News

Father's Day is coming up quick! Check out these great gift options. 

We have a limited supply of FASTER by Neal Bascomb with signed bookplates. It's a narrative non-fiction history of an American heiress, outcast Jewish driver, and an old, almost bankrupt automobile company who take on Hitler’s Silver Arrow Grand Prix cars at the brink of WWII. 

We also have signed bookplates for SALMON by Mark Kurlansky. It's a tribute to a magnificent species whose cycles of life are entwined with every aspect of nature -- freshwater, saltwater, and land -- and whose survival is inextricably tied to the survival of the planet. A tribute to a magnificent species whose cycles of life are entwined with every aspect of nature -- freshwater, saltwater, and land -- and whose survival is inextricably tied to the survival of the planet. 

Let us know if you would like a signed bookplate verison of the book while completing your purchase. Supplies are limited!

After you've checked out these books, take a look at our selection of Father's Day cards avaliable here. Just tell us the number for card you want, or have a bookseller pick one for you. 

As always, we offer free gift wrapping for all occassions. Give us a call, email, or order online and we will help you out. 

Much love,

Country Bookshelf Staff

Check out this clip from our virtual event with Dr. Gretchen Minton! If you'd like to watch the whole video, click the link below the clip. 

Tracing more than two centuries of history, Shakespeare in Montana uncovers a vast array of different voices that capture the state's love affair with the world's most famous writer. From mountain men, pioneers, and itinerant acting companies in mining camps to women's clubs at the turn of the twentieth century and the contemporary popularity of Shakespeare in the Parks throughout Montana, the book chronicles the stories of residents across this incredible western state who have been attracted to the words and works of Shakespeare. 

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We checked in with local author Russell Rowland about his newest book Cold Country: 

He was kind enough to answer some fan questions for our blog! 

Mike Penfold asks: I love Cold Country. The characters you developed in Cold Country seemed real. Did you have in mind specific people you know as you developed these people? 

Russell Rowland: Thank you, Mike! This book is very loosely based on a period in my life, when I was ten years old and my father took a job managing a ranch near Ranchester, Wyoming. So yes, many of these characters are based on people from that small ranching community. Which is why I moved the story to Paradise Valley and obviously changed the names.

LuAnne Halligan Carbaugh: Do you have different strategies when approaching writing your books? You’ve written both fiction and non-fiction, so I was just wondering if the process was different as you worked through your writing.

RR: Hello LuAnne! Yes, each book does seem to require a slightly different approach. And of course that's especially true in the case of nonfiction vs. fiction. I was kind of surprised when I started writing Fifty-Six Counties, how hard it was for me to stick to facts. It's so much more fun to make shit up. But in the case of my novels, the story really dictates what's different about how I tell the story. In the case of Cold Country, the more times I edited this book (I was working on it for more than 15 years), the more I realized I needed to pull back on the drama. I think the initial tendency in writing a story that has action in it is to go overboard with the action. But understatement has always been way more effective, in my opinion. Plus it's closer to real life. And it's more my style. Great question!

Patricia Calaghan: A reviewer found the opening scene shocking. I found it powerfully real and moving, maybe because I grew up on a farm. Were you surprised at her reaction and have you heard that reaction from others? 

RR: Hey Pat - I'm not sure what review you're referring to, but I suppose it might be shocking to someone who hasn't grown up around that kind of thing. That opening scene is lifted directly from an incident that happened when I was ten, and accompanied my dad as he checked on the pregnant cattle on the ranch where we lived. It obviously made a huge impression on me, and I thought it provided a nice metaphor for much of what happens later in the book.

Sarie Mackay: Why did you write the book, and how does it fit into your growth as an author?

RR: Hey Sarie! Thanks for this excellent question. My main goal with this story was to explore how tragedy impacts a small, tight-knit community. And one of the secondary themes was how pretty much everyone in a community like this ends up feeling like a bit of an outsider, depending on how secure they are in themselves. So you have a couple like Junior and Angie, who are pretty comfortable in their own skin, and are thus less affected by the events around them. But people like Babe and Tom, or even the Logans, because they are fighting with some demons of their own, always feel a little out of step with what's happening around them, no matter how popular they are. The murder is really a secondary event in this story. It's much more about community dynamics. How Cold Country fits into my growth as a writer is harder to answer, but one thing this book allowed me to explore more is branching out into a new narrative approach. I've always stuck pretty closely to one point of view in my novels, but this one demanded more than one narrative POV in order to tell the story. It was harder than I expected to tell a story that way, but once it clicked, it was very satisfying to learn this new approach.

Don’t miss this great small town mystery- be sure to pick up your copy of Cold Country from Country Bookshelf today!

UPDATE: SUNDAY MAY 10TH

Hi New York Times Fans - we just received word that the papers did not arrive today, and so will not be making their way to JOE'S PARKWAY MARKET this afternoon. We are hoping they will make it tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Friday, May 1st, 2020

We have updated the website to reflect what our staff are currently recommending, and added more resources for Kids and YA. First, we added new faces to our staff recommendations. Please give our booksellers Kaycee and Maris a big welcome, and check out what books they loved.

Kaycee just finished reading Barn 8 by Deb Olin Unferth . “Witty, dark, passionate, and absurd. This novel had me suddenly engulfed in a plot to steal thousands of chickens and the perps behind it. It was a sheer joy to read, but I would not recommend it to the faint of heart. I switched to the Libro.FM audiobook about halfway through so I could listen to it on my way to work, and it really made the words come to life.”

Maris picked Falcon Thief by Joshua Hammer. “I am gripped by Joshua Hammer's The Falcon Thief, a new true crime/wildlife adventure book that follows the exploits (both hair-raising and ire-provoking) of a man who stole rare birds and rare bird eggs from the wild to sell on the black market. Along the way, I'm learning about wonderful birds of prey, the history of wildlife crime and the inexplicable fascination some people have with rare eggs.”

We're working on a virtual reading with local author Russell Rowland and his new book Cold Country- submit your questions about Cold Country and his writing here. Get your questions in by Monday, May 4th

Lastly, do you need a card with that? Add Mother’s Day or graduation cards to any book purchase, or individually on their own for $5 each. Click the links to see photos and for more information. More cards coming to our website soon or ask a bookseller to pick something out for you.

Happy Reading,

Country Bookshelf

Monday, April 27, 2020

Dear Country Bookshelf Readers,

Big thanks to all of you for your continued support! Our staff have been working hard filling your orders safely, delivering and shipping them to you. Please keep the orders coming! Just be patient that it takes a bit longer than usual for us to respond, and our suppliers and delivery companies are taking longer to fulfill orders on their ends.

Although we now have permission to be open to the public, we have decided not to open immediately for the continued safety of our staff and our community. Before we can reopen, we will have to make a lot of changes in the store, and these will take time. Watch our email newsletter, website, and social media for updates.

The good news is that we are offering pick up service again! Once you have been notified that your order is ready, and if you have selected the Pick Up option, we will send you a link to sign up for a pick up time slot. We are offering pick up from 12-4pm Monday through Friday and other times by special appointment. Pick up orders will be placed on a table at the front door, labelled with your name. Just open the door and grab your order. We are not open for browsing or in-person transactions at this time. And remember that orders can’t be ready immediately, so please wait to hear from us. We are also still offering local delivery and shipping around the country.

We are also now doing our best to answer the phones between 12pm and 4pm Monday through Friday, and other times as we are able, so please call to have a bookseller personally assist you! Note that we have limited staffing on weekends and are less able to answer the phones these days.

The Sunday New York Times will continue to be available at Joe’s Parkway Market until further notice, though the last two weeks the Saturday evening flight they arrive on from Seattle has been cancelled, and we expect that to continue which means that papers are not available until around 4pm on Sundays. 

Thank you again for keeping us slinging books! Watch for other news coming soon.

Happy reading,

Country Bookshelf

The Sunday New York Times will be delayed and should be available at Joe's Parkway Market around 4pm today because its flight last night was canceled. Thank you for your patience for things outside of our control. 

Bookseller Harry is back with a review of Grady Hendrix’s new release The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. “We’re a book club. What are we supposed to do? Read him to death?” A group of tired and unappreciated moms get together to read true crime, drink wine, and form meaningful friendships when a vampire moves to town. We've all been there, right? I honestly can't tell you how much I loved this book. This book kept me up many a sleepless night as I finished just one more chapter, got actually frustrated at antagonists, and cheered for the protagonists. I feel like Grady gets better and better with each new book, and I never wanted this story to end. I was able to ask him a few questions about The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires. Check it out!

Harry J: Best Friend's Exorcism and Southern Book Club's Guide both have a strong theme of overcoming monsters with the power of female bonds. Is there a specific reason for this? 

Grady Hendrix: Unhappy endings always feel like you stopped telling the story too early, because life goes on and I always want to know what happens next. Unhappy endings just feel cheap and unrealistic to me. Cynicism is a sad and pointless way to look at the world. 

HJ: How much is the protagonist in The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires based off of your actual mother? 

GH: Every character I write is based on a real person, whether it’s someone I know or someone I see on the subway, but by the time they make it to the page, they’re virtually unrecognizable. Patricia has some things in common with my mom — they’re both former nurses, they both belong to book clubs, they’re both parents — but Patricia is a lot more naive than my mom. On the other hand, she’s also a lot more likely to try to kill a vampire than my mom.

HJ: You seem to favor strong female protagonists fighting against paranormal odds in your books. What inspired this? 

GH: I have no idea why I seem incapable of writing male characters. It’s clearly something I need to address with my therapist! Guys just don’t interest me as much.

HJ: What gave you the idea for The Southern Book Club's Guide? 

GH: I’ve always wanted to write a book about adult friendship and I’ve known the women in my mom’s book club since I was a kid. The longer I knew them the more interesting they became, but when I initially suggested this book to my editor they really pushed back against it, telling me that no one was interested in reading about a bunch of middle-aged housewives. That sealed the deal: I was going to write this book no matter what.

HJ: If Southern Book Club’s Guide became a movie or tv series, what would be your ideal casting? (Mine would be Winona Ryder for Patricia and Chris Sarandon for James Harris.)

GH: I like the Winona Ryder idea, but I have a hard time with these kinds of questions because I feel like I’ll jinx things. But if Patrick Wilson was younger, he’d be a great James Harris, and I’d love to see Octavia Spencer as Mrs. Greene. 

HJ: You've already covered a number of horrifying things; vampires, demons, Ikea. What's the next monster that you'd like to (forgive the pun) sink your teeth into?

GH: I actually already have a monster and their book is slated for publication in June 2021. So I’m not saying anything until closer to that date. But I will say that the one monster I really want to write and can’t find a way into: werewolves. I love werewolves but I just can’t seem to find that extra piece that makes them work for me. But maybe I’m just not inspired enough? I’m going to keep wandering around the moors at night and waiting to be bitten.

And then the Bad News...

4/19/20 9:00am update. The New York Times did not make it here yesterday. Its flight from Seattle was cancelled -- as are so many flights these days. We are hoping it will be on the flight arriving this afternoon, in which case, it should be at Joe's Parkway Market around 4pm. Please note that we may not be able to answer your email immediately, and Joe's Parkway staff are not responsible for this delay, so please be kind and patient. We will put all future updates about the New York Times on our Facebook page: facebook.com/countrybookshelf. 

Thank you for your support. We apologize for any inconvenience. 

Sunday New York Times now at Joe's Parkway Market

Dear Bookshelf Friends & New York Times Readers,

We're thrilled to announce that the Sunday New York Times will be available again starting this Sunday, April 19th thanks to a partnership with another fabulous local business, Joe's Parkway Market. 

Until further notice, you can pick up the Sunday New York Times at Joe's Parkway Market, 903 West College, from 10am to 7pm daily. Papers are now $8, and will be cash only unless you add the paper to a grocery order. Sounds like a lovely way to get Sunday brunch goodies!

While open to the public, Joe's Parkway is also offering -- and highly encouraging --  curbside pick up, so call ahead at 406-586-2005, and plan to have exact change for one of their great staff to meet you outside. 

We're so grateful for all the ways our community comes together. Please thank the lovely folks at Joe's!

And for all your book needs, our staff are still hard at work -- fully employed and insured thanks to you! -- filling orders from our website and email. Plus we are also working constantly on improvements to the website, so be sure to check out some of the new features, including lists of recommended books for homeschooling.

Not sure what you want right now? Either email us for suggestions or treat yourself to a gift certificate to use when the mood strikes. 

Be in touch and let us know how we can get great books and gifts to you and yours!

Happy reading,
Country Bookshelf

Hi Bookshelf friends!

This period of social isolation has slowed down a lot of things in the book world. Our publishing partners and distributors are taking a little extra time to fulfill our requests so they can keep their staff safe. So too, are our shipping partners, and we are so grateful to our delivery people for helping keep us stocked and books heading out to our community. Switching our business online only has also slowed down our staff a bit, as we take extra safety precautions including wearing gloves and cloth masks and extra time to make in-town deliveries and get books shipped around the country.

We dearly miss face-to-face interaction with all of you, helping with gifts and picking out your next great read in person, but we are still doing all that through our website and email. While our doors may be closed, Bookshelf staff are busy behind the scenes filling web orders and answering your email questions, so keep those orders coming! You can find us open 24 hours a day here on our website or drop us a line at staff@countrybookshelf.com.

Our staff are still eager to recommend books, wrap gifts, and celebrate great books. Check out our staff recommendation pages to see what your favorite bookseller is reading, or visit our Kids and YA section for great resources for students learning at home. We miss you, and we want to thank you for all the support you’ve shown us especially these last couple weeks. So let us know how we can help with your reading needs -- or just pop by our Facebook or Instagram and tell us what you’re reading. We can’t wait to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Country Bookshelf Staff