April Newsletter 2011

Pages from the Book Mouse

The Book Mouse is open everyday.

Monday 8:30 to 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Friday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and

12 noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Our Website is always open for your purchases: www.bookmouse.org.

Phone - 815-433-7323 E-mail bookmouse@sbcglobal.net

April 2011

Book Mouse

820 LaSalle St.
Ottawa, IL
(815) 433-7323

Books for All
&
All for Books!

Here's Book Mouse bookseller, Rachel Kwit giving a $100 gift certificate to a very happy Etsuko Bellon, a member of the Monday Book Club coordinated by Christi Meyers.

Thank you to all the book club members who participated in our drawing. We'll see you at the First Annual BOMO Book Club Party on Tuesday, April 5th at 6 p.m.

SPECIAL EVENTS

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The last indoor Farmers' Market will be Saturday, April 2nd in the 807 Building and Saturday, May 7th, is the opening of the Ottawa Farmers Market on Jackson Street.

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On April Fool's Day, April 1st, stop by the store and tell us a joke and get a $5.00 gift card for your efforts.

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beausbookclub

Beau's Boys' Book Club meets Monday, April 4th from 5 to 6 p.m.

The group is open to boys in grades 5th through 8th.

This month's selection is #1 in The Missing Trilogy: Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix.

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April 5th is Book Club Evening at the store. If you are in a local book club and would like more information on this special event please call the store at 815-433-7323.

murderofabookstorebabe

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Wednesday, April 6th brings bestselling mystery denise author, Denise Swanson back to the Book Mouse.

Denise will talk her latest Scumble River Mystery series including the latest title, Murder of a Bookstore Babe.

Did we mention that there are chinchillas in the Babe's bookstore?

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fatheroflies

On Thursday, April 7th, Becca Bornac's Teen Book Club meets at 4 p.m. The book selection is Father of Lies by Ann Turner.

Lidda lives in Salem Village, a town with strict rules against dancing, playing, singing, pretty much anything that normal teenagers love to do. On top of her restricted life, Lidda has always known she was different than the other kids in her town. She can see and feel things that others can't. As things heat up in Salem Viliage, people are being accused of witchcraft left and right, and Lidda fears that if she tells people about her abilities they will accuse her, too. Father of Lies is a page turning novel that will keep you hooked until the very end.

The book club is great way to meet people and we enjoy the refreshments, too. I hope to see you there.

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spoteaster It's Dog Day at the Book Mouse on Saturday, April 9th. Our friends from Pet Project will visit the Book Mouse between 1 and 3 p.m and they'll be accompanied by some canine visitors. We'll read stories about Spot the dog spotwalk by Eric Hill. You will learn about what's involved in adopting a dog or cat and how to best take care of them.

Bring a doggie treat, toy, old towels, black garbage bags, kitty litter, dog or cat food to donate to Pet Project. All dog books in the store are buy one and get one at 50% off (about dogs or have a dog on the cover).

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Sunday, April 10, the Heritage River Writers, a local poetry group, will celebrate Poetry Month with readings. Stop by between 1 and 2 p.m. to enjoy the company and creativity of our talented local poets.

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Toddler Time is April 16th at 10:30 a.m. Join Nana Jan and Miss Rachel for a rainbow-themed story time. Come dressed in your favorite color. This is a half-hour of stories and fun toddlers ages 2-5.

We have copies of Over the Rainbow, a magnificent picture book and CD set. The angelic-voiced Judy Collins sings this beautiful song on the CD. Breathtaking and magical artwork by Eric Puybaret-who painted the critically-acclaimed illustrations that helped turn Puff, the Magic Dragon into a blockbuster bestseller-will carry young readers from a little red farmhouse up over the rainbow, into the sky where bluebirds fly and castles rise high in the clouds, and beyond.

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Book Mouse Field Trip:

A Wildflower Walk and Picnic

Saturday, April 30 at 11 a.m.

Join author Jannifer Powelson and Master Gardener, Anna Mattes, and take a walk among the wildflowers.

We will read from Jannifer's book, Rachel and Sammy Visit the Forest and then take a wildflower walk through Anna's gardens.

Rachel and Sammy Visit the Forest is a beautifully illustrated book that helps children learn about common spring woodland wildflowers. In this story Rachel Raccoon and Sammy Skunk frolic through the woodland, learning as they go. After the talk and walk guests will enjoy a boxed lunch.

The cost is $20.00 which includes a copy of the book and lunch. Call the Book Mouse to reserve your place -- 815-433-7323 or e-mail bookmouse@sbcglobal.net.

Jannifer Powelson lives in Princeton, Illinois, and has been writing children's books since 2003. The author wrote her master's thesis on raccoons and now works as a conservationist.
Anna Mattes has been a great advocate for Ottawa's green spaces and has long tended our gorgeous Washington Park. She is our Lorax and speaks for the trees!

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On April 20^th at 7 p.m the Starved Rock Civil War Roundtable and the Book Mouse serves as hosts to Professor Mark A. Lause from the University of Cincinatti. He'll discuss his book Race and Radicalism in the Union Army. Race and Radicalism is the untold story of the common efforts of whites, blacks, and Indians on the Civil War's western front. The talk will be given at Ottawa Township High School's cafeteria.

"A concise and though-provoking description of events throughout the Civil War era in a region ignored first by contemporary officials and later by historians caught up in the war in the East."--American Historical Review

Buy Books Online at www.bookmouse.org.

Did you know you can keep the money in Ottawa rather than sending it to Amazon?

Did you know our e-books cost the same as Amazon's? Check it out.

You can order printed books, audio books and e-books online from the Book Mouse. You have access to 4.5 million titles from the Book Mouse web site. The books can be shipped to you or you can have them shipped to the Book Mouse.

Go to www.bookmouse.org , Click on My Account, Click on Create New Account, and Fill in all the necessary blanks and click on the button 'Create New Account' at the bottom of the page.

After you have set up an account you can add any books you see on the website to your cart. You can also search for unlisted books in the search bar. When you are ready, proceed to checkout. Fill in all of your necessary billing and contact information, choose your shipping method, then submit your order. Viola! You have just purchased a book online and given your business to the Book Mouse. Quick, fast and convenient!

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Tales from the Front Counter topofpage

dadatcabin My Dad shares his copies of the New Yorker magazine with me when he's done

reading them. I cut out cartoons and the occasional book review and tape them up on the section displays in the store. I admit to mainly skimming the magazine but I always hold on to the copies for a year or more in hopes that I'll make the time to read the articles I've marked. Well, this month I battled some health bugaboos and had 8 days off and, besides watching some Turner Classic Movies, I read many of my New Yorkers. If you love to read and you haven't discovered this magazine you must buy a copy or check it out on-line or at the library. It's urbane, witty, intelligent, challenging and the writing is superb. Many of the best authors write short pieces for the New Yorker so it's a great way to preview an author before you commit to the book, e- or otherwise.

This past Christmas many people received or bought an e-reader so e-book sales are climbing rapidly around the world. Publishers Weekly reported that e-book sales will soon over take mass market paperback sales. The trade-sized paperback is still the most popular version of the book people purchase. For those of us more heavily relying on mother's little helper --- the magnifying reading glasses --- this version is definitely easier on the eyes.

Speaking of e-books if you haven't checked out the prices recently you'll find that the prices on e-books are the same whether you buy them from us or the Giants. The publishers have negotiated a bottom line price of $9.99 for most e-books.

We are hosting lots of different events either at the store or off site this month for both adults, teens and children. This truly is a month with something for everyone. I'm looking forward to seeing mystery writer, Denise Sawnson on April 6th. She packed the place when she last visited. I'm also very interested in the Civil War Roundtable's guest, Professor Mark Lause, and his talk on Race and Radicalism in the Union Army. The involvement of Native Americans and African Americans in the Union Army is an unknown chapter in our nation's Civil War history.

Finally, I must share with you a piece of trivia I gleaned from the New Yorker. Late last year Congress passed the CALM Act. CALM stands for the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act. Soon broadcast and cable operators must keep the decibel level of commercials on a par with the average noise levels of the shows they accompany. Right now the ads can be as loud as the loudest noise in the show---an explosion on CSI or a gunshot on Chicago Code or the squeal of housewife on the Jersey Shore. No more screaming ads. The only drawback I see is what is going to wake me up from my living room slumber so I can take myself to bed?

Read on!

Eileen Fesco

The Book Mice (l to r: Rachel Kwit, Becca Bornac, Liz Bandstra, Angie Perretta, Eileen Fesco, Rachel Hettrick and Beau Burke)

Staff Picks (all staff picks are 20% off)

Eileen's Picks

Lost in Shangri-La: The Epic True Story of a Plane Crash into the Stone Age by Mitchell Zuckoff. HarperCollins

What a great adventure story---a plane crash into an uncharted jungle, a feisty dame with great gams, a playboy flyboy, cannibals, courageous parachuting medics and an impossible rescue plan---and it's all true. It's a historical account of an unbelievable WWII drama as told to the author by one of the survivors. Written like a page-tearing thriller with pictures; it will capture you and you will give it all your free time until you've turned the last page. Road trip reading. Father's Day present.

Set the Night on Fire by Libby Fischer Hellman. Allium Press

Set the Night on Fire follows a group of 20-year-old radicals and idealists during the hopeful but anger-filled late 1960s in Chicago and gives glimpses of the events, romances and violence that impact their present day lives (or deaths, as the case may be) and the lives of their now-grown children. The twists and turns of plot at times read like the mysteries Hellman is best known for but there is depth here that reads like a historical fiction novel. You'll enjoy the suspense as the characters try to dodge the landmines the past has left for them and you try to figure out who is the bad guy/gal and who can be trusted.

Ms. Hellman is the award-winning author of two mystery series and she edited the wonderful crime fiction anthology Chicago Blues. Set the Night on Fire is her first novel.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. Vintage

An Indian nun dies giving birth to twins in an Ethiopian hospital. The British surgeon who is their father flees leaving the baby boys to be raised by the hospital's staff. Through the turmoil in strife-torn Ethiopia, we watch the boys become doctors themselves one following a conventional path and the other a genius, instinct-driven route. Throughout the story you'll grow to love the characters that raise these men. It's a story about the profession of medicine. It's a coming-of-age story. Touching, suspenseful and so-out-of-the-ordinary from your typical book club selections I highly recommend this 600+ page tome. You'll find so much to talk about it makes a great book to share with a book club. One caveat: it gets a tad overly descriptive when covering medical procedures but, skim along, it's such a minor dimple in an otherwise superb bestseller.

Liz's Pick

Chick 'n' Pug by Jennifer Sattler. Bloomsbury

This is a fun story about a little chick who finds life in the coop boring after reading and rereading many times his favorite adventure story about a pug. Chick sets out from the coop in search of his hero and, because of the little bird's positive attitude and desire for excitement, is not disappointed. The illustrations are colorful and show delightful, funny expressions.

Rachel K's Pick

Alice, I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin. Bantam

With talk of possibly having author, Melanie Benjamin, come to the Book Mouse, I had to read her debut novel, Alice, I Have Been. Benjamin takes her readers into the mind of the young and old Alice Liddell (Alice in Wonderland). She retells her relationship with Charles Dodgson, Lewis Carroll, and their sudden break up that will forever change Alice's life forever. Benjamin elaborates on the affects of childhood stardom, and how fame can overwhelmingly define a person. For millions of readers, the character Alice, the little girl who fell down a rabbit hole, will forever be who Alice Liddell is. This book tries emphasizing that Alice Liddell is not defined by the character that immortalized her, but rather, about a woman who inspired one of literature's greatest classic tales.

Becca's Pick

Across the Universe by Beth Revis. Razorbill

Amy and her family have been cryogenically frozen on a spaceship with the intention of waking up 300 years later to colonize on a new planet. But Amy is woken up 50 years to soon in a strange murder attempt, and is stuck on the ship with its tyrannical leader, Eldest. Then Amy meets Elder, the heir to Eldest's throne, and together they question and challenge his power. Amy wants and, even needs, to trust Elder, but all he has ever known is the spaceship, and with the killer still on this ship, she can never be too careful. Across the Universe was suspenseful and kept me turning the pages until the very end.

Angela's Pick

Prayers and Lies by Sherri Wood Emmons. Kensington

A little girl named Bethany creates a bond of misfits with her cousin Reana Mae that she thought would last a lifetime. Her family would travel down to West Virginia's Coal River Valley every summer and that was the time that Bethany loved most because she got to be with Reana Mae. As she gets older, she learns that things aren't always what they seem. Secrets are uncovered that make Bethany question everything she has ever known including her friendship with Reana Mae. This is an amazing story told beautifully about the things we find out as we get older.

Rachel H's Pick

Sing Me Home by Jodi Picoult. Atria

Another amazing novel by Jodi Picoult, Sing Me Home raises issues about what counts as the best family. Zoe is a music therapist who is desperately trying to get pregnant. After she suffers a miscarriage, her husband leaves her and she finds a new partner in Vanessa. When they decided to get pregnant, Zoe wants Vanessa to use one of her embryos. Her ex-husband, now a born again Christian, tries to stop them.

Beau's Pick

Children of the Sun by Max Schaefer. Soft Skull Press

Set in the late 1970s and the early 1980s, the story that Schaefer tells is captivating, and horrifying at the same time. This book tells the harsh, but true, history of Anti-Nazi league in Britain. The story is written with two separate narratives--Tony, a secretly gay skin head and James, a middle head liberal. This book shows readers, and sucks them in with its unique writing style. In his debut novel, Schaefer has written a ground breaking, excellent novel, that shows truth and pain. Readers will not be disappointed after reading this book!

WARNING! THIS BOOK IS VERY EXPLICIT AND SHOULD NOT BE READ BY ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 16!

All these staff picks are 20% off.

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New and Notables

100hundrednames

One Hundred Names for Love by Diane Ackerman. Norton (now)

Everyone who cherishes the gift of language will cherish Diane Ackerman's narrative masterpiece, an exquisitely written love story and medical miracle story, one that combines science, inspiration, wisdom, and heart.

One day Ackerman's husband, Paul West, an exceptionally gifted wordsmith and intellectual, suffered a terrible stroke. When he regained awareness he was afflicted with aphasia-loss of language-and could utter only a single syllable: "mem." The standard therapies yielded little result but frustration. Diane soon found, however, that by harnessing their deep knowledge of each other and her scientific understanding of language and the brain she could guide Paul back to the world of words. This triumphant book is both a humane and revealing addition to the medical literature on stroke and aphasia and an exquisitely written love story: a magnificent addition to literature, period.

immortallife2 Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot. Broadway (now)

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells-taken without her knowledge-became one of the most important tools in medicine. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta's small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia-a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo-to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and

struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down,

Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown. Penguin. Amy Einhorn (now)

The Andreas family is one of readers. Their father, a renowned Shakespeare professor who speaks almost entirely in verse, has named his three daughters after famous Shakespearean women. When the sisters return to their childhood home, ostensibly to care for their ailing mother, but really to lick their wounds and bury their secrets, they are horrified to find the others there. See, we love each other. We just don't happen to like each other very much. But the sisters soon discover that everything they've been running from-one another, their small hometown, and themselves-might offer more than they ever expected.

I Thought You Were Dead: A Love Story by Pete Nelson. Algonquin (now)

This is a story for the dog-people; for the pet people; for anyone who's ever had a best friend and anyone who has worried about the future and anyone who has forgotten how to move on. Read about Paul Gustavson and his dog Stella as she helps him through a tough time, listening with compassion to all his complaints about the injustices of life and giving him better counsel than any human could. Their relationship is at the heart of this poignantly funny and deeply moving story about a man trying to fix his past in order to save his future. For fans of The Art of Racing in the Rain.

Night Road by Kristin Hannah. St. Martins (now) nightroad

Vivid, universal, and emotionally complex, Night Road raises profound questions about motherhood, identity, love, and forgiveness. It is a luminous, heartbreaking novel that captures both the exquisite pain of loss and the stunning power of hope. This is Kristin Hannah at her very best, telling an unforgettable story about the longing for family, the resilience of the human heart, and the courage it takes to forgive the people we love.

Pearl of China by Anchee Min. Bloomsbury (3/29)

From the bestselling author of Red Azalea and Empress Orchid comes the poignant story of the friendship of a lifetime, based on the life of Pearl S. Buck.

It is the end of the nineteenth century and China is riding on the crest of great change, but for nine-year-old Willow, the only child of a destitute family in the small southern town of Chin-kiang, nothing ever seems to change. Until the day she meets Pearl, the eldest daughter of a zealous American missionary.

Pearl is head-strong, independent and fiercely intelligent, and will grow up to be Pearl S Buck, the Pulitzer- and Nobel Prize-winning writer and humanitarian activist, but for now all Willow knows is that she has never met anyone like her in all her life. From the start the two are thick as thieves, but when the Boxer Rebellion rocks the nation, Pearl's family is forced to leave China to flee religious persecution. As the twentieth century unfolds in all its turmoil, through right-wing military coups and Mao's Red Revolution, through bad marriages and broken dreams, the two girls cling to their lifelong friendship across the sea.

In this ambitious and moving new novel, Anchee Min, acclaimed author of Empress Orchid and Red Azalea, brings to life a courageous and passionate woman who loved the country of her childhood and who has been hailed in China as a modern heroine.

My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira. Penguin (3/29)

Talented and ambitious, twenty-one-year-old Mary Sutter is a respected nineteenth-century Albany midwife who longs to be a doctor. Refused by the medical college simply for being a woman, Mary presses surgeon Dr. James Blevens for an apprenticeship. Despite calling on Mary's expertise during a difficult delivery, Blevens refuses her, setting in motion a chain of events that will take Mary through the carnage of the Civil War and set the stage for a great romance. Robin Oliveira's debut novel My Name Is Mary Sutter is the epic narrative of one woman's personal strength and struggle, a story that encompasses grand history and private grief, the progress of an entire gender and generation, and the tale of a woman's love.

Filled with true-life Civil War characters such as Dorothea Dix and Abraham Lincoln and built on meticulous research, My Name Is Mary Sutter is a rich tapestry of historical fact and compelling fiction in which Oliveira effortlessly melds the voices of the past with those of her characters.

The 39 Clues, Book 11: Vespers Rising by Rick Riordan. Scholastic. (4/5)

An all-new series, The 39 Clues Part 2: Cahills vs. Vespers, will launch on April 5, 2011. The new series will kick off with Vespers Rising, written by 4 authors: Rick Riordan, Peter Lerangis, Gordon Korman, and Jude Watson. Starting with Vespers Rising, The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers series will continue with six more books written by a team of superstar authors

Description: Within the world of The 39 Clues, the Cahills are the most powerful family the world has ever known, secretly dominating every area of human endeavor over the past 500 years. The source of their power has been lost, hidden in 39 Clues scattered around the world. In The 39 Clues: Cahills v. Vespers, the Cahills discover they're not the only ones who have been searching for the Clues. The Vespers, a ruthless cabal lurking in the shadows for their turn to stomp across the world stage, have also been hunting for the source of ultimate power. The Cahill family must unite to protect the Clues, and the world, against the Vespers, who have sinister plans darker than the Cahills could ever imagine, dating back to the mysteries of ancient times.

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay. Harper (4/5)

In Russian Winter, the beautiful debut novel by critically acclaimed writer Daphne Kalotay, a famed ballerina's jewelry auction in Boston reveals long-held secrets of love and family, friendship and rivalry, harkening back to Stalinist Russia.

Interweaving past and present, Moscow and New England, the backstage tumult of the dance world and the transformative power of art, Daphne Kalotay's luminous first novel-a literary page-turner of the highest order-captures the uncertainty and terror of individuals powerless to withstand the forces of history, while affirming that even in times of great strife, the human spirit reaches for beauty and grace, forgiveness and transcendence.

Ape House by Sarah Gruen. Random House (4/5)

Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena are no ordinary apes. These bonobos, like others of their species, are capable of reason and carrying on deep relationships-but unlike most bonobos, they also know American Sign Language.

Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn't understand people, but animals she gets-especially the bonobos. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she's ever felt among humans . . . until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter who braves the ever-present animal rights protesters outside the lab to see what's really going on inside.

When an explosion rocks the lab, severely injuring Isabel and "liberating" the apes, John's human interest piece turns into the story of a lifetime, one he'll risk his career and his marriage to follow. Then a reality TV show featuring the missing apes debuts under mysterious circumstances, and it immediately becomes the biggest-and unlikeliest-phenomenon in the history of modern media. Millions of fans are glued to their screens watching the apes order greasy take-out, have generous amounts of sex, and sign for Isabel to come get them. Now, to save her family of apes from this parody of human life, Isabel must connect with her own kind, including John, a green-haired vegan, and a retired porn star with her own agenda.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Berkley (4/5)

Finally, the best-selling, and book club favorite, novel is coming out in trade paperback.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women- mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends-view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.

The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide by Stephenie Meyer. (4/12). Hachette

Fans of the #1 New York Times bestselling Twilight Saga will treasure this definitive official guide! This must-have hardcover edition-the only official guide-is the definitive encyclopedic reference to the Twilight Saga and provides readers with everything they need to further explore the unforgettable world Stephenie Meyer created in Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn, and The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. This comprehensive handbook-essential for every Twilight Saga fan--is full-color throughout with nearly 100 gorgeous illustrations and photographs and with exclusive new material, character profiles, genealogical charts, maps, extensive cross-references, and much more.

Coming May 24^th! (Reserve your copy by calling 815-433-7323)



The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris

by David McCullough. Simon and Schuster



The Greater Journey is the enthralling, inspiring-and until now, untold-story of the adventurous American artists, writers, doctors, politicians, architects, and others of high aspiration who set off for Paris in the years between 1830 and 1900, ambitious to excel in their work.

After risking the hazardous journey across the Atlantic, these Americans embarked on a greater journey in the City of Light. Most had never left home, never experienced a different culture. None had any guarantee of success. That they achieved so much for themselves and their country profoundly altered American history. As David McCullough writes, "Not all pioneers went west."

You'll read the stories of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female doctor in America and Charles Sumner, who would become the most powerful, unyielding voice for abolition in the U.S. Senate, almost at the cost of his life. Other luminaries whose rebirth in the City of Light include: James Fenimore Cooper, Samuel F. B. Morse, Oliver Wendell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mark Twain, Henry James, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Mary Cassatt and John Singer Sargent.

Nearly all of these Americans, whatever their troubles learning French, their spells of homesickness, and their suffering in the raw cold winters by the Seine, spent many of the happiest days and nights of their lives in Paris. McCullough tells this sweeping, fascinating story with power and intimacy, bringing us into the lives of remarkable men and women who, in Saint-Gaudens's phrase, longed "to soar into the blue." The Greater Journey is itself a masterpiece.