September 2017 Readings, New Books for Kids and Teens, and More!

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In This Issue:
First Friday
Farm to Cookbook to Table
Upcoming Readings
Indie Bookseller Picks
New in Kids & Teens
First Friday
Tonight is First Friday!
 
Come visit us tonight for First Friday in Multnomah Village.
 
For your browsing enjoyment, we'll be serving wine. Plus, we'll be giving away great prizes for our monthly drawing. Drop by Annie Bloom's anytime after 6:00 on Friday night and register to win!  
 
One lucky adult will win a signed copy of:
 
And our kids prize is a signed copy of:
The Mermaid 
by Jan Brett
plus a matching tote bag! 
Farm to Cookbook to Table
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September 2017 Readings, New Books for Kids and Teens, and More!
Check out our upcoming readings! Plus, read about the latest book for children and teens, and find out which new books indie booksellers across the country are loving. And drop by and see us on First Friday!
Readings
Upcoming Author Readings:
    
Gregg Coodley
The Magnificent Losers
Tuesday, September 12, 7pm

Some of history's greatest and grandest reformers, revolutionaries and fighters for freedom and justice lost. They did not achieve their goals in their lifetime. Yet perhaps they did not "lose" after all, for the ideas they fought for lived on. The Magnificent Losers tells the story of twenty of these extraordinary, sometimes forgotten figures over the last two thousand years. The narrative sweeps from the Roman Republic to the Russian steppes, from Boston to Peru and the plains of Nebraska to the Philippines. With swords and speeches, schools and strikes, and despite their apparent defeats, these Magnificent Losers helped create a better world.

Bradley Rosen
Bunkie Spills
Wednesday, September 20, 7pm

The Portland author's novel is about two momentous days in the life of a tribe of suburban L.A. teenagers set in 1976. Bunkie, whose view of the world is as charming and skewed as the malapropisms that come out of his seventeen-year-old mouth, begins the tale with a girl and a rock concert. Bunkie maintains his essential honesty and innocence through two days filled with illicit drugs, sex and violence, and celebrates his dawning understanding of the failings of youth, the fight of good over evil, peace on earth, and the clashes that exist between humans and nature.

Linda Atwell
Loving Lindsey
Tuesday, September 26, 7pm

The Oregon author will read from her memoir, Loving Lindsey. Atwell and her strong-willed daughter, Lindsey--a high-functioning young adult with intellectual disabilities--have always had a complicated relationship. But when Lindsey graduates from Silverton High School at nineteen and gets a job at Goodwill, she also moves into a newly remodeled cottage in her parents' backyard--and Linda believes that all their difficult times may finally be behind them. Life, however, proves not to be so simple. Lindsey soon quits Goodwill, runs away with a man more than twice her age, and slips away from her family. Linda, determined to save her daughter, refuses to give up.

Scott Stabile
Big Love: The Power of Living with a Wide-Open Heart
Monday, October 2, 7pm

Stabile's parents were murdered when he was fourteen. Nine years later, his brother died of a heroin overdose. Soon after that, Stabile joined a cult that would dominate his life. Through all these challenges, Stabile grew stronger and more committed to living his life from love. He forgave the man who murdered his parents, found compassion for his late drug-addicted brother, and finally walked away from the cult leader who had controlled his life for thirteen years. He writes about these experiences and many other personal milestones in ways that are universally applicable, uplifting, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Whether trying (as we all must) to silence shame, show up for friends, or overcome dreaded what-ifs, Stabile shares hard-won insights that return readers to love, both of themselves and others.

Danielle Wong
Swearing Off Stars
Wednesday, October 11, 7pm

Danielle Wong will read from her novel Swearing Off Stars. Lia Cole is one of the first women studying abroad at Oxford University in the 1920s, where she falls for Scarlett Daniels, an aspiring actress and hardheaded protester. When their secret love clashes with political uprising, their relationship is one of the casualties. Years later, when a mysterious letter surfaces, she is immediately thrown back into their unsettled romance. Lia will stop at nothing to win Scarlett back, but she soon realizes that uncovering lost love might not be attainable after all.

Alex Behr and Jenny Forrester
Monday, October 23, 7pm

Alex Behr will read from her debut story collection, Planet Grim, a vivid, unsettling portrait of the gritty fringes of San Francisco and Portland, where complicated characters long for connection just out of reach. Behr is an idiosyncratic, unpredictable prose stylist with an edge and willingness to cut to the bone that makes her writing truly original. Jenny Forrester will read from her memoir, Narrow River, Wide Sky, about growing up in a community situated on the Colorado Plateau between slot canyons and rattlesnakes, where she lived with her mother and brother in a single-wide trailer proudly displaying an American flag. Forrester's powerfully eloquent story is a breathtaking, determinedly truthful story about one woman's search for identity within the mythology of family and America itself. 
September Indie Next List 
Every month, the coalition of independent bookstores puts together a list of titles recommended by booksellers across the country. Come in to browse the titles below, along with other great new bookseller picks for September.

My Absolute Darling
by Gabriel Tallent

"I believe in great American novels, but not the Great American Novel. This is a Great American Novel: exquisitely lush language of the natural world; startlingly vivid characters; a global understanding of social context, in a particular place; and, in this case, steel-wire narrative tension stringing through the beautiful prose like piano wire. It is the book this year that I feel every American should read, because of its greatness and also because of its deep wrestling with issues of class, complacency, climate change, culture, and especially gender." -John Evans, DIESEL, A Bookstore, Oakland, CA

The Heart's Invisible Furies
by John Boyne

"This is the novel John Boyne was born to write: A brilliant book of identity and redemption, both heartbreaking and humorous, intimate and expansive. Cyril Avery has been constantly reminded he doesn't belong, first by his adopted parents, then by the church and his country. As we follow him on his journey to acceptance, we are shown the cruelty of fate and the surprising kindness of ordinary people. Boyne perfectly constructs every story told, unveiling the humor and hypocrisy of humanity in each character and illuminating how the arc of Cyril's story is also the arc of modern times. An amazing feat from the first page to the last." -Luisa Smith, Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA

The Red-Haired Woman
by Orhan Pamuk

"'Beguiling' is the perfect word to describe The Red-Haired Woman, which feels like an entrancing fairly tale, set in a far away, exotic land peopled with fascinating men and women. The story plays out over the life span of one man whose actions and choices over one summer, however fleeting, will turn out to be the formative events that shape his entire life. I particularly enjoyed the summer nights in the quiet town, as the boy stole around the back alleys, hoping for a glimpse of the red-haired woman. This book is unlike any other I've read." -Jenny Lyons, The Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury, VT

Young Jane Young
by Gabrielle Zevin

"I've been waiting for a quirky, funny, thoughtful novel to follow in the footsteps of Where'd You Go, Bernadette, and behold: I have found it. I loved the vibrant female characters at the heart of this book. Told in four different voices, Young Jane Young is the story of Aviva Grossman, a young Congressional intern in South Florida who does the unthinkable: she sleeps with her boss. The book details the repercussions of that decision and examines the abuse of power that occurs in politics and in the day-to-day interactions between members of the opposite sex. Gabrielle Zevin has written something really smart and heartwarming, yet also incredibly timely." -Annie Jones, The Bookshelf, Thomasville, GA

Plus, here are some previous Indie Next entries, now out in paperback:

The Wonder
by Emma Donoghue

Recommended in hardcover by Cathy Langer, Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO

Books for Living: Some Thoughts on Reading, Reflecting, and Embracing Life
by Will Schwalbe

Recommended in hardcover by Miriam Landis, Island Books, Mercer Island, WA

The Other Einstein
by Marie Benedict

Recommended in hardcover by Genevieve Taylor, The Boulder Book Store, Boulder, CO  
New in Children's & Teen Reads 
Here are some great new books for Kids and YA:
 
Picture Books:

Uni the Unicorn and the Dream Come True
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
In this sparkly, magical sequel to Uni the Unicorn, the Land of Unicorns is in trouble--it has been raining and raining for what seems like forever. This is a big problem because there are only three ways that unicorns can get their magic: from the golden sun, from magnificent rainbows, and from the sparkle of believing. Luckily, Uni the Unicorn has always always always believed...that little girls are REAL. Join this very special unicorn and the little girl who believes right back as they finally meet and work together to save a magical land and all who live there.

The Bad Seed
by Jory John
This is a book about a bad seed. A baaaaaaaaaad seed. How bad? Do you really want to know? He has a bad temper, bad manners, and a bad attitude. He's been bad since he can remember This seed cuts in line every time, stares at everybody and never listens. But what happens when one mischievous little seed changes his mind about himself, and decides that he wants to be--happy? With Jory John's charming and endearing text and bold expressive illustrations by Pete Oswald, here is The Bad Seed--a funny yet touching tale that reminds us of the remarkably transformative power of will, acceptance, and just being you.

Why Am I Me?
by Paige Britt
Presented as a thoughtful, poetic exchange between two characters--who don't realize they are thinking and asking the very same questions--this beautiful celebration of our humanity and diversity invites readers of all ages to imagine a world where there is no you or me, only we. If the first step toward healing the world is to build bridges of empathy and celebrate rather than discriminate, Why Am I Me? helps foster a much-needed sense of connection, compassion, and love. 
 
Middle Reader Books:

Patina
by Jason Reynolds
In this follow-up to Ghost, track team newbie Patina must learn to rely on her teammates as she tries to outrun her personal demons. Patina, or Patty, runs like a flash. She runs for many reasons--to escape the taunts from the kids at the fancy-schmancy new school she's been sent to since she and her little sister had to stop living with their mom. She runs because she is terrified that the disease that took her mom's legs will one day take her away forever. So Patty's also running for her mom, who can't. But can you ever really run away from any of this? As the stress builds up, it's building up a pretty bad attitude as well. Coach won't tolerate bad attitude. No day, no way. And now he wants Patty to run relay...where you have to depend on other people? How's she going to do THAT?

Pablo and Birdy
by Alison McGhee
A boy who drifted into the seaside town of Isla as a baby searches for answers about where he and his parrot came from. Perhaps Pablo is from an undiscovered country, one unknown to the rest of the world. Maybe the inhabitants there lived in tree houses, or underground. Or maybe he's a pirate baby. Pablo wants the truth, and the only one who might know it is Birdy, his parrot. Birdy can neither talk or fly. Or, at least, she never has. Until...one day, when strong winds begin to blow, Birdy begins to mutter. Will she be able to tell Pablo the true story of where he came from? As Pablo is buzzing with questions, hopes, and fears, an old saying echoes in his mind: winds of change mean fortune lost or fortune gained. And while the winds rise in Isla, Pablo holds tight to Birdy. Would losing his companion, his dearest link to his past, be that loss?

You May Already Be a Winner
by Ann Dee Ellis
Twelve-year-old Olivia Hales has a foolproof plan for winning a million dollars so that she and her little sister, Berkeley, can leave behind Sunny Pines Trailer Park. But first she has to: fix the swamp cooler and make dinner and put Berkeley to bed because her mom is too busy to do all that; write another letter to her dad even though he hasn't written back yet; enter a minimum of fourteen sweepstakes a day. Olivia has thought of everything . . . except herself. Who will take care of her when she needs it?


Teen Reads: 
 
When Dee Moreno makes a deal with a devil--her heart in exchange for an escape from a disastrous home life--she finds her trade may be more than she bargained for. And becoming "heartless" is only the beginning. What lies ahead is a nightmare far bigger, far more monstrous than anything she ever could have imagined. With reality turned on its head, Dee has only a group of other deal-making teens to keep her grounded, including the charming but secretive James Lancer. And as something like love grows between them amidst an otherworldly ordeal, Dee begins to wonder: can she give James her heart when it's no longer hers to give?
 
In this conclusion to the series, the fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England--like who's created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around town. At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby's resistance to his feelings for 926 Augur Lane's ghostly lady, Jenny, begins to give way. Before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.

Epic Crush of Genie Lo
by F. C. Yee
The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie's every waking thought. But when she discovers she's a celestial spirit who's powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered. Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie's outrageous transformation--sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively--as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell-spawn. Drawing from Chinese folklore, this YA debut is truly epic.