The Learned Owl Book Shop, November 15, 2015
 Kate's Corner

With the holiday season upon us, there is nothing I would like more than to happily tell you about all of the fun we have planned at The Learned Owl. However, in light of the attacks in Paris this weekend, it is with a heavy heart that I write to you today.

Every time something like this happens, I am struck by the heartless cowardice that exists in the world. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families in Paris as well as the countless others that face this reality every day across the globe.

Thank you for reading,
- Kate
Coming up at
The Learned Owl

Thursday, Nov. 19,
5:30-7 PM (at The Owl)

Thursday, Nov. 19, 7 PM (location TBA)
Join us as our Book Club in a Bar discusses First Impressions.

Friday, Nov. 20, 5-7 PM
(at The Owl)
Baker, photographer and food blogger Sally McKenney with Sally's Candy Addiction - just in time for holiday baking and giving.

Saturday, Nov. 21,
11 AM-1 PM (at The Owl)
Author/illustrator Susan Reagan with her storybook Slipper and Flipper in the Quest for the Golden Sun.

Saturday, Nov. 21, 1-3 PM (at The Owl)
James H. Banks and Brian Albrecht with Cleveland in World War II.

Sunday, Nov. 22, 2 PM
(at The Owl)
Our History Book Club discusses President Andrew Jackson.

Sunday, Nov. 22, 2-4 PM (at The Owl)
Meet Clara and one of the Sugar Plum Fairies from The Nutcracker Suite. The dancers will be here to meet and greet customers and talk about the Hudson Conservatory of Ballet and the Hudson Community Children's Chorus production of The Nutcracker Suite (Nov. 28 and 29). [read more]

Monday, Nov. 23
Shop Local and support the Hudson Music Association. [read more]

Monday, Nov. 30, 7 PM
(at the Hudson Library)
Author James Renner with The Great Forgetting. Register online for this event, or call (330) 653-6658.

Coming in December: Hudson's Holiday Walk (Dec. 6), plus authors and book clubs. 
Want MORE fiction? nonfiction? mysteries?
kids' books?

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Browse our 2015
Holiday Catalog
Come to Hudson for the Holidays - and Shop Small

Come to Hudson for the Holidays
Friday, Nov. 27, 2-6 PM
Dozens of downtown Hudson businesses participate in this annual event, which also includes appearances by Santa and his elves, the lighting of the luminarias, and the Celebration of Lights and Caroling. See merchantsofhudson.com for details.

At The Learned Owl: Enjoy treats and special deals throughout the day. Also, we will be continuing our Leg Lamp raffle tradition this holiday season, with all proceeds going to the Hudson Food Pantry. This year, in addition to purchasing tickets ($1 each, or 7 tickets for $5), you can bring in nonperishable food donations for a chance to win this coveted "major award" (two food items for one raffle ticket).



Small Business Saturday
Treats, special deals, and the Leg Lamp raffle continue. Also:

From 11 AM-1 PM, local children's author Michael Samulak will visit us with A Wonderful Day!, an engaging early reader that playfully depicts the shared experiences of child and parent who are enjoying a day together at the zoo. 

From 1-3 PM, author Claudia Taller will be introducing her new book Ohio's Canal Country Wineries.
New biography & autobiography

Destiny and Power Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush by Jon Meacham
[Random House, $35.00]
Drawing on President Bush's personal diaries, on the diaries of his wife, Barbara, and on extraordinary access to the forty-first president and his family, Meacham paints an intimate and surprising portrait of an intensely private man who led the nation through tumultuous times.
Buy the bookBuy the eBook

Amazing Fantastic Incredible Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee, et al.
[Touchstone Books, $30.00]
Stan Lee - comic book legend and co-creator of Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredible Hulk, and a legion of other Marvel superheroes - shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be, in an appropriate graphic novel format.
Buy the bookBuy the eBook

The Bassoon King We have signed copies!
[Dutton Books, $26.95]
A comedic memoir by the actor best known for his portrayal of Dwight on The Office traces his experiences as a young misfit, his early career struggles, and his post-success reconnection with the artistic and creative values of his Baha'i faith. [read more]
Buy the bookBuy the eBook
 
GratitudeGratitude by Oliver Sacks
[Knopf Pub. Group, $17.00; available Nov. 24]
No writer has succeeded in capturing the medical and human drama of illness as honestly and as eloquently as Oliver Sacks. During the last few months of his life, he wrote a set of essays in which he movingly explored his feelings about completing a life and coming to terms with his own death. It is the fate of every human being, Sacks writes, to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, to die his own death. 
Together, these four essays form an ode to the uniqueness of each human being and to gratitude for the gift of life.
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Quick looks:
Boys in the Trees
But Enough About Me
Sam Phillips
Sea Salt Sweet
For your holiday baking

Sea Salt Sweet: The Art of Using Salts for the Ultimate Dessert Experience by Heather Baird
[Running Press, $18.00]
"Having been involved in the recipe testing for Sea Salt Sweet, I can attest that a home baker would keep their book on her shelf and use it with delight to put a polish on the next family get-together. This is beautiful, approachable and delicious food!" - Heather Radecky
Buy the bookGoogle Preview
We recommend - for teens or adults

Calvin Calvin by Martine Leavitt
[Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $17.99; Nov. 17]
Katherine says: An off-the-cliff sled ride of a novel: taut, concise, poetic, and worthy of its namesake. Beautiful.
Born on the day the last Calvin and Hobbes comic strip was published, seventeen-year-old Calvin, a schizophrenic, sees and has conversations with the tiger, Hobbes, and believes that if he can persuade the strip's creator to do one more strip, he will make Calvin well.
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Finding Jake Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon
[William Morrow & Co., $14.99]
Linda says: At first blush, this may seem like yet another high school tragedy perpetrated by a couple of troubled kids. But it is so much more than that. It is the story of a stay-at-home father who wonders if he's doing enough for his kids, whether he is helping them make good choices, and the incident that changes everything. It is about the reaction to tragedy in the community and what happens to parents when their child is pilloried. It is also a cautionary tale about our visceral reaction to jump to conclusions and make judgments based on fear, ruining the lives of families in the process. It is the story of a father who will not give up on his son and who struggles to work through his own issues and fears while trying to find his son and vindicate him. Gripping from the first page, this is a story that will upset and sadden but ultimately uplift the reader. 
Buy the bookBuy the eBook
New for kids: Mystery & magic

The After-Room The After-Room by Maile Meloy
[G. P. Putnam's Sons, $17.99]
It's 1955, and Benjamin Burrows and Janie Scott are trying to live a safe, normal life in America. It's not easy, when they have the power to prevent nuclear disaster and sinister forces are circling. Soon the advice of a mysterious, unscrupulous magician propels Janie and Benjamin into danger, and toward the land of the dead.
Meanwhile, their friend Jin Lo washes up on a remote island where an American spy is stationed, and finds herself on the trail of a deadly threat in China. But she's on the other side of the world - how can Janie and Benjamin reach her?
The triumphant finale in the trilogy that began with The Apothecary and continued in The Apprentices, The After-Room is full of enchantment and heart, with Ian Schoenherr's remarkable illustrations throughout. For ages 10 and up.
Buy the bookBuy the book

Warren the ThirteenthWarren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania Del Rio, illustrated by Wilhelm Staehle
[Quirk Books, $16.95; available Nov. 24]
Meet Warren the 13th, a cursed 12-year-old Victorian bellhop who's terribly unlucky... yet perpetually optimistic, hard-working, and curious. Orphan Warren's pride and joy is his family's hotel, but he's been miserable ever since his evil Aunt Anaconda took over the management. Anaconda believes a mysterious treasure known as the All-Seeing Eye is hidden somewhere on the grounds, and she'll do anything to find it. If Warren wants to preserve his family's legacy, he'll need to find the treasure first - if the hotel's many strange and wacky guests don't beat him to it! This middle-grade adventure features two-color illustrations on every page and a lavish two-column Victorian design that will pull young readers into a spooky and delightful mystery. Ages 10 and up.
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The Rosemary SpellThe Rosemary Spell
by Virginia Zimmerman
[Clarion Books, $16.99; available Dec. 1]
Part mystery, part literary puzzle, part life-and-death quest, and chillingly magical, this novel has plenty of suspense for adventure fans and is a treat for readers who love books, words, and clues. Best friends Rosie and Adam find an old book with blank pages that fill with handwriting before their eyes. Something about this magical book has the power to make people vanish, even from memory. The power lies in a poem - a spell. When Adam's older sister, Shelby, disappears, they struggle to retain their memories of her as they race against time to bring her back from the void, risking their own lives in the process. For ages 10 and up.
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Thanks for supporting The Learned Owl Book Shop. Happy reading!