The Phoenix Review
September 2009
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Dear Friends, September is one of the richest times of year here in Vermont. In addition to the beginning of the school year and of the fall foliage season, this month holds two of our favorite local festivals: the Champlain Valley Fair and the Burlington Book Festival. We hope you'll visit us at both of these events! Back here at the store, we've picked out some of our most exciting new titles for bookworms of all ages. Whether you're looking for a bit of magic, a historical thriller, or a little zen in your professional life, read on to find out more.  Sincerely,
The staff of Phoenix Books
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 SEPTEMBER EVENTS
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Kicking off a Festive Fall
Visit us at both of these local events:
Phoenix is at the Fair! You can find us in the Taste of Vermont Pavilion (the Ware Building) at the Champlain Valley Fair, now through September 7. Help us celebrate the food and the working landscape that are so integral to Vermont.
Later this month, on September 26 and 27, you can find us in the Lake and College Performing Arts Center at the Burlington Book Festival. Come by to pick up personally inscribed copies of titles you'll treasure by this year's Festival participants!
Our Open Mic Night will take place on Wednesday, September 2, from 6:00-8:00 pm.
Come check out the local talent at your local, independent bookstore!
Want to be the local talent? Call 872-7111 and ask for Michael to sign
up.
We have two Knit Nights (Crocheters, too!) this month: The usual second Wednesday on September 9 from 6:00-8:00 pm, as well as Tuesday, September 22nd from 6:00-8:00 pm. All skill levels welcome. See you there!
We're preparing for an exciting fall line-up packed with local talent, including Stephen Bissette, Don Bredes, Joe Citro, Rusty DeWees, Marc Estrin, Vincent E. Feeney, Sharon Lamb, Archer Mayor, Louise Penny, and the folks from the Green Mountain Spinnery! Visit our website for more info. Events at Phoenix are free and open to the public.
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THE CAFE AT PHOENIX
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Rest for the Weary
Summer is a wonderful opportunity for the whole family to spend time together, but now we'd like to invite summer-weary parents to stop in
during the day - while the little angels are back in school - for a
little relaxation. Whether you choose a pot of calming tea, a glass of
comforting wine, or a crisp microbrew, we are ready to help you enjoy
some quiet time! Also, keep an eye out for our Pumpkin Milkshake, which will be making its debut this month!  |
FOR YOUNGER READERS
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Anticipation, Applesauce, and an Ancestral Curse...
 Impossible, by Nancy Werlin
Did you love Twilight?
Try this modern fairy tale for (young) adults.
Inspired by the classic folk ballad "Scarborough Fair," this is a wonderfully riveting novel of suspense, romance, and fantasy. Lucy is seventeen when she discovers that she is the latest recipient of a generations-old family curse that requires her to complete three seemingly impossible tasks or risk falling into madness and passing the curse on to the next generation. Unlike her ancestors, though, Lucy has family, friends, and other modern resources to help her out. But will it be enough?
 Applesauce Season, by Eden Ross Lipson
"In a crowded orchard of apple books, this one stands out." --Kirkus Reviews
When the first apples of the season show up in the city markets, it's time to take out the big pot and make applesauce. Eden Lipson's lovingly recounted description of a family's applesauce-making ritual describes the buying, peeling, cooking and stirring; the wait for the sauce to cool and the first taste. Mordicai Gerstein's paintings are full of the colors and flavors of the season: red apples, orange leaves, blue skies.
 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, by Jeff Kinney
Preorder Yours Now! Coming out October 12th.
We can't wait for the latest installment of our bestselling middle-grade series! Call 872-7111, email info@phoenixbooks.biz, or stop by to preorder your copy now.
It's summer, the weather's great, and all the kids are having fun outside. So where's Greg Heffley? Inside, playing video games with the shades drawn. But Greg's mom has a different vision for an ideal summer . . . one packed with outdoor activities and "family togetherness."
Whose vision will win out? Or will a new addition to the Heffley family change everything?
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NEW FICTION
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From Family Secrets to Conspiracy Theories
 The Magicians, by Lev Grossman
"Very dark...with no simple answers provided - fantasy for grown-ups, in other words..." --Kirkus Reviews
Imagine Quentin's surprise when he is admitted to an exclusive college of magic in upstate New York. He receives a rigorous education in modern sorcery - as well as the other things people learn in college: friendship, love, sex, booze, and boredom. Soon, his childhood dream becomes a nightmare with a shocking truth at its heart. Psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly imagines magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions.
 The Law of Nines, by Terry Goodkind
"Fantasy and thriller readers alike will find themselves swept along to the final confrontation..." --Publishers Weekly
New York Times bestselling author Terry Goodkind turns in a new direction and delivers a stunningly original thriller. For Alex, a struggling artist living in the midwestern United States, turning twenty-seven is cataclysmic. Inheriting a huge expanse of land should have made him a rich and happy man; but something about this birthday, his name, and the beautiful woman whose life he just saved, has suddenly made him - and everyone he loves - into a target for extreme and uncompromising violence...
 The Holy Bullet, by Luis Miguel Rocha
"...extremely entertaining..." --Booklist
Already an international bestseller, Luis M. Rocha's The Holy Bullet is a fast-paced historical thriller about the conspiracy surrounding the attempted assassination of John Paul II. This fictional story is based in part on information Rocha says he received in 2005 from a man who claimed to have killed John Paul II's predecessor. With unusual twists and turns right up until the end, the story alternates between past and present, fact and fiction.
 The Calligrapher's Daughter, by Eugenia Kim
"This debut novel, inspired by the life of the author's...mother, is a beautiful, deliberate and satisfying story spanning 30 years of Korean history." --Publishers Weekly
Najin Han, the privileged daughter of a calligrapher, longs to choose her own destiny. When her father seeks to marry her off, her mother defies generations of obedient wives and instead sends her to serve as a companion to a young princess. As Najin desperately seeks to continue her education, will the unexpected love she finds along the way be enough to sustain her through the violence and subjugation her country continues to face?
 This is Where I Leave You, by Jonathan Tropper
"Tropper [proves] his ability to create touchingly human characters and a deliciously page-turning story." --Publishers Weekly
The death of Judd Foxman's father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family has been together in years. Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch's dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together. In the same house. Like a family.
As the week quickly spins out of control, longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed, and old passions reawakened.
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PAPERBACK PICKS
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Books to Help You Escape Everyday Life - and Improve It
 Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design, by Laurence G. Boldt
Newly revised and updated.
Today's economic uncertainties have made many realize that they want work that not only pays the bills but also allows them to pursue their real passions.
The first part of this book helps readers to identify the
work that they really want to do, while the second provides practical,
active steps to finding or creating that work. This book goes beyond inspiration, providing a proven formula
for bringing creativity, dignity, and meaning to every aspect of the
work experience.
 Ice Land, by Betsy Tobin
A sweeping novel infused with the history and mythology of Iceland.
Freya knows that her people are doomed. Warned by the Fates of an impending disaster, she must embark on a journey to find a magnificent gold necklace, one said to possess the power to alter the course of history. But even as Freya travels deep into the mountains of Iceland, the country is on the brink of war. The new world order of Christianity is threatening the old ways of Iceland's people, and tangled amidst it all are two star-crossed lovers who destiny draws them together - even as their families are determined to tear them apart.
 Bed and Breakfast, by Lois Battle
A literate, witty, affectionate novel to curl up with.
After her best friend's narrow brush with death, Josie decides that life is too short to let old grievances stand in the way of family togetherness. This year, she resolves, her three grown daughters - the girls she raised so carefully yet with such mixed results - will come home for Christmas. With her uncanny ear for Southern sensibility and her sharp-eyed wit, Battle gives us the perfect upstairs/downstairs comedy and a portrait of a family in all its tender, touching, and flawed glory that readers young and old will cherish.
 Gourmet Rhapsody, by Muriel Barbery
By the author of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
In the heart of Paris, Pierre Arthens, the greatest food critic in the world, is dying. Revered by some and reviled by many, Monsieur Arthens has been lording it over the world's most esteemed chefs for years, destroying and building reputations on a whim. But now, during these his final hours, his mind has turned to simpler things. He is desperately searching for that singular flavor, that sublime something once sampled, never forgotten. Indeed, this flamboyant and self-absorbed man desires only one thing before he dies: one last taste.
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BOOK CLUB PICK OF THE MONTH
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Songs for the Missing, by Stewart O'Nan
 Returning to the theme of working-class people and their wrenching concerns, O'Nan's Songs for the Missing begins with the suspenseful pace of a thriller, following an Ohio community's efforts to locate a young woman who has gone missing. It soon deepens into an affecting portrait of a family trying desperately to hold onto itself and the memory of a daughter whose return becomes increasingly unlikely. Stark and honest, this is an intimate account of what happens behind the headlines of a very American tragedy.
Did you know? Book clubs are eligible for a 15% discount on books ordered from Phoenix! At least five copies must be ordered, and all copies must be purchased through your book club's coordinator, for discount to apply.
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