SUMMER HOURS
We are open Sunday - Thursday from 9 am - 9:30 pm
On Friday and Saturday, we are open from 9 am - 10 pm
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Hi Maria’s Bookshop Family,
The other day I helped a young boy pick out the next several books he was going to read as part of his participation in the Durango Public Library’s Summer Reading Program. After getting thoroughly overexcited showing him all my childhood favorites, and managing to find a couple which hit the mark, I began reminiscing upon the annual Read-a-Thon I participated in during my time at Needham Elementary School as a young kid. The premise of the Read-A-Thon at Needham is simple: for a week or two, every student in the school reads as much as they possibly can and logs their reading time daily. As with most friendly competitions, I took the Read-A-Thon all too seriously. After all, the stakes were high. Not only were considerable bragging rights on the line, but in my day the top readers from each grade got to cover the principal, Mr. Pete Harter, in all manner of sticky, gooey things like whipped cream pies, caramel sauce, and slime on the final day. For two weeks each year, all play-dates were put on hold as every student in the school found as much time as they possibly could to read.
Only upon reflecting on it now do I realize how special the Read-A-Thon, and other youth reading programs, are. I am certain that every student I participated in the Read-A-Thon with is better off because of it. What better way to promote curiosity, compassion, and intellect in our society than by encouraging our kids to read? For some great summer reading suggestions for children and young adults just scroll to the bottom of this newsletter or swing by Maria’s and check out our great Summer Series feature on the stove.
And if you were wondering, I don’t think I ever won the Read-A-Thon…but I’ll get over those bitter defeats someday.
-Evan
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The Arid Sky
By Emiliano Monge
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I’ll just come right out and say it,
The Arid Sky
by Emiliano Monge might be one of my new favorite books. Emiliano Monge has been making a name for himself for nearly a decade in Mexico within the Spanish language literature world, but until 2018 none of his writing had been translated. Finally, last year,
The Arid Sky
became the first of Monge’s works to be translated into English. Even through the translation, Monge’s writing is silvery and beautiful as he crafts a violent narrative chronicling the life of a cartel leader in rural 20
th
century Mexico from a tumultuous boyhood of border crossings and kidnappings, through his rise to power, to his inevitable moral reckoning and self-reflection. It is a story which is both vast and subtle, violent and delicate…I could go on spouting hyperbolic praise, but I won’t. Just read
The Arid Sky
and revel in its power.
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Lettering Journey
By Heather Martinez
"Corporate Graffiti Artist"
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Thursday, July 18 from 4-6 pm
Studio &
1027 Main Avenue
Maria’s Bookshop and Studio & will co-host a book signing and hands-on experiential lettering session on Thursday, July 18, 4-6pm at 1027 Main Avenue in Durango, Colorado. Martinez will sign books and give a lettering demo based on styles found in her book and in her online classes at
www.LetsLetterTogether.com
. Lettering Journey is a how-to lettering exemplar book inspired by a cross-country trip Martinez and her husband took after leaving Washington, DC where she worked as a visual practitioner.
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My Antonia
By Willa Cather
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Friday, August 9 from 2:30-3:30 pm
Animas City Chocolate Company
920 Main Avenue
Playwright, Meg Miroshni, and Willa Cather Foundation’s Executive Director, Ashley Olson will discuss Meg’s bold new play adaptation of Willa Cather’s 1918 classic novel My Antonia. Meg’s play will premiere with a reading on Friday night at 7:30p at the Durango Arts Center, but you can learn about it here first! Maria's Bookshop will have copies of this classic book for sale and Meg would love to sign it for you!
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COMMUNITY PARTNERS - UPDATES
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We have tickets! These concerts in the Secret Garden make for the perfect family outing, gathering of friends, bachelor or bachelorettte party, or date night.
***You can purchase a 10-punch pass for $90 (that's a 10% discount) at Maria's Bookshop. Punches can be used all at once or throughout the summer. ***
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For the next seven weeks
The Durango Herald
is embarking on a subscription drive, with a goal of gaining 1,000 new champions of local journalism.
For each friend or neighbor you refer
, they'll add an additional week to your subscription. If you don’t subscribe, this is a chance to become a champion of journalism and support a local business. For $16 a month, you’ll receive full access to durangoherald.com, and a newspaper delivered four days a week.
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The Three Questions
How to Discover& Master the Power Within You
By Don Miguel Ruiz
and Barbara Emrys
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The beloved spiritual teacher builds on the message of his enduring New York Times and international bestseller The Four Agreements with this profound guide that takes us deeper into the tradition of Toltec wisdom, helping us find and use the hidden power within us to achieve our fullest lives.
In The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz introduced seekers on the path to enlightenment to the tenets of Mesoamerican spiritual culture—the ancient Toltec. Now, he takes us deeper into Native American practice, and asks us to consider essential questions that drive our lives and govern our spiritual power. Three eternal questions can help us into our power and use it judiciously:
- Who am I?
- What is real?
- How do I express love?
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Deep River
By Karl Marlantes
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Karl Marlantes's debut novel
Matterhorn
has been hailed as a modern classic of war literature. In his new novel,
Deep River
, Marlantes turns to another mode of storytelling--the family epic--to craft a stunningly expansive narrative of human suffering, courage, and reinvention.In the early 1900s, as the oppression of Russia's imperial rule takes its toll on Finland, the three Koski siblings--Ilmari, Matti, and the politicized young Aino--are forced to flee to the United States. Not far from the majestic Columbia River, the siblings settle among other Finns in a logging community in southern Washington, where the first harvesting of the colossal old-growth forests begets rapid development, and radical labor movements begin to catch fire. The brothers face the excitement and danger of pioneering this frontier wilderness--climbing and felling trees one-hundred meters high--while Aino, foremost of the books many strong, independent women, devotes herself to organizing the industry's first unions. As the Koski siblings strive to rebuild lives and families in an America in flux, they also try to hold fast to the traditions of a home they left behind.
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Tip of the Iceberg
By Mark Adams
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From the acclaimed, bestselling author of
Turn Right at Machu Picchu
, a fascinating, wild, and wonder-filled journey into Alaska, America's last frontier
In 1899, railroad magnate Edward H. Harriman organized a most unusual summer voyage to the wilds of Alaska: He converted a steamship into a luxury "floating university," populated by some of America's best and brightest scientists and writers, including the anti-capitalist eco-prophet John Muir. Those aboard encountered a land of immeasurable beauty and impending environmental calamity. More than a hundred years later, Alaska is still America's most sublime wilderness, both the lure that draws one million tourists annually on Inside Passage cruises and as a natural resources larder waiting to be raided. As ever, it remains a magnet for weirdos and dreamers.
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EVERY SUMMER NEEDS A LITTLE ROMANCE
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Our publishers are having fun with a new line of Romantic Comedies aimed at the Indie Bookstore reader. We carry titles that are contemporary and diverse, keeping with the fun our readers have had with
Crazy Rich Asians,
as well as a great selection of more traditional romance.
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HOT SUMMER SERIES FOR YOUNG READERS
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Frank B. Nordstrom
20th Century Pioneer: Pediatrician and Canyon Guide
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Frank's daughter, author Connie Nordstrom, shares tales of her father and beloved doctor Frank Nordstrom.
"
Frank was smart and disciplined and laughed heartily at a good joke. He was a keen doctor, and loved his work, this town and the friends he made here. He lived a life of economy – the depression and the war had a way of doing that. His love for the desert solitude born in Roswell and matured in the canyons of SE Utah, spoke to him on an almost spiritual level." - Farmington Daily Times
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Caryl Goode creates beautiful works, many of which are inspired by our beloved Animas River. We sell her greeting cards year round, and it's so special to have her larger-than-life artwork decorating our walls. Come see for yourself!
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After completing her MFA at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, Caryl Goode spent the next years working in New York City and Woodstock, NY. In NYC she was Creative Director of a graphic design studio, Quad Left, Inc. Upon moving upstate, she continued to work with the Quad Left, in addition to freelancing in Graphic Design, Illustration and commercial Jewelry Design.
In 2000, Caryl moved to Durango, CO and attended Fort Lewis College in pursuit of a teaching license in both Visual Arts and Bilingual Education. After completing the programs, Caryl participated in Durango’s Pumas on Parade project where she designed and painted a Puma which is on display at FLC. She exhibited the Animas River Series at Maria’s Bookshop in 2016 and was asked to submit designs to Shop VIDA, an online clothing collection, after a sales representative from San Francisco saw the show. In May of 2019 the Animas River Series was exhibited at Durango Arts Center. Caryl currently teaches Visual Arts at Miller Middle School where she shares her artistic experience with students. Years of running and biking along the Animas River in Durango has produced an affinity for all aspects of the river and life. These seasons and transformations have inspired Caryl to create the Animas River Series.
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