New Book Aimee's Looking Forward To!

I was fussing around on the interwebs and came across this Young Adult book coming out January 11;  I'm hoping it'll be something all of us Hunger Games fanatics might enjoy.
Across the Universe is a murder-mystery set in (from what I can tell, a futuristic [and awesome]) space.
Check out the Borders listing of it here.
And then go enter the magical Epic Contest of Epic at the author's, Beth Revis, blog.

And if I happen to receive The Big-Huge-Amazing Grand Prize, I could be convinced to share. =D
I'll write a review when I get it in January!

-Aimee

Staff Member of the Week! ~*Adriana*~

Adriana is an extraterrestrial assigned to blend in with the indigenous life here on the planet Earth. She's been at Borders Capitola for just a few months. While not plotting global domination, she spends her time working alongside her fellow booksellers, humming random melodies, and doing little jigs for her own amusement. Drawing, playing guitar, and people-watching are some activities that keep her happy and sane… Well, the sanity part is debatable. Her favorite books of all time include Un Lun Dun by China Mièville, Sabriel by Garth Nix, October Country by Ray Bradbury, Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Borders Capitola goes on a field trip!

So, last night, several members of the Capitola team decided it'd be a great idea to go see Suzanne Collins on her book-tour stop at Hicklebee's in San Jose. It was a seriously great idea.

First off, if you know any of us at all, you'll know that ALL of us wanted to go. Unfortunately, somebody had to stay behind in Capitola... Secondly, you'll also know that any trip over "the Hill" requires a stop at In-N-Out Burger. Having accomplished that particular goal, we headed off to find Hicklebee's and attain parking. (Easier said than done!) Once there, we joined the already vast crowd eager to hear Ms. Collins speak and grabbed our line numbers -- 223 was the lowest number anyone in our group got! We wandered about and explored the store, and Aimee took pictures of several really cool things. Finally, we got our chance to meet our favorite author, get our books signed, and give her the music for 'The Hanging Tree' and a letter from our store.

Enough with the talking, bring on the pictures!

Amelia, Dorothy, & Kelsey waiting in line outside Hicklebee's

Aimee and Amelia practicing their serious faces while waiting in line

Jax thinks everything is silly

Chris and the music he wrote for 'The Hanging Tree'
(He blinked. And then wouldn't take another picture... Haha.)

GIANT wall decoration of 'Where The Wild Things Are'

Hamlet. In the Kids' section.  ...?

Indian in the Cupboard!

Charlotte's Web!

Most awesome clock, ever.

The following are from the back area of the store where visiting authors have signed the walls, doors, and ceiling...

David Shannon - 'No, David!'

Dav Pilkey - 'Captain Underpants' series

We're pretty sure this is 'Angelina Ballerina,'
but the signature confused us a little...

JK Rowling!!! - 'Harry Potter' series

Brian Selznick - 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret'

Dorothy getting 'The Hunger Games' signed!

Amelia, Aimee, Dorothy, Kelsey, and Suzanne Collins!

Staff Member of the Week! ~*Kelsey*~

Kelsey is a bookseller who’s been at Borders Capitola for a little over a year and is Aimee’s dark apprentice. She’s the go-to person for young adult since she has read almost every book in the section. She’s a firm believer in letting your creativity flow, which happens all the time with her co-workers as they think of new ways to display things and make the most of frustrating computers. Kelsey’s also a huge fan of the Giants, everything related to tennis, and all things geeky including Battlestar Galactica, Glee, musicals, and a bunch of other things that she currently is not able to think of because of ingesting too much Mountain Dew. Her top five books include, but are not limited to: Poison Study, The Hunger Games, Vampire Academy, The Black Jewels Trilogy, aaaannnd... The Summoning.

Staff Member of the Week! ~*Jax*~

Jax is a manager who has been at Capitola almost 4 years. She is the resident “good cop” and does her best to ensure that everyone remains happy and healthy. She is also the reason we, or indeed everyone in California, can’t have nice things. She loves books, faerie tales (the darker the better), cats and fuzzy things in general. She is also a huge sucker for a happy ending and books that make you think. Favorite books include, but are not limited to: Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle, and Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer.

Staff Member of the Week! ~*Natalie*~

Natalie is a manager who's been at Borders Capitola for 2 years.
Come to her if you have any Zombie related questions or need a good zombie book to read, she has probably read them all. Fan of the macabre, she loves anything with gore or that will keep you up at night. Some of her favorite authors include Chuck Palahniuk and David Sedaris. Besides having her head stuck in a book, she enjoys taking her stress out by skating and doing Rolller Derby.

Staff Member of the Week! ~*Aimee*~

Aimee is a manager who's been at Borders Capitola for 4 years.
She runs the store's Twitter account and its blog, is one of the three in-store "MacGyvers," and firmly believes that tape, paperclips, and a little ingenuity can get you a long way in life. (Ask her to make something out of cardboard for you sometime.) Aimee adores the San Francisco Giants, and loves nearly all things geeky including, but not limited to: Theater, xkcd.com, Battlestar Galactica, Castle, her Gerber multi-tool, Joss Whedon, and especially her co-workers.

Her Top 5 Favorite Books are:

The Princess Bride, The Hunger Games, Blue Like Jazz, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Staff Member of the Week! ~*Maya*~

Maya is a bookseller who's been at Borders Capitola for 3 years.

She is the defender of the fantasy section and responsible for keeping her coworkers sane through laughter. As Chief Mischief Maker, it is her job to amuse the staff as well as all of the other wonderful tasks of a Borders employee. As the one of three “MacGyvers” in the store, she takes up where the others' wonderful imaginations leave off. Movies and books are her top favorite things, and in her mind introducing people to new stories is one of the best things there is to do.

Her Top 5 Books are:

The Black Jewels Trilogy (yes all three of them count as one), Here Be Dragons, The Lies of Locke Lamora, Daughter of the Forest, and A Game of Thrones.

The Mockingjay Has Taken Flight!

It's been a month since approximately forty people joined the Borders Capitola team in celebrating the arrival of the third installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games trilogy.

The Opening Ceremonies concluded with "Katniss" (in her wedding dress) receiving a $5 gift card and a hand-made Mockingjay pin. The tributes participating in the station activities showed some real promise for this year's Games; Capitol Make-overs were all the rage; the Judge doled out final Station Ratings.

The Trivia Challenge was very exciting! Each District presented Tributes one at a time to see who would survive. If the selected Tribute gave the correct answer, they survived until the next time, if not... Well, it is the Hunger Games after all. Soon it was down to one Tribute each from Districts 3 and 4 - both battled valiantly, but District 4 won on a tough question. Awarded for winning the challenge, Lindsey went first in line to get her copy of Mockingjay with the members of her District right behind her.

Since the release party, Borders Capitola has seen 185 copies of Mockingjay go out the door.  As it is one of our favorite series, we got very excited to learn about the Mockinjay display contest. We spent a long time thinking about what the series meant to us, and in particular what the general themes of the final book asked of its readers. Come in to the store and take a look (in detail) at what we came up with - tell us what you think! Hopefully we'll win, and then we'll let you know when Suzanne Collins is coming to visit our store! (That's the prize.) =D

Clues!

Regular Clues

• There's a bakery/coffee shop in District 12 with a green sigil over it's door. Go to the one near the Victor's Village to get a token.
• The Mayor's House is awfully close to the Bakery. You'd go there if you needed help finding something in District 12.
• District 12 has a brick building in the heart of the Seam. The Mockingjay can be seen from the window if you look carefully. Find it.
• The tesserae program was set up by the Capitol. Go see a Capitol representative to get your next token.
• You would go see the Apothecary if you weren't feeling well. In this case, you'd see the Apothecary for tesserae tokens. It's near the Seam.
• Take a picture of District 12's main export and bring that picture to a Capitol representative for this tesserae token.
• Katniss regularly goes to a place outside District 12. Take a picture of yourself in a similar area & bring it to a Capitol representative.
• There's a transportation station in Disctrict 12. Take a picture of yourself there and bring it to a Capitol representative for a token.

Timed Clues

• So it turns out the Hob is mostly run by one guy named Joe. Somebody will be there to trade with him from 1:30-3:30 today. 8/16/10
• Town Square is where people gather, and kids sometimes have fun running around the edge of a circular object there. Be there between 4-6pm. 8/19/10
• The children of the Seam use the Meadow as a sort of playground. Come sea the strange creatures that live there from 5-7 this evening. 8/22/10
• 8:45 -- Near the transportation station, answer the Capitol's call. Give the correct solutions and tokens will be granted to all. 8/23/10

Let us know if you have questions!

Hunger Games Scavenger Hunt

Leading up to the release of 'Mockingjay' on August 24th, we will be posting clues for our scavenger hunt on
 www.twitter.com/borderscapitola

You do not have to have a Twitter account to access this information, but it may help you the the clues with a time-limit more easily.

You will be figuring out the locations to which these clues refer. All locations will be in the immediate area surrounding the Capitola Mall - henceforth known as District 12. =)

Tokens will be collected at each location.
If there is a time limit on the clue, it will say so.

When you figure out where you are going, you will either follow any other directions contained within the clue or simply mention the Hunger Games Scavenger Hunt to obtain your token.

We ask that you use common sense while participating in the hunt.

1. If you are in a business establishment and there is a line, please wait until those people have been helped before asking for your token.

2. Be safe.

3. One token per clue. You will have the opportunity to collect 12.

4. Have fun! And let us know how you're doing!