A Bookseller Gives Back

One of our outstanding booksellers, Annie, has been spearheading a project to provide books to a great group of people.

Publisher's send bookstores like our Advanced Reader Copies (ARC's) of books that will be published sometime in the next 6 months or so. The idea is that we will read them, love them and then be ready to sell them when the books finally arrive in our store on the publication date.

While many of these books find homes on the shelves of the libraries of our staff, there are often too many for us to take home. We have always struggled with positive things to do with these books. We can't sell them. We can't bring ourselves to destroy them. What to do?

Annie saw this problem and came up with a great solution.

 

"The idea just sort of came to me randomly. I'd been thinking about all the ARCs in the break room and what the store does with them when the book is released. It occurred to me those ARCs could help a lot of people who are going through treatment for cancer at Virginia Mason Medical Center's Floyd and Delores Jones Cancer Institute. I myself went through treatment there from May 2008 through March 2009 for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I still go there for check ups and testing to make sure my cancer hasn't returned.

"The thing that's stayed with me is the kindness of the doctors, nurses, techs, schedulers, everyone there works hard to make a frightening and terrible experience a little easier to bear. These people did a lot for me and they do a lot for all the other patients who come through their doors. So I wanted to help them with their job.

"My treatment would take a full day, during which my family would entertain themselves, and sometimes me. Part of that entertainment was books. But going through chemotherapy also means you - and likely your family and friends - don't have much energy left to seek out comforting things to help you escape what you're going through. So I thought if I could bring these ARCs to the patients and their families, that's one less thing they have to think about trying to do. And one more thing that can provide comfort to everyone, the staff included.

"I bounced the idea off several of my coworkers, who were very positive about the idea. I got in touch with Pat Lively, a social worker who works with cancer patients. Between the two of us, we've got a nice collection of free books in the Meditation Room of the Cancer Institute that people can take. It's an amazing feeling giving back to people who helped me through so much, and provide them with another way to help ease others' discomfort.

"I get teary each time I drop off the ARCs."

A huge thank you to Annie for sharing her story, and our ARCs. A solid reminder that the smallest things in life can make the biggest difference, that we are surrounded by overlooked resources and unrecognized opportunities to pay-it-back and pay-it-forward everyday. More importantly it is a reminder that amidst so many stories of a lack of love in the world there really are just as many, if not more, that demonstrate the opposite.

10 Sure Fire Father's Day Gifts (Books and More)

Here is our Father's Day gift philosophy : Don't get him a tie. Don't get him socks. Get him something he would never get for himself that once he has it, he'll wonder how he ever lived without it. Here are 10 items we sell that we think fit that description :

For the Carnivore : Steak Saws (set of 4)
Give him the joy of his workshop right at the dinner table.











For the Adventurer : Demon Fish by Juliet Eilperin 
An amazing look at sharks around the world.
 










For the Grill- Master : Blink Ketchup and Mustard
Why do they close their eyes when you pour these condiments? Is it pleasure? Is it pain? Are they just tired? Having a hot-dog just got philosophical.

 











For the Inner Geek : The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead
Is he the kind of guy who would enjoy making his own "Mini-Me" out of a lego action figure? Of course he is.











For the Lodge-Man : Moosehead Mobile Device Stand
His smart-phone has never looked classier.

 










For the Cowboy : The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
Did he get just a little too into the movie True Grit? This hilarious, violent and action packed homage to the classic western should get him back in the saddle.











For the Outdoors-Man Stuck at Work : Red Snapper Screen Cleaner
His monitor will never look better.

For the Beer Lover : Craft Beers of the Pacific Northwest by Lisa M Morrison
Simple - If he drinks beer, he needs this book.

 For the Envious of His Kids Star Wars Toys : Lego Yoda Alarm Clock
Like it he will.

 








  



For the Sports Junkie : Those Guys Have All the Fun by James Andrew Miller
All the ESPN he can handle.













All on our shelves now!

Two More Days for 25 cent ebooks

The great literary publisher, Unbridled Books, has made 25 of their best books available for $.25 each. These books are available for purchase on our website. the offer is good through then end of June 11. Here are some of our favorites from the list (just click on the title to purchase) :

Song of the Crow Layne Maheu

Yes this is a novel narrated by a crow. It is alsoa lyrical meditation on the relationship between humanity and the heavens Recalling both the magical imagination of Richard Adams's Watership Down and the spiritual richness of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Layne Maheus Song of the Crow is a soaring debut.



Sometimes We’re Always Real Same-Same by Mattox Roesch

Troubled Cesar is in the middle of nowhere, Alaska, because his Eskimo mother has moved home where she hopes they can both carve out a fresh start. It is the surprising story of a young man finding his way and his place in a world that can seem both too large and too small.



 
Shimmer by Eric Barnes

This is a thriller set in the tech world where a seemingly unstoppable software genius is on a meteoric rise to the top, except that his entire enterprise is a lie, a Ponzi scheme that is about to come crashing down around him.




Here is the rest of the list :

Conscience Point by Erica Abeel
The Islands of Divine Music by John Addiego
...Panopticon by David Bajo
The Unnatural History of Cypress Parish by Elise Blackwell
Green Age of Asher Witherow by M. Allen Cunningham
Breath and Bones by Susann Cokal
The Journal of Antonio Montoya by Rick Collignon
The Good Doctor Guillotine by Marc Estrin
Wolf Point by Edward Falco
Small Acts of Sex and Electricity by Lise Haines
The Distance between Us by Masha Hamilton
Stranger Here Below by Joyce Hinnefeld
Vanishing by Candida Lawrence
The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott
The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson
Captivity by Deborah Noyes
Hick by Andrea Portes
The Wonder Singer by George Rabasa
Taroko Gorge by Jacob Ritari
Phantom Limbs of the Rollow Sisters by Timothy Schaffert
Rain Village by Carolyn Turgeon

You Could be a Character in a Gary Shteyngart Novel !

The character is a dog. If you've read Gary Shteyngart (if you haven't, you should) you know that a dog in his book probably will be treated better than the humans.






How it works: send a picture of yourself reading Super Sad True Love Story with a dog to bluestone@randomhouse.com (mention it came from Third Place Books), and it will post on Bluestone. One winner will be selected By Gary, and he will name a dog in his next novel after the winner. Click here for more details. 


If the picture chosen is from one of our customers, we'll frame it and hang it proudly in our store for all to see. We'll also give you a $50 gift certificate.

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.

In a Ship of Her Own Making- Catherynne Valente's Magical World

“A GLORIOUS BALANCING ACT BETWEEN MODERNISM AND THE VICTORIAN FAIRY TALE, DONE WITH HEART AND WISDOM.” -- Neil Gaiman, Newbery Award-winning author of The Graveyard Book

“SEPTEMBER IS A CLEVER, FUN, STRONGHEARTED ADDITION TO THE RANKS OF BOLD, ADVENTUROUS GIRLS. VALENTE’S SUBVERSIVE STORYTELLING IS SHEER MAGIC.” -- Tamora Pierce, author of The Immortals series

Author Catherynne Valente may claim she's not September, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland, but as the narrator she has taken us all on a whirlwind, magical journey. A story about growing up, a story she would have wanted to read, a story so well rendered and enjoyed that it reminds us what makes "a story" so extraordinary!

Valente will be at our store May 23rd at 7pm, with musical accompaniment to set the mood of wonderment as we circumnavigate her brilliant new novel!

Our staff member Monica had an interview with the creator of Fairyland:


1. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is, as some readers may know, a book you originally published as an online serial. How do you think the serial nature of the writing influenced the form and content of the book?

It certainly led to that time-tested structure of having chapters end with a revelation or a tantalizing glimpse of something yet to come. Since I couldn’t go back and change anything, it also made me outline ahead of time and plot much more tightly than I usually do. At no point could I go back and tweak a detail to make later acts make more sense or have more symmetry. Like serial (and comic) writers have for ages, I was stuck with what I had.

I stayed 1-3 chapters ahead of the posting schedule the whole time, in case I made egregious mistakes, and I had the overall plot, including the final revelations, planned out far in advance. It was exciting to see people’s reactions to the events in Fairyland week after week, and really, an extraordinarily pleasant writing experience. It felt like play, for the sheer fun and joy of writing--in front of a very, very large audience, of course.

2. Various reviews have made connections between The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland… and classic books like the works of L. Frank Baum, J R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, and J. M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Were these early twentieth century books influential in your childhood? Or in your adulthood? Which others would you recommend?

Oh, absolutely. It’s hard to miss the very specific engagement with the themes of Narnia at some points, because they are absolutely intentional. I adored Baum and Lewis as a child, words cannot express my love of Peter Pan, (I know Wendy is given a rotten deal, made to be everyone’s mother, but I never saw myself as Wendy, always as Pan, and I think I am not alone among little girls), and I was a Quenya-spouting LOTR geek by high school. Alice Through the Looking Glass, Seaward, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Neverending Story (book, not film, though I do love the film) The Secret Country trilogy, and McKinley’s Beauty are also favorites.

But many of the classics left me troubled at various points, particularly their treatment of women and girls. The girls are mothering types or victims or just absent entirely, or else they are marked exceptions to women’s “true” nature, or else they are punished, essentially, for being female. That was always a lot for me to swallow as a young reader, as well as the beloved trope of entering the magical kingdom only to be forced back into your normal life like nothing extraordinary ever happened. When I set out to write a book your younger readers, I tried to write something that I would have wanted to read, that would have been what I needed at that age, when all the books around me were telling me that there were only so many ways for me to have an adventure.

3. Most of your published works are adult novels. How was it different to write for a younger audience?

Fewer sub-clauses!

Seriously. On a technical level there’s a lot of shortening my sentences, using less complex words (although I refuse to talk down to kids, especially in the age of your phone being able to tell you what any word means, so there are some fabulous vocabulary prizes in Fairyland), and making the plot move at a faster pace.

Reviews have made note of the direct address going on in Fairyland, where the narrator speaks to the audience--sometimes the child audience, sometimes the imagined parent reading to a child. I did this because a. I think it’s awesome and the original idea of Fairyland was to imitate older children’s books where they did it all the time and b. because it was a way to break the fourth wall and level with the readers, to tell them exactly what I wanted them to pay attention to. I think this helps with younger readers, to draw them in--it’s like a magician showing both her hands are empty before producing the rabbit.

Someone once asked me if I was September, if I saw her as a young version of me. If she was my authorial insert. If not her, who was “I” in Fairyland? I just smiled and said: “Of course I’m not September. I’m the narrator.”

4. You have a sequel planned with September as a teenager. Can you give us any hint about what’s in store for her?

Sure! The sequel concentrates on the fate of September’s shadow, and the mischief she got up to in the underground kingdom of Fairyland-Below after September went home. There will be dark magic and night-dodos and Winds who are Not At All Green and Mad Inventors and a peculiar kind of love triangle and at least one large tiger.

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about this book?
I’m not sure. I can tell you that what I want to say about it is that Fairyland was written with so much love, not only for September and her friends, not only for Fairyland itself, but for the children who would one day read it, and the adults who would find strength in it, and for the little girl I used to be, who looked up from all those beautiful books and said: “Someday I want to tell stories, too.”

Meet the Author! Join us for our in-store event!

Take me out to the Ball Game!

Did you know that Booksellers are real people? That once they leave the stacks, they take their information filled brains and unwind? That's right just like you! One such bookseller is Steve. And also just like you, they unwind by doing the things they like the most, for Steve and a few other booksellers the answer is Baseball! To celebrate the beginning of the season they all ventured out to watch our Mariners! And for your reading pleasure, perhaps for those no-hit, long innings, Steve has assembled some baseball book highlights!

Spring is here again: cherry blossoms, rain showers and of course, baseball! Hope springs eternal and one begins the season with a fresh start and high expectations for the hometown team. Besides the debut of young prospects and the return of experienced veterans, it is also that time of year to check out the new baseball books published this spring and maybe re-visit some timeless classics about America’s pastime. Here are some highlights of what can be found on our shelves now:

Leading off is Pitchers of Beer: The Story of the Seattle Rainiers by Dan Raley (Nebraska). A former sportswriter for The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Raley has written an entertaining and well-researched history of the Pacific Coast League team that captured (and occasionally broke a few) hearts of Seattle baseball fans long before the Seattle Mariners came to town in 1977. Emil Sick of Rainier Brewing bought the minor league Indians in 1937 and renamed them the Rainiers in a bit of shrewd, yet obvious product placement. For the next thirty years, the Rainiers broke PCL attendance records, captured several pennants and became a central fixture of mid-century life in Seattle. Before Felix Hernandez, there was young local pitching phenom, Fred Hutchinson. Before Edgar Martinez, there was Edo Vanni, the face of the team for many years. Before Dave Niehaus, there was Leo Lassen, the radio broadcaster who was the voice of summer and nearly as beloved as the sadly departed Niehaus. Throughout the years, the team had its share of sluggers and aces (and maybe even a goat or two), but the roster was always full of characters. Besides Hutchinson, several other legendary figures from Major League Baseball played a role in the story of the Rainiers at one time or another: Ron Santo, Rogers Hornsby and even Babe Ruth, the Bambino himself. If you are a lifelong Mariners fan, this is a story you need to read—a now overlooked and sometimes forgotten chapter in the history of baseball in the Pacific Northwest and a nostalgic look at a time when minor league baseball was the only game in town. Perhaps you can even raise a glass of the team’s namesake beer in their honor.

Here are another nine baseball books, both old and new, that are definitely worth a spot in your reading line-up for 2011:

Ball Four by Jim Bouton

The once controversial, now classic diary of the ill-fated 1969 season Bouton spent with the expansion Seattle Pilots.

The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn

The classic and nostalgic memoir of Brooklyn, baseball and those lovable bums--the Dodgers.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Economic theory as applied by baseball management to roster construction. Billy Beane and his Athletics of the 1990’s are the focus of this modern classics

Cardboard Gods by Josh Wilker

He captures the experience of growing up obsessed with baseball cards and explores what it means to be a fan of the game.

Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend

by James S. Hirsch  

Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. He began as a teenager in the Negro Leagues, became a cult hero in New York, and was the headliner in Major League Baseball’s bold expansion to California. He was a blend of power, speed, and stylistic bravado that enraptured fans for more than two decades. Now James Hirsch reveals the man behind the player.

The Baseball Codes by Jason Turbow

In The Baseball Codes, old-timers and all-time greats share their insights into the game’s most hallowed—and least known—traditions. For the learned and the casual baseball fan alike, the result is illuminating and thoroughly entertaining.

The Extra 2% by Jonah Keri

In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team’s Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender.

Take Time for Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti

A philosophical musing on sports and play, this wholly inspiring and utterly charming reissue of Bart Giamatti's long-out-of-print final book, Take Time for Paradise, puts baseball in the context of American life and leisure.

Baseball in the Garden of Eden by John Thorn

Think you know how the game of baseball began? Think again. More than a history of the game, Baseball in the Garden of Eden tells the story of nineteenth-century America, a land of opportunity and limitation, of glory and greed—all present in the wondrous alloy that is our nation and its pastime.

These featured titles (and the many more on our shelves now) should be enough reading material to keep any baseball fan entertained throughout the days of summer and through the long dark winter of the offseason as well. Play ball!

Bookseller with a Mission!

What can Booksellers and Booksales do to fight cancer?

Turns out they can do quite a bit, building awareness, raising money, and promoting healthy lifestyles and communities. One of our booksellers is making such efforts! Emily brought to our attention a great book:

"It's a fascinating book, even for a non-scientist like me, and I'm learning a great deal about the history of cancer research. The author weaves scientific history together with stories from his own coming-of-age as an oncologist, adding a personal touch to the story of humanity's relationship with this disease."

She got us on board, for each copy of The Emperor of All Maladies we sold this winter, Third Place Books gave $6 to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. In late March Emily sent in a check for $396. This was part of her fundraising campaign through Team in Training, and after training for 6 months, the team of 65 athletes from Seattle competed in the Lavaman Olympic distance triathlon in Waikoloa, HI.  Together they raised $315,000, and nationally TNT participants raised $2.8 million as they trained for this race! Way to go!!

Check out Emily's Blog! See her Hawaiian-humanitarian-adventure!

"Completing my first Olympic distance triathlon would have been amazing on its own, but doing it for a good cause with an amazing Emily's Race Re-Cap!

group of people was incredibly uplifting.  Our WA/AK Team raised over $315,000, and Team in Training Lavaman participants nationwide raised over $1,000,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society leading up to this race."

For more check out the photos of participants, team fun, and see more of the beautiful course! Triathlon Photos!

Heartwarming Thoughts on a Cold Afternoon

Typically I find comfort in the bookstore, the atmosphere, the other book-minded patrons, the shelves upon shelves of conversation and information authors and publishers want to share with you. Each book is a unique little gift from those collective powers, talent, effort and time. But some days there is even more comfort than others. Days where I run into books like these:

Loneliness is compelling, interesting, and not the least bit depressing! In fact, I was becoming emotional toward the end, which isn't an average response to science writing, but it's because the true aspect of our tendencies lean toward cooperation and affection. This is a fascinating read, study after study in various venues, methods, and even looking at animals, all with a focus on loneliness:

John T. Cacioppo's groundbreaking research topples one of the pillars of modern medicine and psychology: the focus on the individual as the unit of inquiry. By employing brain scans, monitoring blood pressure, and analyzing immune function, he demonstrates the overpowering influence of social context-a factor so strong that it can alter DNA replication. He defines an unrecognized syndrome-chronic loneliness-brings it out of the shadow of its cousin depression, and shows how this subjective sense of social isolation uniquely disrupts our perceptions, behavior, and physiology, becoming a trap that not only reinforces isolation but can also lead to early death. He gives the lie to the Hobbesian view of human nature as a "war of all against all," and he shows how social cooperation is, in fact, humanity's defining characteristic. Most important, he shows how we can break the trap of isolation for our benefit both as individuals and as a society.

I was surprised to see this title on our Bargain table, Hardcover for less than $8!  Considering the number of times my paperback copy has been handed out amongst my friends I really thought about buying two of these Bargain Hardcover editions but looked at the ever-growing stack of books in my hand and thought the better of it. Just seeing the cover again, though so clean and simple, brought back the flood of feelings and real affinity I have for humanity as a whole. And then as I continued to peruse I came across two other books that carried this redemptive theme:

Brooks illustrates a fundamental new understanding of human nature. A scientific revolution has occurred—we have learned more about the human brain in the last thirty years than we had in the previous three thousand. The unconscious mind, it turns out, is most of the mind—not a dark, vestigial place but a creative and enchanted one, where most of the brain’s work gets done. This is the realm of emotions, intuitions, biases, longings, genetic predispositions, personality traits, and social norms: the realm where character is formed and where our most important life decisions are made. The natural habitat of The Social Animal. He reveals the deeply social aspect of our very minds and exposes the bias in modern culture that overemphasizes rationalism, individualism, and IQ. Along the way, he demolishes conventional definitions of success while looking toward a culture based on trust and humility. The Social Animal is a moving and nuanced intellectual adventure, a story of achievement and a defense of progress. Impossible to put down, it is an essential book for our time, one that will have broad social impact and will change the way we see ourselves and the world.

And perhaps this last title won't seem as pertinent to some but I am as much disposed to my relationships and considerations of animals and plants as I am of those I have with and for people. And as far as displays of compassion and examples of love go, I'll take 'em anywhere I find 'em:

Wild elephants walking along a trail stop and spontaneously try to protect and assist a weak and dying fellow elephant. Laboratory rats, finding other rats caged nearby in distressing circumstances, proceed to rescue them. A chimpanzee in a zoo loses his own life trying to save an unrelated infant who has fallen into a watery moat.

The examples above and many others, argues Dale Peterson, show that our fellow creatures have powerful impulses toward cooperation, generosity, and fairness.
This rigorous and stimulating book challenges that notion, and it shows the profound connections-the moral continuum-that link humans to many other species. Peterson shows how much animal behavior follows principles embodied in humanity's ancient moral codes, from the Ten Commandments to the New Testament. Understanding the moral lives of animals offers new insight into our own.


The last two titles are on our New in Hardcover Table. It is always nice to find little reminders that tenderness and love are the default action, and that people are illuminating these truths to uplift those who happen upon them. I will end this celebration of human understanding with some quotes I also recently found that speak to all these hopes and insights:

"Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind." -Henry James

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." -Mother Teresa

"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved." -Kurt Vonnegut

"I'm a human being first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole." -Malcolm X

"it's love that enables him to feel another's pain as if it were his own...we are one another's lesson, one another's duty...replace[] metaphysics with human relationships"- Zadie Smith

Be well!

Calling all Pocket Poets

Metaphors

I'm a riddle in nine syllables,

an elephant, a ponderous house,

A melon strolling two tendrils.

O red fruit, ivory, fine timbers!

Money's new-minted in this fat purse.

I'm a means, a stage, a cow in calf.

I've eaten a bag of green apples,

Boarded the train there's no getting off.

-Sylvia Plath, from Poem in Your Pocket For Young Kids (Amulet)

Hey Kids! It's National Poetry month! Submit your original poetry and we'll post it on our blog and in our store. Entry forms are located in our children's department. For more information, click here.

Poem In Your Pocket Contest: April 1

The Panther

The Panther is like a leopard,

Except it hasn't been Peppered.

Should you behold a panther crouch, 

prepare to say Ouch.

Better yet, if called by a panther,

Don't anther.

-Ogden Nash, from Poem in Your Pocket For Young Kids (Amulet)

Hey Kids! It's National Poetry month! Submit your original poetry and we'll post it on our blog and in our store. For more information, click here.

Reading for Pleasure, Knitting for a Cause

Meet Patti!

In 2007 Patti, brought together her two passions, threading together community and non-profit organizations with books and the knitting of hats. Patti has been a “bookperson” for over twenty years, at many different stores, she helped open the University Village B&N in the mid-nineties and made her way to become part of the Third Place family in 2006. She's been knitting since fourth grade! Who better to create the Good Knits Book Club?! Nimble fingers, nimble mind, big heart.

When the group began it consisted of about 5 members and now has a consistent showing upwards of 15 people. More than a passion for reading, these followers have become friends, many of whom meet an entire hour early to have dinner together in the Lake Forest Park Commons. The meal is a quick one however, because half an hour before the 7pm start time Patti offers a thirty minute knitting lesson to new knitters. And as the hour rolls around everyone comes together to knit as they discuss the latest title the group has undertaken. After all, the best part of reading a book is the discourse that surrounds it, the richness of the dialogue between people not characters. Indeed every book is a conversation with an author, with a concept, but those worlds are made real tenfold when the spark of humans talking to humans sets it all ablaze.

There is a reason the “Knit” is before the “Book”, while of course those who attend are welcome to work on any project they set their needles to, the group on whole has a goal- 200 hats for the homeless children of Seattle. 200 is not arbitrary integer, in 2007 it was ten percent of the homeless population in Seattle. Of course in the last four years that number has risen considerably but 200 hats is still a tall order for a small, but very caring, group. The hats are distributed by the U.S. Coastguard's Holiday Stocking Organization. “Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children is an annual U.S. Coast Guard family and community friends effort to provide and deliver handmade Holiday Stockings filled with new gifts and useful essentials to homeless children ages birth to 17 years living in and out of shelters in the Puget Sound Area.” The Good Knits Book Club also assists in the sewing up of some of those stockings as the year draws to a close.

It's not all such serious business. Attend as you please, no dues, no contracts, just an open meeting the second Monday on every month. Each hat an attendee completes functions essentially as a raffle ticket, with Third Place Gift Cards and other choice bookish SWAG as the prizes for such efforts. There is also a Show 'N' Tell share portion of the meetings where members share knitting tips, new patterns, or in the case of one member, raw, exotic wools from New Zealand! The group get involved with events like Stitch and Pitch-- baseball and knitting!! Enjoy a game with good company and something thready to occupy you, especially during those long innings! Another delightful link of our two favorite PNW cities, the Seattle to Portland Yarn Train! The whole endeavor begins in Seattle training it to PDX with needles in hand to meet other knitters and spend the day socializing and shopping in Portland, all wrapped up with a late train ride back- whew what a day! Another thing the great Northwest graces us with is an appreciation of warmth, and good pair of socks- in July the group may venture to Portland once again for the Portland Sock Summit! Again knitters unite- and feet rejoice! These are some of the larger activities for the group but smaller, local field trips and occasional retreats are often enjoyed as well!

The Good Knits titles are discounted 20% to those who have a book club card. Just ask for a card at the meeting or in the store. All are welcome to join these discussions! 

The Good Knits Book Club normally meets the second Monday of each month. This month, however, Caroline Kennedy will be here on their normal book club night so the Next Meeting is Monday, April 4th!

Children's Poem In You Pocket Poetry Contest

You Travel a Path on Paper 

You travel a path on paper

and discover you're in a city

you only thought about before.

It's a Sunday marketplace. Parakeets and finches

are placed on the stones

and poppies in transparent wrapping

 

How can you be where you never were? 

And how did you find the way -- with your mind

your only measure?

-Fanny Howe, from Poem in Your Pocket For Young Kids (Amulet)

Are you a poet and nobody knows it?

Our children’s department is having a poetry contest open to kids grade K - 12. In celebration of National Poetry Month, every day during April we will select one poem to post on the blog and in our children’s department. 

Here's how to enter!

1. Stop by the children’s department to pick up your “pocket” to write your poem on. You can write it yourself or ask your parents for help. 
2. Drop your poem in our drop box on the desk in the children's department 
3. Check the blog every day in April to see if your poem is the poem of the day!

On the last day we will post the remaining submissions. So EVERYONE who enters has a chance to see their poem in print! We will also have a raffle at the end of the month to win a copy of 

Poem In Your Pocket For Young Poets: 100 Poems to Rip Out and Read  (Amulet)

Published in conjunction with The Academy of American Poets

selected by Bruno Navasky

And don't forget! All POETRY BOOKS are 20% off during April!

Delectable Discovery!

Emily has made a feastable find! Check it out:



http://www.thirdplacebooks.com/book/9781566567701



As a bookseller, it can be a bit disconcerting when someone tells me that a relative has published a book. Last week, I heard that my teammate's mother had written a cookbook, so with some trepidation, I looked it up: Pure & Simple Homemade Indian Vegetarian Cuisine by Vidhu Mittal. Lo and behold, not only was it on the shelf in our cookbook section, it was mouthwateringly beautiful! Several pages at the beginning are comprised of a glossary of spices, vegetables, legumes, and kitchen tools that are used in the book, each entry accompanied by a photo and a brief description. With multiple color photos of each recipe, this is the kind of cookbook that makes me hungry. By 10am I'd shown it to several coworkers, and I wanted to take the rest of the day off to go home and cook an Indian feast!

Aloo Paratha

On Friday afternoon, after several hours of pie and cookie baking, I realized that James would soon be home from work with our friend Johnny in tow. I'd mentioned that we should try something from the new cookbook, so I started trolling for recipes that looked quick & easy. I settled on Aloo Paratha (Indian Bread Stuffed with Potatoes) and Sabz Pulao (Mixed Vegetable Pilaf). The boys arrived around 6:30, and Johnny and I made a foray to the grocery store for ingredients.

              Sabz Pulao

There weren't too many vegetables to chop, so prep time was minimal. We put some potatoes on to boil for the flatbread and set the rice in a pot to soak. I chopped cauliflower, cilantro, green chiles, and potatoes while Johnny mixed the dough for the bread. When the potatoes were ready for mashing, the bread dough had finished resting and the rice had soaked long enough. We assembled the pilaf ingredients quickly in a skillet, and left it to simmer until the rice & potatoes were cooked through. This turned out to be just the right amount of time to cook the flatbreads - I rolled them out while Johnny cooked them one at a time. While the process might seem intimidating, it's really quite simple. The dough is much more forgiving than others I've used.

Our total time in the kitchen came in around an hour. I even had enough leftover pilaf & potatoes to make a tasty scramble with a few eggs the next morning. I will definitely try more recipes from this lovely book!

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(Be sure to stop by and check out our Cooking Table full of other delicious, delectable discoveries!!)

Riddle me this...

Every Monday the bookstore staff puts their heads together and collectively works out the Sunday NPR Will Shortz Puzzle.  Kestrel is usually the one who has the puzzle memorized so we all flock to her asking, "What's the puzzle?"  For various information booth shifts there will be scraps of paper littering the counter as we write down potential answers, removing vowels, and rearranging letters. There have been times when we've all left the store at the end of the day scratching our heads and others when it's taken 3 minutes and..."I have it!"

So here's an open invitation: come on down to Third Place books on a Monday afternoon and help us figure out the puzzler. Yet another way that we can be your Third Place.

Want to work on this week's puzzler?

Spell a part of the human body. Change one of the letters to an E, and rearrange the result to name another part of the human body. What body parts are these? Clue: Both parts of the body are things you can see.

A word of warning: The staff have figured out at least three different answers.

We're Going to Miss You Adam!

Today was the last day at Third Place Books for bookseller Adam. After 6 1/2 years, Adam is off to pursue a new career as a artisan cabinet maker. Rather than our traditional send off with cake, Adam opted for fried chicken from Ezel's. It was yummy! Adam will continue playing with his band The Whiskey Swillers (thus the farewell gift item in Adam's left hand). If you want to catch them , and you should, they are at  Pies and Pints the last Wednesday of each month. We'll miss you Adam. Maybe you can build the bookcases for the next store we open?