We are so happy and excited to be hosting Joanna Brooks' reading in Salt Lake City tonight. If you haven't read Book of Mormon Girl or heard Ms. Brooks in any of the media from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart to City Views with Jennifer Napier-Pearce on KCPW, you really should come meet her tonight at 7 p.m.

Book of Mormon Girl is an intelligent, heartfelt book about growing up as a person of faith in a secular society. It is also a book about the challenges an adult of faith encounters, not all of them from outside the religion. Brooks writing is skillful, honest, and poignant. More than one WBW staffer cried while reading this book. It's also funny. All in all, it's a book we couldn't stop talking about. I'm willing to bet when you read it you'll want to talk about it too.

Here's a link to Ms Brooks blog so you can check out her writing for yourself. Then come check out her wonderful speaking tonight!

Today many Utahns enjoy boating and fishing Flaming Gorge Reservoir, but I bet few know or even imagine what lies beneath the water's surface. Roy Webb's new book brings to the surface interesting photos and stories of this much neglected part of the Colorado River System.

Roy, an archivist at the University of Utah's Marriott Library, has studied and floated this part of the country and may be the premier historian of these waters. Lost Canyons of the Green River is filled with photos both before and after the 1963 building of Flaming Gorge Dam, chronicling the tales of people who used to run the river before it was dammed and those who built their lives around it by trapping, farming, and ranching. More than just a history, this book is a labor of love for Roy. The subject especially comes to life if you are lucky enough to hear and see him speak, and you are in luck because Roy Webb has scheduled a presentation here at Weller Book Works on June 29th. While here, be sure to check out Roy Webb's other titles we have in stock.

I'll begin this review with a disclosure: Charlotte Bell is my yoga teacher. I write this even though it's been at least a year and a half since I've been in class. But I consider Charlotte to be my teacher because her lessons stay with me whether I'm engaged in active practice or not. The examples she sets with her grounding, her grace, the authenticity of her practice, and her sneaky sense of humor continually inspire me.

Charlotte's latest book, Yoga for Meditators: Poses to Support Your Sitting Practice, is designed to assist those who are challenged by the "rigors of sitting." Now you may laugh upon reading that phrase. I did when I encountered it in Charolotte's book, even though I get it. Anyone who has meditated for any period of time will nod in recognition upon hearing it. As Charlotte points out in her introduction, while we may sit at computers or desks all day, we don't sit all day. Our bodies aren't accustomed to holding still for extended periods of time, especially in particular poses. 

Yoga for Meditators is divided into four parts: the most common physical issues for sitting meditators, poses selected to ease those issues, sequences of asanas (poses) for specific concerns, and alternate meditation postures. Each section is amply illustrated and written in Charlotte's quiet, knowledgeable prose. If you're a person coming to yoga through meditation, you'll find the poses very easy to understand and execute.  Her tips for using props or making positioning adjustments will prove most helpful for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. Meditators will also find her attention to breathing helpful. Instructions for the asanas are so clear and detailed that I can almost hear Charlotte's voice as I read the words.

Charolotte's clear writing style makes this book readable and easy to use. But if it weren't backed up by solid knowledge, the book wouldn't be nearly so valuable. Bell's years of practice, teaching and study are the solid foundation of this work. Her knowledge of anatomy and its application in yogic practice is exquisite. Her explanation of how to find the proper curvature of one's spine in the Wall Dog Pose is a fine example, "Reach one hand back, and place your fingers on your lumbar spine. If you feel the knobby processes poking out in your lower back, walk your hands up the wall a few inches. When The spinous processes poke out, it's a signal your lumbar spine is in a convex, rather than concave, curve." Don't worry by the time you read that you will have already read a description of the spine and seen a diagram of it.

I haven't seen many books like Yoga for Meditators in the past, which is surprising. As Charlotte notes, "Asana practice, by its very nature, is about preparing the body for meditation." There isn't a lot we do with our bodies these days that supports sitting. So this book will be a fine addition to the library of anyone who sits or is beginning a meditative practice. It's also a nice book for those, like me, who may want a refresher on positioning the body in asanas and maybe a guided sequence or two.

CHARLOTTE BELL WILL READ AND SIGN AT WELLER BOOK WORKS SATURDAY, JUNE 2 AT 6:00 P.M.

This Wednesday we'll be hosting an author whom I really like, Mary Robinette Kowal. Mary's first novel, Shades of Milk and Honey, was a Regency romance, but with a fantastical twist. In addition to the other genteel and womanly arts, a lady of good breeding is expected to learn the art of glamour, the ability to create illusion and enhance reality with magic.

Glamour in Glass is the follow up to the fantastic first novel. By the end of Shades of Milk and Honey, our heroes Jane and Vincent are finally married. In Glamour in Glass they leave for a honeymoon in Belgium. Travel to the continent has only recently opened due to the exile of Napoleon to Elba. When Napoleon escapes Elba, the couple unable to return to England.

What follows is more adventure than romance, and it's a fantastic read. I won't spoil it for you with details. Come to the Weller Book Works on Wednesday, April 25th at 7 PM to meet Mary and get your copy!