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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Have a Happy, Fun and SAFE Fourth of July! And if you find yourself in North Carolina for Independence Day, please remember that state law prohibits the possession or discharge of any pyrotechnic that explodes, spins or propels, through the air. Leave the job to the professionals: You can enjoy fantastic firework displays in Manteo at Festival Park, at the Whalehead Club in Corolla and at the Nags Head Fishing Pier in Nags Head.
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tadah!
Our biggest news this month? The new and improved www.duckscottage.com is up and running! We've spent a solid year building the site and we hope it enables us to fulfill all of your online dreams! What can you buy from Duck's Cottage online? The same great freshly roasted coffee you find in our stores... gift items like mugs, tees, the ever popular caffeine molecule hats... AND the ability to order books, ANY books, any time from your favorite independent bookstore. Local OBX titles, today's bestsellers, favorite book club reads, kid's titles- any title, any time. Just like the big boys... ('cept better cause we are locally owned.) You can keep a wish list on our site, download E-books (get the Kobo app!), peruse our favorite picks, view our event calendar... we're really excited about the possibilities and hope you will check out the new... the incredible... the awesome.
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Between the Lines
With the launch of our new website we are able to link our newsletter picks directly to the site so when you see something you want to read, instead of trying to remember it- click and it can be yours! Any titles that have not been linked can still be had online- just use the search box found on the right sidebar! As always, we thank you for supporting an independent bookstore and hope you will take advantage of the opportunity to unchain yourself and shop locally online!
Several titles that have gotten big 'thumbs up' from customers (or me) include North Carolina writer Jill McCorkle's Life After Life set in the Pine Haven retirement center and filled with an interesting cast of characters; Daniel Wallace's fantastical The Kings and Queens of Roam and The Golem & The Ginni by Helene Wecker. I read Golem & Ginni too and was mesmerized by this turn of the century tale about two mythical creatures brought to human form who manage to find each other in immigrant filled NYC. Also devoured NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. Time warping covered bridges,  missing children and aging vampires had me turning the pages way past my bedtime. Mardi Jo Link's memoir, Bootstrapper From Broke to Badass on a Northern Michigan Farm really resonated with me for many reasons but I particularly enjoyed her honest writing style and found myself rooting for her all the way and hoping some of her survivor spirit would rub off.
On our paperback beach read shelves we are featuring Gone South (Meg Moseley), Susan Mallery's Three Sisters and Barefoot Season (lots of raves on those two intertwined titles), Carolina Moon (Nora Roberts), The Guest House (Erika Marks), The Art Forger (B.A. Shapiro- my #1  recommendation for summer reading!) and The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison, a highly promoted Algonquin title that I think will really go places. Two paperbacks I just read and am hand-selling every day are City of Thieves and The Raven's Gift. The first is set during the siege of Leningrad in WW2; the second in modern day Alaska after a mysterious virus wipes out most of the population. Both highly recommended for beach chairs.
But wait there's more... some other recently released trade papers include The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty. If her name is familiar she penned the uber popular What Alice Forgot which sold like crazy last summer. Will Schwalbe's memoir The End of Your Life Book Club is just out and proving to be even bigger in paper than it was in hardback. Our book club really enjoyed it and got lots of great reading ideas from it. Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline, has been hard to come by but we've got it in stock now; a powerful tale centered around the trains that regularly ran between East Coast cities and the Midwest in the mid to late 1800's ferrying street orphans to homes or service positions.
Like titles set on the Outer Banks? Got 'em. Foal Play is a new novel by Kathryn O'Sullivan set in Corolla featuring a fire chief heroine, her dog sidekick, some pesky murders and the Spanish Mustangs of the Outer Banks. Joseph L.S. Terrell is back with  another Outer Banks set Harrison Weaver mystery- Not Our Kind of Killing- which starts out in Buffalo City when Harrison discovers a body while kayaking.
Author James Patterson is a HUGE proponent of getting kids to read and rewarding them for it. Several years ago his Bucks for Books essay contest was won by one of our customers who received a VERY nice (ie 4 digit) credit with our store that has so far helped with two years of college textbooks. This summer, Patterson is hoping to encourage kids to keep reading during the school break with Summer Book Bucks. He asks kids to pledge to read four books and, when they do, upload their list to his website where they will be entered for a gift certificate at an Indiebound bookstore (like us!) For more information and to print the pledge visit  jamespatterson.com.
Some ideas for your young reader: Wild Horse Spring- two 'sisters' in a new blended family head to the Outer Banks for Spring Break where they continue to butt heads until a mystery involving the wild horses forces them to band together (9+); the latest Emily Windsnap mermaid tale by Liz Kessler is Emily Windsnap & The Land of the Midnight Sun ; a new graphic novel for Wimpy Kid lovers is Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made by Stephan Pastis; Origami Yoda & Tom Angleberger are back with Art2-D2's Guide to Folding & Doodling; for historical fiction try Avi's Iron Thunder: the Battle between the Monitor & the Merrimac or try Carole Marsh's The Mystery of the Lost Colony. In the Young Adult category two recent titles I thoroughly enjoyed were the apocalyptic novel The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey and Thousand Words by Jennifer Brown. Can't stress enough how much I really liked both of those titles! (Thousand Words is the next book our Summer YA Book Club is reading at the Downtown store. If you have a teen or tween you need to read this book, too. Particularly if you don't know what sexting is.)
So there's a pretty good list to get anybody started on some serious summer reading. Most of these titles are featured on our website under the menu 'Book Lists' under the heading Newsletter Picks but if you can't find what you're looking for there, just use the Search box on the home page to type in what you're looking for- any book, any time!
Happy Reading!
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Upcoming Events
Find Waldo Local!
 Our DUCK store will be taking part in the 2013 Find Waldo Local! campaign. This town-wide scavenger hunt will take place the entire month of July. Little Waldos will be hiding in 25 locally and independently owned businesses; your mission is to find him in each store and get your 'passport' stamped (or signed)! Collect 10 stamps and you'll get a $1 coupon good towards any Where's Waldo book (while supplies last); collect 20 and get entered in a drawing for a 6 volume deluxe set of Waldo books and other fabulous prizes! Passports are available from Duck's Cottage and all participating businesses. We'll be posting 'hints' about where Waldo is daily on our Facebook page throughout the month of July! Meet us there!
Lost 'N Found on Roanoke Island!
 On the other end of the beach, our MANTEO store has teamed up with The Lost Colony to present a Lost 'N Found scavenger hunt! Lost Colonists are hiding in 20 Roanoke Island businesses! Grab a list and start looking- find them in each store and your Lost 'N Found bookmark will be duly noted. Cross off 15 businesses from your list and you'll be entered in a great drawing of fantastic prizes donated by partnering businesses! This scavenger hunt runs the length of the Lost Colony season so the search continues through August 23!
Author Signings
Wednesday, July 3rd: Downtown Books- popular local author Suzanne Tate will be in the Manteo store signing copies of her Nature Series for children as well as her oral histories of Duck and Manteo.
Thursday, July 11/Friday, July 12: Elizabeth Wiegand, author of The Outer Banks Cookbook and the newly released Food Lovers Guide to the Outer Banks, will be at both stores- Manteo on Thursday, Duck on Friday, July 12.
Tuesday July 31: Downtown Books: Elizabeth City author Stephen March will be signing his novel Hatteras Moon.
We are still scheduling summer author appearances, be sure to check our events calendar at duckscottage.com for the latest!
Summer YA Book Club
The next meeting of the Summer YA Book Club at Downtown Books is Friday, July 19, at 3pm at Duck's Cottage Downtown Books. We will be talking about Jennifer Brown's groundbreaking YA novel Thousand Words. Honesty, betrayal, redemption, attraction, integrity... sexting. This book has it ALL. Discussion is led by the dynamic Mollee Holleman and all are welcome! We always give 20% off on the book club title and for members who read all three summer books there will be a summer end bonus! (August's book is Gayle Forman's Just One Day.)
Storytime in Duck
Thursday, July 11 - August 8 Join us in the Town Park Amphitheatre for some tall tales and amazing stories! 10am, geared towards children age 3 - 7.
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Flotsam & Jetsam
Fourth of July is almost here already and with it lots of things to do... the Town of Duck's eighth annual Fourth of July Parade will take off at 9am on the morning of 7/4/2013. This is a wonderful community event filled with lots of parade participants and attended by throngs of spectators. Head over to the Town Park afterwards for live music, cold watermelon and awards. In Manteo, the afternoon gets going at 3pm with live music, apple pie judging, wacky hat and decorated bike contests and, once the sun goes down, FIREWORKS!! For more information on both events visit either townofduck.com or the Town of Manteo facebook page
 Allen, resident barista and owner of Duck's Cottage, recently paid a visit to our friends at Lexington Coffee Roasters. He and daughter Casey were treated to a tour by Melissa and Terry Scholl, owners of LCR, and also took part in a coffee cupping; something akin to a wine tasting but switch the beverage. We have been proud to offer Lexington's award winning, artisanal roasted coffee for eleven years. In addition to the freshest beans from the fairest sources, they offer incredible customer service and strive every day in every way to help us reach our goal- of providing you, our customer, with the best cup of coffee on the Outer Banks. If you think they've helped us get there, head over to our Facebook Page and hit like! You can view the complete album from their visit including a look behind the scenes at a coffee roaster HERE!
This summer we welcome back lots of familiar faces to Duck's Cottage- Austen Stovall, a recent Wake Forest University graduate! Another summer girl is Selena Williams, proud 2013 First Flight High grad headed to UNC-Charlotte. We were also happy to see our favorite NJ girl back, Jeanie, and Casey Lehew is helping out as well! Please help us welcome Sarah Ray to the fold and did we mention that Mandy is back two days a week? Have a fun and safe Fourth of July!
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