I picked up a really cute book by her this morning called, Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken. Louise is a most unusual chicken in that she longs for adventure and seems to be able to leave the hen-house whenever she wants! The book is divided into several chapters each telling of a different adventure.

In one story, she goes to sea in search of real adventure and has an exciting encounter with pirates! In another, she runs away to the Circus and becomes a tight rope walker and in the last chapter, she visits a far away land with an exotic market where she finds herself in a bit of trouble all in the name of adventure! But, in the end, Louise realizes the same truth that Dorothy learned in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home!”

A precious book with a BIG heart and a BIG lesson. Check out Diane’s blog here and Emily’s blog here! And then don’t forget to come out tomorrow, Sunday, May 15th at 1:00 and meet Kate DiCamillo!

The first I have to mention is a retrospective of the amazing Michael Kenna’s career. I was first introduced to Michael Kenna by my amazing photography professor Gretchen Haine. Kenna’s photographs are what I would call , environmental portraits. His photos are completely devoid of human or animal life. I’m serious folks these photographs are not what the normal human eye sees. They are stunning and totally simple.

The complexity lies within the frozen moment in time that Kenna has somehow captured just at, what seems to be, the truly magical moment. I had a friend come over to my house a few weeks ago and he is a fellow photographer. I put this book in front of him and as he started to flip through it actual tears began to form in his eyes. Yeah it’s like that.

Michael Kenna: Images of the Seventh Day (Skira, 2010)

Book number 2 is a documentary style book by someone I have never heard of before. I just happened upon this book during Christmas when a customer asked about it. Well I looked it up and the computer showed that we indeed have a copy. I went to get it and was completely in love upon seeing the cover of the book.

The Projectionist by Kendall Messick is a photographic record of a year in the life of Messick’s childhood across-the-street neighbor. Gordon Brinckle appeared to be your everyday husband and father. He was the night projectionist at the local movie theater in his hometown of Middletown, Delaware for years.

However, during all that time he Gordon was constructing a miniature version of the movie palaces of times past. There was no detail that went unnoticed in Brinckle’s “picture palace of renown,” as he referred to it. This book is amazing and beautiful in every way a book can be. It tells an amazing story through rich, intimate photos.

The Projectionist by Kendall Messick (Princeton Architectural Press, 2010)

And finally for the third book. This book is a collaboration between the photographer Michael O’Brien with poetry by Tom Waits. I, personally, can get behind anything that has Tom Waits’ name attached to it. Just the cover of his book will suck you in. The photograph of the homeless gentleman on the front is completely haunting.

Upon opening the book you find that all the photos are of this same intensity and are accompanied by poems from Tom Waits. It’s good stuff. I found a little snippet of a review that could describe the purpose of this book much better than i can:

Waits and O’Brien’s 184-page book, Hard Ground, seeks to create “a portrait of homelessness that impels us to look into the eyes of people who live ‘on the hard ground’ and recognize our common humanity.”

Hard Ground with photos by Michael O’Brien, poetry by Tom Waits (University of Texas Press, 2011)

There are many many more fantastic photography books in this store. I have merely scratched the surface with this blog.

-Ellen

The Sparrow by Maria Doria Russell

When I first read this book, someone described it as “Jesuits in space”. While that description is technically true, this book has endured as one of my favorite books in any genre.

When eerily beautiful music is picked up by an observation station, Father Emilio Sandoz is charged with the task of going to find the people (or non-people) who wrote it. Along with a kind but raggedy band of scientists and linguists, he sets off for Rakhat. What follows is an alternatively gentle and violent meditation on religion, humanity, colonization, and how even our best intentions can destroy the things we love.

Russell is a consistently poetic and thoughtful writer, and her own questions regarding religion and culture shine through in the book. What is our duty to each other? When do you really understand people who are different from you? Ultimately, The Sparrow supplies very few definitive answers, but will stick with you long after you’ve read it.

Blackout/All Clear by Connie Willis

These two books are listed together because they represent one very long manuscript that was split in two for publication. A word to the wise: there is no cliffhanger at the end of Blackout, and no recap in All Clear.

These books are also up for every big science fiction award this year, and are two of the best books I’ve read in years.

Polly, Eileen, and Mike are graduate students studying WW2. As time traveling historians, they can go back in time and observe, but are protected by the static laws of time travel. Eileen is sent to the countryside to observe the evacuated children, while Polly works as a shop girl during the Blitz. Mike is embedded as a reporter at Dunkirk so he can study every day heroes. It quickly becomes clear that something has gone terribly wrong. Their return routes won’t open, and one or all of them may have done something to change the outcome of the war.

The book is more a study of the courage and chaos that ordinary people displayed during the Blitz, as well as a great historical novel that focuses on how individual actions can have a huge effect on history. The characters are likeable, and the dangers seem very real. If you’re into WW2 history, this is a great way to see it in a new light.

Cordelia’s Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

Lois McMaster Bujold is singlehandedly reinventing the space opera genre with her Miles Vorkosigan series. Instead of focusing on high drama with aliens, she’s written a lengthy series that puts character, plot, and great writing above the hallmarks of the genre. She’s got some great female heroines as well.

Cordelia Naismith is a biologist exploring new eco-systems. Aral Vokosigan is affectionately known on his planet as “The Butcher of Komarr”, and has been left for dead by his mutinous crew on the same far off planet as Cordelia. They’re from entirely different cultures politically and ideologically, and as in most great romances, hate each other on sight. However, the desire to live can overcome many obstacles, so they end up working together to outsmart both assassins and a political coup to return home.

The strength of these books isn’t the plot (which is a light take on the normal political scheming and murder that you find in space opera), but the characters. Cordelia and Aral are real people with thoughts and opinions, and Bujold smartly explores the cultural and political differences between them.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a literary star, and Neverwhere is a fantastic example of why he is so popular. Originally a BBC miniseries, it was turned into a wonderful novel later on.

Richard Mayhew is an average London executive whose life is turned upside down when he nurses an injured homeless woman back to health in his apartment. The next day, he discovers that no one seems to be able to see him and that his job and his apartment have been given away to other people. He embarks on a quest to find Door and discovers a world where abandoned tube stations contain a community of people who are not what they seem.

Neverwhere is full of memorably creepy characters and an innovative use of the London subway system. You’ll never look at a map of London the same way again.

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley

Rose Daughter is the most traditional science fiction/fantasy book on this whole list, and Robin McKinley is a first rate fairy tale goddess. YA readers may know her as the author of the classic “The Hero and the Crown”, but she also writes stunning adult novels.

Rose Daughter is based on Beauty and the Beast, so don’t expect to be surprised by the plot. The meat of the story is in the characters and the incredibly detailed settings (the botanical descriptions are lengthy and gorgeous). Beauty and her three sisters move to a small cottage with a garden full of dead roses. Each of the sisters is struggling with themselves: Beauty is timid and hides out with her flowers, Lionheart is a tomboy, and Jeweltongue is too smart for the men in the town to take seriously. When Beauty finds herself traded for her father’s freedom, she also finds another garden that can be brought back to life. At its heart, Rose Daughter is a book about unconventional passions, whether that be flowers or Beasts or books. -HJ

Last year, I started a mini container garden that provided me with endless hours of enjoyment. I find that simply sitting outside and pruning a potted plant or two can provide a great space for many activities from meditation to a nice spot to eat dinner and reflect on the day.

A few weeks ago, I picked up several new plants to spruce up my collection of the winter-worn plants that somehow didn’t make it inside during the cold. My garden gnome Alice stays on guard while I’m away, but I’m not sure how attentive he is. Here’s a picture of my “Top Step” Garden, showing that you can have garden anywhere there’s sun light access!

Two books I’ve recently bought are showing me the possibilities beyond container gardens, even about gardening on the roof! Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett and Noel Kingsbury is a fascinating guide to the whys and the hows of planting sustainable gardens in unlikely places. Check out this read for rooftop greening options that provide better drainage, insulation, and a better overall use of our planet’s resources.

Garden Stone: Creative Landscaping with Plants and Stone by Barbara Pleasant has gotten me thinking about other aspects of garden design. She provides several great ideas of blending various plants and stones throughout the garden to create a sense of balanced energy.

Drop by our store to see our great selection of gardening books from Southern gardening to floral arrangements and DIY backyard spaces!

-Peyton

Emily has created a wonderful atmosphere in Oz and I am drop-jawed at all she has going on in this one fairly small room. She has truly ushered in a new era and if it has been awhile since you visited Oz, come on in and we can learn it together.

We have a signing coming up with a special children’s author and artist, Alex Beard. Emily sent me home with his books so I could study up. First off, he and Emily were made for each other. He exudes energy and a grand love and enjoyment of children and loves hands on interaction. In addition to his reading and signing at Lemuria, she is taking him to several schools in Jackson for a wonderful time of “playing.”

His first book came out in 2009 and is entitled The Jungle Grapevine. It is a great take on that old game, “Gossip” where someone whispers a phrase into another ear and it is then passed all around the circle until it comes back to the beginning and said out loud to see how close it remained to the original phrase! In this book, all sorts of things get misheard and miscommunicated much to the dismay and delight of all involved.

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In his latest book, Monkey See Monkey Draw the charming story is filled with monkeys and elephants etc all playing quite happily until a ball rolls into a dark cave that the monkeys have always been too afraid to enter. Elephant isn’t afraid so he walks right in and discovers all sorts of wonderful pictures of animals drawn on the walls, all made from footprints and handprints!” It’s a great story about fear and exploration.

Both of these books are based in Africa where Beard himself has been a frequent traveler. His many journeys there have obviously affected his work both as a writer and as an artist. In reading up on him, I found this:

“Beard was born in 1970. His father was a philanthropist. His mother, Patricia Beard, was an author and former editor for Town & Country, Elle, and Mirabella magazines. He is the nephew of photographer Peter Beard. As a teenager, he was able to travel parts of the world like Panama, Africa, China, India, and Belize. Alex grew up among some of the world’s most interesting and influential people — Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, and their Pop World cohorts were familiar faces in the Beard household.”

Beard divides his time between New York and New Orleans where he has a gallery in the French Quarter. He is married with two children.

He is a part of a new breed of children’s writer–young, talented and with a huge respect for children but a desire to also broaden and educate through his writings and art. He sounds like so much fun, I can’t wait to meet him!

Alex Beard will be at Lemuria on Tuesday, April 12th. Bring your little ones! The reading for young and old will begin shortly after 4:oo with a book signing to follow.

Monkey See Monkey Draw is our April Oz First Editions Club Selection. (Read more about OZ FEC here.)

Click here if you would like to reserve a signed first edition of Monkey See Monkey Draw.

We also have a small number of first editions of The Jungle Grapevine. Click here if you would like to reserve a copy.

More of Alex Beard’s paintings can be viewed at The Alex Beard Studio.

I came back to this feeling recently reading Lincoln’s Dreams by Connie Willis. The book is technically science fiction, but it’s the quiet kind of science fiction that is more grounded in science and history than anything else. On a dark and stormy night, Jeff meets Annie at a book release party. Jeff is a research assistant to a famous Civil War novelist, and Annie is his old college roommate’s sleep study patient (and undercover girlfriend). Whenever Annie sleeps, she finds herself tortured by vivid Civil War dreams. Upon further investigation, Jeff determines that all the dreams must come from the perspective of General Lee.

As Lee’s soldiers march through Annie’s head, she and Jeff take off to try and find the cause before the doctors can lock her away or Jeff’s boss can try and use her as a human research experiment. When Jeff isn’t guarding Annie from her own subconscious, he spends his time desperately trying to figure out the cause of Annie’s dreams before it is too late. The science of dreams is also addressed: Are Annie’s dreams the result of some terrible metaphysical mix-up, or just a result of some dangerous drug cocktail?

While well researched, the strength of the book is really in the emotional punch of Jeff and Annie’s journey. As they become more sleep deprived and malnourished, they find themselves reluctantly recreating the journey that Lee and his men also took all those years ago.

If you’ve never tried the science fiction genre (or just didn’t think it was for you), this book is a great starting point. It’s a beautiful and moving look at southern culture and duty in the modern age. -HJ

Lincoln’s Dreams by Connie Wilson (Bantam, 1992)

I was very intrigued by Diane Gilleland’s idea giving new life to old watch parts. Her “Marvelous Machine Steam Punk” pendant shows off these now  nonfunctioning parts from a fresh perspective.  This makes me want to go get some wire clippers and start this week! This design reminds me of Hermione Granger’s Time Turner necklace that she uses in the third Harry Potter book to use time travel to her advantage. This recycled piece of jewelry is like a miniature art installation around your neck.

There’s really too many favorites in this book to mention: felted solar system mobile, periodic table iPod cozies.  And I can think of several people who would love a Star Wars Terrarium! All it takes is a mason jar, your favorite action figure, some sand, or more appropriate landscaping materials, and you’re ready to start Lucas‘ing.  Another favorite, bringing back warm childhood memories, is the Oregon Trail cross-stitch.  Check out all these great ideas!

-Peyton

Lesley M. M. Blume could quite possibly be the most delightful human being on the planet. Her new book is called Let’s Bring Back: An Encyclopedia of Forgotten-Yet-Delightful, Chic, Useful, Curious, and Otherwise Commendable Things from Times Gone By. This books contains, in its very aesthetically pleasing cover of brown and mint green, a veritable smorgasbord of fun knowledge.  It is laid out like a dictionary, which happens to be one of my most favorite things. The book starts out with Acquaintance and ends with Zinc Bar.

We have had this delightful little book sitting at the front desk so whenever I have a moment I often reach for it to learn something maybe not new but fun. My personal favorite is Hotel Living, which looks a little something like this:

Hotel Living: This used to be a common practice in hotels of grandeur and disrepute; you would simply move into town and “take rooms.” One advantage to hotel living: If you die there, you’re more likely to be found in a timely manner.

Some Famous People Who Died in Their Hotel Digs

Oscar Wilde, in a small, frowsy room at the Hotel d’Alsace in Paris. His reported last words: “I am dying as I have lived: beyond my means.” (Other sources claim that he utterd, “Either those curtains go, or I do.”)

Dorothy Parker, at the Volney Hotel in New York City. Ironically, in earlier years, she love to ridicule the culture of old hotel-dwelling ladies. The worst part: After Parker was cremated, no one collected the ashes, and her urn was stored in her lawyer’s metal file cabinet for fifteen years before being properly interred.

Eugene O’Neill, in room  at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston. The playwright’s reported last words: “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room-GD it, died in a hotel room.”

So that is a little teaser of the clever wit (which is also explained in the book) which this book is made of. I would love to receive this book as a gift and have already given it as a gift. -Ellen

Power Foods contains 150 delicious recipes with 38 of the healthiest ingredients. When flipping through a cookbook, pictures are very important to me. With a picture for each recipe, they got this format right. There’s nothing worse for me than flipping through a book with 1,000 recipes and no pictures. Especially if the font is illegible blue and yellow curly Q!

Power Foods also educates on the benefits of these power foods (chick peas, kale, smoothies, nuts, beans) and how to use them to feel great.

I’ll take the challenge and POWER UP!

Check out this great idea: Lentil, Carrot, and Lemon Soup with Fresh Dill. The fiber in lentils helps to lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar. French green lentils cook more quickly and retain a firmer texture than the more common brown ones.

Here is the recipe to try it for yourself:

1.5 cups of French green lentils

4 carrots, peeled and sliced .5 inch thick (1.5 cups)

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1-2 lemons)

.5 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill, for garnish

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine lentils with carrots, garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 2 inches (about 6 cups), and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook (uncovered), stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and season with pepper and more salt, as desired. Add about 2 tablespoons chopped dill to each bowl just before serving. Per serving info: 261 calories; 0 mg cholesterol; 49.2 g carbohydrates; 15.9 g protein; 538 mg sodium; 12.6 g fiber.

I also liked this idea for Savory Stuffed Sweet Potatoes and many, many more recipes.

Power Foods by the Editors of Whole Living Magazine, forward by Martha Stewart (Clarkson Potter Publishers, 2010)

-Peyton

Drummond explains, “I planned to attend law school in Chicago and live in a big city, but plans changed when I met and married my husband, Ladd Drummond, a fourth-generation member of a cattle ranching family, whom I call “the Marlboro Man.”

She began blogging in 2006 on topics ranging from ranch life; her transition from city girl to country girl; her four children to her very cute husband. After about a year she posted her first recipe on “How to Cook a Steak” accompanied by 20 photos explaining the cooking process step by step and the rest as they say is history. Her blogs are filled with family stories; country living, and step-by-step cooking instructions. Not to forget her elaborate food; life and ranch photography. Her blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, won honors at the Weblog Awards in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and in 2009 it took the top prize as Weblog of the Year. As of September 2009, Drummond’s blog reportedly receives 13 million page views per month. (You might want to read that again).

In 2009, she published a cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl which shot to the top of the New York Times Best Sellers List. It exudes her trademark charm, pictures and really great recipes!

On her blog, she also wrote a series titled: “From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels – A Love Story” which detailed her move from Los Angeles to Chicago after she met said rancher/ cowboy and changed her life plans. That series has just been published as a book on Valentine’s Day 2011.

On the fly leaf, Ree explains the book this way:

“Read along as I recount the rip-roaring details of my unlikely romance with a chaps-wearing cowboy, from the early days of our courtship (complete with cows, horses, prairie fire, and passion) all the way through the first year of our marriage, which would be filled with more challenge and strife—and manure—than I ever could have expected. This isn’t just my love story; it’s a universal tale of passion, romance, and all-encompassing love that sweeps us off our feet. It’s the story of a cowboy…and Wranglers…and chaps…and the girl who fell in love with them.”

To make all this even more fun the movie rights have been sold to Columbia Pictures. Reese Witherspoon is rumored to be playing Ree. How cool is that. -Norma

One of Ree's pictures of her Marlboro Man