Max and Mandy at the Beach

For those who wonder what Max is up to when he's not behind the counter at Northtown, here he is in action on Trinidad State Beach with his pal Mandy in a video filmed by Dante and edited by Ric.

WICKED PLANTS

Local author Amy Stewart will discuss and sign her new book Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities at Northtown Books May 17th at 3 pm.

A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

Here's a video preview of the book:

Please help us welcome Amy back to Northtown Books.

For much more information on this and Amy's other books and articles, go to her own website.

UPDATE: The New York Times comes to visit Amy in Eureka. (link via NCJ Blogthing)

BARBARA KERLEY

Friday, May 8th at 6 pm, Northtown Books welcomes local author Barbara Kerley.

A former Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, and a one-time resident of Guam, she brings a unique life experience to her work.

She's written a wide variety of books for young people, on subjects as various as Walt Whitman, the artist who introduced dinosaurs to the world, and the importance of water in the world.

Her new book from National Geographic Books, One World, One Day, follows children around the world as they get up, wash up, and start a new day. It's an elegant picture book with contributions from top international photographers.

Her book What to Do About Alice? was recently reviewed in the New York Times, and you can read an interview with her here.

NORTHTOWN BOOKS READING GROUP

We have copies of our next selection for the Northtown Books Reading Group, The Persian Boy by Mary Renault, behind the counter for a 10% discounted price.

Our next meeting will be May 10th (Mother's Day!--let us know if anyone has a conflict with this date) at 5:30 here at Northtown Books.

In the meantime, here are some links to peruse.

STENCIL NATION

Friday, April 10 at 7:30 pm, Russell Howze presents a slide show at Northtown Books from his book "Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art", which features over 500 full-color photographs.

The book presents work by more than 350 artists from 28 countries, including Iran, Australia, Japan, Canada, Spain, Lebanon, Israel, and the United States. Featured artists include: Banksy, Jef Aerosol, Logan Hicks, Adam5100, Arofish, M-City, SWOON, Hao, John Fekner, Peat Wollaeger, Klutch, and others.

Russell Howze saw his first stencil in 1990, which was J. R. "Bob" Dobbs on an apartment wall in Clemson, SC. In 1995, Russell saw an amazing sight on the exterior wall of the Reichstag in Berlin: a huge stenciled Bertolt Brecht poem. He snapped a photo of that stencil, then found one in Budapest, Hungary. Then a few more stencils appeared in Basel, Switzerland. When he landed in San Francisco in 1997, he found dozens on the sidewalks of the Mission and Haight neighborhoods. He's never stopped photographing the sometimes temporary, always intriguing art form.

In 2002, Russell created the first version of Stencil Archive, thinking that he would have time to scan and upload his own collection before anyone discovered the site and submitted their own work. He was gladly mistaken, so Stencil Archive took off and ended up becoming a site with over 10,000 uploaded photographs. At the time of its inception, Stencil Archive was the only international stencil site out there (for a few months). Now there are dozens of sites with tens of thousands of photographs. Russell continues to curate his site, posting stencils from around the world and featuring dozens of amazing artists.

When not photographing, making, painting, and uploading stencils, Russell fills his time by doing one or more of the following fun things: being a carny for the Sustainable Living Roadshow, riding his bike, writing for his blog, cooking healthy food, creating vector art and putting it on stickers and buttons, producing events, puppeteering, listening to good music, traveling, and volunteering/protesting to make the world a better place.

He currently lives in San Francisco's Mission District, and is usually seen on his bike with his camera slung around his shoulder.

A "vibrant exploration of a sub-sub-genre.... [T]his volume crosses the globe for a swift tour of the world's best artists, making it a handsome and insightful introduction to the form." - Publishers Weekly, 10/16/2008

UPDATE: We had a packed house here at Northtown, and Russell enjoyed kicking off his tour here.

JJ SEMPLE

In his latest book The Backward-Flowing Method: The Secret of Life and Death, JJ Semple examines the meditation techniques for activating the Kundalini-Life Force.

His previous book, Deciphering the Golden Flower One Secret at a Time, told the story of his Kundalini awakening.

In The Backward-Flowing Method, he examines the meditation techniques that led to his awakening, analyzes meditation practices across cultures and throughout the ages, and offers a method that has the following real world results:

Triggering autonomic self-healing mechanisms capable of correcting defects related to neural degeneration;
Rejuvenating the body, retarding the aging process, stimulating neuroplastic activity; Reversing self-destructive and addictive behavior;
Heightening and enhancing consciousness to effect release from Karmic bondage;
Facing death without fear and facilitating the transition into the next state of being.

Join JJ Semple Friday March 27th at 7 pm for this event.

For more information, go here.

ANNE IGOU

On Friday March 13th AT 7 PM , local artist Anne Igou presents her new book I Can't Believe I'm Creating Millefiore, and shares her techniques for creating polymer clay jewelry.

Millefiore means "a thousand flowers" and imitates the look of intricate Italian glass art.

Anne has taught workshops all over the country, and has made appearances on several national television shows. At Northtown, she'll do a demonstration of how she creates her pieces.

Please join us this Friday.

GROUP PORTRAIT

(l-r) Erik Syverson, Monika Zerzan, Jay Herzog, Dante Digenova, Deric Mendes, and standing in for Simone Goldenberg, Max (in front).


The staff at Northtown recently was asked, along with several other local independent bookstores, to help judge the North Coast Journal's flash fiction contest.

The group picture above was taken for the paper by Bob Doran.

Mexico Unconquered

John Gibler presents his new book from City Lights, Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, at
Northtown Books
February 4 at 5:30 pm.

Mexico Unconquered is an evocative report on the epic powers of violence and corruption in Mexico and the underdogs and rebels who put their lives on the line to build justice from the ground up.

Author John Gibler probes the overwhelming divisions in contemporary Mexico, home to the world's richest man, Carlos Slim, and to destitute millions. The book explores the concept of the Rule of Law in a land known for its implacable corruption and impunity; the political machinations behind Mexico's devastating economic disparities; the implications and consequences of the annual exodus of half a million Mexicans to the United States; the unprecedented civil disobedience uprising in Oaxaca state; and the continuing Indigenous Present that resists the government's attempts to confine Mexico's 10 million indigenous peoples to calm and controlled corners of the past.

Global Exchange supported John Gibler while writing Mexico Unconquered and reporting from Mexico from 2006-2008 with the Global Exchange Media Fellowship.

Read his dispatches at GlobalExchange.org.

Praise for Mexico Unconquered:

"In Mexico Unconquered John Gibler has produced an important new work focusing on Mexico's ongoing class struggles and the historical continuum of resistance, organizing, and revolt against the social injustices and official corruption evident at all levels of Mexican society. Gibler argues that the Conquest never quite finished, that colonialism from Spain evolved into a new, but equally violent form of internal domination. From the arrival of the first people in ancient Mesoamerica to the ongoing plague of narcotrafficking and feminicide in Ciudad Juarez, Gibler explores Mexico's current political undercurrents in a historical context. Through research, critical analysis, and superb first-hand reporting culled from years of living in Mexico, Gibler shares the voices, stories, and communal dignity of the ordinary Mexicans who are putting their lives at risk by challenging corrupt power as they build social movements for basic rights, justice, and autonomy. An exciting first book by an emerging young writer."— Howard Zinn

"Part journalism, part history, part call to action, John Gibler's book chronicles not only the continuing colonization of Mexico, but also the continuity of resistance to it. Revealing those forces of resistance, which sometimes take the form of mass explosions, and other times take the form of individual expressions of indignation and defiance, Gibler helps us see Mexico with new eyes—a Mexico that has always been constituted by revolutionary dreams of freedom and equality." —Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, co-authors of Empire and Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire

An insightful tour of the horror show next door, this book is full of shocking and distressing tales about the struggle and brutality of Mexican politics. It boggles the mind how close Mexico is, yet how overlooked their past and current history is. Gibler, burning with righteous anger, helps correct that." —Christian Parenti, author of The Freedom: Shadows and Hallucination in Occupied Iraq, The Soft Cage and Lockdown America

"Mexico Unconquered maps a complex and tangled territory stretched between two poles—on one side, a world driven by the logic of empire and the reality of possession, conquest, and occupation; on the other, a land of possibility animated by cooperation, mutual recognition, love, dignity, and sustainability. John Gibler plots the former with laser-like precision, and portrays the latter in vivid and urgent detail. What becomes clear is that the power of resistance today draws in the first place on human creativity and the collective power of our imaginations. Taking the long view—glancing back at the steps that led us to the place we are, and looking forward toward a new world in-the-making—this book is essential reading for activists and engaged citizens who want to make a difference here and now." —Bill Ayers, Distinguished Professor of Education, UIC, author of Fugitive Days

Best Books of the Year

Here are links to a few best of the year lists from various sources, many found at Fimoculous's 2008 List of Lists:

Publisher's Weekly

The Village Voice

The New York Times

NPR's Maureen Corrigan.

A wide array of lists at the book blog The Millions.

And lastly, Northtown's own Jay Herzog lists his favorites in the North Coast Journal.