The Learned Owl Book Shop  The Learned Owl Book Shop, March 15, 2014

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KateKate's Corner

  
I truly can't believe it has been a year already! The time is flying by as we move from one project or event to the next. Last week with James McBride and Chelsea Handler was a big one, and next week we will have the talented children's author and illustrator, Nathan Hale. These three events alone show how lucky we are to be able to partner with other local businesses and organizations to bring fantastic authors to Hudson. This partnered with the constant stream of local talent that walks through our door will ensure the continued variety of programs we are so happy to bring you.
 
Also, I'm looking to have our two new Book of the Month Club programs firmly in place by the beginning of the summer as well as a small, eclectic magazine selection for your browsing pleasure. With these fantastic events and fun new programs, I think it is safe to say I'm even more excited now than I was on this day last year. Thanks to my super staff, mentoring from Liz, and kind words and support from all of you, I'm starting year two with confidence and optimism. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your willingness to continue on this journey with me.
 
Happy reading!
- Kate
Coming up at The Owl
 
Sun., March 16, 2 PM (at The Owl)
Join the Learned Owl History Book Club for a discussion of the Transcontinental Railroad. [more]

Tues., March 18,
4-6 PM (at The Owl)
Author/illustrator Nathan Hale with his history-based children's series Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales. (Nathan also illustrated Owl favorite Rapunzel's Revenge!)

Sat., March 22,
1-3 PM (at The Owl)
Author Rachael Herron with Pack Up the Moon.

Thurs., March 27,
7 PM (location TBA)
Our Book Club in a Bar meets to discuss The Bookseller.

 

Sat., April 5, 11 AM-
1 PM (at The Owl)
Dixie Frank with I'm Glad You Saved Me.
  
Sat., April 12, 1-3 PM (at The Owl)
Kathryn Craft, author of The Art of Falling - PLUS our Book Club Open House (also 1-3 PM)
Quick Links
Akron Life Best of the CityWho's your favorite bookstore?
 
Voting ends March 22!
New for adults: fiction

 

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry

The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry

by Gabrielle Zevin

[Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $24.95; April 1]

Kate says: I hadn't been able to finish a book in over a month until I met A.J. Fikry. It is a beautifully written love song to the written word and all the people that truly treasure it. There is no doubt that my in-store review will have my self portrait, and I will make it a point to clean up my ARC's before my reps start coming in for the next season.

Louise says: This book was really enjoyable to read. I had a smile on my face often. So many things hit home about being involved in a book store! This is a special book for Owlettes and our favorite bookies. 

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The Black-Eyed BlondeThe Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black

[Henry Holt & Company, $27.00]

It was one of those summer Tuesday afternoons when you begin to wonder if the earth has stopped revolving. The telephone on my desk had the look of something that knows it's being watched. Traffic trickled by in the street below, and there were a few pedestrians, too, men in hats going nowhere.

So begins The Black-Eyed Blonde, a new novel featuring Philip Marlowe - yes, that Philip Marlowe. Channeling Raymond Chandler, Benjamin Black has brought Marlowe back to life for a new adventure on the mean streets of Bay City, California.

It is the early 1950s, Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and business is a little slow. Then a new client is shown in: Young, beautiful, and expensively dressed, she wants Marlowe to find her former lover, a man named Nico Peterson. Marlowe sets off on his search, but almost immediately discovers that Peterson's disappearance is merely the first in a series of bewildering events. Soon he is tangling with one of Bay City's richest families and developing a singular appreciation for how far they will go to protect their fortune.

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New for adults: nonfiction
 
by Michael Lewis
[W. W. Norton, $27.95; available March 31]
Michael Lewis (Moneyball, The Big Short, and others) returns to the financial world with a new book that gives readers a ringside seat as the biggest story in years prepares to hit Wall Street.
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The Sixth Extinction
by Elizabeth Kolbert
[Henry Holt & Company, $28.00]
A major book about the future of the world, blending intellectual and natural history and field reporting into a powerful account of the mass extinction unfolding before our eyes.
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New storybooks!
  
by Mo Willems
[Disney Press, $16.99; available April 1]
The Pigeon needs a bath! Except, the Pigeon's not so sure about that. Besides, he took a bath last month! Maybe. It's going to take some serious convincing to get the Pigeon to take the plunge. For ages 3-6.
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Sparky!Sparky! by Jenny Offill,
illustrated by Chris Appelhans
[Schwartz & Wade Books, $16.99]
Katherine says: I LOVE this book! When you're really friends with someone, it doesn't matter if they can't do tricks... or aren't very good at staying awake. Sometimes hanging out together in a tree is just perfect.
For animal lovers ages 4-8.
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We recommend, for older kids and teens
 

Kate recommends: A wonderfully written story of love, loss, and the power of healing through ice cream...

A Snicker of MagicA Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd
[Scholastic Press, $16.99]
The Pickles are new to Midnight Gulch, Tennessee, a town which legend says was once magic - but Felicity is convinced the magic is still there, and with the help of her new friend Jonah the Beedle she hopes to bring the magic back.
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Under the EggUnder the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
[Dial Books, $16.99; available March 18]
When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather's painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath. That's great news for Theo, who's struggling to hang onto her family's two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfather's legacy of $463. There's just one problem: Theo's grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen.
With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo's search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the city - and her grandfather - that she never knew. To solve the mystery, she'll have to abandon her hard-won self-reliance and build a community, one serendipitous friendship at a time.
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The Here and Now The Here and Now by Ann Brashares
[Delacorte Press, $18.99; available April 8]
This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn't come from a different country. She came from a different time - a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.
Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they're from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she's told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

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Half BadHalf Bad by Sally Green

[Viking Children's Books, $18.99]

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and sixteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan's father is the world's most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his seventeenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch - or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust - not even family, not even the girl he loves?
In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.

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Thanks for supporting The Learned Owl Book Shop. Happy reading!