Blogs

Asof 8/31, library registration is full; however, there may be seats still available depending on how many of our reserved seats are not needed (these will be filled in at 7:15).  There will also be standing room available.  For a guaranteed seat in the front of the auditorium (reserved until 7:15), please pre-order Zero History.  

We have three passes for M-Th screenings of The Girl Who Played With Fire (good for two admissions each) that we're giving away on Facebook.  All you have to do is share the link to this blog post on your wall, leave a comment here (on the related post), and we'll do the drawing Thursday around 2pm - plenty of time to even attend Thursday's showing!  FYI: the film is running at the Century 14 Downtown, and should be running until at least August 5.

Attached is a printable pdf coupon (pictured) good for 25% off a title from our International Fiction or Mystery sections! (Valid until August 10) 

Some of you experienced problems with a link to tickets to the 7/28 Artichoke Cafe luncheon/fundraiser with Melanie Sumner, so here's an easy front page way to purchase them online - or feel free to call us:

$25 ticket , including lunch, dessert, beverage, tax, tip & donation to the NM Symphony Guild 

Primarily, you're used to hearing about events & event related information from me, and new books (if you're on our email newsletter) elsewhere - but I read a ton, and I love recommending clever, fresh, unusual books, especially by new writers. 

You - as patrons of indie bookstores - probably realize that you'd never hear about these books on Amazon (and this recent Nation article is fantastic for explaining the core problem I have with the site: forgetting that they don't pay taxes that benefit our community, or bring in authors for events, it's impossible to stumble across fantastic midlist books that aren't heavily marketed.  It's the crux of the issue surrounding e-books as well, because how do you happen to find a really great read without booksellers or shelves peppered with paper recommendations or eye-catching spines?).

On Tuesday, July 27 at 7pm, writer Melanie Sumner will be here to talk about her new novel The Ghost of Milagro Creek, which is set in Taos, and is pretty haunting - she's a great writer, who's contributed short stories to The New Yorker & Harper's, and I know we New Mexicans are bound to compare it (favorably!) to Bless Me, Ultima - maybe this will wind up on some of your picks for best 100 Best New Mexico Books(voting for that is going on now!)... it should definitely show up on a list of the Best NEW Books about New Mexico... I'll work on making a list of those in my spare time ;)

Anyway, I liked so much what Melanie had to say about the writing of this book, that I wanted to share it with you:

We are REALLY excited about our first partnership with the NHCC and the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Public Library System in our upcoming event with Luis Alberto Urrea (whose books Into the Beautiful North and The Hummingbird's Daughters both Nancy and Russell have picked as favorites of the years they were published).

Here's a great excerpt from Luis's blog about Rudy Anaya (Saint Rudy!), and some video of Urrea talking about how his own search for identity provided fuel for his writing in this interview with host Dean Nelson, as part of the 2009 Writers Symposium by the Sea:

June 13th, 2010, we organized an event focusing on translation - and Scandinavian crime fiction - with translators Steven T. Murray and Tiina Nunnally.  Steven is most well known for the project that so many of us wish we'd written (because I think I counted at least eight in one flight from Albuquerque to New York) the Millennium Trilogy, by Stieg Larsson, and both have translated Henning Mankell - as well as many other crime fiction writers.  

I was pretty excited to discover that Tiina translated Doghead - one of my favorite novels of last year, a new edition of Pippi Longstocking, and the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy.

A colleage of mine at the store, Joanne, asked a few of our questions, and these are Steven and Tiina's responses!

You've heard Nancy and me talk about Brady Udall, and exactly how wonderful we think his new novel The Lonely Polygamist is - and thanks to everyone that came to our event last week.  He and his parents were fantastic, and I took a very brief video of Brady reading an excerpt.

One of the questions he was asked was his advice on writing, since he teaches at Boise State University, and the answer is (paraphrased): "Some teachers make the mistake of trying to teach how to make art - instead, try to focus on the craft, and the things that ARE teachable!" 

NPR includes The Lonely Polygamist on its list of summer reads - twice!  We  have tons of signed copies because we love this book, and it really is a fantastic choice for the summer.