Reading Local
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Feb 19, 2010 0
An announcement from McKenzie Books and Cash4Books:
McKenzie Books and Cash4Books are happy to announce our Book-A-Day Giveaway!
A lucky reader will get a chance to win any book (priced $5 or less) in our inventory.
Feb 18, 2010 0
Heidi Durrow’s Bellwether-prize-winning debut novel, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, is the story of Rachel, a girl who loses her Danish mother and African-American father in a tragic accident. Durrow, a native Portlander, will be in town for two readings in the next few days. You can catch her this Friday 2/19 at Powell’s on Burnside (7:30 pm), and next Tuesday 2/23 at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (7 pm).
We caught up with Durrow to learn more about the book before she hits a microphone near you.
Feb 17, 2010 0
Title Wave Used Bookstore will be holding one of their fantastic Bag of Books Sales this Saturday (2-20) from 10am to 4pm, or until they run out of books. Here are the details:
For book lovers it doesn’t get much better than this. I know we all have stacks of books awaiting our full attention, but you just can’t turn down a bag full of books for $10! Have fun shopping, and feel free to come back to this post and leave a comment about all of the great books you were able to get on the cheap. Read the rest of this entry »
Feb 12, 2010 0
You may recall that local indie publishing house and bookstore Reading Frenzy launched a fundraising effort back in January: together with Kickstarter, they needed to raise $12,500 to reissue Crap Hound #4 and keep the Reading Frenzy boilers chugging along.
Not only did they reach it, they blew right by it. As of right now, they’ve raised $14,492 (and there are still 4 hours left to chuck a few bucks in the pot for your very own copy of the issue.)
Congratulations, Reading Frenzy! And thanks to all and any Reading Local Portland readers who contributed to that goal. We look forward to seeing Crap Hound when it comes out.
Feb 7, 2010 0
Update-Thanks to a late surge of pledges, a new edition of Crap Hound #4 will be going to the printers!
About a month ago Karen wrote about Chloe Eudaly’s (owner of Reading Frenzy) efforts to print a revised and expanded 2nd edition of Crap Hound #4: Clowns, Devils, and Bait! Well the fundraising drive, which was conducted through Kickstarter, has received pledges from 251 263 Backers and is now 90% 93% 95% of the way towards meeting its goal of $12,500. But with only 3 days left for pledges to be made, the project is still about $1,200 $1,000 $800 $600 short of being fully funded.
So can you help push this effort over the top by pledging your support? Your pledge may inspire some of the existing backers to up their pledge just to make sure all of this effort wasn’t for naught. As Karen noted in her previous post, this isn’t solely about reprinting Crap Hound #4 either. It’s also about supporting Reading Frenzy, as Crap Hound is the store’s “bread and butter.” I just pledged $50, will you make a pledge today? Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 30, 2010 0
Nick Flynn packed Powell’s last night for a reading from his new book, The Ticking is the Bomb, a memoir about becoming a father for the first time while immersed in the stories of Abu Ghraib detainees.
Flynn traveled to Istanbul in 2007 to hear the testimony of Iraqi prisoners who were tortured by American military personnel in the Baghdad prison. This book, like his last one, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City, is written in brief sections that hang together like poems, koans, or songs. (Flynn called his selection of pieces a “playlist,” and laughed that he’s been following Patti Smith’s reading tour for weeks. “She’s playing for free. How do you compete for that? Patti Smith playing for free at a reading?”)
Jan 28, 2010 0
In Other Words Women’s Books is a beloved mainstay of Portland’s independent literary scene. For more than sixteen years, IOW has been selling books, building community, and helping Portlanders “find their feminest” on the corner of NE Killingsworth and Williams.
We talked to Katie Carter (Program Director) and Amber Rowland (Store Director) about what IOW is up to these days, where it’s headed, and what you’ll find if you drop by to pick up a book or shoot the breeze.
Jan 23, 2010 0
Today’s Featured Book Event:
Writers Talking: Jess of Get Sconed! (Central Library, @1:00pm): Jess is the author of the award-winning vegan blog “Get Sconed!,” one of the longest-running vegan food blogs. She is the coauthor of Stumptown Vegans, a site for restaurant reviews and podcasts. She is also a recipe tester for Post Punk Kitchen cookbooks. Jess has been in Portland since 2004. She will talk about her blog, eating locally, and being a Portland vegan. Samples will be available! Samples will be available!
You can find other events on your community Libraries schedule using these links: Washington County, Multnomah County, Clackamas County, and the rest of this weeks Portland book events here.
Read the rest of this entry »
Jan 22, 2010 0
McKenzie Books, a Beaverton based online bookseller, will donate all of the profits from books sold today (1-22) to Medical Team International in order to assist their efforts with the ongoing devastation in Haiti. Here is the full press release:
McKenzie Books, Inc. has announced that it is stepping up its giving and is joining the massive worldwide effort to provide much needed relief to Haiti. On Friday, January 22nd, 100% of profits from its MKZbooks.com website and in-store book sales will go to providing medical aid for the Haiti earthquake victims. McKenzie Books Inc. has chosen to donate its profits from Friday sales to Medical Teams International – another Portland metro area based organization.
Medical Teams International’s first team landed in Haiti on Jan. 15th and included volunteer doctors and nurses who immediately started working in King’s Hospital and various temporary hospitals in Port au Prince providing life saving medical aid and supplies. McKenzie Books sells new and gently used books and textbooks around the world through its website (http://www.MKZbooks.com) and is already a regular donor to fund classroom projects through DonorsChoose.org.
Jan 22, 2010 0
Today’s Featured Book Event:
William Stafford Memorial Reading (First Unitarian Church, @7:00pm): Hosted by Stephen Pearce. Featuring Jonathan Merritt and FWS Board Member Leah Stenson. This year’s event features Portland’s Flash Choir performing “Strangers Together,” a musical interpretation derived from Stafford’s book, Passwords, and composed by the choir’s director Sarah Dougher. Audience members will also have an opportunity to read aloud one of their favorite poems by William Stafford following the performance. Learn more about Flash Choir by checking out this fantastic profile on Neighborhood Notes.
Other Book Events Today:
Hearing Voices w/ special guest Ursula K. Le Guin (Reed College, Kaul Auditorium, @7:30pm, $30 Adults, $25 Seniors/Students ): Words and music combine in stories that delight, taking us on magical journeys into troll-infested woods, to planets where mechanical beings communicate in musical tones, to Italo Calvino’s magically realist Italy, or even back to George Orwell’s “1984,” which is retold as a romantic comedy. We premiere “Gulliver in FaReMiDo” by Oregon Symphony resident conductor Gregory Vajda, “Serpentine Variations: The Serpent King” by Robert Kyr, and “Greetings from 1984” by Jon Deak. Special guest Ursula K. Le Guin narrates her “A Ride on the Red Mare’s Back” accompanied by Bryan Johanson’s lovely score.
Jan 21, 2010 0
Today’s Featured Book Event:
True Stories IX (Mississippi Studios, @8:00pm, $12): This is much better than the late-night wars. At least we’re trying to humiliate ourselves… Tonight, you’re in for some truthiness of the highest order from Portland’s only music and memoir series. Featuring: Courtenay Hameister – head writer and host(ess) of Live Wire Radio; Scott Poole – poet and author of Hiding from Salesman; Stacy Bolt – Live Wire! contributor; Margaret Malone (see Reading Local’s interview with Margaret here); AND MUSICAL GUESTS Holcombe Waller- singer-songwriter and performance artist; Jim Brunberg – accomplished songwriter and musician. AND ONE SECRET GUEST A local writer who’s been getting a wee bit of press of late. Ahem.
Other Book Events Today:
Charity Night for In Other Words Books (Lucy’s Table, 5pm-9pm): Go to Lucy’s Table; sit in the dining room; tell them you are there for the charity night for In Other Words; 10% of your dinner tab will be donated to IOW! So go eat a great meal at a nice restaurant AND donate to a very worthy cause at the same time!
Jan 20, 2010 0
Today’s Featured Book Event:
Mountain Writers presents Jim Kopp (The Press Club, @7:30pm): Jim Kopp is Director of the Aubrey R. Watzek Library at Lewis & Clark College in Portland. He holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from George Washington University and other graduate degrees in history and library science. His undergraduate degree in history and English is from the University of Oregon. His book, Eden Within Eden: Oregon’s Utopian Heritage (OSU Press, 2009) surveys nearly three hundred communal groups attempted or planned in Oregon over the past 150 years. He has written and presented on several aspects of utopian studies in both its literary and communal manifestations. His extensive private collection on the works by and about Edward Bellamy and of American utopian literature is described in a book published last fall by Berberis Press at Lewis & Clark. He lives with his wife, Sue, appropriately in Aurora, Oregon, which was the earliest communal settlement in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to his varied scholarly pursuits, Jim is completing a children’s book on Aurora Keil the daughter of the founder of the Aurora Colony and for whom the colony was named who died of smallpox in 1862 at the age of thirteen.
Other Book Events Today:
Free Puppet Show (Green Bean Books, @4:00pm): Come see a free puppet show based on the book The Mitten and performed by the talented Yvonne De Maat of Heart in Hand Preschool. The show is appropriate for kids ages 3-7 years old and will be limited to the first 15 who arrive.
Reading Local presents Read to Rebuild: A Haiti Benefit Reading, March 16th at The Writers' Dojo.
An All-Star lineup includes Ariel Gore, Margaret Malone, Laura Moulton, Ben Parzybok, Kevin Sampsell, and Tom Spanbauer
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