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Store Hours
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Mon - Fri 9:30 - 6:00
Sat 9:30 - 5:00
Sun Noon - 5:00
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Upcoming Events
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We welcome author Laura Harrington with Alice Bliss
6/23 (Thursday) 7pm -
We welcome author
Carolyn Cooke with
Daughters of the Revolution
6/26 (Sunday) 3pm -
Author J. Courtney Sullivan (Commencement) returns to the Bookshop with Maine
7/10 (Sunday) 3pm -
We welcome Jeffrey Cramer, curator of collections at the Thoreau Institute, with The Quotable Thoreau
7/17 (Sunday) 3pm -
We welcome author Dawn Tripp with Game of Secrets
7/24 (Sunday) 3pm -
Workshop: How to Have Years of Fun with a Mother-Daughter Book Club. Led by Lori Day and her daughter, Charlotte Kugler
* Pre-registration required
7/31 (Sunday) 3pm -
We welcome Brookline author Wendy Swart Grossman with Behind the Wheel
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Greetings!
This is a great week for collectors of signed books - we have three additions to our Signed Books Gallery, including signed first editions of Ann Patchett's newest novel, State of Wonder!
Our next event is Sunday, June 12 at 3pm, when we welcome Laura Harrington with her novel Alice Bliss. Ms. Harrington lives in Gloucester, and teaches playwriting at MIT. Alice Bliss grew out of her one-woman musical, Alice Unwrapped; more details about the novel and the event are below.
Other upcoming events are listed in the left sidebar of this weekly newsletter and on our Facebook page.
We're happy to take pre-order for personalized/signed books, if you're unable to attend an event. We'll hold the signed book for you at the bookshop, or arrange to have it shipped, if you live outside the area.
Our book picks this week include award-winning author Ann Patchett's newest novel, a locally-set memoir now in paperback, and a collection of essays from the animal kingdom. As always, we look forward to chatting with you in the Bookshop; let us help you select the perfect book for yourself or a gift. Comments are also welcome via email to info.concordBookshop@gmail.com.
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Our Next Author Event:
Laura Harrington and Alice Bliss
Sunday, June 12 at 3pm
 | | photo credit: Claire Zeller Barclay |
"Alice Bliss movingly illuminates the impact of war on those left at home: children, partners, family members, and the community."
When Alice Bliss learns that her father, Matt, is being deployed to Iraq, she's heartbroken. Alice idolizes her father; when he ships out, Alice is faced with finding a way to fill the emptiness he has left behind.
Alice Bliss is a profoundly moving coming-of-age novel about love and its many variations - the support of a small town looking after its own; love between an absent father and his daughter; the complicated love between an adolescent girl and her mother; and an exploration of new love with the boy-next-door. These characters' struggles amidst uncertain times echo our own, lending the novel an immediacy and poignancy that is both relevant and real. At once universal and very personal, Alice Bliss is a transforming story about those who are left at home during wartime, and a teenage girl bravely facing the future.
Laura Harrington is an award-winning playwright, lyricist and librettist. She teaches playwriting at MIT and lives in Gloucester, MA. The novel Alice Bliss grew out of Harrington's one-woman musical Alice Unwrapped, which ran off-Broadway in New York, and in the Minneapolis Fringe Festival in 2009.
Please join us as we welcome Laura Harrington on Sunday, June 12 at 3pm.
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New in Our Signed Books Gallery
Lama Surya Das and Buddha Standard Time
Lama Surya Das joined us last Thursday for a motivating wake-up call about how we spend our time.
We all have 24 hours in a day - why is we complain about "losing time" and "not having enough time"?
During the conversation, Surya shared some of the ancient wisdom he has connected to our modern world (and its demands) in Buddha Standard Time. He discussed important concepts relating to being fully present, and gave advice about managing emotions.
The book offers guidance, exercises, and incremental steps toward these goals. After signing copies for the audience, he graciously signed additional stock for us to offer you.
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Rebecca Rasmussen and The Bird Sisters 
"A singular portrayal of familial sacrifice and loss...Achingly authentic ... "
-- Publisher's Weekly
What a lovely afternoon we had with Rebecca Rasmussen! She read passages from the two timelines of The Bird Sisters, giving an introduction to the sisters, Millie and Twiss, and their personalities both as young teens and in their 70s.
Rebecca talked a bit about the inspiration for her novel, and took questions from the audience. Many in the audience had "met" her on twitter; you can follow Rebecca Rasmussen at @thebirdsisters.
We have signed editions of The Bird Sisters on our bookshelves!
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Ann Patchett - Signed First Edition! State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
 "In fluid and remarkably atmospheric prose, Patchett captures not only the sights and sounds of the chaotic jungle environment but also the struggles and sacrifice of dedicated scientists."
-Booklist
A new novel from the award-winning author of such novels as The Magician's Assistant and Bel Canto.
Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a pharmaceutical company, is sent to Brazil to track down her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have disappeared in the Amazon while working on what is destined to be an extremely valuable new drug, the development of which has already cost the company a fortune. The last person who was sent to find her, died before he could complete his mission. Marina embarks on an odyssey into the insect-infested jungle in hopes of finding her former mentor as well as answers to several troubling questions about her friend's death, the state of her company's future, and her own past.
While Dr. Swenson is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices to be made are the ones Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she may still be unable to live up to her teacher's expectations.
State of Wonder is a world unto itself, where unlikely beauty stands beside unimaginable loss. It is a tale that leads the reader into the very heart of darkness, and then shows us what lies on the other side.
Author Ann Patchett has published five previous novels, including Run; The Patron Saint of Liars; The Magician's Assistant; and Bel Canto, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Orange Prize. She is also the author of two works of nonfiction: the New York Times bestselling Truth & Beauty and What now? Patchett lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
We have signed first editions of State of Wonder in the bookshop! |
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Animal essays and photos
Unlikely Friendships by Jennifer Holland
Written by National Geographic magazine writer Jennifer Holland, Unlikely Friendships documents one heartwarming tale after another of animals who, with nothing else in common, bond in the most unexpected ways. A cat and a bird. A mare and a fawn. An elephant and a sheep. A snake and a hamster. The well-documented stories of Koko the gorilla and All Ball the kitten; and the hippo Owen and the tortoise Mzee. And almost inexplicable stories of predators befriending prey - an Indian leopard slips into a village every night to sleep with a calf. A lionness mothers a baby oryx. Ms. Holland narrates the details and arc of each story, and also offers insights into why - how the young leopard, probably motherless, sought maternal comfort with the calf, and how a baby oryx inspired the same mothering instinct in the lionness. Or, in the story of Kizzy, a nervous retired Greyhound, and Murphy, a red tabby, how cats and dogs actually understand each other's body language. With Murphy's friendship and support, Kizzy recovered from life as a racing dog and became a confident, loyal family pet. These are the most amazing friendships between species, collected from around the world and documented in a selection of full-color candid photographs. Author Jennifer Holland is a senior writer for National Geographic magazine, specializing in science and natural history. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, two dogs, and dozens of snakes and geckos; none of whom, to her dismay, have crossed the species barrier to befriend the others. |
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Local memoir - now in paperback
Denial by Jessica Stern
 "... a profound human document... it is hot to the touch in ways that are both memorable and disturbing." -New York Times
Hailed by critics and readers alike, Jessica Stern's riveting memoir examines the horrors of trauma and denial as she investigates her own unsolved adolescent sexual assault at the hands of a serial rapist. Alone in an unlocked house, in the safe suburban Massachusetts town of Concord, two good, obedient girls, Jessica Stern, fifteen, and her sister, fourteen, were raped on the night of October 1, 1973.
The rapist was never caught. For over thirty years, Stern denied the pain and the trauma of the assault. Following the example of her family, Stern-who lost her mother at the age of three, and whose father was a Holocaust survivor-focused on her work instead of her terror. She became a world-class expert on terrorism and post-traumatic stress disorder who interviewed extremists around the globe. But while her career took off, her success hinged on her symptoms. After her ordeal, she no longer felt fear in normally frightening situations.
Stern believed she'd disassociated from the trauma altogether, until a dedicated police lieutenant reopened the case. With the help of the lieutenant, Stern began her own investigation to uncover the truth. The result is Denial, a candid, courageous, and ultimately hopeful look at a trauma and its aftermath.
Author Jessica Stern lectures on terrorism and is a member of the Hoover Institution Task Force on National Security and Law. She holds a doctorate in public policy from Harvard. She served as a staff member at the National Security Council during the Clinton admin-istration. A 2009-2010 Guggenheim Fellow, she was selected by Time in 2001 as one of seven thinkers whose innovative ideas "will change the world." Stern is the author of the New York Times Notable Book Terror in the Name of God and The Ultimate Terrorists. She lives with her husband and son in Massachusetts.
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