Reading for Comfort

After some discussion about how and what we read, there's a nice new blog out there (in the interwebs) focusing on specific titles and explaining more of the emotional effect the books had for the readers.
Via The Olive Reader (another nice site for book news), Good Books in Bad Times is also backed by HarperCollins but features a range of books and titles, new and old from multiple genres and discussed by different authors. Good to peruse at any time, but I especially recommend it for anyone in search of a good cathartic book. Tearful can be uplifting!

Have you been reading?

Although it's been hard to say how accurate the findings really are, there's a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts released that shows that people, especially younger people, are reading a bit more than in the last few years.

Among the credits: popular book groups (a la Oprah), online resources (both for the writing itself as well as more communcation and awareness of books), and community reads.

Our last One Book, One Community read, Three Cups of Tea was a great success - we're eagerly looking forward to this season and will announce the new title as soon as it's finalized!

But baby, it's cold outside

So what books are you reading to keep yourself warm?
For some reason I've just picked up a handful of books by Scandanavian authors (The Howling Miller & Silence of the Grave), a cool new collection of Minnesota authors,Fiction on a Stick and local short story craftsman, Anthony Bukoski's Twelve Below Zero.

I seem to be taking the aclimation approach to taking on the cold.

How about you? Cold days - do you dive into Pamuk's Snow or are you off to the tropics and mystery Coroner's Lunch? Do you block out the cold by focusing on politics and the world around us?

Zounds!

It's been a while since we've posted! Thank you all for stopping and calling in to the store - keeping us on our toes to the point that we were too busy to post blogs!

Many thanks to those of you able to come out and make our Open House a great success! We helped Cathy Wurzer sell through her first print of Tales of the Road.

It was also a great night to meet up with Daniel Lancaster and discuss his book, John Beargrease: Legend of Minnesota's North Shore.

Now, as we pat our tummies (full of egg nog, sugar cookies and general holiday cheer), we want to invite you to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter - The Northern Lights Gazer. It always has a little bit of what's going on around the store, some reviews, some details on upcoming events, and, especially this week, it has valuable coupons! Sign up this week and you'll receive the Gazer with a coupon worth up to 40% off!

We're trimming down stock for inventory, so all Calendars and Holiday items are 40% off. Print off the coupon from the e-newsletter and bring it in for up to 40% off on all regularly priced items in the store (bookmarks, candles, cards and books). See the newsletter or call for more details!

Why a Book this Holiday Season?

Fellow book blogger, Bookavore, asks this important question this holiday season. Why a book? Honestly, so many thoughts rush to mind that, like a troop of clowns, none seems able to make way all the way past my lips (or, case being, finger tips)!
IndieBound has suggested that one reason is that "a scented candle has never changed anyone's life" [for the better]. That reminds me of the many authors who tell of how books transformed their lives - with language - that communication between reader & author, and with the escape into new worlds, ideas and possibilities.

What stands out to you about books? The smell? The tactility? Engaging new subjects? Taking a quick vacation? Gathering in thrills? Losing oneself in the robes of history? Let us know!

Louis Jenkins breaks in European Shoes

Louis Jenkins, prolific prose poet, has just released a limited edition collection of poetry and prose, European Shoes centering on his travels in the late summer and fall of 2007. We'll be celebrating this release with a reading/reception on Sunday, December 7th, 3:30pm at the Quaker Meeting House 1802 East First Street, Duluth, MN.

A bit about Louis Jenkins- a Duluthian since 1970; widely published and anthologized; a contemporary master of the prose poem known for his clever, dry wit; winner of awards; Prairie Home Companion star; and now skating his way on to just-off Broadway for a workshop of a play based on his poetry.
Visit his press and click on "listen" to hear him read various poems!

A bit about European Shoes- "useless as a travel guide and offers no insight whatsoever into European art, culture, politics or daily life" proclaims the preface. The insight may not be offered, per se, but is rather discovered through the journey. Jenkins alternates between journal entries on topics of travel, and art, people and history - emphasizing a sense of place through careful details of sights and gestures, as well as noting names of people and places. It recreates the feeling of being captivated in a new place - a lot familiar, a lot foreign, and the reluctant realization that you're the foreigner.


The poetry, like a viking ship, travels near and far, attacking quickly but also known to "slip sideways into the lee of the wind. So even with the most skilled sailors [readers] it [is] easy to get blown of course." But that's where we find the insights: a little bit sideways rather than straight on.
One of these insights that I appreciated is that of the writing process. Since these poems are dry and often border on the absurd, it's nice to see them in communication with the journal entries to see the initial spark, as it were (or may have been).
The subjects range broadly: shoes, breakfast, bicycle abandonment, masonry, trains, goddesses, and artists. The speakers change just as much as they remain still:

When it first happened I thought my acquaintance was speaking to someone else. I looked around but there was no one else there. I've tried moving to adjust the conversational direction, but the speaker only readjusts. I realized that if I kept moving our conversation would be going in concentric circles.

(from "Out of It")

Come on out. Enjoy the reading. Chat with Louis and other poetry lovers. Pick up your copy or copies of the book!

Spirit Lake Poetry Series - Beth Ann Fennelly

Beth Ann Fennelly will be reading on Saturday, 11/22, 7:30pm at Somers Lounge at the College of St.Scholastica as part of the Spirit Lake Poetry Series.

I was lucky enough to have seen Fennelly read a few years back shortly after the release of her book, Tender Hooks. Her poetry is playful and dramatic as it explores relationships, interactions, emotions and perceptions that don't always receive the depth of attention they deserve.

an example from Tender Hooks

Gong

From the kitchen, fixing her bottle, I hear it:
two milk teeth against my beer can.

Her new collection, Unmentionables is backed with quotes from Robert Hass, the Harvard Review, Nick Hornby and Tim Rauschenberger (apparently to disrupt the letter H). Admiring students, considering footed pajamas, remembering life in Illinois while living in Mississippi - Fennelly is able to "veer into unexpected depths" with an awareness and passion. She also gives us a Dream Song cycle and considers impressionism. Smart and endearing verse.

Peace Bell Event Report

Last night was a great evening for telling a moving story about peacemaking through a new children's book and the screening of a new documentary. On Wednesday, November 12th, our shop collaborated with the Arrowhead Reading Council to host Margi Preus for a reading of her newest children's book The Peace Bell. Also part the event was a screening of filmmaker Paul Creager's movie Resonance. Both of these projects tell us the story of Duluth's Peace Bell, located at Enger Park. How did a bell from a temple in Japan get to Duluth after WWII?
The story of the Peace Bell is amazing and profound. Margi's inspiration as well as Paul's passion for doing the research and collecting archival photos and film footage informed the audience of a long forgotten piece of history.
I highly recommend you take a moment to watch the youtube clip. If you are a teacher check out Margi and Paul's websites for more background material. This material is for students K-12 as well as community members.
I haven't been moved by a story and the passion of the story tellers since I read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.
Peace, Love, Books,
Anita Zager

Election Day

Hey all you Joe/Jane the Bibliophiles and Joe/Jane Sixpacks (of books) make sure to head out and vote! Find your polling center here!

Two Spiritual Books

Acedia is a state of mind in which one becomes incapable of sharing, appreciating or receiving God's love. Often overlooked or miscategorized as apathy or depression, Kathleen Norris explicates through memoir and meditation this all-too-familiar "noonday demon" and how to surpass its influence. Listen to her discuss her book in an interview with America Magazine

Also via America Magazine, is an interview with Donna Freitas, author of Becoming a Goddess of Inner Poise and co-author of Killing the Impostor God: Philip Pullman's Spiritual Imagination in His Dark Materials discusses her newest book, Possibilities of Sainthood, the story of Antonia Lucia Labella who very much wants to become a saint, while still alive. She carries on regular (one-sided) correspondence with the Pope, proposing new patron saints and nominating herself for the posts! Examines family, religion, growing up, and highlights strong women with dynamic faiths.