.

We are a great community here, and after all of that, we do need to put our feet up at the end of the day.

See you at the bookstore--
Pamela.

Buried by berries

2010-08-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

I am SO tired of picking blueberries.

We have four bushes in our backyard, and plenty of scrub jays patrolling the perimeters. I am fond of blueberries, especially when they are fresh picked and still warm and juicy from their days in the sun. They are wonderful eaten straight up, or tossed into pancakes, or sunk into homemade muffins. I am quite amazed, however, how much four bushes can actually produce. I have probably...I don't know...12 cups of blueberries in my freezer? I'm just sick of pickin' 'em, and no one else is volunteering to come over. (Although my brother and nephew are visiting from Illinois this weekend and may view the fruit picking as a novelty. They live in the suburbs and do not garden.)

My berry stash in the freezer may not seem like much to dyed-in-the-wool home preservists, but it's a lot for me. There are also raspberries and a growing supply of cut strawberries in there.

Not that I'm complaining! I'm really gardening and harvesting for the first time in my life, and I'm looking for ways to manage the bounty within my time constraints and resources. Fortunately, there is a ready supply of resources at Grass Roots to help me out, and I don't just mean my coworkers.

I like my cookbooks to be not just useful, but pretty as well (such an impractical girl...) and we have three new titles that fit the bill.


Paperback, $19.95

I have been eying Put 'em Up!: A Comprehensive Home Preserving Guide for the Creative Cook, from Drying and Freezing to Canning and Pickling by Sherri Brooks Vinton for a couple of weeks now. Right there on the front cover is a precious little jar of frozen blueberries. Well, I can do THAT; what else ya got? (Isn't that a great way to get you to pick up a cookbook? Taunting?) I did pick it up, and it looks so useful and pleasant and domestic and doable. It is divided into two major sections, "Techniques" and "Recipes." Best of all for someone like me who's standing there going what do I do with all this stuff, the recipes are divided by primary ingredient. My blueberry problem? Right here under "Berries." The pending tomato avalanche? Covered conveniently under "Tomatoes." There is good stuff in here. It's well organized, and even I can manage some of these things on a day off or two.

Hardcover, $22.00

Also on the shelf, I noticed an unassuming and under-sized blue spine, about an inch thick. I pulled it out, and there on the cover of The River Cottage Preserves Handbook, by Pam Corbin, was something that at least looked like a jar of blueberries with lemonade being poured into it. On closer inspection, those are probably something else, but it still made me pick up the book. The book is elegant and pretty and very British. It is also a hardcover, and, because it is small and difficult to open, I'm frankly afraid to crack it open and give it a good perusal. It does not look so basic as Put 'em Up, but it does look more challenging. I think it would make an excellent gift for your favorite bookseller. Or me.

Paperback, $24.95

Finally, one last book with alluring edibles in glass jars on the cover(doesn't food just look better in jars? unless it's baby food?) arrived just today. Canning For a New Generation: Bold, Fresh Flavors for the Modern Pantry by Liana Krissof is fresh on the shelf. This book is also full of delicious-sounding recipes, this one divided by season. What I like best about this book is that it gives you recipes for the recipes. Gosh, that sounds complicated, but if you go through the trouble of making homemade pickles or preserves, you may just get tired of eating pickles with your hot dog, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Here are your options.

Well, there we go. I've made myself hungry again. It's probably a good thing I work in a bookstore and not a restaurant. This way I am just overstuffed with books.

See you at the bookstore!

Pamela

Steamy Summer Reading: The Conclusion

2010-07-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Have you been lolling listlessly in your lawn chair, your brain too melted to focus on something as literary as David Mitchell? Me too. One of the delights of summer is being baked in the sun (under plenty of sun block, of course) and letting my brain trip off into the steamy world of ripping bodices, resistant hearts, and men in breeches. Oh, le sigh...

In general, I somewhat hesitatingly admit to being a reader of romances. But heck--it's summer! This seems like the best time to give into all my cheesiest reading vices. Do not fear, gentle readers: I still have standards! I must therefore take this opportunity to RAVE about the books of Julia Quinn. Ms. Quinn is a master of my favorite genre, the Regency Romance. They are always written with a touch of humor, and a touch of class. Sure, there's plenty of the type of material that causes romance paperbacks across the globe to become wearily creased on certain pages, but it's done well, and isn't...icky. Some romance novelists make everybody mean to each other or over-the-top in their sultry ways. (Ahem, did you read this post by Mica?)

Prominent among the works of Ms. Quinn is the series of eight titles featuring the Bridgerton siblings. Oh, to be so wealthy, so attractive, so intelligent, so attractive, so witty, and, well...so attractive! They are the cream of the crop of London society, engaging in all of the best soirees and balls the ton has to offer. Of course, this entitles them to plenty of romance and drama, too.

There are other books beyond the Bridgertons, however. On my nightstand right now is her latest, Ten Things I Love About You. (See how tasteful the covers of her books are? While the cover shot does give a hint of...the girls, at lest there's not some dark and sultry hero-in-the-making trying to manhandle her as well.)

I think one of the reasons I love Ms. Quinn's books so well, is that her characters are flawed, but so obviously in love. I feel like they're real and these people exist. (Really, we're meeting for tea later to discuss taboo subjects and twitter coquettishly.)

If you're looking for something racier, may I recommend Stephanie Laurens? Her writing and plot lines get rather monotonous, but when all you want is some good smut with dashing and dangerous rakes, you can't go wrong with her. Yes, I also have several copies of her books in my personal library (tucked away in the Pam Cave, behind a cabinet door), and I will confess that they are also well-creased. I'm sure that's only because they were used copies, right? Uh...yeah. If you decide to succumb to her seductive allure, make sure you start with the Cynster Novels. The first one, Devil's Bride, is particularly lay-my-hand-upon-my-dewey-forehead worthy. Ms. Laurens likes the racy stuff. Later in the series, that's really all that's left to enjoy in her writing, as the characters get old.

And I must be getting old, because when I looked at her website, I found the heroes in the trailers for her newest series of books to be rather young and, well...pansy-looking. I like manly men to star in my trash, but certainly, you can judge for yourself. Check out Stephanie Laurens' website to see what I mean. (I'm all about being a Brazen Bride, but please give me a groom who can stand up to it!)

Well, I clearly need to enjoy some cool refreshment and to mop my feverish brow. Alas! I may faint dead away if I keep going on this scandalous topic! So go enjoy some summer trash! I will be soon. I guarantee it.

See you at the bookstore. I'll be the one blushing.

Pamela.

Book Brahmin: Dana Haynes

2010-07-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

This interview with Oregon author Dana Haynes comes from Shelf Awareness, which provides "daily enlightenment for the book trade." (And you guys thought I just made up all of these interesting bits I post on Facebook.) I don't know if there's anything that would actually induce me to read thriller/mystery, but he does sound like an interesting fellow. Please enjoy the read!

Book Brahmin: Dana Haynes

Dana Haynes is the author of Crashers.

Mica's Top 5 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Picks

2010-07-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

Looking for a good--nay, great--sci-fi or fantasy novel this summer? Here are my top 5 favorites!

1. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler

A hopeful tale set in a dystopian future United States of walled cities, disease, fires, and madness. Lauren Olamina is an 18-year-old woman with hyperempathy syndrome--if she sees another in pain, she feels their pain as acutely as if it were real. When her relatively safe neighborhood enclave is inevitably destroyed, along with her family and dreams for the future, Lauren grabs a backpack full of supplies and begins a journey north. Along the way, she recruits fellow refugees to her embryonic faith, Earthseed, the prime tenet of which is that "God is change."

Sequel: Parable of the Talents.

2. The Merlin Series by Mary Stewart

Here is the most extended portrait in all literature in this compelling figure of Dark Age myth and history. Merlin, the protector and tutor of Arthur, has usually been portrayed as an old man. But The Crystal Cave begins the trilogy with the story of his perilous childhood as the bastard son of a Welsh king's daughter and the secret discovery of the magic arts that will set him apart from other men.

With the birth of Arthur, Merlin's guardianship began and the ancient legend continues in The Hollow Hills with the dramatic immediacy that is Mary Stewart's special gift.

Book 1: The Crystal Cave Book 2: The Hollow Hills Book 3: The Last Enchantment.

3. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Shevek, a brilliant physicist, decides to take action. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have isolated his planet of anarchists from the rest of the civilized universe. To do this dangerous task will mean giving up his family and possibly his life. Shevek must make the unprecedented journey to the utopian mother planet, Urras, to challenge the complex structures of life and living, and ignite the fires of change.

4. The Xenogenesis Trilogy, aka Lilith's Brood, by Octavia Butler

Dawn: After nuclear war destroys the world, Earths survivors are rescued by the miraculously powerful Oankali aliens- who survive by merging genetically with primitive peoples without their permission. Adulthood Rites: Desperate to regain their world, childless humans seek to cleanse the alien taint by kidnapping hybrid children. But the raiders are blind to the truth of Earth's new children. Imago: The futures of both humans and aliens rest in one young being's successful metamorphosis into adulthood.

The trilogy consists of Book One: Dawn Book 2: Adulthood Rites Book 3: Imago
and is only available to order as a compilation of all three books: Lilith's Brood

5. The Hyperion series by Dan Simmons

The Hyperion books are credited with single-handedly reinventing and reinvigorating SF in the 1990s. A broad canvased, hugely imaginative and exciting SF epic, the books draw on the works of Keats and provide a uniquely intelligent and literary approach with cutting edge science, compelling characterization and edge-of-your-seat excitement.

Hyperion is the tale of seven people who make a pilgrimage to a terrifying creature called the Shrike in an attempt to save mankind. Stunningly written and beautifully crafted, Simmons's Hyperion resonates with technical achievement and the excitement and wonder found only in the best SF.

Book 1: Hyperion Book 2: The Fall of Hyperion Book 3: Endymion Book 4: The Rise of Endymion

As always, if an item is not in stock, we are happy to special order for you. All of these titles are readily available (of course they are, because they are awesome!).

Reviews are all excerpts from goodreads.com. Follow the title links and scroll down the resulting page to get to a collection of reader reviews and get more insight into the books.

Happy reading!

--Mica

Steamy Side of Summer: Part Two

2010-07-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

Today: two more titles that would make me blush profusely if I saw them in one of our in-store displays! (For the sake of my complexion, you won't find these two titles on our shelves. However, we are always happy to special order for you!)

I'm a pretty happy-go-lucky person, so when I want something racy I tend towards the light and fluffy side of the spectrum (see my blog post, The Steamy Side of Summer: Part One). However, that's not for everyone, and I don't want to be exclusionary. If your interest is piqued by tales of "sensual depravity" (heh, I love that term)--stories that may test your sense of propriety and perhaps even your concept of right and wrong--this is the blog post for you.

My first recommendation is "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" by Patrick Suskind.

The protagonist--a real anti-hero--has an inhumanly sharp sense of smell and becomes a perfumer, but as he learns the secrets of the trade, his gift drives him to madness as he attempts to recreate the aromas of life--including that of a young virgin. Suskind's book gained quite a bit of popularity, thanks to its sensuality and darkness; it was even turned into a Hollywood movie a few years ago (a disappointing one, from what I hear, as film is not the best medium for capturing scent). A sensual rather than sexual book, with a few scenes that are exceptions to the rule (including a jaw-dropping crowd scene towards the end of the book. Yowza!)

If you like a little more boldness (okay, a LOT more boldness), I recommend "The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty."

Behold:

A torrid, violent story of sexual enslavement, starring Sleeping Beauty of the old fairy tales. Yikes. I discovered this book on a shelf in my 9th grade English classroom (SO inappropriate...) and promptly "borrowed" it. Let me tell you, it was all the rage with my friends, many of whom enjoyed this book so much that they read the whole trilogy. Anne Rice (writing as A.N. Roquelaure, and employing perhaps the most useless pseudonym ever; see the cover above) is incredibly dark and incredibly graphic--and her readers love her for it. She followed up this classic with two more titles, "Beauty's Punishment" and "Beauty's Release," so if you like the first in the series, never fear, there's more where that came from.

Stay tuned--next week, Pamela will share her recommendations for hot summer reads. Oh my!

--Mica

The Nails by W. S. Merwin

2010-07-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

W.S. Merwin was announced as the newest Poet Laureate for the United States. Take the time to discover his poetry on the Poetry Foundation website:

The Nails by W. S. Merwin : The Poetry Foundation [poem] : Find Poems and Poets. Discover Poetry.

The Steamy Side of Summer: Part One

2010-06-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of what to contribute to Pamela's "Employee Summer Reads" display, when several titles popped up in my mind that I dared not immortalize in an in-store display. For some reason, if an erotic piece of fiction is going to make it's way into my hands, it will do so in the summertime. This is NOT why summer is my favorite season, but I will not protest too much in case it seems that this lady...protesteth too much. Yeah. Let's just say, summer is a great excuse for any uncomfortable behavior one might exhibit while reading one of these books, such as redness of the face, sweating, or fidgeting uncomfortably in one's seat. Blame the heat. Or better yet, the humidity.

There are many different styles of romantic, or "erotic," writing. We are all familiar with the standard bodice-ripping, he-said/she-said, fainting, kidnapping, overprivileged-spitfire heroine kind of book, Fabio manfully gracing the cover in some sort of pantaloon--you know. This.

I have read my fair share of works of this type. Perhaps even this exact title (I said perhaps). I initially dipped my toe in the genre because I found it difficult, as a woman, to ignore a whole category of book clearly geared only towards my gender, and apparently quite popular, judging by the breadth of titles available. Honestly, though, after reading a few titles (*cough*Rogue*cough*) I was not, ahem, seduced. What I needed was Beverly Jenkins.

The cover alone has me seduced. Look at the heroine's hair--it's natural! And cropped! And she's not particularly curvaceous! It only gets better when you find out she's a horse-riding Western outlaw. And the love interest? A straight-laced Eastern banker! Oh goodness, however will they make it work? (I have a feeling love will find a way.)

In addition to showcasing unconventional gender roles, "Wild Sweet Love" also addresses life as a black American post-Civil War. A large part of the story takes place in an all-black town in the West, making it a fascinating (but still fluffy) spin on a side of history not often addressed. And yes, things get quite steamy.

So if you are looking for a blush-inducing diversion this summer, this I can vouch for. A slight deviation from the standard romance-novel, that still has all the ingredients for success. If you have any similar recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

Robert Gray: Ask Me Why I'm Writing About the NBA

2010-06-25T12:13:00.000-07:00

Ever the Chicago sports fan at heart (I even watched the NHL finals this year, for crying in the mud...), I still admire Coach Phil Jackson. I don't admire him enough to cheer on the Lakers (even I have my limits), but I respect him for his coaching abilities. One of the things that makes him so great is his love of reading. In the Shelf Awareness newsletter today, Robert Gray wrote an interesting article about him that I'd like to share:

Robert Gray: Ask Me Why I'm Writing About the NBA

What books are you "an evangelist for?" What books have been recommended to you that have effected your life?

See you at the bookstore!
Pamela

Culinarily Speaking

2010-06-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was exceedingly exciting for me.

Firstly, I left Corvallis for a day. Isn't it amazing how tied to home we become week after week, and how exciting a trip to Albany can be? Oh----maybe that's just me.

Secondly, I got a little further than Albany this time. I actually made it all the way to Portland. Woo hoo! Bright lights, big city!

Thirdly, I had an excellent day with a lovely friend.

Fourthly, I had a fanTAStic dinner in a fancy restaurant. I had a bit of nice cheese. I had a delicious roasted asparagus salad, and even ate the egg yolk that unctiously coated the perfectly cooked spears. I had a veal chop with fingerling potatoes and a smoked marrow butter oozing down over the top of it. I experienced the divine velvety smoothness of foie gras for the first time. I sigh dramatically...

What did this all lead up to? I saw the man speak who wrote Kitchen Confidential, and now stars in No Reservations on the Travel Channel. I had to eat delicious food before seeing him, because there is no better way to honor a man who speaks so lovingly of things like veal and foie gras. He also cusses worse than any sailor I've ever seen (not that I meet a lot of sailors...)

Anthony Bourdain was in Portland flogging his newest book, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook, and I was fortunate enough to get a signed copy of the book and see him in person at the Bagdad Theater. The whole experience was pretty awesome, I have to say. I was ever-so-slightly awestruck by his person, even though he was way down on the stage, and I was WAY UP in the balcony. His "reading" was loosely based on the same excerpt I'd read on NPR.com, and he sounded like he was kind of done with that particular passage, to be honest. The Q&A part of the evening was interesting, though. He seemed relaxed and honest, if tired, and was ready to drop the requisite string of F-bombs.

All in all, it's interesting to hear the author of a book you enjoy talk about what he's written and what he loves. Bourdain has certainly grown up since the publication of his first book (grown up? He was 45 then...), and it's interesting to see what's different and what he's learned. It was an awesome trip.

Any trip with such a dear friend three before her wedding is by definition awesome. (Congratulations, My Little Friend!)

And now I get to settle down and read the book with fond associations. See you at the bookstore, friends.

Pamela.

First Lines

2010-06-18T17:01:00.000-07:00

"When he was thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury..."
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

It has been more than 20 years since I first read Harper Lee's classic novel, and I just picked it up last week to revisit it for our store reading group. I had forgotten why I loved it the first time, and just reading the first couple of lines just warmed me with Lee's use of words. They make me curious about how he broke his arm, and immediately draw me into the story. Yes, I'm very happy to be reading this again.

Pamela

Coop: Road Tour Nearly Becomes a Canal Tour

2010-06-16T12:42:00.000-07:00

I haven't read one of Michael Perry's books yet, but I continue to be entertained by his book tour blog entries every day that come into our store mailbox. That and I of course immediately connect to his work, like Midwesterners and farmers will do. (He is from WI, and I am from IL.) He is the author of several other books, including Truck: A Love Story and Population: 485 in addition to Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting. He also has a blog called The Sneezing Cow. How is it possible I wouldn't want to read that? Stop by our store and check out his books!

Coop: Road Tour Nearly Becomes a Canal Tour

Nabokov's St. Petersburg house

2010-06-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

Before the revolution, Vladimir Nabokov's (author of Lolita, Ada,Pale Fire and many other wonderful novels) family lived in this estate in St. Petersburg. They were forced to flee by the Bolshevics, and his father was assassinated in the 1920s. Nabokov lived the rest of his life without stepping foot in Russia.

Hogarth's Ilustration "Gin Lane."

2010-06-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

Gin: apparently a whole lot of trouble in ye olde London.

Dear Dad:

2010-06-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

How have you been? It's been a while since we talked--oh, wait. Your birthday was just last weekend so I guess I called you then. But yeah, it's been a while since we really talked. This leaves me in a tight spot, because Father's Day is just a few days away. I mean, seriously? I'm supposed to come up with two gifts in two weeks? REALLY? I spend so much time in the bookstore, I supposed I'll find something fantastic for you here. I'll throw out a few suggestions, and you tell me which one you think you might like. 'S'that work for you? Excellent.

I know you are fond of your pickup trucks (you are a former farmer, after all), so I'm thinking you might enjoy the book Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry. Actually the book is about more than a man and his truck. There is also a man and his garden (I do know you enjoy prettyin' up your yard), and a man in a small town. And it's entertaining! I know you need a day to just sit outside with a cold beer and a cigarette and enjoy a little reading. If that doesn't sell this book to you, maybe the first sentence of Chapter 7 will: "The squirrel wars are on."

Knowing you are a farmer and a cowboy at heart, if perhaps trapped in suburbia, I also think you will enjoy Plainsong by Kent Haruf. In fact, since it is one of my favoritest books EVER, I can't believe I haven't given it to you before this. Typically I keep to "women's fiction" and stuff I can easily relate to, but Haruf writes of the stark Eastern Colorado countryside with such sparse beauty, I was entranced. The book is peopled with characters who are good and evil, all of them struggling to find a little love in the world.

Finally, what is Father's Day without a little tussle with the grill? Steven Raichlen's The Barbecue! Bible includes great tips and over 500 recipes that will take your basic steaks and burgers to the next level. There are even color photographs, which is always a cookbook "win!" in my opinion. There are delicious side dishes, exotic sauces and rubs, and desserts you want first. It even won the coveted Julia Child Cookbook Award. (That makes it a double "win!")

So...tell me which one sounds good to you. Knowing you as I do, I actually think I know exactly which one I'm going to send to you. I don't want to ruin the surprise however. We are far away from each other, and this may be the only I can offer you some delight on your special day. How is the weather in Illinois, by the way? I hope you manage to find some time to sit outside, relax and read.

I'll see you at the bookstore...someday!
Love,
Pamela.

First Lines

2010-06-13T05:32:00.000-07:00

Francis Marion Tarwater's uncle had been dead for only half a day when the boy got too drunk to finish digging his grave and a Negro named Buford Munson, who had come to get a jug filled, had to finish it and drag the body from the breakfast table where it was still sitting and bury it in a decent and Christian way, with the sign of its Saviour at the head of the grave and enough dirt on top to keep the dogs from digging it up.

-Flannery O' Connor, The Violent Bear It Away

Oh, Flannery, your first sentence says it all! A bunch of weird religion and weird death is surely coming in the following pages.

A put-down, in sonnet form, from Shakespeare!

2010-06-12T05:32:00.000-07:00

FAIR is my love, but not so fair as fickle;
Mild as a dove, but neither true nor trusty;
Brighter than glass, and yet, as glass is, brittle;
Softer than wax, and yet, as iron, rusty:
A lily pale, with damask dye to grace her,	5
None fairer, nor none falser to deface her.

Her lips to mine how often hath she join’d,
Between each kiss her oaths of true love swearing!
How many tales to please me hath she coin’d,
Dreading my love, the loss thereof still fearing!	10
Yet in the midst of all her pure protestings,
Her faith, her oaths, her tears, and all were jestings.

She burn’d with love, as straw with fire flameth;
She burn’d out love, as soon as straw outburneth;
She fram’d the love, and yet she foil’d the framing;	15
She bade love last, and yet she fell a-turning.
Was this a lover, or a lecher whether?
Bad in the best, though excellent in neither.

First Lines

2010-06-10T05:32:00.000-07:00

This book was a big favorite of mine (Ben) in 8th grade, and still a great, goofy read...

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun. -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The greatest gift

2010-06-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Good News: OSU graduation ceremonies are this Saturday!

Hundreds and thousands of graduates across the country are breathing great sighs of relief as another phase of their education comes to an end. I certainly did when I graduated from Northern Illinois University 14 years ago. I was so eager to be done with school, I had a countdown going for months. At any time one of my friends could ask me how many days, and I automatically had an answer for them. Considering how poor my math skills are, you could really say I did it "like magic." For little old me, a lot of what followed was a letdown. Eventually I landed in Corvallis, however, and I came to this little bookstore and life has been pretty good since. Looking back, I wonder what could have made that time better. The obvious answer is, "A book presented as a thoughtful gift!" Following that reasoning, here are my 3 Favorite Books to Give Freshly Minted Graduates:

Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss was first given to me shortly before I graduated from college. One of the greatest English teachers ever, Mrs. Eichelberger, distributed photocopies of the book to her graduating classes. (Sorry for ratting you out, Mrs. Eich!) It was fun! It was frivolous! It was meaningful and inspiring. Dr. Seuss had a way with words, and his illustrations joyfully bring his advice to life. One of my best friends gave the actual book to me once I graduated from college. I still have both copies, and they are much-loved.

If you're seeking something more...practical, high school graduates will appreciate The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: College by Joshua Piven, David Bergenicht, and Jennifer Worick. Everything a new college freshman needs to survive their first year is here, including How to Take on a New Identity, How to Deal with an Unexpected Visit from Your Parents, How to Eat When You're Broke, and How to Ask Your Parents for Money. Does this stuff really work? I'm sure the authors spent untold amounts of money testing every theory. And if that's not true, give it because it's fun!

A book that is truly useful (my copy is quite dog-eared and stained) is How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. This is a great gift for those graduating from college, or who are going to be living on their own for the first time. Everybody needs to feed themselves somehow, and Bittman gives cooks the power to do it well. Whoever's in the kitchen--a first time cook or an experienced one--will benefit from this book. I like how he offers ingredient options and combination suggestions. (Anything to make meal planning easier...) This one lives on my recommendation shelf--stop by and I will be happy to put a copy into your hands!

Being a bookstore, we offer plenty of escapism as well. So many options...so little time left to decide! On graduation gifts I mean. You should really stop by and say hello soon...

See you at the bookstore!

Pamela.

Illustration for the Day

2010-06-09T05:32:00.000-07:00

Here's an illustration from Edward Lear's 1894 Laughable Lyrics. A strange sight, without context. A public domain image found at zorger.com.

Daily Poem

2010-06-08T05:32:00.000-07:00

Robert Frost

The Sound of Trees

I WONDER about the trees.
Why do we wish to bear
Forever the noise of these
More than another noise
So close to our dwelling place?	5
We suffer them by the day
Till we lose all measure of pace,
And fixity in our joys,
And acquire a listening air.
They are that that talks of going	10
But never gets away;
And that talks no less for knowing,
As it grows wiser and older,
That now it means to stay.
My feet tug at the floor	15
And my head sways to my shoulder
Sometimes when I watch trees sway,
From the window or the door.
I shall set forth for somewhere,
I shall make the reckless choice	20
Some day when they are in voice
And tossing so as to scare
The white clouds over them on.
I shall have less to say,
But I shall be gone.	25

First Lines

2010-06-07T16:05:00.000-07:00

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

Well...I am waiting to meet him. Where is my Mr. Darcy? (Silly me, I do have a perfectly lovely Honey at home.) Pride and Prejudice is an icon of English literature, and Jane Austen's greatest novel (at least the most-loved) stands as a fine example of her work. As a romantic at heart, I can not hear or read that first line without a little thrill. It holds so much potential, and seems like such a promising little morsel of words. I can not think of a great "First Line" without thinking of that one...

Pamela.

Illustration

2010-06-06T05:32:00.000-07:00

While not exactly illustrations, here are two photographs- taken by the EPA in 1970s - of a house built with beer bottles. It's that kind of day, isn't it? Found at the Public Domain Images blog, a great site.

In the end, it looks like something from a sci-fi film:

Daily Poem

2010-06-05T05:45:00.000-07:00

A Butterfly in Church
by George Marion McClellan

What dost thou here, thou shining, sinless thing,
With many colored hues and shapely wing?
Why quit the open field and summer air
To flutter here? Thou hast no need of prayer.

'Tis meet that we, who this great structure built,
Should come to be redeemed and washed from guilt,
For we this gilded edifice within
Are come, with erring hearts and stains of sin.

But thou are free from guilt as God on high;
Go, seek the blooming waste and open sky,
And leave us here our secret woes to bear,
Confessionals and agonies of prayer.

from The Book of American Negro Poetry, 1922.
Ed. James Weldon Johnson

First Lines

2010-06-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January of 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of 1974. - Jeffrey Eugenides, Middlesex (2002)

An Illustration

2010-06-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

Today, instead of a poem or a first line, we have a cool old illustration from Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark." Pretty wild, huh? I've loved the old illustrations from Carroll books since I was a kid. They're so funny, and so weird.

-Ben

2010-06-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

Bon jour, mes amis!

Today in the bookstore, we are getting our groove on to the soundtrack of Amelie, and the gray weather is highlighting my general malaise. What else is there to dream of but France? I'm sure it's sunny and gorgeous there, as it will be here soon. Hopefully very soon...

France, for me, is in the very distant future. Julia Child blossomed there, I like to remind myself. I like to cook, too. Clearly we are soul sisters! A couple of years ago, before the popularity of Julie & Julia, I read Julia's biography, and it remains one of my favorite books to recommend. (In fact, you can visit it on my "Pamela's Picks" shelf in the store.) Child was not perfect, but she was grand and adventurous. This book focuses on her years in France, when she first learned how to cook (she was not exactly a natural). She moved there with her much-loved husband, Paul, and they lived there happily for many years. During that time, she managed to learn to cook, master French cooking, and write a cookbook with Louisette Bertholle and Simone Beck. The three authors had battles with editors, publishers, and amongst themselves. Throughout, though, is Child's distinctive voice, zest for life, and always food. Can't miss it.

I desperately hope the weather changes soon, and I find myself able to think of something else besides food. You should stop by the bookstore and offer me your suggestions in the meantime... See you there!

Pamela.

First Lines

2010-06-02T05:32:00.000-07:00

I am an American, Chicago born - Chicago, that somber city- and go at things as I have taught myself, free-style, and will make the record in my own way: first to knock, first admitted; sometimes an innocent knock, sometimes a not so innocent. - Saul Bellow, The Adventures of Augie March (1953)

For those of you who haven't read it, Augie March is a great book- some say Bellow's best- and it's full of rollicking energy and a sense of possibility infuses the language. It paints a memorable picture of Chicago, and even wanders down to Mexico, but the real wonder of the book is the protagonist, Augie. I highly recommend it.

-Ben

Daily Poem

2010-06-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

Charles Bertram Johnson

A Little Cabin
DES a little cabin
Big ernuff fur two.
Des awaitin’, honey,
Cozy fixt fur you;
Down dah by de road, 5
Not ve’y far from town,
Waitin’ fur de missis,
When she’s ready to come down.

Des a little cabin,
An’ er acre o’ group’, 10
Vines agrowin’ on it,
Fruit trees all aroun’,
Hollyhawks a-bloomin’
In de gyahden plot—
Honey, would you like to 15
Own dat little spot?

Make dat little cabin
Cheery, clean an’ bright,
With an’ angel in it
Like a ray of light? 20
Make dat little palace
Somethin’ fine an’ gran’,
Make it like an Eden,
Fur a lonely man?

Des you listen, Honey, 25
While I ’splain it all,
How some lady’s go’nter
Boss dat little hall;
Des you take my han’
Dat’s de way it’s writ, 30
Des you take my heart,
Dat’s de deed to it.

Daily Poem

2010-05-31T05:32:00.000-07:00

Walt Whitman
A Noiseless Patient Spider

A NOISELESS, patient spider,
I mark’d, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;
Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself;
Ever unreeling them—ever tirelessly speeding them.
And you, O my Soul, where you stand,
Surrounded, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing,—seeking the spheres, to connect them;
Till the bridge you will need, be form’d—till the ductile anchor hold;
Till the gossamer thread you fling, catch somewhere, O my Soul.

First Lines

2010-05-30T05:32:00.001-07:00

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. - Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967; trans. Gregory Rabassa)

Daily Poem

2010-05-29T05:32:00.000-07:00

James Joyce

I Hear an Army

I HEAR an army charging upon the land,
And the thunder of horses plunging, foam about their knees:
Arrogant, in black armour, behind them stand,
Disdaining the reins, with fluttering whips, the charioteers.

They cry unto the night their battle-name: 5
I moan in sleep when I hear afar their whirling laughter.
They cleave the gloom of dreams, a blinding flame,
Clanging, clanging upon the heart as upon an anvil.

They come shaking in triumph their long, green hair:
They come out of the sea and run shouting by the shore. 10
My heart, have you no wisdom thus to despair?
My love, my love, my love, why have you left me alone?

Daily Poem

2010-05-28T05:32:00.000-07:00

Here's the very beginning of Faust, Goethe's epic. FAUST I HAVE, alas! Philosophy,
Medicine, Jurisprudence too,
And to my cost Theology,
With ardent labour, studied through.
And here I stand, with all my lore,	5
Poor fool, no wiser than before.

First Lines

2010-05-27T05:32:00.000-07:00

Some days, here on the Grass Roots blog, we'll put up the first sentence of novels and stories we like. First lines are great fun: good ones, like "Call me Ishmael" stick with you and sometimes gain a life all of their own in popular culture. Here's another great, famous one to kick us off:

If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. - J. D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Adventures here and there

2010-05-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

Someday soon I just know (in the deep recesses of my heart) that the sun will come back. When that day happens, I plan to get out and enjoy it. Sometimes that means I putter around the garden, or sit in my favorite chair in the backyard (a resin adirondack chair spray-painted purple. I know you're jealous...). There are days, however, when I also just need to "get the heck out of Dodge," as I'm fond of saying. Fortunately I have ready resources at my fingertips at Grass Roots to help me get things moving.

Close to home, Marys Peak is one of my favorite places to visit. It's like being on a mountain without actually climbing a mountain. I just climbed a really big hill. The views are great, the wildflowers are lovely, and it's so close! Sky Island Graphics puts out an excellent map on Marys Peak and McDonald Forest. It clearly labels trails and forest roads, and notes points of interest. As long as you're going to the top of Mary's Peak, you should pack along a copy of Wildflowers of Marys Peak Meadows, a small, spiral-bound guide produced by Steven E. Carpenter. It has fantastic photos and useful information about the flowers found in our own backyard.

For a different kind of adventure, I'll check out Moon Spotlight: Eugene, Salem & the Willamette Valley. It hits the highlights in the towns nearest to us. There are times when a trip to Eugene sounds downright cosmopolitan, and this book handily lists restaurants, attractions, and hiking destinations close to home.

If I'm truly longing for a trip to "the big city," Portland is pretty darn close at hand. Best Places Portland is a fantastic book highlighting the best of the City of Roses. It points out restaurants, lodgings, attractions, cultural landmarks, shopping, and suggestions for short trips out of town, and then it rates them. It is a fantastic resource.

Someday I just know my family will come to visit me and join me on some of these adventures. To inspire them, I may send them my favorite Oregon photography book, Oregon: Portrait of a State by Rick Schaefer. The photos are fantastic, and it's remarkably affordable for a hardcover, coffee-table book.

All these options, I don't know what to do first. I'll think about it as I gaze longingly out the window at the rainy days... See you at the bookstore, friends!

Pamela.

Daily Poem

2010-05-26T05:32:00.000-07:00

For Once, Then, Something

Robert Frost

OTHERS taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs
Always wrong to the light, so never seeing
Deeper down in the well than where the water
Gives me back in a shining surface picture
My myself in the summer heaven, godlike	5
Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.
Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths—and then I lost it.	10
Water came to rebuke the too clear water.
One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple
Shook whatever it was lay there at bottom,
Blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something.

Daily Poem

2010-05-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

Life, XLI
Emily Dickinson

The soul unto itself
Is an imperial friend,--
Or the most agonizing spy
An enemy could send.

Secure against its own,
No treason it can fear;
Itself its sovereign, of itself
The soul should stand in awe.

Daily Poem

2010-05-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here's a long one. Take a deep breath and dive in... A poetic excursion might just do you good (It's about winter, but you don't have to worry about winter, no, not now you don't. Now is the time to read TS Eliot, enjoy him, and shrug off the dark stuff).

Preludes

TS Eliot

I

THE WINTER evening settles down
With smell of steaks in passageways.
Six o’clock.
The burnt-out ends of smoky days.
And now a gusty shower wraps
The grimy scraps
Of withered leaves about your feet
And newspapers from vacant lots;
The showers beat
On broken blinds and chimney-pots,
And at the corner of the street
A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps.
And then the lighting of the lamps.

II

The morning comes to consciousness
Of faint stale smells of beer
From the sawdust-trampled street
With all its muddy feet that press
To early coffee-stands.
With the other masquerades
That time resumes,
One thinks of all the hands
That are raising dingy shades
In a thousand furnished rooms.

III

You tossed a blanket from the bed,
You lay upon your back, and waited;
You dozed, and watched the night revealing
The thousand sordid images
Of which your soul was constituted;
They flickered against the ceiling.
And when all the world came back
And the light crept up between the shutters
And you heard the sparrows in the gutters,
You had such a vision of the street
As the street hardly understands;
Sitting along the bed’s edge, where
You curled the papers from your hair,
Or clasped the yellow soles of feet
In the palms of both soiled hands.

IV

His soul stretched tight across the skies
That fade behind a city block,
Or trampled by insistent feet
At four and five and six o’clock;
And short square fingers stuffing pipes,
And evening newspapers, and eyes
Assured of certain certainties,
The conscience of a blackened street
Impatient to assume the world.

I am moved by fancies that are curled
Around these images, and cling:
The notion of some infinitely gentle
Infinitely suffering thing.

Wipe your hand across your mouth, and laugh;
The worlds revolve like ancient women
Gathering fuel in vacant lots.

Daily Poem

2010-05-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

Home-thoughts, from Abroad

Robert Browning

O, to be in England
Now that April’s there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!

And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!
Hark, where my blossom’d pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray’s edge—
That’s the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children’s dower
—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!

Daily Poem

2010-05-22T05:32:00.000-07:00

Good and Bad Children

Robert Louis Stevenson
Children, you are very little,
And your bones are very brittle;
If you would grow great and stately,
You must try to walk sedately.

You must still be bright and quiet,
And content with simple diet;
And remain, through all bewild’ring,
Innocent and honest children.

Happy hearts and happy faces,
Happy play in grassy places—
That was how, in ancient ages,
Children grew to kings and sages.

But the unkind and the unruly,
And the sort who eat unduly,
They must never hope for glory—
Theirs is quite a different story!

Cruel children, crying babies,
All grow up as geese and gabies,
Hated, as their age increases,
By their nephews and their nieces.

Daily Poem

2010-05-21T05:32:00.000-07:00

Finland

Robert Graves

Feet and faces tingle
In that frore land:
Legs wobble and go wingle,
You scarce can stand.

The skies are jewelled all around,
The ploughshare snaps in the iron ground,
The Finn with face like paper
And eyes like a lighted taper
Hurls his rough rune
At the wintry moon
And stamps to mark the tune.

Daily Poem

2010-05-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

To Certain Journeymen

Carl Sandburg

Undertakers, hearse drivers, grave diggers,
I speak to you as one not afraid of your business.

You handle dust going to a long country,
You know the secret behind your job is the same whether
you lower the coffin with modern, automatic machinery,
well-oiled and noiseless, or whether the
body is laid in by naked hands and then covered
by the shovels.

Your day's work is done with laughter many days of the year,
And you earn a living by those who say good-by today
in thin whispers.

What can you accomplish in a year?

2010-05-19T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last week I was so proud of myself for two physical accomplishments.

First, I rode my bike to and from downtown twice, and it didn't kill me. Woo hoo! Okay, I admit I couldn't make it back up the hills to get home, and had to walk, but that's okay. It's just something else for me to work toward. Secondly, I ran a whole straight mile on the treadmill without a walking break. (But I think I lose points for that one since the weather was SO nice, and I was running inside on a treadmill. But I DID IT!) These things happened after several weeks of gently persuading my body to move a little faster and get a little stronger. If I keep this up for a whole year, what will I be able to do?

In a year I could cook my through the Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, live my life exactly as the bible tells me, and eat and live absolutely locally. Well, some people could, and did, and they wrote about it. Perhaps they will inspire me to accomplish something amazing in a year.

Julie & Julia, by Julie Powell, has become perhaps one of the most well-known chronicles of what one person at loose ends accomplished in a year. The book is based on Powell's blog, which detailed her efforts to cook her way through Julia Child's famed cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her exploits and foibles are entertaining, even if I didn't always find her to be a very likable character. Perhaps that is some of the appeal of the book. The movie of the same name was only half-based on this book, and the other half was based on Child's fantastic autobiography My Life in France. Now THERE was a woman who accomplished some things with her life.

Some year-long goals are accomplished a little closer to home. Okay, maybe a LOT closer to home than the cuisine of France. Barbara Kingsolver and her family, for example, spent a year eating food that was produced in the area where they lived. Certainly if a family can do that in Virginia, it should be easy enough to to here where the produce is bountiful, fresh and delicious. I am eager to read the results of her year in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
Kurt Hoelting took the challenge a step further and determined to live within a 100 kilometer radius of his home in Alaska. He travelled only by kayak, bicycle, and his own two feet for that year, and chronicled it in The Circumference of Home. He swears that there is plenty of adventure to be had in such close proximity to your own back yard. Read the book and find out.

The Year of Living Biblically, by A.J. Jacobs, details a different type of journey taken over a year. "...Increasingly interested in the relevance of faith in our modern world," Jacobs made the radical decision to obey the bible for one year. Literally obey the bible. To a tee. The result is a fascinating and humorous tale of an unusual year and a rather unusual accomplishment.

Some days I'm just happy to accomplish another book read. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be running in any marathons soon, since despite my recent physical accomplishments, I managed to sprain my ankle in the second softball game of the season. Yeah. Go me. Perhaps Born to Run will be the next thing on my list.

Keep trying, my friends! See you at the bookstore--

Pamela.

Daily Poem

2010-05-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

Due to popular demand, we are going to put a poem up on the blog every day, rain or shine. To kick things off properly, we have Walt Whitman:

Among the Multitude

Walt Whitman
Among the men and women, the multitude,
I perceive one picking me out by secret and divine signs,
Acknowledging none else—not parent, wife, husband, brother, child, any nearer than I
am;
Some are baffled—But that one is not—that one knows me.

Ah, lover and perfect equal!
I meant that you should discover me so, by my faint indirections;
And I, when I meet you, mean to discover you by the like in you.

What a day for a daydream...

2010-05-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

It is so incredibly thrilling to have some nice weather again. When the days were gray and chill, I would often let my mind wander to dreams about Hawaiian beaches and warm sun and cold drinks. Now that there's at least some sun and mild temperatures again, I want to get outside and play. All that sunshine still makes me kind of daydreamy though, and brought to mind some of my favorite books to read while sitting in a chair on the back patio, wishing I was somewhere else.

One place I have wanted to visit for years is Italy. I read Frances Mayes' first book about her own adventures in Italy, Under the Tuscan Sun, about 12 years ago. At that time, I was in desperate need of being someplace else, and her words evoked the food, the people, the landscape, and the art beautifully. It was so wonderful that I revisited it several times. She recently added a new title to her collection about her life in Tuscany called Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life. It made me as hungry as ever for the landscape and the food. Someday I'll get there...

There are other days where my pale skin and I just do not think we could handle the injustice of the sun in Hawaii or Italy, and then I dream of Alaska. I love wild places, and long to see glaciers and the Northern Lights at their boldest and most mystical. (I did go to Glacier National Park last summer to see the glaciers. I was successful, but what they say about the glaciers vanishing? Totally true.) Heather Lende is a writer at a small paper in a small town in Alaska. Her first book, If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name, brought me into that world and tugged my heart right into it. I laughed! I cried! I wanted more! Fortunately she just came out with a new book, Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, that I plan on reading while ensconced in a chair in my backyard very soon. Perhaps a book about a generally cold state will be excellent fodder while ensconced on a hot day with a very cold glass of iced tea.

Sometimes I don't know where to go or what to do, so I'll flip through 1,000 Places to go Before You Die. It seems like there is always something fantastic to see or intriguing place to visit. This book at least sorts it down to a very manageable 1,000. When I need a new place to daydream about, I'll flip through this.

If you happen to pop into the store, and see me sitting behind the counter blissfully staring out the windows, I'm likely thinking of one of these places. Please stop by and say hello and break my reverie; help bring me back to dear, lovely Corvallis.

See you in the bookstore!

Pamela.

Poet Laureate Kay Ryan reads this afternoon at LBCC

2010-05-12T10:54:00.000-07:00


Kay Ryan, Poet Laureate for the United States, will be reading this afternoon (May 12) at the Russell Tripp Performance Center at Linn Benton Community College in Albany. The event starts at 4:00 p.m. The event is free and open to everyone. There will be Q&A and book signing. Grass Roots Books will be selling books at the event.
For more information about the Poet Laureate, and samples of her work, visit the Library of Congress website.

Author Event tonight, May 7

2010-05-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

Robin Cody will be reading from his new collection of nonfiction writings, Another Way the River Has: Taut True Tales from the Northwest. Cody brings the ear of a novelist and the eye of a reporter to the people and places that make the Northwest, and Northwest literature, distinctive. The reading will be held at The Corvallis Arts Center, 700 SW Madison.

The Pulitzer winner is here!

2010-05-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

WE won! Well, maybe not US, but we did get
copies of this year's Pulitzer Prize Winner for fiction in stock. Tinkers by Paul Harding is finally here! Should be an interesting read.

Find reader reviews on Goodreads!

Brushes with fame...

2010-05-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

Having grown up in a small town, and later moving to Corvallis, I can safely say that I am not exactly a friend to celebrities. Growing up I knew who the high school quarterback was, and who was likely going to be the valedictorian, but I never knew anyone who could honestly be described as "famous." I have had to settle for "brushes with fame," and most of those are indirect.

I was first awestruck at the tender age of 17 when Scott Davis (a native of my hometown of Plainfield, IL, who went on to play for the L.A. Raiders from 1988-1994) came in with his dad to the restaurant where I worked and ordered a plain double cheeseburger and a small Diet Coke. He was HUGE. Have you ever seen an NFL defensive end? HUGE. I was awestruck and blushed to match the color of the ketchup I did not put on his burger. I can hardly believe that I remember what he ordered 19 years later. Me? Dork.

Beyond that, I have often referred to celebrities who grew up in the same area I did. Lionel Richie? Right over there in Joliet, IL. Cindy Crawford? Grew up in DeKalb, IL, where I went to college. Cheap Trick? They're from Rockford, IL. Danica Patrick? Grew up in Roscoe, IL. Hillary Rodham Clinton? Park Ridge, IL. Have I met any of these people? Heck no! But perhaps they walked where I walked, or drove where I drove.

I have brought that fascination with me to Corvallis. When customers buy a book by John Krakauer, I get such a rush when I say, "Did you know he went to Corvallis High School?" Did you know that? He did! Think of that when you read his tales of survival, including Into Thin Air and Into the Wild. (What was he thinking about in class...?)

My most recent "brush with fame" had me blushing even redder than the pizza sauce at American Dream. I went over there for a slice for lunch last week, and standing in line ahead of me was Craig Robinson, head coach for the OSU basketball team. Normally, the sight of an OSU coach in town would not leave me awestruck. Coach Robinson, however, is also a recently published author, hitting the talk show circuit. Oh, and did I mention he's President Obama's brother-in-law? The author thing is what really put me over the edge, though. I ordered my lunch and hemmed and hawed. I truly believe in leaving celebrities to their peace, but I really wanted him to come over to the store and sign our copies of books. I sat at a table not far from where he sat with (presumably) some assistant coaches and a prospective player. I deliberated for several minutes, reworking various requests in my head. Finally I just decided to screw up all my courage and interrupt him as politely as I could. Which is what I did. My face was bright red as I stood in front of his table and rather meekly said, "Pardon me, Coach Robinson?" I tried to be polite, and apologized for interrupting, and mentioned I worked at the bookstore across the street, and would he mind coming over and signing our copies of his books? He was SO NICE, and said he would stop by later. GAH! When I went back to the store after lunch, I was so giddy, I told my coworkers. And then Coach Robinson did come by and signed the few copies we had in the store of A Game of Character. (We sold two of those while he was there.) He seemed humble, and surprised when we told him that we had sold several copies of his book. And he said he would come back and sign more.

It occurs to me now that I will need to have him autograph a copy of the book for me. Mica read it and said it was a wonderful book, and now I will need this tangible memento of my most recent brush with fame. We'll have more autographed copies in soon, so make sure you stop by and check. You never know, you may have your brush with fame right here at Grass Roots... (By the way, have you met April...?)

See you at the bookstore!
Pamela.

Alas! How we weep!

2010-05-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

April is a much-loved month in the bookstore. We had a fantastic Poetry Month this year, and everyone on staff enjoyed sharing the poems they love. Sadly April is over, but it is possible to keep poetry in your heart throughout the whole year. Here are some websites that post or broadcast a new poem every day:

The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor
Poetry Foundation's Poem of the Day
Poetry Daily

How do you get your daily poetry fix?

Not becoming Mom, Finally!

2010-04-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

I am keeping the blog short this week, since I've been off for a few days. Hopefully I have been doing lots of gardening and cooking and eating, and even perhaps sitting with my feet up while I enjoy a delicious new book. I wanted to expand on my Nightstand review that appeared in this week's Grass Roots Reader. I had to share my love of Ruth Reichl, and recommended her newest book in paperback, For You Mom, Finally. It seemed beset with a great mystery, as its cover and title changed from the hardcover. The marketing gods screamed down from her publisher, Penguin, I guess. Originally it was titled Not Becoming My Mother. That is a huge difference in tone. You can read the "why" in this piece at USA Today.

I loved my mother, and for the most part we got along really well. Would I have chosen the life she did? Heck no. Do I find myself unwittingly making some of the same choices? Well...I don't want to spread gossip, so I won't. Parent-child relationships are almost always challenging, and Reichl's was no different. It is a wonderful book, and it's a short and easy read. Pick it up soon!

See you at the bookstore--
Pamela.

Poetry Month - Local Verse: Andy (staff)

2010-04-26T02:00:00.001-07:00

Today's poem penned by Grass Roots' newest addition, Andy.

a.m.

The sun came up with no conclusions

On a bus ride into town

Flowers sleeping in their beds

I’ve seen spirits and children all waiting

The city’s cemetery humming

Two days and I’ve not slept a wink with these thoughts that I’ve been thinking

I’m wide awake it’s morning

--Andy Osterhaus

Reading Tonight with April

2010-04-25T14:11:00.001-07:00

April Nabholz, of the Grass Roots staff, will be reading tonight from her recently published essay, "Honeychild," about coming to Oregon with her mule.

7:00pm, in the Grass Roots loft.
Sunday, April 25th.

Local Verse: Pamela

2010-04-25T03:00:00.000-07:00

So the other half of the Edward Hirsch as Poet-in-Residence is that he was a pompous academic, and not the approachable artist an aspiring poet would like to meet. Yes, he led us around the Art Institute (which is fanTAStic by the way. You should go the next time you're in Chicago! And then go eat a hot dog for me...), and we gazed at paintings and discussed their meanings. There was this moment as we stood in front of a painting that spoiled the man for me forever. I don't even remember the title of the painting, but I can still see it in my head. To me, it completely told the tale of Jonathan Swift's story "A Modest Proposal." I swear to my grave the people in that painting were miserable and were going to eat that baby. Ed, perhaps disgusted that no one else had anything else to say, turned to me and said, "You're wrong." I'm sure he explained why, but I was pretty much done with him at that point. Art is open to interpretation, as is poetry. The artist/writer may mean one thing, but I think every individual viewer/reader brings their own story away from the end result. Ed did inspire me to write a poem about him, however. I read over it and only understand some of my own references with a high school giggle. I'll leave it open to your interpretation.

ED. (Dedicated to Edward Hirsch, Poet-in-Residence.)

Oh god.
Get me out of here.
Away from kids and paintings and laughings.
I am Ed.
I don't need this.
Do you have any Questions?
                            Complaints?
                            Dreams for the future?
                            about that?
YOU'RE WRONG!

Leave me alone.
With your England and Kangaroos
and eating babies.
Because
I am Ed.
A poet-in-residence
sho doesn't need this
except
for the money
and
to realize
my
sexual frustrations.

Pamela A. Moeller '92

Overlook

2010-04-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

Solitary and blue were the mornings
I drove to the lab, emeried my nails smooth
to adjust the scope and peered at the helical beauties
before Watson and Crick—that base pair—awoke.

That lab should have been mine, not shared
those nights when whispers were sharks
in Oxbridge robes following me
from room to room, closing doors and gates,
turning out all the lights I’d lit.

Out of the lab I was just Rosalind Franklin,
invisible as Moby’s wife, sure of my sound
research, my depth. Who knew I would live
just long enough to see the others crow
over the noble key when I was the one
to breach that confounding secret.

--Quinton Hallett

Note: Local poets Quinton Hallett and Nancy Carol Moody will be reading at Grassroots on Monday, April 26th at 7 PM.

WIN tickets to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at the Darkside Cinema in Corvallis!

2010-04-23T15:31:00.000-07:00

Are you a fan of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson? You could win tickets to see the movie at the Darkside Cinema in our drawing! Grass Roots Books is partnering with the Darkside to give our customers the opportunity to win a pass for two to see the movie version of Larsson's bestselling thriller. To enter, simply pre-order and pre-pay for Larsson's third book in the series, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, available in hardcover on May 25, at Grass Roots before April 30.

The movie will be released at the Darkside on April 30. The passes will be valid Monday through Thursday, May 3-6. Please visit http://www.darksidecinema.com/ for show times. The ticket drawing will be held April 30.

The film is in Swedish, and won several Guldbagge Awards (the Swedish Oscars), including the award for Best Film: "Stieg Larsson's bestselling thriller is now a mesmerizing new film! Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist are vividly brought to life in this intelligent and suspenseful adaptation, directed by Niels Arden Oplev.

"Swedish star Michael Nyqvist plays disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist, hired by Henrik Vanger to solve the murder of his niece, teen heiress Harriet Vanger. Harriet disappeared without a trace forty years ago, and Henrik is convinced she was murdered by a member of the family. Teaming up with Blomkvist to solve the murder is the pierced and tattooed Lisbeth Salander, a ruthless punk-rock heroine portrayed by up-and-coming actress Noomi Rapace in an amazing performance. As the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history, as Blomkvist and Salander discover just how far the Vanger family will go to protect their secrets..."

Stop by soon to enter!

Local Verse- Ben (staff)

2010-04-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a poem I wrote a while ago, when I was in the midst of uprooting myself to move, a little haphazardly, to Asia. I wasn't sure where I'd end up, but I was ready to get going.

Taking Off
Ben Bliss

Expeditionary angels,

Hear me out.

I know it’s your door I must knock on,

Your buzzer that needs buzzing.

I know it. But I’m going

Around back, past your big entryway

And all its columns. I’m going

On the side path, through the daphne

And the other fragrant plants

That grow beneath your windows.

I’ll meet you on the back porch,

Among your garden slippers.

You’ll know me by my reticence

And the racket I can’t help but make.

No doubt you’ve heard it before—

This clatter of tipped-over things,

These quick breaths that come before

You send us away.

I’m rattled. What is it that's leaving?

These days every song moves me.

The camera pans, there's a migratory surge

In the music, and out the window

For a moment we can see

Cloud-slung, darkening canyons.

Local Verse -- April (staff)

2010-04-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

I usually write poetry that's more... well, reflective, maybe, I hope. And I almost never write in rhyme. This poem didn't start off rhymed, and it actually started off semi-seriously when I first jotted it down on a park bench last month in Taiwan. When I looked at it a few days later, it seemed lighter to me, and when I poked it with my pencil it fell easily into poorly metered rhyme. You should consider it completely unrepresentative of my actual poetic leanings.

A Simple Poem
April Nabholz

Sitting here beneath this tree
Life feels, perhaps, too leisurely.
I'd like to lie down on this bench
But too short it is by just one inch.
So I'll stay sitting, that's okay,
I won't complain my life away.
Resting here in shade and sun,
Oh this is lovely, this is fun!
Smell the exhaust, smell the smog,
Smell the s*** of a passing dog,
Life's so pleasant, I could snooze
-- What's that in the bushes -- a bottle of booze?
But there isn't any left, it's all been guzzled,
Selfish people like that ought to be muzzled!
I'm not the first then, it's plain to see,
To indulge here so wholeheartedly.

Local Verse - Charles Goodrich

2010-04-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

To continue with today's Poem-A-Day prose theme, we have a poem from local poet Charles Goodrich. This is from his latest book, "Going to Seed: Dispatches From the Garden." On Friday, April 23rd, tune in to The Writer's Almanac to hear Garrison Keillor read one of Goodrich's poems.

Click here to listen to Charles read from "Going to Seed: Dispatches From the Garden."

Mudding-in Peas
Charles Goodrich

     Courting the Muse is not like sowing peas. You can sit quietly through February, pencil in hand, quivering with attention for hours on end, and you may or may not be given a poem. But you sure won't grow any peas.
     For peas you must leave your desk, step into your boots, and go out to the graden. You will be on the cusp of winter, a bite to the air, the soil barely awake. Hard to believe any seed would want to be sown this early.
     But now your faith in the muse pays off. Your long apprenticeship to whatever happens prepares you to believe in the genius of a pea. The seed is ready. And you are ready to assist it. And you have a pencil, perfect for dibbling the holes.

Poetry Month - Local Verse: Mica (staff)

2010-04-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

There are many things to love about poetry, and I think what I love best is it's flexibility.

As a writer, you can box yourself in with a rondelle, or you can have a good-ol' ee cummings go at it and trip your words across the page. Your work can be as short as a haiku, or skirt the length of a short prose story. Endearingly, a poet can write of sorrow and pain in one poem, and on the facing page present a light-hearted and joyous romp through words and emotion. Poetry offers me the mood swings that prose is too temperate to provide.

On that note, I will be sharing two poems with you today.

The first is for my 11 year old sister, Kooky--yes that is her real name--who also goes by Kookarella, Koo, LeKoo, and occasionally, Kooks. Like me, she enjoys wordplay (our favorite joke: What is brown and sticky? A stick.), and like me, responds with laughter to things that draw groans from everyone else. With her in mind, I present the following:

A Groaner

My little sister's
name is Kooky. And for her
I write this: "Hi, Koo!"

Hahahaha--oh--am I the only one laughing? Well. Looks like my attempt was aptly named.

On the other hand, everyone has a serious side. Mine is rather stunted, and so my serious poems--when I manage to stay somber long enough to write something down--tend to be rather short. Understandably.

However, I love to read other poet's moody works. They get to do all the sad thinking, draw the sad conclusions, and share them with me. Hopefully their next page has a more uplifting work, and I am again transported back to the realm of happiness. But please don't think I am immune to melancholy (nobody's perfect, after all). Here is proof:

Through a Cafe Window

Have you ever locked eyes with
--through a window,
into a car,
where in the front seat sits--
a dog?

It looks at you
like being alone
is the saddest thing in the world.

Thanks for reading.

--Mica

Poetry Month - Local Verse

2010-04-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Complementary to our Poem-A-Day emails, we'll be posting poetry from local poets on our blog each day for the remainder of April. Later this week we'll be focusing on poems from your very own Grass Roots staff members, but today we have a poet from Nancy Carol Moody's new collection, "Photograph With Girls." Don't miss Nancy's poetry reading (along with Quinton Hallett) on Monday, April 26th at 7pm.

A note preceding today's poem...
Last week my landlord knocked on my door and offered to mow my grass for me. I looked beyond him at the yard, where the emerald-green, knee-high fronds were waving and bowing in the morning sunlight.
"Oh..." I said, "no, no, sorry, I've been out of town... --and the weather has been so wet lately..."
"I really don't mind," he offered again, "I'm happy to mow it for you."
"I'll take care of it," I said.

It's true I'd been out of town -- but I was also enjoying the ragged clumps in some primal way -- our little house was beginning to resemble a jungle refuge. I spent the following afternoon weeding, mulching, and pushing the mower back and forth. And on some deep, compulsively tidy, domineering level, I loved it. The grass was so long and thick I had to mow it on the highest mower setting--the mowed tracks behind me stood up shorn and uneven like a punk haircut. Here and there I swerved around dandelions and left daisies standing. I smelled the cut grass and felt immensely satisfied.

~April

FIRST MOWING
Nancy Carol Moody

The back-fence neighbor
is mowing his lawn:
seasonal slough, his
boots bogged to the ankles.
Suddenly, inexplicably,
I desire this, too.
I step up to my yard
and move into the grass.

                      Remind me
what it is I thought
I despised: the lawn's
luminous fronds, dauntless stalks
succulent from immeasurable rain.
The holy mud they thrive in.
Chlorophyll so indecent
it takes my breath.
                      How it stains,
             oh the green glorious stain.

It feels like spring!

2010-04-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

While sitting in my home office/craft room/"Pam Cave" this week, I noticed something peculiar about the birds in the yard: they were certifiably crazy. They dipped and dodged and flew and soared and hollered at each other. It was perhaps not the most poetic dance, but it was clear that spring was here, and the birds were pretty darn frisky about it. It made me a little giddy, too, because it means it's time to get out in the yard and show it some love. Last weekend I sat behind the counter at Grass Roots and stared longingly out the window, wanting to be home with my Honey to help him work in the yard. Yes, it's true: I would gladly perform hard yard labor in the sun than sit in relative comfort at the bookstore. (This is seasonal, you understand.) Fortunately I will be able to make up for it at least slightly next weekend when I get a few days off. (Start praying to the weather gods now!)

There's a lot of work to be done, but above all I want to have a delicious and flourishing garden. We have a good-sized garden at home that produces a prodigious amount of strawberries, delicious sweet corn (although not as good as that from Illinois), and a surprising number of tomatoes. All in all, it's a good thing that I like to cook. Like any gardener, though, I want MORE.

Gardening is pretty new to me, although I have done a little bit of container gardening in the past. I found the book The Bountiful Container by Rose Marie Nichols McGee and Maggie Stuckey to be particularly useful and informative. Following an introduction that brings you the story of the authors' own container gardens, the book is well-organized and full of useful information. They start you out from the very beginning of planning your first edible container garden, to maintaining and harvesting your crop. It is a fantastic bible for any gardener who has to rely on containers (or who wants to expand their ground space with a few containers, like me).

I am fortunate enough to have some garden beds at home, but I have just one year of real gardening experience under my apron. I'd really like to take it to the next level, and I think I'll be taking Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades home with me. The book is written by Steve Solomon, founder of the Territorial Seed Company, and focuses on the particular conditions and issues that organic gardeners in the Pacific Northwest face. It is laden with information about prepping your soil, controlling pests, and planting seeds. Anyone can take a plant and stick it in the ground, but this book helps gardeners to nurture their plants and get the most they can from them.

Turning to look at the whole yard, my home library would be incomplete without the Western Garden Book from Sunset. This book, the biggest of them all, features information on more than 8,000 plants. It is practically encyclopedic. The newest edition features color illustrations and detailed maps of gardening zones in the West. For years I have consulted it whenever some new problem faced me in my gardening endeavors, even with the containers. I will not be sitting down to read this book cover to cover, but when I needed to know how to prune my roses, this is where I looked. When I wanted to know what plants would possibly avoid the destruction of deer (HA!), this is where I looked. In a word, it's indispensable.

At summer's end, I will be faced with a booming bounty of my own fresh produce. Whatever will I do with it? That's when the real fun will start, because it will mean I get to cook and to eat. Fortunately, those are two of my favorite things. It's a good thing we have such a big freezer...

I will leave you here to fantasize about your own gardens. In the meantime, know that I will be working hard in mine, and probably making plenty of entertaining mistakes along the way. That's where I'll be if you don't see me here. As ever, I'll see you in the bookstore.

Pamela.

Poetry Reading Tonight - Valley Library

2010-04-16T10:54:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Richter reads tonight in OSU's Valley Library at 7:30pm. Here's the title poem from Richter's prize-winning recent collection.

Threshold:

where mothers prop themselves, welcoming, waving, mostly waiting. You
are a frame your child passes through, the safest place to stand when then
shaking starts. You brace yourself. He draws you like this, arms straight
out, too stick-thin but the hands are perfect, splayed like suns, long
fingers, the hands he draws for your are huge. Thresh, hold: separate the
seeds, gather them back. In his pictures you all come close to holding
hands, though the fingers of your family never touch; you're in the middle
of all this reaching.

Jennifer Richter’s book Threshold was chosen by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey as the winner of the 2009 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition. Richter’s work has appeared in The Missouri Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Crab Orchard Review, CALYX, Cloudbank, and in the anthology A Fierce Brightness: Twenty-five Years of Women’s Poetry. She is a former Wallace Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer in Poetry at Stanford University.

Judging a book

2010-04-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Don't judge a book by its cover.

All righty then. Working in a bookstore and seeing new books everyday, it's impossible not to judge books in some way by their cover. Seeing a well-designed cover on a new edition of a classic novel has led me to be the proud owner of two copies of the same book in a few cases, but usually I've already read the book at least once and I know what I'm getting myself into. I try not to randomly buy books I'm unfamiliar with based on their covers, though.

When we flip the books over, however, my willingness to judge increases. I do enjoy admiring and mocking author photos. Dr. Phil and the authors of computer manuals just throw it all out there on the front covers: "BAM! This is who I am! Look at my confident/pleading expression! We can help each other!"

I really think authors should give careful consideration to the image they are projecting of themselves on the back cover of their books. In general, I frown upon Glamor Shots-like images of overly made-up women in clothes that don't belong to them trying to pose in the style of senior photos. I also think authors should think about the content of the book they are posing for. My inspiration today came from a conversation I had with a regular customer and a coworker. As we discussed poetry and poets; Shel Silverstein's name came up. He writes clever fantastic poetry and illustrates them dynamically. The photos of himself he uses on his books, however? They kind of creep me out. I'm just saying. It is definitely an instance where I have to separate the image given to me of the author from what I'm reading.

The same discussion lead me to pick up a copy of Good Poems, selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor. We were looking for a particular poem that had come up("Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver, if you're keeping score. I was easily distracted by the sound of geese flying overhead outside.), and my hand alighted on the copy of Good Poems sitting on top of the case. And then the book flipped open, and staring menacingly at me from the inside of the back cover was Mr. Keillor. EEEEK! I know he's an odd-looking fellow, but Mr. Keillor looks more like a serial killer in this photo than the affable, Midwestern host of a weekly radio show where humor features significantly. Please, Garrison, keep your gift for dramatic rendering to your reading, and not your portraits.

I can not discuss my obsession with author photos (yes, I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg, but I'll spare you...) without mentioning Robert B. Parker. Parker authored over 70 books throughout his life, mostly crime novels. (Unfortunately he died of a heart attack while writing at his desk this past January. What a way for a writer to go...) It's been interesting to see how his image has changed on the backs of his novels throughout my bookselling career. As a writer of crime fiction, I first noticed his photos depicting him in a leather bomber jacket, wearing sunglasses and a hat, glowering as one of his large dogs poised beside him. Yeah, don't want to meet him in a dark alley. Later he seemed to go for more of a "warm and fuzzy" look, as he posed, head perched tenderly upon his hand as he lounged in a wing-back chair, a charming and boyish smile on his face. "Sit here with Uncle Bobby, kids, and I'll tell you a story!"

Finally he seemed to reach a happy medium, as he leaned jauntily against a picket fence, an expression on his face that's at least non-threatening. And his dog doesn't look like he wants to take a bite out of your hand. It's as if he's inviting us to his next backyard barbeque.

Someday the question will be, how do I want to present myself on the back of a book to my adoring readers? Whatever I decide on, I hope it will be welcoming enough that people will want to read what I have to say. I also hope it will be true enough that the people who know me won't mock me too mercilessly. Regardless, I'm sure I'll fall under the scrutiny of some harsh and judging eye. That is just the nature of the book business I guess.

I'll be at the desk at Grass Roots pondering that in the meantime. See you in the bookstore--
Pamela.

Fleshly Poetry Section

2010-04-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

The poetry section has been fleshed out and is awaiting your eager eyes! Challenge yourself this National Poetry Month and introduce yourself to a new poet. We've been hard at work scrutinizing our poetry shelves and have gathered -- as collies gather peripherally roaming sheep -- the best of the best, the famous and the obscure, the celebrated and the overlooked.

Come delve! Come dive! Immerse yourself! Dangle poetry books on strings from your ceiling! Write love letters to your favorite poet, dead or alive! Send poems in the mail! Tattoo a poem on your buttock! Place a prank call and read a poem to the person who answers! Rent an airplane and write a poem in cursive across the sky!

A sampling of our recent acquisitions (and a few re-acquisitions)...

Hardcovers:
The Apple Trees at Olema: New and Selected Poems by Robert Hass, $34.99
The Best of It: New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan (United States Poet Laureate), $24.00
A Poet to His Beloved: The Early Love Poems of W. B. Yeats, $9.95
The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems by Edward Hirsch, $27.00
Frost: Poems by Robert Frost $12.50
Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud, ed. Robert Pinsky (CD included) $29.95

Softcovers:
The Russian Version by Elena Fanailova (dual Russian and English translations), $15.00
Erotic Poems by e.e. cummings, $12.95
Selected Poems by William Carlos Williams, $12.95
Collected Poems by Dylan Thomas, $14.95
The Crooked Inheritance by Marge Piercy, $17.00
Leaves of Grass (the original 1855 edition) by Walt Whitman, $3.00

Local Recent Releases:
Photograph With Girls by Nancy Carol Moody
Refuge from Flux by Quinton Hallett
Going to Seed: Dispatches from the Garden by Charles Goodrich

Come on in! Go wild! The poetry is here for you!