In the store: $23.99 Online: $17.49 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $26.95 Available Now

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway--a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love--a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

In the store: $23.99 Online: $20.40 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $26.99 Available Now

Duncan brought Rinty home to California, where the dog's athleticism and acting ability drew the attention of Warner Bros. Over the next ten years, Rinty starred in twenty-three blockbuster silent films that saved the studio from bankruptcy and made him the most famous dog in the world. At the height of his popularity, Rin Tin Tin was Hollywood's number one box office star.

"An improbably fascinating tale of one of the first canine celebrities, the times that catapulted him to fame, and the legacy that endures."--People magazine

In the store: $24.99 Online: $20.40 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $27.95 Available Now

Laidlaw cultivates relationships with specialty stores and artisanal purveyors to gather food that comes with a toothsome sense of place-fresh Lake Superior fish, pastured lamb, plump duck for rich confit. He gardens and frequents farmers markets to savor seasonal produce, from the earliest lettuces through the flavorful peak of tomato season and on to winter's store of apples, potatoes, and squashes. But Laidlaw takes fresh a step further by foraging truly wild foods, including chanterelles, nettles, berries, trout fresh from the stream. He combines the best of the best to create recipes such as Summer LakeTrout Chowder, Grouse in Cider Cream, and Grilled Dessert Pizza with Rhubarb-Honey-Thyme compote. Laidlaw also includes practical information about mushroom hunting, curing bacon, laissez-faire gardening, and more.

In the store: $22.50 Online: $19.50 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $26.00 Available Now

Drawing on lessons from anthropology and the Amazon's own convulsed history, Wallace uncovers clues as to who the Arrow People might be, how they have managed to endure as one of the last unconquered tribes, why they seem to want to have nothing to do with us, and why Possuelo fights so passionately to see that their wishes are respected. In this tale of high adventure and survival, we come to know the unforgettable Possuelo as he wages an uphill battle, risking his life to protect these mysterious people and the species-rich rainforests on which they depend.

In the store: $19.50 Online: $23.40 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $26.00 Available Now

Drawing extensively on many new sources, including the massive, classified French police file on Dr. Petiot, Death in the City of Light is a brilliant evocation of occupied Paris and a harrowing exploration of murder, betrayal, and evil of staggering proportions.

The evening's special Santa is award-winning storyteller and public speaker Mike Mann. Mike brings a variety of educational programs to children and adults in venues throughout the Midwest. His presentations are filled with warmth, humor and inspiration. Learn more at storymann.com.

In the store: $15.25 Online: $12.71 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $16.95 Available Now

David LaRochelle will join Santa to discuss his book Minnesota's Hidden Alphabet. LaRochelle and photographer Joe Rossi traveled the state photographing scenes from Granite Falls to the Chippewa National Forest, from Bemidji to St Paul. David captures the story and brings it to life with his words. Can you find the letter A in the jumble of tree roots? The letter I in a cattail? The letter O in a bird's nets?

Do your holiday shopping at M&Q during Sharing with Santa, and 10% of your purchase goes to Way to Grow. For over 20 years, Way to Grow has been one of the preeminent early learning programs in the Twin Cities. We focused on the most important stages of life--from prenatal to kindergarten--and parenting. WTG's in-home and center-based programming help parents create a healthy home and become their children's first and most important teachers. Learn more at mplswtg.org.

In the store: $21.60 Online: $18.00 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $24.00 Available Now

The acclaimed author of Montana 1948 and Justice returns with a new novel, set in Minnesota.

In the fall of 1962, the shooting of a young woman on Thanksgiving Day sets off a chain of unsettling events in the town of Willow Falls. Matthew Garth first sees Louisa Lindahl in Dr. Dunbar's home office, and at the time her bullet wound makes nearly as strong an impression as her unclothed body. Fueled over the following weeks by his feverish desire for this mysterious woman and a deep longing for the comfort and affluence that appears to surround the Dunbars, Matthew finds himself drawn into a vortex of greed, manipulation, and ultimately betrayal.

"Larry Watson's latest book, American Boy, may be his best yet. With the patient skill of a seasoned writer, Watson tells an engaging coming-of-age story of a young man in Willow Falls, Minnesota during the 1960s. Youthful passions, heartbreaks, loyalties and moral uncertainties are all rendered in vivid color."--David Rhodes, author of Driftless

Larry Watson is the author of seven widely acclaimed novels, including the best-selling Montana 1948, which was awarded the Milkweed National Fiction Prize and a Best Book citation by the American Library Association and was short-listed for the IMPAC Dublin International Award. Over the course of his career, Watson has been praised for the "unflinching honesty and complete respect" he shows to his characters (Booklist), and his novels have been called "captivating and haunting" (Washington Post), "remarkable" (Baltimore Sun), "utterly mesmerizing" (The Nation), and lauded as small masterpieces which "pull you immediately into [their] depths and settle inside your bones for a long and haunting stay" (San Francisco Chronicle). Larry Watson lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his family. For more, please visit www.larry-watson.com.

Bring your Twin Cities Literary Punch Card to this event and collect a punch. Collect a dozen punches, and your card becomes a $15.00 gift certificate. Find more events on the Twin Cities Literary Calendar.

In the store:$22.50 Online (plus S/H): $18.75 Publisher's price: $25.00 Available Now

In Pity the Billionaire: The Unlikely Resurgence of the American Right (available January 3, 2012), Thomas Frank, the great chronicler of American paradox, examines the peculiar mechanism by which dire economic circumstances have delivered wildly unexpected political results. Economic catastrophe usually brings social protest and demands for change--or at least it's supposed to. But when Thomas Frank set out in 2009 to look for expressions of American discontent, all he could find were loud demands that the economic system be made even harsher on the recession's victims and that society's traditional winners receive even grander prizes. The American Right, which had seemed moribund after the election of 2008, was strangely reinvigorated by the arrival of hard times. The Tea Party movement demanded not that we question the failed system but that we reaffirm our commitment to it. Republicans in Congress embarked on a bold strategy of total opposition to the liberal state.

Using firsthand reporting, a deep knowledge of the American Right, and a wicked sense of humor, he gives us the first full diagnosis of the cultural malady that has transformed collapse into profit, recast the Founding Fathers as heroes from an Ayn Rand novel, and enlisted the powerless in a fan club for the prosperous. The conclusions Frank reaches are startling, original, and profound.

Thomas Frank is the author of What's the Matter with Kansas?, The Wrecking Crew, and One Market Under God. A former opinion columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Frank is the founding editor of The Baffler and a monthly columnist for Harper's. He lives outside Washington, D.C.

Bring your Twin Cities Literary Punch Card to this event and collect a punch. Collect a dozen punches, and your card becomes a $15.00 gift certificate. Find more events on the Twin Cities Literary Calendar.

Magers & Quinn is collecting donations for Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota. Buy a book at M&Q for the young patients in hospitals in Minneapolis and St Paul. Cash donations are also gratefully accepted, of course.

Urban Arts Academy is a nonprofit organization that seeks to bring neighborhood people together from diverse cultures by providing creative experiences in the arts with children and families to develop the gifts of self-expression and community. Urban Arts Academy offers free and low-cost arts education, mentorships, and academic tutoring to students and their families in the Bancroft, Bryant, Central and Powderhorn neighborhoods. Urban Arts Academy is a 2011 Traditional & Cultural Grant recipient from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is funded, in part, by the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. For more information, visit www.urbanartsacademy.org.

The Westminster Town Hall Forum is held in Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1200 Marquette Avenue, in downtown Minneapolis. This event is free and open to the public. Seating can be reserved for groups of 25 or more by calling the Town Hall Forum at 612-332-3421. Convenient parking is available across the street from Westminster at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Nicollet Mall and 13th Street, and at Orchestra Hall Ramp, Marquette Avenue and 11th Street.

In the store: $24.75 Online: $20.63 (plus S/H) Publisher's price: $27.50 Available Now

With the verve of a novelist, Chris Matthews gives us a glimpse of this most beloved president in the company of friends. We see and feel him close-up, having fun and giving off that restlessness of his. We watch him navigate his life from privileged, rebellious youth to gutsy American president. We witness his bravery in war and selfless rescue of his PT boat crew. We watch JFK as a young politician learning to play hardball and watch him grow into the leader who averts a nuclear war.What was he like, this person whose own wife called him "that elusive, unforgettable man"? The Jack Kennedy you discover here wanted never to be alone, never to be bored. He loved courage, hated war, lived each day as if it were his last.Chris Matthews's extraordinary biography is based on personal interviews with those closest to JFK, oral histories by top political aide Kenneth O'Donnell and others, documents from his years as a student at Choate, and notes from Jacqueline Kennedy's first interview after Dallas. You'll learn the origins of his inaugural call to "Ask what you can do for your country." You'll discover his role in the genesis of the Peace Corps, his stand on civil rights, his push to put a man on the moon, his ban on nuclear arms testing. You'll get, more than ever before, to the root of the man, including the unsettling aspects of his personal life. As Matthews writes, "I found a fighting prince never free of pain, never far from trouble, never accepting the world he found, never wanting to be his father's son. He was a far greater hero than he ever wished us to know."

• Tuesday, December 6, 7:00pm, at the School II (600 Market St, Chanhassen)
• Tuesday, December 13, 7:00pm, at the Aster Cafe (125 SE Main Street, St Anthony Main, Minneapolis; call 612/379-3138 for table reservations)
• Tuesday, December 20, 6:00pm, at the Amsterdam Bar & Hall (6 W 6th St, Saint Paul)