Valley International Poetry Festival

One of the first events we hosted at Paragraphs was a poetry reading offered as part of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival.  And we have been honored to continue to provide one of the many venues across the valley participating in this festival which is held the last weekend in April bringing a close to National Poetry Month by recognizing the value of poetry in our lives.

This year’s Festival includes more than 40 poets representing Texas, Washington, New York, California, Michigan and other parts of the US, El Salvador, Mexico and even poets from as far as Bangladesh, Denmark and England are represented in the festival’s anthology and at the festival. They will spend the weekend traveling the lower Rio Grande Valley visiting schools, putting on workshops and reading for the public.

Help us give a warm welcome to these talented poets and writers and show them our appreciation for including South Padre Island in their busy schedule of events throughout the weekend.

Appearing at Paragraphs on Saturday, April 28th

*1:15—2:15

Readers: Lady Mariposa, lauren espinoza, La Erika/Poeta Power, Lina Suárez, Rudy García, Virginia Torres, Hector Gomez, Meliton Hinojosa, Erika Said Izaguirre

*2:45 – 3:45

Readers: Amalia Ortiz, Kaitlin LaMoine Martin, Edward Vidaurre, Daniel García Ordaz, Chip Dameron, Diana Domínguez, Brenda Nettles Riojas

This event is free and open to the public. The festival is a grassroots community project made possible by poets, our families, friends, educators and the media. The sponsors are the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, the McAllen Creative Incubator, and El Zarape Press to name a few.

For a full list of events visit www.vipf.org

F In Exams - The Very Best Totally Wrong Test Answers

I love browsing through the Chronicle Books catalogs. They publish so many fun and interesting titles and this is just one example.


"F" stands for "funny" in this perfect gift for students or anyone who has ever had to struggle through a test and needs a good laugh. Celebrating the creative side of failure in a way we can all relate to, F in Exams gathers the most hilarious and inventive test answers provided by students who, faced with a question they have no hope of getting right, decide to have a little fun instead. Whether in science, the humanities, math, or other subjects, these 250 entries prove that while everyone enjoys the spectacle of failure, it's even sweeter to see a FAIL turn into a WIN.

Biology:

Question: Adam cuts his arm. Blood gushes out and is red in color. What does this show?

Answer:  He is not a robot, he is a real boy.

Question: What is a fibula?

Answer: A little white lie.

Physics:

Question: Give three ways to avoid heat loss in your home?

Answer: 1. Thermal Underwear, 2. Move to Hawaii, 3., Close the Door

I could provide more favorites but you need to pick up a copy of the book and read it for yourself.

Come into the store or buy online here 

or read on your preferred device as a Blio Ebook 

Press Here -- Then Smile

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Irresistible . . . A cross between a high-concept picture book and an iPhone, only more charming.-- The Wall Street Journal

It's not magic . . . It's the power of your imagination! PRESS HERE. That's right. Just press the yellow dot and turn the page. Follow the instructions and embark upon a magical journey! Each page of this surprising, irresistible book instructs the reader to press the dots, shake the pages, tilt them, and even blow on them—who knows what will happen next! Read-aloud fun for all ages!

Apothecary by Maile Melroy

It's 1952 and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies - Russian spies in possession of nuclear weapons. Discovering and testing potions they never believed could exist, Janie and Benjamin embark on a dangerous race to save the apothecary and prevent impending disaster.

This is a book that will not only appeal to the middle school reader but has enough historical significance, dealing with Cold War politics and McCarthyism, and even a little bit of romance which should appeal to the teen reader.  There is an excellent review at the School Library Journal by Elizabeth Bird, Collection Specialist for the New York Public Library's Youth Collection,

Maile Melroy is not a newcomer to literary awards or industry recognition of her talent. So it should come as no surprise that "Apothecary" has been selected as one of the YALSA titles for 2012.

Maile Meloy was born in Helena, Montana, in 1972. Her short stories have been published in The New Yorker and The Paris Review. Her first story collection, Half in Love, received the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters , the John C. Zacharis Award from Ploughshares, and the PEN/Malamud Award. Her first novel, Liars and Saints, was shortlisted for England’s 2005 Orange Prize. Both books were New York Times Notable Books. She has also received The Paris Review’s Aga Khan Prize for Fiction and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in California.

Apothecary is available at Paragraphs or can be purchased online in Hardcover,  Unabridged Audio Book on CD

Also available as a Blio ebook

Or as a Google ebook

Volunteer to be a part of World Book Night

The goal of World Book Night is to get 50,000 people to go out to places in their communities on the evening of Monday, April 23, 2012, and give a book to a stranger or to people you might know but believe aren’t frequent readers.

One million free books, representing 30 titles, will given away by these 50,000 volunteer book lovers across the U.S. on World Book Night.

The # 1 mission of World Book Night is to encourage reading by those who are light or non-readers, for whatever reasons, including economic or location constraints.

WBN asks that you go to a coffee shop or hospital, church or community center, an after-work party or nursing home, shopping mall or local school -- and give out 20 free paperbacks. These paperbacks will be specially-produced, not-for-resale World Book Night U.S. editions, and there will be 30 titles for you to choose from.

Time is short to register but you do have several more days and this could be a great outreach to many of the young people in the area.

The best way to get people to read is to share your passion for the worlds that become accessible in the pages of a book and then to get a good book, that speaks to that person, into his or her hands.

Please think about this and sign up before the deadline.

By the way, the books will be provided -- all you are asked to do is fill out the application and then go out, spread the word and give away the books.

The registration process for those wishing to become volunteer book givers is open through February 1, 2012.

Visit www.us.worldbooknight.org for complete details

Allison: the One-Flippered Sea Turtle to visit Paragraphs

Discussion, Book Signing, and Reception

Monday, February 6, 2012

 1-3PM

with David Cromwell

and Allison

Allison is a Green Sea Turtle living at Sea Turtle Inc. on South Padre Island. Greens are endangered. They are considered to be the second-largest and longest-lived of the sea turtle species. Allison was found on the beach at South Padre Island on June 16, 2005, one of 73 sea turtles that became stranded that year.

She was missing three flippers, an injury that is thought to have occurred from a shark encounter. Weighing a mere .73kg (1.6 lbs), she was taken to Sea Turtle Rescue for evaluation and medical care. Her story of survival and rehabilitation is chronicled in this new book "Allison: The Mostly True Story of a One-Flippered Sea Turtle" by David Cromwell. Combining fiction with the true rescue of Allison, this book is an entertaining and educational work that appeals to all ages.

We are really excited to be able to announce that Allison will join us on the courtyard at Paragraphs along with David and several of the knowledgeable and hard-working Sea Turtle Inc. volunteers or employees who work to protect and save these incredible creatures. While Allison is not able to autograph her biography, missing her flippers and all, David will be happy to oblige.

Cromwell likes to brag about having three careers where he couldn’t wait to get to work in the morning. First 22 years in television and news production, second as Media Service Director with the Sacramento Police Department and third rescuing turtles. David currently lives in Brownsville, Texas with his wife, Riley

William J. Cobb to visit Paragraphs

In February we will be entering our third year of business and what a couple of years we have had.  I hope to get a chance to sit down and write a post looking back on what we have accomplished, what we still haven't gotten around to that we have wanted to do since day one, and also look ahead to what things we hope to do in the near future.  But, alas that is not what is on my mind right now.

One of my main goals when opening Paragraphs was to offer the community an opportunity to meet a variety of authors and to let the publishing world know that there are book lovers and readers that live and work in the lower Rio Grande Valley, regardless of what the management of Walden and Barnes and Noble may think. To date we have had a variety of authors appear at the store and we work hard to support our local, self-published authors by providing them with a venue to sell, promote, and discuss their books. But, my vision is to become as recognized a book seller as my role models the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver and BookPeople in Austin.  Both of these stores have active event calendars full of the biggest names, which appear on all the best selling book lists. 

I not only want to provide a service to our residents and visitors but it is my goal to make Paragraphs a destination itself, which many independent bookstores are, and as such add to the economic strength of the island by helping to attract tourists from the valley and beyond to our little sandbar.

So, I was thrilled, excited and did I say really stoked, when I received an email from Rich Rennicks, who is in charge of bookstore outreach and event planning for Unbridled Books, a well-respected, independent, national publisher, asking if we would be interested in hosting an event for William J. Cobb upon the release of his new novel The Bird Saviors which will be published in June, 2012.

William J. Cobb is the author of a book of stories and two previous novels, including the critically acclaimed Goodnight, Texas. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and many other magazines. He has received numerous awards, including a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship, and the Sandstone Prize. He was raised in Texas and currently lives in Pennsylvania, where he teaches in the writing program at Penn State, and in Colorado.  So, I think you can see why I am so excited about having the opportunity to welcome this talented author to Paragraphs.

There are a couple of publishers that I consistently rely on to provide books of quality literary merit that I can always feel good about recommending for visitors to the store.  One of the things we pride ourselves on is helping an undecided reader find a great read from an author or publisher that they are not familiar with and the books from Unbridled Books are always welcome additions to our shelves.  I have recommended several of their titles in previous blog posts.  Although on my list of books and titles that looked interesting, and which I wanted to read, I had not actually taken the opportunity to read anything by William J. Cobb until Rich sent me a galley of The Bird Saviors to consider for review..  I don't have the time tonight to give this novel justice -- but once I finished it I immediately ordered Goodnight, Texas which is another incredible read written by Cobb.

So, put October 20, 2012 on your calendar and plan to show up to give Mr. Cobb a true South Padre Island welcome.

Mystery Saturday

Join us on Saturday, the 21st of January and meet several of our most popular local mystery writers. Several of these authors have written books that take place on South Padre Island and Port Isabel, some in wider Texas and all are exciting adventures written to keep you turning the pages.

We will be providing everyone with a list of places mentioned in the books so you can walk in the same footsteps as the heroes and villains.

Each author will speak for approximately 15 minutes beginning at 1:15. There will be plenty of time remaining to hear each author, ask questions, or purchase and have books signed if desired.

As usual this event is free and open to the public. Everyone is invited to attend and no purchase is necessary.

Can't You Sleep Little Bear

We have been in business for two years and as many of you know when we first opened the doors our shelves had a lot of empty spaces on them.  I have had a wonderful time adding new releases but probably even more enjoyable has been the search for the perfect backlist titles that I want to make a permanent part of our inventory and that I know I can always enthusiastically recommend.

This is particularly true in our childrens section.  There are so many books to evaluate: different genres, dozens of series, commercially popular characters.  They come in all sizes and shapes, there are books for early readers, chapter books, picture books for all ages and oh, my, where to begin and end.

As a part of this search I was pleased to discover a series of podcasts offered through iTunesU featuring David Beagley and his classes on Children's Literature from LaTrobe University.  When discussing picture books, Beagley used "Can't You Sleep, Little Bear?" as an example. His description of this story and the illustrations about Big Bear and Little Bear intrigued me enough that I ordered a copy for the store.

I have fallen in love with this wonderful little picture book.  The story is simple enough -- Little Bear can't sleep because he's afraid of the dark.  After several attempts of banishing the dark with lanterns increasing in size and brilliance, Big Bear "saw that Little Bear was right" and he "thought about it for a long time" but as we find out Big Bear finally has an idea and is able to make Little Bear feel so safe that "he didn't say anything, for he had gone to sleep, warm and safe in Big Bear's arms."

The recent publishing sensation of "Go the F**k to Sleep" (available as an ebook here) is based on the same familiar tribulations which parents often experience at nighttime when putting their little angels to bed, but I definitely prefer Big Bear's patient way of dealing with his growing but very visible frustration as he tries to finish his book but is interrupted over and over again by a Little Bear that just doesn't want to go to sleep.  This story will be loved by the little one -- there is enough repetition to allow them to follow along -- and the adult reading the book will empathize with Big Bear and be able to recognize their own resignation at the loss of a quiet evening to themselves.

The edition we carry comes with a CD that can be used in a variety of ways.  Some interactive activities are included and the story is read in a couple different ways that parents can use in a variety of situations.  The paperback book is sturdy and the pictures large enough to be easily viewed and read by adult and child.  You can find other editions at our online store located here

You can buy this wonderful new children's book by the popular writer Debbie Macomber at the store or online here.