Two locally owned, independent stores dedicated to providing our customers with an interesting, eclectic selection of books and the finest coffee available. |
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ADVISORY
For the past year, we have been in the process of redoing our website. We are getting ready to begin the final steps of taking our new IndieCommerce site live. It will be a full-service shopping experience, allowing you to order any book you want any time of day or night, along with the same great selection of artisanal roasted coffees, mugs, tees and hats currently found at duckscottage.com. We do not anticipate any hiccups in the transfer (and our address won't be changing) but never say never. Therefore, if you're trying to satisfy a Coconut Crunch craving or just have to have that sweatshirt you saw but didn't buy last week and you CAN'T GET ON OUR WEBSITE please.... just call us at 252-261-5510 and we'll get your order rolling. And thank you for your patience. We think it will be worth it! |
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Between the Lines
Got some great ideas for mom just in time for her big day. Maya Angelou just rocks in my book and her latest Mom & Me & Mom chronicles her relationship with her mother, one she has touched on in past books. Love that woman. Lotta people snapping up The Happiness Project: One Sentence Journal (A Five Year Record)- it's the latest from Gretchen Rubin and is a compact gratitude journal. Mom would also like Three Sisters, Susan Mallery's latest Blackberry Island novel; it has garnered rave reviews from everyone we've talked to and is selling very well. If she's got a sense of humor, you may want to gift her with I Could Pee on This- the first ever collection of cat poetry (see example above). Anybody who's got a cat, is owned by a cat, or knows a cat will understand this book. Gotta Mom who knows her way around the kitchen? Gwyneth is back with It's All Good, a cookbook full of the recipes she turns to when she wants to look great or just feel better. I loved her first foodie outing, My Father's Daughter, and would love to get my hands on this one. There's also Porch Parties: Cocktail Recipes & Easy Ideas for Outdoor Entertaining which is perfect for the upcoming summer. A few more titles for mom: Mom's List by St. John Greene- 'a mother's life lessons to the husband and sons she left behind'. Get out the tissues before you delve into that one, and new in paperback, Some Assembly  Required, Anne Lamott's phenomenal sorta-sequel to Operating Instructions. Eighteen plus years ago recovering addict LaMott found herself unintentionally pregnant. In Operating Instructions, she writes, in her signature brutally honest-side splitting funny-heartwrenchingly poignant style about finding her way into motherhood. That book got me through a lot of long days. In Some Assembly Required, her son and his girlfriend find themselves unintentionally pregnant and LaMott discovers, and documents beautifully, the difference between being a mother and becoming a grandmother. She ranks up there with Maya in my book.
Two recent memoirs I tackled were Her by Christa Parravani which I picked up in a sudden lapse of memory regarding my recent decision NOT to read memoirs for awhile. Christa had an identical twin, Cara, who had addiction problems (naturally, it's a modern day memoir after all), some mental illness problems and was one of those type of people a gray cloud just follows. The book is a tribute to the close bond they shared- one severed by Cara's overdose, which plunges Christa into the uncharted territory (and despair, and bad decisions, etc. etc) of being a 'twinless twin'. As God is my witness, no more memoirs.... except I did like Still Points North: One Alaskan Childhood, One Grown-Up World,  One Long Journey Home by Leigh Newman (head of books coverage for Oprah.com). I'm always a sucker for doing anything vicariously through others- particularly if it has to do with Alaska and cool wilderness adventures. Newman grew up bouncing between her father, a doctor in Alaska, and her issue plagued mother, a social worker in Baltimore. Going from almost drowning on a gravel spit in the tundra trying to reel in a sockeye salmon, to wearing a peter pan collared uniform at Roland Park Country Day makes for an almost bi-polar upbringing. But I liked it. So, will make memoir exceptions if I get to do cool stuff- like shop, travel, or eat- through the memoirist's words.
Outer Banks books just keep coming! Fiction writer David Poyer has taken a turn down the oral history road with Happier than This Day and Time- a collection of interviews he made several decades ago with 9 Outer Banks natives most of whom were born in the first part of the century. Stories of growing up on Ocracoke and 'taking the boat to Norfolk' abound and make for fascinating reading.
Some new titles on the paperback shelf- The Light Between Oceans (M.L. Stedman)- a boat with a baby washes up on an isolated island where the childless lightkeeper's wife finds it. And keeps it. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Rachel Joyce) is on my list and traces the 600 mile journey of recently retired Harold who is hell bent on hand delivering a message to a dying, old flame. Beautiful Ruins (Jess Walter) has also been in demand lately and sits atop the pb bestseller list. Also new to paperback is Jeff Shaara's novel of the Battle of Shiloh, A Blaze of Glory; Stephen Carter's The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, Iraq war veteran Brian Castner's The Long Walk (this was the freshman read last year at NC State) and Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn subtitled 'discovering the secrets of the fastest people on earth.
 Something I am really looking forward to hand selling this summer is the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. MacDonald was a prolific pulp fiction specialist and his talent shines bright in the 21 Travis McGee novels. McGee is a houseboat living, Florida playboy who makes enough from intermittent PI work to lie around and do nothing for months at a time. But typically most of the work that finds its way to him not only gets him embroiled in a lot more than he bargained for, but often times almost gets him killed. With colorful titles like A Purple Place for Dying, Cinnamon Skin and The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper, and with a backdrop of the 60's and 70's, the books are full of beautiful women, cocktails a plenty and mile a minute action. Read just one this summer- you'll be after the whole new repackaged series. (Amidst the 66 books MacDonald wrote in his lifetime is a little one called The Executioners.. which became the movie Cape Fear, twice.)
Speaking of movies, a lot of books turning up at the box office soon- a much anticipated film version of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby comes out May 10 (can't wait to see Tobey & Leo in that!); for Walking Dead watchers there's a zombie fix in June with Brad Pitt in Max Brooks' World War Z; later on this year Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card will finally hit the big screen (November).
An excerpt from Still Points North |
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Flotsam & Jetsam
 Lots going on in May! Kevin Duffus will be visiting both stores and signing copies of his three books: Shipwrecks of the Outer Banks, The Last Days of Blackbeard and his most recent and popular by far, War Zone: World War II Off the North Carolina Coast. In War Zone, Kevin lays out a definitive timeline and history of the eight month period during which German U-Boats patrolled and terrorized the Outer Banks. "In 1942, black smoke and orange flames from torpedoed vessels filled the ocean skies from New England to New Orleans. Explosions rattled window panes and the nerves of coastal residents. Beaches were awash with wreckage, oil, empty lifeboats, and bodies." Filled with pictures, anecdotes and first hand accounts this is a fascinating look at an oft little known period in NC and US history. Kevin will be presiding over First Friday at Downtown Books on Friday, May 3, from 5pm - 8pm and will then make an appearance at Duck's Cottage on Saturday, May 4, from 10am - 12pm. On Thursday, May 9, Downtown Books is sponsoring an Evening of Inter-Ability featuring Barton & Megan Cutter. The Cutters have just authored a book titled Ink in the Wheels: Stories to  Make Love Roll. They call themselves an 'inter-ability' couple. Megan is as ordinary as they come, her fingers fly across a keyboard. Barton is wheelchair bound from Cerebral Palsy and utilizes a pen strapped to headgear to type his poems out one letter at a time. Ink in the Wheels: Stories to Make Love Roll depicts the unforgettable journey of this inter-ability married couple as they explore the courage and perseverance necessary to thrive in their relationship. It offers hope and encouragement, not only for those who also might be facing these challenges, but also for all who can benefit from the story of building a successful relationship. Together they are a formidable team and are bringing their inspiring message to the Dare County Center on Roanoke Island on May 9 at 6:30pm. Also included in the evening will be an open mic opportunity for citizens of our special needs populations. This is a free event. Books will be available for purchase.
World Book Night is April 23! This is a great collaboration of authors, publishers, booksellers and readers to help spread the the love of reading by giving away over a million books in one night. Thirty two books, wide ranging in topic, scope and reading level, are chosen. This year's titles include Still Alice, The Phantom Tollbooth and Bossypants; giver applications are accepted from anyone who wants to take the time to fill one out. Each giver requests a particular title (and back-ups) and  describes how they are planning on handing out the books. Finally, the coveted boxes begin arriving to host bookstores across the country and are dispersed to book givers. Then, in one single day, all 1,000,000 books are given away! The goal is to put these books- all captivating, timeless tomes- into the hands of a light or non-reader in the hopes that this book, this gesture, will foster a desire to read. As a host bookstore, Duck's Cottage also receives a box of books to give away. Last year we took a box of The Hunger Games to the Dare County Correctional Facility. This year we have a case of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale to give away! And a BIG shout-out to our fellow book givers, Kelly Clem and Mollee Holloman- WBN doesn't happen without Y-O-U!  Guess who's back, jack! W-A-L-D-O!! Duck's Cottage has again been selected as a Find Waldo Local store by Candlewick Press! This year's Waldo scavenger hunt will run the month of July during which Waldo can be found in 19 of our partnering businesses in Duck! If you took part in the hunt last year, you KNOW how fun it is! One 16 year old even told us it was her 'best vacation EVER' because of Find Waldo Local. Don' t miss this second chance to find and seek- raffle prizes this year will be bettah than evah so if you're here in July get out and hunt! More details to come. |
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Sometimes when I lie on your warm chest
