Independent

Thanks, Paul S., whoever you are.

Dog of the Week

Quick one, here. This is Sophie. She's awesome.

A brand new video from Booker

Go to our New and Used Books page to see Booker T. Owl's most ambitious video yet. We're awfully proud of it.

And the Oscar Goes To....

One of our youngest booksellers couldn't contain his excitement about Sunday night's Oscar celebration (note the drool-bedewed trophy in his hand)! Blix's money is on Juno.

A Bunch of Literary Links

• Black Hole, a graphic novel by local favorite Charles Burns (reading at the store on February 26, will be made into a film by David Fincher.

• John Updike on The Complete Novels of Flann O'Brien, which includes At Swim-Two-Birds, one of my favorite novels.

• The 2008 Tournament of Books begins soon. I'm rooting for the Junot Diaz (my favorite book of 2007), but am really happy to see Jeff Parker's novel Ovenman in the list. The Tournament of Books is styled on the NCAA Basketball Tournament, and Parker's book's inclusion reminds me of my early college days, spent at a small school that (at the time) often found itself in swept up in March Madness.

• Douglas Wolk on the graphic novels of Eric Shanower.

• The Stranger on David Shields' fantastic new book.

Dog of the Week

Up above is Nila, a mere pup. Cute as a button, that one.

She's a wee black lab. Much like the narrator of the new book The Labrador Pact.

Ah, a book narrated by the family dog! There's a popular conceit. Here's a game: make a list of books with dog narrators. Go!

Charles Baxter

Tomorrow night, our U District store will be hosting an event by Charles Baxter.

His new book, The Soul Thief is a really fine piece of work: a novel about the nature of one's biography and who owns whose story. Loved it.

Come out and see him.

UPDATE:

Here's a review of Baxter's new novel by James Marcus.

And here's another from our own Seattle Times.

Dog of the Week

Valentine's Day knocked Dog of the Week to Friday, but he's here. This is Deuce. Pretty fella, isn't he? Kind of looks like he has plans and schemes hatching behind those eyes.

Makes you want to read some books about the brain, doesn't. Well, by gum, we've got some. And we've got some on sale, too!

Here are three titles from our Neuroscience section that are (at least as of today, February 15, 2008) on sale:

This Is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Levitin: usually $15, on sale for $12

Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks: usually $26, on sale for $20.80

Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer: usually $24, on sale for $19.20

The sale price are NOT permanent, though, so order by phone or online, or stop by the store today.