WORLD BOOK NIGHT! ETC.

Just wanted to let you know about a couple of really cool events and things we've got going on at the store in the coming weeks -- foremostly, the second annual WORLD BOOK NIGHT which we are really excited to be participating in at the store. Curious?: "World Book Night is an annual celebration designed to spread a love of reading and books. To be held in the U.S. as well as the U.K. and Ireland on April 23, 2012. It will see tens of thousands of people go out into their communities to spread the joy and love of reading by giving out free World Book Night paperbacks. World Book Night, through social media and traditional publicity, will also promote the value of reading, of printed books, and of bookstores and libraries to everyone year-round. Successfully launched in the U.K. in 2011, World Book Night will also be celebrated in the U.S. in 2012, with news of more countries to come in future years." In other words, sign up to give away books (and encourage reading in your community), or come and get some books...FOR FREE! The list of the books they are giving away can be seen here, and includes a ton of great titles, including The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Hunger Games, Ender's Game, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, The Namesake, Peace Like a River, The Things They Carried...and on from there!

For all of you who were the luck recipients of E-Readers (including iPads and Nooks), we'd also like to extend an invitation to you to drop by any Friday morning for help setting up your reader to purchase eBooks from your local independent bookseller! Our eBook pricing is extremely competitive; just check out our website for awesome deals, including a ton a books that are under $5.00!

Lastly we've got a ton of great author events coming up this month, so don't miss out!

Don't worry. Really! So the Holidays -- and, wow, even the year -- are coming to their final resting places, but we've still got loads going on at Liberty Bay Books!

First things first, we'd like to thank everyone who came to us to do their Holiday shopping rather than the other guy (whether he be online, or in some frighteningly drab box store), and can't tell you how much fun we had giving recommendations and filling those stocking with knickknacks. It was so busy even I had to fill in a little, while home for the Holidays! So again, we'd like to thank everyone who came in as well as those who took advantage of our Cyber Wednesday sales...wow, what a season it was. And as a side note: Tea Obreht's The Tiger's Wife, Stephen King's 11/22/63, "The Steve Jobs Book" (aka, Steve Jobs) by Walter Isaacson, The LEGO Ideas Book by Daniel Lipkowitz, This I Believe by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, and all the books of the excellent Hunger Games series, were just a few of the titles we had a hard time keeping on the shelves this year.

In other news, we've got a ton of great author events coming up!

• January 8th, at 3 pm: Seattle author Sarah Jio reads from her new novel, The Bungalow -- a romantic mystery which takes place on the island of Bora Bora.
• January 14th, at 6:30 pm: Scandahoovian specialist, Eric Dregni, reads from and talks about his latest book Vikings in the Attic: In Search of Nordic America. (BYOL: Bring Your Own Lutefisk)
• January 23rd, at 6:30 pm: Join us for a fun evening with local author, Claire Dederer, who will discuss her memoir Poser: My Life in 23 Yoga Poses, which ruminates on parenting, growing up, and, of course, yoga. Great author, great book!
• January 27th, at 6:30 pm: Local author and longtime crabber, Joe Upton, comes in to talk about his new book Bering Sea Blues: A Crabber's Tale of Fear in the Icy North. If you enjoy the Deadliest Catch or are at all curious about how all those crabs get into those tanks at Central Market, you've got to hear Joe's harrowing stories of life up North

And lastly, for those of you who were the lucky recipients of Sony E-readers, Nooks, or Ipads, (sorry, Amazon's monopolistic business practices only allow Kindles and Fires to read books bought from Amazon!) don't forget that we, too, sell EBooks online, and have got some great December deals on EBooks going!

Amazon Ugh... (and a SALE)

It has come to our notice that a serious discussion about AMAZON.COM's retail practices has been occurring in the media -- most notably by a group of befuddled authors, who have teamed up with Richard Russo in a recent NY Times Op-Ed article. If you have not yet read it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Written by the great author, Richard Russo, with some help from his friends Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Andre Dubus III, Anita Shreve, Tom Perrotta and Ann Patchett, it outlines Amazon's jarringly devious retail practices and their nonplussed attitudes toward the Mega-Retailer -- despite the fact that a considerable amount of their incomes comes from book sales via Amazon. In a nutshell it says this: this Holiday season, Amazon is encouraging its customers to go into real-life, physical bookstores and use its price-check app, which allows shoppers to (rather invasively) scan items' bar codes to see if they can get a better price on these items online. If customers do this, they earn a 5 percent credit on Amazon purchases, up to $5 per item, on up to three items. And this is terrible.

As a small, local bookstore, we realize that we cannot outfox Amazon where pricing is concerned, but, like these authors, ask at what cost such brash market-monopolization does to us culturally and economically. As Andre Dubus III puts it in the article, we feel that at the very least, it works to “further devalue, as a cultural and human necessity, the book” itself by taking away your local contact to them, not to mention its hemorrhaging of local jobs from local retailers. I think we can all agree that saving a couple of bucks is great, but seeing "For Rent" signs on every downtown window is not. We encourage you to think about the long-term impact such shopping has on already-suffering stores, and what small towns will look like without them. Amazon, clearly, does not care about these stores, the jobs the bring, or the important roles they fill in the communities nationwide, and in fact, has shown again and again that would rather completely wipe them off of the map, using such devious practices as the one outlined above. This is a passionate topic for us and we'd love to hear your thoughts on the matter, for or against. Without a doubt, it's a conversation that needs to be had in every community, rural or metropolitan, nationwide.

One last thing: Don't forget about Cyber Wednesdays on the Liberty Bay Books website with 30% of all items (except e-books) on all online orders taken on the Wednesdays before Christmas (December 14 and December 21). Take that Amazon.

Hmm....

With new hardcover books by the likes of Janet Evanovich, Steven King, James Patterson, John Grisham, Sue Grafton, Karen Kingsbury, David Baldacci, and (even!) Michael Crichton out on the shelves right now, you don't have to look too far for that perfect gift for the-impossible-to-buy-for person in your family. And to make it even easier, don't forget CYBER WEDNESDAYS, with 30% off everything bought online every Wednesday up until Christmas.

Unless. Well. Unless you've got one of those nosy, no-good, don't-like-anything, I've-already-got-everything, don't-waste-your-time-on-me, spouses, in-laws, or even kids. It's a troubling demographic, it really is, but here at Liberty Bay Books we think we've got a couple of great ideas for even the most impossible Scrooges.

• Go for the Classics: Touch nostalgia by buying them a book from their childhood. Get a nice, updated copy of something they've mentioned in conversation a few times over the years. (And check this recent NY Times article about the pleasure and value of rereading old favorites)
• Coffee-Table Book: Go for something nice to look at, with a corresponding story or article that seems as though it may be interesting enough to read. Even if they don't particularly like it, it'll still look great on that coffee table in front of the tv!
• Cookbooks: Everyone's got them, but everyone could use another. Give the gift that keeps on giving. And if they don't use it, don't worry! They'll still enjoy the illusion of looking like a cook!
• Knickknacks, Gizmos, or Gadgets: A talking moustache keychain? Tee shirts emblazoned with the motifs of classic novels? Bendy robot paperweights? Make it cute and make it count with a few of these toys. Fun for all ages, of course.

• Check out the PNBA Holiday Catalog: You can't go wrong with anything recommended in this annual Holiday fixture.

AND, if these fail: just get them something that you like! Or the first book of the Game of Thrones series!

Gearing up...

With women pepper spraying each other at Wall Marts, old men dying in Best Buy check-out lines only to be pulled into quiet aisles by other patrons, and fist-fights over flatscreens breaking out at retailers all over the country, Christmas must be just around the corner. Yep. Prepare yourself! The in-laws. The crying Kids ("I said XBox not X-Lax, grandma!"). Oh 'Tis the Season. But let's not get too crazy about it. Madness it may be, mayhem it may deliver, but we've got just the book to lighten whatever Christmas hysteria plagues you!

Awkward Family Pet Photos by Mike Bender, Doug Chernak (Three Rivers, 176 pages, $12.00) -- Maybe you've seen their earlier book, Awkward Family Photos, which is as hilarious as it is unsettling--much like this new, pet-minded farce. Flip through the pages once, you'll laugh until you cry. Flip through them two or three times and you can't help but seriously ask yourself: Why does it always seem like I'm the only normal one in this country? Really productive stuff, thinking-wise. Easy, a lot of fun, and somewhat Christmas-minded, this one (or its predecessor) will brighten your day right up.

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (Random House, 352 pages,

$12.00) -- I think I've reviewed this excellent novel in some capacity or another before, but I've been rereading it lately and can't help but include in a conversation about humor. As far as futuristic satire goes -- this novel sets the standard. Bitingly accurate, plaintively sad, and always frightening, it looks into a near American future where iPhone-like devices and Facebook rule the social world, a Bipartisan party runs the White House, and not immigrants, but those with poor credit are being ejected from the country in droves. Laugh, hide under your bed in fright, or call it all an unreal, speculatory farce, Shteyngart's novel is a tour de force of satiric imagination written in that sparkling sort of prose that fizzes and crackles when read aloud. Named a Best Book of the Year by every publication you can think of! Great Holiday buy!

Snark! the Herald Angels Sing: Sarcasm, Bitterness, and the Holiday Season by Lawrence Dorfman (Skyhorse, 161 pages, $10.36) -- A hilarious bah-humbug look at all the excesses and missteps of the Holiday season, with jokes, commentary, and offbeat quotes (Think: "Santa Clause has the right idea. Visit people once a year," -- Victor Borge). If you're just looking for some laughs, trying to finally bring those in-laws to their knees with sarcastic jabs, or just want another perspective on the Holiday season, check out this addition to the always pertinent, always funny, Snark series.

Goodnight Ipad: A Parody for the Next Generation by Ann Droyd (Blue Rider, $11.96) -- Poking fun at both our over-connected, over-stimulated, modern world of gadgetry and the quiet, technology-free world of the classic, Goodnight Moon, this children's book is an excellent read, and hilarious for children and adults alike. As endearing and cute as the original -- I promise. Like the rest of the Western World, I was skeptical of anything that parodied my favorite book of childhood, but Goodnight Ipad does the job with panache and a welcoming brand of humor that can't help but make you see how we've changed as a society. Really, really fun and really, really funny.

In other notes, don't forget to browse the annual PNBA Holiday Catalog! As always, it's a great resource for gift-giving or even just personal reading.

PS. On my Bedside Table: Nemesis by Phillip Roth, The Swerve by Stephen Greenblatt, and Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

YA and Upcoming Events

As a reminder, don't forget the upcoming West Sound Reads Christopher Paolini event! It'll be an awesome chance to hear the gifted young author of the Inheritance Cycle, who started writing the series at the insane age of 15 in Paradise Valley, Montana! The details are: 7 p.m., November 28th, Bainbridge High School Commons. Pre-pay your order and receive a 25% discount and priority seating with easy access to the autograph line! How awesome is that?!

In other bookie (and fantasy) news, I've just finished the latest installment of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series, A Dance with Dragons (Bantam, 1040 pgs, $28.00), which has been out for a few months now. If you are a fan of the series, you will not be able to put this one down! As thrilling, shocking, and wonderfully crafted as those which came before, it takes us that much closer to that epic winter that will test the people of Westeros. It is truly awesome stuff. Dragons are about. Wildlings roam the North. Exiles return. Ironborn strike east. Hmmff. Wow. I really don't think I'll be able wait for the next one. For those of you who haven't seen the HBO version of the books (Game of Thrones) or read them for yourself, think of them as the work of a 21st century Tolkien who is not shy of sex, blood, or mercilessly killing off your favorite characters. Try them out!

Halloween!

I guess I sort of missed out on the Halloween thing, but my excuses are by all accounts legitimate. So many great books have come out these past few weeks, I've had a whirlwind of a time chugging through them. Until I do, here's a quickie: Bainbridge Island's own (and beloved) David Guterson released his newest, Ed King (Knopf, 320 pgs, $21.56), Portland's Chuck Palahniuk's latest, Damned (Doubleday, 256 pgs, $19.96), continues rising in NY Times Bestseller success, and Michael Ondaatje's, The Cat's Table (Knopf, 280 pgs, $20.80) was put on the shelves -- just to name a few. Oh, and don't forget Jeffery Eugenides' The Marriage Plot (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 416 pgs, $22.40). And Neil Gaiman was also on NPR, talking about how awesome The Graveyard Book is! What a week! A reading list to scare the pants off of you!

MURAKAMI!

It's here. It's coming. It's creeping through your skin! Right Right. Not Halloween, silly, Japanese sensation Haruki Murakami's latest mega-novel 1Q84! (Knopf, 944 pgs, $24.40). If you haven't had the pleasure of reading Murakami, consider yourself invited. Murakami deals only in the strangest of worlds -- or is it the realest? -- where strange creatures, formidable beings, and that metaphysical, existential cramp you've had since college seems to unfurl through your muscles like pharmaceutical drug still in the experimental stages of chimpanzee testing. This newest novel (which I haven't read yet -- it just came out today) is apparently about this, that, and everything else. A New York Times Magazine interviewer explained it as a wildly ambitious book, "full of anger and violence and disaster and weird sex and strange new realities...[that] makes you marvel, reading it, at all the strange folds a single human brain can hold;" he later adds "its plot may not even be fully summarizable -- at least not in the space of a magazine article, written in human language, on this astral plane." (Check out the rest of the article here). If this description makes you at all skeptical about involving yourself with a book by this Murakami guy, I repeat, consider yourself invited. His books are at times challenging, but so often give you that rare epiphanous sense of glee and understanding that only a truly wonderful (and sometimes challenging) book can give you! Check it out! I repeat: Check it out! And check this cool picture out, too. Murakami running (it's where his creative energy comes from, he says):

REAMDE

Neil Stephenson's Reamde (William Morrow, $28.00, 1056 pgs) -- I can't even feign contention with the NY Times' review of REAMDE which described Seattle-based writer Neil Stephenson as that kind of author who shows up at your house unannounced and reeking of weed, stays longer than you expect him while doing things you don't understand, and all of a sudden leaves without a trace, making you wish he might've stayed a little longer and shared a little of what he was smoking. Or something along those lines. Anyhow, I've been ripping along through his latest, REAMDE, which is indeed a book that could've been written by a man like that. Strange, sidereal, it is an entropic sort of global-thriller that involves everything and everywhere from Russian Gangsters, trolls, mages, a hyper-detailed computer game called T'Rain, Northern Idaho, a former mine in B.C., a trailer park in Iowa, Seattle, China, and everything/one in between. A must read for die hard fans of Stephenson (whose Snow Crash is listed as one of Time magazines top 100 books in the English language), and a damn good (and strange) book for the rest of us, REAMDE is definitely that fall vacation you couldn't afford.

The Mourad Challenge

(No, it isn't some long lost Robert Ludlum title...)

So recently, Workman publishers asked us if we'd cook a few things from the up-coming Mourad: New Moroccan (by Mourad Lahlou, Workman, 400pgs, $40.00) cookbook and do a bit of blogging and tweeting about it. Of course we jumped at the idea, as did a few other independent bookstores across the country, and got started preparing for a two-night feast of harissa bloody marys, lemon preserved-chicken, grilled kefta kabobs with grapes, a yogurt-herb spread that goes with truly anything you can find in a refrigerator, beets with avocado puree and pumpkin seed crumble, and, to top it all off, chocolate gingersnaps. Yes: Yummm.

Before we get too much further, I think that it's probably necessary to explain what sort of culinary family we're dealing with. What I'm really saying is that my mom, Suzanne (LBB owner), is truly one of the worst cooks to have ever found her way into a kitchen. To her, a nice dinner is a bottle of wine, crackers, and some skanky vegetables she found in the bottom of the fridge hastily roasted and then slathered with salt. Her 'signature' dish is a beef stew so bland even a Brit wouldn't touch it, which nobody -- and I mean nobody -- will get close to but her. It looks like a cross between Alpo dog food and elementary school chili on its way out. (Sorry mom.) So anyways, what I'm trying to say is that if we can cook these dishes, really anybody can. They're not hard. They are delicious. And you can make them. If she can, you definitely can. Back to the feast:

PREPARING. The lemon preserves were the only thing we had to make ahead of time, and it couldn't have been easier. Salt. Jars. Lemons. A few weeks time, and done. In all, the needed ingredients were pretty easy to gather. Beside from a few spices we had to go to Seattle to find, everything we needed was right at our local grocery store and pretty cheap, too -- a rarity when it comes to cookbooks these days.

THE COOKING: Really fun and really easy. We had a great time skewering grapes, rolling the kefta into balls, and, of course, slugging our harissa bloody marys while stirring the yogurt and vinegar sauces. All in all, the directions were simple, precise, and quick to accomplish. It probably took 4 people an hour and a half of actual 'cooking' time to get everything done.

THE EATING: The whole night was really fun from start to finish, and it goes without saying that the food was incredible. Particularly the chicken with lemon preserves and the kefta with grapes. Wowsa.

THE EXPERIENCE: I think we all agreed, using the cookbook was awesome for everybody who came over and taught us a lot about Moroccan food (more than just lamb and couscous, apparently), Moroccan culture, and Mourad, the chef -- who does a really cool thing by infusing his life story into all of the recipes. Highly recommended for anything from an awesome group-cook dinner party where everyone is involved to making a quick yogurt sauce when you've got just a little time. Really good food. Really cool story. Really great book.