Mailbox Monday: "Therefore, Choose Life. . ."

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

I am very excited about the book I got last week:



"Therefore, Choose Life. . ." by Moisey Wolf, edited and translated by Judson Rosengrant, published by OSU Press with the support of the Oregon Jewish Museum.

"Therefore, Choose Life. . ." is the autobiography of Dr. Moisey Wolf, who escaped the Holocaust, served in the Soviet Army during World War II, had a distinguished career as a psychiatrist in post-Stalinist Soviet Russia, and came to America in 1992. It's hard to imagine such a remarkable life lived in such extraordinary times. I want to dive right into this one.

Book Beginning: Turning Down the Sound by Foster Church

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

This book celebrates the small towns Washington as places to explore, savor, and spend the night or two. It treats them as travel destinations rather than dots on a map to drive through on the road someplace else.

-- From the author's Introduction to Turning Down the Sound: Travel Escapes in Washington's Small Towns by Foster Church, published by OSU Press.

As with his earlier book, Discovering Main Street: Travel Adventures in Small Towns of the Northwest, Church revels in the often hard to find charms of small towns. He writes about farm towns that now boast art galleries and antique shops, and other villages with cultural attractions. But the real joy of Turning Down the Sound is how Church really digs in, looking for character, and visitor amenities, in even the most ordinary-seeming burgs.

Teaser Tuesday: The End of Eve by Ariel Gore

This was supposed to be a book about a typical caregiver – a daughter with children of her own trying to help her terminal if eccentric weirdo-mother through a final year. But now here we were mid-narrative, more than a year gone by, and no one had died and I didn't have a mother anymore and the semester was wrapping up.

The End of Eve: A Memoir by Ariel Gore, published by Hawthorne Books.

Ariel Gore edits Hip Mama magazine and writes funny, contemplative books about motherhood, happiness, and the human condition. We need more like her! The End of Eve is Gore's story of caring for her dying, but difficult, mother.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: Scene of the Climb

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

I got a very fun book that is perfect for summer reading!



Scene of the Climb by Kate Dyer-Seeley.

Dyer-Seeley calls this "a Pacific Northwest Mystery" and it is the first in a new series featuring freelance outdoor writer Meg Reed.  The only thing is, Meg may have exaggerated her enthusiasm for outdoor adventures to land a job with Northwest Extreme magazine. Things only get worse when Meg, having heaved herself up a 2000-foot peak, sees a body falling past her.  Now she has to survive her adventure and solve a murder mystery.

Stick this one in your backpack for a great weekend read.  There is even a short appendix at the back with some travel and hiking ideas for a trip to the Columbia River Gorge.

Kate has a couple of events coming up this week for readers in the Portland area:

TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 3-5pm

Scene of the Climb Happy Hour at Deschutes Brewery in Portland, 210 NW 11th Ave.

Join us for a special book signing and happy hour at Meg’s favorite pub. Bring your copy of Scene of the Climb for Kate to sign. (You can buy a copy at many Portland/Vancouver-area bookstores.) Deschutes Brewery will be sampling some of Meg’s favorite beers, plus giving away some swag.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 7pm

Hello Vancouver! at Kiggins Theater, 1011 Main St., Vancouver, WA

Kate will be one of the guests on this live talk show, show featuring local talent and celebrities. The event is free and looks like a light of fun.

Find information about more upcoming events here on Kate Dyer-Seeley's website.

Review: The Journal of My Broken Life

The Journal of My Broken Life by Carolee J. Horning. Available in paperback or a Kindle edition.

Carolee Horning is an inspirational and now-fearless woman who broke decades of silence about how her Catholic priest seduced and sexually molested her when she was an immature teenager. When she was 40, she came forward to bring a claim against the Portland Archdiocese and tell the world about her experience.

While victims of sexual abuse have the right to sue without disclosing their names, Carolee wanted to use her own name and to get her story out in the hopes it would help other victims have the strength to come forward and talk about what happened to them.

This book is Carolee's first-person account of her abuse, her lawsuit, and her path from victim to survivor. It is an honest, straight-from-the-heart story that deserves a wide audience.

I recommend this book for anyone who works with or supports child abuse victims, any victims working on their own healing, or anyone looking for greater understanding of how child sexual abuse affects adults even decades later.

Book Beginning: The End of Eve by Ariel Gore

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

I must have been ten years old when my mother took me to see Mommie Dearest and then bragged to her friends that I'd laughed through the wire hanger scene.

The End of Eve: A Memoir by Ariel Gore, published by Hawthorne Books.

Ariel Gore is a writer of memoir, fiction, and contemporary contemplation, and the spirited editor of Hip Mama magazine. In The End of Eve, Gore's latest memoir, she tells the tender, dark, sad, and funny story of caring for her dying mother. It's a great book and deserving of the buzz it has generated.

Book Beginning: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Foremost among the economic policies available to state and sometimes even local governments is the income tax. Today, 41 out of 50 states collect income tax on so-called earned income.

-- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States: How Taxes, Energy, and Worker Freedom Change Everything by Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, Rex A. Sinquefield, and Travis H. Brown.

So this is definitely a book aimed at policy wonks, but it isn't as dry as the title and description suggest -- nod to Adam Smith and all. The authors are good writers who know how to get an idea across.

Mailbox Monday: Portland Foodie Books

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM is a fun, bookish event where participants Show & Tell the books they got in the prior week.

MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

Two books came into my house last week, both with a Portland foodie theme:



Food Lover's Guide to Portland, 2nd Edition, by Liz Crain. This is the updated version of Crain's indispensable guide to the producers and purveyors who supply the Rose City: bakeries, cheese makers and mongers, chocolatiers, ethnic markets, brewers, coffee roasters, distillers, cooking classes, farmers markets, and much, much more. The new edition features over 20 new full-length listings, 150 new businesses, and special sections on Portland's food carts and Hispanic markets. You can pre-order now from Hawthorne Books, where regular shipping is free, or from amazon.

Here is my review of the original edition of Food Lover's Guide to Portland, and my author interview of Liz Crain.



My-Te-Fine Merchant: Fred Meyer's Retail Revolution by Fred Leeson.  Fred Meyer is a household name in the Pacific Northwest because the grocery store chain he started in 1922 is still going strong.  Long before Costco or Walmart existed, and before Target started selling groceries, Fred Meyer pioneered the megastore, selling food, drugs, apparel, home furnishings, garden supplies, and more under one roof.

Leeson's book is the first full-length biography of Fred Meyer and a fascinating study of a man who shaped the way millions of people shop.  You can buy the book on-line, the Kindle edition on amazon, or ask your local bookstore to order it.

Book Beginning: The Wax Bullet War: Chronicles of a Soldier & Artist by Sean Davis

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

The morning Simon Scott was killed he sat in the back of our Humvee with his elbows on his knees and told me his theory of life.

-- The Wax Bullet War: Chronicles of a Soldier & Artist by Sean Davis, published by Ooligan Press, the graduate student run publishing company at Portland State University.  Davis enlisted after September 11, served in Iraq, and came home to, eventually, use art and writing to deal with his demons.

Teaser Tuesday: To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemewa Indian School by Melissa D. Parkhurst

When new students arrived at Chemewa, each one's knowledge of traditional song and dance practices varied greatly. Even among students of a single tribe or nation, familiarity with forms of cultural expression differed markedly with a student's particular community of origin.

-- To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemewa Indian School by Melissa D. Parkhurst, published by Oregon State University Press, as part of its collaborative First Peoples series.

Parkhurst relies on archival records and oral histories of Chemewa alumni to present a detail-rich and thoughtful examination of the way music shaped the lives of children sent to Indian school.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: Jam Today Too by Tod Davies

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

I got one new book last week:



Jam Today Too: The Revolution Will Not be Catered by Tod Davies, published by Exterminating Angel Press.

The first book in this series of food and cooking essay collections, Jam Today: A Diary of Cooking With What You've Got, flitted across my radar but then fell off.  So I was very happy to get a copy of this second book in the series.  And even more pleased to realize that Davies is an Oregon author, at least part time (she also lives in Boulder, Colorado).

Jam Today Too is a collection of essays in the tradition of MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David, or Jim Harrison -- reflections on what to eat, why to eat it, and how to make it.  Davies' chatty style offers recipes along with anecdotes about when she made the dishes, including cooking in an RV after their house flooded, cooking for grieving friends, recreating childhood favorites, and cooking for solo meals.  Reading the pieces feels like sitting at the kitchen counter with a glass of wine, talking with your friend while she cooks dinner.

WEEKEND COOKING

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