Greetings, Readers!

The sun is here, and it feels like it's here to stay! With all of the gorgeous summer days ahead of us, Readers, you will want to make sure you're well fortified with books! There is really nothing like sitting out in the sun and catching up on your reading.

Tomorrow, Readers, (that's Friday, May 5th) LeRoy Ashby is coming to Book People to celebrate his new book "With Amusement for All". Come meet him Friday from 3:00pm - 5:00pm. After all, as his former student Lori Schneider said, "Ashby's classes were entertaining, amusing, and ALWAYS thought provoking!" Well, his book is, too! So stop by and find out what it's all about!

Remember, Readers, the Renaissance Faire is this weekend! Saturday, May 6th and Sunday, May 7th at East City Park, hours of operation are 10:00am to dusk for vendors, and even later for music! If you're wondering what the Ren fair is all about, then you can check out http://www.moscowrenfair.org/. The Main Stage schedule is now available online, so check it out!

Joy Passanante's Poetry class will be at Book People next week, reading the poems they've written in the course of the course. If you are interested (and if you like poetry, Readers, then you should be interested), you can hear them Monday, May 8th, starting at 4:00pm.

Also, Readers, remember that Friday of next week is the big reading and book signing for the short-story collection "Kiss Tomorrow Hello". We will have several great local authors in the store, so come by if you want to meet and hear Kim Barnes, Claire Davis, Joy Passanante, and Mary Blew - and I assure you, you want to hear these exceptional women read.

Also, next weekend (the 12th and 13th) is Commencement Weekend at the University of Idaho! Help your favorite Graduate get off on the right foot by buying them a trio of excellent books: "Jesus and Nonviolence - a Third Way" by Walter Wink, "How to Cure a Fanatic" by Amos Oz, and "Blessed are the Peacemakers" by Wendell Berry! These books, these veritable fonts of distilled wisdom, are available as a package at a discount of 20% from Book People of Moscow - reserve your set today, and get your Grad the gift of gnosis! If you're curious as to what, exactly these books are about, why, we've got you covered!

It's Book Review time, Readers! "'How to Cure a Fanatic' by Amos Oz - Why? Because Amos Oz is concerned with people who become fanatics, such as the characters in his book 'Tales of Love and Darkness', and people who become fanatics because of problems caused by fanatics. Oz is dealing with Middle-Eastern fanatics, Israeli and Palestinian. Oz's cure, presented in the "aw, shucks" tone of a country doctor (a profession Oz once called his own), is to bring the clash between the Israeli and Palestinian forces down from the clouds and re-frame it as a debate about real-estate - a real problem with a real solution. In 'How to Cure a Fanatic', Oz advocates a two-state solution to Israel's Palestinian dilemma. Oz sees solutions as happening with humor and common sense, a common sense that seeks those solutions out of the lived human experiences of everyday problems. Dr. Oz recommends a divorce of peoples. Divorce is a compromise, but one that relinquishes righteousness.

In Oz's opinion, the West needs to determine who is the good guy, but to accept the need for peace, because otherwise error and blame become one-sided, and dwelling on blame accomplishes nothing. What is needed is the ability to see the problem in discrete parts which can be understood and healed. Dr. Oz's cure for fanaticism requires that blame be replaced by support, which will require Western aid to the Palestinian and Israeli states. The west cannot favor one side or the other - it must favor peace. The west, to cure fanaticism, must give up the desire to force change upon other people

'How to Cure a Fanatic', Oz's 95-page book, is a radical departure from current politics in that Oz moves from an extreme position to the center of the issue, with a plea for a two-state solution to the root of the problem - the land itself. The west and the Israelis need to realize that the conflict is both international and internal, and must be resolved on both levels."

"Walter Wink uses the parables of Jesus and the background of the parables to help people develop an approach to non-violence from a Christian perspective in today's violent world. This is a good book on political tactics based on an ethic of concern -- a concern for people who can use the lessons of the Christian testament to work for peace. 'Jesus and Nonviolence' is a good primer for anyone, from any walk of life, on the political activity and how to implement change in an increasingly violent society."

"In 'Blessed are the Peacemakers', poet and essayist Wendell Barry has gathered Christ's teachings on love, compassion, and forgiveness into a 68-page volume, which also includes two essays by Berry to introduce the book and provide context. Berry, a leading contemporary American author, has provided with 'Blessed are the Peacemakers' a book of inspiration and a compassionate call for action and change."

Also, Readers, if you know a Graduate who would like a book, but not necessarily the books in our aforementioned bargain, then you could always get them a Book Sense gift card! Useable at hundreds of locations nationwide, rechargeable, portable, attractive - they are everything a gift card should be! Buy yours at Book People today.

May is 'Literature in Translation' month, Readers! As such, we have a special feature written by the good Mr. Greene himself, which will point you towards some of the highlights of literature in translation!

"Book People is one of 187 bookstores in the United States showcasing (or window-casing, as the case may be) books translated into English - a grand 1% of the books available in an American bookstore. I have several authors from Spain whom I've read with great pleasure.

"Don Quixote" by Cervantes is, according to some people, the first modern novel. Cervantes, born on September 29th (the day of Saint Michael the Dragonslayer!) created a multitude of images, but the most crucial is the need to fight your fear. This theme is picked up in the contemporary American film "They Might be Giants", featuring George C. Scott as well as the band 'They Might be Giants'.

Contemporary Spanish authors I've enjoyed include Arturo Perez-Reverte, the author of a great many superb novels including "the Club Dumas", "the Flanders Panel", "Queen of the South", and "the Seville Communion". He writes wonderful page-turning action, mystery, suspense, and grapples daily with that timeless question - are things really as they seem?

The book club favorite, "Shadow of the Wind", by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, which features the cemetery of lost books, is -not- based on Book People. We just carry the books you might find elsewhere. But it is -available- at Book People. "Shadow of the Wind" features amazing, evocative writing, a mystery about what is lost, and what should not be found.

'The Buenos Aires Quartet' features a Spanish cop sent to Argentina, where he is confronted not only with Argentina's reality, but Spain's past. The story of how he makes sense of this is a thrilling ride through one man's journey to face the impact of the past in his life.

Reading these Spanish authors made me feel like I was missing something, just by not being in Spain. In these books is a discussion of Spain's past and the fate of freedom in Spain's future."

Stay tuned next week, Readers, for more news and more reviews, including Nordic Noir thrillers!

Take Care, and thanks for reading!

-Book People of Moscow

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