I was blown away by this book. Simple, everyday living by a local parapalegic, living in my own neighborhood. It is told with honesty, dignity and self deprecating humor.
What are as light as a feather and as old as the dinosaurs? Butterflies!
Award-winning local author Bob Barner is coming to Kepler’s to present
his fascinating look at the history of butterflies, and how their lives
intersected with the dinosaurs millions of years ago. The lively text
and vibrant paper-collage illustrations are sure to make Dinosaurs Roar, Butterflies Soar! a favorite of budding scientists.
Be sure to stay for Bob’s collage art workshop!
Coming Soon…
Spring Book Club Mixer
Sunday, May 17, 2:00 p.m.
Save the Date!
Whether you are in a book group, are looking for a book group or just want to talk books and discover the best of the new, join us for a wonderful afternoon in great company.
Local authors Sumbol Ali-Karamali, Meg Waite Clayton, Rodes Fishburne, Barbara Quick and Victoria Zackheim will share their favorite titles.
Random House publishing Representative Jenn Ramage will give us a peek at new Spring/Summer books.
Book Club Discounts apply on all titles discussed.
If you are looking for a book club to join, this is the perfect opportunity! Our in-store book club moderators will be on hand.
One gift bag full of goodies will be given to each book club registered at Kepler's who RSVPs by May 15th.
Mimosas and Chocolate for All!
Leaders, please RSVP to sina@keplers.com (with approximate number of attendees from your book group)
Join Kepler's and The San Mateo County Reading Association as they present the newest and best in both fiction and non-fiction books for youth and children. Come and see the excellent titles these demanding readers are excited about. If you are a book lover, youth book club member, parent, teacher, librarian, or simply want to find good books for young readers, don’t miss this opportunity!
Kepler’s staff will be raffling Advance Copies of new and upcoming books to those in attendance!
Kepler’s donates a percentage of your purchases to San Mateo County Reading Association when you mention "SMCRA" at the register.
Reif Larsen The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet » BUY NOW Tuesday, May 19, 7:30 p.m.
A brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel tracing twelve-year-old genius map maker T.S.Spivet’s attempts to understand the ways of the world
When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T.S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal—if you consider mapping family dinner table conversation normal—is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T.S. from his family ranch just north of Divide, Montana, to the museum’s hallowed halls.
All that he has learned is tested when he arrives at the capital to claim his prize and is welcomed into science’s inner circle. For all its shine, fame seems more highly valued than ideas in this new world and friends are hard to find.
Reif Larsen is twenty-eight, studied at Brown University, and has taught at Columbia University, where he is finishing his MFA in fiction. He is also a filmmaker and has made documentaries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and sub- Saharan Africa.
Tamim Ansary Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes » BUY NOW Wednesday, May 20, 7:30 p.m.
We in the west share a common narrative of world history, but our story largely omits a whole civilization that until quite recently saw itself at the center of world history, and whose citizens shared an entirely different narrative for a thousand years.
In Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary, author of the memoir West of Kabul, East of New York and co-author with Farah Ahmadi of the New York Times bestseller The Other Side of the Sky, tells the rich story of world history as the Islamic world saw it, from the time of Mohammed to the fall of the Ottoman Empire and beyond. He clarifies why our civilizations grew up oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that Europe—a place it long perceived as primitive and disorganized—had somehow hijacked destiny. Entertaining and enlightening, Destiny Disrupted also offers a vital perspective on current conflicts.
Pendragon Book Ten: The Soldiers of Halla » BUY NOW
Location: Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma Street, Menlo Park
The wait is over. The ultimate battle in the showdown between Bobby Pendragon and Saint Dane is here! In The Soldiers of Halla, every question is answered and every truth is revealed. Bobby and the rest of the Travelers must join forces in an epic war against Saint Dane for not only one last territory, but for all of Halla. Kepler’s Books and the Menlo Park Library have joined forces to bring you D.J. MacHale, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling series Pendragon.
T.J. Stiles The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt » BUY NOW Thursday, May 21, 7:30 p.m.
A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.
Founder of a dynasty, builder of the original Grand Central, creator of an impossibly vast fortune, Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt is an American icon. Humbly born on Staten Island during George Washington’s presidency, he rose from boatman to builder of the nation’s largest fleet of steamships to lord of a railroad empire. We see Vanderbilt help to launch the transportation revolution, propel the Gold Rush, reshape Manhattan, and invent the modern corporation—in fact, as T. J. Stiles elegantly argues, Vanderbilt did more than perhaps any other individual to create the economic world we live in today.
In The First Tycoon, Stiles offers the first complete, authoritative biography of this titan, and the first comprehensive account of the Commodore’s personal life. It is a sweeping, fast-moving epic, and a complex portrait of the great man.
Story Time with Stephanie Trelogan and Katharine Armstrong Sunday, May 24, 11:30 a.m. Mask Parade Forest Animals » BUY NOW
Come join the mask parade!
Local author Stephanie Trelogan and illustrator Katharine Armstrong are bringing their parade of forest animals to Kepler’s. Mask Parade Forest Animals is an interactive board book featuring sturdy, press-out masks and shiny, reflective "mirrors" on every page. The lyrical text combines poetry with interesting facts about each animal to inspire all readers as they learn and play. Be ready to decorate your own colorful mask and parade around the store!
Rev. Scotty McLennan Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All » BUY NOW Tuesday, May 26, 7:30 p.m.
For the millions of people who identify as liberal Christians.
In McLennan's bold call to reclaim ownership of Christianity, he advocates a sense of religion based not on doctrinal readings of scripture but on the humanity behind Christ's teachings. He addresses such topics as intelligent design, abortion, same sex marriage, war, torture and much, much more. As he says in the Preface, "We liberal Christians know in our hearts that there is much more to life than seems to meet the rational eye of atheists; yet we find it hard to support supernatural claims about religion that fly in the face of scientific evidence."
The Rev. Scotty McLennan is the dean for religious life at Stanford University. He was the university Chaplain at Tufts University from 1984 to 2000, and senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School for ten of those years. McLennan received his B.A. from Yale University in 1970 as a Scholar of the House working in the area of computers and the mind. He received his M.Div. and J.D. degrees from Harvard Divinity and Law Schools in 1975. In 1975, he was also ordained to the ministry (Unitarian Universalist) and admitted to the Massachusetts bar as an attorney. He is the author of Finding Your Religion and was the inspiration for Doonesbury's Rev. Scott Sloan.
Logan Miller and Noah Miller Either You're In or You're In the Way: Two Brothers, Twelve Months, and One Filmmaking Hell-Ride to Keep a Promise to Their Father » BUY NOW Wednesday, May 27, 7:30 p.m.
The hilarious, implausible, and touching story of twin brothers accomplishing the impossible—making a feature film (with a cast and crew with 11 Academy Awards and 26 nominations) with no experience, no money and no contacts—and in so doing, creating a better life for themselves.
When identical twin brothers Logan and Noah Miller's homeless father died alone in a jail cell, they vowed, come hell or high water, that their film, Touching Home, would be made as a dedication to their love for him. Either You're in or You're in the Way is the amazing story of how—without a dime to their names nor a single meaningful contact in Hollywood—they managed to write, produce, direct, and act in a feature film alongside four-time Academy Award-nominated actor Ed Harris and fellow nominees Brad Dourif and Robert Forster.
A modern-day Horatio Alger on steroids, this fast-paced thrill ride of heartbreak and redemption will both captivate and inspire.
Tom Killion Tamalpais Walking: Poetry, History, and Prints » BUY NOW Thursday, May 28, 7:30 p.m.
In a new collaboration by the authors of the bestselling The High Sierra of California, Tom Killion and Gary Snyder, readers are introduced to the unique mountain overlooking San Francisco Bay. A source of story and myth since time began, Mt. Tamalpais has inspired conservationists, trail builders, botanists, artists, and poets for more than a century. With freshness and sustained delight, Tamalpais Walking explores Mt. Tamalpais s natural, cultural, historic, and spiritual dimensions. It is a book shaped by two master craftsmen collaborating on an enterprise nurtured by long and passionate involvement.
Woodcut and letterpress artist Tom Killion grew up in Marin County, on the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais, where the rugged scenery inspired him from an early age to create landscape prints strongly influenced by traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Along with publishing fine art letterpress books, Killion holds a Ph.D. in African history from Stanford University and has taught history at several Bay Area universities.
Join local author Susan Heller as she shares the story of Mup the Pup. This delightful tale is based on Susan’s very own pet Havanese, Mup. Mup and Josh are inseparable friends. Going on an airplane to visit Josh's grandparents turns out to be a bigger adventure than anyone expected. Somehow Mup and Josh are separated! Will Josh ever be reunited with his best friend Mup?
Linda Himelstein The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire » BUY NOW Tuesday, June 2, 7:30 p.m.
In this sweeping history of vodka scion Pyotr Smirnov and his family, distinguished journalist Linda Himelstein plumbs a great riddle of Russian history through the story of a humble serf who rose to create one of the most celebrated business empires the world has ever known. At the center of this vivid narrative, Pyotr Smirnov comes to life as a hero of wonderful complexity—a man of intense ambition and uncanny business sense, a patriarch of a family that would help define Russian society and suffer from the Revolution's aftermath, and a loyalist to a nation that would one day honor him as a treasure of the state.
Set against a backdrop of political and ideological currents that would determine the course of global history—from the fall of the Tsars to the rise of Communism, from vodka's popularization by none other than James Bond to Smirnoff's emergence as a multi-billion dollar brand—Smirnov's story of triumph and tragedy is a captivating historical touchstone. The King of Vodka is much more than a biography of an extraordinary man. It is a work of narrative history on an epic scale.
Glen David Gold Sunnyside » BUY NOW Wednesday, June 3, 7:30 p.m.
Glen David Gold, author of the best seller Carter Beats the Devil, now gives us a grand entertainment with the brilliantly realized figure of Charlie Chaplin at its center: a novel that captures the moment when American capitalism, a world at war, and the emerging mecca of Hollywood intersect to spawn an enduring culture of celebrity.
Sunnyside opens on a winter day in 1916 during which Charlie Chaplin is spotted in more than eight hundred places simultaneously, an extraordinary delusion that forever binds the overlapping fortunes of three men.
The narrative is as rich and expansive as the ground it covers, and it is cast with a dazzling roster of both real and fictional characters: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Adolph Zukor, Chaplin’s (first) child bride, a thieving Girl Scout, the secretary of the treasury, a lovesick film theorist, three Russian princesses (gracious, nervous, and nihilist), a crew of fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants moviemakers, legions of starstruck fans, and Rin Tin Tin.
Mahbod Seraji Rooftops of Tehran: A Novel » BUY NOW Thursday, June 4, 7:30 p.m.
In this poignant, eye-opening and emotionally vivid novel, Mahbod Seraji lays bare the beauty and brutality of the centuries-old Persian culture, while reaffirming the human experiences we all share.
In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran’s sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the next. He also hides a secret love for his beautiful neighbor Zari, who has been betrothed since birth to another man. But the bliss of Pasha and Zari’s stolen time together is shattered when Pasha unwittingly acts as a beacon for the Shah’s secret police. The violent consequences awaken him to the reality of living under a powerful despot, and lead Zari to make a shocking choice…
Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace » BUY NOW Monday, June 8, 7:30 p.m.
In the tradition of recent hits like The Bitch in the House and Perfect Madness comes a hilarious and controversial book that every woman will have an opinion about, written by America’s most outrageous writer.
In our mothers’ day there were good mothers, neglectful mothers, and occasionally great mothers.
Today we have only Bad Mothers.
If you work, you’re neglectful; if you stay home, you’re smothering. If you discipline, you’re buying them a spot on the shrink’s couch; if you let them run wild, they will be into drugs by seventh grade. If you buy organic, you’re spending their college fund; if you don’t, you’re risking all sorts of allergies and illnesses.
Is it any wonder so many women refer to themselves at one time or another as “a bad mother”? Ayelet Waldman says it’s time for women to get over it and get on with it, in a book that is sure to spark the same level of controversy as her now legendary “Modern Love” piece, in which she confessed to loving her husband more than her children.
Lisa See Shanghai Girls » BUY NOW Tuesday, June 9, 7:30 p.m.
For readers of the phenomenal bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and Peony in Love—a stunning new novel from Lisa See about two sisters who leave Shanghai to find new lives in 1930s Los Angeles
May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated, but their family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl’s parents arrange for their daughters to marry “Gold Mountain men” who have come from Los Angeles to find brides.
But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel’s Island (the Ellis Island of the West)—where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months—they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. A novel about two sisters, two cultures, and the struggle to find a new life in America while bound to the old, Shanghai Girls is a fresh, fascinating adventure from beloved and bestselling author Lisa See.
Luis Alberto Urrea Into the Beautiful North: A Novel » BUY NOW Wednesday, June 10, 12:30 p.m.
Nineteen-year-old Nayeli works at a taco shop in her Mexican village and dreams about her father, who journeyed to the US to find work. Recently, it has dawned on her that there are almost no men in the village--they've all gone north. While watching The Magnificent Seven, Nayeli decides to go north herself and recruit seven men--her own "Siete Magníficos"--to repopulate her hometown and protect it from the bandidos who plan on taking it over.
Filled with unforgettable characters and prose as radiant as the Sinaloan sun, INTO THE BEAUTIFUL NORTH is the story of an irresistible young woman's quest to find herself on both sides of the fence.
Luis Alberto Urrea is the author of The Devil's Highway, winner of a Lannan Literary Award; Across the Wire, winner of the Christopher Award; and the incredibly acclaimed The Hummingbird's Daughter. He is also the recipient of an American Book Award, a Western States Book Award, and a Colorado Book Award, and he has been inducted into the Latino Literary Hall of Fame.
Don J. Goewey Mystic Cool: A proven approach to transcend stress, achieve optimal brain function, and maximize your creative intelligence » BUY NOW Thursday, June 11, 7:30 p.m.
You possess the most remarkable system in all of biology, the human brain. You have the power to direct it with the most complex set of processes in the universe, the mind. When you use this creative power consciously, you not only actualize the power to excel in whatever you do, you can direct your experience in ways that make life fulfilling and meaningful.
As wonderful as this might sound, for many the journey may be anything but. Every major survey shows that the majority of us are plagued by stress and anxiety, which is toxic to the brain. The new science is clear: transcend stress, regain higher brain function, and the mind lights up with creative intelligence.
Formerly, Goewey was director of the psycho-social-spiritual agency that developed a mainstream approach to helping people face and shift catastrophic situations. He was also the lead executive at Stanford's Department of Psychiatry.
Peter Greenberg Tough Times, Great Travels: The Travel Detective's Guide to Hidden Deals, Unadvertised Bargains, and Great Experiences » BUY NOW Tuesday, June 16, 7:00 p.m.
Location: Historic Hoover Theatre – 1635 Park Ave – San Jose
Get the best travel deals during the worst of financial times
With airlines cutting service, hotel rates soaring, and one of the most unstable economies this country has seen, the thought of taking a trip might seem out of reach. But in Tough Times, Great Travels, the Travel Detective, Peter Greenberg, lets you in on money-saving secrets. Traveling during an economic meltdown shouldn't result in a personal one for you. With Greenberg's help, you can get packing while the market is crashing.
PETER GREENBERG, travel editor for NBC’s Today show, is the preeminent expert on travel and author of The Complete Travel Detective Bible and Don't Go There!, plus several other titles. He is a contributing editor for Men’s Health and Best Life and travel editor at large for AARP, and his national weekly radio show is syndicated on 130 stations and XM satellite radio. When he’s not traveling, he lives in New York City, Los Angeles, and Bangkok.
Stan Goldberg Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude and Courage at the End of Life » BUY NOW Wednesday, June 17, 7:30 p.m.
When Stan Goldberg was diagnosed with cancer, he was afraid and deeply saddened by his prognosis, as anyone in his situation would be. Unlike many, however, he chose to face his fear by helping others in the process of dying—he signed up as a hospice volunteer to be at the bedsides of people who are terminally ill. His experiences changed his view of death—and life—forever.
In this book, Stan tells the stories of people he met in hospice. He shows how seemingly ordinary things, such as small acts of kindness, letting go of anger, and keeping things simple can have an extraordinary effect for someone who is dying—and how they offer lasting lessons for the living.
Stan Goldberg, PhD, is a speech pathologist and university professor at San Francisco
State. He is an experienced public speaker and has published articles, poems, and plays addressing end-of-life issues. He is one of six essayists who were asked by NPR to read his “This I Believe” essay at a public gathering in 2007.
Geoff Nunberg The Years of Talking Dangerously »BUY NOW Thursday, June 25, 7:30 p.m.
“There has never been,” Nunberg writes, “an age as wary as ours of the tricks words can play, obscuring distinctions and smoothing over the corrugations of the actual world.... Yet as advertisers and marketers know, our mistrust of words doesn’t inoculate us against them.” These are the years of talking dangerously, and Nunberg is a sure guide to the pitfalls. With illuminating intelligence and devastating humor, Nunberg decodes the changing syntax of Time Magazine, explains why grammar buffs are drawn to sarcasm, and deftly unpacks the telling phrases of our national conversation, from progressive to elite to change—not to mention national conversation itself.
Geoffrey Nunberg is a linguist who teaches at UC Berkeley’s School of Information and is the former chair of the American Heritage Dictionary’s Usage Panel. His commentaries on language and politics have appeared regularly in the Sunday New York Times and on NPR’s “Fresh Air.” The author of Going Nucular, Talking Right, and The Way We Talk Now, Nunberg lives in San Francisco.
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