en Copyright 2009, Powells.com Mon, 5 Jan 2009 19:00:05 PST Mon, 5 Jan 2009 19:00:05 PST webmaster@powells.com http://powells.com/favicon.png Powells.com, yo! 2666 translator Natasha Wimmer was shared by everyone, but each of us got our own action figure of a character from the late Roberto Bolaño's novel. As a reward for editing all of our Q&As, Sheila got a stocking full of semicolons; she gave us one to use in this sentence. Speaking of Q&As, we have a couple from Terry Tempest Williams (Finding Beauty in a Broken World) & Greg Witt (Ultimate Adventures: The Rough Guide to Adventure Travel). Original essays by Matthew Goodman (The Sun and the Moon), David Fuller (Sweetsmoke), & Karl Jacoby (Shadows at Dawn) were given to Ann, C.J., & Megan, who agreed to put them in the newsletter for all to enjoy. We had plenty of ampersands for our guest bloggers Geoff Nicholson & Louise Doughty — too many, in fact (you might have noticed we're trying to get rid of a few). & don't forget to check our holiday shipping deadlines to make sure Santa delivers your gift orders in time!]]> Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:01 PST Annie Leibovitz at Work. Give the gift of our original essays from Tilar Mazzeo (The Widow Clicquot) and Alan Cheuse (To Catch the Lightning), all wrapped up with literary journals from our latest Indiespensable package. While our INK Q&As with Jasper Rees (A Devil to Play), Keith Lee Morris (The Dart League King), and Mac Montandon (Jetpack Dreams) are more than delightful in and of themselves, they're even better when folded into a variety of paper airplanes and tossed into the air for breathtaking dog fights! To top it off, guest bloggers Nelson George (Best Music Writing 2008) and Steve Fainaru (Big Boy Rules) make great holiday reading beside a crackling fire with the whole family gathered about. (Just make sure you order in time for the holidays; click here for our shipping deadlines.) ]]> Mon, 1 Dec 2008 00:00:01 PST More Information Than You Require. Signed first editions of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers made the perfect gravy. We passed around some delicious sides, from essays by Jon Meacham (American Lion), Lin Jensen (Together under One Roof), and Matt Bondurant (The Wettest County in the World), to INK Q&As from Wally Lamb (The Hour I First Believed) and Alex Perry (Falling off the Edge). For dessert, guest bloggers Dame Darcy (Gasoline) and Kerry Miller (Passive Aggressive Notes) brought enough delicious sweets for everyone.]]> Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:01 PST More Information Than You Require. Signed first editions of Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers made the perfect gravy. We passed around some delicious sides, from essays by Jon Meacham (American Lion), Lin Jensen (Together under One Roof), and Matt Bondurant (The Wettest County in the World), to INK Q&As from Wally Lamb (The Hour I First Believed) and Alex Perry (Falling off the Edge). For dessert, guest bloggers Dame Darcy (Gasoline) and Kerry Miller (Passive Aggressive Notes) brought enough delicious sweets for everyone.]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:01 PST Bat-Manga!, and guest bloggers from comic publishers Dark Horse and Top Shelf have us seeing word balloons and sound effects everywhere we look! Meanwhile, we're undecided as to which is our favorite essayist: Nina Burleigh (Unholy Business), Robert Clark (Dark Water), or Margo Hammond and Ellen Heltzel (Between the Covers). And best INK Q&A is a dead-even tie between David Liss (Whiskey Rebels) and Mark Oliver Everett (Things the Grandchildren Should Know). ]]> Thu, 6 Nov 2008 00:00:01 PST Breakdowns and Spiegelman's Powells.com interview. Aviad Kleinberg's original essay for Seven Deadly Sins gave seven of us a great costume idea, while the INK Q&As inspired C.J. to go as a roasted chicken (Simon Hopkinson, Second Helpings of Roast Chicken), Sheila as a lion (Gregory Maguire, A Lion among Men), and Megan as a well-groomed suitcase full of money (David Taylor, Success: Stories). Guest blogger David Francis (Stray Dog Winter) got Lenore thinking in an espionage vein, while April's outfit — the Liberty Bell, crack and all — was clearly provoked by Naomi Wolf (Give Me Liberty). ]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:01 PST The Crow Road) interview!" Your keyboard may type its own feelings onto a Notepad file: "What about the original essays by Kathleen Norris (Acedia and Me), Ron Rash (Serena), George Herring (From Colony to Superpower), and Kathleen Kent (The Heretic's Daughter)? " If your mouse is anything like ours, it's sure to add its opinion: "I much prefer CLICK the INK Q&A by CLICK Dave Zirin (A People's History of Sports in the United States) and the CLICK CLICK guest blogs from Thomas Kostigen and CLICK Elaine Szewczyk CLICK CLICK CLICK." We're grateful that the printer keeps its, er, mouth shut.]]> Wed, 8 Oct 2008 00:00:01 PST Anathem) to read over a mug of steaming cider. Who needs long bike rides in the sun when we've got original essays by Dexter Filkins (The Forever War) and Donald Worster (A Passion for Nature)? INK Q&As by Francine Prose (Goldengrove) and Howard Blum (American Lightning) set off enough fireworks to make that July holiday a faint memory, and there are always guest bloggers Robert Kuttner (Obama's Challenge) and Kenny Shopsin (Eat Me) to keep us from noticing the rain that's just starting to tap against our windows.]]> Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:01 PST State by State editors Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey? Or perhaps the newest Out of the Book film, State by State, available on DVD September 17? Most likely both. In the meantime, we've got plenty of original essays for any road trip — Michael Greenberg (Hurry Down Sunshine), Brendan Short (Dream City), Roger Martin (Racing Odysseus), and Diane Hammond (Hannah's Dream) — with a quick stop at Dave Boling's Q&A for Guernica. We're also excited about guest bloggers Craig Mod and Ashley Rawlings (Art Space Tokyo) and Selden Edwards (The Little Book). Come to think of it, the only state we're in right now is euphoria!]]> Thu, 11 Sep 2008 00:00:01 PST State by State editors Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey? Or perhaps the newest Out of the Book film, State by State, available on DVD September 17? Most likely both. In the meantime, we've got plenty of original essays for any road trip — Michael Greenberg (Hurry Down Sunshine), Brendan Short (Dream City), Roger Martin (Racing Odysseus), and Diane Hammond (Hannah's Dream) — with a quick stop at Dave Boling's Q&A for Guernica. We're also excited about guest bloggers Craig Mod and Ashley Rawlings (Art Space Tokyo) and Selden Edwards (The Little Book). Come to think of it, the only state we're in right now is euphoria!]]> Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:01 PST The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society co-author Annie Barrows. Yet we can't help wanting to keep a few handy for original essays by Roland Merullo (American Savior) and Carol Cassella (Oxygen). And we're grateful that the ampersands are still around so we can enjoy Q&As from Alafair Burke (Angel's Tip) and Paul Auster (Man in the Dark) and Rachel Kushner (Telex from Cuba). Thankfully someone was smart enough to squirrel away some quotation marks in case we need a few extra for guest bloggers Graeme Thomson (I Shot a Man in Reno) and Louis Bayard (The Black Tower). At this rate we'll be out of punctuation by the time summer ends.]]> Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:00:01 PST The Night of the Gun). Signed first editions of Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle will keep us company until the fireflies come out. Meanwhile, we've invited our essayists and Q&A subjects to join us for some fun and games: hopscotch on the sidewalk with Kate Brennan (In His Sights), dodgeball with David Ebershoff (The 19th Wife) and John Zogby (The Way We'll Be), jumping rope with Elizabeth Peters (The Laughter of Dead Kings), and being pushed on the swings by Michael Meyer (The Last Days of Old Beijing). The last we saw of them, guest bloggers Tom Vanderbilt (Traffic) and Judith O'Reilly (Wife in the North) were chasing after the ice cream truck. Fine by us; we're content to just wait for it to come around again.]]> Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:01 PST Bottlemania) will get you thinking twice about that bottle of water you're about to guzzle and toss away. You'll want to drink up the signed first editions of Gil Adamson's The Outlander. A bevy of original essays from Iain Gately (Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol), William Stolzenberg (Where the Wild Things Were), Brunonia Barry (The Lace Reader), and Monica Drake (Clown Girl) will seem like a shimmering oasis, but this is one you can actually lap up — along with our INK Q&A from Shan Sa (Alexander and Alestria). Before you order your next round of drinks from your favorite restaurant, make sure you read the posts from guest blogger The Waiter (Waiter Rant) — then chase it with next week's guest, Jonathan Segura (Occupational Hazards). And make ours a double.]]> Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:01 PST The 25th Hour, and signed first editions of his latest novel, City of Thieves. Then we shower you with an original essay by Robert McDowell (Poetry as Spiritual Practice) before we erupt with brilliantly multicolored splashes of Q&As from Barbara Ehrenreich (This Land Is Their Land), Nikolai Grozni (Turtle Feet), Leni Zumas (Farewell Navigator), and Mark Alpert (Final Theory). And, of course, there's the big finale, with guest bloggers Stephen and Rebekah Hren (The Carbon-Free Home) and Stephen Trimble (Bargaining for Eden). If you're still seeing flashes of light when you look away, we'll know we've done our job.]]> Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:01 PST America America; from mouth-watering original essays by Elizabeth Hartley Winthrop (December), Jennifer Haigh (The Condition), and Paul and Anne Ehrlich (The Dominant Animal) to cool, refreshing Q&As from Edward Dolnick (The Forger's Spell) and Jonathan Evison (All about Lulu); right up to the guest blogs from Hayden Childs and Darin Strauss — we're ready for summer at last!]]> Wed, 2 Jul 2008 00:00:01 PST