Local Authors in Conversation - Christopher J. Preston and Amy Leach

Country Bookshelf Presents Local Authors in Conversation. Join us for an in-person event with authors Christopher J. Preston and Amy Leach, who will discuss Tenacious Beasts, followed by a signing on Thursday, September 28th at 6pm.

Reserve your FREE ticket for Christopher and Amy's discussion.

Join us for an event 9/28 at 6pm with authors Christopher Preston and Amy Leach, who will discuss TENACIOUS BEASTS, followed by a signing. Please contact events@countrybookshelf.com with any accessibility concerns. 

When describing Tenacious Beasts, Preston writes:

At the end of my book, The Synthetic Age, I told a story about a worker killed by a grizzly bear in Yellowstone National Park. After writing nearly two hundred pages about the desire to re-engineer our surroundings with technology, I wanted to emphasize that every attempt at control falls short. The biological world still startles us. It retains the power to push back against our best-laid plans.

My new book explores nature’s resilience much further. Tenacious Beasts is filled with hope about wildlife recoveries. It profiles a dozen recovering species and asks what they can teach. Wolves in Europe, bison on America’s Great Plains, and humpback whales in the Pacific are among the species experiencing spectacular comebacks. Through interviews, site visits, and detailed research, I explore how these recoveries have happened.

Returning animals can be uplifting, for sure, but they also challenge us. They make demands on those accustomed to living without them. They force changes in perspective and shifts in values. On farmland, prairie, rivers, forests, and oceans, I investigate what a twenty-first-century concept of wildlife might look like.

This book charts the contours of an optimistic future with wildlife. It envisions a fresh way to exist alongside the natural world. Tenacious Beasts is a blend of optimism and surprise about a future lived harmoniously alongside our animal kin.

Tenacious Beasts has received praise from Rick McIntyre, Kirkus Review, Publisher's Weekly, and Lit Hub.

“Preston’s fascinating book is not only about the very precarious state of countless endangered species, but also about how evolution is fighting back against mankind’s over-exploitation and destruction: how animal species are recovering from these devastating diminishment.” - Lit Hub

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.

Signing with Craig Johnson

Country Bookshelf Presents Book Signing with Craig Johnson Saturday, September 30th at Noon. Image shows this text as well as a Craig's author photo. He is wearing a green button-up and a cowboy hat. He is sitting and his right hand is rested on his chin. The cover of The Longmire Defense is also featured. The cover is teal and red with the silhouette of a sheriff looking over a canyon.

Join Craig Johnson for a book signing at Country Bookshelf for LONGMIRE DEFENSE on Saturday, September 30th at noon.

Involved in a search & rescue in the Bighorn Mountains, Walt Longmire finds himself on a rock outcropping where he remembers his father telling him about the first time he saw a man die. In the late forties, Bill Sutherland is killed but the investigation is stymied because no member of the elk camp was carrying the caliber rifle that killed the Wyoming State Accountant. When Dog discovers the weapon, it catapults the Sheriff of Absaroka County on an investigation with ties to a hidden mineral fund that may be worth billions. The embodiment of the fair-minded detective, Walt is pushed to his ethical boundaries when he discovers the rifle in question belonged to none other than Lloyd Longmire, his grandfather.

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

Local Authors in Conversation - Random Acts of Silliness!

Country Bookshelf Presents Random Acts of Silliness! Join us for an in-person event with the creators of Bumblewood Thicket for a glimpse into the magic of the Fairy Village Saturday, Sept 23rd at noon. The image also showcases the Random Acts of Silliness logo which is their name with a whimsical cartoon monster dancing in a field of polka dots. The cover for Bumblewood Thicket 2023 is an animated forest scene with golden light shining.

Reserve your FREE ticket for this magical event today! 

On Saturday, September 23rd at noon, join the creators of the Bumblewood Thicket Fairy Village - as well as a few of the fairy village “architects” and the photography team for a glimpse into the magic on! Presenters will read some passages  from the Bumblewood Thicket book and talk a bit about the collaborative process for creating the fantastical stories and images that accompany each structure in the village. Spoiler - it’s a *mostly* delightful process that involves  a lot of serious fairy research and speculation, as well as occasionally heated debates about confounding questions such as: why do fairies need stairs and ladders, what type of cooking utensils to fairies actually use, and can child fairies fly?