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"The good man is the friend of all living things."
~ Mahatma Gandhi
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II've been trying to deny it, but I think some of my beech trees have "beech scale." It's caused by a horrid little beech scale insect that bores holes in beech trees. After a few years (hopefully not sooner) a fungus called Nectria (ok, technically it's 3 fungi in that genus, but that's not the point) can move right in because the beech scale have compromised the tree's immune system. It's really annoying. I love my beech trees. Their smooth gray trunks stretch to 60 feet in my back yard. I don't want to lose them. Of course, it's possible that the Nectria will leave my trees alone. I'm sending all kinds of nasty vibes out into my back yard to scare the fungi away, but that's about all I can do. There's no way to ward it off. I'm not the only one. This disease has spread across much of North America, and it's not really that "new," just new to my back yard. In reverence to my trees, and to the beautiful outdoors that makes up the place I live, I've been trying to get outside and enjoy its beauty as much as possible. There's at least one camping trip and many many fall walks scheduled for my fall season. I encourage everyone to get outside and savor what we have. Here are some ways to make it even more fun:
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Saturday, September 28 6-9pm
Booktopia Party
Saturday, October 5 2-4pm
Phillip Greene
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Staff Picks:
(click name to view picks)
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Feed Zone Portables: A Cookbook of on-the-go Food for Athletes
by Biju Thomas and Allen Lim
Wrap up some of these and hit the trail! You can take them camping, freeze them, put them in a bike pack, whatever works for you. And you don't have to be an "athlete" to enjoy. There are 10 recipes alone just for rice cakes! Yum!
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I like this one because it has 2 tables of contents. The first is arranged by Location (e.g. Upper Peninsula, Southwest Michigan, etc.). The second is arranged by the "type" of camping you want to do:
-Best for Fun With Families
-Best for Scenic Beauty
-Best for Fishing
-Best for Hiking
-Best for Cycling and Mountain Biking
-Best for Canoeing and Kayaking
-Best for Swimming
-Best for Peace and Quiet
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From now on, anyone who writes a first aid guide must make it waterproof the way this one is!
I now know how to apply evaporative cooling if someone is experiencing heat exhaustion and thoroughly irrigate a wound. This one is handy to have around even if you don't go camping...some of us need it just for leaving the house.
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Seven states, 4,600 miles, and intended to link America's "Great North Woods," the North Country Trail is one of our favorite places. We've wanted a book for a long time, and this summer we finally got our wish! Whether you want to hike, bike, or camp, The North Country Trail has got it all.
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Rep. Night!
Mark your calendars. It's one of your favorite events of the year, and it's happening Thursday, September 26 from 6-7pm.
Every year, we coerce a few of our book sales representatives into coming to the store to present  their favorite new and/or up and coming books of the year. This year, we have reps. from Random House (Bridget Piekarz and Laura  Barrato) and Ingram (Nancy Rohlen), and they all plan on giving you a sneak peek at what will be hot for the holidays as well.
*Reservations are requested for this event. Click here for more information.
Special thanks to both Random House and Ingram for making this event possible.
 
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Book Thief Trailer:
The movie is slated to come out on November 15, so if you haven't read the book yet, you've still got time! The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak is one of our favorite books, and we recommend it to anyone 15 and up. |
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 Booktopia:
Friday, September 27, 6-9pm.You've heard us talk about Booktopia, and now it's right around the corner. Here's the scoop: Booktopia is a gathering of bibliophiles from all over the nation who listen to a podcast called Books on the Night Stand. It was started by two Random House Sales Representatives (Michael Kindness and Ann Kingman), and has taken on a life of its own. With thousands of listeners, the idea was hatched that they might all want the chance to get together with some of their favorite authors. Hence, Booktopia was born. So far, it's been hosted in Manchester, VT; Oxford, MS; Santa Cruz, CA; Bellingham, WA; and now...Petoskey, Michigan! The bad news is that Booktopia sold out in March. The good news is that we will be hosting an event that is open to the public in September! If you have ever wanted to meet Melanie Benjamin, Mary Doria Russell, Peter Geye, Susan Gregg Gilmore, Jill McCorkle, Bill Roorbach, Peter Heller, Edward Kelsey Moore, and Jamie Ford... why not meet them all at once! Reservations are requested for this event.Click here for full details.
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 Found on the Shelf:
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 Lily's recommending adult books
(and we don't want her to grow up, but here you go):
If my conversations with individual customers at all reflect the trends of the general populace, then there are many out there who have read and loved the first two books of Deborah Harkness's "All Souls Trilogy"- and are impatiently awaiting the third. If you fall into that group, then this is the book for you. After all, we all need something to tide us over until Ms. Harkness hurries up and finishes book three!
"The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic" follows the story of Nora Fischer, a graduate student who is having a rough year, both personally and professionally. Things for Nora become even more muddled when she stumbles through a mysterious graveyard and ends up lost in the woods. Then she meets Ilissa, a glamorous woman who lives in a forest mansion, who takes in the lost Nora. But before Nora can even realize it, she has become Ilissa's guest for far more than just a single night. In fact, Nora doesn't even know how long she's been there- but does it really matter? After all, there's so much laughter and dancing and fun, and now she's engaged to Ilissa's perfect son, Raclin. Which, come to think of it, strikes her as a little strange, but that thought doesn't linger... unfortunately. It turns out that Nora has been caught in the glittering, deceptive web of the malicious Queen of the Faitoren, an ancient race with a strange power over her perception of reality.
Escaping Ilissa and the Faitoren is only the first step. Nora has unknowingly stranded herself in another world, one that is very different from her own. And here, her only ally is the magician Aruendiel, a gaunt, mysterious figure who may or may not have murdered his own wife. It's going to take everything that Nora has to survive here- she has to learn a language, make alliances, and somehow persuade Aruendiel to teach her his magician's craft- which might be her only way home.
Smart, funny, and captivating, this is a fantastic read for anyone who likes their heroines intellectual (complete with degrees!) and their adventures thoroughly magical.
The year is 1985... for a while. Greta Wells is thoroughly miserable- her beloved twin brother has passed away, and her partner of ten years has left her. It isn't long before her psychiatrist realizes that none of the standard methods are helping Greta's crippling depression, and that more experimental treatments need to be tried. This is how Great Wells ends up as the subject of a revolutionary form of shock therapy. She's been warned that she may initially experience hallucinations as a side effect- but the results of her treatment are far more odd. After her first treatment, Greta wakes up in 1918. It's still her life, in the same place, surrounded by the same people, but it's happening in 1918, and the rules of the time apply: long dresses are worn, alcohol is hidden illegally, and there's a war going on. But the 1918 Greta is getting shock therapy, too- and it sends her to 1941.
Over the course of her treatments, Greta cycles between her three lives, confiding only in her eccentric aunt Ruth. Each life is her own- but with dramatic differences. In 1918 and 1941, her brother is still alive. But in 1941 alone, beloved aunt Ruth is dead. In 1918 and 1941, Greta is married to Nathan, the lover who left her in her own time. But in 1918 he's away at war and Greta has turned to adultery- and in 1941 he's a doting husband and father of her six-year-old child. All things considered, Greta handles her oddly cycling lives pretty well. But eventually the treatments will come to an end- and then where will Greta be?
This is an astounding, beautifully written novel that will have even the most skeptical reader believing fervently that "the impossible happens once to each of us."
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