Day 1 of 24 Days of Books: Safari

Welcome to the 2012 edition of Broadway Books' 24 Days of Books! In this daily blog series, we hope to give you some ideas for gifts for family and friends. Some of the books will be books you've likely heard about or read about, but we also hope to introduce you to some "sleepers" that you might not be aware of. This year we're mostly going to group our books by themes, and present to you multiple options each day. But today we're going to talk about just one book, and it is quite the special book.

Safari is a Photicular book of eight African animals, presented with an amazing new technology. With Carol Kaufmann's text and Dan Kainen's photography and illustrations (and the technology behind the book), readers can experience an African safari. Using an innovative lenticular-based technology, precision sliding lenses, and original four-color video imagery, each image is like a 3-D movie on the page, delivering a rich, fluid, and mesmerizing visual experience: The cheetah bounds. The gazelle leaps. The African elephant snaps its ears. The gorilla munches the leaves off a branch. The zebra walks stately across the page -- and more.

Kaufmann opens the book with a recounting of a safari to Kenya's Masai Mara reserve, then for each animal there is a lively, informative essay and an at-a-glance list of important facts. Previous books employing a similar technology (scanimation) -- Gallop! Waddle! and Swing! -- were designed for younger readers (although the Star Wars and Wizard of Oz scanimation books crossed over to include older readers as well). But Safari is a book for all ages.

The book, published by Workman Publishing, is only $24.95 and has been flying off our shelves, as it makes a wonderful gift for people across the spectrum of reading levels and interests. It is a remarkable book that must be seen to be appreciated -- you'll find it right on our front counter. Books like this have a tendency to run out of stock near the end of the holiday season, so don't put off buying it if it seems like the right gift for someone(s) in your life.

As always, you'll find many more great gift ideas in our Holiday Books guide, available at our store. See you soon!

Join Us in Upgrading a School's Library!

Roosevelt High School in northeast Portland is a public school near our neighborhood that boasts a diverse student and faculty population and has made amazing progress in the past few years to upgrade their curriculum, boost their graduation rate, and instill in their community a much-deserved sense of pride and achievement. They face many challenges, and they are addressing these head-on.

One of the biggest challenges faced by all public schools is money, of course. This year Portland voters passed legislation to help maintain and upgrade school facilities (hooray!) but many other aspects of the school system need more than they have.

We are proud to be partnering with the Roosevelt Library (which has no budget to purchase books) to build their collection. It's a partnership we entered into last December and it proved to be so successful for them (and rewarding for us) that we've decided to do it again this year.

You can be a partner with us! Here's how it works:

We have a wish list from Roosevelt's incredibly dedicated and resourceful media specialist/librarian, Betsy Tighe. You may choose a book or books from this list for the library and we will give you 20% off your purchase.

You may purchase any book(s) of your choice from us for Roosevelt and we will give you 20% off.

If you purchase a Broadway Books gift certificate for Roosevelt (to enable Betsy and her students to shop for what they need), we will add 20% to its value, thereby making your donation worth even more.

You may do any of these things by coming into the store, by calling us (503-284-1726), or by clicking on this link at our website, which will take you directly to the gift certificate page. Just indicate that the certificate is for Roosevelt, and we will add the 20% at the store.

Our goal is to add $1000 worth of books to the library this month. These kids are so worth it! Please help if you can.

An Awesome eReader for Only $50 - Are You Kidding me?

Hey, friends. We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! On this rainy day after, it might be just the day for reading a good book. Don't have one? Well....I think we can help you out on that score. So many great new books out right now, truly an embarrassment of riches.

Everyone knows by now that we are big fans of ink-on-paper books  -- they just can't be beat for convenience (no batteries or chargers, easy page-turns, and that wonderful printed book smell). But we also realize that sometimes an eReader can be practical.

For those of you thinking about dipping your toe in the eReader water, or for those who have already jumped in and who are looking for a small reader you can carry in your pocket, we've got just the thing for you: Today and tomorrow only (11/23 & 24), we have the Kobo Mini eReader available for only $49.99, while supplies last -- a $30 saving off the regular $79.99 price.

The Mini is the world's smallest full-function reader, yet it can hold a thousand books. Through Kobo you have access to nearly three million books, including a million free titles. Best of all, if you read across multiple devices -- sometimes on your iPad or laptop, sometimes on your phone, sometimes on an eReader -- you can sync your books across all of your devices so you always start where you left off. Read more about the Kobo Mini.

Come see us today or tomorrow to grab ones of these little babies before they go away. And as just one more incentive to come see us today, we have freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! Yum!

Just Say No to Black (Bleak?) Friday

/

Isn't this terrific news??!! Instead of enjoying a leisurely, peaceful Thanksgiving with friends and family, giving thanks, consumers can fight the parking-lot-mob-scenes and line up outside big-box stores to buy more stuff - much of it made in China. Seriously. Some stores are opening first thing Thursday morning. Others at various non-typical shopping times, such as midnight (convenient for those shoppers who like to stand in line outside for hours to score the best deals).

Rather than being able to spend a day of thanks with their families, employees get to deal with the mobs and --  I guess -- just be thankful they have jobs. Doesn't really sound in the spirit of the holiday to me.

Or you can take a entirely different approach: spend Thanksgiving with friends and family or alone, being thankful. Perhaps eating turkey and pie, maybe accompanied by a little bubbly. Reading a book. Going for walks (it's looking like we might see some sun!). Chatting. Napping. Maybe a little football - on TV or with friends outside. Even writing a letter (do we still remember how to do that?) to someone, thanking them for being in your life.

Then, in the days and weeks following Thanksgiving, you can shop at your leisure at the many locally owned independent stores ready to help you with your holiday shopping. You'll find lots of special gifts and personalized attention at these stores. And a much less frenetic atmosphere.

At Broadway Books we'd love to see you on Friday, but we're also quite happy to see you any other day of the week. We'll be closing at 5 pm on Wednesday and will be closed all day Thursday. But we'll open at 10 (maybe even 9) on Friday, when we begin our special extended hours to accommodate your holiday shopping: 10 am to 9 pm Monday through Saturday and 10 am to 7 pm on Sunday.

Our annual Holiday Book Guide is now available - if you didn't get one in your Oregonian, we've got more at the store. It's full of lots of great gift ideas, and there's a choose-your-own-discount coupon on the back

Broadway Books wishes each of you a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving - whether your meal of choice is turkey, tofurkey, or something entirely different. As for me, I have plenty to be grateful for - including all of you who have made it possible for us  to serve this wonderful community for more than two decades. And I'm grateful for fabulous friends and family and colleagues and cats and great books and a roof over my head and many other wonderful gifts, especially my loving life partner.

There's plenty of time and opportunity to get your holiday shopping done before Hannukkah and Christmas. And when you're ready, we'll be here to help. You can use our website (www.broadwaybooks.net) to browse a large selection of books -- unless it says "on our shelves now" we'll need to order it, but it usually only takes a day or two. Whatever it says, it's always wise to confirm that we have it. Just call, or select "pay in store, pick up in store" and we'll let you know when it's ready for you to come get it.

As always, we're happy to wrap your purchases for free. If you want, you can leave your items with us to be wrapped while you do other shopping, get something to eat, get your haircut or your nails done or do your banking or avail yourself of any of the myriad services available in the NE Broadway/Weidler neighborhood.

Best wishes, happy holidays, and - especially - thank you, from all of us at Broadway Books.

Now Offering Kobo eBooks and eReaders

We are thrilled to announce that we have entered into an agreement with Kobo to sell Kobo eBooks and -- a first for Broadway Books -- its eReaders as well. We selected Kobo (in conjunction with other independent bookstores) to partner with because the company offers a catalog of more than three million titles and has a reputation for providing the highest level of customer service for its more than ten million registered users worldwide. By working with Kobo, we will be able to offer our customers an extensive catalog of eBook titles and a choice of quality eReaders at affordable prices -- Just in time for the holidays!

 

Rest assured that we still have a mad passion (that we know you share) for ink on paper -- there's just nothing like the smell of a new book. But we realize that sometimes an eReader can come in handy, say when you're traveling or when you're trying to read in bed next to a sleeping partner.

 

You can read Kobo eBooks on a Kobo eReader, but by downloading free eReading apps you can also read them on most other popular devices, such as an iPad or iPhone, Mac or PC computers, smartphones, and other branded eReaders (except the Kindle, which is a proprietary device). And you can automatically sync your library across all of your devices so you can read on whatever device whenever and keep your place in your book. You can also purchase magazines and newspapers to read on Kobo devices. [If you purchase eBooks to read on devices other than one you buy in our store, and you want us to get sales credit for those books, you must set up your account through the link on our website.]

 

We will be selling two models of the Kobo: the Glo, an e-ink reader that has a soft, adjustable glow so you can read comfortably day or night, indoors or out ($129.99); and the Mini, the world's smallest and lightest full-feature eReader with a no-glare e-ink touchscreen ($79.99). Both eReaders have built in wifi that you can use to order eBooks from us directly onto your device, and both offer batteries that will hold a charge for up to a month (depending on wifi or glow-light usage).

 

If you purchased Google eBooks from us, you will not lose those books. You will retain access to them through your purchase history on our website or through Google's website -- you can even transfer them to a Kobo device if you wish. 

 

We now have fully fuctioning display models of both the Glo and the Mini for you to take a look at. Click here for details on both devices and learn how to order Kobo books (for these devices or for other readers, including smart phones and iPads) from Broadway Books.

 

Crazy Eights Hit Broadway Books!

Usually when we host a reading at Broadway Books, we feature one terrific author. Sometimes -- such as in our monthly Comma Reading Series -- we feature two terrific authors. On even rarer occasions we feature three terrific authors, such as at our Bedtime Stories for Grown-Ups, featuring Lidia Yuknavitch, Chelsea Cain, and Chuck Palahniuk. This week we're setting a new Olympic record (ok, maybe not an Olympic record, but certainly a Broadway Books record) by featuring EIGHT terrific authors. Yes, I said eight.

George Wright, a Portland-based novelist and great friend of indie booksellers, has organized an Oregon tour with a rotating cast of eight wonderful regional authors reading at eight locations in Oregon. Broadway Books is thrilled to be serving as the Portland location for this once-in-a-lifetime event (ok, make that an eight-times-in-a-lifetime event) at 7 pm on Thursday, October 4th. (Yes, this despite the fact that Sunday's Oregonian insisted the event is taking place at the Hood River Library. It's not. At least not this Thursday.)

Take a gander at the list of authors we'll be featuring at the store on Thursday evening: Brian Doyle, Jane Kirkpatrick, Naseem Rahka, James Bernard Frost, April Henry, Phillip Margolin, Ron Lovell, Robert Dugoni, and, of course, the mastermind behind this whirlwind of a reading, George Byron Wright, who will serve as emcee. Holy guacamole!!

We hope you can join us for this whopping good time. You can read more about each of the authors on the events page of our website.

Hope to see you there!

Going Gold with the Olympics

How many of you are finding yourselves just a wee bit obsessed with the Olympics? Staying up too late to watch prime time just to see how many medals the amazing Michael Phelps can rack up, or watching the awards ceremony for women's gymnastics even though you already know who won, just so you can enjoy those ear-to-ear grins; watching TV at times you would usually never consider turning it on; checking the internet more frequently to get results. Come on, be honest. A show of hands.

Well, I'll admit it. I'm obsessed, and coming on the heels of the Tour de France I am definitely tallying way too much TV/computer time these days. But I still try to keep up with my reading. As you know, I recently read the memoir by cyclist David Millar about getting caught up in doping and then returning to the sport to compete clean (in fact, he won a stage at this year's TdF).

Now I've found something that combines all of my current obsessions: cycling, the Olympics, and reading: the newly published novel Gold, by Chris Cleave (author of the novels Incendiary and Little Bee -- which you've probably heard of).

The book is about two female cyclists for the British women's team in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics -- long-time friends and competitors expecting to duke it out on the world stage at the Olympics. Then the Olympic committee, in its infinite wisdom (and to cater to sponsors), changes the rules so that each country can only send one cyclist to the Olympics (sort of like that ridiculous rule in Olympic gymnastics that each country can only send two contenders to the all-around competition, regardless of the scores of person three or four). So who will represent Britain? Nice girl Kate or bad girl Zoe?

It's perhaps not his finest of the three novels, but it's well written and entertaining, it's about cycling and the Olympics, and it's summer, for gosh sakes! So quick, before the sports spectacle ends, get yourself a copy of Gold and start reading so you can balance out your time on the couch with eyes glued to the TV. [PS: Tell me what YOU see on the cover of Gold.]