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

Happy mid-August!
I don't often focus on a particular book or author; however, this month I must make an exception. On August 30th the latest Louise Penny book, A Great Reckoning, will be released. This is the twelfth book in her Chief Inspector Gamache series set in the small town of Three Pines just across the border in Quebec. I have absolutely fallen in love with these books over the years. Each time I finish one, I invariably want to go back and binge read them all. It's not just the plot and character development that draws you in, it's her ability to weave in insights on the human condition.

I had the pleasure of meeting Louise in Chicago this past spring, and I can assure you she is as wonderful and insightful in person as she is in her books. She is a great friend and supporter of independent book stores and goes out of her way to work with us. If you have not heard of Louise Penny or ever read one of her books, I encourage you to run, not walk, to your closest book store and find one. I recommend starting with her first, Still Life; however, if it is not readily available, any of the others will do and can be read independently.

Thank you for your support, and happy reading!
- Kate
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Coming up at
The Owl

Saturday, Aug. 20, 10 AM (Hudson Farmers Market)
Story time: A Unicorn Named Sparkle. Join us!

Saturday, Aug. 20, 1-3 PM
(at The Owl)
Local authors A.J. and C.S. Sparber with Ariel Rising: Ariel, Between Two Worlds: Episode One. This book has humor, romance, adventure, science, tragedy and a healthy dollop of fantasy, and is good for YA through adult. 

Saturday, Aug. 20, 1-3 PM
(at The Owl)
Sunday, Aug. 21, 2 PM
(at The Owl)
Our History Book Club discusses Radical Reformers. Read any book on the topic and join us! [more]

Thursday, Aug. 25,
6:45 PM (location TBA)
Our Book Club in a Bar discusses Death in the Off-Season.

Sunday, Aug. 28, 2-3 PM
(at The Owl)
Join us for a Silly Summer Costume Party featuring Enzo's Very Scary Halloween (for ages 4-8). Please call to reserve your spot: 330-653-2252.
New this month
 
by Katharine McGee
[HarperCollins, $18.99; Aug. 30]
New York City as you've never seen it before: a thousand-story tower stretching into the sky. A glittering vision of the future, where anything is possible if you want it enough. Welcome to Manhattan, 2118.
A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: Everyone here wants something, and everyone has something to lose.
Debut author Katharine McGee has created a breathtakingly original series filled with high-tech luxury and futuristic glamour, where the impossible feels just within reach. But in this world, the higher you go, the farther there is to fall. [more]

A Torch Against the Night
Preorder book
Buy the eBook
by Sabaa Tahir
[Razorbill, $19.95; available Aug. 30]
Elias and Laia are running for their lives. Following the events of the Fourth Trial, an army led by Masks hunts the two fugitives as they escape the city of Serra and journey across the vast lands of the Martial Empire.
Laia is determined to break into Kauf, the Empire's most secure and dangerous prison, and save her brother, whose knowledge of Serric steel is the key to the Scholars' future. And Elias is determined to stay by Laia's side - even if it means giving up his own chance at freedom.
But Elias and Laia will have to fight every step of the way if they're going to outsmart their enemies: the bloodthirsty Emperor Marcus, the merciless Commandant, the sadistic Warden of Kauf, and, most heartbreaking of all, Helene - Elias's former friend and the Empire's newest Blood Shrike.
Helene's mission is horrifying, unwanted, and clear: Find the traitor Elias Veturius and the Scholar slave who helped him escape... and kill them both.

by Abbi Glines
[Simon Pulse, $17.99; available Aug. 23]
Willa can't erase the bad decisions of her past that led her down the path she's on now. But she can fight for forgiveness from her family. And she can protect herself by refusing to let anyone else get close to her. High school quarterback and town golden boy Brady used to be the best of friends with Willa - she even had a crush on him when they were kids. But that's all changed now. Her life choices have made her a different person from the girl he used to know.
Gunner used to be friends with Willa and Brady. He, too, is larger than life and a high school football star - not to mention that his family basically owns the town of Lawton. He loves his life and doesn't care about anyone except himself. But Willa is the exception, and he understands the girl she's become in a way no one else can.
As secrets come to light and hearts are broken, these former childhood friends must face the truth about growing up and falling in love - even if it means losing each other forever.

by Aaron Starmer
[Dutton Books, $17.99; Aug. 23]
Mara Carlyle's senior year is going as normally as could be expected, until "wa-bam!" fellow senior Katelyn Ogden explodes during third period pre-calc.
Katelyn is the first, but she won't be the last teenager to blow up without warning or explanation. As the seniors continue to pop like balloons and the national eye turns to Mara's suburban New Jersey hometown, the FBI rolls in and the search for a reason is on.
Whip-smart and blunt, Mara narrates the end of their world as she knows it while trying to make it to graduation in one piece. It's an explosive year punctuated by romance, quarantine, lifelong friendship, hallucinogenic mushrooms, bloggers, ice cream trucks, Snooze Button, Bon Jovi, and the filthiest language you've ever heard from the President of the United States.
But beneath the outrageous is a ridiculously funny, super honest, and truly moving exemplar of the absurd and raw truths of being a teenager in the 21st century... and the heartache of saying goodbye.
New in paperback
The Glass Arrow
Clariel
It_s All Fun and Games
The Conjurer_s Riddle
The Hill
I Crawl Through It
The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone
The Reckoners series
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