September 2019: Author Readings, Indie Next, and New in Sports!

 
 
September 2019: Author Readings, Indie Next, and New in Sports!
 
Find out which authors are reading here soon, read reviews from indie booksellers, and check out the latest books on Sports. But first....
 
New & Upcoming Releases
 
These books are among the most anticipated new releases in the coming weeks. Click on a cover or title to order from our website.
by Louise Penny
Out Now!
 
It's Gamache's first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil, a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter. As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father. As the rivers rise, and the social media onslaught against Gamache becomes crueler, a body is discovered. And in the tumult, mistakes are made. Gamache must face a horrific possibility, and a burning question. What would you do if your child's killer walked free?
by Margaret Atwood
Out: September 10
 
When the van door slammed on Offred's future at the end of The Handmaid's Tale, readers had no way of telling what lay ahead for her—freedom, prison or death. With The Testaments, the wait is over. Margaret Atwood's sequel picks up the story fifteen years after Offred stepped into the unknown, with the explosive testaments of three female narrators from Gilead. "Dear Readers: Everything you've ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! The other inspiration is the world we've been living in." —Margaret Atwood
by Malcolm Gladwell
Out: September 10
 
Talking to Strangers is a classically Gladwellian intellectual adventure, a challenging and controversial excursion through history, psychology, and scandals taken straight from the news. He revisits the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University, and the death of Sandra Bland---throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt. Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world. In his first book since his #1 bestseller, David and Goliath, Malcolm Gladwell has written a gripping guidebook for troubled times.
 
First Friday
 
On September 6, visit us during 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 drawings. Drop by Annie Bloom's anytime after 6:00 on Friday night to sign up.
One lucky adult will win:
 
by Karen Dukess
 
In the summer of 1987, 25-year-old aspiring writer Eve Rosen lands a new job as famed writer Henry Grey's research assistant and an invitation to his exclusive "Book Party"— where attendees dress as literary characters. But by the night of the party, Eve discovers uncomfortable truths about her summer entanglements and understands that the literary world she so desperately wanted to be a part of is not at all what it seems. A page-turning, coming-of-age story, written with a lyrical sense of place and a profound appreciation for the sustaining power of books, Karen Dukess's The Last Book Party shows what happens when youth and experience collide and what it takes to find your own voice.
And our kids prize is an autographed copy of:
 
by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
 
No one is shocked by the six-eyed alien strolling around the Universal back lot. The tourists just think he's part of the show. It doesn't take long for Buddy to land a role on a popular TV show, playing (of course) an alien. He becomes an overnight heartthrob and is suddenly faced with legions of adoring fans, rides in glamorous limos, and appearances at "all-the-shrimp-you-can-eat" red carpet parties. But can Buddy maintain his secret identity while in the spotlight?
 
Upcoming Events
In Conversation
Tuesday, September 10, 7pm
 
Bellingham's Spencer Ellsworth and Portland's Fonda Lee will discuss their new fantasy novels. Come have drinks and books and discuss the history of fantasy, its challenges, and the exciting, diverse future of the genre. In Ellsworth's The Great Faerie Strike, Ridley Enterprises has brought industry to the Otherworld, churning out magical goods for profit. But when they fire Charles the gnome, well, they've gone too far. Fonda Lee's Jade War is the second book of the Green Bone Saga, an epic trilogy about family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of blood and jade.
Dancing to Broken Records
Tuesday, September 17, 7pm
 
Annie Bloom's welcomes Portland author Jack Moody to read from his fiction collection, Dancing to Broken Records. Henry Gallagher is a failure. Born into a broken family, now a young alcoholic struggling with mental illness, Henry is successful at one thing: destroying his life. While spending his time and waning finances at local bars and on any woman who will show him affection, Henry reflects on his past, seeing no future other than the one he believes has been preordained for him. From a funeral in Ireland, to a chance meeting with a German millionaire, to a booze-soaked and bloody version of Last Tango in Paris, Henry's life is both darkly humorous and unapologetically human. Accompanied by stories of other down and out characters fighting their way through the underbelly of society, Jack Moody's debut collection poses Henry's greatest question: Do we end up where we do purely because of the choices we've made, or are some of us simply doomed at birth to fail?
Western Waters
Thursday, September 26, 7pm
 
The Portland author will read from his book on Fly-Fishing Memories and Lessons from Twelve Rivers. In this collection of essays about well-known (and some not-so-well-known) Western waters, Alkire blends how-to, where-to, and natural history with lyrical prose and a deep insight that only comes with knowing a place well. From rainforest rivers to desert rivers, from tidal rivers to those along the Continental Divide, the author has waded and fished these waters over the decades. Along with his fishing adventures, the book also looks at the geography, the early explorers of, and the modern-day impacts on the rivers themselves.
Poetry Reading
Tuesday, October 1, 7pm
 
Annie Bloom's welcomes Airlie Press poets Gary Lark, Jessica Mehta, and Hannah Larrabee. Oregon poet Gary Lark will read from his new collection, Ordinary Gravity. These haunting poems drop you into a world of logging towns of western Oregon in the fifties and sixties—a way of life undergoing change—with forays into the small towns, the woods, and on the rivers. Oregon poet Jessica Mehta will read from her new collection, Savagery, which joins Mehta's oeuvre as a reflection of what it means to be indigenous in today's increasingly hostile, post-colonial America. Hannah Larrabee will read from her new poetry collection, Wonder Tissue.
Poetry Reading
Thursday, October 3, 7pm
 
Annie Bloom's welcomes local poets Sara Quinn Rivara and Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet to read from their latest collections. Animal Bride is the second collection of poems from Portland poet Sara Quinn Rivara. These poems are written at the crossroads of womanhood: to be a woman in captivity or a woman breaking free. Like a 21st century Persephone, the woman at the heart of Animal Bride journeys out of the underworld of a violent marriage to find strength in her animal self. In The Greenhouse, Portland poet Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet details the dual desires of new motherhood the struggle to make peace with both connection and separation, with being a self irrevocably tied to another self. In lines both fluid and broken, delicate and irreverent, these lyrics recount with boundless love the difficulty of finding oneself again as a parent, and the elemental joy of being transformed by the very life that tethers you.
Historical Fiction Reading
Monday, October 7, 7pm
 
Annie Bloom's welcomes Northwest authors Jane Kirkpatrick and Rachel Fordham to read from their latest historical novels. Kirkpatrick new novel is One More River to Cross. In 1844, two years before the Donner Party, the Stevens-Murphy company left Missouri to be the first wagons into California through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. When the party separates in three directions, each risks losing those they loved and faces the prospect of learning that adversity can destroy or redefine. Washington author Rachel Fordham's new novel is Yours Truly, Thomas. Penny Ercanbeck is a clerk at the Dead Letter Office. When a letter from a brokenhearted man to his one true love falls into her hands, it becomes Penny's mission to place this lost letter into the hands of its intended recipient. When Penny's undertaking leads her to the intriguing man who touched her soul with his words, everything grows more complicated. She wants to find the rightful owner of the letter and yet she finds herself caring--perhaps too much--for the one who wrote it.
No Way to Die
Tuesday, October 8, 7pm
 
In the Oregon author's seventh Cal Claxton mystery, Claxton is fishing with his daughter, Claire, the coastal area south of Coos Bay when a body is discovered in the river. As an investigation is launched into the suspicious death, Cal and Claire find themselves drawn into the life of the local bookshop owner and vocal environmental activist, whose grandson was convicted for murder at age sixteen. She believes he was wrongly accused and convinces Cal to reexamine the case. Together, Cal and Claire dig deep into the secrets and crumbling alliances that form the foundation of this small coastal community, and what they find could spell doom for them both...
Still Come Home
Wednesday, October 9, 7pm
 
Annie Bloom's welcomes back Katey Schultz to read from her latest novel. When the odds are stacked against you, doing everything right still might not be enough to protect yourself and the ones you love. The three characters in Still Come Home are each searching for the best way to be, the best way to live—all the while fighting cultural, societal, and political forces far beyond their control. As their paths intersect over the span of three days, Still Come Home explores how their decisions will forever alter each other’s lives.
Frank's Revenge
Monday, October 14, 7pm
 
DuPay, former Portland Police homicide detective, is a crime fighter turned crime writer. Read along as he brings private eye Frank McAllister to life as he scours the back alleys and dead-end streets of Portland's dangerous Albina ghetto in search of a killer. Be his backup as he works to solve the murders the police don't care about. But why? And what about the council of old gangsters who lured him into the case using a pretty woman as bait? What do they really want? Things get messy as Black Bart returns from eight years in prison vowing to once again be the kingpin of the St. Johns drug business and take his old territory back, but now the ghetto dealers wear badges and, oh yeah, he wants his old girlfriend back, too. Then there's Indian Charlie, tenderloin denizen, with his secrets of death and destruction. And just where is the "Blind Pig" anyway? Written in the style of Boston Blackie and Mike Hammer...sorta.
The Scent of Buenos Aires
Tuesday, October 15, 7pm
 
Annie Bloom's welcomes Maureen Shaughnessy, translator of The Scent of Buenos Aires: Stories, by Hebe Uhart. the first book-length English translation of Uhart's work, drawing together her best vignettes of quotidian life: moments at the zoo, the hair salon, or a cacophonous homeowners association meeting. She writes in unconventional, understated syntax, constructing a delightfully specific perspective on life in South America. These stories are marked by sharp humor and wit: discreet and subtle, yet filled with eccentric and insightful characters. Uhart's narrators pose endearing questions about their lives and environments - one asks "Bees - do you know how industrious they are?" while another inquires, "Are we perhaps going to hell in a hand basket?"
 
Indie Next
 
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 2019.
by Christy Lefteri
 
"Provocative and intense, this harrowing story of Syrian war refugees will take you on an emotional journey. This book took me well beyond the headlines and touched my soul. Perhaps its greatest strength is Lefteri's ability to make this unquestionably horrific reality accessible. You will feel an aching need to turn the page, and then you'll need to share this novel with others. I look forward to putting it into the hands of many readers — we need to see beyond the headlines." —Kirsten Hess, Let’s Play Books!, Emmaus, PA
by Lucy Ellmann
 
"In 2019's most ambitious novel, Lucy Ellmann puts us in the mind of one of literature's most overlooked characters: an average woman and mother doing her best in a world that respects neither women nor mothers. Rambunctiously political, tenderly personal, and profoundly humanist, Ellmann's simple respect for her protagonist's thoughts, feelings, faults, and successes is revolutionary. And on top of everything else in this towering achievement of a novel, you'll find yourself desperately rooting for a mountain lion."
Tidelands (The Fairmile Series #1)
 
by Philippa Gregory
 
"Philippa Gregory never fails to create beautifully written stories that suck you in and transport you back to the time and place the book is set. As always, her latest novel, Tidelands, is obviously thoroughly researched, with many historical facts sprinkled throughout. I highly recommend this book for fans of historical fiction." —Lisa Smegal, Rivendell Bookstore, Abilene, KS
 
These previous Indie Next picks are now available in paperback!
by Jonathan Lethem
 
"Lethem's latest is a treat for fans and new readers alike. His personal brand of detective fiction (shrewd character descriptions, razor-sharp dialogue, and scene-setting that engages all five senses) has always been indebted to the (wild) West Coast — Hollywood specifically — so it's unsurprising that The Feral Detective is as satisfying as his New York novels. A compelling and timely tale of why even going off the grid won't save you from going off your rocker." — John Francisconi, Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT
by Sarah Smarsh
 
"A classic is born! Sarah Smarsh takes us on a five-generation trek through the hardscrabble life of her Kansas childhood in the '80s and '90s. Just as J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy and Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed addressed the uncomfortable topic of poverty in this country, Heartland successfully gives the reader an in-depth look at impoverishment in the bread basket of America. She writes with a crystal-clear and objective voice, never giving in to self-pity or malevolence. Indeed, tongue-in-cheek humor and tenderness often shine through. This book is a must-read, a milestone in the life of our country." — Nancy Simpson-Brice, Book Vault, Oskaloosa, IA
 
New in Sports
by Joe Horrigan
 
The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the hundred years since that fateful day, football has become America's most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges—the Great Depression and World War II, controversies and scandals, battles over labor rights and competition from rival leagues—to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL, by drawing upon decades of NFL archives. Compelling, eye-opening, and authoritative, NFL Century is a must-read for NFL fans and anyone who loves the game of football.
by Heather Balogh Rochfort
 
A celebration of athleticism, wisdom, and skill, Women Who Hike profiles over twenty of America's most inspiring women adventurers ranging from legends to the rising stars of today. The book is both inspirational and aspirational as each adventurer tells her story in her own words through featuring their favorite hike, highlighting personal challenges, accomplishments, and philosophy, as well as providing readers with practical how-to suggestions on maximizing not only their own potential in hiking but in life. The profiles are complemented by stunning color photographs. Each profile includes a map of the hike being profiled, hike specs, miles and directions, GPS coordinates to the trailhead, and a sidebar of something noteworthy about the hike, the location, or the adventurer.
by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik
 
The Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance. Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball: Success stems not from focusing on finished products, but from making the most of untapped potential.
by Jackie Corley
 
The Joy of Cycling is a collection of over 200 fun and inspirational quotes on the wonderfulness of riding a bike. We all remember what it was like the first time we tried to ride a bike. After some falls, a few bruises and lots of practice, we eventually succeed--and it's this feeling of accomplishment, freedom, and excitement that is prominently highlighted in The Joy of Cycling. Akin to learning how to drive for the first time, riding a bike offers very unique experiences and certainly is more accessible to a lot more people than driving a car.
 
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