BOOKS INC. The West’s Oldest Independent Bookseller ByJessica Brody I didn’t become a reader until college. I wish I could say it was because of some inspiring professor who reached deep into my soul and turned on a light switch I didn’t even know I had. But no. It was because of the Freshman 15. www.booksinc.net for the absolute latest event information! MARCH ENDORSE READING Sometimes I feel like a fraud standing in front of an auditorium of high schoolers, asking them to read my book. After all, I wasn’t a reader at that age. In my mind, reading was the equivalent of homework. The books they assigned us in class were of no interest to me. And most of the time, I just opted for the Cliff Notes. Visit In this newsletter Fiction • 2-3 Drinks with Nick • 2 Events • 4-5 Non-Fiction • 6 Teen Events • 7 Book Clubs • 7 Kids Books • 8 Kids Events • 8 The experience you CAN’T download Alina Chau Andrew Smith Andy Weir Annika Stenstedt Cammy Thomas Cara Black Chuck Todd Daniel Kunstler David Kukoff Dr. Scott Sampson Ellery A. Kane Garth Stein George Hodgman J.A. Jance You know, that strange cultural phenomenon in which you get to college and magically gain 15 pounds? That’s what happened to me. It was a problem. And I didn’t have a solution. Jack Bishop Jack Erickson Jean Reagan Jessica Buchleitner Jessican Herthel John Boyne Joseph Di Prisco Julia Reynolds Kate Pollard Kevin Sessums Laura Ackley Laurie R. King Lisa J. Shannon Marie-Rose Phan Lê Mary Doria Russell Masha Maslova Matt Richtel Meg Donohue Mira Grant New Oo Cheema Seanan Maguire Shannon Bennett Sharma Shields Stacey Lee Teresa Toten Timothy Williams Virginia Morell Whitney Miller Event Higlights My roommate, on the other hand, did. She dragged me to something called a “gym” and stuck me on this horrifyingly pointless contraption called an “elliptical.” Basically, you pedal and pedal and go nowhere. But I was determined to lose the weight. So I programmed it for 40 minutes and dove in with full force. After a while, however, I started to get really tired…and sweaty. Not to mention, incredibly bored. I glanced down and only two minutes had passed. I was about to give up. Then my roommate made another unhelpful suggestion. “Why don’t you read a book? It’ll make the time go by faster.” To which, I responded, “I already finished my homework.” “No,” she corrected. “I mean like a book for fun.” That’s when I gave her the most sympathetic look I could muster (through my sweat) and said, “Honey, there’s no such thing as a book for fun. That’s called television.” PHOTO BY DON RUSSELL T.C. BOYLE April 12 2:00 PM The Chapel We went back and forth until she finally convinced me to try the book she was reading. I waded in with reluctance. But after a few minutes, to my surprise, I found I was laughing and turning the pages with zeal. I was completely absorbed in the story. Then I heard this weird beeping sound. I looked down to see that my forty minutes on the elliptical were up! Just like that! What is this magic book that makes time cease to exist?! I thought. GARTH STEIN April 19 4:00 PM The Chapel March 4 Books Inc. in Chestnut March 5 Books Inc. in Mountain View MARY DORIA RUSSELL March 26 Books Inc. in Palo Alto New BOOKS INC. Rewards Program Our Frequent Reader program dated back to shoulder pads and leg warmers. It pre-dated the social media AND the internet. We’re moving into the 21st century with something that can change as fast as we do, not to mention those devices we all use now. Sign-up on Facebook, www.booksinc.net or text BOOKSINC (all one word) to 22828! You will receive 2 or more e-coupons delivered to your email box every month! Check all your jackets and blue jeans pockets because existing Frequent Reader Cards will be honored until completed! The book was called Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding and it changed my life. Not only did it turn me into a reader, but it introduced me to the kind of books I wanted to write. Books for fun. The stories you pick up after you finish your work. Books that hopefully make 40 minutes on the elliptical go by in a flash. Let the Sun Shine A Little Longer Today 15% OFF When I stand up in front of an auditorium full of students, I tell this story. I’m not ashamed of it. If one person becomes a reader after picking up one of my books, then it all will have been worth it. Then I will have returned the gift that was given to me. There’s not much more I can ask for than that. Jessica’s latest book, Unchanged, is now available! KATE MULGREW your entire PurchAse AvAilAble Ail ilA Able sundAy R MaRCh 8, 2015 At A t Any books inc. locAtion & WWW.BOOKSINC.NET Must Present this Coupon to ReCeive DisCount not vAlid on in stoRe•online enteR Coupon CoDe MnC15 liMited to one custoMer trAnsAction e-books, e-reAders, sPeciAl orders, newsPAPers or MAgAzines 2 March 2015 Drinks with Nick Books Inc. in Alameda store manager Nick Petrulakis has been known to mix a cocktail now and then. In this monthly feature, Nick creates a cocktail to go with one of his favorite books for the month. • Fiction • Christian Kiefer’s The Animals is a brawling and beautiful book. You’ll travel from a hardscrabble Battle Mountain, Nevada, to the non-neon side of the Biggest Little City in the World, and end up in a wildlife sanctuary in remote Idaho, where the King of Beasts is Majer, a bear blinded by age. This drink is for him and his Idaho forests. www.booksinc.net Blind Bear: 1.5 oz. Plymouth Gin .75 oz. absinthe Soda water Aftelier Perfumes Fir Needle Chef’s Essence® Spray Stir gin and absinthe with ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Top with cold soda water. Spritz once with the Fir. Green on Blue The Fifth Gospel Leaving Berlin By Elliot Ackerman By Ian Caldwell By Joseph Kanon Aziz and his older brother Ali live with their mother in a village amid the endless mountains of eastern Afghanistan. When a convoy of armed men arrives in their village one day, the boys are suddenly orphaned in a small unfamiliar city miles from home. And soon, Aziz must decide whether to embrace the brutality of war or leave it behind, and risk placing his brother in jeopardy. Available Now Young Skins By Colin Barrett Enter the small, rural town of Glanbeigh, Ireland a place whose fate took a downturn with the Celtic Tiger, a desolate spot where buffoonery and tension simmer and erupt, and booze-sodden boredom fills the corners of every pub and nightclub. Here, and in the towns beyond, the young live hard and wear the scars. Told in Barrett’s vibrant, distinctive prose, Young Skins is an accomplished and irreverent debut. Available Now The Whites By Harry Brandt Back in the 1990s, when Billy Graves was part of the anti-crime unit the Wild Geese he was branded as a loose cannon after accidentally shooting a young boy during a scuffle with a criminal. Now a sergeant for the Manhattan Night Watch, the bad old days have returned to Billy’s life with a vengeance when the team is summoned to a case with ties to the former members of the Wild Geese. Available Now Follow Us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & Tumblr 2004 -A mysterious exhibit is under construction at the Vatican Museums. A week before it is scheduled to open, its curator is murdered. That same night, a violent break-in rocks the home of the curator’s research partner, Father Alex Andreou, a Greek Catholic priest who lives inside the Vatican. When the papal police fail to identify a suspect in either crime, Father Alex undertakes his own investigation. Available March 3rd An Exaggerated Murder By Josh Cook Private investigator Trike Augustine may be a brainiac with deductive skills to rival Sherlock Holmes, but they’re not doing him any good at solving the case of a missing gazzilionaire because the clues are so stupefyingly--well, stupid. Meanwhile, his sidekicks Max and Lola don’t quite rise to the level of Dr. Watson, either. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking as the astronomical reward being offered diminishes drastically every day. Available March 3rd The Buried Giant By Kazuo Ishiguro The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son they have not seen for years. Sometimes savage, sometimes mysterious, always intensely moving, The Buried Giant tells a luminous story about the act of forgetting and the power of memory. Available March 3rd The Tusk That Did the Damage By Tania James A tour de force set in South India that plumbs the moral complexities of the ivory trade through the eyes of a poacher, a documentary filmmaker, and, in a feat of audacious imagination, an infamous elephant known as the Gravedigger. The Tusk That Did the Damage blends the mythical and the political to tell a wholly original, utterly contemporary story about the majestic animal that has mesmerized us for centuries. Available March 10th Berlin 1948. Alex Meier, a young Jewish writer, fled the Nazis for America before the war. But the politics of his youth have now put him in the crosshairs of the McCarthy witch-hunts. Faced with deportation and the loss of his family, he makes a desperate bargain with the fledgling CIA: he will earn his way back to America by acting as their agent in his native Berlin. Available March 3rd Shame and the Captives By Thomas Keneally Inspired by a notorious incident in New South Wales in 1944, this beautifully rendered novel from the author of “Schindler’s List” brilliantly explores a World War II prison camp, where Japanese prisoners plan an outbreak, to shattering and far-reaching effects on all the citizens around them. Shame and the Captives is another masterful work by Thomas Keneally which explores ordinary lives caught up in extraordinary events. Available Now Dreaming Spies By Laurie R. King After a lengthy case, Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes set off for a sojourn in Japan. Aboard the ship, Holmes recognizes the Earl of Darley, whom he suspects of being an occasional blackmailer. And then there’s the young Japanese woman who befriends Russell. From the glorious city of Tokyo to the cavernous library at Oxford, Russell and Holmes race to solve a mystery with potential to topple an empire. Available Now The Last Word By Hanif Kureishi Mamoon Azam is an eminent Indian-born writer who has made a career in England--but now, in his early seventies, his reputation is fading. In an attempt to revitalize his career, Mamoon’s publisher commissions Harry, an ambitious young writer, to produce a provocative biography to bring Mamoon back into the public eye. The Last Word is a tale of youthful exuberance and the misery of outgrowing it. Available March 10th www.booksinc.net • Fiction • March 2015 I Am Radar Night at the Fiestas Cat Out of Hell By Reif Larsen By Kirstin Valdez Quade By Lynne Truss The moment just before Radar Radmanovic is born, the hospital’s electricity fails. The delivery takes place in total darkness. Lights back on, the staff sees a healthy baby boy--with pitch-black skin--born to stunned white parents. I Am Radar begins with Radar’s perplexing birth but rapidly explodes outward, carrying readers throughout history, as well as to unknown regions where radio waves and subatomic particles dance to their own design. Available Now World Gone By By Dennis Lehane A psychologically complex novel set in Cuba and Ybor City, Florida, during World War II -- Joe Coughlin effortlessly mixes with Tampa’s social elite, U.S. Naval intelligence, and the Lansky-Luciano mob. He has everything--money, power, a beautiful mistress, and anonymity. But success cannot protect him from the dark truth of his past--and ultimately, the wages of a lifetime of sin will finally be paid in full. Available March 10th Lucky Alan By Jonathan Lethem Jonathan Lethem’s third collection of stories uncovers a father’s nervous breakdown at SeaWorld; a foundling child rescued from the woods during a blizzard; a political prisoner in a hole in a Brooklyn street; and a crumbling, haunted “blog” on a seaside cliff. As in his celebrated novels, Lethem finds the uncanny lurking in the mundane, and the tragic undertow of the absurd world(s) in which we live. Available Now The Discreet Hero By Mario Vargas Llosa The Discreet Hero, follows two fascinating characters whose lives are destined to intersect: neat, endearing Felicito Yanaque, a small businessman in Piura, Peru, who finds himself the victim of blackmail; and Ismael Carrera, a successful owner of an insurance company in Lima, who cooks up a plan to avenge himself against the two lazy sons who want him dead. Available March 10th Satin Island By Tom McCarthy U., a “corporate anthropologist,” is tasked with writing the Great Report, an all-encompassing ethnographic document that would sum up our era. Yet at every turn, he feels himself overwhelmed by the ubiquity of data. As he begins to wonder if the Great Report might remain a shapeless, oozing plasma, his senses are startled awake by a dream of an apocalyptic cityscape. Available Now Kirstin Valdez Quade’s unforgettable stories plunge us into the troubled hearts of characters defined by the desire to escape the past or else to plumb its depths. From a young man discovering his estranged father has been squatting in his grandmother’s empty house, to a young woman at an impasse when she is asked to hear her priest’s confession, these stories explore themes of race, class, and coming-of-age. Available Now The Valley By John Renehan When Black, a deskbound admin officer, is sent up the Valley to investigate a warning shot fired by a near-forgotten platoon, he can only see it as the final bureaucratic insult in a short and unhappy Army career. What he doesn’t know is that his investigation puts at risk the centuries-old arrangements that keep this violent land in fragile balance, and will launch a shattering personal odyssey of obsession and discovery. Available March 10th Barefoot Dogs By Antonio Ruiz-Camacho On an unremarkable night, Jose Victoriano Arteaga--the head of a thriving Mexico City family--vanishes on his way home from work. The Arteagas find few answers; the full truth of what happened to Arteaga is lost to the shadows of Mexico’s vast and desperate underworld, a place of rampant violence and kidnappings, and government corruption. But soon packages arrive to the family house, offering horrifying clues. Available March 10th All the Old Knives By Olen Steinhauer Six years ago in Vienna, terrorists took over a hundred hostages, and the rescue attempt went terribly wrong. The CIA’s Vienna station was witness to this tragedy, gathering intel from its sources during those tense hours, assimilating facts from the ground and from an agent on the inside. So when it all went wrong, the question had to be asked: Had their agent been compromised, and how? Available March 10th Dr. “Wiggy” Winterton is a librarian who finds himself suddenly alone: he’s just lost his job, his beloved wife has just died, and to top it all off, his sister has disappeared. Overcome by grief, he stands in his sister’s kitchen staring at the only witness to what’s happened to her--her cat, Roger. Who then speaks to him. . . Available March 3rd Aquarium David Vann Twelve year old Caitlin lives alone with her mother in Seattle. Each day, while she waits to be picked up after school, Caitlin visits the local aquarium to study the fish. When she befriends an old man at the tanks one day, Caitlin cracks open a dark family secret and propels her once-blissful relationship with her mother toward a precipice of terrifying consequence. Available Now A Little Life By Hanya Yanagihara When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is their friend Jude, haunted by an unspeakable childhood trauma which he fears will define his life forever. Available March 10th The Wisdom of Perversity By Rafael Yglesias Brian and Jeff were best friends, growing up together in the late 1960s. Then something happened that drove a wedge between them, ending both their friendship and their childhood, something that neither ever spoke about . . . at least until their shared secret resurfaced some forty years later, forcing them to reunite and, along with Jeff’s cousin Julie, to face the consequences of their years of silence. Available Now Lacy Eye By Jessica Treadway When Dawn brings her new boyfriend home from college for a visit, her parents and sister try to hide their doubts because they’re glad that Dawn - always an awkward child - appears to have grown into a confident woman in her relationship. But when Hanna and her husband, Joe, are beaten savagely in their bed, Daen’s mother is forced to question everything she thought she knew about her daughter. Available March 10th 3 ebooks available @ www.booksinc.net 4 1 • BOOKS INC. Events @BooksIncEvents • March 2015 Brooklyn, New York to the counterculture in Los Angeles, California--with a conversation between authors David Kukoff and Joseph Di Prisco, discussing their respective works Children of the Canyon: A Novel, and the memoir Subway to California. 5:00 PM • Laurel Village 415-221-3666 “New York Times-bestselling author Cara Black launches the latest installment in her Aimee Leduc series, Murder on the Champs de Mars. Single mother Aimee Leduc is fighting off sleep deprivation when a young Gypsy boy comes to her with news that his dying mother has an important secret she needs to tell Aimee, something to do with Aimee’s father’s unsolved murder a decade ago. 3 7:00 PM • Belmont Library 1110 Alameda De Las Pulgas 650-591-8286 The Belmont Library presents New York Times-bestselling author Laurie R. King for a discussion of the latest intstallment in her Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes series, Dreaming Spies. 7:30 PM • SF • Nourse Theatre 275 Hayes St • 415-392-4400 City Arts & Lectures presents moderator and managing editor of Meet the Press and author of The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House, Chuck Todd in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt. 7:00 PM • The Marina 415-931-3633 “Co-founder of Seattle7Writers, playwright, and New York Times-bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein discusses his much-anticipated new novel A Sudden Light. Called “a grand, gorgeous, multi-generational epic of the Pacific Northwest” by bestselling author Maria Semple, A Sudden Light is rich with unconventional characters, scenes of transcendent natural beauty, and unforgettable moments of emotional truth. Visit BOOKS INC. locations 7:00 PM • Mountain View 650-428-1234 7:00 PM • Mountain View 650-428-1234 “Award-winning journalist and the writer and co-producer of the PBS documentary Nuestra Family, Our Family Julia Reynolds discusses her gripping and comprehensive examination of one of the most violent gangs in the United States--and the history of Operation Black Widow, the FBI’s questionable decade-long effort to dismantle the Nuestra Familia--Blood in the Fields. 7:00 PM • Palo Alto 650-321-0600 Local author Daniel Kunstler discusses Passaic: The True Story of One Man’s Journey Through American Immigration, Detention and Deportation. A compelling look at one human rights failure, Passaic also sheds light on the darker side of our national ambivalence toward immigrants illustrating a pattern of social control cloaked in the rule of law. 7:30 PM • The Castro 425-864-6777 International bestselling author with books published in 47 languages, and the recipient of two Irish Book Awards, the Bistro Book of the Year, and numerous international awards, John Boyne discusses his new novel--which is a riveting narrative of an honorable Irish priest who finds the church collapsing around him in the 1970s--A History of Loneliness. Garth Stein 4 Julia Reynolds 7:30 PM • SF•Nourse Theatre 275 Hayes St • 415-392-4400 City Arts & Lectures presents Surprising Benefits of Bacteria: The Human Microbiome with UCSF genetic researcher Dr. Katie Pollard in conversation with Associate “Co-founder of Seattle7Writers, playwright, and New York Times-bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein discusses his much-anticipated new novel A Sudden Light. Called “a grand, gorgeous, multi-generational epic of the Pacific Northwest” by bestselling author Maria Semple, A Sudden Light is rich with unconventional characters, scenes of transcendent natural beauty, and unforgettable moments of emotional truth. 7:00 PM • Palo Alto 650-321-0600 in conversation with Lisen Stromberg. With a clear and accessible action plan to achieving more joyful and productive lives, stronger communities and a better world, Seeking Serenity is a revolutionary, and essential, read for all. 7:00 PM • The Marina 415-931-3633 Architectural historian and digital visualization professional and a recognized authority on the Panama-Pacific International Exposition Laura Ackley marks the centennial of the PPIE, when our own San Francisco emerged from the ashes of the 1906 earthquake and fire to host the resplendent exposition, with San Francisco’s Jewel City: The Panama -Pacific International Exposition of 1915. 7:00 PM • Palo Alto 650-321-0600 5 “New York Times-bestselling author Cara Black launches the latest installment in her Aimee Leduc series, Murder on the Champs de Mars. Single mother Aimee Leduc is fighting off sleep deprivation Take a trip through the 1960s--from crime and corruption in 12 7:00 PM • Laurel Village 415-221-3666 USA Today-bestselling author Meg Donohue shares her poignant new novel Dog Crazy. Set in San Francisco, Dog Crazy follows pet bereavement counselor Maggie Brennan as she searches the City Meg Donohue 2:30 PM • Mountain View 650-428-1234 Health and Happiness in the Age of Anxiety Curator of Microbiology at California Academy of Science’s Shannon Bennett. 7:00 PM • Opera Plaza 415-776-1111 when a young Gypsy boy comes to her with news that his dying mother has an important secret she needs to tell Aimee, something to do with Aimee’s father’s unsolved murder a decade ago. for a stolen dog, and learns to open her heart to new love. This evening will benefit San Francisco’s oldest all-breed rescue group Grateful Dogs Rescue. “(S)He Talks events in partnership with Books Inc. presents CNN and PBS contributor Amanda Enayati for a discussion of Seeking Serenity: The 10 New Rules for 10 www.booksinc.net In celebration of the release of The Doomsday Equation Books Inc. Mountain View presents an evening with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Matt Richtel in conversation about the state of science fiction and the writing process with critically-acclaimed, bestselling authors Andy Weir, author of The Martian, and Mira Grant (Seanan Maguire), most recent author of Symbiont and Book #4 in the Incryptid series Pocket Apocalypse. 15 2:30 PM • Alameda 510-522-2226 Join Alameda for a salute to hometown hero Marine Gunnery Sgt. Aaron Tam (Ret.), who is featured in the cover story of National Geographic Magazine’s February 2015 issue entitled “Behind the Mask: Revealing the Trauma of War.” A powerful story of the many brain injuries soldiers endure as a result of blast events, “Behind the Mask” is a visually arresting article about a form of art therapy that is helping many service members work through their mental and physical pain by painting masks to express their feelings. ALAMEDA BERKELEY BURLINGAME MOUNTAIN VIEW PALO ALTO SAN FRANCISCO 1344 Park Street 510.522.2226 1760 4th Street 510.525.7777 1375 Burlingame Ave 650.685.4911 301 Castro St 650.428.1234 Town & Country Village 650.321.0600 Opera Plaza • 601 Van Ness 415.776.1111 www.booksinc.net 17 • BOOKS INC. Events @BooksIncEvents • 6:00 PM • Opera Plaza 415-776-1111 Looking for feedback on your kid’s book manuscript? Bring your workin-progress to Writeous Writing Group, a hands-on critique group moderated by professional children’s book editor Summer Dawn Laurie. You will be amazed at how much you learn yourself by critiquing another writer’s work. Pre-register and learn more at www.booksinc.net/childrens_book_writing_group 7:30 PM • The Castro 425-864-6777 “Literary editor and a former Senior Editor for Vanity Fair magazine, George Hodgman shares his stunning debut work Bettyville: A Memoir. Called “exquisitely written” by Jeanette Walls author of The Glass Castle, Bettyville is a witty, tender narrative of a son’s journey home to his hometown of Paris, Missouri to care for his irascible mother who has never really accepted the fact that her son is gay. 18 7:30 PM • SF Nourse Theatre • 275 Hayes St 415-392-4400 City Arts & Lectures presents Minds of Their Own: Animal Intelligence with Virginia Morell, author of Animal Wise: How We Know Animals Think and Feel, in conversation with Roy Eisenhardt. 19 7:00 PM • Opera Plaza 415-776-1111 “Founder and president of Healing Planet Project, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and presentation of healing and spiritual traditions through media, Marie-Rose Phan-Lê discusses her journey through the world of healing, from Hawaii to the Himalayas, with Talking Story. Marie-Rose will also present a clip from her award-winning documentary of the same name, which is a captivating companion to her memoir. 7:00 PM • Palo Alto 650-321-0600 Jack Erickson shares his debut international thriller Thirteen Days in Milan. When American Sylvia de Matteo becomes separated from her fiancé and young daughter and is taken hostage by terrorists during a political assassination, an international incident is triggered. And soon, Sylvia’s only hope for freedom rests on her father, a prominent Wall Street investment banker. 7:00 PM • Mountain View 650-428-1234 Editorial Director and Tasting Lab Expert for America’s Test Kitchen on PBS Jack Bishop discusses his latest essential book The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook: A Fresh Guide to Eating Well with 700 Foolproof Recipes. With inventive and uncomplicated techniques for making satisfying and boldly flavorful vegetarian recipes, this comprehensive cookbook is sure to inspire both vegetarians and omnivores alike. 20 7:00 PM • The Marina 415-931-3633 “Award-winning poet and professor of creative writing at Concord Academy in Massachusetts Cammy Thomas reads and discusses works from her second collection Inscriptions. Focused on three strong women--a mother, an aunt, and a sister-in-law--confronting death, Inscriptions is an intense and lyrical meditation in the face of impermanence. 7:00 PM • Alameda 510-522-2226 “A journalist specializing in international human rights, and a current board member of the San Francisco based NGO Women’s Intercultural Network, Jessica Buchleitner and contributors share their works from the powerful anthology 50 Women: Book One. Part one in a two book series, 50 Women shares personal stories of strength and perseverance and discusses everything from politics and armed conflict, to gender based violence and health afflictions. Joining Jessica are contributors New Oo Cheema and Masha Maslova. 7:00 PM • Burlingame Main Library•480 Primrose Road 650-558-7400 Books Inc. and the Burlingame Library proudly present New York Times-bestselling author J.A. Jance for a discussion of the latest thrilling installment in her Ali Reynolds series, Cold Betrayal. 21 7:00 PM • Alameda 510-522-2226 26 5 7:00 PM • Palo Alto 650-321-0600 Pulitzer Prize-nominee and critically acclaimed author Mary Doria 7:00 PM • Books Inc. Laurel Village 415-221-3666 Mary Doria Russell Named among the Top 10 European writers by the Observer in 2011, and a recipient of the Crime Writers Association Award, Timothy Williams shares the first book in his critically-acclaimed Commissario Trotti series, Converging Parallels. Available for the first time to readers in the United States, Converging Parallels is set in Northern Italy in the late and features lush descriptions reminiscent of crime masters Raymond Chandler and Nicolas Freeling. 24 2015 icle of one man’s spiritual redemption found while climbing to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Travel to the far future with local authors Annika Stenstedt author of Fireflight, a haunting and mysterious novel which follows Clover’s journey to recover her past through a series of dreams; and Ellery A. Kane, author of Legacy, a thriller set in dystopian San Francisco where an elite group of government-appointed military police, known as The Guardians, seek to maintain order at all costs. 23 March Russell shares the richly detailed follow-up to Doc, Epitaph: A Novel of the O.K. Corral. Exploring the woman behind the myth of Wyatt Earp, Epitaph imagines the life of Josephine Sarah Marcus, who who carefully chipped away at the truth until she had crafted the heroic legend that would become the epitaph she believed her husband deserved. 7:00 PM • Mountain View 650-428-1234 Sharma Shields shares her debut novel The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac. Described as 7:00 PM • The Marina 415-931-3633 Human rights activist, founder of Run for Congo Women, and co-founder of Sister Somalia, Lisa J. Shannon discusses the harrowing account of her journey with Congolese expatriate Francisca Thelin to her beloved homeland, which is now under the shadow of one of Africa’s most feared militias--Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army--with the gripping Mama Koko and the Hundred Gunmen: An Ordinary Family’s Extraordinary Tale of Love, Loss, and Survival in Congo. 7:00 PM • The Castro 425-864-6777 Kevin Sessums discusses I Left It on the Mountain. A fascinating follow-up to “”a mash up of “Moby-Dick” and Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” (with a hearty dash of “Twin Peaks” thrown in)” by Kirkus Reviews, Sharma’s work is a dark, fantastical, multi-generational tale about a family whose patriarch is consumed by the hunt for the mythical, elusive sasquatch he encountered in his youth. 31 7:00 PM • Palo Alto 650-321-0600 Host of the wildly popular PBS Kids show “Dinosaur Train” Dr. Scott Sampson discusses How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature. An essential read, How Mississippi Sissy, Kevin’s latest memoir chronicles his early days in New York as an actor, his years working for Andy Warhol at Interview and Tina Brown at Vanity Fair, his HIV Positive diagnosis and his descent into addiction. It’s also the chron- to Raise a Wild Child is an easy-to-use guide for parents, teachers, and others looking to foster a strong connection between children and nature, complete with engaging activities, troubleshooting advice, and much more. SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO SFO SFO The Castro • 2275 Market St 415.864.6777 The Marina • 2251 Chestnut St 415.931.3633 Laurel Village • 3515 California St 415.221.3666 COMPASS BOOKS Terminal 3 • 650.821.2326 COMPASS BOOKS Terminal 2 • 650.821.9299 Visit BOOKS INC. locations 6 March 2015 The Age of Selfishness By Darryl Cunningham Tracing the emergence of Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism in the 1940s to her present-day influence, Darryl Cunningham’s latest work of graphic-nonfiction investigation leads readers to the heart of the global financial crisis of 2008. Tackling the complexities of economics by distilling them down to a series of concepts accessible to all age groups, Cunningham ultimately delivers a devastating analysis of our current economic world. Available March 31st The Age of Acquiescence By Steve Fraser From the American Revolution through the Civil Rights movement, Americans have long mobilized against political, social, and economic privilege. Hierarchies based on inheritance, wealth, and political preferment were treated as obnoxious and a threat to democracy. But over the last half-century that political will and cultural imagination have vanished. Why? The Age of Acquiescence seeks to solve that mystery. Available Now Future Crimes By Marc Goodman We all know today’s criminals can steal identities, drain bank accounts, and wipe out computer servers, but that’s just the beginning. With explosive insights based upon a career in law enforcement and counterterrorism, Marc Goodman takes readers on a vivid journey through the darkest recesses of the Internet. Future Crimes also offers a way out with clear steps we must take to survive the progress unfolding before us. Available Now Girl in a Band By Kim Gordon Almost as celebrated as the Sonic Youth’s defiantly dissonant sound was the marriage between Kim Gordon and fellow Sonic Youth founder Thurston Moore. So when the two split in 2011 after twenty-seven years, fans were devastated. Exploring the artists, musicians, and writers who influenced Gordon, and the relationship that defined her life for so long, Girl in a Band is filled with the sights and sounds of a woman who has become an icon. Available Now The Utopia of Rules By David Graeber Where does the desire for endless rules, regulations, and bureaucracy come from? Leaping from the ascendance of right-wing economics in the second half of the twentieth century to the hidden meanings behind James Bond, The Utopia of Rules is at once a powerful work of social theory in the tradition of Foucault and Marx, and an entertaining reckoning with popular culture that calls to mind Slavoj Žižek at his most accessible. Available Now Follies of God By James Grissom At a moment in the life of Tennessee Williams when critics were proclaiming that his work had been overrated he sent a hopeful twenty-year-old writer, James Grissom, on his behalf to find out if he, or his work, had mattered to those who had so deeply mattered to him. Grissom sought out more than seventy giants of American theater. Follies of God is Grissom’s revelation, a book that moves and inspires. Available March 3rd • Non Fiction • Discontent and Its Civilizations By Moshin Hamid Mohsin Hamid’s brilliant, moving, and extraordinarily clever novels are at once timeless and of-the-moment, and his themes are universal: love, language, ambition, power, corruption, religion, family, identity. Here he explores this terrain from a different angle in essays that deftly counterpoise the personal and the political, and are shot through with the same passion, imagination, and breathtaking shifts of perspective that gives his fiction its unmistakable electric charge. Available Now Moody Bitches By Julie Holland, M.D. As women, we learn from an early age that our moods are a problem. As a result, one in four of us takes a psychiatric drug. In Moody Bitches Dr. Holland offers readers insider information about the pros and cons of the drugs we’re being offered, surprising and highly effective natural therapies that can help us press the reset button on our own bodies and minds, and much more. Available March 3rd Dead Wake By Erik Larson From the #1 New York Times bestselling author comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the “Lusitania,” published to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the disaster. It is a story that many of us think we know but don’t, and Erik Larson tells it thrillingly, switching between hunter and hunted while painting a larger portrait of America at the height of the Progressive Era. Available March 10th Shrinks By Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D. Dr. Lieberman traces the field of psychiatry from its birth as a mystic pseudo-science through its adolescence as a cult of “shrinks” to its late blooming maturity as a science-driven profession that saves lives. With fascinating case studies and portraits of the luminaries of the field Shrinks is a gripping and illuminating read, and an urgent callto-arms to dispel the stigma of mental illnesses. Available March 10th Girl in the Dark By Anna Lyndsey Anna was living a normal life. But then she started to develop worrying symptoms: her face felt like it was burning whenever she was in front of the computer. Soon this progressed to an intolerance of fluorescent light, then of sunlight itself. With gorgeous, lyrical prose, Anna brings us into the dark with her, a place from which we emerge to see love, and the world, anew. Available March 3rd Irritable Hearts By Mac McClelland When award-winning human rights journalist Mac McClelland left Haiti after reporting on the devastating earthquake of 2010, she never imagined how the assignment would irrevocably affect her own life. Delving into the latest research by the country’s top scientists and therapists, Mac also spent time with veterans and their families. Irritable Hearts is a searing memoir, as well as an exploration of our culture’s history with PTSD. Available Now www.booksinc.net The Fall of the Ottomans By Eugene Rogan In 1914 the Ottoman Empire was depleted of men and resources after years of war. But in the aftermath of the assassination in Sarajevo, not even the Middle East could escape the vast and enduring consequences. Eugene Rogan brings the WWI and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region’s crucial role in the conflict. Available Now Data and Goliath By Bruce Schneier We cooperate with corporate surveillance because it promises us convenience, and we submit to government surveillance because it promises us protection. The result is a mass surveillance society of our own making. But have we given up more than we’ve gained? Security expert Bruce Schneier shows us exactly what we can do to reform our government surveillance programs and shake up surveillance-based business models. Available Now I Left It On the Mountain By Kevin Sessums I Left It on the Mountain chronicles Sessums early days in New York as an actor, his years working for Andy Warhol at Interview and Tina Brown at Vanity Fair, his HIV Positive diagnosis and his descent into addiction. For readers who loved Mississippi Sissy and want to know what happened to that tenacious little boy, I Left It On the Mountain is the sometimes very dark, but ultimately hopeful answer. Available Now Rust By Jonathan Waldman In a thrilling drama of man versus nature, journalist Jonathan Waldman travels from Key West, Florida, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to meet the colorful and often reclusive people who are fighting our mightiest and unlikeliest enemy: Rust. The result is a fresh and often funny account of an overlooked engineering endeavor that is as compelling as it is grand, illuminating a hidden phenomenon that shapes the modern world. Available March 10th The Future of the Catholic Church with Pope Francis By Gary Wills Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, offers a challenge to his church. Can he bring about significant change? Should he? As Wills contends, it is only by examining the history of the Church that we can understand Pope Francis’s and the Church’s challenges, and, as history shows, any changes that meet those challenges will have impact only if the Church, the people of God, support them. Available March 10th ebooks available @ www.booksinc.net www.booksinc.net • Not Your Mother’s Book Club Events • March TM 2015 7 MARCH 11 • 7:00 PM Books Inc. Palo Alto • 650-321-0600 NOT YOUR MOTHER’S BOOK CLUB™ proudly welcomes the “Keep YA Weird” tour, which celebrates literary experimentalism and extreme imagination in YA literature, with award-winning author Andrew Smith and his latest transcendent work The Alex Crow. With Starred Reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly, readers will be captivated by this bizarre and brilliant novel that blends multiple story strands to tell the story of 15-year-old Ariel, a refugee from the Middle East who is the sole survivor of an attack on his small village. MARCH 18 • 7:00 PM MARCH 17 • 7:00 PM MARCH 13 • 7:00 PM Books Inc. Opera Plaza • 415-776-1111 NOT YOUR MOTHER’S BOOK CLUB™ excitedly wel- comes back local author Whitney Miller for a discussion of the thrilling sequel to The Violet Hour, The Crimson Gate. Trapped inside of a Cambodian temple, Harlow Wintergreen must find a way out before her double, the evil Isiris, unleashes a killer super virus that threatens to destroy the world. Books Inc. Palo Alto • 650-321-0600 Join NOT YOUR MOTHER’S BOOK CLUB™ for a Launch Party celebrating the release of local author Stacey Lee’s debut novel Under a Painted Sky. A captivating work of historical fiction set in 1849 Missouri, Under a Painted Sky adeptly explores race, slavery, and gender roles amidst a heart-wrenching survival tale that will restore your faith in the power of friendship. Books Inc. Alameda • 510-522-2226 NOT YOUR MOTHER’S BOOK CLUB™ presents crit- ically-acclaimed and award-winning author Teresa Toten for a discussion of her latest novel The Unlikely Hero of Room 13B. Awarded the 2013 Governor General Literary Award of Canada, Teresa’s latest tackles the challenges of teens coping with obsessive-compulsive disorder set against the backdrop of a traditional whodunit, creating a story so engaging readers will find it hard to put down. Books Inc. Clubs Calendar ALAMEDA 8 B.G.P. SOCIAL NETWORK BOOK Sunday, March 8 2:00 PM THE SOCIETY (ages 16 & up) will meet. 11 ALAMEDA’S YOUNG ADULT BOOK Wednesday, March 11 7:00 PM CLUB (ages 15+) will meet. BERKELEY 7 FIRST SATURDAY BOOK CLUB will Saturday, March 7 9:30 AM The discuss Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. BURLINGAME Thursday, March 19 7:00 PM 12 The RECOMMENDED BY A 19 The BIG YES SOCIETY DISCUSSTRANGER BOOK CLUB will discuss SION GROUP will discuss Small Graces: A Celebration of the Ordinary: Sacred Moments That Illuminate Our Lives by Kent Nerburn. 20 The OUR PARENTS MADE US DO Friday, March 20 5:00 PM THIS BOOK CLUB will meet. 26 Thursday, March 26 7:00 PM The DESERT ISLAND BOOK CLUB will discuss Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson. March 29 2:00 PM 29 Sunday, The BAY AREA STEAMPUNK SOCIETY BOOK CLUB will meet. 29 The INTIMATES: EAST BAY Sunday, March 29 6:00 PM QUEER BOOK CLUB will discuss The Tes- tosterone Files: My Hormonal and Social Transformation from Female to Male by Max Wolf Valerio. Thursday, March 12 7:00 PM Golden State by Michelle Richmond. 26 The IS THAT A GUN IN YOUR Thursday, March 26 7:00 PM POCKET? BOOK CLUB will discuss The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress by Ariel Lawhon. MOUNTAIN VIEW 9 BROKEN COMPASS ADVENTURE Monday, March 9 7:30 PM The BOOK CLUB will discuss The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code by Margalit Fox. 10 The POLITICALLY INSPIRED Tuesday, March 10 7:30 PM BOOK CLUB will discuss Towards Col- lective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy by Chris Crass. March 25 7:00 25 Wednesday, PM The MEETING OF THE MUSES BOOK CLUB will meet. March 30 7:00 PM 30 Monday, The HANDS ON BAY AREA BOOK CLUB will discuss The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Book Lover’s Adventures by Josh Hanagarne. ONLINE The THINKING PARENT BOOK GROUP will meet online. PALO ALTO March 8 6:00 PM The 8 Sunday, SPECULATIVE FICTION BOOK CLUB March 3 7:00 PM The 3 Tuesday, WOMEN WE’D LIKE TO LUNCH WITH BOOK CLUB will discuss Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. 17 The FOREIGN INTRIGUE BOOK Tuesday, March 17 7:00 PM CLUB will discuss Backstrom: He Who Kills the Dragon by Leif Gw Persson. Sunday, March 22 1:00 PM 22 The WILD GIRLS MOTHER DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB will discuss El Deafo by Cece Bell. will discuss The Martian by Andy Weir. 25 10 The BOOK BUSTERS MIDDLE CLUB will discuss And We Stay by Tuesday, March 10 4:00 PM READER BOOK CLUB (ages 8-12) will discuss Life on Mars by Jennifer Brown. 24 The FOURTH TUESDAY (MAR- Tuesday, March 24 7:00 PM GIE’S) BOOK CLUB will discuss My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante. LAUREL VILLAGE March 1 1:00 PM The 1 Sunday, ADVENTUROUS READERS CLUB (Ages 9-12) will discuss book one in the Magisterium series The Iron Trial by Holly Black & Cassandra Clare. Wednesday, March 25 6:00 PM The YOUNG@HEART BOOK Jenny Hubbard. OPERA PLAZA 14 The SECOND SATURDAY BOOK Saturday, March 14 10:00 AM CLUB will discuss Regeneration by Pat Barker. 22 The WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL Sunday, March 22 11:00 AM BOOK CLUB will discuss Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya Von Bremzen. THE CASTRO Tuesday, March 10 6:30 PM 10 The CENTRAL SF CLASSIC LIT BOOK CLUB will discuss Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope. Wednesday, March 11 7:00 PM 11 The SF LGBT BOOK CLUB will meet. THE MARINA 2 SAN FRANCISCO TRAVEL BOOK Monday, March 2 7:00 PM The CLUB AND LECTURE SERIES will discuss Never Mind the Bullocks: One Girl’s 10,000 Km Adventure Around India in the World’s Cheapest Car by Vanessa Able. Sunday, March 8 4:00 PM The 8 MISS JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB will discuss The Penguin Book of Romantic Poetry edited by Jonathan & Jessica Wordsworth. 25 The CLASSICS I FORGOT TO READ Wednesday, March 25 7:30 PM BOOK CLUB will discuss The Ox-Bow Inci- dent by Walter Van Tilburg Clark. YYYY 2015 Month www.booksinc.net www.booksinc.net YYYY The New Small Person AUTHOR JANDY NELSON LOVES Black Swan Green by David Mitchell Like a lot of readers around the globe, I’m a David Mitchell fan. When it comes to voice, to really getting inside a character and letting that character rip across the page in all his or her heartbeating glory, he’s a maestro. This particular genius of his PHOTO BY SONYA SONES exploded out of his awardwinning bestselling novel Cloud Atlas where he embodied a myriad of characters in a flabbergastingly orchestral way. I adored the book, but it is not my favorite of his, not by a long shot. I am madly in love with a lesser-known work of his called Black Swan Green. It is my favorite young adult novel even though it is not marketed as such. Mitchell’s brilliance with structure and voice and language—his sentences crackle—is apparent here like in all his other works but this story is all heart. The novel tracks a year in the life of thirteen-year-old aspiring poet Jason Taylor growing up in Cold War Worcestershire England in 1982 with a stammer and a family coming apart. He is one of the funniest most endearing narrators I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. The thirteen chapters, each an exquisitely constructed story in its own right, explore the foibles and firsts of coming of age, the heartbreaks of family life, the glory of imagination with poignancy, humor, intimacy as well as spectacular linguistic pyrotechnics at the level of the line. I love this beautiful book so much and know you will too! Happy reading! Jandy Jandy Nelson is the New York Times-bestselling author of the 2015 Michael L. Printz Award-winning novel I’ll Give You the Sun, and her debut novel The Sky Is Everywhere was a YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults pick. Listen, Slowly By Lauren Child Elmore Green is an only child. Until one day the new small person comes along, and it seems that everybody might like it a bit more than they like Elmore Green. Elmore wants the small person to go back to wherever it came from. In her signature visual style, Lauren Child gets to the heart of a child’s evolving emotions about becoming a big brother or sister. (Ages 4-8) Available Now Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt By Kate Messner Explore the hidden world and many lives of a garden through the course of a year -- Up in the garden, the world is full of green--leaves and growing vegetables and fruits. But down in the dirt exists a busy world of earthworms, snakes, and skunks. Accompanied by Christopher Silas Neal’s beautiful illustrations, this is the perfect way to journey through the garden with your little one! (Ages 4-8) Available March 3rd By Thanhhà Lai A California girl born and raised, Mai can’t wait to spend her vacation at the beach. Instead, though, she has to travel to Vietnam with her grandmother. Besides barely speaking the language, Mai doesn’t know the geography, the local customs, or even her distant relatives. To survive her trip, Mai must find a balance between her two completely different worlds. (Ages 8-12) Available Now Echo By Pam Muñoz Ryan Lost and alone, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and finds himself entwined in a quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. Echo pushes the boundaries of genre and form, and shows us what is possible in how we tell stories. (Ages 10-13) Available Now Mosquitoland Counting Crows By Kathi Appelt A delightful counting book from two-time National Book Award Nominee Kathi Appelt -- One, two, three, hungry crows in a tree. Snack one, snack two, snack three--all the way to a dozen! But before they have time to complain about bellyaches, they have a bigger problem: a cat has been eyeing them...as potential snacks! Can these well-fed crows become well-FLED crows? (Ages 3-5) Available March 3rd The Imaginary By A.F. Harrold By David Arnold After the sudden collapse of her family, Mim Malone is dragged from her home in northern Ohio to the “wastelands” of Mississippi to live with her father and stepmom. When Mim learns her mother is sick back in Cleveland she hops aboard a northbound Greyhound bus to her real home. Mosquitoland is a modern American odyssey, as hilarious as it is heartbreaking. (Ages 12+) Available March 3rd Seeker By Arwen Elys Dayton Perfect for Neil Gaiman and Roald Dahl fans, this fully illustrated journey into the secret world of imaginary friends is quirky, dark, and utterly irresistible. When Amanda Shuffleup’s imaginary friend, Rudger, is being hunted by Mr. Bunting (with the potential to be eaten!) he must find a way to stand out in the real world before it’s too late. (Ages 8-12) Available March 3rd The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She will become a Seeker. This is her legacy. As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. But soon Quin finds out that being a Seeker is not what she thought. And now it’s too late to walk away. (Ages 14+) Available Now March 1 • 11:00 AM Books Inc. Burlingame 650-685-4911 • (Ages 3+) KIDS’ EVENTS! 8 • Page Header ••Page Header BOOKS INC. •Kid• s • Month March Celebrate Chinese New Year with local illustrator Alina Chau! With over a decade working in the animation industry, Alina’s wonderful work is showcased in the tenth installment of Oliver Chin’s Tales from the Zodiac picture book series, The Year of the Sheep. In addition to a reading of The Year of the Sheep, Alina will also feature a drawing demonstration! March 14 • 2:00 PM Books Inc. in The Castro 415-864-6777 • (Ages 3+) Books Inc. in The Castro presents a very special Saturday Storytime with director of the Stonewall National Education Project, Jessica Herthel for a reading of I Am Jazz. Co-written with transgender LGBT rights activist Jazz Jennings, I Am Jazz is based on Jennings’ reallife experience and is a perfect book for young readers, parents, and educators alike. March 24 • 4:30 PM Books Inc. Alameda 510-522-226 • (Ages 5+) Join New York Times-bestselling author Jean Reagan for a Launch Party celebrating the third installment in her hit “How-To” series, How to Surprise a Dad. Learn all the tips and tricks to becoming a super dad surpriser, from crafty gift ideas to how to prepare for the big reveal, this adorable guide is the perfect how-to book about surprising dear old Dad!
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