Book Beginning: The End of Eve by Ariel Gore

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

I must have been ten years old when my mother took me to see Mommie Dearest and then bragged to her friends that I'd laughed through the wire hanger scene.

The End of Eve: A Memoir by Ariel Gore, published by Hawthorne Books.

Ariel Gore is a writer of memoir, fiction, and contemporary contemplation, and the spirited editor of Hip Mama magazine. In The End of Eve, Gore's latest memoir, she tells the tender, dark, sad, and funny story of caring for her dying mother. It's a great book and deserving of the buzz it has generated.

Book Beginning: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Foremost among the economic policies available to state and sometimes even local governments is the income tax. Today, 41 out of 50 states collect income tax on so-called earned income.

-- An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of States: How Taxes, Energy, and Worker Freedom Change Everything by Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, Rex A. Sinquefield, and Travis H. Brown.

So this is definitely a book aimed at policy wonks, but it isn't as dry as the title and description suggest -- nod to Adam Smith and all. The authors are good writers who know how to get an idea across.

Mailbox Monday: Portland Foodie Books

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM is a fun, bookish event where participants Show & Tell the books they got in the prior week.

MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

Two books came into my house last week, both with a Portland foodie theme:



Food Lover's Guide to Portland, 2nd Edition, by Liz Crain. This is the updated version of Crain's indispensable guide to the producers and purveyors who supply the Rose City: bakeries, cheese makers and mongers, chocolatiers, ethnic markets, brewers, coffee roasters, distillers, cooking classes, farmers markets, and much, much more. The new edition features over 20 new full-length listings, 150 new businesses, and special sections on Portland's food carts and Hispanic markets. You can pre-order now from Hawthorne Books, where regular shipping is free, or from amazon.

Here is my review of the original edition of Food Lover's Guide to Portland, and my author interview of Liz Crain.



My-Te-Fine Merchant: Fred Meyer's Retail Revolution by Fred Leeson.  Fred Meyer is a household name in the Pacific Northwest because the grocery store chain he started in 1922 is still going strong.  Long before Costco or Walmart existed, and before Target started selling groceries, Fred Meyer pioneered the megastore, selling food, drugs, apparel, home furnishings, garden supplies, and more under one roof.

Leeson's book is the first full-length biography of Fred Meyer and a fascinating study of a man who shaped the way millions of people shop.  You can buy the book on-line, the Kindle edition on amazon, or ask your local bookstore to order it.

Book Beginning: The Wax Bullet War: Chronicles of a Soldier & Artist by Sean Davis

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

The morning Simon Scott was killed he sat in the back of our Humvee with his elbows on his knees and told me his theory of life.

-- The Wax Bullet War: Chronicles of a Soldier & Artist by Sean Davis, published by Ooligan Press, the graduate student run publishing company at Portland State University.  Davis enlisted after September 11, served in Iraq, and came home to, eventually, use art and writing to deal with his demons.

Teaser Tuesday: To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemewa Indian School by Melissa D. Parkhurst

When new students arrived at Chemewa, each one's knowledge of traditional song and dance practices varied greatly. Even among students of a single tribe or nation, familiarity with forms of cultural expression differed markedly with a student's particular community of origin.

-- To Win the Indian Heart: Music at Chemewa Indian School by Melissa D. Parkhurst, published by Oregon State University Press, as part of its collaborative First Peoples series.

Parkhurst relies on archival records and oral histories of Chemewa alumni to present a detail-rich and thoughtful examination of the way music shaped the lives of children sent to Indian school.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.