Ekahni Books

Hello everyone!  Sherry here and I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying this gorgeous Spring day!  We’ve gotten in another shipment of books that we are very excited to tell you all about.  We have new books for writers, books of and about poetry (in celebration of Poetry Month), books on sustainable food (in advance of this month’s Manzanita Film series showing of “Food, Inc.”- more on that in a bit), and some just general fun books.  We also received a shipment of fun cards and journals to help you get your writing down on paper.  Let’s get to the list, shall we?

Books for Writers & Poets

Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir by Lisa Dale Norton – for those of you who don’t know, Ms. Norton lived here on the Oregon Coast in the 90’s and founded the Neahkahnie Institute, an arts organization that offered writing workshops exploring landscape and creativity.  This is a fantastic “hands on” resource for people who are looking to better structure and more easily write memoirs.

Writing the Life Poetic: An Invitation to Read & Write Poetry by Sage Cohen – Ms. Cohen is our Manzanita Writer’s Series writer this month, and she will be at the Hoffman Center this Saturday promoting her latest book.  In celebration of Poetry Month, we are offering her earlier work on how to write poetry.  She has some wonderful exercises in the book to get your poetic juices flowing!

Sometimes the Magic Works:Lessons From a Writing Life by Terry Brooks – in addition to being a source of inspiration and a resourceful “how to” guide, this book is also part autobiography for bestseller Mr. Brooks- how important things like daydreaming and knowing how to talk to people at book signings all are a part of “the writing life”.

Local Poets

Old Nehalem Road and Fragments of a Silent Film by Travis Champ

Finding Crossroads by Vincent Reynolds

Sackcloth and Ashes by Tricia Gates Brown

Salt:  A Collection of Poetry on the Oregon Coast by Various Authors

Books About Food

Food Rules by Michael Pollan – whether he wanted to or not, Michael Pollan has become the authority on food and sustainability in America.  This New York Times #1 bestseller brings a welcome simplicity to making daily decisions about food and answers the age old question, “What should I eat?”  (In particular, I like Rule #19- “If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”)

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan – This was Mr. Pollan’s second best seller, and it just so happened to be the first book I ever read on this subject. He makes more sense than any other author I have read since when it comes to health and diet. If you haven’t yet read this book, you should.

Bringing It To The Table: On Farming and Food by Wendell Berry – Mr. Berry is sort of like the Michael Pollan of the 1970’s and 80’s.  Most of the things that we as a nation are now “discovering” about food and sustainability, he has been writing about for decades.  This collection of essays is a bracingly good example of how when something really is the right thing to do, it has a tendency to continue being the right thing to do.

Fun Books

The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder by Rebecca Wells – from the bestselling author of the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood comes the story of a pink-collar heroine whose willingness to remain vulnerable in the face of adversity opens our own hearts to the possibility of love growing from sorrow.

The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho – another gem from Mr. Coelho that is a suspenseful look at the fascinating worlds of fortune and celebrity, where the commitment to luxury and success at any cost often prevents one from hearing what the heart actually desires.  A lovely parable for our times.

Lost States: True Stories of Texlahoma, Transylvania & Other States That Never Made It by Michael J. Trinklein – this book is a fascinating glimpse into the nation that we might have become… with gorgeously rendered maps of “what might have been”. (Can you imagine living in the state of “Transylvania”? Southern Oregon could have been “Jefferson”!)

Reminder: Don’t forget to join us for the Manzanita Film Series showing of “Food, Inc.” on Saturday, April 24th, at 7 p.m. at the Hoffman Center in Manzanita. We will have representatives from Mother Nature’s,  Lower Nehalem Community Trust’s Alder Creek Farm and R-evolution Gardens to talk with folks both before and after the film about options for sustainable agriculture and food in our community.  We will be selling books about food and film at a 20% discount there as well.