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January 21, 2015     

Our annual Top 25 Bookmark is here in the store! How many of them have you read? I think you will chuckle when you see which book is #4 on our list.



Save the date for an event with Gretchen Rubin on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 at 7pm. Wellesley Books and Massachusetts Bay Community College are pleased to welcome Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, as she introduces her new book, Better Than Before. Tickets will be on sale in-store and on-line at wellesleybooks.com beginning February 1st.

Boston Globe Book Group It's a family drama, it's suspenseful, its structure is intriguing, it's set in Vermont... it's The Call by Yannick Murphy, the Boston Globe Book Club's first pick for 2015! Join the author, along with fellow Book Club readers and Globe books editor Nicole Lamy, for a special discussion on Thursday, January 29th at 6:30pm. Click here to register.



Gail Caldwell Gail Caldwell is one of those rare and most talented writers who can turn everything -- book reviews or experience -- into gold. We are delighted that she will be here with us on Thursday, February 5 at 7:00pm to present her new memoir, New Life, No Instructions. Exquisitely written, as usual, New Life, No Instructions details a dramatic turning point in her life and shows up the surprising way life can begin again, at any age.


Kate Messner Join us on Friday, February 6 at 7:00pm to meet award-winning author Kate Messner when she will introduce her new book for young adults,  All the Answers.  Her previous books include Wake Up Missing, Eye of the Storm,  and Ranger in Time.  Kate is also the author of the popular Marty McGuire chapter book series and the Silver Jaguar Society mysteries.  Her picture books include Sea Monster's First Day and Over and Under the Snow.  She lives on Lake Champlain with her family.

Gareth Hinds Crazy-talented graphic novelist Gareth Hinds returns to Wellesley Books on Wednesday, February 11 at 7:00pm to share his latest interpretation, Macbeth, Shakespeare's classic story of dark ambition, madness, and murder. Gareth's captivating, richly illustrated adaptations takes readers into the claustrophobic mind of a man driven mad by ambition.

Contact Us

Wellesley Books

82 Central Street

 Wellesley, MA 02482

 781.431.1160

www.wellesleybooks.com

In This Newsletter...
New in Hardcover
New in Paperback
In the Kids Section
In the Gift Aisle
Dog of the Week
What We Are Reading...

Upcoming Events

Bill's Book Group for Guys - Wednesday, 1/21
Boston Globe Book Group - Thursday, 1/29
Gail Caldwell - Thursday, 2/5
Lunchtime Book Group - Tuesday, 2/10
Gareth Hinds - Wednesday, 2/11
Self-Published Author Night - Thursday, 2/26
Gretchen Rubin - Wednesday, 4/1

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~Julia Glass

Bill's Book Group for Guys  Bill's Book Group for Guys    All That Is  
Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00pm
All That Is  by James Salter
Bill's Book Group for Guys is a relaxed evening in the store discussing a great book while enjoying a beer, glass of wine, or a select single malt whisky. $25 buys the book and a ticket to the event, including libations. 

Lunchtime Bookgroup     Betty's Lunchtime Book Group     The Martian  
Tuesday, February 10 at noon 
The Martian

by Andy Weir
Come to Wellesley Books' lunchtime book group. Betty Sudarsky, unparalleled bookseller and experienced book club leader chooses each book carefully and leads the discussion. Bring your own lunch if you like; Betty supplies snacks, drinks, and insight.
No need to sign up as drop-ins are welcome.   

Bookseller Recommendations 

The Girl on the Train The Girl on the Train 
by Paula Hawkins

Rachel commutes on the train each day, spending her time imagining the lives of the people who live in the houses she passes - making up stories. Then one day she sees something shocking and can't stop herself from going to the police with the story of what she witnesses. Get ready for a runaway train of a thriller, because once you start, you won't be able to put it down. 
The Year of Reading Dangerously The Year of Reading Dangerously
by Andy Miller

The Year of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller covers one year of intense reading. An introspective and often hilarious journey through a compiled list of "must reads", Miller pokes fun at himself and sometimes revered classic authors. What makes a book a good read -- the opinion of critics and academics or each individual's personal enjoyment and enrichment? Miller asks these questions and more as he reads, plods and flies through a variety of tomes in this engaging memoir.
All the Birds, Singing All the Birds, Singing   
by Evie Wyld

Two narratives, one set in the present and one a reverse-chronology recounting of the past, tell the story of a young Australian woman living on a remote, windblown  British island.  Jake has withdrawn from human company and spends her days tending her flock of sheep - but something, or someone, is slowly killing them.  Jake is tough but guarded, and her nerves fray under the stress of her solitary existence and the knowledge that she'll never be fully free of or safe from what she's fled.  I had no idea how Jake's past and present would connect and savored the building tension.  Evie Wyld's descriptions of both Australian and English wildlife, and of Jake's immersion in her physical labors, are masterful.
You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes   
by Chris Hadfield

During his months on the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield says he and his fellow astronauts never got tired of looking out the window. "Every chance we have, we float over to see what's changed since we last went around the Earth," he writes in You Are Here, a collection of stunning photographs of Earth that Hadfield shot from the Space Station. Clouds, mountains, rivers, oceans, and city lights viewed from space create striking images that are both familiar and mysterious to Earth-bound readers.
 

New in Hardcover

West of Sunset Bonita Avenue Fear the Darkness Wolf Winter Rabbit Back Literature Society    God Loves Haiti    

West of Sunset by Stewart O'Nan
Bonita Avenue by Peter Buwalda
Fear the Darkness by Becky Masterman 

Wolf Winter by Cecilia Ekb�ck
Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari J��skel�inen

God Loves Haiti by Dimitry Elias Leg�r

 

New in Paperback 

   The Purity of Vengeance The Hollow Land The Secret of Magic   Apple Tree Yard   Tell Lost Lake Priscilla  

 The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen
The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam
The Secret of Magic by Deborah Johnson
Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty
Tell by Frances Itani
Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen 

Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare

In the Kids Section

  • Reader tested...
Great book recommendations from our ARC Readers...The Jupiter Pirates Curse of the Iris

The Jupiter Pirates #2: Curse of the Iris by Jason Fry 
Recommended by Elliot, age 11
Overall this book was a very good sequel to the first Jupiter Pirates book. I like how Dicloeta is always so strict but she is also soft on rare occasions. It adds character that she is a captain first and a mom second.

Stealing the Game Stealing the Game by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, due on our shelves 2/3/15
Recommended by Adham, age 12
Stealing the Game is a great book written by a great basketball player and a great author. A middle-school boy named Chris is worried about his brother Jax. Jax has just gotten back from college and is acting different than before college. He is more secretive than before. Chris is trying to find out information about his brother. Chris finds out his brother has scheduled a basketball game between the school team and a high-school club team. Jax has bet on the game. Chris learns that after college, Jax is not just different, he is a new person.



geek Girl Geek Girl by Holly Smale, due on our shelves 1/27/15
Recommended by Tara, age 15
Geek Girl is a fast read that is difficult to put down. The author Holly Smale accurately portrays the rough emotions and indecisive behavior that comes along with being 15. The main character, Harriet Manners, is an extraordinarily bright teenager and the so-called popular girls are constantly harassing her. She accidentally steals  her best friend Natalie's lifelong ambition and lies about it. Being the same age as Harriet, I can understand where her motives behind her actions come from. Her main priority is to be accepted by her peers and she enjoys the (positive) attention and being treated as if she is superior. She knows exactly what she wants, but she just doesn't understand how to get there. Therefore Harriet makes bad decisions that force her to decide whether she wants to change her life and herself in order to succeed in her current opportunity- while losing her friends and breaking apart her family, or if she wants to go back to being plain old Harriet Manners.

Your review could be here!  If you are between the ages of 8 and 17, love reading and want to share your thoughts about the books you read, fill out the ARC SIGN UP SHEET and drop it off at the store.  We will then contact you and soon your reviews might just appear in one of our newsletters or on our website.

In the Gift Aisle

  • Pooch Pouches
Whether used for make-up or pencils, coins or cards, these fun pouches and bags from Catseye in London are sure to make you smile. Catseye  Bags are made with sturdy PVC inside and out, lending themselves to cosmetic carrying uses whether it's make-up in your handbag or essentials for an over-night stay.  Who can resist those cute puppies, kitties and bunnies? 

Downstairs at Wellesley Books 

  • What's new in used
The great thing about perusing the Used Book Cellar is the variety of the titles you will find. This week we have a great selection to choose from -- grab a good book and settle in next to the fire.

Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe
I, Richard by Elizabeth George
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra
The Bird Skinner by Alice Greenway
Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Dog of the Week 

  • Tucker
Tucker
Just look at those soulful eyes! Our dog of the week is Tucker, a 2 year-old Cocker Spaniel Poodle mix. He sat for all the love we could give him, which was a lot. He is an aspiring therapy dog and seems like a great candidate, in our humble opinion.
 
   

     

What We're Reading Now...

Prayers for the Stolen
Betty
Bark
Jane
Wish You Were Here
Peter
The Short and tragic life of Robert Peace
Gillian
West of Sunset
Colleen
The Paying Guests
Margaret

 

Thank you for supporting your community

independent bookstore!

 

Sincerely,

Kym Havens 
Wellesley Books
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