The Learned Owl Book Shop, August 15, 2015

Share The Owl

Kate's Corner

I can hardly believe it is back to school already! It feels as if summer has only just begun. Alas, we must face reality and embrace all the possibilities that a new school year brings. With that in mind, be sure to stop in and take advantage of our Reverse Calendar Sale where all in-stock calendars are 20% off. Don't forget we also take 10% off required reading titles when the teachers let us know what they are.

Now to climb up on my mid-month soap box: I heard a report this morning that art museums are becoming irrelevant. I was horrified to think that anyone could ever have such a thought, much less voice it to others. Art museums, much like book stores, are a thing of beauty that hold wonders for people to discover and share. Please join me in proving this person wrong. Whether near or far, head out to a museum before the end of August and discover something new. Bring in a ticket stub, flyer, or something from the museum and tell us about it. We will give you 20% off your total purchase that day.

Thank you for supporting the arts and happy reading,

Kate

Meet the authors & talk about books

Sunday, Aug. 16, 2 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

The Learned Owl History Book Group discusses Ohio railroads. Read any book on the month's topic and join us!

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 7 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

We've planned a one-time book discussion for Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman. All interested readers are invited to join us to discuss the book and enjoy snacks and drinks! Call 330-653-2252 to register.

Sat., Aug. 22, 1-3 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

Shaker Heights resident Dave Cockley has written a children's book: Those Rockin' Cleveland Kids. This book is the story of five kids and a teddy bear who visit landmarks in Cleveland including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Pierre's Ice Cream, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and the Museum of Art.

Thursday, Aug. 27, 7 PM (location TBA)

Our Book Club in a Bar discusses The Maltese Falcon.

Sat., Aug. 29, 12-2 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

Laura Peskin with Deep Cover Cleveland, Vol. II.

Sat., Aug. 29, 1-3 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

Meet Sharona Hoffman, a professor of law and bioethics at Case Western Reserve University who has just published a book entitled Aging with a Plan: How a Little Thought Today Can Vastly Improve Your Tomorrow.

Sat., Sept. 12, 1-3 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

Think you know Star Wars? Come to The Learned Owl to meet Adam Bray, Cole Horton, and Michael Kogge, three of the authors of Star Wars�: Absolutely Everything You Need to Know.

Wed., Sept. 16, 7 PM

(at Barlow Community Center)

Author Ian Doescher will be signing copies of William Shakespeare's Tragedy of the Sith's Revenge: Star Wars Part the Third, and the Hudson Players will present a reading. The Learned Owl will provide books for purchase at this event.

Monday, Sept. 21, 4 PM

(at The Learned Owl)

Meet Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Came Home.

Quick Links

New mysteries

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

[Gallery/Scout Press, $26.00]

Linda recommends: Leonora is a crime writer and a very private person who prefers her solitary life to spending time with others. She receives an email one day to attend a hen party for someone she hasn't spoken to in 10 years and, against her better judgment, attends the weekend event in a remote house in the English countryside. What starts out as an uncomfortable but harmless weekend ends with Leonora in a hospital bed with injuries and no memory of what happened over the past 48 hours. This novel is Ruth Ware's literary debut, and there is no doubt in my mind that her books will be at the top of the list for anyone who appreciates well-crafted suspense with well-rounded, interesting characters!

Meet the author at our Book Club in a Bar in October!

Shooting for the Stars by R. G. Belsky

[Atria Books, $16.00]

Some thirty years ago, movie star Laura Marlowe was shot to death by a crazed fan in New York City, who then killed himself. The police ruled it a murder-suicide, the case was closed, and the beloved starlet faded away into history. But when New York Daily News reporter Gil Malloy

re-investigates Marlowe's death, long-buried secrets emerge and he begins to uncover the trail of a new serial killer. And more people are dying. Now, before he can solve the current crimes, Gil must find out what really happened to Laura Marlowe all those years ago.

X by Sue Grafton

[Marian Wood Books/Putnam, $28.95; available August 25]

X: The number ten. An unknown quantity. A mistake. A cross. A kiss.

X: The shortest entry in Webster's Unabridged. Derived from Greek and Latin and commonly found in science, medicine, and religion. The most graphically dramatic letter. Notoriously tricky to pronounce: think "xylophone."
X: The twenty-fourth letter in the English alphabet.
Perhaps her darkest and most chilling novel, Sue Grafton's X features a remorseless serial killer who leaves no trace of his crimes. Once again breaking the rules and establishing new paths, Grafton wastes little time identifying this sociopath. The test is whether Kinsey can prove her case against him before she becomes his next victim.

Last Ragged Breath by Julia Keller

[Minotaur Books, $25.99; available Aug. 25]

Royce Dillard doesn't remember much about the day his parents - and one hundred and twenty-three other souls - died in the 1972 Buffalo Creek disaster. He was only two years old when he was ripped from his mother's arms. But now Dillard, who lives off the grid with only a passel of dogs for company, is fighting for his life one more time: He's on trial for murder.

Prosecutor Bell Elkins faces her toughest challenge yet in this haunting story of vengeance, greed and the fierce struggle for social justice. Richly imagined, vividly written and deeply felt, Last Ragged Breath is set in West Virginia, but it really takes place in a land we all know: the country called home.

A limited number of signed copies will be available - pre-order now!

The Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel

by Louise Penny

[Minotaur Books, $27.99; available Aug. 25]

Hardly a day goes by when nine-year-old Laurent Lepage doesn't cry wolf. From alien invasions, to walking trees, to winged beasts in the woods, to dinosaurs spotted in the village of Three Pines, his tales are so extraordinary no one can possibly believe him. Including Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache, who now live in the little Quebec village.

But when the boy disappears, the villagers are faced with the possibility that one of his tall tales might have been true. And so begins a frantic search for the boy and the truth. What they uncover deep in the forest sets off a sequence of events that leads to murder, leads to an old crime, leads to an old betrayal. Leads right to the door of an old poet.
And now it is now, writes Ruth Zardo. And the dark thing is here. A monster once visited Three Pines and put down deep roots. And now, Ruth knows, it is back.

Armand Gamache, the former head of homicide for the Surete du Quebec, must face the possibility that, in not believing the boy, he himself played a terrible part in what happens next.

Thanks for supporting your local independent bookstore.

Happy reading!