The Learned Owl Book Shop, Mid-July 2016
 Kate's Corner


It's hard to believe the last week of July is almost here! The start of school is around the corner, and we are already pulling out some great titles for back to school at any age. We are also well stocked for your summer required reading needs, so don't wait until the last minute. Get in today and receive 10% off your required summer reading that the teachers have notified us about. While you're here, pick up a non-required reading book for a last summer fling, and enter in for a chance to win your 2016 - 2017 required reading list for free!

In other news, the Main Street construction has begun. Thankfully, we have not seen too much of a disruption in our daily activities so far. All Main Street parking is still accessible between 6 AM and 8 PM. Don't let the cones and barrels scare you away. We will continue to keep you updated.

In the meantime, enjoy the beautiful weather, stay cool and happy reading!
- Kate
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Coming up at The Owl

Sat., July 23, 1-3 PM
(at The Owl)

Saturday, July 23, 1-3 PM (at The Owl)
Author Serena Burdick with Girl in the Afternoon, an opulent saga set in Paris during la Belle Epoque.

Sun., July 24, 2-3 PM
(at The Owl)
Story time: Wolf Camp! Come prepared to do your best wolf howl and enjoy the story, a snack and a take-home gift. Please call to reserve your spot: 330-653-2252.

Thurs., July 28, 6:45 PM (location TBA)
Our Book Club in a Bar discusses Murder in the Marais. Join us!

Sat., July 30, 1-3 PM
(at The Owl)

Sat., July 30, 11 PM
(at The Owl)
Join us to celebrate the midnight release (on Sunday, July 31) of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One & Two! Please email or call us (330-653-2252) to reserve your copy, or order at learnedowl.com. You must reserve the book from us to attend the release party.

Sun., July 31, 2 PM
(at The Owl)
Join us for refreshments and the awarding of prizes from our Find Waldo in Hudson hunt.
Quick Links
We recommend: New for adults

Baby Doll
Buy the book Digital audio
Kate recommends:
Baby Doll by Hollie Overton
[Redhook, $25.00]
For fans of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train, Baby Doll is the most tense thriller you will read this year. Held captive for eight years, Lily has grown from a teenager to an adult in a small basement prison. Her daughter Sky has been a captive her whole life. But one day their captor leaves the deadbolt unlocked. This is what happens next... to her twin sister, to her mother, to her daughter... and to her captor.

The House by the Lake
Buy the book Buy the eBook
Elizabeth recommends:
The House by the Lake: One House, Five Families, and a Hundred Years of German History by Thomas Harding
[Picador USA, $28.00]
A groundbreaking and revelatory new history of Germany, told over a tumultuous century through the story of a small wooden house. 
In the summer of 1993, Thomas Harding traveled to Germany with his grandmother to visit a small house by a lake on the outskirts of Berlin. It had been her soul place, she said, a holiday home for her and her family, but also a refuge until the 1930s, when the Nazis' rise to power forced them to leave.
The trip was his grandmother's chance to remember her childhood sanctuary as it was. But the house had changed; and when Harding returned once again nearly twenty years later, it was about to be demolished. It now belonged to the government. And as Harding began to inquire about whether the house could be saved, he unearthed secrets that had lain hidden for decades.

by Wendy Walker
[St. Martin's Press, $26.99]
Linda recommends: Wendy Walker has written a fierce and unforgettable thriller about young Jenny Kramer, who is attacked at a party and then given a controversial drug by her doctor so that she might have no memory of the horrific attack. Is that really all it takes to be released from awful experiences? Can such a drug be used to help victims of rape, PTSD, or the death of a child? Or is the lingering emotional memory the more powerful aftermath? Can that be manipulated?
As the family tries to cope with what has happened in their own ways, the psychiatrist has his own motivation for trying to control Jenny's memory. This psychological thriller will keep you engrossed to the astounding conclusion.

Among the Wicked
Buy the book Buy the eBook Digital audio
Linda recommends: Fantastic!
by Linda Castillo
[Minotaur Books, $26.99]
Chief of Police Kate Burkholder is called upon by the sheriff's department in rural upstate New York to assist in a developing situation that involves a reclusive Amish settlement and the death of a young girl. Unable to penetrate the wall of silence between the Amish and 'English' communities, the sheriff asks Kate to travel to New York, pose as an Amish woman, and infiltrate the community. Kate's long-time love interest, State Agent John Tomasetti, is dead set against her taking on such an unorthodox assignment, knowing she'll have limited communication - and even less in the way of backup. But Kate can't turn her back, especially when the rumor mill boils with disturbing accounts of children in danger.
Indie Next List
Enter to win
20 Indie Next List Great Reads!

Pick up the Indie Next List flyer at The Learned Owl, complete the contest entry form on the back, and mail it in by August 15.
New for teens

by Beth Revis
[Razorbill, $17.99; available July 19]
Our teen reviewer recommends: This book is about Bo, who after losing his girlfriend Sofia when she commits suicide, is convinced he can go back in time and save her. He has always believed that he can time travel, and thinks he left Sofia in the 1600's and it's his fault that she died in real life. This was a phenomenal book. I loved seeing how the story played out... Beth Revis truly wrote an amazing story on how mental illness affects different people.
 
by Victoria Schwab
[Greenwillow Books, $17.99]
Kate Harker wants to be as ruthless as her father. After five years and six boarding schools, she's finally going home to prove that she can be.
August Flynn wants to be human. But he isn't. He's a monster, one that can steal souls with a song. He's one of the three most powerful monsters in a city overrun with them. His own father's secret weapon.
Their city is divided. Their city is crumbling. Kate and August are the only two who see both sides, the only two who could do something. But how do you decide to be a hero or a villain when it's hard to tell which is which?
 
Level Up
Buy the book
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang, illustrated by Thien Pham
[Square Fish, $9.99; available July 19]
Dennis lives in the shadow of his parents' high expectations. They want him to go to med school and become a doctor. Dennis just wants to play video games, and he might actually be good enough to do it professionally. But four adorable, bossy, and occasionally terrifying angels arrive just in time to lead Dennis back onto the straight and narrow: the path to gastroenterology. It's all part of the plan, they tell him. But is it?
Partnered with the deceptively simple art of newcomer Thien Pham, Gene Yang has returned to the subject he revolutionized with American Born Chinese.
Grover Cleveland_ Again_
Buy the eBook
Just don't tell them it's educational
Nonfiction for ages 8-12

Grover Cleveland, Again!: A Treasury of American Presidents by Ken Burns, illustrated by Gerald Kelley
[Alfred A. Knopf, $25.00]
A gorgeous collection of American presidents filled with fun facts and sparkling with personality, from nonfiction master Ken Burns.

Maker Lab
Maker Lab: 28 Super Cool Projects by Jack Challoner
[DK Publishing, $19.99]
Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution and supporting STEM education initiatives, Maker Lab includes 28 kid-safe projects and crafts that will get young inventors' wheels turning and make science pure fun.
Each step-by-step activity is appropriate for kids ages 8-12 and ranked easy, medium, or hard, with an estimated time frame for completion. Requiring only household materials, young makers can build an exploding volcano, race balloon rocket cars, construct a solar system, make a lemon battery, and more. Maker Lab will help kids find their inner inventors and create winning projects for school projects, science fairs, and beyond.

New in the popular kids' bio series:
Alexander the Great
Jules Verne
Hillary Clinton
Coming soon to a school near you

by Terry Border
[Philomel Books, $17.99]
Kate says: Perfect for back to school! I'm a big fan of Terry Border and he has given us another winner!! [read more]




by Mike Boldt
[Simon & Schuster, $17.99]
Kate says: Very sweet first day of school story, with fun illustrations! [read more]


Kindergarten Is Cool_
Mom School
Berenstain Bears Get Ready for School
Time for School_ Mouse_
Otter Goes to School
Pete the Cat
Preorder now!

Coming July 31, 2016:

  
Coming October 4, 2016:
Harry Potter _2
Second in the new illustrated edition
  
Coming November 19, 2016:
Coming November 19_ 2016
Screenplay by J. K. Rowling
Thanks for supporting The Learned Owl Book Shop. Happy reading!