Bookshop Santa Cruz

DONNA HARAWAY, professor in the History of Consciousness Department at UCSC, will read and sign copies of her new book, WHEN SPECIES MEET.

Whom do we touch when we touch a dog? How does this touch shape our multispecies world? As never before in history, our pets are truly members of the ... (more)family. But the notion of “companion species”--knotted from human beings, animals and other organisms, landscapes, and technologies--includes much more than “companion animals.”
In When Species Meet, Haraway digs into this larger phenomenon to contemplate the interactions of humans with many kinds of critters, especially with those called domestic.

“When Species Meet is a breathtaking meditation on the intersection between
humankind and dog, philosophy and science, and macro and micro cultures.”
--Cameron Woo, Publisher of Bark magazine

Led by Julie Minnis with a discussion with Elizabeth McKenzie

Stop that Girl
BOOKSHOP’S FIRST BOOK GROUP

In addition to launching our Book Group Registration Program ... (more)in March, this summer, Bookshop will be starting our own monthly Book Group—open to everyone in the community and centered around works by local authors. Our first Book Group selection is Elizabeth McKenzie’s Stop that Girl. The first half of the meeting at 7:30pm will feature a discussion facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with the author Elizabeth McKenzie at 8:00 pm. Stop that Girl will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from May 1st until the June 12th meeting date (for
those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us!

Led by Julie Minnis with a discussion with Todd Newberry. The Ardent Birder: The Craft of Birdwatching BOOKSHOP’S SECOND BOOK GROUP
Celebrating our second Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered around works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community ... (more)selection is Todd Newberry’s The Ardent Birder. The meeting will feature a discussion at 7:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with the author Todd Newberry at 8:00pm. The Ardent Birder will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from June 12th until the July 24th meeting date (for
those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us!

American Girl Party featuring Kit, from the 1930's Depression Era

Little Bookworms Vampire Ball: Breaking Dawn Release PartyFriday, August 1st from 10 p.m. until midnight Breaking Dawn will be released at 12:01 a.m.
The wait is almost over . . . Join Little Bookworms for an amazing vampire ball to celebrate the midnight release of the final installment in Stephenie ... (more)Meyer’s Twilight Saga. Come in prom attire (if you want) for an unforgettable party — music, dancing, refreshments, trivia contests, photos and activities. Admission is one pre-order of Breaking Dawn ($22.99) per family. Call, visit, or pre-order right now online. If you order online we will send your voucher in the mail. Vouchers will be checked at the entrance. Don’t miss this unforgettable event – pre-order your book today!

“Mediterranean Fresh: A Compendium of One-Plate Salad Meals and Mix-and-Match Dressings”

Many of us know Joyce Goldstein for her food advice as a columnist in the San Francisco Chronicle. But did you know that for twelve years she was chef-owner of Square One, the pioneering San Francisco Mediterranean ... (more)restaurant?
Now, in Mediterranean Fresh, Ms. Goldstein gives us the inside view to her savvy advice to great Mediterranean meals that are perfect for summer.
Mediterranean salads can be anything from tabbouleh to white beans and prawns in a lemony dressing to small plates of mezze, antipasti and tapas. Joyce Goldstein shows how to make 140 of these delicious, healthy, easy-to-prepare dishes for a sensuous and satisfying meal. With thirty versatile dressings, the reader will expand their salad horizons. By changing the dressing and garnish, a chopped salad can become Moroccan, Spanish or Turkish. Roasted peppers can be Italian with anchovies and olives or spicy with a Tunisian harissa dressing. Beets and greens can move to France with walnut vinaigrette or to the Middle East with tahini dressing. Goldstein explains the art of dressing a salad and how to use dressings as marinades, spreads, dips and finishing sauces. Along the way the cook will learn how to taste, balance flavors and develop their palate. This is a perfect title for both the beginning chef as well as the expert!
Bookshop Santa Cruz is delighted to welcome Ms. Goldstein—an outstanding cookbook author and one of our favorites—to our store, where she’ll share more of her food wisdom, answer questions from the audience, and sign copies of her book.

You will be able to sample recipes from Mediterranean Fresh
(featuring ingredients from the Santa Cruz Farmer’s Market) at this event!

NEW DATE! This event is now taking place on Tuesday, August 26th!Led by Julie Minnis and including a discussion with Jonathan Franzen. Celebrating our third Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered around works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community ... (more)selection is local summer resident, Jonathan Franzen, for his book The Corrections. The meeting will feature a discussion at 7:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with the author Jonathan Franzen at 8:15 pm. The Corrections will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from July 24th until the August 28th meeting date (for those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us!

Led by Julie Minnis and including a discussion with Jonathan Franzen. Celebrating our second Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered around works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community selection is local summer resident, Jonathan Franzen, for ... (more)his book The Corrections.. The meeting will feature a discussion at 7:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with the author Jonathan Franzen at 8:15 pm. The Corrections will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from July 24th until the August 28th meeting date (for those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us!

“Crime”

Irvine Welsh, cult novelist most known for his title Trainspotting has written a sizzling new novel, Crime; a thrilling journey into the bright glamor of the Sunshine State and a seething underworld of utter darkness.
Now bereft of both youth and ambition, Detective Inspector Ray Lennox ... (more)is recovering from a mental breakdown induced by occupational stress and cocaine abuse, and a particularly horrifying child sex murder case back in Edinburgh. On vacation in Florida, his fiancée Trudi is only interested in planning their forthcoming wedding, and a bitter argument sees a deranged Lennox cast adrift in strip-mall Florida. In a seedy bar, Lennox meets two women, ending up at their apartment for a coke binge, which is interrupted by two menacing strangers. After the ensuing brawl, Lennox finds himself alone with Tianna, the terrified ten-year-old daughter of one of the women, and a sheet of instructions that make him responsible for her immediate safety.
Lennox takes the girl to an exclusive marina on the Gulf coast, and quickly suspects that he has stumbled into a hornet’s nest: a gang or organized paedophiles, every bit as threatening as the monster that haunted him back in Edinburgh. His priority is to protect the abused girl, but can the edgy Lennox trust his own instincts? And can he negotiate her inappropriate sexuality as well as his own mental fragility?

In Crime, Welsh has written his most thoughtful and nuanced story yet, a shocking and gripping tale about the corruption and abuse of the human soul and the possibilities of redemption.

Bookshop Santa Cruz can’t wait to welcome Mr. Welsh here for the reading and signing of this new title.

Too excited to wait until the Saturday, September 20th release of the third title in Christopher Paolini’s Eragon Inheritance series? Bookshop Santa Cruz is here to save the day (or rather the night) and will be having a midnight release on Friday, September 19th for Brisingr, Inheritance Book ... (more)3. We last left Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, after the colossal battle against the Empire's warriors on the Burning Plains, having narrowly escaped with their lives. But there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice. Be the first to find out what happens and pick up your copy of Brisingr on Friday, September 19th for the midnight release of the book.
Books can be picked up outside the Pacific Avenue door starting at midnight where there will also be treats and giveaways. Call us ahead at (831) 423-0900 to order your copy now!

“We Bought a Zoo”

PLEASE NOTE SPECIAL TIME

In the market for a house and an adventure, Benjamin Mee moved his family to an unlikely new home: a dilapidated zoo in the English countryside. Mee had a dream to refurbish the zoo and run it as a family business. His friends and colleagues thought he ... (more)was crazy.
But Mee's pipedream became a reality when, in October of 2006, he and the rest of the Mee clan-wife Katherine, son Mil (age 6), daughter Ella (age 4), brother Duncan, and his 76-year-old mother, all moved into the Dartmoor Wildlife Park. Their extended family now included: Solomon, an African lion and scourge of the local golf course; Zak, the rickety Alpha wolf, a broadly benevolent dictator clinging to power; Ronnie, a Brazilian tapir, easily capable of killing a man, but hopelessly soppy; and Sovereign, a jaguar and would-be ninja, who has devised a long term escape plan and implemented it. The grand reopening of the zoo was scheduled for the spring, but there was much work to be done and none of it easy given the family' lack of experience as zookeepers. Tigers broke loose, money was tight, the staff was skeptical, and family tensions ran high. Then tragedy struck. Katherine Mee, Benjamin's wife, had a recurrence of cancer-a brain tumor-and died at the age of 40 in April, forcing Benjamin and his children to face the heartbreak of illness and the devastating loss of a wife and mother. But inspired by her memory and the healing power of the incredible family of animals they had grown to love, Benjamin and his kids resolved to move forward. Inspired by the memory of his wife and the power of his surroundings, Benjamin and his family opened the revitalized zoo to great success in July 2007. We Bought a Zoo is a profoundly moving portrait of an unforgettable family living in the most extraordinary circumstances.

Bookshop Santa Cruz is proud to welcome Mr. Mee here and here is unconventional tale of family, love, and healing.

“Coming Clean: Breaking America’s Addiction to Oil & Coal”
Personal friend and co-worker with Al Gore, Michael Brune has made green living his personal goal in the face of global warming and our present reliability on oil. According to recent polls, more than three-quarters of Americans believe ... (more)our nation should be energy-independent, and more than 70 percent believe our government should do more to help arrest climate change. Yet Congress and the White House take only tiny steps toward these goals, and large-scale investment in clean energy lags far behind the urgent demand. Why? And what can we do about it? In this timely book, Michael Brune, executive director of Rainforest Action Network (RAN), shows us how we, as motivated citizens, can engage in promoting solutions and collectively pressure policymakers and corporations to change their energy priorities. His vivid reports remind us of the economic, environmental, moral, and public-health costs of fossil-fuel dependence, and how our government and financial institutions are complicit. Brune also describes the most promising developments in renewables, biofuels, and efficient design, and outlines an inspiring vision of the clean energy future within our reach. Under Brune's leadership, RAN has had stunning success in getting corporations--including Home Depot, FedEx Kinko's, Citigroup, and Bank of America--to green their business practices, and his activist skills and passion are at the heart of this book. Offering well-tested action strategies, Coming Clean is rooted in the author's faith that Americans acting together can create profound change.

Bookshop Santa Cruz is happy to welcome Mr. Brune here for what is sure to be an enlightening and educational night!

Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Community Book Group
Led by Julie Minnis with a discussion with JOHN HUBNER
“Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth”

BOOKSHOP’S FOURTH BOOK GROUP
We are celebrating our fourth Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community ... (more)and centered on works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community selection is with Santa Cruz resident, John Hubner, for his book, Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth. A powerful, bracing and deeply spiritual look at intensely, troubled youth, Last Chance in Texas gives a stirring account of the way one remarkable prison rehabilitates its inmates.
Cutting through the political platitudes surrounding the controversial issue of juvenile justice, Hubner lays bare the complex ties between abuse and violence. By turns wrenching and uplifting, Last Chance in Texas tells a profoundly moving story about the children who grow up to inflict on others the violence that they themselves have suffered. It is a story of horror and heartbreak, yet ultimately full of hope. The meeting will feature a discussion at 7:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with the author John Hubner at 8:00 pm. Last Chance in Texas will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from August 26th until the September 25th meeting date (for those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us!

DIESEL, A Bookstore and KPFA are pleased to present BBC television and radio broadcaster, frequent contributor to The Nation, The Guardian, and The London Review of Books, historian, film-maker, and author Tariq Ali as he discusses the topics of his newest book, The Duel:Pakistan on the Flight Path of ... (more)American Power.

EVENT DETAILS:
~ Tickets are $12 when purchased online at www.kpfa.org, or $15 at the door.
~ For more information, please contact KPFA directly at (510) 848-6767 ext. 611.

Please note this event is NOT taking place at Diesel Bookstore, but instead will be located at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704.

Books will be available for sale courtesy of DIESEL, A Bookstore.

w/guest appearances by Valerie and Michael Corral
Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine

Marijuana as medicine has been a politically charged topic in this country for more than three decades. Despite overwhelming public support and growing scientific evidence of its therapeutic effects (relief ... (more)of the nausea caused by chemotherapy for cancer and AIDS, control over seizures or spasticity caused by epilepsy or MS, and relief from chronic and acute pain, to name a few), the drug remains illegal under federal law.
In Dying to Get High, noted sociologist Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb investigate one community of seriously-ill patients fighting the federal government for the right to use physician-recommended marijuana. Based in Santa Cruz , California , the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) is a unique patient-caregiver cooperative providing marijuana free of charge to mostly terminally ill members. For a brief period in 2004, it even operated the only legal non-governmental medical marijuana garden in the country, protected by the federal courts against the DEA.
Using as their stage this fascinating profile of one remarkable organization, Chapkis and Webb tackle the broader, complex history of medical marijuana in America . Through compelling interviews with patients, public officials, law enforcement officers and physicians, Chapkis and Webb ask what distinguishes a legitimate patient from an illegitimate pothead, good drugs from bad, medicinal effects from just getting high. Dying to Get High combines abstract argument and the messier terrain of how people actually live, suffer and die, and offers a moving account of what is at stake in ongoing debates over the legalization of medical marijuana.

Wendy Chapkis and Robert Webb will be discussing their book, answering audience questions and signing copies.

“A Life Worth Living: A Doctor’s Reflections on Illness in a High-Tech Era”

Critical illness is a fact of life. Even those of us who enjoy decades of good health are touched by it eventually, either in our own lives or in those of our loved ones. And when this happens, we grapple with serious ... (more)and often confusing choices about how best to live with our afflictions. A Life Worth Living is a book for people facing these difficult decisions. Robert Martensen, a physician, historian, and ethicist, draws on decades of experience with patients and friends to explore the life cycle of serious illness, from diagnosis to end of life. He connects personal stories with reflections upon mortality, human agency, and the value of "cutting-edge" technology in caring for the critically ill. Timely questions emerge: To what extent should efforts to extend human life be made? What is the value of nontraditional medical treatment? How has the American health-care system affected treatment of the critically ill? And finally, what are our doctors' responsibilities to us as patients, and where do those responsibilities end? Using poignant case studies, Martensen demonstrates how we and our loved ones can maintain dignity and resilience in the face of life's most daunting circumstances.

Please join us for what is sure to be an interesting and insightful evening for this reading and signing.

“Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!”

Amazing graphic artist Art Spiegelman has set the precedent for graphic artists everywhere; using intelligence, talent, and literary whit to speak to social commentary and truly expand the world of story telling as we know it. He has been a contributing ... (more)editor and cover artist for "The New Yorker" since 1992.

Art Spiegelman has received The National Book Critics Circle nomination in both 1986 and 1991, the Guggenheim fellowship in 1990, and a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992. His art has been shown in museums and gallery shows in the United States and abroad, including a 1991 show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City .

Breakdowns, his newest book, opens with vignettes of the people, events, and comics that shaped Art Spiegelman. It traces the artist’s evolution from a MAD-comics obsessed boy in Rego Park , Queens, to a neurotic adult examining the effect of his parents’ memories of Auschwitz on his own son.

The creator of the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Maus" explores the comics form…and how that form has formed him. This illustrated essay looks back at the 1960s as the artist pushes 60, and explains the obsessions that brought his works into being. Poignant, funny, complex and innovative, Breakdown alters the terms of what can be accomplished in a memoir.

Mr. Spiegelman will be discussing, signing and answering audience Q&A. More details of the exact format of the event night to come.

EVENT TIME CORRECTION!The correct event time is 3pm, and not noon as it had been originally posted.
Join Clare Langley-Hawthorne at Diesel Bookstore as she presents the second book in her fantastic new historical mystery series! Featuring the strong, outspoken, intelligent and sassy Ursula Marlow, THE ... (more)SERPENT AND THE SCORPION is a thrilling story of scandal and betrayal that's richly detailed and action-packed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:Clare Langley-Hawthorne was raised in England and Australia. She practiced law in Melbourne until 1995 when she emigrated moved to the United States and began work as a health economist. Clare has since put her pursuit of a PhD on hold to focus on her career as a writer. She lives in the San Francisco bay area with her husband and twin sons. This is her second novel.

You'll also be able to enjoy complimentary refreshments courtesy of Clare after the event, so make an afternoon of it!

For more information, visit her web site at www.clarelangleyhawthorne.comPURCHASE OF THE BOOK RESERVES YOU A SEAT AT THE EVENT!

“My Brain is Hanging Upside Down”

One of the most promising young talents in cartooning makes his debut with a dazzling collection—part freakish dreamlife, part quirk-a-rama autobiography, all genius and starting to receive renown recognition everywhere from the New York Times op-ed page, to the ... (more)cover of the New Yorker. David Heatley (McSweeney's regular) introduces us to a collection with a cast of characters in a town called "Overpeck" (also the name of the strip). Originally conceived in a dream, as are many of Heatley's comics, he has fleshed out his initial, unconscious creations into a developed cast of characters that inhabit this town, with each self-contained story focusing on a different character or characters so the whole collection treats us to a full range of Heatley’s remarkable, wildly unique voice and vision. Mr. Heatley will be giving a powerpoint presentation, signing books, talking about his writing and drawing process and singing two songs live that are inspired by the book. Think a combination of Art Spiegelman (who has taken this young artist under his wing) and Davy Rothbart. This is a night you won’t want to miss!

Led by Julie Minnis with a discussion with Micah Perks

“We Are Gathered Here”

BOOKSHOP’S FIFTH BOOK GROUP

We are celebrating our fifth Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered on works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community selection ... (more)is with Santa Cruz resident and UCSC literature professor, Micah Perks, for her novel, We Are Gathered Here. A historical novel, set in a mining town in the Adirondack Mountains at the turn of the century, grabs the reader’s attention and won’t let go. To say the writing is superb is an understatement, to say that the setting is so well detailed you began to have taste and smells from another time seems accurate, but the real truth of this book is in fact how it still holds true to contemporary questions. An ideal Book Group pick, it invites us to reexamine our own society’s views toward individuality, religion, illness, sexual orientation, and friendship. The novel questions the ways that we can heal, and how if we are constrained from that healing, what are the repercussions and just how long they can last…

The Community Book Group meeting will feature a discussion at 7:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with the author Micah Perks at 8:00 pm. We Are Gathered Here will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from September 25th until the October 23rd meeting date (for those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us!

IN SUPPORT OF BILL MONNING FOR ASSEMBLY

Activist Tom Hayden will be at Bookshop to discuss current politics and the upcoming election, participate in q&a, and sign copies of his recent book, Ending the War in Iraq.

After forty years of activism, politics and writing, Tom Hayden still is a leading voice ... (more)for ending the war in Iraq, erasing sweatshops, saving the environment, and reforming politics through greater citizen participation. Hayden was a founding member of the Students for a Democratic Society and author of its visionary call, the Port Huron Statement, described by Howard Zinn as "one of those historic documents which represents an era." Hayden was also one of the famous "Chicago Seven" protesters during the 1968 Democratic Convention. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 1982, and to the state Senate ten years later, serving eighteen years in all.

Giving voice to a population rarely acknowledged in writings about the South, Sweet Tea collects life stories from black gay men who were born, raised, and continue to live in the southern United States. E. Patrick Johnson challenges stereotypes of the South as "backward" or "repressive," suggesting ... (more)that these men draw upon the performance of "southernness"--politeness, coded speech, and religiosity, for example--to legitimate themselves as members of both southern and black cultures. At the same time, Johnson argues, they deploy those same codes to establish and build friendship networks and to find sexual partners and life partners.

Traveling to every southern state, Johnson conducted interviews with more than seventy black gay men between the ages of 19 and 93. The voices collected here dispute the idea that gay subcultures flourish primarily in northern, secular, urban areas. In addition to filling a gap in the sexual history of the South, Sweet Tea offers a window into the ways that black gay men negotiate their sexual and racial identities with their southern cultural and religious identities. The narratives also reveal how they build and maintain community in many spaces and activities, some of which may appear to be antigay. Ultimately, Sweet Tea validates the lives of these black gay men and reinforces the role of storytelling in both African American and southern cultures.

About the Author
E. Patrick Johnson is chair, director of graduate studies, and professor in the Department of Performance Studies and professor of African American studies at Northwestern University. He is on tour in 2008, giving live performances of "Pouring Tea," a one-man-show based on the interviews collected for Sweet Tea.

Reviews:
"Interjecting apt questions only occasionally, the author allows his subjects to speak for themselves, which they do articulately, colloquially (a glossary is included), and graphically. . . . [A] very good book."--Library Journal

A Nota Bene selection of The Chronicle of Higher Education

"This fascinating . . . oral history subverts countless preconceptions in its illustration of black gay subcultures thriving in just about every imaginable rural and religious milieu in the South. . . . The courage and honesty of Johnson's interviewees humble, and readers will find much to treasure in the stories."--Publishers Weekly

"Sweet Tea is an amazing book. Engaging from the very start, it is well written and thought provoking throughout. There were times I simply could not put it down."--E. Lynn Harris, New York Times bestselling novelist

"A variety of biases, oversights, and material circumstances have conspired to push the narratives of southern black gay lives to the margins. Sweet Tea makes a monumental achievement by getting these stories out into the world. Every subsequent, serious engagement with the topic will have to address Johnson's work. This book is certain to be consulted, referenced, and discussed for many years to come."--John Howard, author of Men Like That: A Southern Queer History and Concentration Camps on the Home Front: Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow

"Dr. Olaf Van Schuler’s Brain"
Menger-Anderson's vivid and original collection, Dr. Olaf Van Schuler’s Brain, follows several generations of New York doctors and charts the social and political forces that shaped New York City from the 17th century to today. Like Patrick Süskind's classic novel ... (more)Perfume, Kirsten Menger-Anderson's fictional debut is a literary cabinet of curiosities—fascinating and unsettling, rich and utterly singular.

"The Courage to Heal, 20th Anniversary Edition"
Local authors Ellen Bass and Laura Davis will join us for a facilitated discussion in celebration of the twentieth anniversary edition of their groundbreaking book, The Courage to Heal: A Guide for Women Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse. This event is co-sponsored ... (more)by The Survivor’s Healing Center.

For Ages 3-5
Each Lil' Booklovers Club meeting will feature a brand new childrens book. We'll read the book and children will participate in related book experiences. club meetings will last approximately 30-45 minutes.
We would be happy to schedule special Lil' Booklovers Club meetings for pre-school ... (more)and kindergarten classes. Call or email Maryanne Eichorn at 412-741-3838 or meichorn@penguinbookshop.com

All Aboard!!! Put on your jammies and come to Munchkin's Loft for a Polar Express Pajama Party. We'll hear the story, have a sin along, and make a craft. Everyone will receive a Polar Express Goodie Bag. There's no charge for this event. Please call or e-mail us to let us know that your family will ... (more)attend. (412-741-3838 or meichorn@penguinbookshop.com) When making your reservation, please let us know your phone number, the number and ages of the children attending, and the number of adults attending. (We don't need to know your age!) Space is limited so call today!

All Aboard!!! Put on your jammies and come to Munchkin's Loft for a Polar Express Pajama Party. We'll hear the story, have a sin along, and make a craft. Everyone will receive a Polar Express Goodie Bag. There's no charge for this event. Please call or e-mail us to let us know that your family will ... (more)attend. (412-741-3838 or meichorn@penguinbookshop.com) When making your reservation, please let us know your phone number, the number and ages of the children attending, and the number of adults attending. (We don't need to know your age!) Space is limited so call today!

The Only Alternative: Christian Nonviolent Peacemakers in America
Local writer John Malkin (with co-author Alan Nelson) explores the spiritually active practice of compassionate nonviolence in his new book. It is a journey through the lives of seven courageous American peacemakers who have embodied ... (more)Christian nonviolence and dedicated their lives to addressing the suffering caused by racial discrimination, slavery, poverty, militarism, nuclear weapons, prisons, environmental degradation, and the psychology of fear and hatred.

Bookshop welcomes Jayne Anne Phillips who will read from her rich and layered new novel, Lark and Termite. Set in the 1950s in West Virginia and Korea, it is a story of the power of loss and love, the echoing ramifications of war, family secrets, dreams and ghosts, and the unseen, almost magical bonds ... (more)that unite and sustain us.

SNOW MOUNTAIN PASSAGE
by James D. Houston

Bookshop is very pleased to announce that the novel Snow Mountain Passage, by acclaimed local author James Houston, is our next Community Book Group selection.

Snow Mountain Passage is a powerful retelling of the most dramatic of our pioneer stories—the ordeal ... (more)of the Donner Party, with its cast of young and old risking all, its imprisoning snows, its rumors of cannibalism. James Houston takes us inside this central American myth in a compelling new way that only a novelist can achieve.

“Deserves room beside Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove on the shelf of modern Western classics.” —San Francisco Chronicle

We invite you to read Snow Mountain Passage, then join us on Thursday, January 22nd at 7:30 for a facilitated group discussion led by Julie Minnis. It will be followed by a dialogue with author James Houston.

Bookshop will be discounting Snow Mountain Passage 10% OFF the cover price from October 23rd until the January 22nd meeting date.

We hope you’ll be a part of our next community book group!

The Middle of Somewhere
Local author Clifford Henderson (co-founder of the Fun Institute, a school of improv and solo performance) will be at Bookshop to celebrate her debut novel, The Middle of Somewhere. The book centers on one independent, urban lesbian who cashes out her life in San Francisco for ... (more)a second-hand travel trailer and sets off for the Michigan Women's Music Festival in search of a new life. We hold this title especially close to our heart, as some of it was actually written here at Bookshop!

Bookshop Santa Cruz is proud to welcome Dr. Carl Alasko, well known locally for his popular weekly advice column, “On Relationships,” in the Monterey County Herald. In Dr. Alasko’s new book Emotional Bullshit: The Hidden Plague that is Threatening to Destroy Your Relationships – AND HOW TO STOP ... (more)IT, Alasko (a practicing psychotherapist of over twenty years) explains how we are all affected by the toxicity of what he has coined, “Emotional Bullshit,” especially in our most intimate relationships and yet most of us remain largely unaware of its influence. Drawing on extensive case studies from his private practice, Alasko reveals that whether it’s a casual “I forgot” or a premeditated deception, EBS always erodes trust and drives people apart. In this groundbreaking title, Dr. Alasko outlines a path for recognizing and breaking free from this vicious cycle. This event is bound to be entertaining and useful to anyone in a relationship or interested in human dynamics. Dr. Alasko will be reading from the book, detailing his theory, asking for experiences from the audiences, answering questions, and signing copies of his book. It will be almost like having our very own Dr. Phil here at Bookshop—don’t miss this night!

We are admittedly going to be a bit biased about this author as she is both an alumni to UCSC and Bookshop Santa Cruz. (Yes, people we not only sell books, and give great recommendations, we also birth the authors you want to read). But this book, the first in a trilogy designed for cross over readers ... (more)of young adult and adult fiction, is already getting acclaim from a variety of reviewers. Touted as a book version of "My So-Called Life" mixed in with a more heartfelt “Sex-in-the City,” Beautiful Americans is the story of four American teens in Paris and the scandals that haunt each of them. Silag introduces us to Alex, the rich New York girl; Cali-born dancer Olivia; closeted Memphis boy Zack; and finally PJ, an elusive beauty from Vermont who is hiding a dark past. Studying abroad for their junior year of high school, they form a bond and run wild in the Tuileries, hold clandestine parties in their host familiesa luxe apartments, take over tiny crowded cafes and generally live the glamorous life. But when the unthinkable happens, the glamour comes to a grinding halt and they must each face the lies they’ve told while reinventing themselves and come to terms with the secrets they have held well-kept. This is a page-turning book that will instantly leave you asking for more. And we couldn’t be more proud! Please help us welcome Ms. Lucy Silag for the reading and signing of this incredible debut novel!

Bookshop Santa Cruz is proud to welcome award winning and local author, Philip Slater, as he shares with us the ideas behind his new book, The Chrysalis Effect. Slater shows us that the chaos and conflict experienced worldwide today are the result of a global cultural metamorphosis, one which has accelerated ... (more)so rapidly in recent decades as to provoke fierce resistance. Many of the changes that have taken place in the last fifty years – the feminist movement, the rapid spread of democracy, the global economy, quantum physics, minority movements, the peace movement, the sexual revolution –are part of this cultural transformation. Contrary to accepted opinion, the conflict it engenders is not a struggle between Left and Right, or between the West and Islam, but one taking place within the Left, within the Right, within the West, within Islam, within everyone and every institution.
Philip Slater explains the metamorphosis of global culture through the analogy of the transition from caterpillar to butterfly – the Chrysalis Effect. Today our world is caught in the middle of this disturbing transformative process—a process that creates confusion over values, loss of ethical certainty, and a bewildering lack of consensus about almost everything. The Chrysalis Effect provides an answer to the question: Why is the world in such a mess? Part philosophy, part political, always insightful and full of surprises, this book is one that you will return to again and again. Please join us for what is sure to be an enlightening night as we help local author Philip Slater celebrate the publication of his newest title.

Please join us in welcoming Fred Kaplan, acclaimed biographer and author of Lincoln: The Biography of a Writer, a book that made the reading list of President Obama. Lincoln explores the life of America's sixteenth president through his use of language as a vehicle both to express complex ideas and feelings, ... (more)and as an instrument of persuasion and empowerment. "As Fred Kaplan's illuminating new biography makes clear, Lincoln, like Mr. Obama was a lifelong lover of books, indelibly shaped by his reading..."
--The New York Times

We are thrilled to welcome Jon Ginoli, founding member of Pansy Division--one of the first punk rock bands to be out and proud. Ginoli will be reading from his new book, Deflowered--a look into what it means to try to stay true to your vision in the business of music. It is a tale of self-discovery, ... (more)musical passion, and the pursuit of a constructive response to discrimination. “We tried to turn our alienation into something positive,” says Ginoli. “Instead of being depressed about it, we tried to make music that would make us--and our audience--happy. We could laugh about it, so we put that joy into the music.” Full of personal experiences, behind the scenes photos, and queer pop-punk, this memoir is sure to inspire. Pansy Division’s next album, That’s So Gay, will also be released in late March 2009.

BOOKSHOP’S EIGHTH COMMUNITY BOOK GROUP
We are celebrating our eighth Community Book Group—a monthly book group, open to everyone in the community and centered on works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community selection is Keeping Watch by Laurie King, a third generation Northern Californian ... (more)who has lived most of her life in the San Francisco Bay area. King’s masterfully told tale is full of suspense and deeper meaning. Keeping Watch is the story of Allen Carmichael—who has spent years rescuing children from abusive situations—and his rescue and rehabilitation of one particular child. Although full of the shadows of the soul and the damage that abuse can cause, it is also a story of love and tenderness. The book’s multi-dimensional characters and complex plotting create a masterpiece of human drama.
Bookshop invites everyone in the community to read Keeping Watch, then join us for our Community Book Group meeting on March 26th. It will feature a group discussion about the novel at 7:30pm, facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with author Laurie King at 8:00 pm. Keeping Watch will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from February 26th until the March 26th meeting date. We hope you’ll join us! PS—There will be snacks and tea!! Praise for Keeping Watch:
Publishers Weekly, in describing “this novel of harrowing suspense and wrenching resolution,” says, “At its simplest, this is the story of a man who helps rescue women and/or children from dangerously abusive men. King’s lengthy, brilliantly executed back story of Allen Carmichael’s experiences in Vietnam, his disastrously unhappy return home and his eventual discovery of his ‘calling’ showcase some of her finest writing.”

At the height of their career, just off their successful tour with Green Day, Pansy Division dropped by Lambda Rising’s DC bookstore, set up their instruments in our front window, and honored us and our customers with a raucous, rocking free concert. Now founding Pansy Jon Ginoli returns to Lambda ... (more)Rising to meet his fans, sign his new book, and maybe even play a song or two. Join us for this exciting event! The Inside Story of the First Openly Gay Pop-Punk Band Just a few short years ago, the stereotype for gay men involved loving disco and show tunes. Jon Ginoli decided to do something about it. Deflowered is Jon Ginoli’s journey of self-discovery, musical passion, and drive to become the founding member of Pansy Division, the first out and proud queer core punk rock band to hit the semi-big time. Set against the changing decades of music, we follow the band from their inception in San Francisco, to their search for a music label and a permanent drummer to their current status as indie rock icons. We see the highs--touring with Green Day--and the lows--homophobic fans--of striving for acceptance and success in the world of rock. Featuring behind-the-scenes photographs and replete with the requisite tales of sex, drugs, groupies, band fights and label battles, this rollicking memoir is also an impassioned account of staying true to the artistic vision of queer rock'n'roll. Jon Ginoli is a guitarist, singer, songwriter and founding member of Pansy Division, a punk rock band whose cd's include Undressed, Deflowered, Wish I'd Taken Pictures, and more. An Illinois native, he's played both dive bars and arenas, and his favorite color is purple. When not on tour with the band he lives and works in San Francisco.

Joel Primack, a world-renowned astrophysicist, and Nancy Abrams, a philosopher of science, couple their talents to present a compelling picture of the universe as a coherent and spiritually significant entity in The View from the Center of the Universe--our upcoming Community Book Group selection. Library ... (more)Journal writes: "In an intriguing meld of history, philosophy, anthropology, physics, ecology, and global politics, the authors offer a beautiful balance of scientific fact and theory, challenging readers to learn, to question, and, ultimately, to 'think cosmically, act globally.' This terrific book will appeal to people who are interested in what's 'out there,' regardless of their background (or lack thereof) in the sciences." We invite you to read The View from the Center of the Universe, then join us on April 23rd for a community discussion of the book, led by Julie Minnis. It will be followed by a dialogue with authors Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams. This is sure to be a fascinating evening!

Co-Sponsored with POETRY SANTA CRUZ In honor of April being poetry month, and in conjunction with Poetry Santa Cruz, we are honored to welcome renown poet, Jim Powell here to Bookshop for the debut reading of his latest collection, Substrate .,br>
In a review of Jim Powell's first book, Thom Gunn praised ... (more)his poetry for tapping "a subject matter that is endless and important . . . achieved in the poem, so we grasp it as we read."
Substrate gathers three new collections of Powell's poetry, covering his work of a dozen years. These poems open inward windows on the world outward from indigenous habitat in Northern California . They include the past as an aspect of the present, and spirit as a dimension of the actual. The title poem summons twenty-five witnesses from oral and documentary history to focus through the lens of poetry an adult view, over their shoulders, of California history--a compound portrait or collage sampling the indelible strata that compose the cultural substrate of the region. Diverse in theme, stance, tone, genre, and form, the poems in this collection are characterized by lucidity and penetration, plainspoken intensity, compression, and depth.
Poetry Santa Cruz ’s DENNIS MORTON will be hosting this event, asking Jim about his writing process, as well as allowing time for Jim to read poems, sign copies of the book, and participate in an audience Q&A.

We are delighted to welcome spiritual wave-rider Jaimal Yogis for a reading, signing and audience Q&A for his memoir, Saltwater Buddha. As a teenager, fed up with suburban life, Jaimal Yogis ran off to Hawaii with little more than a copy of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha and enough cash for a surfboard. ... (more)His journey is a coming-of-age saga that takes him from communes to monasteries and the icy New York shore. Equal parts spiritual memoir and surfer's tale, this is a chronicle of finding meditative focus in the barrel of a wave and eternal truth in the great salty blue. If you are a fan of Noah Levine’s Dharma Punx, this is the book and event for you!

Author/illustrator, Eric Wight will be here talking about is debute novel "Frankie Pickle and the Closet of Doom." See where his imagination leads him when his mom asked him to clean his closet!

Everything looks good about this book, but we've been fooled by covers and descriptions before! Here's hoping it's a great read.

As in their previous book, High Sierra of California, Killion has once again paired his sketches and wood-prints with poet Gary Snyder. Tamalpais Walking: Poetry, History, and Prints brings to life one of the bay area’s most beautiful mountains. Publisher Weekly states that, “Snyder refers to Mount ... (more)Tamalpais as San Francisco’s backyard wilderness. But Killion’s brief history makes clear that the location has been an integral part of San Francisco’s outdoor culture since the 19th century. Although Tamalpais is a Miwok Indian word, what role the mountain played in their traditions has been lost. Place names on the mountain commemorate settlers who hiked its slopes, and the genteel poets and writers of the post Civil War generations created most of the Indian legends associated with it. But it was with Kenneth Rexroth and the burgeoning San Francisco scene of the 1930s that Tamalpais found its place in American literature, and later Jack Kerouac placed scenes in "The Dharma Bums" on the small mountain. Snyder is Tamalpais’s greatest poet, and his essay recalling three circumambulatory hikes on the mountain is a highlight of the book. Poems by Rexroth, Snyder and Lew Welch are interspersed throughout, and multiblock color prints by Killion pay homage both to Tamalpais and the Japanese masters of "ukiyo-e", who perfected the complicated technique.” We are honored to host Mr. Killion here where we will discuss the book, detail the process of his artwork in a slide-show presentation, and sign copies of Tamalpais Walking. For fans of Killion, this is one night you don’t want to miss!

Bookshop Santa Cruz is honored to welcome author Colson Whitehead, finalist for both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. They say that good writing immerses us into the Who, What, Where, and Why without our being totally aware. Where a story takes seed in the voice of a character and suddenly ... (more)their world is also somehow our own. Colson Whitehead, manages such immersion within the first few pages of his new novel, Sag Harbor. Suddenly we are no longer ourselves but quickly are living the confusing and entirely desperate, in that preteen, what to make of this world, life of Benji. The year is 1985, and Benji, son of a lawyer and docter, is one of the only African-Americans at an elite prep-school in Manhattan. Through his eyes, we reinvent ourselves again and again, at Jewish bar-mitzvahs to roller-disco’s first dances, trying to find a social group that accepts us. Life is funny but also heart-breakingly poignant, in this coming-of-age novel that explores racial and class identity, and the quest for self-realization. In a telescopic view written by a writer that lets us see from the inside out, we glimpse a universes that we ordinarily might not see. Please join us for a reading, discussion, signing and audience Q&A with one of the most talented of contemporary authors.

We are celebrating our tenth Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered on works by local authors. Bookshop’s next community selection is with Santa Cruz resident and UCSC Literature Professor, Karen Yamashita, for her book, Tropic of Orange. Irreverently ... (more)juggling magical realism, film noir, hip hop, and chicanismo, Karen Yamashita presents an L.A. where the homeless, gangsters, infant organ entrepreneurs, and Hollywood collide on a stretch of highway struck by disaster. The Harbor Freeway crisis becomes the apex of events - caused by an orange, which has been brought to L.A. from just north of Mazatlan, dragging with it the Tropic of Cancer. Tropic of Orange is a poignant apocalyptic tale of race, class, and culture, with characters that you won’t forget. The meeting will feature a discussion at 7:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with both authors at 8:00 pm. Tropic of Orange will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from April 23rd until the May 21st meeting date. We hope you’ll join us. PS—There will be snacks and tea!!

When Joyce called me on the phone, I was immediately taken by her personality. Even over the phone, she was able to convey her vibrancy and her excitement for her book. She calls her experience volun-touring, others call it responsible travel. However you look at it, it just sounds like a lot of fun ... (more)and a great way to get out and learn about the world. I do hope that you will join us at Tin Mountain to meet Joyce - it could be a life-changing experience!

The SF&F discussion group, meets every 2nd
& 4th Wednesday monthly, talks about the books they have read recently. Open to older teens and adults. Ends around 8:30 p.m.

Bookshop Santa Cruz is excited to welcome Lisa Hamilton, author of Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness. Over the past forty years, many American farmers and ranchers have been told to “get big or get out.” In a courageous effort to hold onto sustainable farming, and reject ... (more)this message, many farmers and ranchers have issued a call to arms to end the unhealthy and unsustainable practices of agriculture as business, instead insisting that agriculture is not an industry, but a way of life, and that humans should be at the heart of it all. By telling the stories of these farmers, Lisa Hamilton offers a human face to agriculture, and serves up an important lesson about bringing farmers back to the table at a time when we need them more than ever. For anyone interested in sustainable living, this is your event. Please join us for a book reading, signing and Q&A with author Lisa Hamilton.

Tom will be reading, discussing, and signing his new book, An Edible History of Humanity.We are delighted to welcome Tom Standage, author of the best-seller, A History of the World in 6 Glasses, and long time editor for the Economist here to Bookshop Santa Cruz. Turning his eye from technology and business ... (more)and instead viewing food as the true common and driving fuel that runs the world, Standage’s new title is as enlightening as it is consistently entertaining. “Society is what it eats…Tapping into fields as diverse as economics, anthropology, archaeology, and genetics, [Standage] asks a simple question: Which foods have had the most influence on shaping the world we live in today?...It’s a tall order, impressively filled,” says Kirkus Reviews. This will be a book discussion and title you don’t want to miss, whether you are a foodie or an information gatherer, this book covers it all. Think Michael Pollan mixed in with Bill Bryson. Please join us for a reading, signing and audience Q&A with this brilliant and talented writer!

Join us for a night of mystery & suspense. Bookshop Santa Cruz is proud to present local author LAURIE KING reading from her newest and already best-selling title, The Language of Bees. King’s newest mystery, features our favorite leading detectives, Mary Russell and Sherlock Homes. In a case that ... (more)will push their relationship to the breaking point, Mary Russell must help reverse the greatest failure of her legendary husband’s storied past—a painful and personal defeat that still has the power to sting…and this time fatally. This is a novel of ferocious suspense and masterful pacing; a riveting title from our acclaimed writer of historical suspense—please help Bookshop Santa Cruz welcome Ms. Laurie King in what is sure to be an entertaining and gripping night.

The SF&F discussion group, meets every 2nd
& 4th Wednesday monthly, talks about the books they have read recently. Open to older teens and adults. Ends around 8:30 p.m.

We are celebrating our eleventh Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered on works by Bay Area authors. Bookshop’s next community selection is the enchanting but thoroughly unsentimental book, Little Heathens by Cupertino author Mildred Armstrong Kalish. ... (more)“This unpretentious yet deeply intelligent memoir of growing up on a central Iowa farm in the throes of the Great Depression radiates the joy of a vanished way of life as Kalish recounts what appear to contemporary eyes as unendurable deprivations,” says Booklist. The meeting will feature a discussion at 6:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with 7:00pm. Little Heathens will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from May 21st until the June 16th meeting date (for those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us. PS—There will be snacks and tea!!

We are celebrating our eleventh Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered on works by Bay Area authors. Bookshop’s next community selection is the enchanting but thoroughly unsentimental book, Little Heathens by Cupertino author Mildred Armstrong Kalish. ... (more)“This unpretentious yet deeply intelligent memoir of growing up on a central Iowa farm in the throes of the Great Depression radiates the joy of a vanished way of life as Kalish recounts what appear to contemporary eyes as unendurable deprivations,” says Booklist. The meeting will feature a discussion at 6:30pm facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with 7:00pm. Little Heathens will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from May 21st until the June 16th meeting date (for those last minute readers!). We hope you’ll join us. PS—There will be snacks and tea!!

What if there had been an intelligent race of dinosaurs, gone dormant when the world’s climate changed? And what if the climate changed back to the climate in which they had flourished? James Stambaugh has written a science fiction novel with the answers and will be in the store to discuss ... (more)it. Come join us!

Acclaimed local poet and scholar Adrienne Rich will read from her new book, A Human Eye, a collection of essays focusing on the complex relationship between art and social justice. For more than three decades, Rich’s writing has been praised for its lucidity, courage, and range of concerns. In A Human ... (more)Eye, she examines a diverse selection of writings and their place in past and present social disorders and transformations. Examining a range of subjects, from an anthology of Iraqi poetry to writing and poetry on gay politics, Rich pushes us toward examining art as social dialogue, while simultaneously reflecting the awe and beauty that is ever present in the written word.

Bring your lunch and have a great hour with Maggie Sefton, New York Times bestselling author. Her new book is Dropped Dead Stitch, a mystery set in the fictional town of Fort Connor, although you might recognize spots like the Back Porch Café or the Lambspun Knitting Shop.

This meeting is only a couple of days after Andre's visit to town. I should think we will have something to talk about!

We are excited to welcome Mariel Hemingway to Bookshop to help celebrate her newest cookbook, Mariel’s Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Delicious and Satisfying Life. Most of us are familiar with Mariel not only for being the granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, but also for her own accomplishments ... (more)as a model and actress, but beyond her accolades as a performer, Mariel is also one of the leading voices for holistic and balanced living.
In her new title, Mariel addresses the realistic questions of how to maintain healthy (and tasty!) eating. How do you cook nutritious and delicious meals when life is busy and time is short? Is it possible to make fresh, organic food a part of your family's way of life--simply and affordably? Hemingway answers each of these questions by sharing tried-and-tested recipes, straight from her kitchen to yours.
Filled with exciting, beautiful photographs and easy-to-follow instructions, Mariel's Kitchen includes seventy-five sensational recipes that can be mastered by anyone, regardless of cooking experience. Arranged according to the seasons, these recipes show how simple it can be to put locally grown, seasonal produce on your table in place of packaged and processed foods. From sublime summer breakfasts to delectable desserts and heartwarming winter dinners, these tasty dishes, snacks, salad dressings, marinades, and drink recipes put homemade eating back into easy reach.
Combining Mariel's no-nonsense attitude with wholesome recipes for every occasion, Mariel's Kitchen is a new kind of American cookbook designed to help you--and all those you cook for—to eat better, fresher, and more delicious foods, day in and day out.
Bookshop Santa Cruz is happy to welcome Ms. Hemingway for this discussion, signing, and Q&A. Also, come hungry to this event as we’ll be serving different selections from Mariel’s recipes!

Bring your knitting project and join hostess Patty Poisson for an informal evening of chatting, knitting and tea. Exquisite tea is generously provided by Danielle Beaudette of The Cozy Tea Cart in Brookline. (www.thecozyteacart.com). Please note that the group is open to all experienced knitters. They ... (more)meet on the 2nd Monday each month.

Diane Leslie's Book Group meets to discuss Shilpa Agarwal's Haunting Bombay. Around 6pm, Ms. Agarwal will join in the discussion! There is a $20 entry fee for this event.

Kim Solga's award winning book introduces kids to 75 great American artists through fun and easy hands-on art-appreciation activities in the distinctive style of each artist. Great American Artists for Kids encourages children to learn by doing, to become familiar with new ideas, and to expand their ... (more)awareness in many different forms of art, from painting and drawing to sculpture, photography, architecture, and more. Kids can dive right into all kinds of fun projects at this event! Join us and discover how much fun art appreciation can be! Art centers will be provided so that kids, and their parents, can create a monoprint picture in the style of Mary Cassatt, assemble a rocking sculpture in the style of Alexander Calder, and make an abstract painting with tissue paper in the style of Richard Diebenkorn. Great American Artists for Kids was just awarded a
2009 Benjamin Franklin Award from the Independent Book Publishers
Association.
Author Kim Solga is a former elementary teacher, a professional artist
and stained glass designer, a writer, an internet developer, and the
owner of KidsArt, a mail order art supplies catalog for teachers and
parents. Her best-selling book Discovering Great Artists was the
precursor to this new title focusing on American art for children. Kim
lives in Mt. Shasta, California.

We are celebrating a full year of hosting our Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group, open to everyone in the community and centered on works by Bay Area authors. Bookshop’s celebratory pick is from our own local (and already best-selling) author, Clifford Henderson. Henderson’s debut novel ... (more)centers on an independent, urban lesbian who cashes out her life in San Francisco for a second-hand travel-trailer, and sets off in search for a new life. The novel is full captivating turns and a cast of wonderfully quirky characters, and all the humor that you would expect from this talented author who also happens to be co-founder of the Fun Institute, a school of improv and solo performance here in Santa Cruz. We invite you to read, The Middle of Somewhere, and then join us on Thursday, July 23rd at 7:30pm for a group discussion facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with Clifford at 8:00pm. The Middle of Somewhere will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price until the July 23rd meeting date. We hope you’ll join us.
PS—There will be snacks and tea!!

The Passionate Mind Revisited: Expanding Personal and Social Awareness
With a facilitated discussion with Santa Cruz’s own Mark Stephens Bookshop Santa Cruz welcomes the authors of The Passionate Mind Revisited: Expanding Personal and Social Awareness, a book that takes readers on a liberating inner ... (more)journey into the workings of their mind that can transform the way people look at themselves and the world.
Kramer and Alstad assert that humanity is on an evolutionary cusp requiring further awareness and conscious social evolution. Worldviews can create rigid beliefs and narrow identities that are destructive in a world of global impact. While acknowledging the fallibility of any mental construction, the book offers an evolutionary worldview deemed more likely than traditional worldviews or scientific materialism.
In exploring what it is to be a human social animal, The Passionate Mind Revisited offers fresh vantage points on life's core issues: the nature of thought, authority and belief, pleasure and pain, desire and fear, identity, love and care, freedom, power, gender, time, meditation, violence, and evolution. This book through its discussion and methodology, fosters curiosity and truth-seeking. Kramer and Alstad offer new insights on personal and global issues that can facilitate a necessary shift to conscious social evolution.
Joel Kramer is regarded by many as the father of modern American yoga for his evolutionary vision of yoga that frees it from its authoritarian roots. Diana Alstad received a Ph.D. from Yale in 1971 and initiated and taught the first Women’s Studies courses at both Yale and Duke. And we are delighted that Mark Stephens, local yoga instructor and member of the conscious living and healing arts community, will be leading the facilitated discussion at this event.

Lucille Lang Day's new book of poems is The Curvature of Blue; Alicia Ostriker enthuses about it, "Intelligence enjoying itself, awareness at play, attentiveness dancing through life's minefields smiling at itself in its new black car. . . a wonderful book and I feel lucky to have read it." Lucille Day ... (more)has published four previous books of poetry, including Infinities, Wild One, and Self-Portrait with a Hand Microscope, her first, for which she won the Joseph Henry Jackson Award. She is the founder and director of Scarlet Tanager Books, a literary press in the Bay Area. Roz Spafford's new book of poems is Requiem, winner of the 2008 Gell Poetry Prize, with a foreword by Carl Dennis: "All the poems in Requiem may be read as attempts to confront the presence of death in our lives. . . What is remarkable about this steady focus, which offers no easy consolations, is that it leads to a book that is more challenging than it is querulous or elegiac. . . a book that confronts our limitations in a way that makes us feel larger rather than diminished." Spafford has been a writer, teacher, and activist for the last three decades. She wrote book reviews and a newspaper column of media and cultural criticism called 'Mediations' for much of that time. Her poetry and fiction have been widely published in literary magazines.

Reading and signing Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
With our appreciation (and fear for) California’s State Park’s at the forefront of our minds, this look back into Theodore Roosevelt’s life as our ‘naturalist president’ feels timely in a way where we can ... (more)only hope that history’s impact has a strong hold for what is in store for the future. In this groundbreaking epic biography, Douglas Brinkley draws on never-before-published materials to examine the life and achievements of our "naturalist president." By setting aside more than 230 million acres of wild America for posterity between 1901 and 1909, Theodore Roosevelt made conservation a universal endeavor.
Tracing the role that nature played in Roosevelt 's storied career, Brinkley brilliantly analyzes the influence that the works of John James Audubon and Charles Darwin had on the young man who would become our twenty-sixth president. With descriptive flair, the author illuminates Roosevelt's bird watching in the Adirondacks, wildlife obsession in Yellowstone, hikes in the Blue Ridge Mountains, ranching in the Dakota Territory, hunting in the Big Horn Mountains , and outdoor romps through Idaho and Wyoming . He also profiles Roosevelt 's incredible circle of naturalist friends, from Catskills poet John Burroughs, to Sierra Club founder John Muir, among many others. He brings to life hilarious anecdotes of wild-pig hunting in Texas and badger saving in Kansas , wolf catching in Oklahoma and grouse flushing in Iowa . Even the story of the teddy bear gets its definitive treatment.
Destined to become a classic, this extraordinary and timeless biography offers a penetrating and colorful look at Roosevelt 's naturalist achievements, a legacy now more important than ever. Raising a Paul Revere-like alarm about American wildlife in peril--including buffalo, manatees, antelope, egrets, and elk--Roosevelt saved entire species from probable extinction. As we face the problems of global warming, overpopulation, and sustainable land management, and in California especially, economic hardship that threaten to downsize or simply close down America ’s parks and remaining wild lands, this past leader's stout resolution to protect our environment is an inspiration and a contemporary call to arms for us all. Please join us to welcome New York Times "bestselling historian” David Brinkley for a book discussion, Q&A and signing.

Led by Julie Minnis with a discussion with author Mary F. Pols
Accidentally on Purpose: The True Tale of a Happy Single Mother Starting in on our second year of Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Community Book Group—a monthly Book Group open to everyone in the community and centered on works by Bay Area authors, ... (more)Bookshop Santa Cruz’s next selection is Mary Pols’ memoir: Accidentally on Purpose. At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. To take on the physical, emotional and financial challenges of motherhood without a perfect soul mate/husband would be absurd, kind of like not bothering to use a condom during a one-night stand with an adorable but jobless guy ten years her junior. Pols spends the ensuing weeks after her home pregnancy test despairing over everything, from her money woes to the end of her hopes for a traditional life. Not the least of her worries is finding the right way to drop the bombshell on loved ones, including her five siblings and eighty-four-year-old father, who has a German temper and an Irish Catholic attitude toward babies out of wedlock. Yet faced with the frightening, lonely truth that this might be her only chance of motherhood, she plunges ahead with the pregnancy and an Odd Couple version of a co-parenting relationship that looks like one more disaster in a long line of romantic disappointments. But even as she tries to give her son's young father a radical makeover, she realizes that his devotion to and love for their child matters more than his spotty resume or his inability to remember to put oil in the car. With humor, insight and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose. We invite you to read Accidentally on Purpose and then join us on Thursday, August 27th at 7:30pm for a group discussion facilitated by Julie Minnis, followed by a dialogue with Mary Pols at 8:00pm. Accidentally on Purpose will be discounted to the whole community at 10% off its cover price from July 23rd until the August 27th meeting date. We hope you’ll join us.
PS—There will be snacks, chocolate, and tea!! PPS—This story is so compelling that I can also tell you that the book is being made into a television series starring Jenna Elfman (as Mary Pols) and CBS has picked it up for pilot season coming out this fall.

Come meet local children's book illustrator Jill Weber with her new book, "Even Higher! A Rosh Hashanah Story" written by Eric Kimmel. Find out where the Rabbi disappears to just before the holiday!

Local author and Union Leader columnist, John Clayton will be speaking about his latest book, "Remembering Manchester: Towering Titans and Unsung Heroes". Learn more about the fascinating people that have graced the Granite State thoughts, work and humor.

We are delighted to welcome one of our favorite writers, Lorrie Moore, who will read and sign copies of A Gate at the Stairs, “one of the year’s best novels” (Kirkus Reviews). In her best-selling story collection, Birds of America (“stands
by itself as one of our funniest, most telling anatomies ... (more)of human love
and vulnerability” —James McManus, front page of The New York Times Book Review),
Lorrie Moore wrote about the disconnect between men and women, about
the precariousness of women on the edge, and about loneliness and loss. Now,
in her new novel—her first in more than a decade—Moore turns her eye on
the anxiety and disconnection of post-9/11 America, on the
insidiousness of racism, the blind-sidedness of war, and the
recklessness thrust on others in the name of love. Publishers Weekly raves,
“ Moore knits together the shadow of 9/11 and a young girl's bumpy
coming-of-age in this luminous, heart-wrenchingly wry novel.”

Please join us for a very special story time with celebrated local author and illustrator Jim LaMarche, who will read and sign copies of his wonderful new picture book, Lost & Found: Dog Stories.
In three heartwarming stories, LaMarche lovingly depicts tales of being
lost, being found, finding home, ... (more)and, most important, the dogs who help
us find our way. One lost dog is rescued, another pup leads a
frightened child home, and a fractured family finds a fresh start
through the love of a dog. Featuring LaMarche’s exquisite artwork, this
joyful, touching collection will be cherished by anyone who has ever
loved a dog. Publishers Weekly
says, “LaMarche's gentle artwork distinguishes this collection,
gracefully rendering the special bond between dogs and children. The
soft colors of autumn unite the stories visually, and the pages are
full of activity. Even the endpapers are covered with portraits of the
dogs, as though LaMarche's love for them has overflowed beyond the
bounds of the stories.”

We are thrilled to help celebrate the release of “winemaker, jester, and all-around philosopher king of Bonny Doon Vineyard” (New York Times) Randall Grahm’s new book, Been Doon So Long, with a book talk, signing, and—of course—wine tasting! This eclectic collection at
last brings to a wide ... (more)audience the irreverent, zany voice of Randall
Grahm, visionary California winemaker and founder of Bonny Doon
Vineyard. An iconoclastic send-up of the wine industry and a
celebration of unsung grape varieties, this book features, among
other things, Grahm's hilarious literary parodies—Joyce, Kafka,
Pynchon, Salinger, and others—together with song lyrics, other snarky
satires, poems, lectures, and more. Other pieces offer a fascinating
glimpse into the history of the Rhône Ranger wine movement and of Bonny
Doon itself, told through the story of its adventurous wine labels. Been Doon So Long is a highly entertaining journey to find the “truth of all things that may be found in the unlikely medium of a wineglass.” "Randall Grahm is the Willy Wonka of the wine world, and Been Doon So Long is intelligent, insightful, and mischievous. It's a work of genius."—Jamie Goode, author of The Science of Wine Please note earlier start time of this event: Wine tasting will begin at 7:00, followed by a book talk and signing at 7:30.

Bookshop has selected The Art of Racing in the Rain,
one of our very favorite books of the past year, as our next Community
Book Group selection. A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately
uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, this book is a
beautifully crafted and captivating look ... (more)at the wonders and absurdities of human life . . . as only a dog could tell it! We invite the community to read The Art of Racing in the Rain, and then join us on Thursday, September 24th at 7:30pm for a group discussion facilitated by Julie Minnis. Bestselling author Garth Stein will join us at
8:00pm to further discuss his book, as well as answer questions. This
is sure to be a wonderful night. P.S. There will be snacks and tea!   Photos by Frank Huster.    

Please join us for a book talk, signing, and recipe tasting! Tassajara, the California spa/retreat center, has long been renowned for its gourmet vegetarian cuisine. In The Complete Tassajara Cookbook,
one of Tassajara’s most well-known and beloved cooks, Edward Espe
Brown, presents hundreds of recipes ... (more)using fresh, whole foods; detailed
notes on preparing seasonal ingredients; and, perhaps most important,
inspiration for cooking with joyful intention and attention. Presented
with humor and warmth, this book is full of wonderful insights into
living a life that celebrates simple food. Edward
Espe Brown is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest, an accomplished chef—who
helped found Greens Restaurant with Deborah Madison—and the author of five books. Bookshop loves hosting culinary events and will once again provide food (recipes from the featured book) for customers to sample!

Diesel, A Bookstore in Oakland is pleased to present local author Taije Silverman to the store to celebrate the publication of her first book of poetry, Houses Are Fields.
Taije Silverman’s poems have appeared in Poetry, Shenandoah, Ploughshares, Five Points, Massachusetts Review, Prairie Schooner, ... (more)and other journals. The recipient of the 2005–2007 Emory University Creative Writing Fellowship, as well as residencies from the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, she is now Assistant Visiting Professor at Ursinus College, outside of Philadelphia. Her first collection of poems, Houses Are Fields, was published by LSU Press in 2009, and selected as the debut book in their Sea Cliff Series. Thrice nominated for the Puschart Prize, she has received the Anais Nin Award from the Academy of American Poets, and her book has just been translated into Italian. Her own translations of Italian poetry are forthcoming in Pleiades.