The Learned Owl Book Shop, February 15, 2016
 Kate's Corner
Lilly and Kate
Harry Potter seems to be the topic on almost every book lover's radar. The announcement of the release of the new Harry Potter story has become my best dream and worst nightmare all wrapped into one. I have been a huge Harry Potter fan from the very beginning and can think of no better news.  On the other hand, how can I ever live up to the legacy that Liz created by throwing some of the best Harry Potter parties in the country?

Here is what I can tell you for now. The new Harry Potter story is a play based on an original story by J.K. Rowling. She, as well as two other authors, will be named on the story. As a special thank you to all of you equally devoted Potter enthusiasts, we will extend a 20% discount to anyone that prepays for the story by June 1st.

For all of you wondering if there will be a party, the answer is yes. We will have a midnight release celebration. The scope of this celebration is yet to be determined, so please stay tuned for more details as they develop.

We are looking forward to another wonderful Harry Potter-inspired literary event. Until then, happy reading!

- Kate
Coming up at
The Learned Owl

Monday, Feb. 15, 7 PM (Hudson Library)
Garden historian Kathryn Aalto with The Natural World of Winnie-The-Pooh: A Walk Through the Forest That Inspired the Hundred Acre Wood. Register for this free program online or call (330) 653-6658 x1010.

Saturday, Feb. 20,
1-3 PM (at The Owl)
Meet author/ blogger/ economist/ forecaster/ public speaker Don Ake, who will be visiting us to sign his book Just Make Me a Sammich.

Sunday, Feb. 21, 2-4 PM (at The Owl)
The Learned Owl History Book Club will meet to discuss Cold War Spies. Read any book on the topic and join the discussion.

Thursday, Feb. 25, 6:30 PM (Hudson Library)
Chef Jenn Stoker will discuss and sign her book She Cooks, She Scores: The Steamy Stories Behind the Recipes.

Thursday, Feb. 25, 7 PM (at Lager & Vine)
Our Book Club in a Bar meets at Lager & Vine with special guest author Shelley Costa, whose new mystery is Practical Sins for Cold Climates.

Saturday, Feb. 27,
1-3 PM (at The Owl)
Meet author and history professor Christopher Kinsella, who will be discussing and signing his political mystery thriller Chain of Deception.

Sunday, Feb. 28, 2-4 PM (at The Owl)
Author/illustrator Lindsay Ward returns to share her new storybook, The Importance of Being Three.

Thursday, March 3, 7 PM (Hudson Library)
H. W. Brands speaks about his book Reagan: The Life. Register for this free program online or call (330) 653-6658 x1010.

Saturday, March 5, 2 PM (Hudson Library)
Meet Jennifer Maschari, author of The Remarkable Journey of Charlie Price (for ages 9-12). Please register online, or call (330) 653-6658.

Hudson Players
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Coming July 31st -
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
TM & © HPTP. Harry Potter™ WB.
We recommend: New mysteries
An international selection

The WidowThe Widow by Fiona Barton
[New American Library, $26.00]
Linda says: A riveting thriller debut! Jean has considered herself fortunate to have met and married Glen and has prided herself on being the perfect wife, going so far as to pretend that her husband is beyond reproach. She keeps his secrets for him until it is no longer necessary due to circumstances beyond her control, and then she finds herself sought after by journalists eager to know how she stayed with him for so long. Barton does a masterful job of shifting perspective, from one character to another, and the story and its secrets will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. [read more]
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Real Tigers Louise recommends: Great crime thriller!
Real Tigers by Mick Herron
[Soho Crime, $26.95]
Slough House is the MI5 branch where disgraced operatives are reassigned after they've messed up too badly to be trusted with real intelligence work. The Slow Horses, as the failed spies of Slough House are called, are doomed to spend the rest of their careers pushing paper, but they all want back in on the action.
When one of their own is kidnapped and held for ransom, the agents of Slough House must defeat the odds, overturning all expectations of their competence, to breach the top-notch security of MI5's intelligence headquarters and steal valuable intel in exchange for their comrade's safety.
The kidnapping is only the tip of the iceberg, however: The agents uncover a larger web of intrigue that involves not only a group of private mercenaries but the highest authorities in the Secret Service. After years spent as the lowest on the totem pole, the Slow Horses suddenly find themselves caught in the midst of a conspiracy that threatens not only the future of Slough House, but of MI5 itself.
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by Keigo Higashino
[Minotaur Books, $25.99; available Feb. 23]
Manabu Yukawa, the physicist known as "Detective Galileo", has traveled to Hari Cove, a once-popular summer resort town that has fallen on hard times. He is there to speak at a conference on a planned underwater mining operation which has sharply divided the town. One faction, concerned about the environmental impact on the area, is against the proposed operation. The other faction, seeing no future in the town as it is, believes its only hope lies in the development project.
The night after the tense panel discussion, one of the resort's guests is found dead on the seashore at the base of the local cliffs. The local police at first believe it was a simple accident. But when they discover that the victim was a former policeman and that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, they begin to suspect he was murdered.
As the police try to uncover where Tsukahara was killed and why, Galileo finds himself enmeshed in yet another confounding case of murder. In a series of complex and surprising twists, Galileo uncovers the hidden relationship behind the tragic events that led to this murder.
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2015 Beacon_s Best

Voting ends February 29.
We recommend: New fiction

Try Not to Breathe Elizabeth recommends:
Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon
[Ballantine Books, $26.00; available Feb. 23]
Alex Dale is lost. Destructive habits have cost her a marriage and a journalism career. All she has left is her routine: a morning run until her body aches, then a few hours of forgettable work before the past grabs hold and drags her down. Every day is treading water, every night is drowning. Until Alex discovers Amy Stevenson - who was just another girl from a nearby town until the day she was found unconscious after a merciless assault.
Soon Alex's routine includes visiting hours at the hospital, then interviews with the original suspects in the attack. But what starts as a reporter's story becomes a personal obsession. How do you solve a crime when the only witness lived but cannot tell the tale? Unable to tear herself away from her attempt to uncover the unspeakable truth, Alex realizes she's not just chasing a story - she's seeking salvation.
Shifting from present to past and back again, Try Not to Breathe unfolds layer by layer until its heart-stopping conclusion. The result is an utterly immersive, unforgettable debut.
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The Forgetting Time Linda recommends:
The Forgetting Time by Sharon Guskin
[Flatiron Books, $25.99]
Noah wants to go home. A seemingly easy request from most four year olds. But as Noah's single mother, Janie, knows, nothing with Noah is ever easy. One day the preschool office calls and says Janie needs to come in to talk about Noah, and no, not later, now - and life as she knows it stops.
For Jerome Anderson, life as he knows it has stopped. A deadly diagnosis has made him realize he is approaching the end of his life. His first thought: I'm not finished yet. Once a shining young star in academia, a graduate of Yale and Harvard, a professor of psychology, he threw it all away because of an obsession. Anderson became the laughing stock of his peers, but he didn't care - something had to be going on beyond what anyone could see or comprehend. He spent his life searching for that "something else". And with Noah, he thinks he's found it.
Soon Noah, Janie and Anderson will find themselves knocking on the door of a mother whose son has been missing for eight years - and when that door opens, all of their questions will be answered.
Sharon Guskin has written a captivating, thought-provoking novel that explores what we regret in the end of our lives and hope for in the beginning, and everything in between.
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Now in paperback for teens
An Ember in the Ashes
When Mr Dog Bites
The Last Time We Say Goodbye
The Conspiracy of Us
The Tragic Age
The Shadow Cabinet
Stolen
Fairest
We recommend: New storybooks to share

The Sleepy Songbird The Sleepy Songbird
by Suzanne Barton
[Bloomsbury USA, $16.99; Feb. 23]
Kate says: I'm always a fan of cut paper illustrations. The story is cute with a wonderful message.
[read more]
Preorder book

Before I Leave Before I Leave by Jessixa Bagley
[Roaring Brook Press, $17.99]
Kate says: Love the illustrations! Great book for young ones having to move. [read more]
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Surf_s Up Surf's Up by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Daniel Miyares
[NorthSouth, $17.95]
Kate says: Very fun picture book! Shows how the love of reading really is contagious!
[read more]
Buy the book

We have signed copies!
Bloom Bloom by Doreen Cronin, illustrated by David Small
[Atheneum, $17.99]
"The glass kingdom had fallen into a state of disrepair. It was held together by tape, glue, and peasants..."
Katherine says: A wonderfully funny story enlivened by David Small's wry, Feifferesque illustrations. Princesses and mud-pie chefs alike will love this book.
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Thanks for supporting The Learned Owl Book Shop. Happy reading!