As you may remember from John’s story about “how all this Damned stuff came about,” Zita was our long-time Palahniuk reader currently on staff at Lemuria. So the rest of us are trying to get our Palahniuk education, John’s been working really hard on it. He just finished reading an advanced copy of Damned. Here are his thoughts:

It seems the more I try to learn about the work of Chuck Palahniuk, the more scrambled I become.

My thoughts from reading Chuck’s work becomes mixed up with flashing insights about the world around me. The author projects an onslaught of ideas to the reader generating creativity mixed with the uncomfortable.

Trying to grasp the truth of Chuck, as a reader, I’m struck by his skill to observe the world. His work challenges us to question our own egotistical ideals and desires. Through his keen eye for observation and his ability to translate what he sees into fiction, we seem not only to understand but identify with aspects of his flawed characters.

Chuck’s ability to relate details that cause association to character or situation is uncanny and sneaks up on the reader. We experience details of experience even when we don’t want to. It is this skill he seems to have honed through his personal reading and his ability to observe without judgment. He seems to challenge the reader about their beliefs without telling them what to believe in.

Some readers may feel Chuck characters are too bleak or dark, such as Maddy’s gang from Damned, running around Hell like Quantrill’s gang of Jesse, Cole and Bloody Bill did through Kansas. Maddy’s wild bunch rouses up fairy tales of mischief in the underworld or in our own world, the reader. When you gang up in Hell with the worst of our lot, what as a character, have you got to lose? At this point, in Hell, the bottom of the barrel is when truth begins to emerge.

Obviously, Chuck has looked hard into his mirror. Through his writing we look into ourselves, closer up, even while we fight the discomfort. Reading Chuck makes us see the world differently and changes our observations about how we fit into it. We emerge from the combine efforts of (author/reader) with enlarged perspectives.

On Thursday, October 20, 2011, Lemuria with our collaborative (or gang) of good folks come together to throw down for Chuck Palahniuk’s introduction to Jackson. This evening is extra special for Lemuria since October 20, 1975 was Lemuria’s first day to sell books. We end our 36th year celebrating writing and reading.

From now until October 20th, I leave you, Jackson readers, with this concept to pause and reflect on:

Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means. This is most often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace about a given problem and appealing to people’s sense of justice.

JX//RX

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cpcp

As a children’s book buyer, I see all kinds of illustrators and all kinds of mediums: Pen and ink, digital, oil painting, paper cutting, water colors, colored pencils, and even crayons. With each illustrator comes a unique style that often becomes instantly recognizable.

One of the first illustrators I first became familiar with in Oz was Loren Long. His acrylic illustrations have graced the books of Angelia Johnson, Watty Piper, Madonna, and President Barack Obama.

In his first series, Loren has created the character Otis, a small red tractor with a big heart. In his first adventure, titled simply Otis, Otis makes friend with a orphaned calf, is replaced by a bigger tractor, and ends up saving the day with his compassion.

Otis lives in the mid-west, so it only makes sense that a tornado would show up in an Otis book as it does in Otis’ newest adventure, Otis and the Tornado.

As Otis and his farm friends enjoy a lively round their favorite game, follow-the-leader, everyone on the farm gets involved–that is, everyone except the bull. The bull has no interest in playing and stays in his pen, and when the other animals get close to his pen, he purposely intimidates the other animals.

Suddenly the nice day turns cloudy scary, something we all know about here in Mississippi: the birds stop chirping, the wind picks up, and the sky turns dark and stormy. It’s a tornado!

Otis uses the follow-the-leader game to get all of the farm animals safe and sound in the dried-up riverbanks of Mud Creek. But Otis hears a cry in the distance – it’s the bull, still locked in his pen! Quick as his tires will take him, Otis putt puff puttedy chuffs back to the farm to save the day. This new story from Loren Long feels classic already and is one I am already enjoying sharing with kids and parents.

Loren Long is such an accomplished author that just a new book from him is worth celebration. In the follow excerpt from Loren’s biography on his website, we see how accomplished he is:

“Two-time Golden Kite award winner and New York Times #1 bestselling illustrator Loren Long is an artist straight from the heart of America. Born in Joplin, Missouri, and raised in Lexington, Kentucky, Long is a storyteller in pictures who draws on his roots to depict a soulful American landscape peopled with imaginative characters who take on mythic, even heroic, dimensions.”

However, a visit from him is worth jumping for joy. Loren Long will be here to read and sign his books on Wednesday, September 7th at 4:00! He will read and speak at 4:00, with a signing to follow.

Because of Loren’s amazing illustrations, Otis and the Tornado will be our Oz First Edition Club pick for September. We also have first editions of President Barack Obama’s book Of Thee I Sing, which Loren illustrated, which we will be offering as well at list price!

You don’t want to miss this, so come on out on Wednesday at 4:00!

There are many books out there about kids with ADHD, but how does a parent cultivate and reinforce good social skills, self-confidence and self-control into a busy day?

Child Psychologist Dr. Lawrence Shapiro has compiled a workbook of 44 simple activities for a child to work on alone or with a parent’s help. The workbook is divided into four sections on the following ADHD challenges: Learning self-control; Overcoming school problems; Making and keeping friends; and Feeling good about yourself.

Shapiro has written this workbook to teach the skills of emotional intelligence as research shows that these skills can be taught just as a child can be taught to read or play a violin. This workbook is designed to compliment a comprehensive treatment program for ADHD. Schools may provide extra help for children with ADHD but that is often not enough. Even after medication and counseling, parents still need to set aside extra time to work with their child. Shapiro’s activities on “How to sit still,” “You can have a best friend,” and “How to handle days when everything seems to go wrong” may be a good place to start.

Growing up in a household with not one but two parents who are artists, I was never bored. I was also constantly surrounded by beautiful art. Whether it was my parents own stunning photography or various other artists on display in our turn-of-the-century house in Sumner, Mississippi, our walls were and still are always full of handsome art.

That being said, my appreciation for art is not limited to only things that hang on a wall. I also love beautiful art books, which is why I am so excited to talk about a lovely new book on Eudora Welty’s gardens that is soon to be published by the University Press of Mississippi. The book features writings (and some photos) by Susan Haltom and Jane Roy Brown with photographs by Langdon Clay, who just happens to be my dad!

Accompanying my dad’s photos is a wonderful and engaging look at the history of the garden of the Welty house or as Eudora called it, “my mother’s garden.” Haltom and Brown do an excellent job of telling the story of Chestina Welty, Eudora’s mother, and her love for gardening, which strongly influenced Eudora and her writings.

Before I perused this book, I was not aware that as Eudora was establishing her writing career in her late twenties, she was also becoming an adept gardener thanks to her mother Chestina’s guidance. Sadly the gardens of Chestina’s generation did not last, but towards the end of Welty’s life, the restoration of her “mother’s garden” was underway and the results continue to impress at the Welty house today.

The book will be launched on October 6th with a signing party in the garden at the Welty House from 12-3 p.m., hosted by the Eudora Welty Foundation. For more info, check out the Welty Foundation’s website.

Also, Lemuria will host a signing on Saturday, October 8th at 11:00 AM.

by Anna

Labor Day Weekend is upon us…for many it is the last weekend of summer which means the last time to sit by the pool or on the beach just reading.  I was thinking about what end of summer reads that I would be suggesting  to folks and then I thought about football season.  College football starts this weekend which means also this weekend I will also be suggesting to non-football fans what books to read while the game is on in the other room of their house.  (I happen to love football but I do read while I’m watching the game.)  I wonder what the difference in the type titles the customers will choose if there is a difference at all.

Here is a new title by a debut author that I think will work for Labor Day weekend either at the pool or while the game is on or maybe both!

The Stranger You Seek by Amanda Kyle Williams

The Wishbone Killer is terrorizing Atlanta, Georgia.  Keye Street’s career in the FBI ended as her battle against addiction began.  She has started a new life working as a a private detective taking jobs when she can find them from tracking down bail jumpers and adulterers to finding people who have stolen company secrets.  The last thing she wants is to become involved in a case involving a serial killer but then the Atlanta Police Department comes calling but how can she say no since Lt. Aaron Rauser, her best friend, is doing the asking.  As she uses her skills acquired in the FBI as a profiler, Keye begins to realize that the Wishbone Killer just might be someone she knows and all those close to her could be the killers next target.

I really loved this thriller.  It was really fun to read especially if you are familiar with Atlanta and that the protagonist is a female detective.  It is nice to have a ‘southern belle’ saving the day instead of just getting the vapors!