MSU Bookstore

Congratulations Grads

2010-05-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the 2010 graduates of Montana State University! MSU Bookstore will be open Graduation Day 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM, so if you don't have your cap and gown yet, stop in in the morning before it's too late.

A very special congratulations to Vanessa Shaw (the author of this blog for much of the school year), graduating with a Master's in Accounting! Vanessa will be missed at the bookstore, but she is on to bigger and better things.

On another note, today is the last day to sell your books back. See you at the Buyback Window, 8 AM to 5:30 PM today.

CS5 in the Bookstore Soon

2010-05-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

Every time you've convinced yourself that Adobe can't take its array of design and production products any further, another version of the Creative Suite comes along to prove you wrong.

Creative Suite 5 (CS5), for both Mac and Windows, injects many of Adobe's existing killer apps—such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash—with some mind-boggling new capabilities, and introduces a new program or two you may not have known you needed. But with the exception of Acrobat, version 9 of which was released in early 2008, every CS5 app has received either a major or minor refreshing, which makes CS5 one of Creative Suite's most extensive updates yet.

Also, there are iPads in stock. Apple purchases only available to faculty, students, and staff.

This Week on the Best Sellers Shelf

2010-05-03T11:44:00.000-07:00

Men and Dogs
by Katie Crouch

When Hannah Legare was 11, her father went on a fishing trip in the Charleston harbor and never came back. And while most of the town and her family accepted Buzz's disappearance, Hannah remained steadfastly convinced of his imminent return.

Twenty years later Hannah's new life in San Francisco is unraveling. Her marriage is on the rocks, her business is bankrupt. After a disastrous attempt to win back her husband, she ends up back at her mother's home to "rest up", where she is once again sucked into the mystery of her missing father. Suspecting that those closest are keeping secrets--including Palmer, her emotionally closed, well-mannered brother and Warren, the beautiful boyfriend she left behind--Hannah sets out on an uproarious, dangerous quest that will test the whole family's concepts of loyalty and faith.

Stones into Schools
by Greg Mortenson

A heartening follow-up to the bestselling Three Cups of Tea (2003). Mortenson and his NGO Central Asia Institute (CAI) have been committed to building schools in the most remote corners of Pakistan and Afghanistan for the last 16 years. Here he resumes where he left off in his previous book and spotlights the extraordinary efforts to make good on a promise he made in 1999 to villagers of the Wakhan Corridor, a rugged, isolated area of northeastern Afghanistan.

The Wakhan is occupied by the Kirghiz, who had been forced out of their land with the coming of the Soviets before returning to restricted migratory patterns, and are cut off from basic, life-sustaining government services. For Mortenson and his well-meaning, multiethnic crew he calls his "Dirty Dozen," the village of Bozai Gumbaz proved to be "the definition of our last-place-first philosophy." By enlisting the help of the local leaders and supplying the Kirghiz with necessary building materials (hauled by yak), the CAI fulfilled one of its main goals: to get the people to build a school on their own.

Based in Bozeman, Mont., Mortenson tells the remarkable story of how his group operates. He travels America giving talks, raising awareness and enormous sums of money ($900,000 poured in after a 1993 Parade article), considering proposals about where next to build a school (it must be at least 50 percent girls) and courting local commandhans, or warlords. The organization had to contend with threats of kidnapping, Taliban violence, the Kashmir earthquake of 2005 and ingrained injunctions against educating girls. In his humble, winning style, the author writes of making peace with the U.S. Army, whose bombing caused enormous civilian bloodshed.

Three Cups of Tea is now required reading for counterinsurgency officers, and Mortenson effectively demonstrates the "cascade of positive changes triggered by teaching a single girl how to read and write."Inspiring evidence of the tsunami effects of a committed humanitarian." Kirkus Reviews

Shopping Spree!!

2010-04-29T12:36:00.000-07:00

Want to know more? Stop by MSU Bookstore tomorrow for fun giveaways and a chance to win a shopping spree with the giant backpack!

Thursday Laughs - Brought to you by the letter E

2010-04-22T14:02:00.000-07:00

Be vewy vewy quiet. He's hunting fwip fwops.

Sign Up to Win Prizes in the Art Department

2010-04-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Come visit the bookstore and sign up for your chance to win these great prizes:

24" X 36" Portfolio with Drawing Board
24" X 36" Portfolio with Watercolor Paper and Gator Board
Staediler 18" X 24" Parallel Straightedge Drawing Board

The drawings will be held:

Thursday 4/22
Monday 4/26
Thursday 4/29

The MSU Bookstore has a wide variety of art supplies that are reasonably priced. Come sign up for your chance to win and check out all of the many art supplies the store has to offer!

Bestsellers

2010-04-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Once a Runner
by John L. Parker, JR.

ONCE A RUNNER IS AN INSPIRING, FUNNY, AND SPOT-ON TALE of one man’s quest to become a champion. Originally self-published in 1978 and sold at road races out of the trunk of the author’s car, the book eventually found its way into the hands of high school, college, and postgraduate athletes all over the country. Reading it became a rite of passage on many teams and tattered copies were handed down like sacred texts from generation to generation. Once a Runner captures the essence of what it means to be a competitive runner, to devote your entire existence to a single-minded pursuit of excellence. In doing so, it has become one of the most beloved sports novels ever published.

Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel

Fate takes many forms. . . .

When Henry receives a letter from an elderly taxidermist, it poses a puzzle that he cannot resist. As he is pulled further into the world of this strange and calculating man, Henry becomes increasingly involved with the lives of a donkey and a howler monkey—named Beatrice and Virgil—and the epic journey they undertake together.

With all the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so beloved, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.

This novels are available at the MSU Bookstore.

Ipad Available in the MSU Bookstore TODAY

2010-04-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, announced the new Apple iPad. Now, its available for purchase in the MSU Bookstore.

Perhaps the best way to explain the iPad is to call it a jack-of-all-trades. It has all the functionality of the iPod Touch, including gaming, music, and video. But it's also a day planner, e-mail device, Web tablet, e-book reader, digital picture frame, and portable DVD player.

The high-resolution, 9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS display on iPad is remarkably crisp and vivid. The multi-touch screen on iPad is based on the same revolutionary technology on the iPhone. But the technology has been completely reengineered for the larger iPad surface, making it extremely precise and responsive. The iPad has up to ten hours battery life. It is also available with a choice of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of flash storage, giving you lots of room for your photos, movies, music, apps, and more.

With built-in 802.11n, iPad takes advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks. It automatically locates available Wi-Fi networks, which you can join with a few taps. iPad also comes with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, letting you connect to devices like wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard. The iPad is available with 3G capability. However, 3G has limited availability in Montana and this version of the ipad will not be available to purchase in the MSU Bookstore.

This new and exciting product from Apple may become much more compelling with the development of new applications specifically designed for the iPad between now and its ship dates. The iPad should be released in March or April of this year. The iPad can be purchased starting at $499 in the MSU Bookstore.

Source:
Apple Website

This Week on the Best Sellers List

2010-04-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose

In this companion to the HBO(r) miniseries-executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman-Hugh Ambrose reveals the intertwined odysseys of four U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy carrier pilot during World War II.

Between America's retreat from China in late November 1941 and the moment General MacArthur's airplane touched down on the Japanese mainland in August of 1945, five men connected by happenstance fought the key battles of the war against Japan. From the debacle in Bataan, to the miracle at Midway and the relentless vortex of Guadalcanal, their solemn oaths to their country later led one to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot and the others to the coral strongholds of Peleliu, the black terraces of Iwo Jima and the killing fields of Okinawa, until at last the survivors enjoyed a triumphant, yet uneasy, return home.

In The Pacific, Hugh Ambrose focuses on the real-life stories of the five men who put their lives on the line for our country. To deepen the story revealed in the miniseries and go beyond it, the book dares to chart a great ocean of enmity known as The Pacific and the brave men who fought. Some considered war a profession, others enlisted as citizen soldiers. Each man served in a different part of the war, but their respective duties required every ounce of their courage and their strength to defeat an enemy who preferred suicide to surrender. The medals for valor which were pinned on three of them came at a shocking price-a price paid in full by all.

A Reliable Wife
by Robert Goolrick

He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love.

Filled with unforgettable characters, and shimmering with color and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is an enthralling tale of love and madness, of longing and murder.

Patrick Casey Placed 3rd in the Mile at NCAA Nationals

2010-03-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

Long-time Montana State track and field coach Dale Kennedy targeted a top eight finish for Bobcat miler Patrick Casey in this weekend’s NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

As it turns out, Kennedy was shooting low.

Casey stayed within striking distance throughout the race before succumbing to defending and current national champion Lee Emanuel of New Mexico, who finished in 3:59.26. In a duel between a pair of fantastic freshmen, Oregon’s Mac Fleet out-kicked Casey to the wire for second place (4:01.63), while Casey grabbed third (4:01.87).

“Patrick went in as the 10^th seed and finished third, so that is a very strong weekend,” Kennedy said. “He’s such a strong competitor, and he competed very well this weekend. I think he represented our University and the state of Montana in a first-class manner.”

Casey ran in front for the first quarter-mile, and was right on target with a 1:00.45 split. Emanuel made his move near the half-mile mark, darting to the front and capturing a 10-yard lead with a split of 2:02.93. Ohio State’s Jeff See temporarily moved into second, but Casey passed him in seemingly effortless fashion.

Casey was the only runner within striking distance of front-running Emanuel, and the thought entered the Laurel native’s mind to chase the national champ. “He went by me at the point in the race where it really starts to hit you how tired you are,” Casey said. “I tried to run with him for a while, but I didn’t want to jeopardize the chance to become an All-America. I was running as hard as I could, and there wasn’t a lot I could do about (Fleet’s closing kick).”

Kennedy put it more succinctly. “He ran a very smart race, much smarter than in the trials. He took a great run at (winning), but I think it was a very intelligent race on his part.”

Casey caps his initial indoor season by becoming the first Bobcat man to earn All-America honors since Lyle Weese, now an MSU assistant, in 2003. He becomes the first Bobcat male to capture All-America honors in the mile and as a freshman.

In addition to making history, Casey said the experience of competing at this weekend’s NCAA Championships is valuable experience. “I’ve been running a lot of strategic races this season,” he said. “I’m trying to develop a strategy that doesn’t involve me getting in trouble in the back of the pack. It was great, a lot of fun, and it was a great learning experience. I don’t know if (becoming an All-America) has sunk in yet, but I know I can still improve. That’s the best feeling.”

Post-race interview video-click here

Men’s Mile - Finals

  1 Lee Emanuel               SR New Mexico             3:59.26   10

  2 Mac Fleet                 FR Oregon                 4:01.63    8

  3 Patrick Casey             FR Montana State          4:01.87    6

  4 A.J. Acosta               SR Oregon                 4:02.27    5

  5 Riley Masters             SO Maine                  4:04.29    4

  6 Jeff See                  SR Ohio State             4:04.34    3

  7 Rob Mullett               SR Butler                 4:04.63    2

  8 Dylan Ferris              SO Stanford               4:04.73    1

  9 Eric Harasyn              JR Oklahoma               4:04.94

 10 Abdi Hassan               SO Arizona                4:05.36

Montana State Bobcats - Casey Captures All-America Honors, Grabs Third in NCAA Mile

MSU Bookstore Faculty and Staff Appreciation Event

2010-03-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, Thursday March 11th

Come join us on Thursday, March 11th for our first MSU Bookstore Faculty Staff Appreciation Event sponsored by Apple. We will be providing refreshments, a drawinf for an iPod and a one day special discount on most Apple products. MSU Bookstore staff and Apple employees will be on hand throughout the day.

Stuff You Didn't Know was in the Bookstore

2010-03-05T12:29:00.001-08:00

Have you every really looked at everything the MSU Bookstore has to offer? If you take the time to browse each aisle you will be shocked by all of the variety of products for sale! From MSU clothing to gifts to art supplies to computers to text books and novels, you are sure to find what you are looking for. Check out some of the featured items at the bookstore right now:

Cradled Painting Boards. These boards are flying off the shelves because of their unlimited possibilities! Use your creative liscense to create frames, boxes, or any art on these boards that are sure to stand out. These boards can be purchased in the art section of the bookstore.

Easter stuff. With the Easter holiday approaching fast, there are many decorations, stuffed bunnies, and candy to go around available at the bookstore. There is a wide range of decorations to help your dorm room, apartment, or house get in the Easter mood. Located on the front display of the gifts section, come browse for your Easter needs.

Life is Crap gear. Do you enjoy T-shirts and hats that make you and other laugh? Well come check out the Life is Crap gear located to the left of the Easter stuff. These shirts and caps play off the popular Life is Good gear. They make a great gift so come check them out!

There are so many other things to chose including photo albums and so much more! So come check out the MSU Bookstore and all it has to offer!

Awesome Books in the Bookstore

2010-03-05T09:29:00.000-08:00

House Rules by Jodi Picoult

They tell me I'm lucky to have a son who's so verbal, who is blisteringly intelligent, who can take apart the broken microwave and have it working again an hour later. They think there is no greater hell than having a son who is locked in his own world, unaware that there's a wider one to explore. But try having a son who is locked in his own world, and still wants to make a connection. A son who tries to be like everyone else, but truly doesn't know how.

Jacob Hunt is a teenage boy with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject — in his case, forensic analysis. He's always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do...and he's usually right. But then his town is rocked by a terrible murder and, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger's — not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, flat affect — can look a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them. For his mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threaten her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder?

Emotionally powerful from beginning to end, House Rules looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way — and fails those who don't.

The Elements; A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe
by Theodore Gray
Photographs by Theodore Gray and Nick Mann

An eye-opening, original collection of gorgeous, never-before-seen photographic representations of the 118 elements in the periodic table.

The elements are what we, and everything around us, are made of. But how many elements has anyone actually seen in pure, uncombined form? The Elements provides this rare opportunity. Based on five years of research and photography, the pictures in this book make up the most complete, and visually arresting, representation available to the naked eye of every atom in the universe. Organized in order of appearance on the periodic table, each element is represented by a spread that includes a stunning, full-page, full-color photograph that most closely represents it in its purest form. For example, at -183ËšC, oxygen turns from a colorless gas to a beautiful pale blue liquid, pictured here.

Also included are fascinating facts, figures, and stories of the elements as well as data on the properties of each, including atomic weight, density, melting and boiling point, valence, electronegativity, and the year and location in which it was discovered. Several additional photographs show each element in slightly altered forms or as used in various practical ways. The element's position on the periodic table is pinpointed on a mini rendering of the table and an illustrated scale of the element's boiling and/or melting points appears on each page along with a density scale that runs along the bottom.

Packed with interesting information, this combination of solid science and stunning artistic photographs is the perfect gift book for every sentient creature in the universe.

Both of these books can be found in the MSU Bookstore.

REMINDER! Rail Jam in Coming! Get Your Tickets!

2010-02-26T11:42:00.000-08:00

March 5 & 6

Make sure to come to the MSU Bookstore to purchase your Rail Jam 2010 tickets! Ticket price is $13. Gain access to every awesome event with these two day tickets! This event is a the Gallatin County Fair Grounds and promises to be the biggest and best event yet!

Here is the schedule of events:

Friday:
Main Stage:
5:00-5:45 Local Band
6:00-6:45 Modifyde
7:00-8:00 Black Mask
8:30-10:00 GZA
Mega Ramp:
6:00-7:10 Ski Prelims
7:20-8:30 Board Prelims
Beer Garden:
5:30-8:00 Oz and Hyperdelic
Zebra After Party:
10:00-11:15 One Leaf Clover
11:30-1:00 Cure for the Common

Saturday:
Main Stage:
5:00-5:45 Local Band
6:00-6:45 Cure for the Common
7:00-8:00 The Chicharones
8:30-10:00 Bassnectar
Mega Ramp:
6:00-7:10 Ski Finals
7:20-8:30 Board Finals
Beer Garden:
5:30-8:00 Oz and Hyperdelic
Zebra After Party:
10:00-11:15 The Linx
11:30-1:00 Black Mask

http://www.therailjam.com/

Book Signing with Robert and Cheryl Gough

2010-02-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

March 3rd, 11-1pm in the MSU Bookstore

Robert and Cheryl Gough will be available to sign your copy of The Guide to Rocky Mountain Vegetable Gardening. This book is the first vegetable gardening book to address the unique growing conditions and challenges of the five states of the Rocky Mountain region. Authors highlight how to select, grow, and harvest a host of vegetables that will succeed in the region and offer tips for extending the season.

If you live and garden in the Rocky Mountain region-Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming-you are faced with challenging growing conditions. But you can successfully grow vegetables in your region by knowing the right timing, the right vegetables selections, and the right advice for extending your short growing season.

You can purchase your copy in the MSU Bookstore or at our website.

This Weeks Bestsellers at the Bookstore

2010-02-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet
a novel by Reif Larsen

A brilliant, boundary-leaping debut novel tracing twelve-year-old genius map maker T.S.Spivet's attempts to understand the ways of the world.

When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T.S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal-if you consider mapping family dinner table conversation normal-is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T.S. from his family ranch just north of Divide, Montana, to the museum's hallowed halls.

T.S. sets out alone, leaving before dawn with a plan to hop a freight train and hobo east. Once aboard, his adventures step into high gear and he meticulously maps, charts, and illustrates his exploits, documenting mythical wormholes in the Midwest, the urban phenomenon of "rims," and the pleasures of McDonald's, among other things. We come to see the world through T.S.'s eyes and in his thorough investigation of the outside world he also reveals himself.

As he travels away from the ranch and his family we learn how the journey also brings him closer to home. A secret family history found within his luggage tells the story of T.S.'s ancestors and their long-ago passage west, offering profound insight into the family he left behind and his role within it. As T.S. reads he discovers the sometimes shadowy boundary between fact and fiction and realizes that, for all his analytical rigor, the world around him is a mystery.

All that he has learned is tested when he arrives at the capital to claim his prize and is welcomed into science's inner circle. For all its shine, fame seems more highly valued than ideas in this new world and friends are hard to find.

T.S.'s trip begins at the Copper Top Ranch and the last known place he stands is Washington, D.C., but his journey's movement is far harder to track: How do you map the delicate lessons learned about family and self? How do you depict how it feels to first venture out on your own? Is there a definitive way to communicate the ebbs and tides of heartbreak, loss, loneliness, love? These are the questions that strike at the core of this very special debut.

Reif Larsen, author of the bestselling "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet," will lecture at 7 p.m. Monday, March 8, in Montana State University's SUB Ballroom A. The talk, which will be followed by questions and answers and a book signing, is free and open to the public.

You can purchase this novel at the MSU Bookstore on the bestsellers shelf.

Committed
by Elizabeth Gilbert

At the end of her # 1 New York Times bestselling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, author Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love in the very best way -- unexpectedly -- with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship, who had been living in Indonesia for quite a long while. The couple commenced a life together and resettled in the United States. They swore eternal fidelity to each other, but they also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get married. (Both were survivors of previous bad divorces, and the mere thought of legal matrimony filled them with dread and suspicion.) Indeed, the two might have gone on living together forever in happily unmarried bliss, but providence intervened one day in the form of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, who -- after unexpectedly banishing Felipe from American shores -- gave the couple a choice: they could either get married, or Felipe would never be allowed to enter the United States again.

Having been effectively "sentenced to wed", Gilbert decided to tackle her fears of matrimony by becoming a student of the institution, trying once and for all to understand what this befuddling, vexing, and contradictory, yet stubbornly enduring habit of human marriage actually is. Over the next ten months, as she and Felipe wandered haphazardly across Southeast Asia, waiting for the U.S. government to permit them to return to America and get married, the only thing she talked about, read about, or thought about was this perplexing subject.

Committed tells the story of one woman's efforts through contemplation, historical study and extensive conversation with every soul she encountered along the way -- to make peace with marriage before she entered its estate once more. Told with Gilbert's trademark wit, intelligence and compassion, the book attempts to "turn on all the lights" when it comes to matrimony, frankly examining questions of compatibility, infatuation, fidelity, autonomy, family tradition, economic realities, social expectations, divorce risks and humbling responsibilities. Myths are debunked; fears are unthreaded; historical perspective is sought; and romantic fantasies are ultimately exchanged for vital emotional compromises. In the end, the book becomes a kind of celebration of love -- with all the complexity and consequence that real love, in the real world, will always entail for any two people who are brave enough to endeavor it.

You can purchase this novel at the MSU Bookstore on the bestsellers shelf.

2010 Vancouver Olympics

2010-02-19T11:49:00.000-08:00

Bryon Wilson and Heather McPhie represented the USA and Montana in Vancouver

Heather McPhie

Heather McPhie is formerly a competitive gymnast who began competing in freestyle skiing events at age 12. She soon discovered that jumping was one of her favorite things to do, which she credits to her gymnastics background. Heather is the youngest of three children, and attended Bozeman High School.

She is now 25-years-old, and participated in her first World Cup in 2006, at age 21. She got her first World Cup win at Deer Valley in January, along with a second- and third-place finish, and locked in her spot on the Olympic team. She competed in the Moguls competition Saturday, February 13th and was ranked third going into the finals. However, she fell in her final run knocking her out of medal contention. She finished 18th but has tons of potential to medal in the next Winter Olympics.

Bryon Wilson

Bryon Wilson started skiing at age three and worked his way up to freestyle at age 12 when a coach invited him and his brother Brad to join the Bridger freestyle program. Now 21-years-old, Bryon graduated with honors from Butte High School and went on to participate in his first World Cup in 2007 at age 18, where he placed 27th in moguls. At the 2009 World Cup Bryon got a chance to start after a teammate went out with an injury, and stunned spectators with two second-place finishes making him a new member of the U.S. freestyle ski team.

He was excited to get lunch and travel expenses paid for as part of the U.S. freestyle ski team. Now he's an Olympic medalist. Sunday, February 14th Bryon won the Bronze Medal in the Men's Mogul competition.

Not even Wilson could have expected that in two months he could have propelled himself past the other talented members of the men's moguls team to win a bronze medal and finish as the top American man in the event at the Vancouver Olympics.

"A year ago, I was just hoping to make the Olympics. That was my first goal going into this year," he said. "It was a long shot. But I'm glad I'm here."

"I'm stoked. It's super surprising but, you know, I've been skiing well."

Wilson, who competed in his first World Cup race in Finland in December after a teammate got injured, went on to post two second place finishes and was promoted to the "A" team.

In the men's final on Sunday, Wilson earned the highest marks for aerial tricks as he performed the two jumps with the highest degree of difficulty. His air trick score was higher than Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau, who won the gold.

Local Athlete Olympic Page

This Weeks Bestselling Books

2010-02-05T11:17:00.000-08:00

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"Brilliant and hugely ambitious....It's the kind of book that can be life changing."
-New York Times

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbooks, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down. In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

This award winning novel is rumored to become a movie soon. This book can be purchased in the MSU Bookstore on the Bestsellers shelf.

Drive: the Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
by Daniel H. Pink

From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the bestselling A Whole New Mind, comes a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knoledge to work smarter and live better.

Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external regards like money- the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, Daniel H. Pink, says in Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfaction-at work, at school, and at home-is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does-and how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, that's precisely the wrong way to motivate people for today's challenges. In Drive, he examines the three elements of motivation-autonomy, mastery, and purpose-and offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action. Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.

Drive is available for purchase at the MSU Bookstore.

New in Theaters

2010-02-05T10:15:00.000-08:00

CHICK FLICKS!
This weekend is the premier of Dear John and When in Rome which are sure to get ladies everywhere in the mood for Valentines day!

Dear John: When a soldier named John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets an idealistic college student named Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried), it's the beginning of a true romance. Over the next seven tumultuous years, the lovers, separated by John's increasingly dangerous deployment, stay in touch through their letters, meeting in person only rarely. However, their correspondence triggers fateful consequences that neither could foresee.

The movie is based on the book by Nicholas Sparks who's other novels such as A Walk to Remember and The Notebook were made into movies. The movie has received mediocre reviews saying that, "Teens will swoon for far-fetched, syrupy romance."

When in Rome: Beth(Kristen Bell) is at a point in her life where love seems like a luxury she just can't afford. Years of waiting for that perfect romance has made Beth bitter, and one day, while vacationing in Rome, she cynically plucks a handful of coins from a local fountain of love. Almost immediately thereafter, Beth finds herself fending off the advances of a motley crew of suitors. Meanwhile, a smitten reporter (Josh Duhamel) does his best to convince Beth that true love isn't just a topic of fairy tales and romance novels. This romantic comedy also didn't not receive rave reviews but is said to be entertaining.

Show times for Bozeman's theater:

Dear John: 12:45 3:15 7:00 9:45

When in Rome: 1:05 3:30 5:40 8:00 10:05

Make sure to check out other great movies in the theater this weekend! Also, Nicholas Sparks books can be purchased at the MSU Bookstore

"Come Find Us" Pre-Season Trailer

2010-02-03T14:24:00.000-08:00

Check out some phenomenal film editing and talented local skiers and snowboarders in this film trailer that is sweeping the internet. Many of the riders in this film are MSU students, and are putting Montana on the map in the ski and snowboard community. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/toysoldierproductions

The iPad

2010-01-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of hype about Apple's next big innovation. Rumors were flying around the web concerning the highly anticipated Apple press release. On January 27, 2010, Steve Jobs, Apple CEO, announced the new Apple iPad.

Perhaps the best way to explain the iPad is to call it a jack-of-all-trades. It has all the functionality of the iPod Touch, including gaming, music, and video. But it's also a day planner, e-mail device, Web tablet, e-book reader, digital picture frame, and portable DVD player.

The high-resolution, 9.7-inch LED-backlit IPS display on iPad is remarkably crisp and vivid. The multi-touch screen on iPad is based on the same revolutionary technology on the iPhone. But the technology has been completely reengineered for the larger iPad surface, making it extremely precise and responsive. The dementions of the iPad are height: 9.56 inches, width: 7.47 inches, depth: 0.5 inch, weight: 1.5 pounds (Wi-Fi model with out 3G). The iPad has up to ten hours battery life. It is also available with a choice of 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of flash storage, giving you lots of room for your photos, movies, music, apps, and more.

With built-in 802.11n, iPad takes advantage of the fastest Wi-Fi networks. It automatically locates available Wi-Fi networks, which you can join with a few taps. iPad also comes with Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, letting you connect to devices like wireless headphones or the Apple Wireless Keyboard. The iPad is available with 3G capability. However, 3G has limited availability in Montana and this version of the ipad will not be available to purchase in the MSU Bookstore.

This new and exciting product from Apple may become much more compelling with the development of new applications specifically designed for the iPad between now and its ship dates. The iPad should be released in March or April of this year. The iPad can be purchased starting at $499 and will be available in the MSU Bookstore once shipped.

Source:
Video Release
Apple Website
Apple vs. Kindle article
Reasons For and Against Purchase an iPad article

This Week's Best Selling Non-Fiction

2010-01-29T10:07:00.001-08:00

Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rose and historic triumph of Barack Obama. the shocking fall of the House of Clinton-and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama's partner and America's face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin. But despite the wall-to-wall media coverage of this spellbinding drama, remarkably little of the real story behind the headlines has yet been told.

In Game Change, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, two of the country's leading political reporters, use their unrivaled access to pull back the curtain on the Obama, Clinton, McCain, and Palin campaigns. How did Obama convince himself that despite the thinness of his resume, he could somehow beat the odds to become the nation's first African American president? How did the tumultuous relationship between the Clintons shape-and warp-Hillary's supposedly unstoppable bid? What was behind her husband's furious outbursts and devastating political miscalculations? Why did McCain make the novice governor of Alaska his running mate? And was Palin merely painfully out of her depth-or troubled in more serious ways?

Game Change answers those questions and more, laying bare the secret history of the 2008 campaign. Heilemann and Halperin take us inside the Obama machine, where staffers referred to the candidate as "Black Jesus." They unearth the quiet conspiracy in the U.S. Senate to prod Obama into the race, driven in part by the fears of senior Democrats that Bill Clinton's personal life might cripple Hillary's presidential prospects. They expose the twisted tale of John Edwards's affair with Rielle Hunter, the truth behind the downfall of Rudy Giuliani, and the doubts of those responsible for vetting Palin about her readiness for the Republican ticket-along with the McCain campaign staff's worries about her fitness for office. And they reveal how, in an emotional late-night phone call, Obama succeeded in wooing Clinton, despite her staunch resistance to become his secretary of state.

Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasionally shocking, ofter hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime.

This book can be found on the bestsellers shelf in MSU Bookstore.

This Week's Best Selling Fiction

2010-01-29T10:03:00.001-08:00

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

From one of the best-loved authors of all time comes an irresistible adventure of swashbuckling pirates in the New World, a classic story of treasure and betrayal.

The Caribbean, 1665, a remote colony of the English Crown, the island of Jamaica holds out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, its capital, is a cutthroat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses.

In this steamy climate there's a living to be made, a living that can end swiftly by disease-or by dagger. For Captain Charles Hunter, gold in Spanish hands is gold for the taking, and the law of the land rests with those ruthless enough to make it.

Word in port is that the galleon El Trinidad, fresh from New Spain, is awaiting repairs in a nearby harbor. Heavily fortified, the impregnable harbor is guarded by the bloodthirsty Cazalla, a favorite commander of the Spanish king himself. With backing from a powerful ally, Hunter assembles a crew of ruffians to infiltrate the enemy outpost and commandeer El Trinidad, along with its fortune in Spanish gold. The raid is as perilous as the bloodiest tales of island legend, and Hunter will lose more than one man before he even sets foot on foreign shores, where dense jungle and the firepower of Spanish infantry stand between him and the treasure....

Pirate Latitudes is Michael Crichton at his best: a rollicking adventure tale pulsing with relentless action, crackling atmosphere, and heart-pounding suspense.

This book can be found on the bestsellers shelf in the MSU Bookstore.

Product of the Week!

2010-01-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

The MSU Bookstore overs a wide array of Under Armour products that are sure to please! If you haven't experienced the superior fabric that is sure to keep you warm this winter or cool in the summer, put purchasing any Under Armour clothing at the top of your shopping list! All of the Under Armour apparel offered in the bookstore display Bobcat pride ranging from hoodies, shirts, and polos, to bags and caps. Stop by the bookstore for the widest selection or order from the selection online. These products make great birthday and Valentines gifts!

Under Armour at the Bookstore

Cats Beat the Griz Despite Fan Fiasco

2010-01-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

MSU Conquers the Griz

Saturday night, the Montana State University Men's Basketball team faced off against the Griz.

The Bobcats maintained a consistent lead most of the game. During the final media time out, the Bobcat mascot Champ and the cheer squad sent hundreds of the tiny golden balls flying into the crowds. A member of the crowd threw one of the balls at Grizzly coach Wayne Tinkle which hit him in the back and another nearly grazed UM center Brian Qvale in the middle of a free throw attempt.

The second fan toss prompted MSU head coach Brad Huse to grab the public address microphone from its perch. "You're going to cost us a technical foul," Huse said, among other things, in a quick speech to the crowd of 6,427 - the largest Brick Breeden Fieldhouse has seen this season. The address was met with applause. But little did Huse know, his home fans had just cost him a technical foul, as the referees had already issued a warning after the original ball hit Coach Tinkle.

Qvale, who made the first free throw despite the distraction, made the second and Anthony Johnson hit the two technical foul shots which cut the Bobcat lead to 51-50 with 2 minutes, 33 seconds to play. Worthington Arena got a little quieter until Bobcat forward Branden Johnson drilled a deep 3-pointer with 1:59 to play, putting MSU back up four. "Getting the crowd back into it, it was a great feeling," said Johnson. That bucket and a layup from Navarre seconds later ended the game with a final score Montana St. 61, Montana 52.

After the game, Bobcat senior Branden Johnson commented that "the ball incident was crazy," and Coach Huse said his team was appreciative of the fans, saying "they helped us a heck of a lot more than they hurt us." However, those two novelty Bobcat basketballs will likely give Montana State's promotional department something to think about this week.

Montana State Bobcats - Bobcats Hold Off Grizzly Rally

Coach's Response to Technical Foul

Bozeman Chronicle's article

Chamberlin Rail Jam 2010

2010-01-22T12:19:00.000-08:00

Buy tickets to the Rail Jam on March 5 & 6

The MSU Bookstore is selling Rail Jam 2010 tickets! Ticket price is $13. Gain access to every awesome event with these two day tickets! Buy early to take advantage of this special low price!

Snowsports, loud music, energy drinks, epic competition, and so much more! Rail Jam is not only a competition for snow athletes but also a music festival featuring Modifyde, Black Mask, GZA, Chicharones, Bassnectar, and 2009 Battle of the Bands winner Cure for the Common. Ski and Board Prelims start Friday the 5th followed by the finals on Saturday the 6th. This event is a the Gallatin County Fair Grounds and promises to be the biggest and best event yet!

Athlete sign-ups end February 12th! For more information and to purchase VIP tickets visit

http://www.therailjam.com/

Best Selling Nonfiction: The Case for God

2010-01-20T10:42:00.000-08:00

The Case for God by Karen Armstrong

Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that is called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable? Why is it that atheists and theists alike now think and speak about God in a way that veers so profoundly from the thinking of our ancestors?

Answering these questions with the same depth of knowledge and profound insight that have marked all her acclaimed books, Armstrong makes clear how the changing face of the world has necessarily changed the importance of religion at both the societal and the individual level. And she makes a powerful, convincing argument for drawing on the insights of the past in order to build a faith that speaks to needs of our dangerously polarized age. yet she cautions us that religion was never supposed to provide answers that lie within the competence of human reason; that, she says, is the role of logos. The task of religion is " to help us live creatively, peacefully, and even joyously with realities for which there are no easy explanations." She emphasizes, too, that religion will not work automatically. It is, she says, a practical discipline: its insights are derived not for abstract speculation but from "dedicated intellectual endeavor" and a "compassionate lifestyle that enables us to break out of the prism of selfhood."

This bestseller can be purchased at the MSU Bookstore, located on the bestsellers self.

Best Selling Fiction: The Lovely Bones

2010-01-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

" My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973."

So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her-her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling.

Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously in Building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.

This national bestseller has been hailed as "A stunning achievement" according to The New Yorker and "A triumphant novel... It's a knockout" by Time Magazine. The novel is now a major motion picture directed by Academy Award winner Peter Jackson (director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy) staring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and new comer Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon. The movie is now playing in theaters everywhere. This book is now available at the MSU Bookstore on the Bestsellers shelf.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T18:38:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the MSU Bookstore. We hope you had a happy, healthy 2009 and we wish you the same for 2010!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! (a snowboarder writes this blog :))

Therapy Pups Visit MSU Bookstore

2009-12-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

A couple of the Intermountain Therapy Dogs came to visit the MSU Bookstore on December 16th. These pups were spreading holiday cheer to visitors of the bookstore.

The Intermountain Therapy Dogs are representatives of Intermountain Therapy Animals. The non-profit organization specializes in providing animal-assisted therapy in the areas of physical, occupational, speech and psychotherapies, as well as special education.

For more information about Intermountain Therapy Animals, visit www.therapyanimals.org.

For more information about the event, contact Mary Uravich at 994-7472.

The end of the drought

2009-12-14T08:34:00.000-08:00

It would appear that has been quite the drought in blog activity over the past 2 months. For that, I apologize. The marketing department has been slammed with holiday shopping, advertising and preparation. The MSU Bookstore is full of holiday cheer this time of year, with Christmas lights, snowflakes, and tinsel hanging all about.

December 8th was Ugly Sweater Day at the MSU Bookstore. If you happened to come into the store that day you might have questioned the sanity of some of the staff, but take solace in knowing that there was a contest going on. To the right is a photo of the winner, Katie, in her ugly sweater. Hers was adorned with some homemade accoutrements, most noteably a metallic bird that sat on her left shoulder.

So as you can see, Christmas cheer is going strong at the Bookstore. If you are still shopping or Christmas gifts, come check out our great selection of MSU accessories and clothing items under $20! We also have gift cards available for any amount and great sales on Apple computers. MacBook Pros are up to $100 off the education price, and still include a $1 all-in-one printer/copier/scanner.

Remember, free parking in the visitor lot at 7th and Grant for 1/2 hour, and shop any time at www.msubookstore.org

Welcome future (we hope) Bobcats!

2009-10-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today is MSU Friday on campus in Bozeman, and over 800 perspective MSU students are checking out Montana State University. What a great day to visit! After last week, when temperatures hovered near zero, the expected high today is 60 with sunshine!

What's new this fall?

2009-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

The new school year always brings on new and exciting changes for the store. Here are a few of things we are proud to announce this fall at MSU Bookstore.

1. Biodegradable bags! Our signature yellow shopping bags are now made with biodegradable, compostable, and recyclable plastic. While we always recommend reusing this durable bags, take solace in knowing they won't be hanging out in landfills for thousands of years!

2. Dell Computers. Not an Apple fan? That's OK, the computer department now carries several models of Dell Computers, including an adorable little netbook. Visit the computer department today to talk with Ben and Lindsay, our resident computer experts, about getting a new computer this fall!

3. Speaking of new computers, MSU Bookstore has the lowest prices on Apple computers in Montana. MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops are now $100 off the already ridiculously low education price. In addition to a great discount, buy a computer and get an HP all-in-one printer for one dollar.

4. Neat-o event sponsorships. MSU Bookstore is a proud sponsor and ticket outlet for the Chamberlin Productions Monsters Ball. The Monsters Ball this year will feature some awesome musical acts including RJD2. Check out his music here. For more on the Monsters Ball, visit www.chamberinproductions.com

5. Looking for some great gifties for your favorite fly fisherman? Then check out the Trout U line both online and in-store. Trout U celebrates the plentiful fishing and wonderful rivers surrounding MSU. Click here to shop the Trout U collection.

Gold Rush is almost here!

2009-09-03T14:34:00.001-07:00

Catapalooza Continues

2009-08-28T07:09:00.000-07:00

Today is the last day to come down to Catapalooza and enter to win an iPod, play some pong and get some free stuff.

We'll be on the Centennial Mall with all sorts of other MSU clubs and organizations from 10 AM to 3 PM today. See you there!

Catapalooza

2009-08-26T07:06:00.000-07:00

Catapalooza is today through Friday on the Centennial Mall on the MSU Campus from 10 AM to 3 PM each day. Come on down and visit us, play a little water (not beer) pong, get some free stuff, and enter to win an iPod!

Catapalooza is a great place to find out about MSU clubs and organizations, to ask questions to current students and get insider info on things like when to buy your textbooks. We look forward to see you and welcome to MSU!

For more information about Catapalooza, click here.

Time for Textbooks. Weee!

2009-08-20T12:10:00.000-07:00

Now is a great time to come into the store to get your textbooks if you've already made it back to Bozeman after your summer vacation. The store is quiet, the lines are short, and the used books are still widely available. Next week's going to be crazy, so get 'em while you can!

Less Than a Month Left for Free iPods!

2009-08-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

Get a free iPod until September 9th!

The Apple computer promotion is still in effect that gets you a free iPod up to $229 value with the purchase of any Mac! This promotion ends on September 9th, 2009, so run, don't walk, into the MSU Bookstore to take advantage before time runs out.

Everybody's Reading It!

2009-08-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Get your copy of the Soloist now, before we run out. This great book is the required freshman reading at Montana State and is also the book chosen for the One Book-One Bozeman program.

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-08-03T08:12:00.000-07:00

Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Full of incredible characters, amazing athletic achievements, cutting-edge science, and, most of all, pure inspiration, Born to Run is an epic adventure that began with one simple question: Why does my foot hurt? In search of an answer, Christopher McDougall sets off to find a tribe of the world's greatest distance runners and learn their secrets, and in the process shows us that everything we though we knew about running was wrong.

Isolated by the most savage terrain in North America, the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's deadly Copper Canyons are custodians of a lost art. For centuries they have practiced techniques that allow them to run hundreds of miles without rest and chase down anything from a deer to an Olympic marathoner while enjoying every mile of it. Their superhuman talent is matched by uncanny health and serenity, leaving the Tarahumara immune to the diseases and strie that plague modern existence. With the help of Caballo Blanco, a mysterious loner who lives among the tribe, the author was able not only to uncover the secrets of the Tarahumara but also to find his own inner ultra-athlete, as he trained for the challenge of a lifetime: a fifty-mile race through the heart of Tarahumara country pitting the tribe against an odd band of Americans, including a star ultramarathoner, a beautiful young surfer, and a barefoot wonder.

With a sharp wit and wild exuberance, McDougall takes us from the high-tech science labs at Harvard to the sun-baked valleys and freezing peaks across North America, where ever-growing numbers of ultrarunners are pushing their bodies to the limit, and, finally, to the climactic race in the Copper Canyons. Born to Run is that rare book that will not only engage your mind but inspire your body when you realize that the secret to happiness is right at your feet, and that you, indeed all of us, were born to run.

Buy it now!

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen

When twelve-year-old genius cartographer T.S. Spivet receives an unexpected phone call from the Smithsonian announcing he has won the prestigious Baird Award, life as normal--if you consider mapping family dinner table conversation normal--is interrupted and a wild cross-country adventure begins, taking T.S. from his family ranch north of Divide, Montana, to the museum's hallowed halls.

T.S. sets out alone, leaving before dawn with a plan to hop a freight train and hobo east. Once he's aboard, his adventures step into high gear and he meticulously maps, charts, and illustrates his exploits, documenting mythical wormholes in the Midwest, the urban phonmenon of "rims," and the pleasures of McDonald's, among other things. We come to see the world through T.S.'s eyes and in his thorough investigation of the outside world he also reveals himself.

As he travels away from the ranch, we learn how the journey also brings him closer to home. A secret family history found within his luggage tells the story of T.S.'s ancestors and their long-ago passage west, offering profound insight into the family he left behind his role within it. As T.S. reads, he discovers the sometimes shadowy boundary between fact and fiction and realized that for all his analytical rigor, the world around him is a mystery.

All he has learned is tested when he arrives in the capital to claim his prize and is welcomed into science's inner circle. For all its shine, fame seems more highly valued than ideas in this new world, and friends are hard to find.

T.S.'s trip begins at the Coppertop Ranch and the last known place he stands is Washington, D.C., but his journey's movement is far harder to track: How does one map the delicate lessons learned about family, for communicate the ebbs and flows of heartbreak, loneliness, and love? There are some answers here on the road from Divide, and some new questions, too.

Buy it now!

Welcome Future Bobcats!

2009-07-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

Around 500 incoming freshman are on campus this week for freshman Orientation. Welcome to all the new Bobcats.

The MSU Bookstore will be open LATE on Tuesday, July 28th to give new students and parents time out of the busy orientation schedule to shop. The Bookstore will be open until 6 PM on Tuesday, July 28th.

On Wednesday, July 29th, look for us in the SUB Ballroom for the Orientation fair from 9 - 11 AM. We will be featuring our line of Apple computers and iPods, the LiveScribe Smart Pen, and the newest clothing items for fall. See you there!

New Women's Merchandise

2009-07-22T15:12:00.000-07:00

The MSU Bookstore clothing section is getting a face lift! Come by and check out the new women's and kid's section located in the back of general books. In addition to a new location, we have some awesome new merchandise for women including some great henleys and cadet caps, which I love.

See you soon!

Open Late Tonight!

2009-07-14T07:00:00.000-07:00

To give all the future Bobcats and Bobcat parents in town this week a chance to shop during their busy orientation week, the MSU Bookstore will be open until 6 PM tonight, Tuesday July 14th.

Welcome Future Bobcats!

2009-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

Around 500 incoming freshman are on campus this week for freshman Orientation. Welcome to all the new Bobcats.

The MSU Bookstore will be open LATE on Tuesday, July 14th to give new students and parents time out of the busy orientation schedule to shop. The Bookstore will be open until 6 PM on Tuesday, July 14th and Tuesday, July 28th.

On Wednesday, July 15th, look for us in the SUB Ballroom for the Orientation fair from 9 - 11 AM. We will be featuring our line of Apple computers and iPods, the LiveScribe Smart Pen, and the newest clothing items for fall. See you there!

Gift Cards Now Available!

2009-06-25T10:17:00.000-07:00

The MSU Bookstore now has gift cards available both in-store and online! Click here to buy online or stop into the store to get yours. What a perfect gift for the MSU enthusiast or new student in your life! The gift cards do not expire and can be used for any amount at any time.

While you are in the store, check out our classy new store signage. Shopping at the Bookstore has never been easier.

Father's Day Golf Giveaway Winner

2009-06-24T08:05:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Joe Dalton, winner of the MSU Bookstore Father's Day Golf Giveaway! Joe was 1 Champ away from guessing the correct number of Champ dolls in our glass case. There were 214 Champs and Joe guessed 213. Joe took home an MSU golf bag, MSU putter, MSU golf balls and tees, and golf club head covers. There were over 400 guesses in the giveaway. Thanks to all the great dads in the world that make our lives better every day. Happy Father's Day!

Thanks everyone for entering and keep an eye out for more giveaways from MSU Bookstore this summer and fall!

Yellowstone Bees Today

2009-06-16T08:14:00.000-07:00

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-06-11T12:26:00.000-07:00

How We Decide by Johan Lehrer

Since Plato, philosophers have described the decision-making process as either rational or emotional: we carefully deliberate, or we "blink" and go with our gut.

but as scientists break open the mind's black box with the latest tools of neuroscience, they're discovering that this is not how the mind works. Our best decisions are a finely tuned blend of both feeling and reason--and the precise mix depends on the situation. When buying a house, for example, it's best to let our unconscious mull over the many variables. But when we're picking a stock, intuition often leads us astray. The trick is to determine when to use the different parts of the brain, and to do this, we need to think harder (and smarter) about how we think.

Jonah Lehrer arms us with the tools we need, drawing on cutting-edge research as well as the real-world experiences of a wide range of "deciders"--from airplane pilots and hedge fund investors to serial killers and poker players.

Lehrer whos how people are taking advantage of the new science to make better television shows, win more football games, and improve military intelligence. His goal is to answer two questions that are of interest to just about anyone, from CEOs to firefighters: How does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better?

Pygmy by Chuck Palahniuk

"Begins here first account of operative me, agent number 67 on arrival Midwestern American greater ___ area. Flight ___. Date ____. Priority mission top success to complete. Code name: Operation Havoc."

Thus speaks Pygmy, one of a handful of young adults from a totalitarian state sent to the United States, disguised as exchange students, to live with typical American families and blend in, all the while planning an uspecified act of massive terrorism. Palahniuk depicts Midwestern life thorugh the eyes of this thoroughly indoctrinated little killer, who hates us with a passion, in this cunning double-edged satire of an American xenophobia that might, in fact, be completely justified. For pygymy and his fellow operatives are cooking up something big, something truly awful, that will bring this big dumb country and its fat dumb inhabitants to their knees.

It's a comedy. And a romance.

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-05-18T14:49:00.001-07:00

Why is God Laughing by Deepak Chopra

In this refreshing new take on spirituality, bestselling author Deepak Chopra uses a fictional tale of a comedian and his unlikely mentor to show us a path back to hope, joy, and even enlightenment--with a lot of laughter along the way.

Meet Mickey Fellows. A successful L.A. comedian, he's just a regular guy, with his fair share of fears, egocentricities, and addictions. After his father's death, Mickey meets a mysterious stranger named Francisco, who changes his life forever. The two begin an ongoing discussion about the true nature of being. Reluctantly at first, Mickey accepts the stranger's help and starts to explore his own life in an effort to answer the riddles Francisco poses. Mickey starts to look at those aspects of himself that he has hidden behind a wall of wisecracks all his life. Eventually Micky realizes that authentic humor opens him up to the power of spirit--allowing him to finally make real connections with people.

After taking the reader on a journey with Mickey, Chopra then spells out the lessons that Mickey's story imparts to us: ten reasons to be optimistic, even in our challenging world. Chopra believes that the healthiest response to life is laughter from our heart, and even in the face of global turmoil, we can cultivate an internal sense of optimism. Rich with humor and practical advice, Why is God Laughing? shows us without a doubt that there is always a reason to be grateful, that every possibility holds the promise of abundance, and that obstacles are simply opportunities in disguise. In the end, we really don't need a reason to be happy. The power of happiness lies within each of us, just waiting to be unleashed. And Mickey Fellows' journey shows us the way.

True Colors by Kristin Hannah

The Grey sisters have always been close. After their mother's death, the girls banded together, becoming best friends. Their stern, disapproving father cares less about his children than about his reputation. To Henry Grey, appearances are everything, and years later, he still demands that his daughters reflect his standing in the community.

Winona, the oldest, needs her father's approval most of all. An overweight bookworm who never felt at home on the sprawling horse ranch that has been in her family for three generations, she knows that she doesn't have the qualities her father values. But as the best lawyer in town, she's determined to someday find a way to prove her worth to him.

Aurora, the middle sister, is the family peacemaker. She brokers every dispute and tries to keep them all happy, even has she hides her own secret pain.

Vivi Ann is the undisputed star of the family. A stunningly beautiful dreamer with a heart as big as the ocean in front of her house, she is adored by all who know her. Everything comes easily for Vivi Ann until a stranger comes to town...

In a matter of moments, everything will change. The Grey sisters will be pitted against one another in ways that none could have imagined. Loyalties will be tested and secrets revealed, and a terrible, shockign crime will shatter both their family and their beloved town.

With breathtaking pace and penetrating emotional insight, True Colors is an unforgettable novel about sisters, rivalry, forgiveness, redemption--and ultimately, what it means to be a family.

Summer, is that you?

2009-05-18T12:40:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally peaking out from behind the snow storms, rain and wind that have been gracing Montana since October. Yesterday's high was 85 and the high today is supposed to push 90!

Welcome back, nice weather. Now stick around for more than 2 days, please.

Father's Day Golf Giveaway!

2009-05-13T13:48:00.000-07:00

In celebration of all the golf-loving fathers out there, we are giving away a MSU golf bag, MSU putter and MSU club head covers. Stop in the MSU Bookstore and guess how many stuffed Champ dolls are in our display case and enter to win the golf set up for your Dad (or brother, or son, or mother, or whoever).

You must come into the store to enter to win. We will notify the winner on June 19th, the Friday before Father's Day. In the event of the tie, the winner will be randomly selected from those who guess the same number.

The week of the book signing.

2009-05-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

The MSU Bookstore was hopping this week with a number of book signings from local authors. On Thursday, Wendy Parciak of Missoula signed her book Requiem for Locusts. Yesterday, Bozeman native Don Pierre signed his novel Yesteryears Western Trek, a self-published story about a young man's adventures in the western United States in the 1860's. Later in the afternoon, MSU alumnus and engineer, Allen McDonald signed his book Truth, Lies and O-Rings which uncovers details of the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986.

Below are a few photos of Allen McDonald and the crowd that came to the Bookstore to get a copy of his now-sold-out book. The second photo was taken by Allen's nephew, Cameron McDonald.

Book Signing Today

2009-05-06T09:11:00.000-07:00

Wendy Parciak, an author from Missoula, will be at the MSU Bookstore on May 6 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a book signing. Parciak is the author of Requiem for Locusts, an award-winning novel that explores how a mentally ill neighbor creates turmoil - and ultimately openness - in a typical neighborhood.

The book is written from the perspective of a mentally ill young woman as well as a "normal" sibling and other members of the family and neighborhood.

"Ironically," Parciak said, "it is because of the wanderings and startlingly intuitive observations of the most alienated character in the book that everyone else in the neighborhood finally begins to communicate. It's my belief that once we realize that we all have problems - none of us are truly 'normal' - we will empathize better with others and find some common ground. By doing so, we will reduce both discrimination against the mentally ill and the sense of alienation that has become so commonplace in contemporary communities."

For more information about the book, visit www.requiemforlocusts.com
http://www.requiemforlocusts.com.

My life was ruined by a You Tube video.

2009-04-29T12:46:00.001-07:00

Here is a short video essay about people who should suppress the urge to film themselves, even if it seems like a good idea at the time. Some new finds and old favorites included.

And some old faves:

Trout U Merchandise Now in!

2009-04-23T10:38:00.000-07:00

Bozeman is known world-wide for its fantastic fly fishing opportunities and strong fishing culture. As such, Montana State University takes the cake as the place to go to school if you love fishing.

The MSU Bookstore is the exclusive vendor of Trout U merchandise including hats, t shirts, pint glasses, and decals. Find your Trout U merchandise by clicking here. We are still awaiting the delivery of our T-Shirts, but I guarantee it will be worth the wait. We will have shirts for kids too! May I personally recommend the camel colored cap. It was picked out by your oh-so-fashionable blog author and would look quite sharp with those Carhartts that I know you wear all day, every day.

Here's a special blog-only sneak peak at the new Trout U mascot. He needs a name by the way, so submit one in a comment if you have any ideas:

Prepare to Fall Down Laughing

2009-04-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is pretty indescribable, and, it's not in English but don't worry about that part.

You've got to see this

2009-04-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

What if humans could do this? It would be easy to hide on campus and avoid awkward conversations. Shout out to Myles Keating for finding this video.

Friday (creepy) Fun

2009-04-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

I graduated college a short 3 years ago, and as such, many of my former classmates are working at desk jobs and spending free time exploring all that the internet has to offer. This latest finding comes from a former high school classmate, let's call her Lisa*, who works in a small town in Washington. She and her sister Jackie* were recently exploring the Cheetos website, and Lisa warned me minutes ago that she was going to send me something and that I should "trust her". Minutes later, my cell phone rang from an "unavailable" caller, and I was greeted by a disturbing voice that knew my name and said some sinister things to me. Good thing I knew she was sending me something, or I would have dialed the cops on my office phone.

What I didn't know, is that that disturbing voice was the voice of Chester the Cheetah and Lisa was using something called the Voice Modulator on the Cheetos website. After exploring the rest of the website, I discovered all the other creepy applications, widgets and games you can download to your computer and play with. You can dress a Cheeto up like a porn star, generate sick day sounds, a la Ferris Bueller, for illnesses such as Ebola and Sudden Onset Canadianism (though the Ebola sounds are pretty disgusting, just a warning), or participate in all sorts of other odd activities. It's entertaining, just make sure you are in a well-lit environment when you do it. The front page of the website resembles something out of the movie The Ring.

If you are less than 5 years out of college, you have my permission to play with this website as long as you want and avoid working. If you are beyond that, you should get back to work. You probably have people depending on your paycheck.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Now Available on Twitter

2009-04-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

... whatever that means. Apparently a lot of other people are clueless as well:

Regardless, if you are savvy about Twitter and want to give me some tips and/or follow the Bookstore on Twitter, look me up! Now off I go to tweet... whatever that means.

Case of the Mondays? Here's the Cure:

2009-04-13T08:00:00.000-07:00

If you have some spare interneting (yes, I made up a verb) time on your hands today, trying monkeying around with the Fantastic Contraption. It's described as a "fun online physics game". It may sound nerdy, but you are about to get addicted. Sorry.

Find it here: www.fantasticcontraption.com

Not intrigued yet? Here's a screen shot. I mean, just LOOK at that thing.

Save Danforth Park!

2009-04-10T08:13:00.000-07:00

Join the Students for Danforth Park in their efforts to save a restore Danforth Park on the MSU Campus by purchasing a Save Danforth Park button at the MSU Bookstore for $2. All proceeds go to restoration of the park. Here's a little history:

- Danforth Park, formerly known as the Iris Gardens, was built in 1930 by the Associate Society of Women of MSU during economic hardship.
- Each female member donated $.50. Each male student paid $1.00 to fund the park. Shortly after, other groups on campus bought inot the vision and gave financial support. Thus, the park was created!

As the campus grew, the park became neglected and forgotten. The Students for Danforth Park want to revive this space as a tribute to those students who gave so much, as well as expand and integrate the park into campus life as a place to study, relax, enjoy beauty and nature and recreate. The group would like to change the name of the park back to the Iris Garden.

For more information on Project Iris Garden, visit www.projectirisgarden.com and find them on Facebook by clicking here.

If you would like to help with the project or donate money, email projectirisgarden@gmail.com

Thursday You Tubin'

2009-04-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Looking for a little Thursday pick-me-up? Check out these fun You Tube finds:

I don't know if this video used special effects or not, and I don't really care.

Here we go, from sheep to cars. Please note, there are no special effects used in this video.

If that wasn't enough cars for you, here:

Read These Books

2009-04-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

A Lion Called Christian by Anthony Bourke and John Rendall

First, watch the YouTube video:

In 2008, an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion, Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free's George Adamson to introduce him inot his rightful home in the wild.

A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony "Ace" Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London's King's Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up--fast--and soon even the walled church garden where he went fore exercise wasn't large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of "the father of lions," George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions.

Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than fifty photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa, A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story oif an indelible human-animal bond. It is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the littel girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tonge, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonethless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the liines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daugthers, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

The Latest and Greatest from CAMEX

2009-03-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

As promised (and being reminded by a faithful reader), here is an update on some of the new things to look for in the coming months on the college market:

Peace Signs
Apparently, 2009 is the 50th anniversary of the peace sign. This means that the fashion powers-that-be have decided that the peace sign will adorn as many clothing items and accessories as possible this year. Everything at the show from sweatshirts to wallets were covered in peace signs and silly paisley prints. After a short visit to Disney Land, we reluctantly confirmed that this fashion does exist and must be embraced.

Go Green
We all know that the environment is a hot topic right now, and the exhibitors at CAMEX confirmed it. Reusable bags, pens and paper made of recycled materials, organic clothing and stainless steel water bottles littered (no pun intended) the trade show floor.

Pen Technology
This was my first buying experience with office supplies, and one would think they are boring, but wowzers did the pen companies impress me with some of the things they came up with. In addition to pens made with recycled, earth friendly materials packaged in recycled packaging, you would be shocked at what Bic, Sanford, Pentel and Zebra are capable of coming up with. Sanford featured a mechanical pencil that rotates the lead every time you touch the pencil to paper so you are always using the sharpest end of the lead. Zebra featured a pen that donates a majority of the profit to Breast Cancer. Bic had my favorite new pen, the Reaction. The Reaction pen has a shock absorber built in so that the pen compresses when you push on the paper, reducing fatigue in your wimpy hands.

Save the Tatas
A company with a goal of freeing the world from cancer, Save the Tatas stole the show at CAMEX with their blunt marketing campaign to raise money for breast cancer research. Buttons and stickers saying things like "Save the Tatas" and "Caught you looking at my tatas" were found all over the convention center. Visit this website to learn more about the campaign: www.savethetatas.com.

Apple Does it Again

2009-03-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Those of us who have taken any sort of product development class know about the marketing scam that is known as "planned obsolescence". Apple is a company that has mastered the concept. They make flashy, awesome technology that lasts longer than everyone else's, though they come out with new versions of iPods and computers so often that it will make your head spin off if you think about it too much. If you are like me, and have a love affair with your iPod Shuffle, you have no doubt heard about Apple's new Shuffle, released last week while I was helplessly kept away from the internet in a hotel in southern California.

The new iPod Shuffle is roughly half the size of the most recent generation and holds twice as much music. Four gigs of space, which gives you enough room for 1000 songs in a package smaller than an AA battery. Some of the even more impressing features of the shuffle include the fact that it has no buttons and its voiceover function that tells you what song and/or playlist is playing.

Check it out! I want one.

MSU Bookstore is going to Disneyland!!

2009-03-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, that's a lie. We aren't moving the whole Bookstore, because if so we would have to perform a complicated rebranding to name the store MSU Bookstore - Disneyland, and let's face it, we don't have the time for that... but I digress. Katie, Mark and I are headed to Anaheim, CA for the Campus Market Expo or CAMEX for short. CAMEX is a ginormous trade show featuring all the new goodies in university retail.

Mark and Katie are thrilled to be in 70+ degree weather, especially after our low of 10 below this morning. I, on the other hand, will be missing the snow the entire time we're gone. I'll provide updates of the latest and greatest stuff from the show this week.

Rail Jam 09 - Meet Your Best Trick Judges

2009-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the explosion downtown, Rail Jam '09 will be held at the Gallatin County Fairgrounds instead of on Main Street. The event will begin at 6 PM as originally scheduled.

As mentioned before, MSU Bookstore is an official sponsor of Chamberlin Productions' Rail Jam 09! Not only will we be at the event tomorrow night, spreading the awesomeness that is the MSU Bookstore, we will also be judging the Best Trick competition at the event. We trucked in the greatest snowboarders from the northwest to choose the dude or dudette with the raddest moves at the Rail Jam. The winner of the Best Trick award will win Skull Candy headphones, product from Ogio and the coveted AWESOME stamp so he/she can spread awesomeness all over Montana.

Now, it's time to meet your judges:

Brian "Mini Pony" Johnson
Able to stun strangers with his infamous Boston accent, Brian grew up on a miniature horse farm in upstate New York, leading to his nickname of Mini Pony. Brian traveled from his new home in Boulder, CO for Rail Jam 09.

Favorite trick: Backside 1260 to revert, ala Travis Rice.
Favorite snack: Woven bacon topped with imitation bacon bits.
Hometown: Schenectady, NY
Favorite Pro Snowboarder: himself
Favorite Pass time besides snowboarding: constructing scarecrows

Alena "A Team" Howard
Hailing from the a small island just south of the Philippines, this pint-sized ripper has judged snowboard competitions from Argentina to Austria. She's famous for traffic-stopping crazy eyes, backside 180s, and delicious strawberry rhubarb pie. Alena crossed the ocean from France to make an appearance in Bozeman this weekend.

Favorite brand of soy sauce: La Choy
Best powder day ever: Sugarloaf, Maine.
Claim to fame: appeared as an extra in Saving Private Ryan
Random fact: She can spell all the state capitals in 45 seconds... backwards.

Mary "Bollywood" Uravich

A long time organizer of the largest pea and lentil shipper's organization in the Northern Hemisphere, Mary currently is studying for her Master's in Reconditioned Reverse Axial Coercision Therapy, with a Minor in Archery. She currently resides somewhere in the greater quad-cities area.

Favorite Trick - Switch 270-on frontslide boardslide to nosepress, frontflip out.

Favorite Snack: Grilled Amazonian Duck Breast, marinated in a reduction of cote d' fluere and spanish razeberries, served with candied Indian yams and a sprout salad.

Hometown: Moscow, Russia (briefly)

Favorite Pro Snowboarder: Tony Hawk...wait, wrong sport?

Favorite Passtime besides snowboarding - Non-Professional Architecture Consulting.

Jerrod "Underscore" Warner
Known for his untameable tendency to imitate animal and kitchen appliance sounds, Jerrod's dog grooming abilities are nationally recognized. When he is not beautifying pooches, he spends his time slashing powder in eastern British Colombia.

Favorite US Territory: Guam
Power animal: Wombat
Passtime besides snowboarding and dog grooming: Interpretive dance.
Random fact: Can recite US Constitution in Swahili
Favorite G-rated swear word: Golly gee wizz.

Anyone for a Hike?

2009-03-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

Only sixteen miles from the world class ski area that is Bridger Bowl and 45 miles from the base of magnificent Lone Mountain, which houses Big Sky Resort and Moonlight Basin Resort, Bozeman is a mecca for backcountry skiers and snowboarders.

The new Schlasman's chairlift at Bridger Bowl, which opened this winter, provides easier access to the legendary Ridge terrain that the resort is known for. Local authors Tavis Campbell and Sam Cox released the second edition of their handy guide to The Ridge titled Stepping Up.

Stepping Up is a detailed account fo the prominent lines at Bridger Bowl. The book is chock-full of photos, maps and descriptions. Areas of interest in clued The Ridge, High Traverse and The Fingers. This is a must have for Ridge Hippies and novices alike.

Copies of Stepping Up are available at the MSU Bookstore both in-store and online. More information about the book is available at the book's website: www.stepping-up.net

Buy an Apple, Get Free Stuff!

2009-03-05T00:17:00.000-08:00

I have more than a few best friends in this world, but among the top of the list are my dog, my coffee cup, and my iPod Shuffle. I have a 5th Generation 30 GB iPod as well, and it's great and all, but nothing beats my little blue Shuffle with its clip for my belt loop and 1 gig of my favorite tunes for running and snowboarding. If you are looking for a computer and a new best friend, do we have the deal for you!!

Right now, buy any Apple computer and get a free iPod Shuffle! To top that off, if you buy the Apple Care protection program, which includes an extended 3 year warranty and phone service, you get a free printer*! (*while supplies last, of course)

Sidewalk Sale TODAY through Thursday

2009-03-03T06:59:00.000-08:00

MSU Bookstore is hosting a Sidewalk Sale today through Thursday from 10 AM to 2 PM in the hallway in front of the Buyback Window in the Strand Union Building. Stop by to find amazing deals on sweatshirts, t shirts, Under Armour, books and more!

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-03-02T11:42:00.000-08:00

Food Matters by Mark Bittman

"If I told you that the same lifestyle choice could help you lose weight, reduce your risk of many long-term or chronic diseases, save you real money, and help stop global warming, I imagine you'd be intrigued. If I also told you that this change, while not effortless, would be easier and more pleasant than any diet you've ever tried, would take less time and effort than your exercise routine, and would require no sacrifice, I wouldn't think you'd want to read more. If you do, you'll find an explanation of the links among diet, health, the environment in general, and climate change in particular, and you'll see how you can make a difference." -- From Food Matters

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell

Young Nicholas Hook is dogged by a cursed past--haunted by what he has failed to do and banished for what he has done. A wanted man in England, he is driven to fight as a mercenary archer in France, where he finds two things he can love: his instincts as a fighting man, and a girl in trouble. Together they survive the notorious massacre at Soissens, an event that shocks all Christendom. With no options left, Hook heads home to England, where his capture means certain death. Instead he is discovered by the young King of England--Henry V himself--and by royal command he takes up the longbow again and dons the cross of Saint George. Hook returns to France as part of the superb army Henry leads in his quest to claim the French crown. But after the English campaign suffers devastating early losses, it becomes clear that Hook and his fellow archers are their king's last resort in a desperate fight against an enemy more daunting than they could ever have imagined.

One of hte most dramatic victories in British history, the battle at Agincourt--immortalized by Shakespeare in Henry V-- pitted undermanned and overwhelmed English forces against a French army determined to keep their crown out of Henry's hands. Here Bernard Cornwell resurrects the legend of the battle and the "band of brothers" who fought it on October 25, 1415. An epic redemption, Agincourt follows a commoner, a aking and a nation's entire army on an improbable mission to test the will of God and reclaim what is rightfully theirs. From the disasters at the siege of Harfleur to the horrors of the field of Agincourt, this exhilarating story of survival and slaughter is at once a brilliant work of history and triumph of imagination--Bernard Cornwell at his best.

Rail Jam 09

2009-02-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

MSU Bookstore is an official sponsor of Chamberlin Productions' Rail Jam 09.

Rail Jam 09 will be held on Main Street in downtown Bozeman at 6 PM on Saturday, March 7th. There will be a snowboard and ski competition, live music, a DJ and all sorts of fun stuff.

MSU Bookstore will be sponsoring the Best Trick at the Rail Jam and the winner will receive Skull Candy headphones, Ogio merchandise and the ever-so-coveted AWESOME stamp. It's sure to be a great show, so stop by the MSU Bookstore booth and say "hey-o" and try to influence the Best Trick judges to pick your favorite Rail Jammer as the awesomist.

Spring Sidewalk Sale

2009-02-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

Next Tuesday through Thursday, March 3 -5 from 10 AM to 2 PM, the MSU Bookstore will be holding a Sidewalk Sale. The sale will be held in the hallway on the lower level of the Strand Union Building outside of the Textbook Buyback window. There will be great deals on Under Armour clothing, MSU sweatshirts and t-shirts, books and other merchandise. Tell your friends!

The Swing of Things, Wintery Things

2009-02-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

While most of the world is getting sick of sub zero temperatures, slush, ice, and snow shoveling, a large sub-culture of skiers and snowboarders are patiently (or not-so-patiently) awaiting the next big snow storm to sweep through the Rocky Mountains of Montana. Most of my faithful readers are probably unaware that I am a snowboard and ski instructor at Moonlight Basin Resort in Big Sky, Montana (shameless self-plug). The snow situation this winter has been meager at best, but my crew at Moonlight Basin has been busy thrashing the snow on Lone Peak in the sunshine. Our faces are sunburned and our lips are chapped, but man, do we have a good time!

In this post are some pictures from the adventures of a few Moonlight Basin employees. Pictures are property of Patrick Gannon and Scott Schaefer, please leave them here.

Above: Patrick Gannon, ski and snowboard instructor and guide at Moonlight Basin shows us the base of his skis. Photo by Scott Schaefer.

Right: Texan turned Coloradan turned Montanan, Dave McCune, snowboard supervisor at Moonlight Basin, sprays some light Montana snow in front of Lone Peak. Photo by Patrick Gannon.

Left: Lone Mountain is home to the world famous Headwaters terrain at Moonlight Basin. Patrick Gannon plans his descent in front of the beautiful view of the Gallatin Mountain range. Photo by Patrick Gannon

Right: While the snow gods are not always good to us, it is important to praise them when they behave properly. Dave McCune gives thanks before traversing out the Stillwater bowl to make some pow turns. Photo by Patrick Gannon.

Below: Dave makes some late afternoon backcountry turns at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a beautiful 200 mile drive from Bozeman. Photo by Patrick Gannon.

Daytime TV

2009-02-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

Due to a series of unfortunate events, mostly related to my incorrect hypothesis that flu shots are a marketing scam, and the graciousness of my roommate and coworkers, I have fallen victim to the almighty influenza. Years ago, sitting on the couch at my parents' house, I would have cheered the thermometer on as it inched past 100 degrees, thus ensuring I would get to lounge around all day avoiding school work. These days, however, a fever, sore throat and cough mean that I am stuck watching daytime TV while my underexercised dog romps around the house and work emails pile up.

Here's an abbreviated daytime TV schedule, as I remember it, circa 1998:
10 AM: Price is Right
Noon: Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1 PM: Full House
3 PM: Maury Povich

I wish I could say that the daytime TV schedule had changed in the last 11 years, but unfortunately, it hasn't. Staying home from work in 2009 is the same as staying home from school was in 1998: boring.

Best of the Superbowl

2009-02-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Most of you are probably unaware that besides being the biggest NFL football event, the Superbowl is also the biggest marketing event of the year. For marketing dorks like myself, that means I spend the whole game shushing my friends when the commercials come on. There are always a few commercials that stand out and here are a few of my favorites:

How can you resist Nannerpuss?

As a dog lover, I was a sucker for the Pedigree commercials. Yes, Maybe You Should Get a Dog.

What? I can't flex the golden pipes?

And, you have to admit that Miller was cleverly able to combat the high cost of Superbowl advertisements and thumb its nose at Budweisers large number of spots by releasing multiple 1 second Miller High Life "Delivery Guy" commercials. This was the "champagne of commercials":

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-02-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

The Inheritance by David E. Sanger

Readers of The New York Times know David Sanger as one of the most trusted correspondents in Washington, one to whom presidents, secretaries of state, and foreign leaders talk with unusual candor. Now, with a historian's sweep and an insider's eye for telling detail, Sanger delivers an urgent intelligence briefing on the world America faces.

In a riveting narrative, The Inheritance describes the huge costs of distraction and lost opportunities at home and abroad as Iraq soaked up manpower, money, and intelligence capabilities. The 2008 market collapse further undermined American leadership, leaving the new president with a set of challenges unparalleled since Franklin D. Roosevelt entered the Oval Office.

Sanger takes readers into the White House Situation Room to reveal how Washington penetrated Tehran's nuclear secrets, leading President Bush, a desperate effort to delay an Iranian bomb. Meanwhile, his intelligence chiefs made repeated secret missions to Pakistan as they tried to stem a growing insurgency and cope with an ally who was also aiding the enemy--while receiving billions in American military aid. Now the new president faces critical choices: Is it better to learn to live with a nuclear Iran or risk overt or covert confrontation? Is it worth sending U.S. forces deep into Pakistani territory at the risk of undermining an unstable Pakistani government sitting on a nuclear arsenal? It is a race against time and against a new effort by Islamic extremists--never before disclosed--to quietly infiltrate Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.

"Bush wrote a lot of checks," one senior intelligence official told Sanger, "that the next president to going to have to cash."

The Inheritance takes readers to Afghanistan, where Bush never delivered on his promises for a Marshall Plan to rebuild the country, paving the way for the Taliban's return. It examines the chilling calculus of North Korea's Kim Jong-II, who built actual weapons of mass destruction in the same months that the Bush adminstaration pursued phantoms in Iraq, then sold his nuclear technology in the Middle East in an operation the American intelligence appartus missed. And it explores how China became one of the real winners of the Iraq war, using the past eight years to expand its influence in Asian, and lock up oil supplies in Africa while Washington bogged down in the Middle East. Yet Sanger, a former foreign correspondent in Asia, sees enormous potential for the next adminstration to forge a partnership with Beijing on energy and the environment.

At once a secret history of our foreign policy misadventures and a lucid explanation of the opportunites they creat, The Inheritance is vital readig for anyone trying to understand the extraordianary challenges that lie ahead.

Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

To contrast the seriousness of our first bestseller on the list, I present to you a graphic novel called Watchmen. If you are a fan of DC Comics, this is the book for you. Here is what some of the critics are saying:

"A work of ruthless psychological realism, it's a landmark in the graphic novel medium." -- One of Time Magazine's 100 Best English-Language Novels since 1923

"Watchmen is peerless." -- Rolling Stone

"Remarkable... the would-be heroes of Watchmen have staggeringly complex psychological profiles.: -- New York Times Book Review

"A brilliant piece of fiction." -- The Village Voice

"The greatest piece of popular fiction ever produced." Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof

"A masterwork representing the apex of artistry." -- Entertainment Weekly

Sounds good, doesn't it?

Winner Winner Winner!!

2009-01-30T09:16:00.000-08:00

Congratulations to Greg Warden and Katy Schmidt. They were the 2 winners in our iPod Touch giveaway! I apologize to all their friends, because Greg and Katy will be spending the next week downloading applications and playing games on their new toys.

Happy Friday!

Breaking News

2009-01-26T09:24:00.001-08:00

We are giving away two, count 'em, two iPod Touches. Visit the Computer Department at the MSU Bookstore and take a short computer survey for your chance to win. Sadly, this awesome promotion is only available in the store. One entry per person, please.

MSU Bookstore... Awesome.

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-01-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his new parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm--and into Edgar's mother's affections.

Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires--spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.

David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes--the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain--create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.

Armageddon in Retrospect by Kurt Vonnegut

Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve writings by Kurt Vonnegut on two of his most important subjects: war and peace. Written over the course of a lifetime, yet never before published, these pieces represent Vonnegut's unerring opposition to violence, and his rueful assessment of humanity's endless attraction to it.

Imbued with his trademark humor, the selectoins range from a visceral nonfiction recollection of the destruction of Dresden during World War II, a piece that is as timely today as it was then; to a painfully funny short story about three privates and their fantaisies of the perfect first meal upon returning home from the war; to a darker, more poignant story about the impossibility of shielding our children from the temptations of violence. Combined, these pieces offer readers remarkable insight into Vonnegut as a soldier, writer, artist, parent, and human being striving for peace.

This stunning volume also includes a letter that Vonnegut wrote to his family informing them that he'd been taken prisoner by the Germans; his last written speech; an introduction by his son, Mark Vonnegut; as well as an assortment of his marvelous artwork--like his writing, Vonnegut's art is colorful, unexpected, alternately poignant and potently funny. A fitting tribute, and an essential contribution to the discussion of war and peace, Armageddon in Retrospect says as much about the times in which we live as it does about the genius of the writer and artist.

Inauguration Day

2009-01-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

The radio and TV are playing the same programs, the internet is slow, and political statements are scrawled all over the sidewalk in chalk... must be Inauguration Day. Hope you are enjoying the sunshine (if you are in Bozeman) and the media coverage of the event.

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-01-15T09:18:00.000-08:00

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave--"Really Acheiving Your Childhood Dreams"--wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have... and you may find one day that you have tless than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

To learn more, and for links to watch the Last Lecture online, visit www.TheLastLecture.com

The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig

Driven by the memory of a fallen teammate, Treasure State University's 1941 starting lineup went down as a legend in Montana football history, charging through the season undefeated. Two years later, the "Supreme Team" is caught up in World War II. Ten of them are scattered around the globe in the war's lonely and dangerous theaters. The eleventh man, Ben Reinking, has been plucked from pilot training by a military propaganda machine hungry for heroes. He is to chronicle the adventures of his teammates, man by man, for publication in small-town newspapers across the country like the one his father edits. Ready for action, he chafes at the assignment, not knowing that it will bring him love from an unexpected quarter and test the law of averages, which holds that all but one of his teammates should come through the conflict unscathed.

A deeply American story, the Eleventh Man is Ivan Doig's most powerful novel to date.

Ivan Doig was born in Montana and grew up along the Rocky Mountain Fron, the dramatic landscape that has inspired much of his writing. A finalist for the 1979 National Book Award and one of the nominees worldwide for the 2008 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, he is the author of eight previous novels, most recently The Whistling Season, and three works of nonfiction, including The House of Sky. He lives in Seattle.

Elephant on a Trampoline

2009-01-12T13:20:00.001-08:00

Buyback Today!

2009-01-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

Did you miss the Fall Buyback before you left for break? Beat the crowds today and sell your books back at the Buyback window in the lower level hallway of the SUB until 4:30 PM today.

Here's some Friday fun for you:
Singing Horses

This Week's Bestsellers

2009-01-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

Just After Sunset by Stephen King

Stephen King, who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies, delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.

Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating-- and then terrifying-- journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable--and resourceful--as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana", a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside... or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Just After Sunset-call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

Why We Suck by Dr. Denis Leary

Do you SUCK?
Would you like to not SUCK?
Do you know other people who SUCK?
Would you like to tell them how to SUCK less or
how to possibly become totally SUCK-free?

Then buy this book, because inside Dr. Denis Leary is ready to help you overcome all the sucky things that make you such a suckass. Not to mentiona all the fat, loud, lazy and stupid suckholes you have to deal with at the office, family gatherings or while using public transportation.

Part memoir, part self-help tome but definitely a full-time funny assault on all the posers, politicians and pop culture icons who have sucked in public for far too long, this book is a call to arms for everyone who feels the way the good doctor does:

- Skinny jeans are for skinny people.
- Men will never change. Not even into clean underwear.
- If God didn't want us to eat meat, why did He make the cow so slow? (Ever eaten a cheetah-burger? Nope. And you never will.)

Buy this book and you will hopefully laugh out loud, call your mom a little more often and never vote for a member of the Bush family ever again.

At the very least, though, you'll have yourself a nice big twenty-six-dollar coaster to place your drink on while you watch TV. And isn't that reason alone to buy it?

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T01:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2009!

This Week's Bestsellers

2008-12-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

When U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman half-buried in the dirt during his third tour of duty in Iraq, his first instinct is to toss it aside. Instead, he brings it back to the base for someone to claim, but when no one does, he finds himself always carrying the photo in his pocket. Soon Thibault experiences a sudden streak of luck, winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat that kills two of his closest buddies. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph--his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the photo--and the woman in it--out of is mind. Believing that she somehow holds the key to his destiny, he sets out on a journey across the country to find her, never expecting the strong but vulnerable woman he encounters in Hampton, North Carolina--Elizabeth, a divorced mother with a young son--to be the girl he's been waiting his whole life to meet.

Caught off guard by the attraction he feels, Thibault keeps the story of the photo, and his luck, a secret. As he and Elizabeth embark upon a passionate and all-consuming love affair, the secret he is keeping will soon threaten to tear them apart--destroying not only their love, but also their lives.

Filled with tender romance and terrific suspense, THE LUCKY ONE, is Nicholas Sparks at his best--an unforgettable story about the surprising paths our lives often take and the poewr of fate to guide us to true and everlasting love.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Why do some people succeed far more than others?

There is a story that is usually told about extremely successful people, a story that focuses on intelligence and ambition. In Outliers Malcolm Gladwell argues that the true story of success is very different, and that if we went to understand how some people thrive, we should spend more time looking around them -- at such things as their family, their birthplace, or even their birth date. The story of success is more complex -- and a lot more interesting -- than it initially appears.

Outliers explains what the Beatles and Bill Gates have in common, the extraordinary success of Asians at math, the hidden advantages of star athletes, why all top New York lawyers have the same resume, and the reason you've never heard of the world's smartest man -- all in terms of generation, family, culture, and class. It matters what year you were born if you want to be a Silicon Valley billionaire, Gladwell argues, and it matters where you were born if you want to be a successful pilot. The lives of outliers -- those people whose achievements fall outside normal experience -- follow a peculiar and unexpected logic, and in making that logic plain Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T08:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all our friends and family. Have a safe weekend and for goodness sake, go play in the snow! I'll be back on Monday with more blog action.

Run, Run, Rudolph!

2008-12-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Be on the lookout for this guy tonight:

Make sure you get to bed early and leave some cookies for him, or he might fly right by.
Merry Christmas from the MSU Bookstore.

This Week's Bestsellers

2008-12-23T10:10:00.000-08:00

Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch

Meet Sarah Walters, a Charleston debutante with questionable manners and an inherited weakness for bad ideas. Sarah's brilliant older sister just dropped out of Yale to run off with an unstable graduate student from Africa. Her beautiful mother lectures her incessantly on the importance of good etiquette but tends to act cold and mysterious after she's had her nightly gin. Still, Sarah tries to follow the rules set by the Camellia Society, the creators of the debutante code. After all, this is Charleston. Decorum means everything.

But, it's not easy to be good, particularly in those summers when she and her friend run into wild Island boys in pickup trucks. When Sarah heads north to college and New York, she finds a world very different from the one promised to her by the Camellias. The girls don't say "ma'am"; the boys don't act like gentlemen. And then there's love, which comes to Sarah in the form of Max, a passionate yet emotionally closed older man who leads Sarah to her dark side and then leaves her alone to find her way back.

Events bring Sarah home to Charleston and give her a good, fresh look at her beginnings. The revelation of her mother's secret--one of many sights now plain to Sarah's eyes--shows her that the motto of her girlhood, "Once a Camellia, always a Camellia," has more truth to it than she had ever guessed.

Girls in Trucks is an irresistible debut, carried by a funny, wise voice that heralds the arrival of an exciting new writer.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman

Thomas L. Friedmans's phenomenal number-one bestseller The World is Flat has helped millions of readers to see the world in a new way. In his brilliant, essential new book, Friedman takes a fresh and provocative look at two of the biggest challenges we face today: America's surprising loss of focus and national purpose since 9/11; and the global environmental crisis, which is affecting everything from food to fuel to forests. In this groundbreaking account of where we stand now, he shows us how the solutions to these two big problems are linked--how we can restore the world and revive America at the same time.

Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the astonishing expansion of the world's middle class through globalization have produced a planet that is "hot, flat, and crowded." Already the earth is being affected in ways that threaten to make it dangerously unstable. In just a few years, it will be too late to fix things--unless the United States steps up now and takes the lead in a worldwide effort to replace our wasteful, inefficient energy practices with a strategy for clean energy, energy efficiency, and conservation that Friedman calls Code Green.

This is a great challenge, Friedman explains, but also a great opportunity, and one that American cannot afford to miss. Not only is American leadership the key to the healing of the earth; it is also our best strategy for the renewal of America.

In vivid, entertaining chapters, Friedman makes it clear that the green revolution we need is like no revolution the world has seen. It will be the biggest innovation project in American history; it will be hard, not easy; and it will change everything from what you put into your car to what you see on your electric bill. But the payoff for America will be more than just cleaner air. It will inspire Americans to something we haven't seen in a long time--nation-building in America--by summoning the intelligence, creativity, boldness, and concern for the common good that are our nation's greatest natural resources.

Hot, Flat, and Crowded is classic Thomas L. Friedman: fearless, incisive, forward-looking, and rich in surprising common sense about the challenge--and the promise--of the future.

The Finals Days of Christmas

2008-12-22T07:41:00.000-08:00

Only 3 days 'til Christmas, and hopefully your shopping is complete. If not, remember that we have shortened hours this week, but we are here for you until 4:30 PM on Christmas Eve. Our hours for this week are:

Monday - Wednesday 7:45 AM - 4:30 PM
Closed Thursday - Sunday

What I'm Reading

2008-12-19T08:40:00.000-08:00

A new feature here on the MSU Bookstore Blog will be "What I'm Reading: Employee Book Recommendations". This addition of What I'm Reading comes from myself, Mary Uravich, your fearless blog author and Marketing Supervisor at the MSU Bookstore.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

About a month ago, my roommate mentioned to me that he was reading a book that was going to make him question the way he eats. This surprised me because my roommate is a conscientious consumer who buys locally when possible and eats organic foods almost exclusively. Shortly after that conversation, I read the article An Animal's Place by Michael Pollan in New York Times Magazine. That article alone made me switch to cage free eggs and explore more information about the topic. That's when I found this book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and realized it is what my roommate told me about weeks before.

I am about halfway through this book and finding myself more intrigued by it as time goes. I read Fast Food Nation a few years ago, and find this one to be written in a different tone. It is investigative, like Fast Food Nation, but explores similar topics from the root of the problem: corn. The first few chapters outline the United States' dependence on corn and the extent to which it is ingrained (no pun intended) into our society. Over 80% of processed foods contain corn, and over 70% contain soy. We are feeding corn to animals not meant to digest it, like cows and salmon.

So far, the book is causing me to relentlessly check food labels for corn products such as high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, maltodextrin, citric acid and corn oil. I am also now purchasing cage free eggs, as mentioned before, and switched to a brand of milk that is local and from cows that are not treated with antibiotics (I know this because my roommate called the farmer to check).

Pick up this book if you are looking for an enlightening glance into the source of food in America. If you love processed food, however, I would not recommend it.

Finals Week Cheer

2008-12-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from the Intermountain Therapy Dogs' visit to the MSU Bookstore.

Eli, a Standard Poodle, and his owner help educate Bookstore customers about Intermountain Therapy Dogs.

Major, a 120 pound Bernese Mountain Dog, brings cheer to the line at the Textbook Buyback window.

MSU Bookstore Board Member, Nancy Dodd, and her Samoyed, Sasha, greet customers at the front of the store.

Moisturize!

2008-12-17T07:08:00.000-08:00

A representative from Yellowstone Bees will be at the Bookstore today from Noon - 2 PM. Yellowstone Bees is a local Natural Body Products company that makes products to soothe and protect your skin, from head to toe. What a great time to finish up your Christmas shopping!

Below is a photo from the Intermountain Therapy Dogs' visit to the MSU Bookstore on Tuesday. The dogs spent the day trolling the Bookstore, wagging their tails at stressed out MSU students. A few of them even ventured out to the very long Buyback line. It was great to see the smiles of the students waiting in the chilly line.

More pictures to be posted on Thursday.

This Week's Bestsellers

2008-12-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

In honor of the visit to the Bookstore today by the Intermountain Therapy Dogs, I present this week's Bestsellers.

The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa by Bill Wallace

Don Franklin's Dog, Frank, is a bloodhound, so he can smell when something's wrong. And a lot seems to be wrong in Don's family. Mom and Dad are worried about money, especially with Christmas right around the corner and the threat of the mine closing. Don's worried because he's just discovered how dangerous Dad's job in the mine is. And they're all worried about getting Don's little sister, Susan, what she wants for Christmas, when she won't tell anyone but Santa Claus what it is. It looks as if Christms might not be all that merry at the Franklins' house.

But Christmas is a time for miracles, whether seen from a boy's perspective or a dog's--and The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa looks at the Franklins' Christmas miracle from both.

Marley and Me by John Grogan

The heartwarming and unforgettable story of a family in the making and the wondrously neurotic dog who taught them what really matters in life.

John and Jenny were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy -- and their life would never be teh same. Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound steamroller of a Labrador retriever who crashed through screen doors, flug drool on guests, stol women's undergarments, devoured couches and fine jewelry, and was expelled from obedience school. Yet Marley's heart was pure, and he remained a steadfast model of love and devotion for a growing family through pregnancy, birth, heartbreak, and joy, right to the inevitable goodbye.

Marley and Me is being made into a movie, starring everyone's fave Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston. The movie doesn't come out until December 25th, but if you can't wait, below is the trailer. The movie looks fantastically hilarious.

Get Pawtographed!

2008-12-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

The Intermountain Therapy Dogs will be at the MSU Bookstore, Tuesday, Dec. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The dogs will be "pawtographing" pet related books and merchandise. Featured books include Marley & Me by John Grogan and The Dog Who Thought He Was Santa by Bill Wallace.

Intermountain Therapy Dogs are representatives of Intermountain Therapy Animals. The non-profit organization specializes in providing animal-assisted therapy in the areas of physical, occupational, speech and psychotherapies, as well as special education.

For more information about Intermountain Therapy Animals, visit www.therapyanimals.org.

For more information about the event, contact Mary Uravich at 994-7472.

Finals Got You Down?

2008-12-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

Have no fear, Buyback is here!!

The Buyback Window in the SUB is cranking out the cash buying used textbooks today. Check the Buyback List on the website to see if your books are worth anything.

And, if you are looking for some good entertainment on this very chilly weekend, check out this ridiculous Youtube video. It apparently was one of the top ten videos on You Tube this year. Why? You decide:

If that didn't do it for you, play this game. It seems simple, but you will be addicted before you know it: Vector TD

College Kid Word of the Day

2008-12-11T11:37:00.001-08:00

Finals Beard

Noun

A beard one grows around the time of final exams. This is done for a number of reasons, but generally it is done because their focus shifts from their face to their failing grades.

Guy 1: Hey, what's going on with Ted's face?
Guy 2: Oh, that's just his finals beard. Didn't you hear? He's failing like three classes.

Source: www.urbandictionary.com
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In other news, Textbook Buyback starts tomorrow. Hours for buyback will be:

Friday, December 12: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Saturday, December 13: 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Monday, Dec 15 - Dec 19: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Click here for the Buyback List

Word of the Day: Assiduous

2008-12-09T15:24:00.000-08:00

as⋅sid⋅u⋅ous

uh-sij-oo-uhs

–adjective

1.	constant; unremitting: assiduous reading.

2.	constant in application or effort; working diligently at a task; persevering; industrious; attentive: an assiduous student.

Origin:
1530–40; < class="ital-inline">assiduus, equiv. to assid(ēre) to sit near, beside, dwell close to (see assess ) + -uus deverbal adj. suffix; see -ous

Definition taken from www.dictionary.com

Buyback on Friday

2008-12-04T15:54:00.001-08:00

The Textbook Buyback window will be open tomorrow, Friday, December 5 from 8 AM to 5:30 PM. Bring your used textbooks and receive some cash money!

The major fall Textbook Buyback is coming up. Hours for that buyback are:

Friday, December 12: 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM
Saturday, December 13: 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Monday - Friday, December 15 - 19: 8:00 AM - 5:30 PM

A buyback list will be posted on the MSU Bookstore website. Stay tuned for news on when that list will be available.

Have a great weekend!