"A kiss is a lovely trick 
designed by nature to stop speech 
when words become superfluous." 
~ Ingrid Bergman
I'm always fascinated by the etymology of the English language.    The word my caught my attention this week because I kept coming across it everywhere in the titles of books.  The history: "my (pron.) c. 1200, mi, reduced form of mine used before words beginning in consonants except vowels (my father, but mine enemy), and from 14c. before all nouns. As interjection, by 1825, probably a shortened form of my God!"  Even more fascinating though is the history of "OMG."  Here you go:
"According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first person to use 'OMG' was a 75-year-old British admiral named John Arbuthnot 'Jacky' Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, and he coined the term while writing his memoirs ... in 1917. Almost 100 years ago.
The exact phrase was: 'I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapia -- O.M.G (Oh! My God!) -- Shower it on the Admiralty!' (his subtle way of hinting that he hoped to be knighted). It's ironic, then, that one of the most popular abbreviations in the world was created by someone who didn't quite grasp the concept of using the acronyms to save time, since he immediately followed the term with the phrase it was supposed to shorten.
However, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense that someone in the navy would create something like this: In the days before VHF and single-sideband radio, ships' primary form of communication was Morse code -- a system that, like early texting, required each letter to be painfully spelled out. Navy men were used to abbreviations, and thus likely to come up with some of their own."
Go ahead.  Sound smart at parties.  And OMG, check out the following new books!
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"'As Southerners, we know that a man with a chainsaw is worth 10 with a clipboard, that there is no hurt in this world, even in the storm of the century, that cannot be comforted with a casserole, and that faith, in the hereafter or in neighbors who help you through the here and now, cannot be knocked down.' Even confirmed Northerners will find the genial charm of these essays hard to resist."  Read the full PW review here.

Try before you buy?  Here you go!
Roasted Eggplant Caponata
Makes 4 cups
-Caponata is a sweet-and-sour Sicilian vegetable stew made with eggplant and tomatoes. Served cold it is delicious as an appetizer, on toast, or as part of an antipasto plate; hot it can be tossed with pasta or served as a side dish for roasted meats or fish. I like this version because the roasted eggplant is very tender and flavorful.
2 medium globe eggplants, 2/3 cup olive oil, Sea salt, 3/4 cup finely diced celery, 1 onion, finely diced, 1 1/2 cups Roasted Tomato Sauce, 1/3 cup green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped, 3 tablespoons salt-packed capers, soaked in water and drained, 3 salt-packed whole anchovies, soaked in water, drained, filleted, and chopped, 1/4cup red wine vinegar
-Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
-With a vegetable peeler, peel the eggplant lengthwise in stripes, removing only about half of the skin. Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch cubes. Toss with 4 tablespoons of the oil and 1 teaspoon salt. Spread on the bak­ing sheets and roast until lightly browned and tender, about 40 minutes, checking and stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.
-Warm 3 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Add the celery and sauté until golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in the same pan. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion is translucent and has lost its crunch, about 7 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and cook for another 7 minutes. Stir in the roasted eggplant and cooked celery as well as the olives, capers, anchovies, and vinegar. Cook for 10 minutes. Taste and add more oil, salt, or vinegar or as desired.
-The flavors in caponata concentrate overnight-I think it tastes even better the next day.
VARIATIONS:
Garnish with 1/4 cup chopped basil or 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts.
"Young worshipers of Paris - and of fashion magazines - are in for an education. Those of us who've been there and back will find it entertaining and sneakily poignant reading on the flight to Charles de Gaulle."  Click here for the full NYT review.

"The sad truth is that many of the dogs languishing in shelters are seniors-it's hard for them to compete against younger, more energetic dogs and puppies for new owners."  Click here for the full PW review.
Gene Luen Yang!

Meet the award-winning author of American Born Chinese, and get a signed copy of the first book in his new series, Secret Coders, Monday, October 5th, 4-5pm.

Gene will be giving a presentation at Sheridan Elementary School in the morning, and headed to our store after school!  Reservations are requested for the in-store event.  Click here for full info.

We recommend Gene's new book for ages 8 and up.  However, his previous books are popular with adults and children alike.  Especially, Boxers, a series about China in the late 17th Century.
Grand Book Club:

The first meeting of the Grand Book Club will be Tuesday, October 6 at 6:30pm.  The group will be reading, I Survived The Joplin Tornado.  Reservations are needed for this event.

Details:
-Children must be between the 3rd and 5th grade.
-Grandparents must be over 55 (but we take bribes for those under 55).
-Meetings will be the first Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm
-Discounts for Grand Book Club members only on meeting nights.
Fandemonium Friday!

You will not believe all of the amazing children's books that are being published on October 6.  We are so excited, we decided to throw a party.  Come to celebrate with us, register for prizes, and pick up lots of freebies and goodies related to the books!  Here's the list.  (We highly encourage pre-orders for the Illustrated Harry Potter by clicking here.)  Click on any of the other books below to get more details:
 












Downtown Shopping Scramble:

Mark the morning of October 3 for the 12th Annual Downtown Petoskey Shopping Scramble.  Click here for the full details and registration.
Hemingway Festival and CS Lewis Festival:

Since 1990, The Michigan Hemingway Society has been focusing on the Michigan influence in Ernest Hemingway's work, especially the Nick Adams Stories.  The society holds an annual Hemingway Weekend in Petoskey, MI each Fall which features speakers, readings, exhibits, and tours of northern Michigan sites where the Nobel Prize-winning author spent his boyhood summers.  Click here for this year's festival info. and registration.

C.S. Lewis Festival, Inc.  The Month long festival that provides an  enriching cultural experience for all people that explores the life and work of C.S. Lewis through collaborations by the arts, education, and faith communities.  Events including music and theater performances, school and library programs, scholarly lectures, community discussion groups, and more.  The 2015 Opening Weekend will occur between October 22-24.  Click here for full details including a free public event at McLean and Eakin on Friday, October 23 with Dr. Joseph Loconte from 2-4pm.
Banned Books Week:

We support the American Library Association (ALA) and their quest to promote freedom of speech via Banned Books Week.  The ALA promotes "the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinions even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those viewpoints to all who wish to read them."  
In our front window right now, you will be shocked to find some of your favorite books that have been banned in schools and/or communities across the United States.  Click here for a list of the Top 10 Most Challenged Books.

September 27-October 3, come in and celebrate the power of the written word.  Free "I Read Banned Books" stickers with every purchase of a banned book all week!  
From the Page to the Screen:

The 5th Wave: The First Book of the 5th Wave Series by Rick Yancey is coming to movie theaters in January of 2016 which gives you just enough time to read all three books in the series.  Frankly, the movies look even better than the books, but who are we kidding?  We always read the books first don't we?
Jessilynn's Recent Faves:

This is the kind of book that has you thinking, "Is this absolutely remarkable, or totally pretentious?" for the first few pages, and then you get so caught up in the plot that you don't care!
A novel that reads like a biography, Lotto and Mathilde aren't exactly star-crossed lovers, but they are certainly an unlikely pairing.  It makes no difference.  Lotto is besotted with her from the moment he lays eyes on her at a party...and she lets him believe that it was the same for her.  Mathilde loves Lotto, but there is so much that she doesn't share with him that when you read the second half of the book, you are shaken to the core to find out who Mathilde really is.  I don't mean in a "Gone Girl" kind of way, just in the way that it can be so very shocking to learn not only who people really are but the surprising stories that make up their pasts.  Despite its incredibly heavy baggage, this 24 year marriage is filled with love, and an almost desperate amount of devotion.  I highly encourage spending a weekend with this family.


Kirkus says to put this one "between The Terminator and Romeo and Juliet."
Lee Fisher is closely monitored by body guards at his elite boarding school.  This makes his social life a little awkward, but that is bound to happen to the son of the President of the United States.  In Lee's world, there have been incredible advances in artificial intelligence (A.I.).  Unfortunately, some of the most important science behind these advances cost his mother her life.  His past isn't exactly the kind of thing that encourages others to want to strike up a friendship with Lee, but that's ok.  He has Bex.  She is his best friend, and politically opposed to everything his father stands for.  Especially the recent law changes that support "Human Values" as a way to separate the rights of humans from AI beings, one of which being a strong stance against homosexuality.  Lee is lucky he has Bex.  Otherwise, he would have no one to understand what it's like to be gay with a father who believes that "The power to create life rests solely with our Creator."  That is...until Charlotte comes along - a highly developed technological being who uploads herself to the internet and does indeed begin to replicate herself.
What does the future hold for Lee as he struggles with both his inner demons and the challenges Charlotte brings to the safety of mankind?  Best for ages 15 and up.
This is the book that two of the Petoskey High School English classes will be reading this Fall, and we can't wait to hear the discussions it provokes.  Special thanks to Simon and Schuster publishing for donating Advanced Reader Copies for the students.
Found on the Shelf:


This one is enjoying some front-and-center attention sitting right on our counter, and it's provoking all kinds of oohs and aahs.  "Compelling photographic essays are paired with in-depth interviews to illustrate what motivates record collectors to keep digging for more records."