My Night as a Book Giver

This past Tuesday was the 2nd annual World Book Night in America. World Book Night is a fantastic night, an event for which authors, publishers, bookstores and nerds team up to distribute free copies of books to members of their communities. The goal is to put a book in the hands of a "light to non-reader," someone who may not be able to afford the book, or someone who doesn't normally read for pleasure. I participated as a book giver last year in Port Angeles, WA and again this year in Seattle. This year I distributed 20 copies of Glaciers by Alexis M. Smith around Seattle's U-District and Capitol Hill neighborhoods.

I love World Book Night, and here are the two main reasons why:

(1) The pressure is off. When cash isn't at stake, it feels great to put a book in the hands of a peer. I get nervous, sometimes, recommending a book I loved to a customer. I've been given a good review, only to be disappointed myself. So it feels good to hand out books with a whaddhya-have-to-lose? attitude. And the soon-to-be reader is so much more likely to step outside of his or her comfort zone. I totally get it, I'm often strapped for cash and hesitant to spend my money on something I'm not sure about. (So many missed concerts! so many movies I didn't see!) WBN takes that financial pressure off, even the pressure of taste and preference. Most of my conversations went like this:

Me: Hey, are you interested in a free copy of a novel written by a Portland-based author?
Person: It's free?
Me: Yeah!
Person: Sure, why not!

Everyone loves free stuff.

(2) People talking about books, in the real world. I spend most of my time talking to people about books. That's who I am. I go out to coffee with someone, suggest we bring books and just get cozy for a quiet morning, then end up repeatedly blurting out how good my book is and reading passages out loud. I go out for drinks with friends and end up talking about Moby-Dick and race on the seas (stay tuned for a series of posts I'm calling "Blogging the Whale"). Seriously, that's what I do. But on World Book Night, I get to be that girl, but also change the course of a stranger's night.

Wrapping up my night as a book giver, I met a friend at a bar on Capitol Hill. I had three copies of Glaciers left, and spotted a small group of friends having a heated conversation about some band or some new album. They were smart, and you could tell they loved to get together and shout about things. It was a book club without a book.

I approached them and told them a bit about Glaciers, a little bit of the plot and the author. It's a dreamy nugget of a story about a librarian living in Portland. It's also a story about being a twenty-something today. About our misplaced nostalgia, about our love for thrift shopping and ephemera. And have you heard of Powell's Books? The author works at Powell's. And the book came out from Tin House, have you heard of Tin House? Their books are smart and smartly designed. Look at this gorgeous image of the actual cover!

 

So this cool group of friends could have blown me off, said no thanks and gone back to their original conversation. They could have taken a copy of the book, tucked it into a backpack and waited for me to creep away. But no!, they got really excited. One guy grew up in Portland, and loved the idea of reading a book set in his hometown. A girl there told me she hasn't read a novel since high school because she hasn't made the time for it. She loved the idea of this small, gorgeous novel and was curious how it packs all those themes into its pages.

Eventually, after a few minutes of excited chatter, I politely bowed out and headed back to my friend's table. As I walked away I heard them, still talking about books. One friend made the other promise to pass Glaciers on after he finishes it. They started to say how they should start a book club. And eventually they were arguing about books and had completely moved on from their previous conversation.

-Sarina

The Staff Rec's Keep Coming!

 Here are four more books that come with a University Book Store bookseller stamp of approval!

 The Expats by Chris Pavone is "an intelligent, complicated, yet easy read --- with a clever plot and a fast pace. I enjoyed it immensely!," writes Mary.

 

 Mary also recommends The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths! She says, "This series is so good. I read the first four books in a week. Ruth is a forensic archeologist living in a remote area of the Norfolk coast. Griffiths has created a unique & quite likeable main character, involved her in cases full of ancient British mythology and history and surrounded her with an interesting cast."

Kathy Z. shares her thoughts on The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker: "A coming-of-age story in a world coming to an end, this debut novel is moving and somber. but never despairing. It's also free of the violence and mayhem of many novels set in the near-future --- the world is ending not with a bang, but with a whimper. How would you organize your life if everything around you were changing, maybe ending? This is a beautifully written book, simple, but never simplistic, which will leave you with lots to think about. Appropriate for young teens as well as adults."

 

 And here's a staff review of Nell Leyshon's The Colour of Milk, written by Seija: "This will be one of your favorite books of 2013! Get ready to be charmed, sassed and devastated in equal measure by Mary, the protagonist and 'writer' of this Regency story that is decidedly anti-Austen. You will not soon forget this tale."

Want more staff reviews? Keep checking back with us. Also, if there is a book you absolutely can't stop talking about, tell us about it! Believe it or not, we're always looking for more to read...

Ladies of Literature

This month saw the publication of the 2012 VIDA Count, a study of gender representation in literary journals. VIDA's results are, sadly, not that surprising. Male reviewers and male authors hold the staggering majority of feature articles. The VIDA Count surveyed a broad selection of journals, including the New York Times Book Review, the Boston Review, Granta, Harper's, POETRY, The New York Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, The Paris Review, The Atlantic, New Republic, The Nation, etc...

The study is revealed in conjunction with National Women's History Month, which began the first day of March. Even more buzz has been generated by the events of the AWP Conference in Boston, including a discussion moderated by VIDA Board Member Cheryl Strayed. (Yes, the Cheryl Strayed of Wild!) And there are some awesome conversations emerging from the most recent numbers, including this conversation with Tin House editor Rob Spillman. While the voices of women have come a long way, we certainly have a lot of room to grow, as a culture, towards equality in publishing. But these surveys and talks allow us to reassess our growth, and adjust accordingly.

_Sarina
Bookseller

'Tis the season...

This first pick is especially important to me as we consider "shopping local" during the holidays and throughout the year. Independent bookstores appreciate your business, and so do small presses. Bender is out from Washington's own Copper Canyon Press, a nonprofit publisher with offices in Port Townsend and Seattle. Small presses work hard to put out quality literature, so keep an eye out for their books!

 

Bender: New and Selected Poems by Dean Young

“...Toothpicked samples

at the farmer's market, every melon,

plum, I come undone, undone.”

Unusual, dense, funny and brilliant—these poems are full of surprises. Try one. There is beauty on every page.---Sarina

 

Lost at Sea by Jon Ronson

 

Fascinating essays by a quirky Brit on subjects ranging from the oddball guy next door to Stanley Kubrick, from credit card debt to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Offbeat and entertaining.---Judith

 Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina is about a young woman caught between two worlds, hiding her true identity and suppressing her amazing talent for music. Delve into this world of court intrigue, family secrets and civil unrest. Seraphina shines!---Morgaine

Even More Holiday Staff Picks!

Here are some more of our favorite books this holiday season:

  

Tigress of Forli by Elizabeth Lev

 

Known in her time as the Italian Boudica, Caterina Sforza took on some of the most powerful men in the Renaissance. In doing so, she was able to wield power during an era where women had very little.---M. 

 

Advanced Style by Ari Seth Cohen

Cohen proves without a doubt that personal style only gets better with age---M.

 

My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force

How lucky we are to be able to peak inside the minds and onto the bookshelves of over 100 of today's cultural figures! A gorgeously illustrated ode to books and reading.---Anna

Our Staff Picks for the Holidays

At a recent staff meeting, Terri brought two wonderful, locally-inspired cookbooks to share with us (as well as a delicious squash bundt cake to taste!). Here are her holiday recommendations for the foodie, chef and gardener in your life:

Dishing Up: Washington by Jess Thomson

There are many good reasons why Seattle and Washington State have countless cookbooks paying homage to the local foods—we have such an abundance of seafood, fruits and vegetables. Jess Thomson is also the author of Pike Place Market Recipes. Dishing Up Washington includes the histories of local farmers, cheesemakers, fishermen...and recipes from our local chefs who benefit from these producers. The recipes (with enticing photos) are creatively unusual, while using familiar and exceptional ingredients. 

Grow Cook Eat by Willi Galloway

It would be great to have Willi Galloway as a next-door neighbor. A Master Gardener and former editor for Organic Gardening, Galloway writes in a friendly and encouraging way. She finds joy in the amazing tastes of thinned sprouts and offers all the information one needs to grow and sustain herbs, veggies, greens and anything that can grow in the Pacific Northwest. Exceptional recipes follow in each chapter to complete one's thrill in growing their own food. If I had to choose only one book for the kitchen and garden, Grow Cook Eat would be my first choice.