Titcomb's Bookshop June 2015 Newsletter
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Happy June! It's only been a few months since we were buried in  snow - and now the Cape is awash in blooms! We are awash in events at Titcomb's, too! We are pleased to be able to host some wonderful authors in a range of subjects from novels to cookbooks, the Cape Cod environment to organic farming. We hope you will mark your calendars. We are delighted to co-host with the Sandwich Public Library and Green Briar Nature Center on several events. Katherine Hall Page and Hallie Ephron will speak at the Sandwich Public Library, and you won't want to miss the cooking demonstration and food tasting with cookbook author Sarah Leah Chase at Green Briar Nature Center! In July, Lisa Genova will speak at Sandwich Town Hall about her wonderful new novel, We Are the O'Briens! This event is cosponsored with the Sandwich Public Library.
We have also stocked a terrific selection of books for every age for your summer reading pleasure. And be sure to pre-order your copy of Harper Lee's new novel, Go Set a Watchman! We will host a midnight celebration on July 13th so you can be one of the first to get this much awaited novel from the beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird. Or, if you are an early bird, we will open Tuesday, July 14 at 7:00 a.m. We hope to see you soon!
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Titcomb's Bookshop
432 Route 6A
East Sandwich MA
508-888-2331
titcombsbookshop.com
Mon-Sat 9-6; Sun 11-5
Let's Be Friends!
Connect with Titcomb's on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Learn about upcoming events, get book news, and let us know what's on your mind. Click the links to join us today!
Did a nice friend send you this copy of Titcomb's Newsletter? Make sure you don't miss the next issue -
Kathy Colvin, editor
Karen Huppi Vail, photographer
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Pre-order Harper Lee's New Book! (Coming July 14*)
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In 1960 Harper Lee published To Kill a Mockingbird. On July 14, 2015, nearly fifty-five years to the day after the publication of that American classic, Ms. Lee's second novel, Go Set a Watchman, will be released.
The new novel, though written before To Kill a Mockingbird, is a sequel, in which an adult Scout returns to her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama, to visit her father, Atticus. She grapples with personal and political issues, her father's attitude toward society, and her own feelings about the place she was born and spent her childhood.
 *Midnight Release Celebration!! Set your alarm clocks! Titcomb's Bookshop will open at 11:30 pm on Monday, July 13th for the official release of Go Set a Watchman. We're planning a discussion of Harper Lee and To Kill a Mockingbird. Be one of the first to get your copy of this much anticipated book!!
Early Morning Opening: If you are more of an early bird than a night owl, come to the bookshop as early as 7am on Tuesday, July 14th to get your copy.
Reg. price $27.99, our price: $22.39
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1. Secrets We Keep by Trisha Leaver
2. Bridal Chair by Gloria Goldreich
3. End of Innocence by Allegra Jordan
4. Wright Brothers by David McCullough
5. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
6. Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
7. Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
8. Pedro by Pedro Martinez
9. Being Mortal by Atul Gawande
10. Dead Wake by Erik Larson
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Here are a few suggestions for that special Dad in your life:
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| No Ordinary Being: a Biography of W. Starling Burgess, by Llewellyn Howland III
$65.00 |
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| Sailing: A Race for Real Sailors by Keith McLaren
$40.00 |
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| The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
$30.00 |
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| Reagan: The Life by H.W.Brands
$35.00 |
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| Pedro by Pedro Martinez
$28.00 |
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| Orr; My Story, by Bobby Orr (signed copies)
$27.95 |
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| It's a Long Story; My Life by Willie Nelson
(signed copies)
$30.00 |
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| So Many Roads; The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead by David Browne
$30.00 |
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Sale Books!
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It's the time of year we set up tables in front of the shop to highlight just a few of our fabulous "sale" books! Some of our new treasures include:
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| Locomotive by Brian Floca
Sale price $8.99 |
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| Papa Please Get the Moon For Me
Sale price $9.99 |
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| The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Sale price $7.99 |
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| The Island of the Blue Dolphins
Sale price $9.99 |
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| An absolutely beautiful edition of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
Sale price $15.99 |
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| Once Upon a Flock
Sale price $8.99 |
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| Engines of Change;A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars
Sale price $9.99 |
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| The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty
Sale price $7.99 |
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| Adrift; 76 Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan
Sale price $6.99 |
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| Recipe Girl by Lori Lange
Sale price $12.99 |
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Coloring Books! |
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Did you love coloring when you were little? We did - and now we can still color to our heart's content: "mindfully"!! These coloring books for adults are so much fun - and so relaxing! You can use colored pencils, markers, or good old crayons. Color when you're "on hold" for an important call, waiting for an appointment, or instead of counting to ten - it's very calming! We guarantee you will be hooked!
 $14.95 |
Summer Bridge Activity Books |
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School stops for the summer, but learning never should! Research shows that many students forget important school skills over the long summer vacation. Prevent summer learning loss with the award-winning Summer Bridge Activities books. Each workbook is divided into three sections, one for each summer month. Sections begin with a goal-setting activity, a word list, and information for parents about the fitness and character development activities located throughout the section. Extension activities also encourage outdoor learning, science experiments, and social studies exercises.
From Pre-Kindergarten to 7th Grade - Summer Bridge Activities books enable students to enter their new grades prepared and confident. $14.99 each
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Did you Titcomb's has a Knitting Club? We meet the first Monday of every month and all levels are welcome. Stimulating conversation and delicious baked goods are always shared! Join us!  |
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Buoy Bats are coming!
We're very excited to announce that Titcomb's will be carrying Buoy Bats! Buoy Bats are handmade in Maine from real foam fishing buoys and hardwood handles. Played like baseball, stick ball, or wiffle ball, Buoy Bat is perfect for the beach, backyard, or playground and wicked easy to hit because of the oversized sweetspot. Comes with a face-friendly soft foam ball and is suitable for young and old alike. Makes a great multi-generational family game! $31.99
(Available June 6)
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Metal Earth: Transformers!
We just received a collection of the new Transformer models from popular Metal Earth! Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, Megatron, and Soundwave are each $14.95!
Metal Earth models start out as 4 inch sheets of steel and finish as amazing 3D models. Use the easy-to-follow instructions (included inside every package) to pop out the laser cut pieces, bend the tabs, and connect at the attachment points. Varying degrees of difficulty create a unique challenge for all skill levels. Ages 14 and up
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An Evening with Authors
Katherine Hall Page and
Hallie Ephron
Thursday, June 4
7-8:30pm
Sandwich Public Library
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Katherine Hall Page
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Hallie Ephron
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We're so excited to welcome two wonderful authors and good friends Katherine Hall Page and Hallie Ephron to talk about their new books! You won't want to miss this event!
In The Body in the Birches, caterer and amateur sleuth Faith Fairchild discovers a body in the woods near The Birches, an early 20th century cottage on an island off Penobscot Bay in Maine. The death is only one of the dramatic events upending the beloved, historic house. When money and valuable real estate combine with questions of inheritance, it's only a matter of time before trouble arises!
Katherine Hall Page is the author of twenty previous Faith Fairchild mysteries, the first of which received the Agatha Award for best first mystery. The Body in the Snowdrift was honored with the Agatha Award for best novel of 2006. She has also been a nominee for the Edgar Award and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband. Night Night, Sleep Tight draws on Ephron's experiences growing up in Beverly Hills. Partly  a murder mystery inspired by an infamous murder that occurred just a few blocks from where Ephron grew up. A tale of love and betrayal, of celebrity and its consequences, Night Night, Sleep Tight is set in the glamorous world of Beverly Hills. New York Times best selling author Hallie Ephron grew up in a family of writers and a household filled with books. Her parents were Henry and Phoebe Ephron, who wrote screenplays for classic movies like Carousel and Daddy Long Legs. Hallie was the last of their four daughters (Nora, Delia, Hallie, Amy) to start writing or, as she calls it, succumb to her genes. Ephron is an Edgar Award finalist and a three-time finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award. |
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Book Talk & Signing
Andy Tomolonis
Organic Hobby Farming
Saturday, June 6
3-4pm
 We're happy to welcome Andy Tomolonis to the bookshop to give a talk and power point presentation about organic farming! This is a subject so many of us are interested in these days. Andy is a longtime organic gardener, part-time hobby farmer, and award-winning Boston-area journalist. He will explain how natural farming has emerged as the healthiest and most viable method of growing for hobby farms and other small-scale operations. Bring your questions!
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Sarah Leah Chase
Cooking Demonstration and Tasting!
Wednesday, June 10 7pm
Green Briar Nature Center
6 Discovery Hill Rd, East Sandwich, MA
You won't want to miss this exciting special event celebrating The New England Open House Cookbook, Sarah Leah Chase's beautiful new cookbook filled with fabulous recipes! Sarah Leah Chase will offer a cooking demonstration and there will be a tasting of some of her recipes. The menu for the evening includes:
Strawberry Rhubarb Bellinis
Warm Goat Cheese Salad with Beach Plum Balsamic Glaze (made with Green Briar's Beach Plum jam)
Connecticut Saucepan Brownies with Vanilla Ice Cream and Becky's Harwich Hot Chocolate Sauce
Reservations are required and we have a few seats still available - call the bookshop! The cost is $30.00 per person, which includes a paperback copy of the cookbook.
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Book Talk & Signing
Gil Newton
Saturday, June 13
2-3pm
Coastal Corners of Cape Cod
Take a fascinating journey through the diverse coastal environment of Cape Cod as we welcome Gil Newton, author of  Coastal Corners of Cape Cod. Gil will talk about and sign his newest book.
Discover and learn about the plants and animals that all play important ecological roles in the dynamic world of the sea.
Gilbert Newton is a Cape Cod native who has been teaching environmental science at Sandwich High School and the Cape Cod Community College for many years. His classes include coastal ecology, botany, horticulture, coastal zone management and environmental technology. In 2013 he became the first Director of the Sandwich School District's STEM Academy. He completed his graduate work in biology at Florida State University. Gil is one of the founders of the Barnstable Land Trust and past president of the Thornton W. Burgess Society and of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod. He is the author of Seaweeds of Cape Cod Shores, The Ecology of a Cape Cod Salt Marsh, and Discovering the Cape Cod Shoreline. $12.99
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Book Club
Tuesday, June 16 7pm
End of Innocence by Allegra Jordan
It is the twilight of innocence: America 1914. As Europe goes to war, Helen, a Boston bluestocking, begins her studies at Harvard-Radcliffe. Riley, a carefree British playboy more interested in chasing women than studying, sets his sights on her. He is surprised to find his adversary is not Helen's protective brother, but Riley's own cousin, Wils Brandl. As the roar of war begins to penetrate the quiet walls of Harvard, Wils, a brooding poet and German noble, must return to Europe and face a war for which he is not prepared. Set in Boston and Flanders Fields, The End of Innocence explores love, war, and a new social imagination.
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Book Talk & Signing
Author Anne Canadeo
Saturday, June 20
2-3pm
Attention knitters - and anyone who loves a good mystery! Author Anne Canadeo is coming to the bookshop to talk about and sign The Postman Always Purls Twice. In this seventh installment in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series, the cast and crew of a Hollywood movie arrive in quiet Plum Harbor to film a new movie and the village is aflutter at the A-list actresses. But from the first day of filming, accidents and menacing coincidences abound. The show must go on, but no sooner have the lights, action, and stitching begun when the killer strikes--cutting one character from the script for good. Anne Canadeo lives and knits in Northport, New York, with her husband, daughter, and canine office assistant. She is the author of the Black Sheep Knitting mystery series, and writing as Katherine Spencer, she has also authored the popular Cape Light and Angel Island series.
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Save the Date:
Book Talk & Signing
Author Beatriz Williams
Wednesday, July 1
2-3pm
We are thrilled to welcome back one of our favorite authors, Beatriz Williams, to talk about and sign her new novel,
Tiny Little Thing.
It's the summer of 1966 and Christina Hardcastle-"Tiny" to her illustrious family-stands on the brink of a breathtaking future. Of the three Schuyler sisters, she's the one raised to marry a man destined for leadership, and with her elegance and impeccable style, she presents a perfect camera-ready image in the dawning age of television politics. Together she and her husband, Frank, make the ultimate power couple: intelligent, rich, and impossibly attractive. It seems nothing can stop Frank from rising to national office, and he's got his sights set on a senate seat in November. But as the season gets underway at the family estate on Cape Cod, three unwelcome visitors appear in Tiny's perfect life. A fascinating look at wealth, love, ambition, secrets, and what family members will and won't do to protect each other. Reg. price $26.95, our price $21.56 (available June 23)
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 Lisa Genova Book Talk & Signing
Sandwich Town Hall
July 7th at 7pm!
Breaking news! We're so excited to announce that bestselling author (and neuroscientist) Lisa Genova will be coming to the Sandwich Town Hall to talk about her most recent book, Inside the O'Briens. This event is co-hosted with the Sandwich Public Library.
Reservations are not required. Seating will be limited, so mark your calendars, and plan to come a little early - we want to make sure our newsletter friends get a seat! Donations will be accepted for Lisa's "Readers in Action" initiative for the Huntington Disease Society of America.
 Inside the O'Briens is a beautifully written and deeply moving novel about a family facing Huntington's Disease. Joe O'Brien is 44 when symptoms of this fatal disease begin. Soon, each of his 4 adult children must face not only their father's decline in health, but also the knowledge that each of them has a 50/50 chance of inheriting this terrible disease. Lisa Genova brings the story to life with utter compassion and a deep understanding of the disease. It is a poignant and thought-provoking story you will never forget! Reg. price $26.00, our price $20.80 |
New books we love:
(All new adult fiction is always 20% off!)
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Fiction:
The
Truth According to Us
by Annie Barrows
In the summer of 1938 and in the midst of the Great Depression, Layla Beck's father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers Project, a New Deal jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty. Reg price $28.00, our price $22.40 (available June 9)
Annie Barrows is the co-author, with her aunt Mary Ann Shaffer, of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. She is also the author of the children's series Ivy and Bean.
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
How many planes have to crash before people take notice? How often can an unlikely event occur before you have to stop calling it that? How horrible do things have to get before the adults are willing to talk to the children about their fears, their theories, their understanding of it all, rather than just glossing over the details? The legendary Judy Blume sets this adult novel in the 1950s of her youth, when three planes really did crash. The trauma of the multiple plane crashes looms large over the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey and they affect some residents more than others. In the Unlikely Event is filled with tension and drama, and is a wonderful look at love, at how we respond to trauma, at becoming a grown up, and at living life to the fullest. Reg price $27.95, our price $22.36
Click here to read a wonderful article about Judy from the New York Times Magazine.
Our Souls at Night
by Kent Haruf
From Kathy: Like Haruf's earlier novels, Plainsong, Eventide and Benediction, Our Souls at Night
is set in the fictional east Colorado town of Holt. In classic Haruf style, the language is simple. He gets to his storytelling point without a single wasted breath. The conflict begins on the first page when an elderly widower, Louis, is paid a visit by his widowed neighbor, Addie. Now that they are both old and alone, Addie would like to know if Louis wouldn't mind coming over to occasionally spend the night in bed with her, for the company. He thinks about it and decides to take her up on her offer. The scenes of Louis packing his dopp kit and arranging his route so as not to be seen are charming. Of course people in town notice the overnights and comments and judgments are made. Haruf always writes about seemingly simple, ordinary people with such depth and care - you will just love these two people! Of course, fate intervenes and hard choices have to be made. This is a quiet and moving novel about aging, love, family and regret.
Sadly, Haruf died in November at age 71.
Reg. price $24.00, our price $19.20
The Rocks by Peter Nichols
From Kathy and Vicky: This fabulous new book grabbed us both from the very first chapter! It is so beautifully written, and the characters and setting on the island of Mallorca are fascinating. The story starts with a shocking scene, then moves back in time 50 years to reveal the tragic incident that led a young couple to divorce and rarely see each other again despite the fact that they have lived in the same small town all those years. The story plays out over three generations of family and friends against a stunning backdrop of sun and sea. A totally engrossing summer novel neither of us could put down so we both wanted to tell you how much we liked it! Reg. price $27.95, our price $22.36
Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen
Brenda Bowen's Enchanted August is a perfect summer read - actually, perfect for any time of the year. Hopewell Cottage is a romantic holiday rental on a small, sunny island in Maine. For Rose and Lottie, it's a refuge from the frenzy of the school gates. For Beverly, it's a chance to say goodbye to two lost loves. And for disgraced movie star Caroline, it offers the anonymity she craves. But on tiny Little Lost Island, with its cocktail parties, tennis matches and Ladies' Association for Beautification, will they really find the answers to their very modern problems?
If you've read Enchanted April, you will have fun connecting the names of the characters and some of the plot lines. A thoroughly pleasant read! Reg. price $27.95, our price $22.36
How to Start a Fire
by Lisa Lutz
Screenwriter and author Lisa Lutz is well known for her zany mystery series starring Izzy Spellman, private eye. Here she switches to contemporary fiction with this engaging portrait of female friendship spanning twenty years. In 1993, when all three are students at UC Santa Cruz, freshman roommates Kate and Anna find George passed out on the lawn outside the party they had all attended. The three young women quickly become friends during their undergraduate years and beyond, the bonds between them tightening and loosening over the years. Lutz gives the reader glimpses into their lives as they come together, drift apart and repeat the process over moves, marriages, adventures, tragedies and professional pitfalls. With wit and a gift for capturing the repartee between siblings and old friends, Lutz brings us a memorable saga of three strong, unique women. $25.00, our price $25.00, our price $20.00
The Water Knife
by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Water Knife is Paolo Bacigalupi's second science fiction novel for adults, after many young adult novels, and his first since the Hugo and Nebula Award winning debut The Windup Girl in 2009. At an undetermined point in the near future, due to climate change, the Southwestern United States has become afflicted with rising heat and extreme water shortages. Water companies in Nevada, California and Arizona wage an armed conflict over the depleted Colorado River, which serves as a lifeline for the region. The "water knife" is a type of secret agent, hired by the various powerful water companies to 'cut' wherever they need to secure water supplies.
This is a sometimes violent, smart, compulsively readable novel. (You may want to make sure you have a glass of cool water at your side while you read, though!) Reg. price $25.95, our price $20.76
Seveneves
by Neal Stephenson
From Kathy: I heard an interview with author Neal Stephenson on NPR's Science Friday and was so impressed I had to read this! Seveneves
is a fascinating, complex, dense sprawl of a science fiction novel and I loved it. The premise hooked me from the beginning - basically it begins with the moon blowing up (!) and a group of brilliant scientific astronauts develop a plan to save humankind. In the interview, Stephenson talked about making sure that his science and physics is always true. He creates an intriguing series of events involving staying in space for 5,000 years (evidently that's not impossible) and returning to what's left of earth to resettle. If you're a fan of science fiction, you will love this novel! What if? Indeed. Reg price $35.00, our price $28.00
Finders Keepers by Stephen King
If you liked Mr. Mercedes, you will want to jump right into King's new novel!
Here's a little video to get you started.
Reg. price $30.00, our price $24.00
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| | Vicky and Molly helping in Nancy Titcomb's garden around the flagpole in front of the bookshop. |
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New Paperback Fiction:
 The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
In winter 1686, provincial 18-year-old Petronella Oortman arrives in Amsterdam, the new bride of wealthy, charismatic merchant Johannes Brandt - a man 20 years her senior whom she barely knows. Greeted only by his frosty sister Marin, it's not the best of starts, and it gets progressively stranger as Nella's husband avoids consummating their marriage and presents her instead with an extravagant "cabinet house"; a doll house that is a miniature replica of every room in the Brandt house.
Humiliated, she hires a miniaturist to help her furnish it. This miniaturist fills her orders, but adds additional items, including human figures that look like the Brandts and their servants. The scenes somehow mimic, foretell and comment on the actual events occurring in the house. Just who exactly is this miniaturist? And what's going on with Johannes Brandt? What will become of Petronella? A thriller of a historical novel! $16.99
 The Vacationers by Emma Straub
For the Posts, a two-week trip to Mallorca with their extended family and friends is a celebration: Franny and Jim are observing their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary, and their daughter, Sylvia, has graduated from high school. The sunlit island, its mountains and beaches, its tapas and tennis courts, also promise an escape from the tensions simmering at home in Manhattan. But all does not go according to plan: over the course of the vacation, secrets come to light, old and new humiliations are experienced, childhood rivalries resurface, and ancient wounds are reopened. This is a funny, smart, breezy read - perfect vacation book! $16.00
 Nora Webster by Colm Toibin
Set in the early 1970s in Wexford, Ireland, Colm Tóibín's wonderful novel introduces the formidable, memorable and deeply moving Nora Webster. Widowed at forty, with four children and not enough money, Nora has lost the love of her life, Maurice, the man who rescued her from the stifling world to which she was born. Wounded, strong-willed, clinging to secrecy in a tiny community where everyone knows your business, Nora is drowning in her own sorrow and blind to the suffering of her young sons, who have lost their father. Toibin based Nora on his own mother. A beautiful story that will capture your imagination. $16.00
 Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian
Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and Emily's parents were among those killed. When it comes to light that her father may have been responsible-was he drunk when it happened?-Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates as they evacuate, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a homeless young boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever-and so she comes up with the only plan that she can. $15.95
The Hundred-Year House
When Doug's mother-in-law offers up the coach house at Laurelfield, her hundred-year-old estate north of Chicago, Doug and his wife Zee accept. Part mystery, part ghost story, part historical novel, the house itself is the main character. Told in reverse chronology, it unfolds as a kind of bookish scavenger hunt, uncovering clues and putting pieces of the fictional puzzle in place. A great read from the author of The Borrower. $16.00
 Accidents of Marriage by Randy Meyers
Accidents of Marriage takes an engrossing look at the darker side of a marriage-and at how an ordinary family responds to an extraordinary crisis, forcing a couple to decide when a marriage is too broken to fix.
Maddy, a social worker, is trying to balance her career and three children, but her husband's verbal furies have made the family wary and frightened. Where once his fiery passion had been reserved for defending his clients, now he's lashing out at all of them. She switches between tiptoeing around him and asserting herself for the sake of their kids. She is able to keep a fragile peace, until the rainy day when they're together in the car and Ben's volatile temper gets the best of him, leaving Maddy in the hospital fighting for her life. $16.00 (available June 9)
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New Nonfiction:
 The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams
C.S. Lewis is the twentieth century's most widely read Christian writer and J.R.R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades, they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met weekly in Lewis's Oxford rooms and a nearby pub. They read aloud from works in progress, argued about anything that caught their fancy, and gave one another invaluable companionship, inspiration, and criticism.
The last book on the Inklings was published in 1979. With access to new source materials, The Fellowship offers a much more complete and dynamic view into the lives of the Oxford cohort. A fascinating group biography! $35.00 (available June 8)
The Theft of Memory by Jonathan Kozol
National Book Award winner Jonathan Kozol tells the story of his father's life and work as a nationally noted specialist in disorders of the brain and his astonishing ability, at the onset of Alzheimer's disease, to explain the causes of his sickness and then to narrate, step-by-step, his slow descent into dementia.
Dr. Harry Kozol was born in Boston in 1906. Classically trained at Harvard and Johns Hopkins, he was an unusually intuitive clinician with a special gift for diagnosing interwoven elements of neurological and psychiatric illnesses in highly complicated and creative people. "One of the most intense relationships of his career," his son recalls, "was with Eugene O'Neill, who moved to Boston in the last years of his life so my father could examine him and talk with him almost every day."
The Theft of Memory is at once a tender tribute to a father from his son and a richly colored portrait of a devoted doctor who lived more than a century. $26.00
 Lists of Note by Shaun Usher
Usher's first book was the bestselling collection Letters of Note, a staff favorite. This time, Usher provides 125 lists by everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Sir Isaac Newton, Gandhi to Kurt Cobain. For example, there is a list of JFK's potential assassins by his secretary, Evelyn Lincoln: "Lyndon...KKK...Hoffa...Nixon". F. Scott Fitzgerald reminds us that recipes are lists: "Turkey cocktail: To one large turkey add one gallon of vermouth..." Reading these lists is addictive! Includes interesting photos and facsimiles of actual lists. $40.00
A Sense of Place by Mark Hutker
If you love house books, you will want to add this gorgeous book to your collection! Hutker Architects, led by founding principal Mark Hutker, has designed more than 300 houses along the New England shore. Fifteen stunning houses are presented here, some on Martha's Vineyard, some on Cape Cod, offering us a peek into some architecture unique to our beautiful yet fragile landscape. A dream book or perhaps a wish list.. $50.00
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New Paperback Nonfiction:
 Delancey by Meg Wizenberg
From Elizabeth M: Delancey is a delicious memoir by the author of the popular and award winning blog, Orangette. When Molly Wizenberg married Brandon Pettit she assumed he would pursue a career in music, possibly as an academic. However, this young man with many interests and talents decided to open a pizza restaurant! The reader will be charmed by this story of a young marriage, the harsh reality of starting a new business, and the give and take experiences they encountered on this journey. It includes wonderful photographs and 20 marvelous recipes. (I have loved all of them that I have tried!) $15.99
 In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides
A spell binding tale of polar exploration and survival! In July of 1879, the USS Jeannette set sail from San Francisco to the North Pole with a crew of 32 men, but soon was trapped in pack ice for two years! The ship finally sank and the men were marooned a thousand miles north of Siberia with only the barest supplies. They began their long march across endless ice, facing everything from snow blindness and polar bears to ferocious storms, battling madness and starvation as they desperately tried to survive. A gripping adventure for a hot summer day! $16.95
 Perfectly Miserable by Sarah Payne Stuart
Perfectly Miserable is actually a very funny memoir about moving back to one's home town. In this case the home town is Concord, Massachusetts, and Sarah includes bits of history involving the famous former inhabitants as she hilariously house hunts. Sarah's life certainly has had some tragedies, but these are described lovingly. Overall this is a romp of a book. $16.00
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Picture Books
 Beach House by Deanna Caswell
This charming book is a celebration of the simple joys of a family visit to the beach. A family with two older kids and a toddler arrives with their overstuffed minivan at a small house next to a quiet beach.
In rhyming text, Caswell leads the reader through the day, from the impatience of the kids to get to the beach to their time playing in the water and building sand castles to them finally going to sleep, sun-burned, exhausted, and happy.
With lovely water color illustrations, this is a perfect bedtime read-aloud for preschoolers, sending them off to dream of the ocean. $16.99
 One Family by George Shannon
Just how many things can "one" be?
One box of crayons.
One batch of cookies.
One world.
One family.
One Family is a playful, interactive book that shows how a family can be big or small and made of all kinds of people.
$17.99
 Kuma-Kuma Chan, the Little Bear by Kazue Takahashi
We are all in love with this adorable little book with its perfect illustrations! A little bear lives deep in the mountains in a little house that is difficult to get to. A question begins the simple story: "I sometimes wonder what Kuma-Kuma Chan does during the day?" With short text amd exquisite illustrations, we learn the simple joys of bear's day. We think you and your little ones will fall in love with Kuma-Kuma Chan, too! $12.99
 Wet Hen by Molly Coxe
From Vicky: Molly Cox proves once again that simple books can be simply marvelous! Wet Hen is clever, funny and utterly delightful! It's raining and Hen is wet. Hen's eggs are wet. Hen and her eggs are off on a wild, wet adventure, even though Hen is not the adventuresome sort. She would prefer to sit quietly in a warm dry spot until her chicks arrive. Luckily, she has a true friend in Ben, who can always help. $3.99
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Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley
From Vicky: It's hard to find words for how much I love this book! It's a wonderful and touching story of a 5th grade boy named Micah. Orphaned when he was very young, Micah grew up with his beloved grandfather's fantastic tales about a magical circus he visited as a boy. It's only when his grandfather is dying that Micah learns that the magic is real, and, aided by a skeptical friend named Jenny, he desperately tries to contact the circus's magician to save his grandfather's life. Filled with adventure, magic, humor, friendship and love, this is a wonderful read. Ages 9-13 $17.99
 Forget-Me-Not Summer by Leila HowlandFrom Vicky: This is a delightful new book about three sisters, ages 12, 11 and 5, who come to Cape Cod to stay with their Great Aunt Sunny while their parents are away on work projects. I loved the image of Cape Cod as seen through the California girls' eyes. It's a heartwarming story that shows with warmth and insight the bonds and issues among sisters and family members, and it has a perfect "let's put on a show" ending. A great summer read especially for any girl who lives on Cape Cod or has visited here. Ages 9-13 $16.99
 If You Find This by Matthew Baker Eleven year old Nicholas is a math and music genius with no friends and a huge problem: his father has lost his job and they ll have to sell their house, which holds the only memory Nicholas has of his younger brother. Just in time, Nicholas' senile grandfather arrives, filled with tales of priceless treasure he has hidden somewhere in town but where?
With the help of misfit classmates, two grandfathers, a ghost house, hidden messages, seances, and an uncanny mind for numbers, Nicholas stages a nursing home breakout, tangles with high schoolers in smugglers tunnels, and gets swept up in a duel with the biggest bullies in the neighborhood. Will it be enough to find the treasure and save his house? $17.00
 Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
"Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid."
Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there's a lot more to her-and to everyone-than a label, and that great minds don't always think alike. $16.99
Lynda Mullaly Hunt is the author of one of our favorite books, One for the Murphys.
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Children's Nonfiction:
 Water is Water by Melinda Paul, illustrated by Jason Chin
Stunning paintings bring to life a playful, imaginative book about the many forms water takes.
"Drip. Sip. Pour me a cup. Water is water unless...it heats up.
Whirl. Swirl. Watch it curl by. Steam is steam unless...it cools high."
From rain to fog to snow to mist, Water is Water takes readers on a beautiful, informative journey through the water cycle. $17.99
 Wild Ideas by Elin Kelsey Wild Ideas looks deep into the forests, skies and oceans to explore how animals solve problems. Whether it's weaving a safe place to rest and reflect, blowing a fine net of bubbles to trap fish, or leaping boldly into a new situation, the animals featured (including the orangutan, humpback whale and gibbon) can teach us a lot about creative problem solving tools and strategies. Wild Ideas invites readers to indulge their sense of wonder and curiosity by observing the natural world, engaging with big ideas and asking questions. $18.95
 National Geographic Kid's Almanac 2016 This best-seller is packed with incredible photos, tons of fun facts, crafts, activities, and fascinating articles about animals, science, nature, technology, and more. New features include a special section on animal friends; an updated "Fun and Games" chapter filled with all-new games, jokes, and comics; a new "Dino Myths Busted" feature; all new weird-but-true facts, crafts, and activities; a new special "15 Facts" feature in every chapter; updated reference material, and much more! And, this is the only kids' almanac with mobile media features that allow kids to access National Geographic videos, photo galleries, and games. $14.99
 Code Name Pauline: Memoirs of a World War II Special Agent Pearl Witherington Cornioley, one of the most celebrated female World War II resistance fighters, shares her remarkable story in this firsthand account of her experience as a special agent for the British Special Operations Executive (SOE).
Told through a series of reminiscences-from a difficult childhood spent in the shadow of World War I and her family's harrowing escape from France as the Germans approached in 1940, to her recruitment and training as a special agent and the logistics of parachuting into a remote rural area of occupied France and hiding in a wheat field from enemy fire-each chapter also includes helpful opening remarks to provide context and background on the SOE and the French Resistance. With an annotated list of key figures, an appendix of original unedited interview extracts-including Pearl's fiancé Henri's story-and fascinating photographs and documents from Pearl's personal collection, this memoir will captivate World War II buffs of any age and will appeal to readers of Elizabeth Wein's dramatic WWII novels, Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire. Ages 13 and up $12.95
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Young Adult:
 I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest
When May moved from Atlanta to Seattle in the 5th grade, she and Libby instantly became best friends. They spent their middle school days drawing comics featuring their own superhero, Princess X, and were always making up new stories in which their heroine could star. The girls enjoyed the regular rhythms of life, mixed in with some Princess X adventures, until the day May received some horrible news --- she's told that Libby and her mother were killed in a car crash.
Suddenly, May's world is completely flipped upside down. She has lost her co-storyteller. Over the next three years, May moves back to Atlanta and tries to recover from the loss of her best friend.
Three years later, during a visit back to Seattle, May spots a sticker as she is walking down the street. She takes a closer look and is shocked to recognize Princess X! Suddenly, May starts to wonder if Libby really died in that car crash. With the help of her new friend, Patrick, the Princess X comics and a mysterious computer hacker, May begins a quest to find the truth. A great story about the meaning of friendship. $18.99
Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein
Black Dove White Raven is a historical novel from Elizabeth Wein, the award winning author of Rose Under Fire and Code Name Verity.
The story begins with two women who make a living as stunt pilots, traveling with flying circuses across the United States. They are known as the Black Dove and the White Raven. Delia, "the better pilot," does the aerial acrobatics, while Rhoda specializes in wing-walking, because she's "not scared of getting out of a flying machine and riding it like a horse when it was in the air."
Delia is a black woman whose Ethiopian husband died of influenza just after the birth of their son, Teodros, who is called Teo. Rhoda, a white Quaker from rural Pennsylvania, has a daughter from her marriage to an Italian airman she'd met in France during the Great War. Though the husbands' nationalities play a large role in the movement of the novel, its emotional weight comes from the relationship between Delia and Rhoda, and the bond between their children. Emilia and Teo become the heart of the book.
Some of the most powerful scenes in the novel take place in the air. From there, we are given a view not only of the African landscape, but of the quiet fears and ambitions of the characters. As Em observes, "Doing the thing you are scared of is much harder than not being afraid of anything. It is easy to be brave. It is not so easy to be scared and do a brave thing anyway."
Quite a flight! $17.99
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