2/9/11 - The author just cancelled this event. 

Griffin Bay Bookstore and the San Juan Island Library are proud to present Portland author Alexis Smith and her debut novel, Glaciers, on Saturday, February 11, 7:00 pm at Griffin Bay Bookstore. 

Glaciers is receiving wide acclaim with rave reviews in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and in ELLE. Glaciers is the Indie Next pick for January 2012.  

In Glaciers small moments of a single day illuminate the life of Isabel, a modern girl living in Portland, Oregon. A single, twenty something romantic, Isabel is attracted to found objects. She collects remnants, combs the racks for vintage gems, mends old books in the basement of her local library, and falls hard for unrequited (at least at first) love with a soldier home from Iraq. Isabel finds comfort in the past, but worries about the future—about urban decay and the effect of climate change on the Alaskan glaciers she knew in her youth. Glaciers unfolds internally, the action shaped by Isabel’s sense of history, memory, and place, recalling the work of writers such as Jean Rhys, Marguerite Duras, and Virginia Woolf. For Isabel, the fleeting moments of one day can reveal an entire life. 

While she contemplates loss and the intricate fissures it creates, Isabel accumulates the stories of those around her and learns to tell her own. In graceful, poetic prose, Smith brings Isabel to life, and with her, the lives of a generation. 

RAVE REVIEWS 

Here is what a fellow bookseller said about Glaciers:  "This lovely, contemplative novel packs a bigger emotional punch than its size suggests.  As with the title metaphor, so much resides under the surface of who we are in public, what we say, and what we do. Honest, bittersweet reflection makes Glaciers the perfect reading to start the new year." -Ariana Paliobagis, Country Bookshelf, Bozeman, MT 

“An Alaska childhood and dreams of faraway cities such as Amsterdam inform Alexis M. Smith’s Glaciers (Tin House), a delicate debut novel set in Portland, Oregon—“a slick fog of a city…drenched in itself”—that reveals in short, memory-soaked postcards of prose a day in the life of twenty something library worker Isabel.”                                                                                    —Lisa Shea, ELLE Magazine

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

Alexis Smith received an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College. She has written for Tarpaulin Sky and powells.com.  She lives in Portland, Oregon.  

Griffin Bay Book Club The Wave by Susan Casey Friday night, February 24, 7:00 pm in the cafe In The Wave, Susan Casey examines colossal waves--those more than 100 feet high --from every angle, and delves deeply not only into the lore about monster waves but investigates them with those who know about them most intimately: mariners, wave scientists, and extreme surfers. Prepare yourselves for both thrills and science as well as the latest thinking about what were once considered rogue waves. In a New York Times review of The Wave, Molly Morris pointed out that Casey asked scientists who create better climate models and forecasts: "Will global warming lead to stormier oceans and bigger waves? " Be sure to read The Wave to find  out what they say!  

Griffin Bay Book Club invites all readers and book lovers to join our discussions. Our reading experiences are enhanced and enriched through our members’ different perspectives. Join us throughout the year on the last Friday of the month.

Please join Griffin Bay Bookstore for the presentation of a 2012 Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) Award to San Juan Island author Thor Hanson on Saturday, February 25th at 3:00 pm.  Hanson’s book Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle was chosen by a panel of independent booksellers from over 290 titles published by Northwest authors in 2011.  It has been a regional bestseller and also received this year’s AAAS/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books. 

Thor has chosen his hometown bookstore, Griffin Bay Bookstore, to make the presentation on Saturday afternoon, followed by a reception and book signing.  Thor worked on Feathers while enjoying the atmosphere in the bookstore’s café.

Since 1965, PNBA members, including Griffin Bay Bookstore, have annually recognized excellence in writing from the Pacific Northwest.  Past winners have included such luminary figures in Northwest literature as Ivan Doig, Ursula LeGuin, David James Duncan, David Guterson, Jon Krakauer, Chuck Palahniuk, and Sherman Alexie.

The PNBA is affiliated with the national American Booksellers Association, a non-profit group dedicated to promoting independent bookstores.  The PNBA region includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. More information about current and past winners of PNBA Awards can be found on PNBA's website (www.pnba.org).