| Also,
visit ReadAround.com
to learn about other area author events
Alas,
days on the beach and nights on the porch swing are drawing
to a close. As the leaves begin to turn and cooking out begins
to look a little less inviting, we at BookEnds invite you
to find a great novel to cozy up to. We have a great long
list of new titles by well-respected authors and some great
up-and-comers. From puzzles that entertain you in the carpool
line to books that assuage the fears of timid kindergarteners,
the BookEnds staff is ready to serve the needs of every non-fiction
or science fiction reader, every romance or sports addict,
every board book or series lover. Come on in for your end-of-the-summer
entertainment.
Dede
writes: Remember the word “Sudoku!” These
intriguing number puzzles have been taking London by storm
and have found their way to BookEnds where there are a few
instant fans. You will find a puzzle daily in The Boston
Globe, but how much better to have your own book for
when the urge strikes? A good start is Will Shortz’s
Sudoku Easy to Hard: 100 Wordless Crossword Puzzles
(0312355033) .
Jacqueline
Winspear’s third mystery Pardonable
Lies (080507895) continues
her series about the indomitable Maisie Dobbs who was called
“a heroine to cherish” by Marilyn Stasio in The
New York Times Book Review. Maisie is called to investigate
the death of an aviator in the Great War—a war she herself
survived despite her service as a nurse on the front lines.
This is an unusual series worth looking into.
The
Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
(0385338686)
is another light and funny read by the popular author of Confessions
of a Shopaholic. In this new novel, a young attorney
on the verge of a prestigious partnership is drummed out of
her job by an unlikely villain. In her panic and distress,
Samantha Sweeting takes a job as a housekeeper for a cheerful
and newly rich couple—and decides she likes it! You
will have fun seeing how she changes over time to reach the
obligatory happy ending.
The
Art of Uncontrolled Light (0060786086)
by Kim
Ponders is a novel about a young woman jet pilot
who serves in combat in the Middle East. As a child, Annie
Shaw idolized her father, a pilot in the Air Force, and follows
his love of flight into the allure and futility of war. The
author was an Air Force pilot who served in the Gulf War.
Very moving.
Judy
H. writes: I really enjoyed Anita Diamant’s
The Last Days of Dogtown (0743225732).
While it’s not completely historically accurate, the
novel was an interesting take on outcasts in society. Set
in the early 1800s in the Rockport and Glouster area, it’s
a story about how these outcasts— widows, orphans, spinsters,
scoundrels, free Africans, and “witches”—assimilated
into the mainstream.
Alice
writes: As a follow-up to Dede’s comments,
I have to admit that I’ve become addicted to Sudoku.
Not a huge fan of crosswords nor a gifted mathematician, I
LOVE these puzzles and finished a quarter of Shortz’s
Sudoku Easy Vol. 1 (0312355025)
during my vacation last week.
Bait
and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream
(0805076069)
by Barbara Ehrenreich is due out this month.
The bestselling author moves from being an undercover sociologist
in blue-collar America in Nickel and Dimed (0805063897)
to an investigator of unemployment in white-collar culture.
From career coaches and networking to personality tests and
image makeovers, she takes us on a ride that is at once hilarious
and frightening as she searches for a job in the midlevel
corporate world.
My father—a
man who primarily reads books with indexes—is just finishing
up Adam Nicolson’s Seize the Fire: Heroism,
Duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar (0060753617).
The battle ended Napolean’s hopes of invading England.
Anyone interested in history should really like the book,
my father said, as it’s rife with fascinating research
and a thorough analysis of the warring naives. He now wants
to read other Nicolson books.
Louise
Erdrich showcases her storytelling genius yet again
in The Painted Drum (0060515104),
due out this month. With her wise, lyrical and earthy prose,
Erdrich weaves the character’s narratives into a tale
about roots, connecting, betrayal and love. In her work as
an appraiser, Faye Travers discovers a rare Native American
drum, an instrument that is connected to her heritage and
introduces us to a few generations of Ojibwe. Erdrich has
written a mystical tale grounded in reality.
On Tuesday,
September 13th from 7-8 p.m., we will discuss Cristina
Garcia’s The Aguero Sisters.
Written by the Prize-winning author of Dreaming in Cuban,
the novel follows two estranged Cuban sisters—one (Reina)
living in Havana and the other (Constancia) in the U.S. Told
in their voices and in the voices of their parents and daughters,
Garcia spins a tale about the power of myth, the history of
that island nation and the ties between love, sexuality and
duty.
FROM
THE CHILDREN’S ROOM:
Pat
writes: September, the back-to-school month for our
students at BookEnds, has many titles to choose from for your
young students. One of the most popular is The Kissing
Hand (0878685855)
by Audrey Penn. The story is about Chester Raccoon and his
mother and the ways love works to reassure us and give us
confidence in new and sometimes scary situations. This beautifully
written and illustrated book is a wonderful gift for a child
entering school for the first time.
Emmy-winning Norman Stiles was the head writer
for Sesame Street and co-creator of PBS's Between the Lions.
He came to Winchester August 27th to sign copies of his first
book, On My Very First School Day I Met…(0689039247)
Filled with colorful and unusual creatures, with a story in
verse, a child finds that school can be filled with friends.
Halibut
Jackson (0375826904)
by David Lucas is a story about a shy fellow,
Halibut Jackson, who doesn't want to be noticed. Wearing clothes
that make him blend into the background on each page makes
reading as well as searching for Halibut fun. One day he makes
a mistake, and everyone notices him. Soon, he finds the world
a much more fun and happy place to be, even though he is still
a little shy. A great read for the child who is a bit shy
and timid about going to school.
Isabel
writes: There are tons of wonderful new kid’s books—the
sequels to Eragon and Molly Moon, great new pop-up books,
books to ease the transition back to school and lots of other
exciting new titles—that I don’t know where to
begin!
Alexander
McCall Smith, the popular adult author, is writing
a sweet new series that is great to read to or to be read
by five-to-nine year old children. Two in this series have
already been published: Akimbo and the Elephants
(1582346860)
and Akimbo and the Lions (1582346879).
Ten-year-old Akimbo lives on a game preserve in Africa. His
father is the head ranger, and Akimbo is eager to help him
whenever he can—even if it means getting into some pretty
dangerous situations.
Our young
critics have also been reading busily. Perry, aged 13 ½,
read I, Coriander (0803730993)
by Sally Gardner. She wrote, “This
was an amazing book. It was very beautifully written, though
a little dark and strange, and it wonderfully brought to life
the world of seventeenth-century London. It was in some ways
very historical, but never lost its fairy tale feel. The book
is told from the point of view of Coriander Hoble, whose happy
life goes completely downhill in the first few chapters…I,
Coriander draws you in with its mysterious air, and more surprises
keep unfolding right up to the very happy ending.
Kyle,
aged 14, reviewed Jordan Sonnenblink’s
Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie (0439755190).
He wrote, “This was a great book. It’s about a
normal kid whose world is turned upside down when his younger
brother gets cancer. This book is funny and sad at the same
time…I’d recommend it for 12+ years.”
Marilyn
writes: Eldest (037582670X),
by Christopher Paolini, is the second book
in the Inheritance series. Many of our young readers enjoyed
Eragon (0375826696) and
have been eagerly awaiting this second book. In Eldest,
Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, face new challenges. They
travel to Ellsmera, land of the elves, for further training
in the skills that both dragon and rider must master. Returning
to Varden, they face a difficult battle and surprising revelations.
We’ll look forward to the conclusion of this exciting
trilogy.
Young
critic Liza, aged 12 ¾, read Graham Salisbury’s
Eyes of the Emperor (0385729715).
She wrote, “I thought this was a really interesting
piece of historical fiction. Eddy Okubo, the main character,
is a sixteen-year-old boy who lies about his age to join the
army in 1941. He also happens to be a person of Japanese descent
living in Honolulu. Shortly after Eddy enlists, Pearl Harbor
is bombed, and his family is torn: Eddy wishes to fight as
an American, but his father is still attached to Japan. In
the war, Eddy faces more troubles. The army sees him and all
other Japanese as their enemies who might be working secretly
with Japan. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a
story of courage and adventure...”
Another
young critic, Alexis, aged 12, read J. V. Hart’s
Capt. Hook (0060002204).
She wrote, “This is a great book about Capt. Hook’s
childhood. Capt. Hook goes to a school called Eton. It is
like Hogwarts (Harry Potter’s school) because both schools
have prefects, high-ranked students and high levels of punishment
for bad behavior. Capt. Hook is also like Harry Potter because
they both get into trouble and pick fights with older students.”
Judy
H. writes: Last Shot (0375831681)
by Jerry
Spinelli is a great book for middle school boys.
Two 13-year olds enter and win a sports writing contest during
which they overhear a suspicious conversation. When a professor
asks a star player to deliberately win and lose some selected
games, the pair set out to discover the ulterior motive of
this unethical ethics professor. Peopled with real coaches,
real college teams and real ESPN commentators, Feinstein spins
a tale that gives us a peek into the real Final Four.
Due out
September 13th in paperback, Milkweed
(0440420059),
by Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli, is set in the
Warsaw Ghetto during WWII. The story follows a young gypsy
boy who is known as Stopthief. Taken in by a gang
of Jewish orphans—similar to the boys in Oliver
Twist—he is then adopted by the family of a girl
whom he befriends. Spinelli takes us to one of the most devastating
settings imaginable, and due to its historical accuracy and
gruesome scenes, we recommend this book for older middle school
and high school readers.
559 Main Street Winchester, MA
01890 (781) 721-5933
www.bookendswinchester.com M-F 9-8 Sat. 9-6 Sun 12-5
|
