As of March 1st I have owned The Bookloft for 20 years. Can you believe it has been that long? In many ways, though, the time has flown. I guess that comes of loving what you do. I still come as happily to work as I did back in 1988 when the dream-come-true of having my own store was still sinking in. Lots of things have changed since then and people have come and gone, but there is still that wonderful sense of community I felt back when I was meeting everyone and feeling my way into my new venture. And people are still reading and buying books! Despite the doom and gloom in the media about the decline of reading and the harsh reality of the closure of so many independent bookstores, this little store carries on. I thank you for your support and business throughout the past 20 years and plan to carry on the Bookloft tradition into the foreseeable future. Mary

Read in 2007 (in no particular order)

Rogue River Journal by John Daniel, a memoir of a Winter spent in isolation writing and reflecting about his father.

The Curve of Time by M. Wylie Blanchet, a memoir of a woman and her five children spending their summers boating and exploring the coast of British Columbia in the 1930s.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, contemporary tale of intrigue, family secrets, ghosts and the love of books with a marvelous Gothic setting.

The Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss, fiction about a woman horse tamer in eastern Oregon in the 1920s.

Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, an intriguing and sometimes scary look at where our food comes from.

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes, a fictional look at two boys whose lives become entangled as adults. One of them is Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, a very powerful young adult novel about one young book lover living through the horrors of World War II in Germany.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini. You loved The Kite Runner? This one is even better, about the lives of women in Afghanistan from the 1950s to 2003.

Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, really great fantasy adventure, Part 1. More to follow!

Prince of Darkness by Sharon Kay Penman, a nod to a personal favorite author and genre, historic fiction. This medieval mystery helped tide me over while waiting for her next big Plantagenet novel.

New Release from a Favorite Oregon Author

THE HEART OF HORSES by Molly Gloss

Reading this latest novel by the author of The Jump-Off Creek is like stepping back in time to see what life was like in eastern Oregon in the early part of the twentieth century. The main character, Martha Lessen, is a young woman broncobuster. In Gloss' typical manner, her character is a realistic and no nonsense female trying to make her way on her own.

Martha arrives in a valley somewhere between Pendleton and Canyon City, and looks for work breaking horses for the local ranchers. Her methods are different from the typical horse breaking techniques of the time, and she has to show that her gentling methods work. After proving her worth with a challenging horse she succeeds in lining up more horses to train at ranches throughout the valley, setting up a riding circle by riding them from one ranch to the next.

Through Martha's experiences we get a look at the lives of several of the families in the valley, and we learn their stories. They each have problems they are coping with, and through her work with their animals, Martha gradually becomes involved in their lives, finding ways to help them. By gentling a horse for a dying man, she provides a gift from the father to his son. She confronts a man who is abusing animals and causes his employer to realize that he had hired a thief as well as a hand who was damaging his stock. She takes care of a mother and her children who become deathly ill while the father is off on a bender.

Throughout all of her experiences Martha demonstrates the powerful connection between humans and their animals and the profound impact this can have on our lives. $24.00 Houghton Mifflin

Our Spring 2008 Bookmarks Newsletter is now online with reviews and recommended reading. We publish our newletter every few of months. If you'd like to receive a copy in your mailbox, drop us a line with your postal address and we'll add you to the mailing list.

Fishtrap is Wallowa County's literary arts organization, sponsoring writing workshops, gatherings, retreats, and readings throughout the year. For more information on these events visit their web site.

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