Read This Book: Epic, All-Staff, Event Edition

I have often heard bookselling referred to as a labor of love, which as you know implies we don't get paid very much. But while we may not be rich in cash money, we are basically swimming in free books.

How jealous must you ordinary people be of booksellers and our advance reader's copies? I'm guessing not as jealous as I want you to be.  I am constantly disappointed by the response I get when it pops up in conversation that I'm reading a yet-to-be published book. I find myself saying this a lot, "Excuse, me, I just want to make sure you understand, this book isn't available to you normals yet." 

I'm very popular at parties.

So. WAAAAAAAAAY back in January, I got to read the advance copy of Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West. That's right while you all were still talking about Channing Tatum lip syncing Let it Go, and Patti LaBelle's new line of cakes, I was immersed in the genius, hilarious, fury-inducing musings of Seattle's very own, Lindy West.

After I read it, I passed it along to many of my coworkers and we've become kind of (very) fanatical in our adoration. You can ask Lindy's mom who totally shops here and doesn't seem the least bit uncomfortable that we all know her name. 

And lately, the whole world is getting a little fanatical about our Lindy.

I feel like an unbearably hip person who loved that cool band first, before everyone else loved the cool band and then I no longer love the cool band because it's too mainstream. Except, I'm not that hip, and it's not a band, it's Lindy West, and I only want her to get more, and more popular. I want her book to be on every bestseller list, and every high school curriculum, and 30 copies of it in every library in the whole entire world. Everyone I know is getting a copy for their next birthday. Yes, even my nephews who are 3 and 5...especially my nephews. 

The essays in Shrill are funny, pointed, and razor-sharp and they'll make you feel strong and sad and angry and joyous all at once. Lindy will be reading, signing, and being generally awesome at our Lake Forest Park store tomorrow, Thursday, May 26th at 7PM! We can hardly contain ourselves.  -Erin

See below for some more of our fangirling:

I love this book, and I love Lindy West. She gave me feelings I didn't know I was capable of feeling. I felt validated and brave and often incedibly enraged on her behalf. She talks about issues like sexism, abortion and fat shaming, body issues and internet trolls with such a perfect blend  of humor empathy and wisdom. It's that combination of strength and wit that makes it such an unforgettable read. 

She is my hero, and I want her to be my best friend. I want to get matching BFF bracelets and take her to brunch so I can listen to her talk about whatever goes through her beautiful brain.  -Courtney

 ***

Shrill started a kind of internal revolution--in every one of us who read it here--that told me my humanity does not rest on my thinness, my gender, or any outside commentary on my physical existence. All I can say is since having read Shrill, I heave a sigh of relief anew each and every time I realize I don't have to hate my body because it is not "the perfect body", nor do I have to shrink into nothing every time I am too loud, too proud, too big, and too shrill. Thank you, Lindy.  -Lizzie

 ***

Lindy West makes feminism accessible without watering it down, which most of our media outlets flat out refuse to do. She makes the daily struggle to insist that others recognize our (women's) humanity HILARIOUS while not downplaying how effing atrocious the whole situation actually is.  -Anje

What Are You Reading Now? Featuring Helen Simonson

The release of Helen Simonson’s first novel since Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is perfectly timed. Just as America’s dramatic obsession with Britain’s World War I-era idiosyncrasies is left behind by the finale of Downton Abby, we get The Summer Before the War to put us right back in the English countryside. 

The Summer Before the War takes place, literally, the summer before World War I breaks out in 1914. But in Sussex, where the small towns and hamlets seem so removed from the violence of the Ottoman Empire, the most controversial thing to happen is the arrival of a young, attractive, female Latin teacher. 

Coming off the heels of Simonson’s first triumph with Major Pettigrew, as well as its reminiscence of Downton’s characters and imagery, Simonson’s new novel is already receiving high praise. 

In preparation for her appearance at our Lake Forest Park store on March 30th, we asked her what she’s been reading now that her novel’s hitting shelves. It’s a new series we’re going to feature on the blog and in our newsletter, but we thought Simonson would be the right author to start things off.       

Maybe it's possible to find new pockets of time for reading?  I've just discovered that on a plane I can read a real book all through take off, landing and that endless waiting on runways for the ground crew to get back from lunch and open the gate. And what am I missing - mindless TV or the humiliation of snoring in the middle seat?  Among the high-flying books I've read?  Try The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin, a fascinating portrait of betrayal for Truman Capote fans. I've read and re-read My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout (just nominated for the Bailey's Prize) because it's a master class in creating a unique voice.  And I've been lucky enough to read advance copies of Everyone Brave is Forgiven, by Chris Cleave (coming May) and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (coming June).  The former is a gripping World War II story of love and duty set in London and the siege of Malta and the latter is a stunning debut exploring the history of slavery in Ghana and tracing many generations; including those who remained and those who were shipped as slaves to America.  With books as good as these, my new reading habit just might stick!

Please join us on Wednesday, March 30th at 7:00PM, for Helen Simonson in conversation with local fave, Jennie Shortridge.

The Green Island: Author Event

Historical fiction has always been somewhat of a literary enigma for me. You can mention it in the same breath—for better or worse—as other genre fiction staples: mystery, thriller, romance, etc… But, at the same time, it often belongs on the same shelves as literary juggernauts.

Take Shawna Yang Ryan’s The Green Island: it is deeply influenced by Tai-Pei’s troubled history and begins amid a nationalist uprising in 1947. It is, by all accounts, at least part historical fiction as its plot and narrative are wrapped up in real world historical events. But, like all good genres, The Green Island transcends its own boundaries and slowly turns into literature with a capital ‘L’.

Shawn Yang Ryan is currently on a west coast tour for The Green Island and visited the Lake Forest Park store last month. Her audience spilled out of the den and into the regular stacks. But because the prose in her book is so lush and lyrical, the reading remained intimate as lookers-on continued to arrive.

It got me thinking: what is it about historical fiction that seems to capture audiences and readers differently than other genres of literary fiction? Because historical fiction is defined by its genre elements, it can be hard, sometimes, to take it seriously as literature. Literature, as opposed to thrillers or detective novels, is defined precisely by its lack of genre archetypes: it provides subtly complex characters in familiar, though inflated, situations. The questions literary novels ask evolve and expand throughout the reading. Meanwhile, genre novels deal with clear questions posed at the start: Who killed the guy? Will they fall in love? Is that a ghost?

Historical fiction, however, includes both structures. The Green Island begins by asking what will happen to Tai-Pei and then continues to explore how the events of 1947 effect us today? This is why Ryan’s audience was so large and so engrossed. As a society, we are still wondering what will happen as North Korea continues to flop rockets into the South China Sea and as the U.S. signs over our commitment in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The questions posed in Ryan’s lyric narrative continue to echo.

What keeps us reading a mystery is the nagging need-to-know. But what keeps us turning the pages of The Green Island? We already know what happens, historically. Many people are, in fact, still living through it. But like all readers of literature, we want to know that our experiences are not an anomaly, rather shared and universal.

-Josh

Meet the Author: Stuart Rojstaczer and The Mathematician's Shiva

We here at the Ravenna location are getting pretty keyed-up for our upcoming events. This fall is chock full of great author visits, and other awesome activities like a pajama party for kids, storytime for grown-ups, and some huge author luncheons.

First up, we are so excited to welcome Stuart Rojstaczer and his new novel The Mathematician's Shiva. Stuart has been a university professor, a dishwasher, a musician, a scientist, the nation's foremost expert on grade inflation, and now a novelist. To get you equally keyed-up, and as a sort of introduction, we've asked Stuart a few bookish questions.

Stuart will join us at the Ravenna location on Satuday, September 6th at 7 PM.

What is the last really great book you read?

The last new or newish book was The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson. The last older book was Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (a re-read).

What are the next few books on your to-read list?

• Re-read Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev 
• 13 Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley
• The Property by Rutu Modan
• The Possessed by Elif Batuman

If you could read one book again for the first time, what book would it be?
Candide by Voltaire. I think that was the first time I realized you could be smart and funny and still be important as a writer. I loved the feeling that recognition gave me and I'd love to re-experience it.

What book would people be surprised that you've read and enjoyed? 
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. I read it to my daughter years ago. It's not well written, but it's a fun story about a geeky, brainy family. That's my kind of family.

How are your bookshelves arranged at home?
All fiction and letters of fiction writers are in one grouping arranged alphabetically by author. Then there is a travel section arranged alphabetically by city/country. Then there is a baseball section. Then there is an education section. Then there is the "everything else" section arranged alphabetically by author.

What is your favorite bookstore? 
Books Inc. in Palo Alto, CA. It's not only a great little bookstore with a knowledgeable staff, but that staff will also, on occasion, serve up a stiff margarita. Take that, Amazon!

Who are your 5 favorite authors?
That's a loaded question! If favorite means, ooh, a new book is coming out, I've gotta get it, then number one right now would be Ian McEwan. There are a boat load of contemporary authors I admire. In terms of living American writers who have paid their dues and would be first on a ballot of Hall of Famers (and there should be a Writers Hall of Fame somewhere in America): in no particular order, Doctorow, Smiley, Ford, Chabon, Pynchon, and Banks. That's six. I'll stop there.

Do you have any weird writing process quirks?
I say a little "prayer" in Yiddish when I start. It's a kind of summoning. Seems to set the mood quite nicely.
  
What's next for you? 
Finish my next novel!

You should also check out Stuart's interesting Publisher's Weekly piece on the difference between doing science and writing novels.

The Mathematician's Shiva by Stuart Rojstaczer

“A brilliant and compelling family saga full of warmth, pathos, history, and humor.” –Jonathan Evison, author of West of Here 

“A hugely entertaining debut.” –Publishers Weekly

When the greatest female mathematician in history passes away, her son, Alexander “Sasha” Karnokovitch, just wants to mourn his mother in peace. But rumor has it the notoriously eccentric Polish émigré has solved one of the most difficult problems in all of mathematics, and has spitefully taken the solution to her grave. As a ragtag group of mathematicians from around the world descends upon Rachela’s shiva, determined to find the proof or solve it for themselves—even if it means prying up the floorboards for notes or desperately scrutinizing the mutterings of her African Grey parrot—Sasha must come to terms with his mother’s outsized influence on his life.

Spanning decades and continents, from a crowded living room in Madison, Wisconsin, to the windswept beach on the Barents Sea where a young Rachela had her first mathematical breakthrough, The Mathematician’s Shiva is an unexpectedly moving and uproariously funny novel that captures humanity’s drive not just to survive, but to achieve the impossible.

New Luncheon Series at Ravenna Third Place Books

We love our author events.  We love meeting new authors, introducing them to you, and giving everyone a chance for a great experience.  Recently we've introduced an exciting new luncheon series at our Ravenna location and have already welcomed such great authors as Jonathan Lethem, Ann Patchett, and Ishmael Beah.

For the price of the ticket, each attendee receives a copy of the author's book and a delicious lunch provided Vios, Cafe at Third Place.  The luncheon series takes place in the warm and inviting Third Place Pub.  The Pub provides a private, intimate setting for the authors to read, speak, and answer questions from a small audience limited to about 40 people.  It's a wonderful alternative to the larger format readings that many authors and readers are traditionally used to.  We've had a great response from those who have already participated.  It's been an exciting series for us, and we hope that you'll be equally pleased.


Up next, we welcome Nancy Horan, author of Loving Frank.  Nancy's new novel, Under the Wide and Starry Sky is already a hit with many of our booksellers.  Emily A. at Lake Forest Park has this to say about it:

Before I read this book, I didn't give a fig about Robert Louis Stevenson and had only read his poetry as a child. Now I want to read all of his books and journals! Nancy Horan (author of Loving Frank) brings the colorful Stevensons to life in this vibrant work of historical fiction, full of bold characters who buck the conventions of their time, following their hearts wherever they might lead. From France to California and from Scotland to the South Pacific, they are plagued by illness and must balance the demands and expectations of family with the need to make a living and an appetite for adventure.

Under the Wide and Starry Sky tells the improbable love story of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his tempestuous American wife, Fanny.

At the age of thirty-five, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne has left her philandering husband in San Francisco to set sail for Belgium—with her three children and nanny in tow—to study art. It is a chance for this adventurous woman to start over, to make a better life for all of them, and to pursue her own desires. Not long after her arrival, however, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her children repair to a quiet artists’ colony in France where she can recuperate. Emerging from a deep sorrow, she meets a lively Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson, ten years her junior, who falls instantly in love with the earthy, independent, and opinionated “belle Americaine.”

Fanny does not immediately take to the slender young lawyer who longs to devote his life to writing—and who would eventually pen such classics as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In time, though, she succumbs to Stevenson’s charms, and the two begin a fierce love affair—marked by intense joy and harrowing darkness—that spans the decades and the globe. The shared life of these two strong-willed individuals unfolds into an adventure as impassioned and unpredictable as any of Stevenson’s own unforgettable tales.

Nancy Horan will join us on Wednesday, March 26th at 1:00 PM.  Call us at Ravenna Third Place, 206-525-2347 to reserve your spot.  Seating is limited, so don't miss out!

And don't miss the rest of the series...

Wednesday, April 9th at 1:00 PM
Blood Will Out:  The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade by Walter Kirn

In the summer of 1998, Walter Kirn then an aspiring novelist struggling with impending fatherhood and a dissolving marriage set out on a peculiar, fateful errand: to personally deliver a crippled hunting dog from his home in Montana to the New York apartment of one Clark Rockefeller, a secretive young banker and art collector who had adopted the dog over the Internet. Thus began a fifteen-year relationship that drew Kirn deep into the fun-house world of an outlandish, eccentric son of privilege who ultimately would be unmasked as a brazen serial impostor, child kidnapper, and brutal murderer.

Kirn's one-of-a-kind story of being duped by a real-life Mr. Ripley takes us on a bizarre and haunting journey from the posh private clubrooms of Manhattan to the hard-boiled courtrooms and prisons of Los Angeles. As Kirn uncovers the truth about his friend, a psychopath masquerading as a gentleman, he also confronts hard truths about himself. Why, as a writer of fiction, was he susceptible to the deception of a sinister fantasist whose crimes, Kirn learns, were based on books and movies? What are the hidden psychological links between the artist and the con man? To answer these and other questions, Kirn attends his old friend s murder trial and uses it as an occasion to reflect on both their tangled personal relationship and the surprising literary sources of Rockefeller's evil. This investigation of the past climaxes in a tense jailhouse reunion with a man whom Kirn realizes he barely knew a predatory, sophisticated genius whose life, in some respects, parallels his own and who may have intended to take another victim during his years as a fugitive from justice: Kirn himself.

Combining confessional memoir, true crime reporting, and cultural speculation, Blood Will Out is a Dreiser-esque tale of self-invention, upward mobility, and intellectual arrogance. It exposes the layers of longing and corruption, ambition and self-delusion beneath the Great American con.

Friday, May 9th at 1:00 PM
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning

Anthony Doerr, a stunningly ambitious and beautiful novel about a blind French girl and a German boy
whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie Laure lives with her father in Paris within walking distance of the Museum of Natural History where he works as the master of the locks (there are thousands of locks in the museum). When she is six, she goes blind, and her father builds her a model of their neighborhood, every house, every manhole, so she can memorize it with her fingers and navigate the real streets with her feet and cane. When the Germans occupy Paris, father and daughter flee to Saint-Malo on the Brittany coast, where Marie-Laure's agoraphobic great uncle lives in a tall, narrow house by the sea wall.

In another world in Germany, an orphan boy, Werner, grows up with his younger sister, Jutta, both enchanted by a crude radio Werner finds. He becomes a master at building and fixing radios, a talent that wins him a place at an elite and brutal military academy and, ultimately, makes him a highly specialized tracker of the Resistance. Werner travels through the heart of Hitler Youth to the far-flung outskirts of Russia, and finally into Saint-Malo, where his path converges with Marie-Laure.

Doerr's gorgeous combination of soaring imagination with observation is electric. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, "All the Light We Cannot See" is his most ambitious and dazzling work.

My Bookstore Lit Crawl

To celebrate the November 13th publication of My Bookstore: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop, we are teaming up with other great, local, indie bookstores to host a lit crawl!  Support your favorite bookstore with like-minded authors.

Third Place will be welcoming Stephanie Kallos, who wrote a lovely and sweet essay about our store along with members of the Seattle 7 writers group.  Join us for a rousing conversation about why indie's matter!  This Friday, we are pleased to welcome Jennie Shortridge, Erica Bauermeister, Laurie Frankel, Dave Boling, Kevin O'Brien and Karl Marlantes...and of course Stephanie Kallos.

Here are the rest of the Lit Crawl Details :

At your first event, you will receive a special My Bookstore passport, and then at each event thereafter you will receive a stamp. With three or more stamps, you are entered for a chance to win great prizes sponsored by the lit crawl consortium, which includes gift cards to Third Place and University Book Store, copies of My Bookstore, and a prize pack of all attending authors’ most recent work.

All events are listed below :

11/12 – 7pm: Ivan Doig at University Book Store in Seattle
11/13 – 7pm: Tom Robbins at Village Books  in Bellingham
11/14 – 7pm Jonathan Evison at Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island
11/16 - 7pm Stephanie Kallos and members of the Seattle 7 at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park
11/20 – 7pm: Timothy Egan at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle

A portion of the proceeds from the sales of My Bookstore will be donated by the publisher to the American Book Association’s (ABA) bookseller education program/Winter Institute Scholarship Fund and to the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE).

View From the Crow's Nest

From the information desk at the Lake Forest Park store Monday evening, I snapped to attention at the sound of a raven call piercing through the din in the commons. I wasn’t particularly surprised, though. The house was packed for our author event for Gifts of the Crow by John Marzluff and Tony Angell. In an excited crowd of over 500 bird enthusiasts, someone was bound to break out into a caw, right?

What I was able to catch of John and Tony’s talk was stellar, adorned with backyard crow and raven stories. Birds building tools to retrieve food? Sure. Dropping off little presents like glass beads and candy hearts for humans who look out for them? Yep. My eyes were opened to the amazing behaviors of these creatures with whom we’ve co-evolved and continue to coexist.

That’s why I was so excited when I discovered this adorable new corvid book in the children’s section yesterday! More, by I. C. Springman and Brian Lies, begins in a magpie’s empty nest. “Nothing,” it starts. Enter a little mouse who shares a treasure with the bird. “Something!” it continues. As you can imagine, something turns into a whole lot more until the nest is overflowing with stuff. Raise your hand if you can relate! *raises hand* The story of More is told simply through the words that quantify the amount of junk as it escalates, but the pictures tell the rest of the story. I can’t wait to read this one aloud to some kiddos I know, who will be keen to pick up on the pattern and respond to the beautiful and humorous illustrations. Maybe we’ll even practice a few bird calls as we go!

Posted by Jessica B.

New Release Tuesday

It's new release Tuesday!  One of the best perks of being an independent bookseller has got to be the ARCs.  That's bookstore lingo for Advanced Reader's Copy.  Which means we get to read new books before they are released and then tell you, the discriminating book buyer, all about the awesome new reads coming out.  This week we've got three great suggestions.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, by Ben Fountain

A ferocious firefight with Iraqi insurgents at "the battle of Al-Ansakar Canal" has transformed the eight surviving men of Bravo Squad into America's most sought-after heroes. For the past two weeks, the Bush administration has sent them on a media-intensive nationwide "Victory Tour" to reinvigorate public support for the war. Now, on this chilly and rainy Thanksgiving, the Bravos are guests the Dallas Cowboys, slated to be part of the halftime show.

Among the Bravos is the Silver Star-winning hero of Al-Ansakar Canal, Specialist William Lynn, a nineteen-year-old Texas native. Amid clamoring patriots sporting flag pins on their lapels and Support Our Troops bumper stickers on their cars, the Bravos are thrust into the company of the Cowboys' hard-nosed owner, his coterie of wealthy colleagues, a luscious born-again cheerleader, a veteran Hollywood producer, and supersized pro players eager for a vicarious taste of war.

Among these faces Billy sees those of his sister, father, and Shroom, the philosophical sergeant who opened Billy's mind and died in his arms. Over the course of this day, Billy will begin to understand difficult truths about himself, his country, his struggling family, and his brothers-in-arms. In the final few hours before returning to Iraq, Billy will drink and brawl, yearn for home and mourn those missing, face a heart-wrenching decision, and discover pure love and a bitter wisdom far beyond his years.

Poignant, riotously funny, and exquisitely heartbreaking, "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" is a devastating portrait of our time, a searing and powerful novel that cements Ben Fountain's reputation as one of the finest writers of his generation.

Robert and Emily both loved this one.  Robert says:

Ben Fountain has created a sort of inverted Odyssey here where our hero, Billy Lynn, comes home from the Iraq war to find yet a whole new catalog of trials and challenges awaiting him and the rest of Bravo company before they are shipped back to the Gulf.

The book takes place on the final day of that tour, Thanksgiving at a Dallas Cowboys football game where Bravo company are guests of honor. Here the stadium itself becomes a socioeconomic archeological dig where all of America can be seen in the various levels of class and character on display.  

In the end, the novel not only gives us a fresh take on how we view capitalism, materialism, ourselves, our country, and our military, but provides a wonderfully empathetic tragic-hero in Billy Lynn, at once a brave, fearless fighting machine while still a very innocent and confused young man

Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

One choice can transform you- or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves, and herself.  All while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.

Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.

I loved the first book in this series, Divergent, but haven't gotten my hands on the ARC for the new one yet.  It's a pretty hot item around the bookstore right now.  But Emily has read it and she says:

I tend to be disappointed by the second book in a series, but this was a very strong follow-up to Divergent - suspenseful but not repetitive, bringing in new ideas and information about the world. It felt like the author had a plan for the whole story before the first book was published. I can hardly wait for book 3!

This series is a great one for Hunger Games fans, and with two books out, now would be a great time to pick it up and join the fun!

Jeneration X: One Reluctant Adult's Attempt to Unarrest Her Arrested Development; Or, Why It's Never Too Late for Her Dumb Ass to Learn Why Froot Loops Are Not for Dinner, by Jen Lancaster

In Such a Pretty Fat, Jen Lancaster learned how to come to terms with her body. In My Fair Lazy, she expanded her mind. Now the New York Times bestselling author gives herself, and her generation, a kick in the X, by facing her greatest challenge to date: acting her age. Jen is finally ready to put away childish things (except her Barbie Styling Head, of course) and embrace the investment-making, mortgage-carrying, life-insurance-having adult she’s become.

From getting a mammogram to volunteering at a halfway house, she tackles the grown-up activities she’s resisted for years, and with each rite of passage she completes, she’ll uncover a valuable, and probably humiliating, life lesson that will ease her path to full-fledged, if reluctant, adulthood.

We are excited to host Jen for an author event on Tuesday, May 8th at 7:00 PM.  The event will have signing line tickets, so call us today and get to the front of the line to meet this hilarious and genuine, reluctant adult.

Little House Love

We all have those books that forever ring true in our lives. Steve has long loved the Little House on the Prairie series, as a child and still, perhaps more, as an adult.

Before visiting Tolkien's Middle-Earth and William Gibson's cyberspace, I traveled across the American frontier with Laura, Pa and the rest of the Ingalls family. Like the realms of fantasy and science fiction to come, reading about Laura's world was a completely different, fascinating and new experience of the imagination. Not only was I immersed in the lives of these pioneers but I felt like a cherished member of the Ingalls family as well. Every time I finish the final book, I feel as if I am saying good-bye to very dear friends, at least until the next time I read it. -Steve

This Thursday, Third Place welcomes one author whose love for Little House arguably rivals that of our very own Steve.  At 7:00PM, Wendy McClure will present her new book, The Wilder Life : My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie

For anyone who has ever wanted to step into the world of a favorite book, here is a pioneer pilgrimage, a tribute to Laura Ingalls Wilder, and a hilarious account of butter-churning obsession.

Wendy McClure is on a quest to find the world of beloved Little House on the Prairie author Laura Ingalls Wilder-a fantastic realm of fiction, history, and places she's never been to, yet somehow knows by heart. She retraces the pioneer journey of the Ingalls family- looking for the Big Woods among the medium trees in Wisconsin, wading in Plum Creek, and enduring a prairie hailstorm in South Dakota. She immerses herself in all things Little House, and explores the story from fact to fiction, and from the TV shows to the annual summer pageants in Laura's hometown.

Whether she's churning butter in her apartment or sitting in a replica log cabin, McClure is always in pursuit of "the Laura experience." Along the way she comes to understand how Wilder's life and work have shaped our ideas about childhood and the American West.

Join us tomorrow for what is sure to be a delightful evening. I know Steve will be there!

Reading with Cats

Books and cats just seem to go hand in hand.  Perhaps it's the calm and stillness of a napping cat that makes them the ideal lap companion when snuggling into that new favorite read.  We know a lot of you out there love your cats... almost as much as you love reading so here are some fun, kitty tidbits.

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We've got a great event coming up on Sunday, March 18th at 5:30 PM.  Come meet Carolyn Banguero, author of Paolo's Adventures : The Tale of a Very Brave Kitty.  Banguero tells the story of Paolo, a brave little cat who finds himself at MEOW (Mercer Island Eastside Orphans and Waifs) Cat Rescue.  Follow Paolo's journey in this sweet tale about a cat on the mend and the people who help him.  And best of all, a percentage of the net proceeds will be donated to MEOW.

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Do you love kitties but struggle with allergies?  Well, do we have the answer for you!  Knit your own cat with Knit Your Own Cat : Easy-to-follow Patterns for 16 Frisky Felines by Sally Muir and Joanna Osborne.  This book is packed with a litter of woolly cats to cuddle and love.  Fantastic photos and clear instructions make this a great idea for the cat-lover OR the knitter in your life.  

Or would you like to take your crafting to another level?  Are you clamoring to include your kitty in your crafting pastimes?  Well, look no further than Crafting with Cat Hair : Cute Handicrafts to Make With Your Cat.  Kaori Tsutaya has put together a  crazy collection of crafts made from...that's right, cat hair.  Tsutaya has found a way to transform every cat-lovers curse into crafts fit for any stylish, crafty boutique. You've got to see these adorable creations to believe them.    

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Third place staffers certainly know that cats make the ultimate reading companion.  A while back we did a poll  and counted a number of those purr-fect pals among the staff.  Here is one of the newest editions to the reading family.  It's Zipper, and he loves cuddling up for a good read with his human companion, Steve.

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And finally, check out this pretty awesome cat/book sculpture from Catsparella.

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So, as winter winds give way to a sometimes fickle Northwest spring, curl up with your favorite, feline friend and enjoy a fabulous book.

Musicals Based on Books... and an Upcoming Author Visit!

At 6:30 PM this Friday, July 29th, we will be visited by Misha Berson, author of "Something's Coming, Something Good: West Side Story and the American Imagination." As luck would have it, TPB staffer Kestrel recently read an article all about musicals! Read what she had to say below: 

A great way to really immerse yourself into a reading experience is to read a book, then listen to (or go see live) the musical adapted from it. Last week, wordandfilm.com put together a great list of the 10 best musicals based on books. A few personal favorites are mentioned, including Wicked by Gregory Maguire, which is a lovely book and a smashing Stephen Schwartz musical, and the memoir of Seattle's own Gypsy Rose Lee, adapted by Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim, and Arthur Laurents into one of the greatest musicals of all time, Gypsy. The list mentions more great shows, but here are a few they forgot:

Voltaire's hilarious Candide was transformed into an equally entertaining musical by the great Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein's overture is probably the greatest in all of musical theater, and then of course there is the nearly impossible-to-sing “Glitter and be Gay” (Kristen Chenoweth does a pretty awesome job though) but my absolute favorite is the finale “Make Our Garden Grow.”

And how could they forget Show Boat?! The classic show by Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern based on the novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. I'm sure most anyone could hum the tune of “Ol' Man River,” (though maybe not in the original key!) but I also love “Can't Help Loving That Man.”

Seattle’s Intiman developed Elizabeth Spencer’s short story “The Light in the Piazza” into a Tony Award winning musical that features some of the most beautiful music in modern musical theater (in my opinion).

Andrew Lloyd Weber converted Wilkie Collins’ novel The Woman in White into a walloping flop of a musical, but the original novel is a wonderful example of a Victorian thriller, from one of the world’s first crime novelists. 

And let’s not forget Mary Poppins, based on the children’s stories by P.L. Travers, and of course The Wizard of Oz, based on L. Frank Baum’s beloved books. And I must mention Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls, based on the short stories of Damon Runyon. Can you think of any others? Comment here, on Facebook, or send us a tweet @ThirdPlaceBooks!

Make sure to come see Misha Berson discuss her book on Friday!

Young Adult Summer Extravaganza!

On July 31st, we will be hosting six local YA authors: Kimberly Derting, Lisa Schroeder, Mandy Hubbard, Suzanne Young, Eileen Cook, and Cat Patrick. Each will discuss her latest novel and we'll have treats and prizes, too! Check out the exciting trailers below or click on each book title to read more on our website.

Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard

A trailer was unavailable for this book, but read an awesome review at http://blog.figment.com/2011/07/21/ripple-by-mandy-hubbard/

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

The Education of Hailey Kendrick by Eileen Cook

A trailer was unavailable for this book, but read more about the book at the author's website: http://www.eileencook.com/

Forgotten by Cat Patrick

Come see these authors at Third Place on July 31st at 4PM! 

LFP Reads: Karl Marlantes

Author and Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association award winner Karl Marlantes will be at Third Place Books on July 25^th for the LFP Reads program. The Third Place Literary Book Club will be discussing his book at 7 pm. LFP Reads will be hosting additional events on July 28th and August 4th.

Author Karl Marlantes with Third Place Books staff member Robert

Staff member Emily reviewed Marlantes' previous book, Matterhorn:

"Thirty years in the making, this novel of the Vietnam combat experience is gritty, intense, and captivating from the first page. The riveting narrative takes the reader up and down the chain of command, creating empathy with nearly every character. Marlantes deftly demonstrates the ripple effect that small decisions can have, often to the detriment of those they were meant to help." - Emily

If you would like to pre-order Karl Marlantes' upcoming book, What It Is Like to Go to War, head over to the Third Place website. Karl Marlantes will be at Third Place on July 25th - mark your calendars!

Talk About a Double-Header

At our Lake Forest Park store on Saturday 5/21 we have two authors, back to back, that have written what will be two of the most talked about books of the year.





At 4:30pm we have Norwegian thriller author Jo Nesbo for his new novel Snowman. Here is what one of our resident Mystery experts Deborah has to say about it :

"Winter may be a distant memory, but Jo Nesbo's The Snowman will chill you to the core. Oslo detective Harry Hole has battled demons both personal and professional throughout his career, but the emergence of Norway's first serial killer may be the greatest challenge he has faced. Dubbed 'The Snowman' after his calling card left at the scene of grisly murders, this evil and cunning killer has very carefully planned his finale and the role Harry Hole will play in it. Suspenseful and thrilling!"

Trying to figure out who to read after your done with Stieg Larsson?  You just found your new favorite mystery author.

At 6:30pm we have acclaimed historian Erik Larson (author of The Devil in the White City) will be here for his new book, In the Garden of Beasts : Love, Terror and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. In its glowing review of the book The New York Times says the book is "by far his best and most enthralling work of novelistic history." We agree! its a gripping read and Mr. Larson is a fascinating presenter.


These will likely be two of the most talked about books of the year. Don't miss your chance to meet these authors and hear them talk about their work.

Backroom Shenanigans!

We got a new author events podium yesterday...and wouldn't you know it, as soon as it was put together Stuffed Toy Horse King just had to make a speech about it.

All Over the Map

Just the other day, author Laura Fraser and staff member Emily Adams chatted about Laura’s new book, All Over the Map. Following An Italian Affair (both her book title and her experience...ooh la la) Laura meets her lover in Mexico, and discovers he has met somebody new. All Over the Map retells her adventures traveling the globe, searching for romance, adventure, and herself.  We've got signed copies!

Kathi Appelt Visit

Newbery winner Kathi Appelt, The Underneath, visited Third Place on May 19 and signed copies of her brand-new book, Keeper. We have autographed copies of both books in our kids’ section.

Events Host Tells All!

Sunday evening I gave Yann Martel permission to use the bathroom. I was about to escort him to the podium for his Third Place presentation introducing Beatrice and Virgil, but the humility of this struck me – bestselling Booker-prize winning author Yann Martel asked me if he could have 5 minutes?  But in reflection it was not unusual – like virtually every author we are so fortunate to meet in this job, Yann Martel is above all a lovely, thoughtful person.

He entertained the crowd, many of whom said that of the frequent readings they attend, his stood out as one of the very best. He won many hearts when he shared his now-well-known story of Barack Obama writing to him after he and his daughter read Life of Pi, to thank the author. This is in sharp contrast to his own country’s leader, Stephen Harper, whom he described as “George Bush Light.” At least Mr. Bush was known to have read a book now and then, while the Canadian prime minister seems to be without what Martel refers to as the capacity for “stillness.”
So Martel sends him a carefully selected book, with a thoughtful letter, every two weeks, and he is now on Book 79. (http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/)

Book clubs needing a new list could do worse than following what Martel’s mailed to the leader. The Prime Minister has not replied.

The friendly, enthusiastic Canadian greeted every fan, posed for all photos, and inscribed books and the Third Place commemorative broadsides for over an hour after his reading.

On Tuesday I went with Ridley Pearson to two elementary schools, where he talked about his new Disneyland adventure, Disney in Shadows, about kids who become holograms. A bestselling author of thrillers for adults, his relatively recent, and very successful, foray into kids’ books seems like a perfect match. He captivates his audiences and shares the same delight as the kids with the magic of Disney and the thrill of scary, spine-tingling mystery. When he arrived for his in-store event and saw that Jacqueline Winspear was about to speak to an overflowing Den, and the larger stage venue was reserved for him, he insisted that we switch spaces – a very good call and one made purely from his respect and appreciation for another author. (They had never met, except in cyberspace, so it was fun to see them greet each other.)

And Friday morning Third Place reverberated with the excitement of 400 plus elementary school kids, here to see Andrew Clements on a rare book tour. Again, a more gracious gentlemen one could not hope to meet. He told his personal memories (with slides) and emphasized that everyone has “history” and can draw on it to write stories. Since Andrew and I were at rival Big Ten schools studying English the same years, and enjoyed a laugh over that, I think I appreciated his family photos at least as much as the kids did. He also enthusiastically told me about writing Double Trouble in Walla Walla, which uses his collection of words that rhyme in this way – and then thanked me in an inscription for a “super duper” event.

People often ask “What are famous writers really like?” They expect some stories of arrogance and aloofness, I suspect. But I was reminded this week why I am continuing to go with my usual answer: “Better than you can imagine!”

Posted by Cheryl