I Think I Love You takes us on an unforgettable journey into first love, and reminds us of how the ardor of our youth can ignite our adult lives.

Wales, 1974. Petra and Sharon, two thirteen-year-old girls, are obsessed with David Cassidy. Some days his fan magazine letters are the only things that keep them going as they struggle through the humiliating daily rituals of adolescence-confronting their bewildering new bodies, fighting with mothers who don't understand them at all. Together they tackle the Ultimate David Cassidy Quiz, a contest whose winners will be flown to America to meet Cassidy in person.

London, 1998. Petra is pushing forty, on the brink of divorce, and fighting with her own thirteen-year-old daughter when she discovers a dusty letter in her mother's closet declaring her the winner of the contest she and Sharon had labored over with such hope and determination. More than twenty years later, twenty pounds heavier, bruised by grief and the disappointments of middle age, Petra reunites with Sharon to continue their roles as the Ultimate David Cassidy fans.

Funny, moving, full of beautiful observations about the awakenings of both youth and middle age, Allison Pearson's new novel will speak across generations to mothers and daughters and women of all ages.

Author Allison Pearson, an award-winning journalist and author, is a staff writer for the London Daily Telegraph. Her first novel, I Don't Know How She Does It, became an international best seller and is being adapted for a film (2012) starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, and Kelsey Grammer.  She lives in Cambridge, England with her husband and their two children.

"Vividly worded, exuberant in characterization, the novel is a wild ride: Russell has style in spades." New York Times Book Review 2/3/11 

The Bigtree alligator-wrestling dynasty is in decline, and Swamplandia!, their island home and gator-wrestling theme park, formerly #1 in the region, is swiftly being encroached upon by a fearsome and sophisticated competitor called the World of Darkness. 

Ava's mother, the park's indomitable headliner, has just died; her sister, Ossie, has fallen in love with a spooky character known as the Dredgeman, who may or may not be an actual ghost; and her brilliant big brother, Kiwi, who dreams of becoming a scholar, has just defected to the World of Darkness in a last-ditch effort to keep their family business from going under. Ava's father, affectionately known as Chief Bigtree, is AWOL; and that leaves Ava, a resourceful but terrified thirteen, to manage ninety-eight gators and the vast, inscrutable landscape of her own grief. 

Author Karen Russell, a native of Miami, has been featured in The New Yorker's debut fiction issue and on The New Yorker's 20 Under 40 list, and was chosen as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists. Russell is the author of the much-heralded short-story collection St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves. She is currently writer-in-residence at Bard College.

We're thrilled that novelist Ilie Ruby will return to the bookshop for another one-hour Jumpstart Your Writing workshop on Sunday, February 13, at 3pm.  

Pre-registration is required; a $10 deposit will save your seat, and will be returned to you as a Concord Bookshop gift certificate at the workshop.

Call us at 978-369-2405 to register, or stop at the front desk when you're in the store. This workshop was a sell-out when we offered it last month - lots of fun and enthusiasm!

You asked, we listened!  Novelist (The Language of Trees; HarperCollins/Avon) and teacher Ilie Ruby returns to the bookshop to lead a 6-session workshop that looks more deeply at specific fundamentals of the craft of writing fiction.

The workshop meets Friday mornings, delving into a different component each week (character, setting, dialogue, etc.), with a combination of overview, instruction, and response to prompts with 'free writes.'

There will be some optional at-home writing, which will strengthen your writing practice into a regular habit.  The program culminates in a reading event at which - if you so desire - you may share some of your finished pieces or vignettes.

This workshop meets Friday mornings from 10 - 11:30, beginning March 4.  The last session is Friday, April 8, with the "author event" reading evening on Thursday, April 14 at 7pm.

Please phone or stop at the front desk to register.  Workshop cost is $125; enrollment is limited.

Please join us for a discussion of Beth Hoffman's New York Times best-selling novel, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt - now available in paperback.

We have a limited number of bookplates signed by the author; one is yours free with purchase of the book (while supplies last)!

"Twelve-year-old CeeCee is in trouble. For years she's been the caretaker of her psychotic mother, Camille- the crown-wearing, lipstick-smeared laughingstock of an entire town. Though it's 1967 and they live in Ohio, Camille believes it's 1951 and she's just been crowned the Vidalia Onion Queen of Georgia.

When tragedy strikes, Tootie Caldwell, a previously unknown great-aunt comes to CeeCee's rescue and whisks her away to Savannah. Within hours of her arrival, CeeCee is catapulted into a perfumed world of prosperity and Southern eccentricities-a world that appears to be run entirely by women.

But CeeCee's view of the world is challenged in ways she could have never imagined: there are secrets to keep, injustices to face, and loyalties to uphold. Just as she begins to find her ballast and experiences a sense of belonging, her newfound joy collides with the long-held fear that her mother's legacy has left her destined for destruction.

Laugh-out-loud funny, at times heartbreaking, and written in a pitch-perfect voice, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt is a spirited Southern tale that explores the intricate frailties and strengths of female relationships while illuminating the journey of a young girl who loses her mother but finds many others."

Are you mad about Maisie?!  Maisie Dobbs, that is, the heroine of the eponymous mystery series from Jacqueline Winspear.

A Lesson in Secrets, the eighth book in the series, will be published this spring:

In the summer of 1932, Maisie Dobbs's career takes an exciting new turn when she accepts an undercover assignment directed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and the Secret Service. Posing as a junior lecturer, she is sent to a private college in Cambridge to monitor any activities "not in the interests of His Majesty's government."

As the storm clouds of World War II gather on the horizon, this pivotal chapter in the life of Maisie Dobbs foreshadows new challenges and powerful enemies facing the psychologist and investigator.

We're excited to offer you the opportunity to pre-order a signed first edition of Jacqueline Winspear's A Lesson in Secrets: A Maisie Dobbs Novel.  Please phone us or stop in the store for details - this offer is not available via our website.

The Concord Players (at 51 Walden Street) presents Breaking Legs.

The show opens this Friday, February 11, and runs weekends through February 26.  

A wonderful comedy about an aspiring playwright who gets involved with some shady characters in order to finance his new play.  Breaking Legs captures the flavor of small time mobsters, Italian restaurants and theater.

For more information, please contact The Concord Players at 978-369-2990.