"Inspired by one of the world's greatest novels, Ohio artist Kish set out on an epic voyage of his own one day in August 2009. More than 150 years following the original publication, Kish began illustrating Herman Melville's classic, creating an image a day over the next 18 months based on text selected from every page of the 552-page Signet Classics paperback edition."

We stick together in the wonderful world of independent bookselling, so when my friend Michele Filgate, events coordinator at the beautiful McNally Jackson bookstore in NoLIta, asked me (with my Cisco Brewers hat on) to donate some Whales Tale Pale Ale for their Moby Dick "Ask Me About" book event I was more than thrilled to oblige.

"Ask Me About" is a new event presented by Time Out New York and McNally Jackson which "gives book casual readers and bookworms alike an excuse to tackle that classic they've just never read. Hosted by Time Out New York Books editor Matthew Love and housed on the lower level of McNally Jackson, the free event is part lecture, part book club, part show and part social occasion. Writers or public figures who are passionate about the chosen classic will deliver introductory lectures. The crowd will be divided into groups and given certain aspects of the text to discuss. Actors will put on short, silly scenes which illustrate crucial moments of the plot; musicians or poets will present works based on the work in question." Then it's time for refreshments. Sounds like a fantastic event.

(For more about McNally Jackson, see this New York Times article about founder Sarah McNally. I'm a fan!)

From his childhood fascination with the gigantic Natural History Museum model of a blue whale, to his abiding love of Moby-Dick, to his adult encounters with the living animals in the Atlantic Ocean, the acclaimed writer Philip Hoare has been obsessed with whales. The Whale is his unforgettable and moving attempt to explain why these strange and beautiful animals exert such a powerful hold on our imagination.

Philp Hoare recently wrote a great piece for the New Yorker titled "What Moby Dick Means to Me." Read it here.

Several of us at the store have really loved this novel about baseball which gets to be featured in our Moby Dick edition because of its many references to Melville. This link is to our eBook edition to remind you that we sell books for most devices, as well as reliable print editions.

"At Westish College, a small school on the shore of Lake Michigan, baseball star Henry Skrimshander seems destined for big league stardom. But when a routine throw goes disastrously off course, the fates of five people are upended.

Written with boundless intelligence and filled with the tenderness of youth, "The Art of Fielding "is an expansive, warmhearted novel about ambition and its limits, about family and friendship and love, and about commitment--to oneself and to others."

Continuing the whale theme, here's another sleeper great read from this summer's list:

"When a whale beaches itself on the shore of the remote coastal town of Paradise Deep, the last thing any of the townspeople expect to find inside it is a man, silent and reeking of fish, but remarkably alive. The discovery of this mysterious person, soon christened Judah, sets the town scrambling for answers as its most prominent citizens weigh in on whether he is man or beast, blessing or curse, miracle or demon. Though Judah is a shocking addition, the town of Paradise Deep is already full of unusual characters. King-me Sellers, self-appointed patriarch, has it in for an inscrutable woman known only as Devine's Widow, with whom he has a decades-old feud. Her granddaughter, Mary Tryphena, is just a child when Judah washes ashore, but finds herself tied to him all her life in ways she never expects. Galore is the story of the saga that develops between these families, full of bitterness and love, spanning two centuries."

We're thrilled to be providing books again this year for the Nantucket Elementary School Book Fair, coming up next week Nov. 14-18th. It is just so much fun to share excitement about books with the kids.

This year we are also doing a fair at the Nantucket New School in early December. (Dates yet to be finalized, so stay tuned.)

20% of all purchases during the fairs go to the respective schools, so it's a great way to support reading, schools, and indies all at the same time. Thanks go out to the schools for involving Bookworks! The MINI Bookmobile is happy to be on the road chock full of books. : )

Cheers and Happy Reading, Wendy H.