The votes are in, and Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner has been selected for the first meeting of the Country Bookshelf Book Club. This book club is open to the public, and its first meeting will be on Tuesday, March 23rd at 7pm here at the store. Copies of the book are available in the store now. Call or email to reserve a copy.
More details on the book club are here.

Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner (Scribner $16)
National Book Award Finalist
Publisher’s description:
Rachel Kushner has written an astonishingly wise, ambitious, and riveting novel set in the American community in Cuba during the years leading up to Castro’s revolution — a place that was a paradise for a time and for a few. The first novel to tell the story of the Americans who were driven out in 1958, this is a masterful debut.
Young Everly Lederer and K. C. Stites come of age in Oriente Province, where the Americans tend their own fiefdom — three hundred thousand acres of United Fruit Company sugarcane that surround their gated enclave. If the rural tropics are a child’s dreamworld, Everly and K.C. nevertheless have keen eyes for the indulgences and betrayals of the grown-ups around them — the mordant drinking and illicit loves, the race hierarchies and violence.
In Havana, a thousand kilometers and a world away from the American colony, a cabaret dancer meets a French agitator named Christian de La Maziere, whose seductive demeanor can’t mask his shameful past. Together they become enmeshed in the brewing political underground. When Fidel and Raul Castro lead a revolt from the mountains above the cane plantation, torching the sugar and kidnapping a boat full of “yanqui” revelers, K.C. and Everly begin to discover the brutality that keeps the colony humming. Though their parents remain blissfully untouched by the forces of history, the children hear the whispers of what is to come.
At the time, urgent news was conveyed by telex. Kushner’s first novel is a tour de force, haunting and compelling, with the urgency of a telex from a forgotten time and place.

Mark your calendars for what looks to be a great event with Billings, Montana, author Craig Lancaster, whose debut novel, 600 Hours of Edward, has garnered a 2009 Montana Book Award Honor. He’ll be here to read, answer questions, and sign his new book on Tuesday, March 30th at 7pm.

Montana author deftly describes mental illness in captivating first novel

Montana author Craig Lancaster’s debut novel, “600 Hours of Edward,” is a funny, quirky, big-hearted tale about Edward Stanton, a solitary man with Asperger’s syndrome who is hurtling headlong toward middle age.

For most of his life, Edward’s mental illness led him to keep his distance from the outside world. But over the course of 25 days (or 600 hours, as obsessive-compulsive Edward prefers to keep track of it) several events puncture the walls Edward has built around himself. In the end, he must choose to open his life to experiences and deal with the joys and heartaches that come with it, or remain behind closed doors, a solitary soul.

The book has received high praise for its compelling narrative and its realistic portrayal of someone with Asperger’s, a high functioning form of autism.

Sue Hart, an authority on Montana literature and English professor at MSU-Billings (where Lancaster lives and where the novel is based), advised readers, “Set aside a weekend for this great read.” Gregg Olsen, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Deep Dark,” said “Lancaster’s compulsively readable debut has a heart as big as the Montana sky,” and T.L. Hines, author of “Waking Lazarus,” favorably compared Lancaster’s story to the classic novel “Flowers for Algernon.”

More praise for Craig’s work can be found on his website www.craiglancaster.net and blog http://craiglancaster.wordpress.com .

“I crashed a motorcycle at 60 miles per hour on the interstate in July 2008 after a buck jumped out on me,” Lancaster says. “Broken ribs, road rash, collapsed lung. It was a mess.”

A couple of months later, as Lancaster wound down his recuperation, a friend asked him to make a run at National Novel Writing Month, the annual 30-day dash in which writers are challenged to put down at least 50,000 words. It’s something Lancaster had attempted before but had never seen through.

“I was reluctant to do it again,” he says. “I was still in a bit of pain, and I didn’t really want to do anything that would lead to more disappointment.

“But the more I thought about it, the more excited I got. If you have a traumatic injury and make it through, you can’t help but think about the things you’ve always wanted to do and haven’t, for whatever reason. So I took the chance.”

The results exceeded his expectations — and exceeded the requirements of the event known as NaNoWriMo. Lancaster wrote nearly 80,000 words in the first 24 days of November 2008, laying the foundation of what would become his debut novel, 600 HOURS OF EDWARD. The story centers on a middle-aged man, Edward Stanton, who has Asperger syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder and has settled into a life largely devoid of human contact. In 25 days one autumn — 600 hours — the world he has kept at bay crashes onto his front step and forces him to deal with the fallout.

Riverbend Publishing of Helena, Montana, released the book in October 2009, to critical acclaim. New York Times bestselling author Gregg Olsen hailed the book, saying, “Funny and

quirky, Lancaster’s compulsively readable debut has a heart as big as the Montana sky.” Readers who have peeked into Edwards meticulously kept world have fallen in love with the character and the changes that come — not just with him, but with the people around him.

For Lancaster, who lives in Billings, Montana, with his wife, Angie, and two rambunctious dachshunds, 600 HOURS OF EDWARD wrenched open a whole new world. The longtime journalist is hard at work on new fiction projects, all of them intensely character-driven. And all because a deer ruined a summer day’s ride.

“It sounds cliché, but it’s not: Crushing disappointment has a way of leading to things you didn’t expect,” Lancaster says. “It’s part of the human experience. I want to explore that as deeply as I can.”

600 HOURS OF EDWARD is available in paperback for $14.00.

Hey, folks!

Just wanted to make sure that you know that the Jon Turk event at 7pm on March 10th will be much more than a reading and signing. Here’s how Jon describes his events:

Along with the book, I’ve developed an exciting new presentation that is a lively mixture of theatre, traditional literary reading, and adventure slide show.
♦
For previews of my presentation, check out:
Raven’s Gift Presentation trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEHlOv7N_4c     �
Raven’s Gift Presentation Live:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6R9Gt138jI0           �
♦

The book itself integrates two related themes — outdoor adventure and spiritual connectivity with the landscape.  Perfect fit for the Bozeman crowd.  Early feedback has been stupendous:
 ♦
Kirkus Reviews wrote:  A moving account worthy of shelving alongside Vladimir Arsenyev’s Dersu Uzala (1923), Barry Lopez’s Arctic Dreams (1986) and other explorations of native ways of life in the Far North.
 ♦
Henry Pollack: Co-Winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore  wrote: “The tension between his own logical scientific background and the mysterious shamanistic wisdom of his healer is at the heart of this wonderfully-told story of Koryak life, and of his own personal transformation.”

And here’s how he responded to a Montana reader who wrote him and enquired about the reading:

No, I do not stand in front of an audience with a book in front of my nose, and “Read”  Not at all.  I am a story teller, with roots in street circus.  I promise you that I “speak from my heart” for every audience and I am open to discussion.  I am in New Mexico now and have been presenting (better word than reading) to overflow, stand up crowds, wherever I go.  My events are fun and inspiring.

♦
       I’d love it if you and your friends came to Bozeman to meet with me, to hear what I have to say, and to share your feelings and insights into ancient wisdoms.  We will have a good time.

♦
 Hope to see you there, but if I don’t, I hope that you pick up a copy of The Raven’s Gift and write back when you finish it.

♦♦
 Jon turk
www.jonturk.net

We’ve had a great community response to the announcement of Jon Turk’s visit, and we’re very excited to be hosting this talented local author once again. We hope to see you there!

Best,

Country Bookshelf Staff

******Below is the text of our latest email newsletter. If you would like to receive these occasional missives, please send an email to countrybookshelf@gmail.com and ask us to add your address to our list.*****

Dear Readers,  

We have two major readings scheduled for this spring, the launch of the Country Bookshelf Book Club, and a few other literary tidbits to share this month.    

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MOVIE READING  

With film awards season in full swing, we thought you might be interested in how many of recent films in theatre and on television have their origination in books.

Here’s a brief selection:  

After last fall’s wonderful open forum on book clubs and after the craziness of the holidays, we are now ready to begin the Country Bookshelf Book Club we promised. Based on feedback from you, our customers, we’ll have a few ground rules and basic expectations and a few basic criteria for book selection. If you have further suggestions, please email us at countrybookshelf@gmail.com.

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First meeting: 7pm on Tuesday 23 March upstairs at the Country Bookshelf

Meeting schedule: 4th Tuesday of the month (no meetings November or December)

♦

General direction of the Country Bookshelf Book Club

1. The first rule of book club is ” Don’t talk about book club.”

1. All right, seriously now, the main expectation is that during book club meetings we WILL talk about the book.

2. This does not mean that you are unwelcome if you haven’t read the book. If you haven’t read the book, we’d still love to have your presence, and your questions might be exceptionally valuable, but don’t expect us to refrain from discussing the end of the book.

3. The Country Bookshelf will provide the location and staff members or other volunteers to lead discussion, but as with any such endeavor, individual participants will gain more from the event through participating: active listening, commenting, posing theories, suggesting ideas, asking questions, answering questions. While having read the book and/or even done some basic research on the book or author will be helpful, these are not required. The discussion leader will have some background information to share and some questions to begin the discussion.

4. We hope to stay focused on the ideas, characters, style and choices of the novel as opposed to whether we liked or disliked the book. Positive attitude, people!

♦

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How to pick books for people you don’t yet know

The list of criteria used to select nominees for the first choice seems like a good general reference point for future selections as well.

1. Not too long. We don’t want to intimidate anyone or make book club feel like too large of a commitment.

2. Not over-exposed; that is, not already a local bestseller or one that is being talked about everywhere else all the time. It’s often better for genuine and thoughtful conversation not to be full of others’ ideas or opinions on a work.

3. Make it new. The other side of this point is that we hope that our book club helps introduce books to readers that they might not otherwise have encountered or noticed. This may include older books that we felt were overlooked (especially the fabulous titles so often “saved” by the New York Review of Books) or books in translation.

4. Accessibility. We expect to focus primarily on fiction available in paperback with a literary bent that would seem to appeal to both men and women, young and old.

5. Quality. As we expect to focus discussion on ideas and characters, the book will need to be more than just a page-turner. One possible mark of literariness is being short-listed for a major book award.

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Vote for your choice

To get the party started (and to not be overbearing), we’ve selected the nominees for the first book of the Country Bookshelf Book Club (CBBC) and would like the final selection to be made by customer votes.  One voter will be randomly chosen to win a free copy of the chosen book (note: you must be able to come to the store to pick up the book if you are the winner).

Voting will continue until noon (MST) on Friday 3/5. Votes will be tallied, the winner will be drawn, and both will be announced by 5pm.

Here’s how to vote.

1. Send an email to countrybookshelf@gmail.com with “Book Club Vote” in subject line & your choice in the body. You can also take this time to say, “Hey, sign me up for that email newsletter thing-y.”

2. On Twitter, send an @ reply to @countrybooks with your choice & the hashtag #bookclubvote.

3. Come into the store and fill out a simple ballot.

4. Call us at 406-587-0166 and say “Add my vote.”

5. Since, almost by accident, I have discovered this Google feature, I’m going to try embedding a way to vote right here. Don’t hate me if it doesn’t work.

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Nominees for first ever Country Bookshelf Book Club book selection:

Publisher’s description: 

Rachel Kushner has written an astonishingly wise, ambitious, and riveting novel set in the American community in Cuba during the years leading up to Castro’s revolution — a place that was a paradise for a time and for a few. The first novel to tell the story of the Americans who were driven out in 1958, this is a masterful debut.

Young Everly Lederer and K. C. Stites come of age in Oriente Province, where the Americans tend their own fiefdom — three hundred thousand acres of United Fruit Company sugarcane that surround their gated enclave. If the rural tropics are a child’s dreamworld, Everly and K.C. nevertheless have keen eyes for the indulgences and betrayals of the grown-ups around them — the mordant drinking and illicit loves, the race hierarchies and violence.

In Havana, a thousand kilometers and a world away from the American colony, a cabaret dancer meets a French agitator named Christian de La Maziere, whose seductive demeanor can’t mask his shameful past. Together they become enmeshed in the brewing political underground. When Fidel and Raul Castro lead a revolt from the mountains above the cane plantation, torching the sugar and kidnapping a boat full of “yanqui” revelers, K.C. and Everly begin to discover the brutality that keeps the colony humming. Though their parents remain blissfully untouched by the forces of history, the children hear the whispers of what is to come.

At the time, urgent news was conveyed by telex. Kushner’s first novel is a tour de force, haunting and compelling, with the urgency of a telex from a forgotten time and place.

♦

Publisher’s Description

From Sarah Hall, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Daughters of the North and The Electric Michelangelo comes the Harper Perennial paperback original novel How to Paint a Dead Man, a daringly imaginative tale in which multiple lives are woven together through the prism of a still life painting. Moving from Italy to England, spanning nearly half a century, and bringing together the lives of four disparate characters, How to Paint a Dead Man is Hall’s fierce and brilliant study of art and its place in our lives. The lives of four individuals—a dying painter, a blind girl, a landscape artist, and an art curator—intertwine across nearly five decades in this luminous and searching novel of extraordinary power. With How to Paint a Dead Man, Sarah Hall, “one of the most significant and exciting of Britain’s young novelists” (The Guardian), delivers “a maddeningly enticing read . . . an amazing feat of literary engineering” (The Independent on Sunday).

♦

Publisher’s Description

In this masterful work of historical fiction set during the dying days of the Ottoman Empire, the schemes of Western powers grappling for a foothold in Mesopotamia come vividly to life. English archaeologist John Sommerville begins excavating a historical site, believing he has uncovered a find that will revolutionize his field. But when the Germans threaten his dig with their railroad, he hires an Arab spy, not recognizing the spies dwelling in his own house.

♦

Publisher’s Description

Passing from the mannered drawing rooms of Pakistan’s cities to the harsh mud villages beyond, Daniyal Mueenuddin’s linked stories describe the interwoven lives of an aging feudal landowner, his servants and managers, and his extended family, industrialists who have lost touch with the land. In the spirit of Joyce’s Dubliners and Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Sketches, these stories comprehensively illuminate a world, describing members of parliament and farm workers, Islamabad society girls and desperate servant women. A hard-driven politician at the height of his powers falls critically ill and seeks to perpetuate his legacy; a girl from a declining Lahori family becomes a wealthy relative’s mistress, thinking there will be no cost; an electrician confronts a violent assailant in order to protect his most valuable possession; a maidservant who advances herself through sexual favors unexpectedly falls in love. Together the stories in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders make up a vivid portrait of feudal Pakistan, describing the advantages and constraints of social station, the dissolution of old ways, and the shock of change. Refined, sensuous, by turn humorous, elegiac, and tragic, Mueenuddin evokes the complexities of the Pakistani feudal order as it is undermined and transformed.

Mark your calendars for an event with Montana author Jon Turk on Wednesday, March 10th at 7pm.

Balancing between “logic and magic,” Turk attests to the innate powers of body, mind, and soul that are awakened when we immerse ourselves in “Wild Nature.”

—BOOKLIST (starred review)

A moving account worthy of shelving alongside Vladimir Arsenyev’s Dersu Uzala (1923), Barry Lopez’s Arctic Dreams (1986) and other explorations of native ways of life in the Far North.

—KIRKUS REVIEWS

THE RAVEN’S GIFT: A Scientist, a Shaman, and Their Remarkable Journey Through the Siberian Wilderness By Jon Turk

 Jon Turk is a PhD who has written and published 24 environmental and earth science textbooks.  He has also paddled around the Cape of Good Hope in a kayak, traversed the Northwest Passage and retraced the voyages of the ancient Jomon people from northern Japan around the North Pacific rim to Alaska.  However, the strangest journey Jon has ever taken—a journey as a man of science into the realm of the spiritual— is told in THE RAVEN’S GIFT. 

In 2000, in the remote Siberian village of Vyvenka, Jon Turk met an elderly woman named Moolynaut, a Koryak shaman and animist and learned about her voyages to the spirit world.  A year later, visiting her a second time, Jon fell and aggravated an old injury to his hip so badly that he was unable to walk.  Moolynaut performed a healing ritual involving the spirit of a great, black raven.  Despite Jon’s fears that the fall had broken the steel plate that holds his pelvis together, when the ritual was complete he was able to walk again without pain.  The man of science could find no rational scientific explanation for the healing and the experience changed his life, irrevocably altering his view of the connection between the different spheres of the natural world.  In an attempt to understand how Moolynaut had healed him, Jon sought understanding by skiing across the frigid tundra where Moolynaut was born and raised, camping frequently with isolated bands of migrating reindeer herders, recording stories of their lives and the animistic spirituality that informs their world view.  Filled with scenes of great natural beauty and informed by the spiritual questions he was asking, THE RAVEN’S GIFT is sure to become a classic of the nature shelf and will be embraced by readers interested in a spirituality outside the realm of most western understanding.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jon Turk, a Ph.D., has written and published 24 environmental and earth science text books. He is a world-class adventurer whose expeditions are backed by companies like The North Face and Prijon, the leading manufacturer of kayaks in this country for whom he serves as a national spokesman.

He is also a contributing editor for the online Adventure and Exploration Magazine. He currently alternates his time between Fernie, British Columbia and Darby, Montana.

New Non-Fiction (hardcover)

1. Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson
2. Double Take by Kevin Connolly
3. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
4. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
5. Daring Young Men by Richard Reeves

Non-Fiction (paperback)

1. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
2. My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor
3. Wesley the Owl by Stacey O’Brien
4. Food Rules by Michael Pollan
5. The Most Dangerous Animal by David Livingstone Smith

Regional

1. Northern Pacific Railroad & Yellowstone National Park by Phyllis Smith & William Hoy
2. Montana Place Names by the Montana Historical Society
3. Montana Women Homesteaders edited by Sarah Carter
4. Montana Gardener’s Companionby Bob & Cheryl Gough
5. Portrait of Paradise by Carol Polich

Mystery

1. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
2. Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
3. Runner by Thomas Perry
4. Below Zero by C. J. Box
5. Blue Heaven by C. J. Box

New Fiction (hardcover)

1. Farmer’s Daughter by Jim Harrison
2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
3. Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
5. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
6. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Fiction (paperback)

1. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
2. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
3. The 19^th Wife by David Ebershoff
4. Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
5. Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick
6. When Will There Be Good News by Kate Atkinson
7. Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

Juvenile & Young Adult

1. Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson
2. Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan
3. Warriors series by Erin Hunter
4. Three Cups of Tea Young Readers Edition by Greg Mortenson
5. Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney
6. Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart
7. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Editorial note from the Country Bookshelf: This initiative began before the earthquake in Haiti, but since that devastating event, this idea seems all the more timely and important. Here’s the text of Robin Owen’s most recent email:

Dear Friends,�
     The current disaster in Haiti is another reminder of the unfairness of life.  Do you often wonder how one person can make a difference?  So were we!!   Then we had this idea.  What if once a month when you met with your bookclub, there was a stamped, addressed envelope in the middle of the table.  What if each member put $5 and someone mailed it that day to the non-profit disaster relief or education program of your chosing.  There is a list of local and international organizations in the Bookclubs to books attachement.  Bookclubs to books is a Bozeman (Montana) based grass roots effort to foster literacy and financial confidence for mostly women, internationally and locally.  Then sometimes there is a disaster that trumps literacy and micro-finance, like tsunamis,  earthquakes and hurricanes.  To help in Haiti, for the next few months your book club could mail their $5s to
The American Red Cross, P.O. Box 37243, Washington, D.C.  20013 and designate Haiti.  To help with literacy, schools, orphans, food supply,  micro-finance and on going disaster relief locally and internationally open and download the attach ment for our ideas.  Certainly you will have your own concerns and we hope that you will copy this idea and forward it to your friends.   Robin Owen and Jeanne Gracey-Etgen in Bozeman,  Montana.
PS: Don’t forget to respect your friends confidentiality.  When you forward this use BCC and erase any addresses that come your way.

And here is the text from the brochure that can be picked up here at the store:

Book Clubs

to Books

Book Clubs to Books:

Is a Bozeman-based grass roots effort to foster literacy and financial confidence in those less fortunate locally and internationally. Born out of a providential encounter between two strangers at the Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Montana, Book Clubs to Books is a simple idea. At your monthly book club meeting, each member brings $5 which is collected and mailed that day in a pre-addressed stamped envelope to a not-for-profit organization of your choice.

Following closely on the heels of the posting of our bestseller list for November is this hot-off-the-virtual-presses excessively timely December bestseller list. Congrats – again! – to all the local authors who are so well-loved by our staff and customers. Happy New Year!

New Non-Fiction (hardcover)

1. Stones Into Schools by Greg Mortenson

2. Double Take by Kevin Connolly

3. Big Burn by Timothy Egan

4. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

5. Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer

Non-Fiction (paperback)

1. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

2. The Soloist by Steve Lopez

3. My Life in France by Julia Child

4. Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

5. Secret Ingredients: The New Yorker Book of Food and Drink edited by David Remnick

Regional

1. Northern Pacific Railroad & Yellowstone National Park by Phyllis Smith and William Hoy

2. The Lost Explorer by Conrad Anker

3. Montana Place Names by the Montana Historical Society

4. Montana Women Homesteaders edited by Sarah Carter

5. Ski Trails of Southwest Montana by Melynda Harrison

Fiction (paperback)

1. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

2. Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

3. Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

4. Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

5. Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

6. Where the White Horses Gallop by Beatrice MacNeil

7. Velva Jean Learns to Drive by Jennifer Niven

8. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

New Fiction (hardcover)

1. Half Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

2. Farmer’s Daughter by Jim Harrison

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

4. The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

5. Both Way Is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

Mystery

1. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

2. Triple Cross by Mark T. Sullivan

3. U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

4. Blue Heaven by C. J. Box

Young Adult (series & stand-alone titles)

1. The Hunger Games & Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

2. Alex Rider Series by Anthony Horowitz

3. Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer

4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

5. Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Juvenile Series

1. Rainbow Magic Fairies by Daisy Meadows

2. Tintin by Herge

3. Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan

4. The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker

5. Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne

Juvenile Stand-Alone Titles

1. Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson

2. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

3. Tree that Time Built (poems) selected by Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston

4. The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley

5. Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson