There's so much going on in the Boston literary scene lately that it's hard to know where to start. This coming Wednesday, we're excited to host a party to launch the 2012 World Book Night campaign. Pre-registered givers will be able to pick up their books and meet fellow intrepid book lovers, while others are welcome to join in the fun and learn more about this unique program. (Remember, World Book Night itself is Monday, April 23.)
Next weekend you can take a drive (or the train)  out to Salem for the fourth Massachusetts Poetry Festival, a three day celebration of the written and spoken word. The festival includes readings by Robert Pinsky, Frank Bidart, and Nikki Finney, among many others. You can also celebrate by picking up a copy of Common Threads, an anthology put together by Mass Poetry and printed on our own Paige M. Gutenborg!
If you're in a more cinematic than literary mood, check out the tenth annual Independent Film Festival beginning on April 25. Their schedule includes a wealth of great movies, shown at three of our very favorite movie theatres (including Harvard Square's own Brattle Theatre).
We'd like to extend a hearty congratulations to one of our favorite local novelists, Gish Jen, who has been chosen to give the Massey Lectures in the History of American Civilization. The first one will take place on Monday, April 30, and a complete schedule can be found here.
'Til Next Week,
Rachel 
|  | New on Our Shelves: The Latest in Fiction, Nonfiction, Scholarly Books & In Store Book Printing
| | | Fiction | |
 | | Unholy Night
by Seth Grahame-Smith
$24.99
Grand Central Publishing, hardcover
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| | They are an iconic part of history's most celebrated birth, but what do we really know about the Three Kings of the Nativity, besides the fact that they followed a star to Bethlehem bearing strange gifts? The Bible has little to say about this enigmatic trio. But leave it to Seth Grahame-Smith, the mind behind Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to take a little mystery, bend a little history, and weave an epic tale. Here, the "Three Wise Men" are infamous thieves led by the dark, murderous Balthazar, who stumble upon the famous manger and its newborn king.
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| | | Nonfiction | |
 | | Le Road Trip:
A Traveler's Journal of Love and France
by Vivian Swift
$24
Bloomsbury, hardcover
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| | Le Road Trip combines the appeal of the titular iconic American quest with France's irresistible allure, offering readers a new perspective of life on the road. It tells the story of one idyllic French honeymoon trip, but it also offers tips and advice on how to thrive as a traveler, a visual record with hundreds of watercolor illustrations, and a chronicle depicting the incomparable charms of being footloose in France. Armchair travelers, vagabonds, art journalists, and red wine drinkers will all find something to savor in this tale of love and travel.
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| | | Scholarly | |
 | | Pop When the World Falls Apart:
Music in the Shadow of Doubt
edited by Eric Weisbard
$25.95
Duke University Press, hardcover
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Hearing Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan once said, was "like busting out of jail." But what happens when popular music isn't as simple as rock-and-roll rebellion? How does pop respond to such events as a decade-long war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina? In Pop When the World Falls Apart, a diverse array of music writers, scholars, and enthusiasts reflect on popular music's role--as commentary, as refuge, and as rallying cry--in times of military conflict, social upheaval, and cultural crisis.
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| | Printed on Paige
Each week, we feature a book printed in Harvard Book Store on Paige, our book-making machine. Featured books range from fresh works from local authors to near-forgotten titles discovered in our extensive print-on-demand database. | |
 | | The Boston Cooking School Magazine of Culinary Science & Domestic Economics
from the Boston Cooking School
$17.95
Print on Demand, paperback
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| | This compendium, which includes issues from June 1904 through May 1905, features sample menus for all sorts of occasions, a profile of The Wellesley Inn, and recipes for such delicacies as pickled mangoes, corned beef souffle, and marshmallow frosting. The turn-of-the-century advertisements are and added bonus.
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| | | Bargain Books | Bargain Books are new books at used-book prices. We have a limited number of copies of these titles, so if you see something that you're interested in, come in and check it out soon. To see more of our Bargain Books section, visit our Bargain Books page.
| | Jack Kerouac: Road Novels, 1957-1960
by Jack Kerouac
$18.99, hardcover (originally $35) | | This deluxe Library of America collector's edition of five works by the late Beat Generation legend combines the eminent On the Road with the novels The Dharma Bums, The Subterraneans, Tristessa, and Lonesome Traveler. |
| | Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel
by Jeannette Walls
$6.99 hardcover (originally $26) | | Lily Casey Smith was Jeanette Walls's resourceful and spectacularly compelling grandmother. At six, Lily was helping her father break horses. At fifteen, she left home to teach in a frontier town. She learned to drive a car and fly a plane. She survived tornadoes, droughts, floods, the Great Depression, and heartbreaking personal tragedy. |
| | Witch of Hebron by James Howard Kunstler
$6.99 hardcover (originally $24) | | In this sequel to World Made by Hand, Kunstler expands on his vision of a post-oil society in which the electricity has flickered off, the Internet is a distant memory, and the government is little more than a rumor. Wars are fought over dwindling resources and illness is a constant. And a sinister cult threatens to shatter society's fragile stability. |
| | | Recent Finds Downstairs in the Used Book Department | |
Featured used books go fast, so if any titles interest you, stop in to check them out soon. We will hold the book if you are the first caller to reserve it. To reserve a book, call (617) 661-1515 and ask for our Used Department. We're also always looking for books to buy. Learn about selling your used books, including textbooks, here.
| | Fascination of Nature
by Roderick Whitfield
Originally published by Yekyong Publications in 1993
$100 (hardcover) in Very Good Condition | | This book is about a painting by Xie Chufang, of the Yuan dynasty, dated to 1321. The painting, a long handscroll in various colors on silk and detailing insect and plant life, is reproduced in a separate fold-out facsimile included with the book. Fascination of Nature also gives a broad historical account of Chinese art from the Yuan time period. |
| | Prisoners' Inventions
by Angelo
Originally published by WhiteWalls, Inc. in 2003
$75 (paperback) in Very Good Condition | | Artists' collective Temporary Services asked an incarcerated artist named Angelo to share with them the ways in which inmates adapt to their confinement. Angelo responded with over one hundred pages of detailed ink drawings and text. The result is a unique guide to prison life, covering subjects ranging from how to cook a grilled cheese sandwich in a locker to how to chill a soda using a toilet. |
| | Killing Animals
by the Animal Studies Group
Originally published by University of Illinois Press in 2006
$13.50 (paperback) in Very Good Condition | | Though not often acknowledged openly, killing represents by far the most common form of human interactions with animals. The scholarly essays in Killing Animals reveal the complexity of the killing phenomenon by exploring the extraordinary diversity in killing practices and the wide variety of meanings attached to them by different societies. |
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Author Events
Tickets on sale now:
Michael Sandel (4/23)
Madeleine Albright (4/27)
Alison Bechdel (5/2)
Tickets on sale Monday:
Paul Krugman (5/7)
Subscribe to the Harvard Book Store Google Event Calendar here.
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John D'Agata
and Jim Fingal
Mon, April 16, 7PM
|  | | A unique conversation between essayist John D'Agata and fact checker Jim Fingal about The Lifespan of a Fact. | At Harvard Book Store
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Dani Rodrik
Mon, April 16, 7PM
|  | | The Kennedy School's Dani Rodrik discusses The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy. | At First Parish Church
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Benjamin Busch
Tues, April 17, 7PM
|  | | Actor (HBO's The Wire) and former Marine Benjamin Busch discusses his memoir, Dust to Dust. | At Harvard Book Store
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World Book Night Party
Wed, April 18, 7PM
|  | | Learn about and celebrate our participation in World Book Night alongside booksellers, World Book Night givers, and other book lovers! | At Harvard Book Store
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The Philosophy Cafe
Wed, April 18, 7:30PM
|  | "Talking Psychology:
Language and the Problem of Competing Sciences" | At Harvard Book Store,
Lower Level
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Clea Simon
Thurs, April 19, 7PM
|  | | Local mystery maven Clea Simon reads from her most recent Pru Marlowe novel, Cats Can't Shoot. | At Harvard Book Store
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Sadakat Kadri
Fri, April 20, 3PM
|  | | Legal historian Sadakat Kadri discusses Heaven on Earth: A Journey Through Shari'a Law from the Deserts of Ancient Arabia to the Streets of the Modern Muslim World. | At Harvard Book Store
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Lesley Kinzel
Fri, April 20, 7PM
|  | | Women, Action, and the Media joins us in hosting Lesley Kinzel as she discusses Two Whole Cakes: How to Stop Dieting and Learn to Love Your Body. | At Harvard Book Store
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Things to know about our $5 tickets...
$5 tickets are also coupons good for $5 off a purchase at events or at Harvard Book Store. Coupons expire 30 days after the event, and cannot be used for online purchases, event tickets, or gift certificates. Please note that your ticket guarantees you a seat until five minutes before an event begins.
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We appreciate the feedback we get from readers of this e-newsletter.
Please send your comments and suggestions to Rachel at rcass@harvard.com. Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you in the store!
Rachel Cass
Marketing Manager
rcass@harvard.com
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