LibraryThing Local

One of the most anticipated books of the season will be available at the first possible moment from Village Books! Breaking Dawn is the next in the Twilight Saga from Stephenie Meyer. The release date for the book is 12:01 a.m. on August 2nd. (that's one minute after Midnight of Friday, August 1) Breaking ... (more)Dawn, the final book in the #1 bestselling Twilight Saga, will take your breath away. Don't waste a moment. Get your copy of the book at 12:01 AM on August 2, at Village Books. (Mill Avenue side of store, the door next to the garage)

We will be discussing "The Book Thief" by Markus Zuzak.

Linda Jo Hunter was terrified of bears, but she longed for the solitude of the wilderness. Setting aside her fears, she became an expert tracker and guide and sought out the company of wild animals. As caretakers and guides at Redoubt Bay Lodge in Alaska, Hunter and her husband lived side by side with ... (more)brown bears, learning to understand their behavior and growing to miss their company when they left them behind at the end of each season. This moving account of life among bears offers new insights into bear behavior and makes a compelling case for preserving the magnificent and fascinating brown bear. Linda Jo Hunter is the lead guide and assistant manager at Redoubt Bay Lodge in Alaska and has taken thousands of people to observe brown/grizzly bears in their natural habitat. She is cofounder of the International Society of Professional Trackers and has taught human tracking for Search and Rescue. She lives in Stevenson, Washington.

2,500 years after the passing of Buddha, his message continues to resonate. Introduction to Buddhism, by the accomplished meditation master and internationally renowned teacher Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, explains the essential principles of the Buddhist way of life and what it means to be a Buddhist. Who ... (more)was Buddha? What is karma? How can we understand past and future lives? Everyone is welcome to attend all or part of this talk with Kelsang Norbu, a Western Buddhist monk, Resident Teacher at Dharmakirti Buddhist Center in Bellingham, and a devoted disciple of Geshe Kelsang.

Upon returning from a harrowing assignment in the Congo where she was kidnapped by rebel soldiers, Marika Vecera, an accomplished journalist, learns that a man she has long admired, Pulitzer-winning war correspondent Robert Lewis, has committed suicide. To her, Lewis always represented strength and courage ... (more)in the face of the world's worst tragedies and Marika wants—needs—to understand what could have pushed him over the edge. After deciding to abandon magazine work for a while to write his biography, she receives a curious letter: a missionary claims to have seen Lewis in the remote jungle of Papua New Guinea. Astounded Marika sets off on a journey to discover the truth in one of the world's most exotic and unknown lands. Kira Salak won the PEN Award for Journalism and appeared five times in Best American Travel Writing. She is a contributing editor for National Geographic Adventure magazine and the first woman to traverse Papua New Guinea. Her nonfiction account of the trip, Four Corners, was a New York Times Notable Book. "With The White Mary, journalist Kira Salak makes a stunning debut as a novelist. This is a story whose beauty and power sweeps you along, like the jungle rivers that bear her heroine into the heart of New Guinea in search of a vanished American. In the tradition of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim and Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter, The White Mary is a superb adventure tale that explores the human soul, a tale of a physical journey that frames a spiritual quest for love and meaning in a world sadly deficient in both."—Philip Caputo

For the better part of three decades romance comics were an American institution. Nearly 6,000 romance comics were published between 1947 and 1977, and there was a time when one of every five comics sold in the U.S. was a romance comic. This is the first book devoted entirely to the rarely studied world ... (more)of romance comics. Author Michelle Nolan examines several significant periods in the development of the romance genre, including the origins of Archie Comics and other teen romance publications. Michelle Nolan has been a newspaper and magazine feature writer for more than 40 years, working with such periodicals as Comic Buyer's Guide and Comic Book Marketplace. She lives in Bellingham.

World-renowned canopy biologist Nalini Nadkarni has climbed trees on four continents with scientists, students, artists, clergymen, musicians, activists, loggers, legislators, and Inuits, gathering diverse perspectives. In Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees, a rich tapestry of personal ... (more)stories, information, art, and photography, she becomes our captivating guide to the leafy wilderness above our heads. Nadkarni describes trees' intricate root systems, their highly evolved and still not completely understood canopies, their role in commerce and medicine, their existence in city centers and in extreme habitats of mountaintops and deserts, and their important place in folklore and the arts. She explains tree fundamentals and considers the symbolic role they have assumed in culture and religion. Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, known as "The Queen of the Forest Canopy", is a professor at The Evergreen State College. Since 1985, she has carried out forest canopy research on four continents, mainly in Costa Rica and in Washington State, supported by the National Science Foundation. She has published 80 scientific articles and three books. Her recent awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship and the J. Morton Stirling Award. In 1994, she founded the International Canopy Network to foster communication among canopy researchers, educators, and conservationists. Her recent work has involved bringing her research to non-scientists in non-traditional venues, such as prisons, churches, hospitals, and rap music halls. She is currently exploring how to synthesize information across such disparate disciplines of science, music, religion, and social justice to create materials that will stimulate conservation. Her work has been featured in magazines such as Natural History, Glamour, and National Geographic, and she has appeared in numerous television documentaries.

The Lace Reader is a mesmerizing, tale which spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies and half-truths where the reader quickly finds it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction, but as narrator Towner Whitney points out early on in the novel, "There are no accidents." Born ... (more)and raised in Massachusetts, Brunonia Barry studied literature and creative writing at Green Mountain College in Vermont and at the University of New Hampshire. She has created Brain Teaser puzzles for Smart Games and lives in Salem, Massachusetts, with her husband and their beloved golden retriever, Byzantium. "In Barry's captivating debut, Towner Whitney, a dazed young woman descended from a long line of mind readers and fortune tellers, has survived numerous traumas and returned to her hometown of Salem, Mass., to recover. Any tranquility in her life is short-lived when her beloved great-aunt Eva drowns under circumstances suggesting foul play. Towner's suspicions are taken with a grain of salt given her history of hallucinatory visions and self-harm. The mystery enmeshes local cop John Rafferty, who had left the pressures of big city police work for a quieter life in Salem and now finds himself falling for the enigmatic Towner as he mourns Eva and delves into the history of the eccentric Whitney clan. Barry excels at capturing the feel of smalltown life, and balances action with close looks at the characters' inner worlds. Her pacing and use of different perspectives show tremendous skill and will keep readers captivated all the way through."—Publishers Weekly

Marsha Scarbrough finds herself divorced, middle-aged, living in Los Angeles with a downhill career in film production, and then is given a bad mammogram. After fruitless visits to doctors she hears of a Native American visionary and teacher in town doing private healings, one Joseph Rael, also known ... (more)as Beautiful Painted Arrow, and goes to him for treatment. When her doctors finally schedule an ultrasound, they find nothing. This is just the beginning of an apprenticeship with Beautiful Painted Arrow to learn more about these ancient ways of healing. Marsha endures a range of treatments including sweatlodges, marathon walking meditations, and a three-day dance-fast. Marsha Scarbrough spent 17 years scheduling, planning and running the sets of major feature films, prime time television series, movies of the week and network sitcoms. She has handled logistics, organization and administration for various directors including Clint Eastwood, Leonard Nimoy, and Carl Reiner.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it. Garth Stein is the author of How ... (more)Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets, which won a 2006 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award, and was a Book Sense Pick in both hardcover and paperback, and Raven Stole the Moon. After receiving his B.A. from Columbia College, and his M.F.A. in film from Columbia University, School of the Arts, Garth Stein worked as a documentary film maker for several years, and directed, produced or co-produced several award winning films. He lives in Seattle with his family and his dog, Comet. "I savored Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain for many reasons: a dog who speaks, the thrill of competitive racing, a heart-tugging storyline, and—best of all—the fact that it is a meditation on humility and hope in the face of despair. Since finishing this engagingly unique novel, I’ve found myself staring at my own dog, thinking, Hmm, I wonder ... — Wally Lamb, Author of I Know This Much Is True

It's been called the "musical version of Seabiscuit," a book that tells you everything you didn't know you wanted to know about . . . the relationship between a piano, a piano tuner, and the eccentric and enigmatic pianist, Glenn Gould. Katie Hafner is a former correspondent for the New York Times ... (more)and the author or coauthor of four books, including Where Wizards Stay Up Late, Cyberpunk, The Well, and The House at the Bridge. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. "It isn't giving away too much to say that A Romance on Three Legs has its share of tragedy. But you wouldn't want to miss how clearly Hafner makes us see why Gould's eccentricities were more than just charming or laughable. The weird chair, the odd posture, the action of CD318-all were vital to his genius. The results were not always magical, but when Gould was paired with the right composer, Bach especially, he could make you wonder if he was altogether human. And reading Hafner on Gould is sometimes as much fun as listening to him play. And that's saying a lot." -Malcolm Jones, Newsweek

The Sharper the Knife The Less You Cry More details coming soon.

One of the most anticipated books of the season will be available at the first possible moment from Village Books! Be among the first to know what happens to Eragon and Saphira! You, or someone in your life, have been waiting eagerly for this book. Brisingr is the third book in the Inheritance Cycle ... (more)from Christopher Paolini. Pick up your copy of Brisingr at 12:01 AM on September 20. (that's one minute after Midnight of Friday, September 19 at the Mill Avenue side of store, the door next to the garage)

In 1935, Miguel Navarro finds himself in conflict with the Spanish Civil Guard, and flees the Basque fishing village of Lekeitio to make a new start in Guernica, the center of Basque culture and tradition. In the midst of this isolated bastion of democratic values, Miguel finds more than a new life—he ... (more)finds someone to live for. Miren Ansotegui is a charismatic and graceful dancer who has her pick of the bachelors in Guernica, but focuses only on the charming and mysterious Miguel. The two discover a love that war and tragedy can not destroy. Dave Boling is a veteran columnist for the Tacoma News Tribune and has provided coverage and commentary on sports since 1980. In 1998 he was honored as the top sports columnist in the Pacific Northwest. Boling has covered Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Olympics, and many of Jim Walden's Washington State Cougar football teams.

Coming Through With Grace is an unusual love story about a woman's personal transformation upon discovering that she's married to a sex addict. A book of forgiveness, understanding and finding freedom after the shock of confronting painful discoveries about her life choices and her relationships. Kate ... (more)Morgan offers her experiences to help others find hope within excruciating circumstances. She has been a nurse for 17 years and a life consultant since 2003. Kate Morgan counsels men and women nationwide about the devastating affects of sex addiction. She operates her consulting practice out of La Conner, WA. Visit her web site at gracenotebooks.com.

San Juan Island is well known for its splendid vistas, saltwater shore, quiet woodlands, and orca whales. But it was also here, in 1859, that the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over a dead pig. Historian Mike Vouri has selected nearly 200 historical images to illustrate this final ... (more)boundary clash between two future allies. He has authored two previous works on the Pig War.

In the early 17th century, mathematicians generally agreed that it was impossible to accurately and scientifically determine the likelihood of one event occurring rather than another. Everything from the result of a dice roll to the possibility of rain was consigned to the realm of pure, unknowable chance. ... (more)In 1654, everything changed. Blaise Pascal wrote a letter to Pierre de Fermat describing a method to predict mathematical futures. Human life has never been the same. The Unfinished Game traces the history of Pascal's letter and the lives of the author and recipient while exploring the remarkable mathematical advances the men achieved. Keith Devlin explains how vital the concept of risk management is to modern life, how humanity was changed by Pascal's letter, and how radically it has caused humans to rethink the concept of the future. Keith Devlin, the "Math Guy" on NPR's Weekend Edition, is a Senior Researcher at Stanford Center for the Study of Language and Information and its Executive Director. His books include: Mathematics: The Science of Patterns, The Math Gene, and The Math Instinct. He lives in Palo Alto, CA.

In 1935, Miguel Navarro finds himself in conflict with the Spanish Civil Guard, and flees the Basque fishing village of Lekeitio to make a new start in Guernica, the center of Basque culture and tradition. In the midst of this isolated bastion of democratic values, Miguel finds more than a new life—he ... (more)finds someone to live for. Miren Ansotegui is a charismatic and graceful dancer who has her pick of the bachelors in Guernica, but focuses only on the charming and mysterious Miguel. The two discover a love that war and tragedy can not destroy. Dave Boling is a veteran columnist for the Tacoma News Tribune and has provided coverage and commentary on sports since 1980. In 1998 he was honored as the top sports columnist in the Pacific Northwest. Boling has covered Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Olympics, and many of Jim Walden's Washington State Cougar football teams.

Details forthcoming...

Two Dudes, A Car Powered By Vegetable Oil, and a Cross-Country Trip in Search of a Greener World When Greg first laid eyes on the 1985 Mercedes that would soon become he and his wife’s vegetable-oil fueled car, he never dreamed he’d someday set off across the country with the goal to be the first ... (more)to drive from one coast to the other in a grease guzzlin’ vehicle. Soon after proposing the idea to his college buddy Iggy, though, the two were on the road. Greasy Rider is the hilarious and insightful tale of Greg and Iggy’s trek. We follow the two from Burlington, VT to Berkeley, CA, stopping at green meccas to learn about other alternative energy along the way: the solar-powered Google headquarters, the wind turbines of southwestern Minnesota, and the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, CO, among others. You’ll be amazed at what is happening around the country to help Mother Nature. Greg Melville is a freelance journalist and author of 101 Best Outdoor Towns: Unspoiled Places to Visit, Live & Play. He’s written for Men’s Journal, Outside, Popular Science, and National Geographic Adventurer.