Author: Hilary

Pre-Christmas Sale

From Sunday November 23rd to Saturday November 29th, all Christmas Cards and Calendars will be 20% off in our pre-Christmas sale, We have a wide selection of calendars so that you can tailor your choice to the recipent’s interests.

Our Christmas card selection is quite original but we also have some boxed sets such as the ever popular UNICEF cards (although these are disappearing fast).

While you’re visiting, check out our collection of family sized jig-saw puzzles and various other games. There are also some intriguing wooden construction kits especially those models of machines originally designed by Leonardo.

November Newsletter

October was a very good month for the bookstore. There were many special events such as author visits and book signings and those are reflected in our list of October best-sellers. The Titles@Table 40 dinner event, featuring Tim Cook and his book “The Necessary War”,was sold-out and was very successful. November’s Titles@Table40 event on November 23 involves dinner and discussion with Elizabeth May and is already almost sold out. Elizabeth came to the store on November 1 for a book sgning (her book is “Who we are”) and the demand was such that we ran out of copies. Elizabeth has offerred to sign more copies when the new shipment arrives so if you missed out on November 1, we can reserve you a copy later.

The store is just about filled to the brim with new books, ready for the pre-Christmas rush. Books make a great gift -even for yourself! We also carry an increased stock of cards, calendars, jig-saw puzzles and games. The ever popular UNICEF Christmas cards are in stock and selling fast.

We are offering a free Christmas gift wrapping service (but only for items purchased at the store!). It will usually be done on the spot but it depends on how busy the store is at the time and also who happens to be on staff at the time. (Some of us are less gifted in the art of gift wrapping than others and are best not involved). Sometimes it will be a service for pick-up later. We won’t be able to do this in the last few hectic days before Christmas.

We have copies of a short Christmas catalog available at the store. Members of our staff will be providing their own gift suggestions in the next edition of the New Edinburgh News. Look out for a copy or get one at the store.

We have had a special selection of books on display related to the upcoming Remembrance Day. Note that on November 11, the store will be open starting at 1.00p.m. until 6.00p.m.

Peter

 

 

Our October Best-sellers

  1. “None so blind”        Barbara Fradkin                                                       Mystery
  2. “Party of One”                 Michael Harris                                                   Politics
  3. “Time such as there never was before”     Alan Bowker             History
  4. “I know why the caged bird sings”    Maya Angelou                   Biography
  5. “Worth Dying for”          Terry Gould                                              Politics
  6. “Man in the Shadows”       Gordon Henderson                                        Fiction
  7. “On Sober Second Thought”            Barbra Bond                     Fiction
  8. “Girls will be Girls”       Deak/Barker                                          Parenting
  9. “Happy City”            Charles Montgomery                                     Politics
  10. “The Necessary War”            Tim Cook                                             History
  11. “Heroes of Olympus; Book V”        Rick Riordan                                     Youth
  12. “Tell”                                     Frances Itani                                      Fiction
  13. “It’s not the Ships”            Frederick Sherwood                       Biography
  14. “Roses for a Diva”           Rick Blechta                                        Mystery
  15. “Common Ground”                 Justin Trudeau                                  Biography

“Stone Mattress” by Margaret Atwood

stonemattressIt must be the result of Alice Munro’s winning the Nobel prize for her life’s work in writing short stories. Both the legendary British writer, Jane Gardam, and now our own Margaret Atwood, have new collections of short stories out this year.

In Stone Mattress, a collection of nine short stories, Atwood is as original as ever. In spite of decades of prize-winning novels, short fiction, poetry, non-fiction and books for children, in this new book she comes up with highly inventive, often shocking, short stories in her own original style.

The Washington Post calls her “an utterly thrilling storyteller.”  There is quirky humour, but also a certain grimness which colours many in this collection. Atwood lives with the writer Graeme Gibson in Toronto. But her imagination takes her far and wide in stories that leave you gasping. But not forgetting.

Review by Anne McDougall

“The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry” by Gabrielle Zevin

storiedlifeajfikryA.J. Fikry runs a bookstore on Alice Island (a fictional island near Rhode Island, U.S.). In this novel, he has just lost his young wife in a car accident, his sales are down, and someone has stolen a rare collection of poems. Even his favorite books can no longer cheer him and alcohol is slowly taking over. Into this depression arrives a baby girl, twenty-five months old, left with a note by her mother, who can no longer take care of her.

Gabrielle Zevin is a Los Angeles writer who has written seven novels, some for young adults, which have been translated into twenty languages. She has a sensitive approach to the isolation we can get into when literary concerns become our only life.

In this book she succeeds in bringing love back to A.J. and to his whole circle. This includes his sister-in-law, the sales rep who becomes his next wife, even the friendly police officer who’s always kept an eye on him. It’s a good story and well-written.

Review by Anne McDougall

Titles @ Table 40 with Elizabeth May

When:  Sunday, November 23 at 5:30 PMwhoweare

Where: Table 40, 7 Springfield Road

The evening starts at 5:30pm with dinner, followed by the author presentation and book signing. Attendees must reserve their spot at the bookstore with a non-refundable deposit of $20.00 which will go towards the cost of the meal (a set menu with a vegetarian option). The total cost of the meal is $40.00, which includes a three course meal (family-style). No substitutions will be allowed.

Tax, 18% gratuity, and refreshments are not included.

Reservations are necessary. Please call or visit:

Books on Beechwood, 35 Beechwood Ave.

Tel: 613-742-5030

Thanksgiving Sale: Oct. 14th -Oct 18th.: Canadian Authors

We’re saluting Canadian authors with a Thanksgiving Week Sale! We will give 20% off on all in-stock books by Canadian authors. This coincides nicely with the Giller Prize Awards and the  Ottawa Book Awards. How many titles do we stock for Canadian authors? We don’t actually know but we’ll have a better idea by next week. Some of the books will be marked by special stickers but we challenge you to find others. What defines “Canadian”?  Clearly citizens, permanent residents and passport holders but we’ll be happy to discuss others who have a claim to a strong Canadian connection. We’re very fortunate to have many Canadian authors of excellent stature both nationally and locally. Let’s celebrate by buying their books.

Note: The store is closed on Thanksgiving Monday.

“Man” by Kim Thuy

m.phpKim Thuy told us the story of her own life in her first novel Ru. We learned of the Vietnam boat people up close and the horrors they left behind as well as the kindness they received in Canada. She has now lived here longer and worked as a seamstress, interpreter, lawyer and restaurant owner in Montreal. The last profession results in vivid descriptions of Vietnam dishes which Man, a chef in Montreal, serves her clientele.

Her second novel follows the story of Man, whose name means “perfect fulfillment”, but she lives a dull, respectable life with her husband and children. This changes when on a trip to Paris she encounters yet another chef and this time falls madly in love.

The book is full of memories of the old world left behind, as well as discoveries of new life.  Kim Thuy ties food and love together in a graceful way. She creates dishes that are much more than sustenance for the body, that evoke memory and emotion, time and place. She is devoting all her time to writing these days. This is an excellent translation by the award-winning translator Sheila Fischman.

Review by Anne McDougall