Visit us:
5015 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20008
Directions
January 26, 2012
It started in Britain last year, and we hope it’ll be in your neighborhood this April. It’s being called World Book Night and constitutes one of the most ambitious and adventurous attempts to spread a passion for books and reading around the globe.
Conceived by an independent English publisher, the aim is to recruit thousands of book lovers to fan out across their communities and hand out free books to people who might otherwise not have the chance to read a lot, enough, or at all. You may remember news footage of the throngs who filled London’s Trafalgar Square last April marking the first World Book Night with performances and readings by leading authors. Now, publishers, authors, and booksellers in the United States have joined together to promote an American version on April 23 (which is also Shakespeare’s birthday).
The goal in the United States is to recruit 50,000 volunteers representing all 50 states to give away 20 paperback books each—a total of one million books. Here’s how it works:
Each volunteer goes to the website (http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/) to learn more about World Book Night’s mission and to review the 30 titles being offered this year (including favorites such as Chris Cleave’s Little Bee, Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Dave Eggers’s Zeitoun, and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, to name a few).
Each volunteer chooses one title and designates a place in the community—a school, military base, hospital, senior citizens center, or other local spot—to hand out the books. Boxes of books will be shipped to local distribution sites—such as Politics and Prose—where volunteers will pick up the copies they selected.
An enormous undertaking, World Book Night has become possible thanks to the commitment and generosity of many publishers, wholesalers, authors, booksellers, libraries, paper companies, and book industry organizations. At P&P, we’re excited to be playing a role, and we encourage our customers and community neighbors to get involved as well. The deadline for individuals to sign up as book givers is February 1.
Many of our booksellers will be among those handing out books, and our store, in addition to serving as a distribution point, will host a party for volunteers in our area. We hope that through these collective efforts, we can share the joy of books and reading with many others in our community.
Brad and Lissa
Sunday, January 29, 3 p.m.
Politics & Prose hosts
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Strategic Vision: Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power (Basic Books, $26)
at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
600 I Street NW
(Metro: Gallery Place - Chinatown)
In his latest book, the former National Security Advisor looks back to the optimism following the fall of the Communist bloc and outlines a strategy by which the United States can reassert its position of strength. His analysis focuses on the changing distribution of global power and America’s place in that new arrangement, especially in relation to China.
Two tickets come free with each purchase of the book ($26) or tickets can be purchased separately for $10 each in advance of the event ($12 on the day of). Zbigniew Brzezinski will appear in conversation with his daughter, Mika Brzezinski.
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT. WE ARE NO LONGER ACCEPTING ORDERS FOR BOOKS AND/OR TICKETS
All In: The Education of General David Patraeus, by Paula Broadwell, Vernon Loeb (Penguin, $29.95)
General David Petraeus is the most transformative leader the American military has seen since the generation of Marshall. In All In, military expert Paula Broadwell examines Petraeus's career, his intellectual development as a military officer, and his impact on the U.S. military. Afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors, his subordinates, and his longtime friends, Broadwell embedded with the general, his headquarters staff, and his soldiers on the front lines of fighting and at the strategic command in Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American general as they were brought to bear in the terrible crucible of war.
2012 Travel
P&P is organizing a trip to the Philadelphia International Flower Show on Sunday, March 4. This year's theme is "Hawaii: Islands of Aloha". Click here for more information and to register for the trip online.
2012 Classes
We continue to add new classes to the lineup: Now open for enrollment is Coming of Age in the Columbine Era, a study of Jim Shepard’s novel, Project X, led by short story writer Paula Whyman.
Other new classes include a study of contemporary poetry and the cultural revolution; a papier mâché workshop taught by French sculptor Constance Chabrières, and an in-depth analysis of the classic Indian novel, A Fine Balance, taught by screenwriter Alexandra Viets.
We are also excited to be offering another installment of the popular Close Reading series by Dylan Landis; a class on literary Washington led by Christopher Griffin; and a variety of memoir classes, including Reading a Life.
Knit Lit returns, and we are also offering a class on Eugene O’Neill pegged to three local productions. Acclaimed novelist James Grady will lead a discussion on Dashiell Hammett’s classic noir trilogy, and there is still space available in a Paris Literary Adventure, one session of which will meet in the evenings.
For a full list of, offerings, please visit http://www.politics-prose.com/classes/2012-classes. You can register for these classes online or call the store at 202-364-1919. Keep an eye out: much more to come.
Make or break a habit with the 21 Days Make it a Habit Journal (Orange Circle Studio, $13.50). Studies have found that within 21 days the brain is able to make the gradual transition of old memory patterns into new ones. With writing prompts that will help get your habit breaking/making plan in motion, this journal is a tangible way to visualize your goal, make a concrete plan, and stick to it. Whether it’s quitting smoking or learning how to fly fish, writing does wonders for achieving goals.
All Politics & Prose Weekly Hardcover Bestsellers are 20% off for Members.
Click here to see what the community is reading and which of our hardcover fiction and non-fiction books we are discounting this week.
These are our top two titles.
Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, by Sally Bedell Smith (Random House, $30)
The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes (Knopf, $23.95)
Click here for more of our bestsellers.
The Magicians, by Lev Grossman (Plume, $12.99)
Quentin and his friends have become the kings and queens of Fillory, but the days of royal leisure and luxury come to a sudden end when they find themselves abandoned back in the last place they want to see, Quentin’s parents’ house in Chesterton, MA. Lovers of literature and fantasy alike have become caught up in the adventures of the Brakebills, so if you haven’t read it yet find out why the first in the series, The Magicians, was a New York Times bestseller.
Caleb’s Crossing, by Geraldine Brooks (Viking, $26.95)
Once again, Geraldine Brooks takes a remarkable shard of history and brings it to vivid life. In 1665, a young man from Martha's Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.
What It Was, George Pelecanos (Reagan Arthur/Back Bay, $9.99)
Set in 1972 Washington, D.C., Pelecanos returns to his character Derek Strange in this riveting crime thriller.
Twain’s Feast: Searching for America’s Lost Foods in the Footsteps of Samuel Clemens is history, biography, cooking, and fantasy all in one. Andrew Beahrs was fascinated with the American dishes Twain was homesick for when he was in Europe; Twain’s A Tramp Abroad included a menu that featured Lake Tahoe trout, maple syrup fresh-tapped in Connecticut, and other regional specialties. Beahrs, a novelist with a degree in anthropology, set out to see if Twain’s favorite foods still exist. In the process, he traveled the country, researched Twain’s life and times, and sampled many local cuisines. Available in hardcover, $9.98.
The economy is on everyone’s mind, and in his False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World, the British journalist and economist Alan Beattie tells the larger story of globalization through ten smaller stories of individual countries, showing how decisions can affect national prosperity for years to come. Among Beattie’s intriguing topics are Peru’s chokehold on the world asparagus market, the contrasting fortunes of Indonesia and Tanzania, Egypt’s reliance on imported food, and even the likely end of the giant panda. Available in paperback, $5.98.
If you’re working up the stamina to read Haruki Murakami’s massive new novel, IQ84, warm up with his shorter After Dark. Taking place over the course of one night in Tokyo, this novel features Murakami’s signature blend of the mundane and the startling. From the stroke of midnight to 7 a.m., the city’s insomniacs visit fast-food restaurants, hotels, convenience stores. They intrigue and tantalize each other, disappear, then meet again. The central characters include two sisters, one of whom is lost in an unnatural slumber while the other wanders and at one point runs into her sister’s former boyfriend. Available in hardcover, $7.98.
Please call us at 202-364-1919 or stop by the store to shop for these and other discounted titles.
Monday, January 30, 5:30-7 p.m.
The Human Rights Campaign
1640 Rhode Island Avenue, NW
Washington DC 20036
Please join Ambassador James Hormel at the Human Rights Campaign as he celebrates his memoir, Fit to Serve (Skyhorse, $24.95). Growing up in the Hormel empire, James Hormel became the first openly gay ambassador, and turned his life into one of activism for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community.
This event is open to the public. Please R.S.V.P with Maya Rao at maya.rao@hrc.org.
Paolo Pandolfo at the Library of Congress
This Saturday, January 28, at 2 p.m., the renowned viola da gamba virtuoso Paolo Pandolfo will give a free solo recital at the Library of Congress’s Coolidge Auditorium.
I’ll be at the Library selling Mr. Pandolfo’s CDs, among them Bach: Sonatas and Arias for Viola da Gamba and Abel: The Drexel Manuscripts (both on the Glossa label).
NEW
Simone Dinnerstein, Something Almost Being Said: Music of Bach and Schubert (Sony Classical, $13.98) – Ms Dinnerstein had a breakthrough with her Goldberg Variations almost five years ago, and her follow-up discs of Bach have brought her great acclaim. Here she plays Schubert’s Four Impromptus, Op. 90, book-ended by Bach’s Partitas Nos. 1 and 2.
Listen to Simone talk about her career and this album in an interview on the Diane Rehm Show
Ms Dinnerstein is playing this Sunday, January 29, at Strathmore Music Center.
Leonard Cohen, Old Ideas (Columbia, $13.98) – Leonard Cohen has been writing great songs for decades on the themes of love, lust and mortality. And he’s delivered them in his instantly recognizable deep, deadpan voice (with the hint of a smile). Listen to the sage deliver some more great songs.
Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International (Fontana, 4 CDs, $24.98) – A fundraising project for the 50th anniversary of Amnesty International, Chimes of Freedom gathers eighty (!) artists on four discs in all-new recordings of songs by Bob Dylan. Among the many artists both young and old, I’d recommend Mariachi El Bronx (“Love Sick”), Lucinda Williams (“Tryin’ to Get to Heaven”), Patti Smith (“Drifter’s Escape”) and My Morning Jacket (“You’re a Big Girl Now”). But the version that struck me the most—in a performance that gave me shivers—was by the singer who’s sung Bob Dylan songs the longest: Joan Baez’s take on “Seven Curses” brought out all the fear and foreboding in this classic ballad of treachery and retribution (and made me appreciate Dylan’s songwriting even more).
Ani DiFranco, Which Side Are You On? (Righteous Babe, $17.98) – Eleven new songs plus a reworking of the title tune, with its composer, Pete Seeger.
GRAMOPHONE’S RECORDINGS OF THE MONTH
Every month, the British classical magazine, Gramophone, selects a recording of the month, and devotes a two-page spread to the review.
Here are their last three selections:
Diane Damrau, Liszt: Lieder (Virgin Classics, $16.98)
Doric String Quartet, Schumann: String Quartets, Op. 41 (Chandos, $18.99)
Richardo Chailly, conductor; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Beethoven: The Symphonies (Decca, 5 CDs, $59.98)
Click here for more news and reviews. Please call us at 202-364-1919 or email me at agoldinger@politics-prose.com to order these CDs.
Children's Book of the Week
(20% off for everyone through February 1st)
Neville, by Norton Juster and G. Brian Karas (Schwartz & Wade, $17.99)
How do you make friends when you move to a new town? This boy has no idea where to start. He’s really down in the dumps, but when his mother makes him take a walk around the block, he decides to call out for NEVILLE. When he shouts out this name, the boy unwittingly becomes the talk of his new town, and finds some new friends in the process. G. Brian Karas’s pitch-perfect illustrations increase in color and vibrancy with the boy’s changing mood, and turn bright by the time this picture book comes to Norton Juster’s surprise conclusion. Ages 4-7
Children’s Blast from the Past
(20% off for Members through February 1st)
Time Cat, by Lloyd Alexander (Square Fish, $7.99)
According to Lloyd Alexander, cats do not have nine lives; instead, they travel through time on nine different occasions. This is exactly what Gareth the cat does, alongside his human companion Jason, who just knew that cats could talk if they really wanted to. Gareth and Jason begin their travels among the cat-worshipping people of ancient Egypt, and continue their adventures everywhere from Britain in 55 BC to imperial Japan, and from 16th century Peru to the American Revolution. First published in 1963, Time Cat is a children’s classic with an updated cover for 2012. Ages 9-11
Congratulations to the 2012 American Library Association award winners! Remember to try us first when you're shopping for all of these award-winning books. We are especially pleased that two of last year’s signed first editions and many of our events are among those listed as winners of this year’s ALA awards:
Our July Signed First Editions selection, A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka, is the winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal for best picture book. Our November selection, Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet, is the winner of the Sibert Award for nonfiction. Please click here to preview our upcoming selections and to sign up for the 2012 season.
Additionally, Politics & Prose hosted these award-winning authors in 2011: Jack Gantos (Dead End in Norvelt, Newbery Medal), Maggie Stiefvater (Scorpio Races, Printz honor), Allen Say (Drawing from Memory, Sibert honor), Roz Schanzer (Witches, Sibert honor), and Sue Macy (Wheels of Change, YALSA nonfiction award finalist). Please click here to find our events calendar for upcoming 2012 Children and Teens’ events.
We have signed first editions, first printings of Heart and Soul, for which author/illustrator Kadir Nelson won both a Coretta Scott King illustrator honor and the Coretta Scott King author award.
Did you miss getting a signed copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid 6: Cabin Fever when Jeff Kinney visited us in November? We have signed copies available now, so come pick yours up today!
Read about - and buy - more of our favorite books for children and teens by clicking here.
Click here to see the Children and Teens' Department 2011 Favorites.
Story Hour
Each Monday at 10:30 a.m., BearSong offers storytelling and guitar music for children from birth to 5 years old. Click here to sign up to receive email updates. We will inform you of special story hours, changes or cancellations.
