To celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday, March 2 is Read Across America Day. One way to get your kids excited about reading is to bring them into East Side Books and let them browse in our kid-friendly Children’s section.
We have a wide selection of picture books, early readers, children’s historical fiction, middle reader novels, and young adult fiction. We also have great resources to supplement school projects or homeschooling units. Our children’s books are an inexpensive treat, some as low as $1.
Our kid-oriented staff is happy to assist with reading suggestions. Kim and Jen are experienced homeschooling mothers, and can help compile resources for any kind of study course. Melissa taught junior high and high school English classes, and Lindsey worked with pre-readers. Diane is very knowledgeable in children’s illustrations and vintage children’s books. She can give you a wonderful tour of our excellent Children’s Collectible section.
In the further tribute to Jill Kilmont Boothe, who recently passed away, the movies The Other Side of the MountainPart 1 and Part 2 based on the biography of her life have been released on DVD. We have both DVDs available on our front table.
Come and pick up a DVD today, and be inspired all over again by Kilmont Boothe’s brave spirit.
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.
This past month, Bishop lost one of our most inspiring locals. Jill Kinmont Boothe, at the age of 75, died of complications after a surgery. As a young girl, Kinmont Boothe was destined to become a world-class ski racer, but a crash during a race in Utah left her paralyzed from the shoulders down. She spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
But her life did not end there. The same spirit that drove her on the ski hill served her well during her recovery. Despite several more devastating losses–the deaths of three close friends–Boothe created a life for herself. She became a remedial reading teacher, first in Southern California and then later here in Bishop. She also became a passionate painter, rendering the landscapes of our area onto canvas.
Husband John Boothe was quoted in the Los Angeles Times as saying, “I think the thing that impressed me most the first time I met her was that after a few minutes you forgot all about her being in a wheelchair. She obviously isn’t preoccupied by it and pretty soon you’re not either.” (See Dave McCoy’s photo tribute to his friend Jill Kilmont Boothe. http://www.davemccoyphoto.com/247-a-tribute-to-jill-kinmont-boothe/)
Kinmont Boothe is deeply missed in our community by those who knew her and also by those who only knew of her. Her tenacious spirit was captured in the book Other Side of the Mountain by E. G. Valens, and is a reminder to us all that we can do more than we think we can. In honor of Kinmont Boothe, we have on display in the story an original 1955 Sports Illustrated with her lovely cover shot, the week before her accident, along with a read-to-death and discarded copy of The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 from the Bishop Elementary Library. Inside the front cover, in a wobbly childish print, is written “She is great”. Documentation of yet another admirer, another young person she touched and inspired.
If you’ve missed reading it, we have a number of copies of Other Side of the Mountain available for purchase and always try to have them available. Boothe’s ability to inspire us will continue thanks to this biography and the many lives she’s touched.
Overcoming challenges is often the theme of biographies and memoirs. Whether you are needing courage, solace, or a good dose of gratitude for all you haven’t had to go through, pick up a copy of the following books from our Biography and Memoir Sections:
*Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
This coming-of-age memoir reveals the fierce spirit of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, one of the foremost champions in the fight for rights of Muslim women. Raised in a strict Muslim family, she withstood civil war, female circumcision, and beatings. She sought asylum in the Netherlands and continues to be a controversial yet inspiring political figure.
*Blindsided by Richard M. Cohen
Cohen was blindsided at the age of twenty-five by a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. He would later endure two bouts of colon cancer. His memoir is the tale of living with illness and still managing to be a husband and father, and find enough hope to celebrate life.
*Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza
There are some books you read that you never forget. This is the case with Ilibagiza’s tale of the genocide that ripped apart her country of Rwanda. Ilibagiza’s family was brutally murdered, but she was miraculously spared and hid for ninety-one days with seven other women in a small bathroom. Unbelievably, she emerged stronger in her faith in God and her believe in the power of unconditional love.
*A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
John Nash was a mathematical genius who at age thirty descended into mental illness. With the help of a his wife and the loyalty of the math community, he emerged later to win a Nobel Prize. An inspiring and triumphant look at a life affected by mental illness.
Please ask one of our staff for assistance if you need help finding any of the above mentioned titles.
The early reviews of Behind the Beautiful Forevers are declaring it THE book of the year. Slate.com called it “spellbinding.” Oprah picked it as a must-read for February. The New York Times published a glowing profile of author Katherine Boo, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and winner of a MacArthur “Genius” grant. A review in The Washington Post opened with the line, “This is an astonishing book.”
Despite all the accolades, I approached Behind the Beautiful Forevers with trepidation. Boo reports on the people who live, work, and survive in Annawadi, a makeshift slum in India that sits on the edge of the Mumbai airport. Boo’s brother, Tom, who happens to be a family care physician at our local Rural Health Clinic, emailed me the following. “Hope you like the book. The people’s stories are compellingly told and the writing good, but it can still be a tough read.”
Tom is right. Behind the Beautiful Forevers, and books like it, are hard to read. They make us feel guilty about our bright and shiny lives of privilege. They make us feel powerless to loosen the complicated ropes of poverty, hunger, and suffering that have a stranglehold on much of humankind.
So why do it? Why read Behind the Beautiful Forevers?
After finishing the first two chapters, I can give you three reasons.
First, Behind the Beautiful Forevers is exquisitely written. Boo weaves words with such tenderness and beauty that her book reads like a novel, which is part of the reason why it delivers such an emotional wallop. Her descriptions are at once lyrical and gritty, firmly planting each character in your mind. Before you know it, they’ve made a space for themselves in your heart, and that makes it all the more painful when you remember that this is not a made-up tale. Their experiences are very real, and are continuing to unfold halfway across the world even after we close the covers of the book.
Which leads to the second reason why you should read Behind the Beautiful Forevers. It is a book that can change everything.
I read the line “Every house was off-kilter, so less off-kilter looked like straight. Sewage and sickness looked like life,” and I began to see my own world differently. When I broadened my perspective to include the slums of Mumbai, petty irritations instantly dissolved. Minor misfortunes became easily manageable. In the days after beginning Behind the Beautiful Forevers, I was humbly grateful for the conveniences and Levitra 10mg privileges that cushion my life. I complained less. I appreciated more.
I have to wonder if an appreciation for this broader perspective is what compels Boo to do her work. Although she rarely speaks of it publicly, Boo was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in her late teens. It affects her mobility and compromises her immune system. She used the money from her MacArthur grant to help pay for a surgery to repair her hands so she could continue to type.
Author photo by Heleen Welvaart
But despite what she refers to in her Author’s Notes as her “lousy health,” Boo spent months at a time over a four-year period among the residents of Annawadi conducting interviews, recording video footage, and snapping photos. She hired interpreters to bridge the language barrier. She raised the ire of the local police. She hung around so much that she says the residents became bored with her. She even took a tumble into the nearby sewage lake. But Boo persisted, even when the stories she was recording tore at her heart. She told National Public Radio, “There were so many times when I was reporting in Annawadi that I would just come home and cry, because I didn’t think that I was going to be able to bring the stories to the page in a way that would make other people care.”
And that is the last and most important reason for reading Behind the Beautiful Forevers. In spite of her doubts, Boo wrote a book that makes us care. A book that renews our compassion and empathy. As challenging as it is to look suffering in the eye, it is of the utmost importance that we attach a face to the rising poverty statistics, that we humanize the poor. If we don’t, it is too easy to close our heart, snap shut our perspective, and shrink our compassion to a pitiful thimbleful. It is simpler to forget, but it is crucial to remember. To remember is to connect us as human beings.
And that is why I am deeply thankful to Katherine Boo for pushing past her own challenges to beautifully shape a vivid portrayal of a life in Annawadi. And that is why I will read Behind the Beautiful Forevers to the last page. Because even as painful as it is, I don’t want to forget. Ever.
East Side Books has signed copies of Behind the Beautiful Forevers for sale while supplies last.
Bishop lost two dedicated educators this month in Roberta Matlick and Jill Kinmont Boothe. Both were remarkable women and amazing role models, and many others have more profound things to say. However, I want to remember Mrs. Matlick here as the quintessential teacher and a woman with a true community spirit.
I think she made every interaction a teachable moment, and certainly touched hundreds of lives through multiple generations. I was in her math class as a “student teacher” (a high school student assigned to working with a small group of other students – not a student teacher working on a credential) before her retirement in 1984. I don’t think she spent long away from the class room though, as she taught two of my three children in math and reading as a long term 3rd grade volunteer. At the same time she worked with my mom at the Laws Museum to organize the Good Old Days celebration – teaching interactive history to another generation. I have no doubt she taught fractions with exuberance to three generations of more than one family.
Mrs. Matlick also loved a good mystery, so I saw her regularly here at the store. Her enthusiasm and energy were truly boundless, which is why it seemed we would have her with us always, or at least longer. She will be missed, though remembered when I straighten the J.A. Jance and Dana Stabenow shelves, or figure a sale percentage.
Her family suggested donations may be made in her memory to the Laws Museum.
The sky is gray and the days are short. Mid-winter is upon us and spring is yet a far-away dream. You want to escape, but money is tight and time is short. Here at East Side Books, we may not to be able to send you on the trip of your dreams, but we can transport you to far away places for an hour or two. All you have to do is pick up one of the great travel memoirs in our Travel Memoirs section, and you will be whisked away to a whole new world.
For example, pick up a copy of Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island and not only will you know every thing there is to know about England, but you will find yourself laughing aloud at Bryson’s witty writing. On a more serious note, you might want to read The Songlines or What Am I Doing Here by Bruce Chatwin who is most well known for his tales of travel.
A personal favorite of mine is Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. Mayes tells the story of buying a house in Italy and discovers herself along the way. This title was made into a popular movie staring Diane Lane. I was also inspired by One Year Off by David Elliot Cohen. This father of three traveled around the world with his family for twelve months. Their tale was refreshing and, at times, very entertaining.
If you are looking for something a little more exotic pick up a copy of The Lost Heart of Asia by Colin Thubron. This author explores the worlds of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Kirghizstan. Or, for something a little different, read Glynis Ridley’s Clara’s Grand Tour: Travels with a Rhinoceros in Eighteenth-Century Europe.
If you want to travel, but don’t want someone else’s experience shaping your adventure, check out our wide selection of travel guides. We have guides for destinations as far away as Korea and Egypt, and as exotic as Costa Rica and Indonesia. We also have travel guides for most of the fifty states.
And if you can carve out a day or two of real time travel, check out our California Travel section for guides on quick weekend trips. You can’t go wrong with Adventure Guide to Southern California by Don and Marjorie Young, or A Traveler’s Guide to Historic California by Lynne Schaefer.
So come on down to East Side Books and plan your travel destination–imaginary or real. If you need any help locating one of these titles, please ask our staff for assistance. Bon Voyage!
YES! We got a late start, but the Best (?) Romance Covers we’ve found during the year have been chosen and are now on display for your vote! To make up for the late start, we’ve decided you may VOTE on your favorite cover once per day, either on line or on the store. Simply come in and drop your name and phone number, along with the number of your choice in the bucket, or send an email with the same information. Your choices are listed below. Notice the bare chested Cowboy and Indian theme…can’t help it, it is just too much fun to have a theme. Enjoy!
#1. Notorious Rake, Innocent Lady by Bronwyn Scott (last year’s winning author)
#2. Pregnant by the Warrior by Denise Lynn
#3. His Secret Life by Debra Webb (chosen by our staff for Diane, not sure why, maybe the larger print)
#4 Brazen by Bobbi Smith (speaks for itself)
#5. Heartland by Rebecca Brandywine
We are not the only ones enjoying romance covers – here is a fun link to the abebooks website that admires some romantic winners. Plus, they had the gumption to do their own staff “covers” – check them out!
Inyo County Office of Education has chosen 127 Hours, or Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston as the 2012 book to enjoy and share as a community…maybe enjoy is the wrong word to describe Ralston’s experience. Mr. Ralston will be here in Bishop to discuss his book and survival story in March, so you have plenty of time to pick up a copy and read it for yourself! East Side Books has a stack of new copies at discounted prices to get you going, and we will make sure any used copies get out as quickly as possible as well. We always have a stock of other climbing, survival and mountaineering stories as well in a similar vein. Let us know if you need special orders or have questions about the Community Reads events.
