How can you go wrong with the many mountain lovers we have in our lives? This batch features beautiful books on climbing world famous summits, including Mt Whitney and El Capitan, two on the High Sierra, and another on the more scenic aspects of Southern California mountains. Of course there are many more choices in the store, come in and see!
All posts by Diane
101 Gift Ideas: #16 Remembering a Local Hero
Here in the Owens Valley, we’ve all seen the iconic January 1955 Sports Illustrated Cover photo of Jill Kinmont preparing for the Olympic Trials. It was reprinted many times as we mourned her passing this past year. As such a beloved and respected member of our community, and the subject of biographical films and books, you may know her life story. Less likely that you have been able to read the interview, see the rest of the photo spread, or appreciate the world of sports for women (barely any!) in 1955. It is fascinating.
I currently have one copy of this rare Sports Illustrated magazine which would make a wonderful Christmas gift. First come, first served, so don’t wait!
101 Gift Ideas: #1-15 Robert Miller Fine Art
Now be honest, some of you do not think a used book is an appropriate gift. Well, I am committed to showing you at LEAST 101 items in the store this month that would be absolutely wonderful gifts. Some are used books, but we have even more to choose from. I hope it inspires you to come in with your shopping list!
The first 15 items on our gift suggestion list are a no-brainer. Pick up a fine art giclee print or two by Robert Miller to please virtually anyone. Unique and beautiful pencil and charcoal mountain scenes and trees, there are 15 to choose from. If we run out, it will only take a few days to get your request filled. We can also ship them for you if you wish! Great idea right?
December Freeze a Holiday Tradition – Again!
After at least 5 years, it can be declared a tradition….East Side Books will once again NOT accept books for cash or store credit in December! The next book buying window will open January 2, and continue through January 14. If you wish to donate books to the store, without receiving any cash or store credit, we are always happy to accept them.
If you have audio books, an estate, or local history books that you believe should be an exception this month, please speak to Diane directly. No one else can consider saying yes, and I may not either! There is really only so much space on the shelves, so more books going out means more can come in….Thanks for all of your support and understanding.
Katherine Boo Wins National Book Award!
Our favorite “should-be-nearly-local” author Katherine Boo, author of behind the beautiful forevers, Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, just won the National Book Award yesterday for Nonfiction! Ms. Boo is already a Pulitzer Prize winner, and this is another well deserved honor – if a book about the harsh realities of picking garbage, burnings and beatings, and corruption can be described as beautifully written, this one is. Don’t let the tough subject matter put you off if you have not read it yet, it truly leaves you in awe of the resilience, fortitude and yes, hope, humans can show in dire circumstances. And again, the writing is amazing, you will care deeply about the characters and turn the pages as fast as any suspense thriller.
We currently have three copies, come pick one up in honor of Ms. Boo’s award!
FYI, Katherine Boo is not local, may not even have been to the Owens Valley, but she does have family here who first brought the book to our attention and procured a stack of signed copies for East Side Books to sell, which we greatly appreciate!
November Sale – Cookbooks Galore and Holiday Crafts
With the amazingly beautiful fall weather, for those of us in the Eastern Sierra and obviously not impacted by hurricanes, it is still a little warm for the full soup, stew and holiday feast regimen….but it IS coming! You can be ready if you come check out our great stock of cookbooks, newish and vintage. They are on sale this month, 10% off! Plan your feasts and drool a little (maybe not in public), and come see us this month!
And I am sure it is not too late to make handmade, beautiful gifts for your friends and family, those books are on sale too!
Haunted Bookstore 2012 – The Mad Hatter Tea Party
It is so refreshing to decorate for a “mad” event – and the always “quirky” (in the words of one customer today) bookstore looked right at home as a mad, mad tea party! Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate, and especially my helpers, Connor, Katie, and Autumn, and staff Jen, Kim and Lindsey who all stayed late. Flamingo croquet, Queen of Heart Tarts, Spiced Tea, and lovely Great Basin cookies made it a yummy tea party. And the meringue mushrooms apparently faked out a few people as real fungus, although no one grew or shrank noticeably. I had enthusiastic listeners, which makes me happy. Cody even put up with me reading The Cremation of Sam McGee, he’s a good kid. I get shivers reading it, but he said he wasn’t scared. Here’s a few pictures to share the fun.
Timely Titles in New Wave of New Movies
Our newest batch of brand new movies from PBS/BBC and Family Movies include great seasonal titles including the Madagascar Penguins in I Was a Penguin Zombie at a bargain price of $6.99. Who could pass that up? In the Family category, we also have Ballet Shoes 
starring Emma Watson (of Hermione Granger fame), Lucy Boynton and Yasmin Paige; Dog Gone, a comedy starring a bunch of animals, French Stewart and Kevin Farley; the animated T.rex Tales from the PBS Dinosaur Train; another animated tale called Space Dogs; and another episode of the PBS Caillou series called Caillou at Play. Good stuff for every age group.
For those baseball fans who can pull away from the Giants in the World Series, we have a Ken Burns PBS film called The Tenth Inning about the changes in the sport from 1992 to 2009. Also from Ken Burns’ America series, we have Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty starring Lady Liberty herself. From the classic Brit drama department, we have City of Vice, Season 1, starring Ian McDiarmid and Iain Glen, and Season 3 of the great Agatha Christie Poirot series. (I kept a copy of Season 1 and Season 2 if you need to catch up!) And finally, there is the musical Oliver!, winner of 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture!
So stock up now for Christmas gifts or find something to watch on our longer, darker evenings. Remember, each wave of movies goes back if not sold, so don’t wait to pick up a copy, it may be gone!
Attention Trekkies! New Stock On the Shelves
If you are a certified Trekkie, you will want to come see the new stock of Star Trek novels! The pile includes very early adaptations by James Blish, and the Star Trek Log series by Alan Dean Foster, as well as novels by William Shatner and the myriad of other authors who wrote variations on the far off star galaxy theme… Come in and see what we’ve picked up! As always, you have to appreciate these sci fi novels for their covers if not the plot, some amazing artwork too.
The Twenty Mule Team of Death Valley Book is Here!
The local history books from Arcadia Publishing are coming in a steady stream, and I think this may be one of the most popular! The Twenty Mule Team of Death Valley will appeal to mule lovers, mining historians, geology buffs, Inyo County enthusiasts, and of course any one who appreciates the harsh beauty of Death Valley. Thumbing through it is fascinating, and I can’t wait to read a copy! If you have seen Tanners’ mule team at Mule Days, you will be amazed at the idea of handling this many animals, let alone the logistics of the heavy loads in dry, hot and dusty Death Valley. The twenty mule team became a familiar icon of the Pacific Coast Borax company, and all the clean laundry and hands across the country had the humble mule to thank for getting the product to market.
The author is Ted Faye, a documentary filmmaker whose company, Gold Creek Films, specializes in stories of the West. Ted was also a historian for US Borax. Many images in the book come from the Borax collection at Death Valley National Park, but there are also many from Central Nevada Historical Society, Bancroft Library, private collections, and other sources.