December 2009 - Vol 4, Issue 5
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If you're making a list, you only have to check it once. The answer is books. They're personal, portable, durable, and fun. Magers & Quinn has books for everyone on your holiday shopping list.

This month we've got tons of great ideas to start you off, but you have to come in the store for the full selection. There's too much to fit it all in one newsletter.

In the store: $24.35
Online: $20.24 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $26.99
"The Lacuna can be enjoyed sheerly for the music of its passages on nature, archaeology, food and friendship; or for its portraits of real and invented people; or for its harmonious choir of voices. But the fuller value of Kingsolver's novel lies in its call to conscience and connection. She has mined Shepherd's richly imagined history to create a tableau vivant of epochs and people that time has transformed almost past recognition. Yet it's a tableau vivant whose story line resonates in the present day."--New York Times

In the store: $23.99
Online: $20.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $26.95
In his dramatic first-person narrative Stones into Schools , Greg Mortenson picks up where Three Cups of Tea left off in 2003, recounting his relentless, ongoing efforts to establish schools for girls in Afghanistan; his extensive work in Azad Kashmir and Pakistan after a massive earthquake hit the region in 2005; and the unique ways he has built relationships with Islamic clerics, militia commanders, and tribal leaders, even as he was dodging shootouts with feuding Afghan warlords and surviving eight-day armed abduction by the Taliban.

In the store: $19.79
Online: $16.49 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $21.99
"Burroughs' latest short story collection is You Better Not Cry, a wry, quick-witted handful of essays that revolve around Christmas. Skipping over the peace-and-goodwill part of the holidays, Burroughs paints the Yuletide season as a catalyst for dysfunction to reach its peak. And he would know. The author of the impossibly chaotic Running with Scissors is a literary poster child for dysfunction, and things are no less hectic in his latest work."--Paste

In the store: $9.99
Online: $9.99 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $25.00
This beautiful hardcover collection of novels by the Russian-born author of Suite Francaise, who died in Auschwitz in 1942, features David Golder, a parable about greed and loneliness, as well as three tales available in English for the first time--"The Ball," "Snow in Autumn," and "The Courilof Affair."
In the store: $13.45 each
Online: $11.24 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $14.99

Between 1940 and 1955, Maud Hart Lovelace wrote ten novels, following Betsy Ray, of Deep Valley, Minnesota, from all the way from grade school until she becomes both an author and a married woman. The books--whose reading levels and plots grow along with the main character--are classics, as engaging and endearing now as when they were written.

Say the name Betsy Warrington Ray to a certain segment of the population, and you'll hear an instant gasp of delighted (and, yes, likely female) recognition. ... The series' appeal lies not just in its humor, vivacity, and realistic emotion, but because of Betsy's believable struggles to find her voice as an author, not to mention [as she struggles to find] true love.--Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries, writing in the Wall Street Journal

Following a letter-writing campaign spearheaded by the Betsy-Tacy Society and the devoted efforts of the editor known as Book Club Girl, all ten of Lovelace's novels are again available. They're perfect gifts for all the young ladies on your holiday list.
In the store: $24.99
Online: $20.99 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $27.99
In the follow-up to their smash hit Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois expand on their easy artisan method to health-conscious bread-eaters of all stripes. Whether you're vegan, gluten-free, training for a triathlon, trying to reduced your cholesterol, or just care about what goes into your body, this book delivers. Recipes include Whole Grain Pizza with Roasted Red Peppers and Fontina, Cherry Tomato Baguette, Gluten-Free Rosemary Parmesan Bread Sticks, Spicy Chile Whole Grain Snack Crackers, and Pistachio Swirled Brioche.

In the store: $24.95
Publisher's price: $24.95
Beautifully photographed and engagingly written, The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin introduces hardworking, resourceful men and women who carry on an artisanal craft that has roots in Europe but has been a Wisconsin tradition since the 1850s. James Norton and Becca Dilley interviewed forty-three active Master Cheesemakers, listened to their stories, tasted their cheeses, and explored the plants where they work. The authors logged more than 7,600 miles on Wisconsin highways and back roads, visiting 35 cheese plants and interviewing 43 cheesemakers. They don't even want to think about how many pounds of cheese they ate.

In the store: $23.40
Online: $19.50 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $26.00
If you've been baffled by a wine list, stood perplexed before endless racks of bottles at the liquor store, or ordered an overpriced bottle out of fear of the scathing judgment of a restaurant sommelier, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl is here to help. The James Beard Award-winning food and wine writer, (formerly of the City Pages, currently at Minnesota Monthly) presents a handy guide that will show you how to stop being overwhelmed and intimidated, how to discover your own personal taste, and how to get the wine you like every time you buy a bottle.

"Drink This is a handbook, but it's also a veritable kickstand, propping up the intimidated. Throughout the book, but especially at the end in her "Wine Drinkers Bill of Rights," Grumdahl advocates for the reader's enjoyment of wine. This is as much about feeling comfortable with a limited knowledge of wine as it is about learning what you like and drinking it when you feel like it."--Heavytable.com

In the store: $23.35
Online: $23.35 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $25.99
The birth of his first child posed a painful quandary for novelist Jonathan Safran Foer: Would he serve turkey at his son's first Thanksgiving? ... Foer set out to decide. He spoke with animal and agribusiness authorities; visited farms and slaughterhouses; and even donned his muckraking boots, breaking into a turkey warehouse along with an animal activist in the middle of the night."--Christian Science Monitor
Saturday, December 19, 1:00pm to 3:00pm--Mitch Omer, owner and chef of Hell's Kitchen, will be at M&Q to meet customers and talk about his cookbook Damn Good Food

In the store: $24.99
Online: $20.96 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $27.95
Mitch Omer is the chef and owner of the wildly popular Hell's Kitchen, named one of the Best Breakfasts across America by Esquire magazine. In his new cookbook, Damn Good Food, Mitch Omer reveals the recipes that have made his restaurant a pleasure seeker's destination, including inventions like his tart, ethereal Lemon-Ricotta Hotcakes; dark, wild Bison Sausage Bread; and sweet, creamy Mahnomin Porridge. These dishes have the hungry and eager queued up out the doors of Hell's Kitchen, often for hours, but now you can make them at home.

Damn Good Food was co-written by Ann Bauer, former food editor at Minnesota Monthly and the author of the novel A Wild Ride up the Cupboards. It gives us a glimpse behind the scenes, revealing Omer's darker side, the side responsible for the decor of Hell's Kitchen, described as the "nightmare side of Sesame Street." Bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and a former addict, Omer's roller-coaster ride of a life has taken him through many towns and love affairs, numerous jobs, and even more controlled substances. He beats back his demons every day with his dad's caramel rolls and coleslaw, locally raised bison burgers smeared with his mom's mustard, and his own famous homemade peanut butter, and he invites you in to share it all.

"Mitch Omer makes Anthony Bourdain look like an altar boy."
--Jacques Pepin

Stop by Magers & Quinn on Saturday, December 19, from 1:00pm to 3:00pm to meet Mitch Omer . Get a copy of Damn Good Food, get it signed, and get inspired to make your best holiday meal ever.
The Big Bang Book Club is a science book club for non-scientists. Our next meeting will be 7:00pm, Tuesday, December 22, at Grumpy's Downtown, at 1111 Washington Ave S, in Minneapolis.

In the store:
Used copies start at $1.99
December's selection is Frankenstein by Mary Woolstonecraft Shelley. Was Victor Frankenstein a mad scientist? How have images from Mary Shelley's classic monster novel permeated our ostensibly modern ideas of science? We'll discuss these questions and much more when the Big Bang Book Club goes literary for December.

The Big Bang Book Club is a monthly book club for non-scientists that relishes in folding arts and science into a heady brew. It is sponsored by

It can be hard to find a book to pry a teenager off the cell phone, but here are two that can do the trick.

In the store: $23.35
Online: $19.46 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $25.95
Dead and Gone is the ninth Sookie Stackhouse novel. The series has spawned the HBO series True Blood, but the books deserve a life of their own off the screen.

"The Louisiana town of Bon Temps-along with the rest of the world-is about to be rocked with some big supernatural news: like the vampires before them, the Were people-humans with the ability to change into animals-are about to reveal themselves to humanity. ...Darker and more ominous than earlier entries in the series, Harris' latest raises the stakes (pun intended) for lovable heroine Sookie and comes up a winner."--Booklist

In the store:
Used copies starting at $7.99
New copies starting at $13.45
Online: $11.25 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $15.00
"When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him."--Jonathan Swift, Thoughts on Various Subjects, Moral and Diverting

Thirty-year-old Ignatius J. Reilly--an erduite but woefully lazy man who still lives with his mother in New Orleans--has to find a job. In his search he meets a range of the city's characters, each one funnier than the last. This comic novel is a timeless classic, perfect for any reader, no matter how reluctant.
In the store: $14.35
Online: $11.96 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $15.95
Poet Alastair Reid introduces children and adults to the wondrous waywardness of words in Ounce Dice Trice, a delicious confection and a wildly unexpected exploration of sound and sense and nonsense that is like nothing else. Accompanied by Ben Shahn's glorious drawings, Ounce Dice Trice is a book of endless delights.

"Reading Ounce Dice Trice aloud is the best way of separating the bores from the airs and the squares from the snores."--Marianne Moore

In the store: $9.85
Online: $8.21 (plus S/H)
Publisher's price: $10.95
"This tidy allegory about the importance of imagination pits a group of Realists, led by a diminutive and orderly general (who has a meticulously tended flowerbed and an appreciation for the blind devotion of lemmings) against an army of Dreamers. Not that there's ever any actual fighting. However, the general's discovery of a giant snowflake one morning becomes the first crack in his steely facade; soon he's having surreal dreams and losing his grip on his loyal army."--Publishers Weekly

It's not too early to start thinking about 2010. To help you out, we've calendars in the store right now. There are wall calendars, desktop calendars, and even page-a-day calendars just waiting to help you plan a fun new year.

The calendars are tucked away near Pop Fiction. Just ask us if you need help finding them.
To accommodate the ever-growing crowds clamoring for their regular dose of beer, books, and conversation, Books & Bars is expanding. The Twin Cities' best book club is now twice as good. Plow through the winter doldrums with a double dose of fiction. We're reading two great novels each and every month. Join us on the second and fourth Tuesdays at Bryant-Lake Bowl. Doors open at 6:00pm. The discussion starts at 7:00pm. Visit www,booksandbars.com for more details and to start talking to fellow book club members today.


Books & Bars is not your typical book club. We provide a unique atmosphere for a lively discussion of interesting authors, fun people, good food and drinks. You're welcome even if you haven't read the book.

Visit booksandbars.com for details and to talk to fellow members!
Sometimes, despite our best efforts, high demand means the book you want isn't in our store. But don't despair. M&Q can order you a copy of any book that's in print and get it to you in just a few days.

Ask any of our staff to check availabilty. We'll be happy to help you get exactly the right book.

Magers & Quinn is the largest independent bookstore in the Twin Cities. Stop in today or check our inventory on our website any time.

We'll be back soon with a holiday book guide full of last-minute shopping ideas.

Until then,
David Enyeart
Magers and Quinn Booksellers

Call us: 612/822-4611
Or visit our website: http://www.magersandquinn.com
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