Here's a quick tour around the Literary Internet.
• James Arthur offers his appreciation of Conan the Barbarian on The Rumpus.
• David Gates (author of, among others, the fantastic novel Jernigan) reviews Love and Obstacles by Aleksandar Hemon—who read with us in May. (Great reading.)
• Lorrie Moore has another masterful short story in The New Yorker. World continues to turn as it will.
***
Don't miss tonight's reading:
Tuesday • June 30 • 7pm
Clarion West presents: Karen Joy Fowler
Reading & Book Signing
U District store
Karen Joy Fowler is the author of six novels and dozens of short stories, all marked indelibly by her remarkable, witty voice, yet as different from one another as chartreuse is from physics. Winner of the World Fantasy Award and two Nebulas, and a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, Fowler is a brilliant writer, a compassionate teacher, and an intuitive critic. Free and open to the public.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
University Book Store and the Farmer's Market
This summer we have a growing series of events and chef demos in partnership with the Neighborhood Farmer’s Market Alliance. Last Saturday kicked it off when actress and cookbook author, Mariel Hemingway gave a cooking demo and signed her new book, Mariel’s Kitchen.
Our events team had a great time selling books outside next to stalls of leeks, lettuce, and peonies. Farmers Market shoppers crowded around the event space to listen to Mariel speak about healthy living and eating. The audience grew and grew as samples of spinach Swedish pancakes and eggs with spring greens were passed around. We are so excited to continue these events and hope you can join us for future ones!
Why not join us for one of the following upcoming events!
Friday • June 19• 4pm
Poppy Tooker
Crescent City Farmers Market
Phinney Ridge Farmer’s Market
67th and Phinney Avenue N
New Orleans cookbook writer and activist, Poppy Tooker will be giving a cooking demo and signing her new cookbook which raises funds for the Crescent City Farmers Market.
Plus Cajun Music by a bookstore staff member!
Sunday • June 28 • 10am – 2pm
10th Anniversary Berry Spectacular
West Seattle Farmer's Market, California Avenue SW & SW Alaska
The NFMA and the Junction association celebrate ten years of a thriving, vibrant farmers market with a huge blowout on market day. Come visit the University Book Store table for great bargains on a wide selection of berry and farmers market books!
Saturday • July 10 • 10am
Matthew Amster-Burton
Hungry Monkey: A Food Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater
University District Farmer’s Market
University Way & NE 50th
Local food writer and blogger, Matthew Amster-Burton will be giving a cooking demo and signing his new book about raising a child to love food.
Our events team had a great time selling books outside next to stalls of leeks, lettuce, and peonies. Farmers Market shoppers crowded around the event space to listen to Mariel speak about healthy living and eating. The audience grew and grew as samples of spinach Swedish pancakes and eggs with spring greens were passed around. We are so excited to continue these events and hope you can join us for future ones!
Why not join us for one of the following upcoming events!
Friday • June 19• 4pm
Poppy Tooker
Crescent City Farmers Market
Phinney Ridge Farmer’s Market
67th and Phinney Avenue N
New Orleans cookbook writer and activist, Poppy Tooker will be giving a cooking demo and signing her new cookbook which raises funds for the Crescent City Farmers Market.
Plus Cajun Music by a bookstore staff member!
Sunday • June 28 • 10am – 2pm
10th Anniversary Berry Spectacular
West Seattle Farmer's Market, California Avenue SW & SW Alaska
The NFMA and the Junction association celebrate ten years of a thriving, vibrant farmers market with a huge blowout on market day. Come visit the University Book Store table for great bargains on a wide selection of berry and farmers market books!
Saturday • July 10 • 10am
Matthew Amster-Burton
Hungry Monkey: A Food Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater
University District Farmer’s Market
University Way & NE 50th
Local food writer and blogger, Matthew Amster-Burton will be giving a cooking demo and signing his new book about raising a child to love food.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Dog of the Week!
Been a while, Dog of the Week. Where have you been? Waiting for Spring, maybe?
That's Zulie. Zulie is a 7 1/2 week old English bulldog. She visited our Bellevue store.
We hope to see her a lot.
"Zulie" is, according to her human, the Arabic word for "peace."
Which reminds us, of course, that recently Richard Bausch's amazing short novel Peace came out in paperback.
That's Zulie. Zulie is a 7 1/2 week old English bulldog. She visited our Bellevue store.
We hope to see her a lot.
"Zulie" is, according to her human, the Arabic word for "peace."
Which reminds us, of course, that recently Richard Bausch's amazing short novel Peace came out in paperback.
Monday, June 01, 2009
A bookseller talks about her favorites.
I have this thing about favorites. Movies, paintings, cities, songs, types of food—hardly anything is excused from judgment. These lists are subjective and impermanent. For instance, I don’t think my favorite movie is the best movie ever made, it’s just the best for me. It aligns with my emotions and my narrative ideals. Other categories rely even more on subjective experiences. I’m sure some people love going to Tijuana, for instance, but because I went with my dad when I was fourteen and ate some bad enchiladas, I will most likely never return. I try not to focus on my least favorite things. Doing so negates the purpose of making these temporary lists, which is to seek out and eagerly anticipate new experiences.
With that said, I thought I’d start my first blog for the bookstore with a list of my five (technically six) favorite novels, in no particular order. I hope to elaborate on these in future posts.
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
The Hours by Michael Cunnigham
Deliverance/To The White Sea (Irrevocably tied, blame James Dickey)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
When I read, I’m chasing that feeling I had in my early teens when I first read Orwell’s 1984. I had picked up a badly used copy somewhere—the cover font was nearly identical to that used in the “Schoolhouse Rock” logo—and someone had underlined whole pages worth of text in thick blue marker. I stayed up late one night to finish it, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Finishing that book made me feel like I had been through the same psychological warfare as Winston Smith, especially in that last climactic, unbearable scene of betrayal. It was the first time I had been through such an emotional literary workout, and I loved it.
New favorites stacked up quickly after that. I was lucky to attend a school with a brilliantly run Humanities department with a broad reading list. Hefty classics (The Grapes of Wrath, The Scarlet Letter, A Tale of Two Cities) mingled with less predictable picks (A Confederacy of Dunces, A Clockwork Orange, Darkness at Noon) and soon I was awash in great books. Coming from a family of readers helps as well; my mom seems to draw only from the new fiction cart at the library, while an uncle of mine is addicted to audio books. One of my cousins often reads books in their original Spanish, while another is just starting to get excited about his totally awesome 9th grade sci-fi lit class. I love talking to my family and friends about books, and there is something particularly thrilling about discussing my favorites. They have each changed me a little; in the way I think about writing, history, relationships, religion, and most of all, about people.
—Seija
With that said, I thought I’d start my first blog for the bookstore with a list of my five (technically six) favorite novels, in no particular order. I hope to elaborate on these in future posts.
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
The Hours by Michael Cunnigham
Deliverance/To The White Sea (Irrevocably tied, blame James Dickey)
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
When I read, I’m chasing that feeling I had in my early teens when I first read Orwell’s 1984. I had picked up a badly used copy somewhere—the cover font was nearly identical to that used in the “Schoolhouse Rock” logo—and someone had underlined whole pages worth of text in thick blue marker. I stayed up late one night to finish it, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Finishing that book made me feel like I had been through the same psychological warfare as Winston Smith, especially in that last climactic, unbearable scene of betrayal. It was the first time I had been through such an emotional literary workout, and I loved it.
New favorites stacked up quickly after that. I was lucky to attend a school with a brilliantly run Humanities department with a broad reading list. Hefty classics (The Grapes of Wrath, The Scarlet Letter, A Tale of Two Cities) mingled with less predictable picks (A Confederacy of Dunces, A Clockwork Orange, Darkness at Noon) and soon I was awash in great books. Coming from a family of readers helps as well; my mom seems to draw only from the new fiction cart at the library, while an uncle of mine is addicted to audio books. One of my cousins often reads books in their original Spanish, while another is just starting to get excited about his totally awesome 9th grade sci-fi lit class. I love talking to my family and friends about books, and there is something particularly thrilling about discussing my favorites. They have each changed me a little; in the way I think about writing, history, relationships, religion, and most of all, about people.
—Seija
Friday, April 10, 2009
A Poem for the Day
This blog is re-tooling, and will be updated more consistently very soon.
It's National Poetry Month, though. How about a poem?
It's National Poetry Month, though. How about a poem?
Friday, March 13, 2009
James Purdy
James Purdy, a favorite of many a University Book Store bookseller, but perhaps none more than our friend UsedBuyer, has passed away. We imagine his blog will have something to say about it soon.
Friday, February 27, 2009
A Northwest Flower and Garden Show Report from Kathy
The 21st, and with any luck NOT the final Northwest Flower & Garden Show has come and gone, but we still have some wonderful books from authors who appeared at the show. We even have some autographed books available while they last, from favorite authors like Marianne Binetti, Cass Turnbull, and Ciscoe Morris. Here are a few more:
Our Life In Gardens by Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd
This beautiful meditation on gardening by two renowned garden designers is a wonderful read for a blustery day when it's still too soon to get out in the garden. They lovingly tell the story of thirty years of gardening together at their place in Vermont, called North Hill.
Rhapsody in Green: The Garden Wit and Wisdom of Beverley Nichols by Roy C. Dicks
Prolific British author Beverley Nichols (1898–1983) is best remembered for his series of garden memoirs, including Merry Hall, and Garden Open Today. Now Roy Dicks brings us a delightful sampler of his work, in a beautifully designed palm-of-the-hand volume which will delight both fans of Nichols and those who have yet to discovered his work.
Paradise Found by Rebecca Cole
Rebecca designed the Smith & Hawken sponsored display garden "The Sky's the Limit" which won a ton of awards at this year's show. It featured a fantastic "living wall" and lots of other wonderful and innovative ideas. Her book Paradise Found is out of print, but we have a few copies left from her private stash that she brought to us at the show book signing. Get 'em while they last!
Perennial Companions: 100 Dazzlng Plant Combinations for Every Season by Tom Fischer
Fischer is the editor-in-chief at renowned gardening publisher Timber Press, and will be appearing right here at University Book Store on March 5 as part of the new "Get Gardening" series co-sponsored by Timber and University Book Store. His new book is a wonderful little guide which will inspire you to new heights of colorful experimentation in your own garden.
The Gardens of Frank Lloyd Wright by Derek Fell
Derek Fell has been putting out gorgeous coffee-table gardening books for years, featuring the gardens of folks like Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne. Now he's hopped the pond, to bring us an American for a change. Wright's philosophy of architecture placed as much importance on the natural surroundings of his buildings as the buildings themselves, as he integrated his creations seamlessly into their environments in landmarks such as Fallingwater.
And stop by our store to see a huge selection of garden-related remainder titles in our Garden of Bargains...spring is on the way!
Our Life In Gardens by Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd
This beautiful meditation on gardening by two renowned garden designers is a wonderful read for a blustery day when it's still too soon to get out in the garden. They lovingly tell the story of thirty years of gardening together at their place in Vermont, called North Hill.
Rhapsody in Green: The Garden Wit and Wisdom of Beverley Nichols by Roy C. Dicks
Prolific British author Beverley Nichols (1898–1983) is best remembered for his series of garden memoirs, including Merry Hall, and Garden Open Today. Now Roy Dicks brings us a delightful sampler of his work, in a beautifully designed palm-of-the-hand volume which will delight both fans of Nichols and those who have yet to discovered his work.
Paradise Found by Rebecca Cole
Rebecca designed the Smith & Hawken sponsored display garden "The Sky's the Limit" which won a ton of awards at this year's show. It featured a fantastic "living wall" and lots of other wonderful and innovative ideas. Her book Paradise Found is out of print, but we have a few copies left from her private stash that she brought to us at the show book signing. Get 'em while they last!
Perennial Companions: 100 Dazzlng Plant Combinations for Every Season by Tom Fischer
Fischer is the editor-in-chief at renowned gardening publisher Timber Press, and will be appearing right here at University Book Store on March 5 as part of the new "Get Gardening" series co-sponsored by Timber and University Book Store. His new book is a wonderful little guide which will inspire you to new heights of colorful experimentation in your own garden.
The Gardens of Frank Lloyd Wright by Derek Fell
Derek Fell has been putting out gorgeous coffee-table gardening books for years, featuring the gardens of folks like Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne. Now he's hopped the pond, to bring us an American for a change. Wright's philosophy of architecture placed as much importance on the natural surroundings of his buildings as the buildings themselves, as he integrated his creations seamlessly into their environments in landmarks such as Fallingwater.
And stop by our store to see a huge selection of garden-related remainder titles in our Garden of Bargains...spring is on the way!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Lift Every Voice: Celebrating Toni Morrison
I have been reading selected interviews from the Paris Review Interviews collection, edited by Philip Gourevitch.Volume II contains a great interview with Toni Morrison, and I wanted to share this excerpt from her 1993 interview, where she discusses her place in the canon of literature.MORISSON: It’s important not to have a totalizing view. In American literature we have been so totalized—as though there is only one version. We are not one indistinguishable block of people who always behave the same way.
INTERVIEWER: Is that what you mean by totalized?
MORISSON: Yes. A definitive or an authoritative view from somebody else or someone speaking for us. No singularity and no diversity. I try to give some credibility to all sorts of voices, each of which is profoundly different. Because what strikes me about African-American culture is its variety…I would like to write novels that were unmistakably mine, but nevertheless fit first into African-American traditions and second of all, this whole thing called literature.
INTERVIEWER: First African-American?
MORISSON: Yes.
INTERVIEWER: …rather than the whole of literature?
MORISSON: Oh yes.
INTERVIEWER: Why?
MORISSON: It’s richer. It has more complex sources. It pulls from something that’s closer to the edge; its much more modern. It has a human future.
INTERVIEWER: Wouldn’t you rather be known as a great exponent of literature than as an African-American writer?
MORISSON: It’s very important to me that my work be African-American; if it assimilates into a different or larger pool, so much the better. But I shouldn’t be asked to do that. Joyce is not asked to do that. Tolstoy is not. I mean, they can all be Russian, French, Irish or Catholic, they write out of where they come from, and I do too. It just so happened that that space for me is African-American; it could be Catholic, it could be Midwestern. I’m those things too, and they are all important.
Toni Morisson won the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1993. Read the entire interview in The Paris Review Interviews, Volume Two. Read Morrison's work.
--A.T. Micklin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
