We have more books on sale for May, including all Science Fiction – you’ll want to scour the shelves for some more great cover art after checking out cover contest! Plus, Civil War and all Military History is on sale 10% off, and now I’m thinking gardening will be too, aren’t you in the mood for gardening with this weather? Do some reading before you put out those tomatoes unprotected, it can STILL freeze!
All posts by Diane
Announcing 1st Sci Fi Cover Contest!
Those of us behind the counter enjoy the Romance Cover contest in February so much we’ve decided to add another – so here it is! The 1st Sci Fi Cover Contest! Vote on your “favorite” in order to enter a drawing and a chance for a $25 East Side Books Gift Certificate at the end of the month. I have not been searching out classic Sci Fi covers too long, but it is not hard to find some potential winners. There are several decades to choose from and different Pokies styles, although buxom women seem to be as common as the romance covers…hmmm, definitely more cat faces though.
Here are the candidates:
#1 Firebird by Charles L. Harness ( 1981)
#2 Conan and the Sorcerer by Andrew J Offutt (1978)
#3 Love Conquers All by Fred Saberhagen (1974)
#4 The Monster Men by Edgar Rice Burroughs
#5 Haydn of Mars by Al Sarrantonio (2005)
You may vote on line or in the store once per day – come in and get a close up look at these wonderful artworks!
We are not Alone!
The famous and wealthy author Larry McMurtry also owns one of the largest used bookstores in the country – Booked Up – a mecca for book lovers without question. He has decided to downsize, which is of course making the news. We clean out by going to the Choo Choo Swapmeet, he has an auction of thousands of titles and makes national headlines.
I just have to share two things from the Booked Up website, maybe East Side Books and Booked Up really have a few things in common! First from the Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. How are the books arranged?
A. Erratically/ Impressionistically/ Whimsically/ Open to Interpretation
Q. Do you have a list of these books?
A. No.
I also want to share McMurtry’s explanation for the clean out:
TO OUR GUESTS:
The several hundred thousand books that we are putting in play constitute a kind of anthology of American bookshops past. In our forty-one years as booksellers we have bought twenty six bookshops and some two hundred personal libraries, some humble, some grand.
So why push them out?
Because we believe that in the book world migration is healthy: old pages await new eyes. Yesterday in Lubbock, Texas I found a copy of Sons and Lovers in the oil-cloth Modern Library with my bookplate in it. Twenty eight thousand volumes have my bookplate in them; they reside in my big house in Archer City, and yet this one strayed. How it got to Lubbock I’ll likely never know. It’s home again now; but hundreds of thousands of its cousins will be flooding into the great river of books that delights and refreshes. Good reading and good luck!
Larry McMurtry
In the book world, migration is healthy. Old pages await new eyes. We have a few creatively shelved old pages awaiting new eyes, come find some for your library!
April Sales – Something for Everyone plus Author Birthdays!
Something new for sales this month – since so many authors have April birthdays, we are offering 20% off on their books on their birthday. That way you can celebrate your favorites! We have a list in the store, but if you do some research and show us another birthday author, you can have the sale price too! I’ll try to make sure we get the daily list on the Facebook page at least.
Also, it is National Poetry Month, with some fun upcoming activities, and all poetry on sale all month. Religion, Nature and Inspiration will also be on sale, and maybe more, who knows. Keep checking back for updates.
New Local Book! Inyo National Forest
The very popular Images of America series from Arcadia Publishing has added a great new volume, Inyo National Forest by Andy Selters for the Eastern Sierra Interpretive Association. So much of our Eastern Sierra region is covered by the Inyo National Forest that everyone will recognize the scenery in these historic photos. Mules and fish, lakes and mines, skiing and Smokey Bear; don’t miss this book on our historic back yard!
We also have others in the Images of America series available, including Bishop, Mono Lake, Lone Pine and Manzanar. They are new books priced at $21.99 each. Please remember new books cannot be purchased with store credit, we need some cash flow!
Finding Fairies – Leprechaun Party Countdown
The first time I heard Washoe elders telling Waterbaby stories, I am sure I sat there with my mouth hanging open. Not out of disbelief, but in amazement at the universal aspect of “little people” stories, especially those who inhabit springs and specific locations. We were discussing land use planning, and the debate was whether the springs with known Waterbaby activity/presence should be protected differently than other bodies of water in traditional Washoe lands around Lake Tahoe and the Carson Valley. We could have been discussing a saint’s spring in Ireland or the spirit filled waters of Germany. I grew up on those stories, and here I was hearing a completely familiar but new version. I don’t know the official anthropological explanation for these commonalities, and frankly don’t care, but I do love the storytelling aspect, and the whole notion that there is a lot to this universe we really can’t explain except with old stories.
Part of my motivation for the annual store Leprechaun Party is to remind kids that there are magical aspects to our world that are best explained in old stories, albeit with new wonderful pictures or a modern twist. I love the connection to our ancestors, and again, to the cultures worldwide that recognize small magical beings who have a role in the unexplained. Like the multitude of Cinderella stories from various cultures, the fairy folklore carries many common themes we can all appreciate, taking care of our natural wild places with the small things living there (even Dr. Seuss used that one!), not taking our superior size too seriously when matched to cleverness, and pay attention to the rules, or there are consequences!
Most of the best available read-aloud stories are from the English, Irish or northern European traditions, hence the multitude of Leprechaun stories. I am always looking for other examples, though, and would welcome suggestions. The book Finding Fairies by Michelle Roehm McCann and Marianne Monson Burton portrays an astounding plethora of world wide fairy activity, plus some easy activities to appeal to the little people, human and otherwise. It is a great resource, though lacking in read-aloud stories. I have stacks of fairy tale books covering Africa to Norway, but very few that make it to the good out loud pile. By next year, with your help, I hope to find a few more, maybe even a Waterbaby!
See you Saturday night!
Blood, Bones, and Butter
Around the front counter, we love discussing food. We also have lengthy discussions about growing and eating food that is better for us, better for our country, and tastier, so of course we have strong opinions on food books too! I could (and might) write about one every day, however the book of the moment is Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton.
Hamilton is a chef who chronicles her journey through many kitchens in Blood, Bones and Butter, before opening her own restaurant in New York called, get this, Prune! I want to read it just to see what is on the menu at Prune! All reviewers agree that not only is she adept at describing the foods and cooking, but her writing is “luminous” throughout.
Chosen recently by a Bishop book club, we have several new copies available for members and others. We’d be happy to order more as well!
Did I mention that if your book club orders new copies through us, we offer a 15% discount? What a deal, right?
New Local History Book Coming To East Side Books!
We are excited to bring the new book Children of Manzanar, edited by Heather Lindquist and published by Heyday Books and our friends at Manzanar History Association. The books are ordered, so let us know if you want to reserve a copy. It is filled with historic photos, and will bring to light the unique perspecitive of the youngest camp residents. I know I can’t wait to read it! If you really can’t wait, stop by the lovely gift shop at the Manzanar National Historic Site for a copy.
Between a Rock and a Tough Audience
We had a lively discussion around our dinner table last night about what constitutes a hero and what type of person inspires us. It was triggered by the Community Reads talk featuring Aron Ralston, the highly publicized climber who cut off his arm to survive being trapped by a boulder he had dislodged while climbing by himself in isolated Utah canyons. He is also the author of Between A Rock and a Hard Place, now retitled 127 Hours after the movie. Our discussion centered around personal preparedness, responsibility, and personal choices once a person has survived and is then famous. We had a lot to compare with the unquestionably inspiring Jill Kinmont Boothe and her own life choices. My two teen aged children had both listened to Ralston yesterday, and had very strong opionions, which did my heart good as a mom.
I could not attend the mid-day public appearance, and expect many other adults missed it as well. We still have several copies of the book in the store if you are interested in the story – let me recommend it for family discussion if nothing else!
And the 2011 Winner Is….!
Our “favorite” romance cover of the year, from those we selected for consideration, was #1
Apparently it had some appeal to both men and women, and was the most romantic of the choices offered! #2 
was the second choice, I won’t even try to explain that one….
The gift certificate winners wer Cora Heeg and Lolly McCue. Thanks all of you for providing a month of entertainment for the staff.