The McDowell Mountain Music Festival is back! Lucky Bookmans Ticket Tuesday winners will experience the spirit that is cultivated when people join together to support their community while having a good time at a 3-day, 15 band music festival. The McDowell Mountain Music Festival runs from Friday, April 13 through Saturday, April 15.

Ahoy, game lovers! Every Wednesday Bookmans Speedway hosts Family Game Night featuring different gaming groups. The First Wednesday 9 Queens shares an evening filled with chess, puzzles and fun. The second Wednesday we enjoy a strategic board game to overtake our opponents and gain territory with Tucson GO Club. The third Wednesday is FGN with the card club DDMAU, a cardgame invented in Tucson like UNO, but on steroids. Our newest addition for every fourth Wednesday is Tarot Readings with Tanu and Sara Jean who will help guide you to your highest idea of who you are and what you want to do.

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange takes on Macy's in the quarterfinals of the "This Is Retail" competition sponsored by the National Retail Federation (NRF). The determining factor in our advancing to the finals is a popular vote on the video entries, so we call on you for support.

"We have all heard of 'shop local' and how good it is for our community. Now I'm asking you to vote local. Let's show the rest of the country that Arizona local retail is as good as retail anywhere," says Bookmans CEO and Founder Bob Oldfather.

April showers don't bring Mayflowers in the valley but it does bring the Bookmans Phoenix Edition of Bookmans Treasure Hunt: The Search for Local Business Booty! In February we hid the treasure at brand new and shiny Candy Addict on Mill Ave in Tempe but where might it be this time around?

Quiet motors power burning rubber at this weekend's first annual Spring Thaw, an electric vehicle drag race. Lest you think that this will be a snooze fest involving the sweater set driving the speed limit consider that Scotty Pollacheck's KillaCycle hits 169 miles per hour in under 8 seconds. Pollacheck is just one of nine confirmed racers. Bob Oldfather won't be racing but will have his collection of vintage electric vehicles on display. That's right, VINTAGE. He has electic vehicles over a centruy old and in working order. Did we mention food trucks? Oh yes, eight of those.

If the date Friday the 13th isn't creepy enough, thanks 80s movies, The Loft Cinema has taken upon themselves to scare the pants off of you for twelve hours straight. These hand picked horror classics are guaranteed to have you nail bitting, gasping and covering your eyes. So, get some comfy pants on, stock up on concession stand confections and enjoy the heart pounding ride starting at 9 p.m. this Friday the 13th at The Loft Cinema. Tickets to this fright fest are $13 in advance or $15 at the door. Those of you with weak constitutions or heart conditions should know that this event is not for you.

By voting, you've advanced the only Arizona business and the only bookstore to the Top Ten quarterfinals in the "This Is Retail" video contest sponsored by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Thank you, but we're not finished representing our industry and community and we still need your help. Videos with the most online votes will advance to the finals. Please take a moment to vote right now and every day until Sunday at the NRF website.

We made it to the Top 20 in the National Retail Federation's "This Is Retail" nationwide video contest and you brought us into the Top 10. We didn't advance to the Top 5, but we won anyway because you voted for us, our community partners campaigned for us and we had love at the national and international level too.

Local food truckers cruise their cuisines for Bookmans Food Truck Friday from 6-9 p.m. this Friday at Bookmans Ina. We believe in small businesses and learning the local fare so we invited 13 of the best local food trucks to please your palette. We're not just bring you food, we're bringing you fun. We've booked the Extreme Mobile Game Truck to keep you busy between bites. Grab some cash and put on your elastic waisted pants, it's Food Truck Friday!

Wocka Wocka! This Saturday it's The Muppet Movie time. This blast from the past, 1979 to be exact, delivers tons of laughs. This Jim Henson classic has the internationally known cast of Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Gonzo, Fozzy the Bear and more. The movie that inspired countless childhood memories and sequels makes its way to the parking lot of Bookmans Grant this Saturday. Bring your own chair or be prepared for asphalt seating and dirty pants. Seating starts at 7 p.m. and the movie starts at 7:30 p.m.

Time for the Bookmans Flagstaff Treasure Hunt! This is your chance to act all Nancy Drew for a whole bag of free local business treasure. If you haven't heard of our Bookmans Treasure Hunt where you can win great prizes for using your noggin, then it's time to get with the program. Follow your local Bookmans tweep (@bookmansflag in this case) and we'll lead you to local business booty.

Female protagonists (heroines) are difficult in fiction. Authors try to balance strength and independence with socially acceptable "female" behavior and goals. These can be contradictory! Disney likes to have beautiful princesses robbed of their birthright, usually by another woman and usually after their father dies, so they must fight to change their fate. Even then, their only way out is prince rescue. Even as a child, I found this terrible. The first time I read Julie of the Wolves I was overwhelmed by Julie's will to not only change her fate, but survive it on her own in her own way. I wanted more. I was the product of a soft, middle class, suburban upbringing. I wanted to be prepared to go it alone. Perhaps that's what drew me into The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Katniss Everdeen is strong, angry and often dirty. She's sixteen and fighting for her life. She's a survivor, a provider, a protector.