The Bookies Newsletter
The Bookies Monthly Newsletter
May 2015
 
The Bookies is a Top Ten Denver Bookstore! 
Sue and Susan We're proud to be one of Westword's top ten independent bookstores in Denver! Thank you to Westword for recognizing us, and an even bigger thank you to you, for supporting us and all the other independent Denver bookstores. The article included this wonderful photo of our founder and owner Sue Lubeck (left), with one of our educational experts, Susan Loftus. If you'd like to see more articles about us, we've collected a few recent stories on this page of our website.




Also in this newsletter... 
It's time to honor two very important members of your family - your mother and your graduate! We've got great suggestions for both on display in the store and in this newsletter. Plus a book launch on national Independent Bookstore Day, a special event in partnership with Denver Public Libraries and lots more! And don't forget to scroll to the bottom of the newsletter to see our pick of new publications in May! 

Please note we will be closed on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10th, and Memorial Day, Monday, May 25th, so we can be with our families.

Celebrating Mom
Mothers Day  
 Drop in to check out our selection of gifts for Mother's Day! A few of our own mothers picked out gifts from our table that they would like to receive (hint, hint.) From left to right: Anne (practical, yet soft on the inside): V&A decorated hammer/screwdriver and Because Your Mummy Loves You by Andrew Clements; Shona (tea addict and kid craft softy): 'Read' mug and 'Paint and Sip Ceramic Mug Craft Kit'; Robin (chocoholic): Chocolate - Sweet Science and Dark Secrets of the World's Favorite Treat by Kay Frydenborg; Jeanne (soft toy softy): chocolate and Mommy and baby mice stuffed toy; Shelly (who needs a new hat): Wallaroo hat and Rising Tide scarf; Missy (who is ready to learn a few kitchen basics): Mommy and Me Bake, Dorling Kindersley.

Graduation Gifts, Given with Love 
Books for Grads
Whether your graduate is moving on from pre-school or graduate school, we've got the perfect gift! Here are a few suggestions:

The Lesson The Lesson: A Fable for Our Times by Carol Lynn Pearson and Kathleen Peterson is a fantastic fable using a school year as an allegory for life itself.  Filled with poetic phrases and beautiful illustrations, this is the perfect gift for a grad, teacher or anyone taking on a new challenge in life! 


Oh, the Places You'll Go! For young and old, the sage words of Dr. Seuss in Oh, the Places You'll Go!, are always relevant. Rhyme and illustrations make this a wonderful book for young children, but older graduates will understand the deeper messages delivered behind Seuss's zip and zing. This one should be on every graduate's shelf.


The Four Principles of a Debt-Free Life The Four Principles Of A Debt Free Life
by John Schneider and David Auten is a great little book about personal finance written for high school seniors, college students and other young adults. The authors are young adults themselves and they give sound, experience-based advice in accessible language.



A Short Guide to a Happy Life  A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen is a classic reflection on a meaningful life that makes the beautiful gift for graduation. It encourages the art of living deeply every day and from your own unique self, rather than just existing.






Signed Books in Store
It's always special to own a signed copy of a book. We have several signed copies from recent author visits - including middle-grade authors Paul AertkerNancy OswaldJarrett J. Krosoczka and younger children's favorites Jean Reagan and Julie Danneberg. 

 

Poetry for All 













April was National Poetry Month, so we displayed some of our favorite poetry books at the front of the store. But did you know that we carry an extensive selection of poetry for children and adults all year round? In fact, in April, the hardest thing was selecting only a few books to put on the display table! Poetry makes another great gift for graduates. And if you love poetry,  subscribe here for daily poetry in your inbox! 
  

 

How to Make a Bookseller Cry 

Larry and Paul Aertker It's not often we see Larry Yoder lost for words. But when Paul Aertker surprised us in  mid-April with the first copies of Diamonds Are for Never, so hot from the press they were still smoking, he had a surprise for Larry.  

 

Click on the picture to the left to watch a thirty second movie to see what happened!

  

 

  

 

  

Paul's Launch and National Independent Bookstore Day

   

 

 

Carla and games
Lots of people joined the fun on national Independent Bookstore Day. Paul Aertker signed over forty books and our games guru, Karla, had lots of participants at her games table. Younger visitors loved Ryan's face painting and all our free doughnuts disappeared! Thank you to The Fractured Prune for helping us out with the delicious doughnuts - welcome to the neighborhood!


What We Were Up To in April...
 
Platypus Police Squad

On Thursday, April 30th, we teamed up with Denver Public Libraries, local police officers and Platypus Police Squad author Jarrett J. Krosoczka for a community read-aloud program at Sam Gary Branch Library in Stapleton. Our picture shows DPD officers reading aloud while Jarrett draws. We sold books from the series, including advance copies of the brand-new Last Panda Standing

A Visit from the Fire Department 
A quiet Wednesday afternoon turned dramatic when our fire alarm went off. Staff and customers left the store - in an orderly fashion, of course - and moments later the fire department turned up. The brave men in blue assured us that this was a false alarm and the children in the store enjoyed seeing the fire engines. We're lucky to have the fire department so close to the store.


Behind the counter...

Lots of people scribble on our trial Boogie Board at the front of the counter, but this one made us giggle. Mind you, given the fire alarm went off later that day, maybe our messenger knew more than we realized... 







A Man, A Can, A Microwave
Some of our less enthusiastic chefs can't stop leafing through the fascinating A Man A Can A Microwave: 50 Tasty Meals You Can Nuke in No Time by David Joachim. It's on display on our graduation table for the hapless youngster heading away from home for the first time - but some of our more, um, mature cooks are also impressed by what can be prepared with instant ingredients and instant heat. Approved by Men's Health for nutritional content, some of the recipes look tasty for families too!

Three LIttle Piggies Temple Trap In our quiet moments (not that there are many), we've been having fun with a couple of maze puzzles that have just arrived in the store. Both come from Smart Games and can be played alone or cooperatively. Temple Trap is for teens and adults, and Three Little Pigs is for younger children. Although some of us find Three Little Pigs quite challenging enough! 

  


Thank you 
Thank you for your contributions to the EPIC (Executives Partnering to Invest in Children) book drive. The huge donation box in our store was completely full by the end of April. The books will be distributed to children across Colorado.   
 

Sue Lubeck
Storytime!

Join us each Tuesday morning at 10:30 a.m. for Preschool Storytime. We choose awesome picture books to share with our young readers!


Coming Out This Month - Our May Marvels!


by Emma J. Virjan 
$14.99, HarperCollins
Picture book, ages 4 to 8

Meet Pig in this fun read-aloud by debut author-illustrator Emma J. Virj�n! What this story needs is a pig in a wig on a boat, in a moat with a frog, a dog, and a goat on a log...

So as a panda in a blouse, a skunk on a trunk, and more hop on board, it becomes clear that what this story really needs is a bigger boat! Join Pig on an exciting boat ride as she discovers that life is more fun with friends in this fantastic read-aloud with cumulative text.

Bear and Duck
Bear and Duck
by Katy Hudson
$17.99 HarperCollins
Picture Book, ages 4 to 8

Sometimes who you are is who you're meant to be! 

Bear is sick and tired of being a bear. Who wants to sleep all winter? His fur feels so hot in the summer. And the bees...there are just too many angry bees! Bear is done being a bear. But when he sees a line of happy yellow ducklings, he has a thought. What if he could be a duck? With a few duck lessons from Duck, Bear learns that being a duck is fun. But as it turns out, Bear realizes he makes a really good bear...and he makes a really good friend along the way.

A God in Ruins
by Kate Atkinson
$28, Little Brown
Literary fiction

This is a companion to Life After Life, which explored the possibility of infinite chances and the power of choices, as Ursula Todd lived through the turbulent events of the last century over and over again. A God in Ruins tells the story of Ursula's beloved younger brother Teddy as he navigates the perils and progress of a rapidly changing world. After all that Teddy endures in battle as a heroic pilot, his greatest challenge is living in a future he never expected to have. An ingenious and moving exploration of one ordinary man's path through extraordinary times, this novel proves once again that Kate Atkinson is one of the finest novelists of our age. 
The Gracekeepers
by Kirsty Logan
$25.00, Crown
Literary fiction

This is a beautiful novel, set in a world of water. Callanish lives alone on a tiny island, working as a 'gracekeeper', burying the dead in the ocean. The only people she meets are the relatives of the dead, and those only briefly. She has chosen her exile, but that doesn't make it easy.  

 

Callanish's isolated life is disturbed by the crew of the Excalibur, a motley troupe of entertainers traveling by ship, who bring one of their own for burial. Among them is North, the bear trainer, who, in her own way, is as lonely as Callanish. When the two meet, the course of their lives are changed.  Haunting and lyrical.

Review by Shona  

Last Man Off
$16, Plume
Adult, Autobiography/Adventures

A gripping true story of disaster and heroism against a breathtaking backdrop of icebergs and killer whales. On June 6, 1998, twenty-three-year-old Matt Lewis had just started his dream job as a scientific observer aboard a deep-sea fishing boat in the waters off Antarctica. As the crew hauls in the line for the day, a storm begins to brew. When the captain vanishes and they are forced to abandon ship, Lewis leads the escape onto three life rafts, where the battle for survival begins.
The Green Road
By Anne Enright
$26.95, WW Norton
Fiction / Literary

Set in a small town on Ireland's Atlantic coast, The Green Road is a tale of family and fracture, compassion and selfishness - a book about the gaps in the human heart and how we strive to fill them. Spanning thirty years, The Green Road tells the story of Rosaleen, matriarch of the Madigans. As they grow up, Rosaleen's four children leave the west of Ireland for lives they could have never imagined in Dublin, New York, and Mali, West Africa. In her early old age, their difficult, wonderful mother announces that she's decided to sell the house and divide the proceeds. Her adult children come back for a last Christmas, with the feeling that their childhoods are being erased and their personal history bought and sold. A profoundly moving work about a family's desperate attempt to recover the relationships they've lost and forge the ones they never had, The Green Road is Enright's most mature, accomplished, and unforgettable novel to date.
by Ralph Peters
$26.99, Forge Books
Fiction / War & Military

I think Ralph Peters' works may be the best newer novelistic series telling of the Civil War battles and military and political leaders. His research, story telling and historical accuracy are all excellent, and he explains strategies and personalities very well. His battle scenes certainly carry vivid pictures to my mind.

Valley of the Shadow is a retelling of major Civil War battles often forgotten or overlooked.  These include Early's attempt to enter Washington DC, the battles of the Monocacry, Sheridan's early command of the army of the Shenandoah and the start of the Valley campaigns. Readers may be surprised by the politics and pettiness of the Union General Staff, or the author Lew Wallace's important role in one of these battles.

This is a good book (and series) for readers of historical fiction, Civil War and USA history.  These books are written for adults but students from the about the eighth grade up should have no problem with content or general background knowledge.
Review by Larry
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The Bookies  

The Bookies, A bookstore like no other 
4315 E. Mississippi Ave. | Denver, CO 80246
(303) 759-1117 | www.thebookies.com