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- Mother-Daughter Tea with Sheila O' Connor(69 days)
- Book Shop Hop and Book Signings(82 days)
- Book Signing with memoirist Beryl Singleton Bissell(83 days)
- Tea at the Waller House with Beryl Singleton Bissell(83 days)
- William Kent Krueger Book Signing(97 days)
- Annual Arts & Craft Fair Book Signing at Bookin' It(111 days)
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Beyond The Bestseller List
Discovery. That is the beauty of Indie shopping. That is what our bookselling professionals bring to you. In this section you'll find book recommendations that may or may not be on someone else's Reading List or Bestseller List, but that our staff feel are worth your time.
Spirituality Book Discussion Group May Selection (available April 4, 2012): The Force of Kindness by Sharon Salzberg - now available. Order below.
Laura recommends: A Small Fortune by Rosie Dastgir and Blue Monday by Nicci French
"I seem to have been reading quite a few books lately where the male characters are a bit hapless (helpless and bereft, set adrift) and the recently divorced British immigrant Harris (actually a former Pakistani named Haaris) is among them. My list of hapless males of recent books includes the widower Masterji in Last Man in Tower, Alan in Blue Monday, and Aaron (another widower) in The Beginner's Goodbye, and now Harris in A Small Fortune by Rosie Dastgir (due to be released in hardback June 2012). "
A Small Fortune by Rosie Dastgir
Riverhead Books, June 2012, Fiction
978594488108, $25.95
I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Harris and his extended family as they prosper, flounder, fail and come back together and how their Pakistani...-Muslim way of life is interpreted and misinterpreted. This is the Pakistani/British version of Alex George's A Good American except where George's characters seek to become "good Americans", Dastgir's people struggle to remain "good Muslims" while trying to find ways to prosper in their adopted country. For fans of Pomegranate Soup...
Pre-order now for June 2012: The Skeleton Box by Bryan Gruley; A Starvation Lake Mystery Gruley's best so far (Starvation Lake, The Hanging Tree). In this third Starvation Lake mystery we find Gus Carpenter still reporting on small town squabbles, commmisioner's meetings and, of course, youth hockey. Here we find, however, a more mature, less callow Gus trying to keep the local newsrag, The Pilot, afoat while also trying to protect his failing mother and solve not one but two murders which occur decades apart. - Laura Hansen, Bookin' It, Little Falls, MN
For the Kid's Pick of the Week: and then it's spring by Julie Fogliano with illustratrions by Caledcott Award -winner Erin Stead
Brown is the word for a little boy's world, cold brown, dry brown and after rain a different brown, but still brown. he plants seeds anyway and finally with a sunny day after another day of rain, his world turns green. Stead's restrained illustrations are perfect for this hopeful story.
Cher's pick of the week: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. The story of Ben and Rose is told through words and beautiful drawings by Brian Selznick. He starts the story with Ben in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota 1977, and then continues to Rose's story set fifty years earlier in Hoboken, New Jersey. Through skillful story telling both words and drawings you journey with these two children to learn how there worlds are woven together. Brian's drawings let the reader experience Rose's story silently, like her world. When Ben"s mother dies and he is literally struck deaf by lightening he sets off to find his absent and unspoken of father. With a little money,a few clues and help from a newly aquired friend Ben and Rose's stories merge into a wonderful wonderstruck moment. As an artist, I truly enjoyed the drawings. I was amazed at the way all the little pieces of the puzzle fit together. Wonderstruck is a great read for all ages, and the over 460 drawings add a special layer to the story telling.
Wendi's pick of the week: Kings of Colorado by David E. Hilton. William Sheppard a 13 year old boy from Chicago is sent away to the Swope Ranch Boys' Reformatory in Colorado for stabbing his abusive father while trying to protect his mother. Swope is known by one prevailing rumor: that the boys who go in never come out the same. To make money for the Reformatory loads of mustangs are trucked in... and broke by a select group of inmates. The boys break the horses, Swope Reformatory breaks the boys. With 24 months of hard time Will learns quickly who his allies are, and they become his preservers in a sea of violence and corruption. To make it the boys must overcome tragedy and death, a feat that could haunt them the rest of their lives. This story will tug at your heartstings and keep you cheering for Will until the very end.
Laura's Pick of the Week: Liesel and Po by Lauren Oliver - I only read one or two children's books a year and I am absolutley floored by how much I am loving Liesel and Po. An unusual ghost story for young readers well-illustrated in charcoal renderings that add to the mood and "blurry" quality of the other side referred to by Po and the dim attic where Liesel has been holed up since her father died.
*Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
The National Book Award Winner for Fcition 2011 and an Indie Next Top Ten Pick for September 2011
No Mark Upon Her - the latest Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James mystery from one of our perennial favorites Deborah Crombie. Available February 2012. In Water Like a Stone, Crombie introduced us to the world of the Narrowboats that navigate the rivers and canals of the British Isles. In her latest, No Mark Upon Her (and one her her recent best), she sets her crime among the rowers - both amateurs and Olympic hopefuls - who ply their slender insect-like boats on the Thames.
Night Rounds, the fourth Inspector Detective Huss novel by Swedish writer Helene Tursten. In Night Rounds, Inspector Irene Huss and her team must dig deep into thepast to understand current events. One nurse at a private hospital goes missing and another is murdered. The only witnesses both report seeing thefabled hospital ghost. Tursten does an excellent job twining past and present into an (almost) unsolveable knot.
*The Hypnotist by Lars Keplar
This Swedish duo writing under the pen name Lars Kepler weave their voices seamlessly into a high stakes thriller. Two boys are missing; one highly volatile, the other in grave danger. National CID heads the investigation with the help of the family of the kidnapped boy, the Swedish Police and a retired officer in an attempt to head-off further violence. Are the two cases connected as they first thought or is evil taking on a younger and younger face?
*The Good American by Alex George February 7, 2012
Number 1 IndieNext Pick for February 2012
Alex George, a newcomer to America himself, writes an multi-generational immigrant tale in A Good American. This elegy to the rites of forging a new life in a new land traces father to son in a rich stew of food and music and love. George's writing is generous and his characters are boldly drawn.
*Behind the Beautiful Forevers; Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo February 7, 2012
Amazing narrative. Boo acts as a silent observer, telling the stories of a group of slumdwellers and garbage pickers in Annawadi. Living within view of the Mumbai airport but cut off from general society, Boo brings a real sense of indivuality and hunmanity to each character. Non-Fiction. Boo is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Follow it up with Aravind Adiga's (The White Tiger) new novel Last Man in Tower.
Winter King; Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn, March 2012 from Simon and Schuster
"A very well written, enthralling biography imbedded with imagist tinges and based in part on thorough archival research. This unabashed history about a corrupt and ruthless monarchy exposes the depths of extortion and bloody genealogical purges wrought by Henry VII and his minions, a motley host of nobles, knights, bankers and lawyers, especially Edmund Dudley.
Penn skillfully translates the wealth of data found in Henry VII’s account books to reveal "a rose in winter" nurtured by blood and Mafioso style extortion. Highly acclaimed by British critics, American readers will enjoy this exceptional work. ---Bruce Mellor (customer).
From the January IndieNext List and store owner Laura Hansen:
The House at Tyneford: A Novel
by Natasha Solomons (Plume)
"The House at Tyneford is a lovely, old-fashioned novel set at the beginning of World War II on a remote English country estate where Elise has come to work as a housemaid, after having fled the Jewish persecutions in Vienna. Told in retrospective, the tale details how Elise grows from a spoiled girl into an exceptionally strong and adaptable young woman who fights to save both the family she left behind as well as the family she has come to serve."
-- Laura L. Hansen, Bookin' It, Little Falls, MN
Now in paperback:
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
No matter what kind of reader you are, you will love this account of Grennan's transformation from world traveler to committed volunteer. Grennan writes with humor, style and real warmth about his - not uneventful - months as a volunteer in a Nepali orphanage and his eventual determination to make a real difference in the children's lives. I highly recommend placing an order in advance for this moving and adventuresome book.
Click the link to learn more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mHur8RMb3w
Bookin' It "Sit. Stay. Read." Hooded Sweatshirts
Our exclusive design. White on black 50/50 cotton/poly Hoodies in sizes S_M_L_XL. Feature a terrier dog reading, the IndieBound tag line "Sit. Stay. Read." and store name. In honor of our store dogs Jack and Lolly. (Yup, one is black and one is white.) Please specify size when ordering.
Temporarily SOLD OUT.
Contemporary Fiction Book Club Reading List
Contemporary Fiction Book Club at Bookin' It meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 6:00 PM Sept, Oct, Nov and Jan through May. Also see our 2012 Summer Reading The World
Book Club meeting in June, July, August.
September 2011 Ordinary Beauty by Laura Wiess
October 2011 Born Under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield
November 2011 The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandell
January 2012 Sea Change by Jeremy Page
February 2012 Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
March 2012 Shatter by Michael Robotham
April 2012 The Lady Matador's Hotel by Cristina Garcia
May 2012 Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye (author attending discussion)
Local, Regional and Self-Published Books
At Bookin' It, we carry a number of books that are of local interest, useful to travelers in our area, and are written and/or published by local authors. You will find an ever-changing array of such books featured here.
Beyond Books
Most bookstores carry some greeting cards and gift items. at Bookin' It, we select these gift items with you, the reader, in mind. We favor items that are creative, artistic, environmentally friendly, and of of particular use or interest to the average - eh, make that above-average - reader.
One of our favorite products we think you'll love is the ChicoBag Re-Useable Shopping Bag. We find that with a Chico Bag or two always at hand, we take home up to 70% less plastic and paper bags. You can pop them in your purse, clip them to the strap or to your backpack or to your jacket pull, and make sure you stash one in the glove compartment of the car. Great for secret pal gifts and stocking stuffers too!
