New Book Groups
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Thursday, February 23, 7:30pm
Annie Bloom's invites you to the organizational meeting of a new book group.
This
will be a where-do-we-go-from here gathering. Everything is on the
agenda: when, where and how often to meet; how books will be selected;
how large the group will be. A staff person will be available to answer questions and help you get started.
Come meet a group of booklovers eager to discuss language, literature, ideas--or maybe just a good story.
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February 2012: Staff Reviews & More |
Greetings!
We
have three new staff reviews for you! Also, we'd like to invite you to
start a new Anni Bloom's book group. These topics and more await you
below ...
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Staff Reviews
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Nightwoods
by Charles Frasier
Reviewed by Edie
Luce has managed a quiet, isolated life in an old lodge across the lake
from the small town in Appalachia where she grew up. She pretty much
lives off the land with one or two odd friends for company, and she
likes it that way. One day a social worker drops off a pair of twins,
the children of her long-lost sister, who has been murdered by their
father. There is no one else to care for them, so, although Lice is not
happy about the burden, she takes it on. Of course, all hell breaks
loose. The children are feral, silent, and ruin everything in sight.
Frasier has written a clever thriller, with the narrator's voice taking
on an antique, good ole boy sound that balances the horror and suspense.
As a mystery reader, I was intrigued by the set-up and enjoyed the
language immensely.
How It All Began
by Penelope Lively
Reviewed by Pat
One beautiful spring day in London, Charlotte, an elderly retired
English teacher, is mugged and breaks her hip. This event ricochets off
the lives of seven other characters in her orbit, unsettling and
rearranging them.
While
Charlotte convalesces with her likable daughter Rose, and her
son-in-law Gerry, she takes the measure of her infirmity. She imagines
herself "on the edge of things, clinging on to life's outer rim." Her
mischievous insights punctuate the narrative.
Charlotte
loves books, her "necessary fix". She tutors an adult literacy student,
Anton, a recent immigrant, whose introduction to her daughter's
household has unintended consequences. Other repercussions from the
mugging are a humiliating public speech, a blossoming friendship, a
swindle, and a broken marriage. Lively is fond of her characters, and
exposes their foibles with a gentle hand. Juggling these separate
streams of story, she creates vivid, memorable characters. I avidly read
"How It All Began" to see how it all would end for them.
The Operators
by Michael Hastings
Reviewed by Will
The extensive 2010 military public relations campaign waged in order to
expand the Afghanistan War (specifically modeled after the failed
counter-insurgency tactics used originally in Algeria by the French in
the 1950's, and then again disastrously a half-century later in Iraq by the U.S.) is the basis for this outstanding reporting on U.S. military leaders run amok.
Hastings, a Rolling Stone
reporter, was recruited by General Stanley McChrystal's bloated
entourage to write an article that they were sure, with the usual public
relations massaging, would celebrate the great man facade and make
McChrystal a "rock star" warrior for mass adulation. Instead, what
Hastings uncovered was a military culture that has become increasing
separate from and unchecked by an easily-manipulated civilian
leadership, a complicit press, and an indifferent American citizenship.
Sadly,
Hastings concludes that in the last decade "we were fighting the wrong
war, in the wrong way, in the wrong country." And yet, many of the
military elite (as well as a sycophantic U.S. press corps) used the war
to advance their careers, their pocketbooks, and their public standing
at the horrible cost of the many. And so it goes.
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Shelf Awareness for Readers
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We wanted to check in and make sure that your experience of "Shelf Awareness for Readers" is going well.
Last
month, subscribers to this email newsletter began receiving that new
e-publication ("The Shelf"). It should be arriving in your inbox each
Tuesday and Friday morning.
What you're reading now is the
re-tooled version of Annie Bloom's own in-house newsletter, which we
hope provides a good complement to "Shelf Awareness for Readers."
As a reminder: If you decide that "Shelf Awareness for Readers" is one more email than you need, just hit the unsubscribe link at the bottom. You will still continue to receive this
newsletter from Annie Bloom's. As with everything else, we'd love to
get your feedback about "Shelf Awareness for Readers." Please email us
at: books@annieblooms.com.
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Readings Reminder
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Because
most of our February events fall in the latter half of the month, we
thought we'd remind you of the fabulous readings still to come. Also,
please note the change in readers for our February 21st poetry reading.
Ursula K. Le Guin, Molly Gloss, Noel Hanlon, and More!
Thursday, February 16, 7pm
We're excited to be joined by the members of this fabulous writer's
group, whose members include Ursula K. Le Guin (pictured), Molly Gloss,
Noel Hanlon, Bette Husted, Barbara Drake, Kari Easton, Jeannette Cappella, and Caroline Le Guin. They will be reading poems generated from one of two prompts and will undoubtedly offer wonderful insight into the world of the writing workshop.
Amy MacLennan & Susan DeFreitas
Tuesday, February 21, 7pm
Come hear these two very fine Oregon poets read together. Residing in
the Rogue Valley, veteran poetry workshop teacher Amy MacLennan
(pictured) is the author of 2011's The Fragile Day. Susan
DeFreitas is a writer, editor, and creative writing instructor with a
focus on human communities and the natural world. Her poetry and
prose-poems have been featured in The Bear Deluxe, Third Wednesday, and Southwestern American Literature. [Kirsten Rian was originally scheduled to read this night, but is unable to appear.]
Alexis Smith
Wednesday, February 22, 7pm
Please join us in welcoming Portland author Alexis Smith, as she reads from her highly acclaimed debut novel. Glaciers
unfolds internally, the action shaped by Isabel's sense of history,
memory, and place, recalling the work of writers such as Jean Rhys,
Marguerite Duras, and Virginia Woolf. For Isabel, the fleeting moments
of one day can reveal an entire life.
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