Cs

Like our September Book of the Month, December is filled with 'Cs.' Most prominently in my world is the vitamin C that I've been funneling down my throat for the last week in an attempt to fight off a vicious cold. 'The big C,' aka cancer, is the topic for our December Book of the Month, and of course there is the obvious Christmas, Chanukah, capitalism and all other such Cs that are American requisites we're consistently obliged and acknowledge this time of year. Cancer and crazy holiday-time obligations aside though, the most important C-word that comes to mind here at Green Apple is COMMUNITY. Henceforth I'd like to direct your attention to this link to the NCIBA, The Northern California Independent Booksellers Association, and to to ask you please keep in mind that if you can't get your books from us there is a whole mess of independent bookstores in the immediate area that are totally excited and eager for your business, that there is little reason to run to any corporate bookselling conglomerate if we happen to fail you. This is an important time of the year for all booksellers, especially the little guys.

A thing of beauty is a joy... at least until the next thing of beauty comes along

In the course of the next few weeks, we'll be unveiling some of the best books we read this year, but in the meantime, look at these beauties from Visual Editions.

Tristram Shandy has always deserved a design innovative enough to match its plot--and now one of the funnest, funniest, and singularly modern novels (which just so happens to have been written 250 years ago) has found its ideal form.


And while Leonardo's definition of sculpture as "taking away superfluous materials" may not hold true in the following case, Jonathan Safran Foer's sculptural reworking of Bruno Schulz's Street of Crocodiles, certainly proves that the book as an object is far from dead.

Both J.S.F.'s Tree of Codes and Tristram Shandy are, of course, in stock now.

December Events Round-Up

Even the scroogiest Scrooge would have to admit that the holiday season brings along with it nice things. Piney things are nice things. Books wrapped up in paper are nice things. Candles are nice things. But sometimes, especially in retail-world, don't you get tired of hearing about things? If so, then that's good, because this post is about experiences. Free experiences. Free experiences that sometimes include booze. That's right, even in the retail madness that is December, we've got some events going on, so mark your calendars for these shopping reprieves:

On December 8th, we'll be heading down the street to the Rockit Room with author Chris Gullibeau to hear more about his new book, The Art of Non-Conformity. Based on his popular online manifesto "A Brief Guide to Wold Domination" The Art of Non-Conformity defies common assumptions about life and work while arming you with the tools to live differently. Topics include how to fight authority and win, graduate school vs. the blogosphere (did you know that the latter was an alternative to the former? I didn't, but look at me now), how to build your own small army (admit you're curious) and travel tips and tricks.

We're also looking forward to hosting local new writer Ethel Rohan on the 9th as she reads from her debut collection of short stories, Cut Through the Bone. Victor LaValle, author of The Big Machine says, “Cut Through the Bone is full of phantom limbs and phantom lives. These stories create a sense of loss in the reader, an ache, but thankfully they avoid dull cynicism. Instead, they bear witness to the difficulty of living for oneself while sacrificing for others... Ethel Rohan is one hell of a writer.” So come out to support a local talent with a searing new voice and enjoy some complimentary wine or perhaps some Irish whiskey (Rohan originally hails from Ireland).

Finally, on December 11th we're proudly welcoming Pulitzer Prize winner David Rohde and magazine editor Kristen Mulvihill, authors of a new memoir about Rohde's time in captivity in Pakistan, A Rope and a Prayer. Invited to an interview by a Taliban commander, New York Times reporter David Rohde was kidnapped in November 2008 and spirited to the tribal areas of Pakistan. They found that Pakistan's powerful military turned a blind eye to a sprawling Taliban ministate that trained suicide bombers, plotted terrorist attacks, and helped shelter Osama bin Laden. In New York, David's wife of two months, Kristen Mulvihill, his family, and the New York Times struggled to navigate the labyrinth of issues that confront the relatives of hostages. A Rope and a Prayer is the story of those seven months, what they revealed about American efforts in the region, and a story of love and a very human triumph. Don't miss what is sure to be a spell-binding, eye-opening firsthand account of this chilling story.

Oh yea, we've got 'em. . .and then some!

Infinite City is Rebecca Solnit's reinvention of the traditional atlas, examining the many layers of meaning in one place, in this case the San Francisco Bay Area. It's one of Green Apple's favorite books this holiday season, we've got plenty of hardcover copies in stock (unlike many other stores), and as an extra bonus for our wonderful customers, we have also partnered-up with MOMA to distribute 6 FREE POSTER-SIZED MAPS as they become available. Each poster is a two-sided reproduction of a map from the book, as well as selected text from Rebecca Solnit, and others. We currently have 4 different maps in the store - yours for the asking.

Aided by artists, writers, cartographers, and twenty-two gorgeous color maps, each of which illuminates the city and its surroundings as experienced by different inhabitants, Solnit takes us on a tour that will forever change the way we think about place. She explores the area thematically--connecting, for example, Eadweard Muybridge's foundation of motion-picture technology with Alfred Hitchcock's filming of Vertigo.

Across an urban grid of just seven by seven miles, she finds seemingly unlimited landmarks and treasures--butterfly habitats, queer sites, murders, World War II shipyards, blues clubs, Zen Buddhist centers. She roams the political terrain, both progressive and conservative, and details the cultural geographies of the Mission District, the culture wars of the Fillmore, the South of Market world being devoured by redevelopment, and much, much more.

Infinite City is a real gem, the sort of book that you want to give as a gift, and yet greedily keep for yourself. If that seems like the kind of problem you might run into, allow me to suggest that you get a couple of extra copies (book or posters or both) to share. Problem solved!