Out Stealing Horses 20% Off

One of our favorite books at Monkey See, Monkey Read is Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson.    It’s just one of the books you’ll find on our bestseller tables. All of these books are 20% off the cover price.

Here are a few reasons why  might be worth a read.

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYTHE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
A TIME MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
WINNER OF THE IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD

Out Stealing Horses has been embraced across the world as a classic, a novel of universal relevance and power. Panoramic and gripping, it tells the story of Trond Sander, a sixty-seven-year-old man who has moved from the city to a remote, riverside cabin, only to have all the turbulence, grief, and overwhelming beauty of his youth come back to him one night while he’s out on a walk. From the moment Trond sees a strange figure coming out of the dark behind his home, the reader is immersed in a decades-deep story of searching and loss, and in the precise, irresistible prose of a newly crowned master of fiction.

Tom Brokaw’s Boom 20% Off

Monkey See, Monkey Read is the place for great book deals.  Tom Brokaw’s latest book, Boom, has just arrived in paperback.  We have copies for 20% off the cover price.

In Boom!, Tom Brokaw, one of America’s premier journalists and the acclaimed author of The Greatest Generation, gives us an epic portrait of another defining era in America: the tumultuous Sixties. The voices and stories of both famous people and ordinary citizens come together in this “virtual reunion” as Brokaw takes us on a memorable journey through a remarkable time, exploring how individuals and the national mood were affected by a controversial era and showing how the aftershocks of the Sixties continue to resound in our lives today. In the reflections of a generation, Brokaw also discovers lessons that might guide us in the years ahead. Race, politics, war, feminism, popular culture, and music are all delved into here. Brokaw explores how members of this generation have gone on to bring activism and a Sixties mindset into individual entrepreneurship , as we hear stories of how this formative decade has shaped our perspectives on business, the environment, politics, family, and our national existence. Remarkable in its insights, wonderfully written and reported, this revealing book lets us join in these frank conversations about America then, now, and tomorrow. 

Bonus DVD: Excerpt From 1968 with Tom Brokaw, A History Channel special

A Thousand Splendid Suns 20% Off

Khaled Hosseini’s latest book, A Thousand Splendid Suns, is now available in paperback.  Monkey See, Monkey Read has copies for 20% off.

Propelled by the same superb instinct for storytelling that made The Kite Runner a beloved classic, A Thousand Splendid Suns is at once an incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. 

Born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love and family, Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other, and that will ultimately alter the course not just of their own lives but of the next generation. With heart-wrenching power and suspense, Hosseini shows how a woman’s love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice, and that in the end it is love, or even the memory of love, that is often the key to survival. 

A stunning accomplishment, A Thousand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friendship, and an indestructible love.

Buying More Books, Fewer Gadgets This Year

WCCO has released the results of The annual University of St. Thomas holiday shopping survey.  According to the study by the University of St. Thomas, Minnesotans will be giving more books as gifts this year and fewer electronic gadgets.

It should come as good news to owners of area book stores. Shoppers said they’ll be giving more books this holiday season, as well as clothing, gift certificates and gifts of cash.

What’s not expected to be flying off store shelves will be consumer electronics, computers, jewelry and video games.

Books make great gifts.  Used books allow to stretch your dollars even further.  Monkey See, Monkey Read sells most of our used books for half the cover price. Used paperbacks start at $3.00.

New Books 20% cheaper than Amazon.com

We’ve always had great prices at Monkey See, Monkey Read.   I just compared our price to the price Amazon is charging for two new books that arrived today.    Our price is 20% lower than Amazon and Target’s price for the same new books.  We are selling Frost Bites, Edgar & Ellen Nodyssey #2, for $7.99 while Amazonand Target are charging $9.99.  Our price for Pendragon #8: The Pilgrims of Rayne is $7.19 compared to $8.99 at Amazon and Target.

Affordable Luxury: Books Offer ‘Solid Reference and Value’

I just read this in a newsletter.

“In these troubled times, the book is something which is a kind of landmark, which is solid reference and value, which is never, ever, ever going to be obsolete. The book is a cheap gift. The book is always affordable. Actually, maybe the crisis is a chance for booksellers to reassert their role in the community as providers of pleasure, of knowledge, for a very, very cheap price.”–Fran Dubruille, director of the European Booksellers’ Federation, speaking at a Frankfurt Book Fair news conference (from Reuters via the Washington Post).

I have to agree.  Books are inexpensive and make great gifts.  Used books offer even greater value.  Most of the books at Monkey See, Monkey Read sell for less than $10.00.  We just ordered hundreds of new books that will sell for $3-10.  These are new unread books.  They should arrive soon.  

You can always shop online at monkeyread.com, but so far we have just 5000 books listed on our website. It’s best to call or stop by and browse our inventory of new and used books and games.

BikeTown Africa: The Big Day

In Mozambique, the crew of volunteers prepares to assemble 250 bikes–a new record for BikeTown Africa.  Building 250 bicycles in two days is a massive undertaking by any standard. Add the incessant African sun, limited use of tools and a variety of inevitable kinks, and the numbers can appear daunting. Anyone that has ever participated in a BikeTown Africa trip knows that at any given moment, crunch time hits, and it becomes painfully clear that we are massively behind schedule.

Read the full story here.  Or stop by Monkey See, Monkey Read and test ride an Africabike for yourself.  

As an aside, my Africabike handled the snowy streets just fine today.

Poetry Reading Saturday, Nov. 15, 7:30 pm

Monkey See, Monkey Read will host a poetry reading by Marjorie Buettner and Jane Graham George Saturday, November 15 at 7:30 pm.  Buettner is the author of Seeing it Now: haiku and tanka.  George is the author of Library Land.

Falling Book Prices

Monkey See, Monkey Read has always been the place to save money.  We sell most of our used book inventory at 50% off the current cover price.  We discount bestsellers 20%.  We discount many new children’s and young adult books 20%.  These are great books at great prices.

Now we have discounted some of our Picture books and Young Adult books 30-50%.  Stop by to see the entire selection of books at great prices.

BikeTown Africa 2008

The Kona Africabikes are arriving in Africa.  Here are a couple of photos.

Therese Claxton, a Peace Corps Volunteer, and Zodwa, a child- and youth-care worker at Bhekuzulu Self Sufficiency Project work together assembling bicycles for the inaugural BikeTown event of 2008.

Jabo Ndlovu, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission Coordinator at Bhekuzulu Self Sufficiency Project, enjoys her inaugural ride in the rain on her new AfricaBike.

More pictures are posted on Bicycling.com.

Monkey See, Monkey Read still has one 2008 Africabike in stock.