In Conversation - Brendan O'Brien and Brian Guyer

Country Bookshelf Presents Brendan O'Brien and Brian Guyer on Sunday, October eight at six pm. Join us for an in-person event with author Brendan O'Brien and HRDC representative Brain Guyer, who will discuss Homesick followed by a signing. Brendan O'Brien's photo is to the far left of the image. He is wearing winter hiking clothing and is standing on a snowy mountainscape. He is looking at the camera and smiling. The cover of Homesick is next to O'Brien's photo. The full title is Homesick: why housing is unaffordable and how we can change it. Brain Guyer's photo is on the right of the image. He is wearing a button down . He is looking at the camera and smiling.

Join Country Bookshelf on October 8th at 6pm to welcome Brendan O'Brien and Brain Guyer to discuss O'Brien's new book Homesick.

Please contact events@countrybookshelf.com with any accessibilty concerns.

Country Bookshelf suggests $5 donation to HRDC for attendees at this event. Attendees can donate on HRDC's website. 

In studying the impact of short-term rentals, Brendan O'Brien saw something similar happening in places ranging from Bend, Oregon, to Bar Harbor, Maine. But it isn't just short-term rentals, and it's not just tourism towns. Neighborhoods in Austin and Atlanta have become rows of investment properties. Longtime residents in Spokane and Boston have been replaced by new, high-salaried remote workers. Across the country, a level of unaffordable housing that once seemed unique to global cities like New York and San Francisco has become the norm, with nearly a third of all US households considered housing cost burdened.

This situation has been abetted by the direct actions of developers, politicians, and existing homeowners who have sought to drive up the cost of housing. But it's mostly happened due to a society-wide refusal to see housing as anything more than real estate, another product available to the highest bidder. This trend of putting local housing on a global market has worsened in recent years but is nothing new. Housing in the United States has always been marred by racial and income inequality that mocks the country’s highest ideals.

Deeply researched and deeply felt, Homesick argues that we can be so much better. And we can start where we live.

Live Painting, Piano Performance, and Reading with Pocket Vinyl

The background for the banner is one of Elizabeth Janceqicz’s paintings, similar to one she creates during their live performances. It shows the silhouette of a person holding a torch in a blue landscape. The fire from the torch is orange and floating upwards towards some beings hovering over the person. To the left of the image is a photo of Elizabeth and Eric. They are both wearing black. The photo has been augmented by Elizabeth painting orange and blue designs of the sun and moon behind their heads. To the right of the author photo is the cover of How To Completely Lose Your Mind. It is purple and shows animated versions of Elizabeth and Eric painting and playing the piano respectively. To the right of the image is another one of Elizabeth’s paintings. This one shows a young person with long blue and black hair holding a raven against an orange backdrop.

Reserve your ticket for Pocket Vinyl!

Come see Pocket Vinyl perform their fantastic piano/painting show followed by a reading from How to Completely Lose Your Mind on 10/24 @6pm. Please contact events@countrybookshelf.com with any accessibility concerns. 

When Pocket Vinyl was attempting to break the world record for the fastest time a ban has played in a show in each of the fifty states, they played their Montana show at Wild Joe's. Country Bookshelf is excited to welcome them back to Bozeman as they promote How To Completely Lose Your Mind, a graphic novel detailing their experiences.

A wild road trip of performance highs, self-doubt lows, and determination. As co-author Elizabeth Janceqicz says, “I knew that embarking on such a monstrous adventure would provide me with stories to tell, but I hadn't realized how much those stories would change me... In retrospect, we learned so much: about how our art helps people, how interconnected we all are, and how easily our minds can descend into mental illness without us even realizing it’s happening.”

This is one of Elizabeth Janceqicz’s paintings, similar to one she creates during their live performances. It shows the silhouette of a person holding a torch in a blue landscape. The fire from the torch is orange and floating upwards towards some beings hovering over the person.

 

Local Authors in Conversation - Betsy Gaines Quammen and David Quammen

Country Bookshelf Presents Local Authors in Conversation. Betsy Gaines Quammen and David Quammen. Join us for an in-person event wit hauthors Betsy Gaines Quammen and David Quammen, who will discuss True West followed by a signing. Tuesday, October 24th at 6pm. Betsy’s author photo is to the far left of the image. She is standing and looking at the camera. She has blonde hair and is wearing red lipstick. Her book cover is to the right of her photo. True West myth and mending on the far side of America by Betsy Gaines Quammen. There is a series of dolls on the cover. A cowboy, cowgirl, sherrif, indigenous person, and a horse. David Quammen’s photo is to the far right of the image. It is a black and white photo. David is sitting and turned towards the camera. He is wearing a suit and smiling.

Reserve your FREE ticket for the Local Authors in Conversation event. 

On October 24th, Country Bookshelf has the pleasure of welcoming Betsy Gaines Quammen and David Quammen to discuss Betsy's new book True West.

Attendees should contact events@countrybookshelf.com with any accessibility concerns.

From the Northern Rockies to the Southwest deserts, Betsy Gaines Quammen explores how myths shape our identities, heighten polarizations, and fracture our shared understanding of the world around us. As she investigates the origins and effects of myths of the American West, Gaines Quammen travels through small towns and big cities, engaging people and building relationships at every stop. Misperceptions about land, politics, liberty, and self-determination threaten the well-being of people and communities across the country, and Gaines Quammen interrogates it all as she seeks to reconcile the anger and misunderstandings that continue to be fueled by the West’s enduring myths and complex history. Whether sitting down with a local resident seeking to protect his rural Utah town from Antifa or talking with grassroots organizers working across ideological divides, Gaines Quammen brings to life connections and contradictions that shape our politics and our lives far beyond the West.