820 LaSalle St.
Ottawa, IL
(815) 433-7323
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Tales from the Front Counter
We are coming up on one of the busiest times for
the Book Mouse -- Mothers'/Fathers' Day and Graduation. Between Mothers' Day on May 10 and Fathers' Day
on June 21, we will sell a few hundred gift certificates.
Besides families
giving Mom and Dad books or gift
cards, students buy gift cards for their teachers and teachers and schools
buy them for the children (and their teachers).
I don't think many of you
would be surprised to learn that teachers spend a lot of their own money on
books for the classroom. When in doubt on what to give that book lover, a
gift certificate from the Book Mouse is a great choice!
On a sad note, we have now lost 3 local, independent
bookstores. Besides CommonGrounds Book Café, which was lost to the
floods of autumn, Green River Books in
Princeton closed this winter and now Mad About Books in Oglesby
closes in a few days. Even Borders plans to close all but 60 of its 400 Waldenbook stores. It's tough for a lot of the
independent retailers. Fortunately things are starting to turn around,
especially in downtown Ottawa.
You'll start to see lots of improvements in our wonderful downtown as trees and
planters grace our sidewalks and the spring and summer festivals come to
town. I'm looking forward to the May 9 opening of the Farmers'
Market. A busy downtown is good for business.
See you later. Read on!
Eileen Fesco
Book Mouse Owner
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From Christy Myers of the Second Thursday Book Club ...
... We had a great discussion with The Collection. One of
our members is Japanese and she brought in information, and a magazine on
Japanese couture, something we knew nothing about. She has an haute
couture kimono!
We read it for March, while all the fashion gigs were on in Europe and New York.
There is a great WTTW show to companion the book that came out a few years ago
and was rebroadcast in February. When asked how many of us really knew
how to sew, the room was pretty quiet. A lost art form that most can't
pay for now anyway.
The story follows a young gal, so it has romance, women's lib issues and all that good stuff while giving
you a peek at Coco's and a few other designers studios as well as Paris at the fashion heyday just after WWI.
The Club meets at Reddick Library at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month.
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A flood of good will and good books have been reaching out to the beleaguered Central School from the Book Mouse.
Delia MacDougall, (left) the Librarian for Central
School, and Beverly Madsen, from Ottawa's chapter of the American Association of University Women (AAUW)
recently visited the store.
AAUW donated a $500 Book Mouse gift
certificate to Central School to buy books for their students after the 2008
autumn floods left the childrenwithout a library and they began relying on book
donations from the community.
The Book Mouse has donated well over
100 books, mostly advanced reading copies, to the
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| Special Events
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Kendra Tillman-Soens, author
of Nobody Knows What's Better For You Than You, will discuss her book
and sign copies on Saturd ay, May 9, from 11:30 to 1 p.m.
Have you ever tried a self-help program and
ended up disappointed? Are you afraid of failing if you attempt a
life-altering process, or does the idea of a complete life overhaul seem
uncomfortable? If you've answered "yes" to any of these questions, and
if a positive life change is what you desire, this book will
assist you.
It is an excellent aid to any self-help program you may already be
engaged in, and a great starter book for anyone interested in
beginning a new journey.
It's full of helpful hints for getting
started and contains all the tools necessary to help you succeed at any
positive life-altering
process.
Samantha Simpson
will be the honored guest at an author reception on Saturday, May 30,
from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Samantha is an OTHS senior and the title of
her brand new children's book is Spiders Get Scared Too.
LOOK FOR THIS UPCOMING EVENT!
Sea of the
Dead by Julia Durango
is due at the Book Mouse on July 21. This high-seas adventure book is for
middle-school readers. Reserve your copy today. Julia is
tentatively scheduled to sign copies of her book on Saturday, August 1. |
Mondays at the Mouse
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Each Monday from
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 or 8 we will offer you an opportunity to learn
something new or rekindle your interest in a topic.
In
May, different speakers will discuss community-supported farming and the "Shop Local" movements.
The farming program will be facilitated by Beth Osmund of Cedar Valley
Sustainable Farms north of Ottawa. (NOTE: Mondays at the Mouse will not meet on Memorial Day!)
We're looking for ideas on what you'd like to learn about
in the casual and convenient setting of our bookstore. For details, check out our web site.
For additional ongoing events, click here!
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Turning the Pages
Here's what our staff are reading. Select one of these staff favorites and receive 20 % off your purchase.
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Eileen's Pick
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I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti
by GIULIA MELUCCI
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This Brooklyn, New
York, author has whipped up a deliciously funny and touching book about love
and all its trials and errors. Before,
during and after each romantic interlude, Giulia writes of her favorite, mainly
Italian, recipes.
You can tell from the
recipe titles what type of experience she is having with Mr. Right (or
Wrong): First-Date Butterflies, Pear
Cake for Friends With Benefits, and No Nookie Gnocchi. You'll love this woman and you'll keep this
book on your cookbook shelf.
Mario
Batali (the Iron Chef) wrote: "Irresistible....
A foodie's dream version of Sex and the City." This is the first novel by this author.
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Eileen's Pick
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Mudbound
by HILLARY JORDAN
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Mudbound was recommended to me by Jill at WCMY in
O ttawa. We will discuss it on the Radio
Book Club on April 28. Mudbound is the story of a Mississippi
farm and the people who work it -- the McAllan family who own it and the
Jackson family who are the sharecroppers.
The title serves as a metaphor for the main theme of the story: these
are people who are stuck, stranded and surrounded in a forlorn, dark
existence. Each family has a son
returning from WWII. Ronsel Jackson
returns a war hero but that counts for naught in this bigoted community.
This debut novel won
the Bellwether Prize for Fiction awarded for a literary novel hat addresses
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| Eileen's Pick
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The Moonflower Vine
by JETTA CARLTON
If you haven't
happened across this book in your past give it a read today. This was a huge bestseller in the
1960s. 
Moonflower Vine is set in rural Missouri in the early 20th
century. It tells the story of Matthew
and Callie Soames and their four daughters. It is a story of family and its trials, tragedies, passions, joys and
secrets.
If you love books with
exquisite character development, this is your book.After the opening chapter
that describes the last days of the daughters' summer sojourn to their parents'
farm, the rest of the chapters build each character from their creation to the
present. It is wonderful writing. Check it out.
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Rachel K's Pick
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
by JOHN BOYNE
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This is a jaw-dropping story of two young boys finding
friendship in the most improbable of scenarios.
Bruno is a nine-year-old boy
living in his perfect five-story home next to the perfect town of cafes and
frothy drinks. Then his father, whom The Fury has big things in mind for, sends
the family off to a lonely place, a smaller house, and a large gated farm of
strange people.
Bruno, being the explorer he is, decides he will go off for an
adventure. After all, he has no one, not even his three
best friends for life, to play with. Upon reaching the gate that
separates the farm people from him, he sees a young boy sitting cross-legged,
head hung mournfully. A new friendship then flourishes against all odds. Which
leads into a chain of events that will tug on the
heartstrings of even the most dispassionate reader.
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Rachel K's Pick
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The Third Angel
by ALICE HOFFMAN
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Alice Hoffman is not a new author, but she is a
new read for me. In her book "The Third Angel," Alice writes about love,
betra  yal, self-destruction, and the twisted history of her characters.
This
book tells of three women and their disastrous encounter with love. It starts
with Maddy Heller falling in love with her sister's terminally-ill fiancé,
Paul. Then we reach back to Paul's mother and yet
another story of unfortunate love. Finally we examine the past of Maddy
Heller's mother; a woman stricken with cancer.
Her husband withholds support for her or the children.
This book will
leave readers pondering their own self-destructiveness with love and its
complications.
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Josh's Pick
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Ladies and Gentlemen -- The Bible!
by JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN
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Who wants to go to
hell? No one, so I suggest you read this book. It has all the
messages any normal Bible would have but it also translates it into modern
life.
Have you thought of Noah as being a grumpy
old man? How about King David the
comedian? Didn't think so. When you read this book you'll see that
there's a little angel inside all of us.
(Except for anyone born on a day of the year.)
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Josh's Pick
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The Watchmen
graphic novel by ALAN MOORE AND DAVE GIBBONS
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Who
watches the Watchmen? A world frozen in place as the co ld war escalates, someone knocking off masked
super heroes, and the penultimate threat of nuclear
holocaust threatens this world's fragile peace.
A fast-paced,
exciting read. This comic series, written during the '80s, still rings
true today and with such great characters anyone will be able to relate to this
book in one way or another.
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Rachel H's Pick
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Without You
by ANTHONY RAPP
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This is
one of the most touching books I have ever read. It is Anthony Rapp's
story of his time in the Original Broadway cast of "RENT," including the death of
the show's composer, Jonathan Larson, and the
death of his own mother.
Rapp deals with these and many other tough subjects
with humor and a whole lot of heart. Without
You is a great read for anyone whether you have seen "RENT" or not.
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Rachel H's Pick
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Gone with the Wind
by MARGARET MITCHELL
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One of the most famous romances of all time, Gone
With the Wind is one of my favorite books.
The book follows the life of Scarlett O'Hara, a southern
belle, through the years of the Civil War and
Reconstruction.
The book tells a tale of the end
of an era of decorum and romance like no other. If you've seen the
movie, read the book!
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Maria's Pick
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A Map of the Known World
by LISA ANN SANDALL
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 Cora
Bradley dreams of escape. Ever since her reckless older brother, Nate,
died in a car crash, Cora has felt suffocated by her small town
and high school. She seeks solace in drawing beautiful maps, envisioning
herself in exotic locales.
When Cora begins to fall for Damian, the handsome,
brooding boy who was in the car with Nate the night he died, she uncovers her
brother's secret artistic life and realizes she had more in common with him
than she ever imagined. With stunning lyricism, Sandell weaves a tale of one girl's
journey through the redemptive powers of art, friendship, and love.
This is a beautiful story of a family
searching for hope and a young girl who will stop at nothing to save not only
herself but also the memory of her brother.
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Liz's Pick
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Hannah Montana: The Movie
adapted by N.B. GRACE
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I've
read the chapter book of Hannah Montana The
Movie and I really like it.
The book is about a young pop star who
has a lot of good friends, and falls in love with
a handsome boy named Travis.
This read was incredibly fun and I recommend
it for anyone who enjoys Hannah Montana.
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Peggy's Pick
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The Reliable Wife
by ROBERT GOOLRICK
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Daphne Du Maurier set her acclaimed
novel Rebecca in Cornwall, England, a
setting that proved as much a character as her humans. Goolrick sets his gothic
novel in northern Wisconsin, where the winter is bleak and dreary and barely
endurable, much like Ralph Truitt's life. Here Truitt has existed -- not lived
- as the keystone for a community built by and around his family.
On the other side of the world -
socio-economically speaking - is a woman called Catherine, whose hardscrabble
existence is born of alleyways and saloons.
In 1907, Ralph advertises for a
city bride ("a reliable wife") to join him on the Wisconsin prairie. Catherine
answers the ad. We learn that Ralph is willing to die to achieve the happiness
that has eluded him, and that Catherine's arrival in Truitt is no accident. She
has allowed herself to become a commodity, but no naïve frontier bride is she.
She is a scam artist, and Ralph is her victim. Or is she his?
As Goolrick unravels the knotty twists of Ralph's and
Catherine's lives, he shows us that good suspense novels with well-drawn
characters don't have to be set on a remote English coast.
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It Happened at the Book Mouse !
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Authors
Paul Love, Kim Howard Johnson and Rob Borschenius (top pictures
counterclockwise) enjoyed meeting and greeting their readers and signing
copies of their books.
Avid readers of all ages went batty over bugs as they celebrated the anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and enjoyed creepy,crawly creatures (middle photos, left to right).
And (bottom left) Sonny the cat and Lizzie the chinchilla are always dashing around the store
in pursuit of one another, but it's rare to capture them both in the
same shot!
It was a bear-y good celebration of Corduroy's
birthday (bottom right). Corduroy, the story of a bear and his little
girl, became a children's favorite when it was published in 1968, and
was the subject of a subsequent book and TV series.
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| Take Note !
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Ottawa's Farmers' Market will open Saturday, May 9 on Jackson Street, just around the corner from our front door.
The Ottawa Art League is celebrating its 42nd anniversary. Artists will display their works at the Book Mouse from May 3
to June 27. A wine and cheese reception will be held on June 27 at noon.
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Ongoing 
Events
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WCMY 1430 Book Club
Last Tuesday of the month. The selection for May is Still Alice by Lisa Genova.
9:20-10 a.m.
Toddler Time
3rd Saturday of the month.
10:30-11 a.m.
Dungeons and Dragons
2nd & 4th Fridays. 7-10 p.m.
Teen Book Club
Last Wednesday of every month. The month's selection is If I Stay by Gayle Forman.
4 p.m.
Heritage River Writers
poetry group
last Wednesdays: 6:30 p.m.
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Here's What You Just Did !
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BY SHOPPING AT AN INDEPENDENT BOOK STORE
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1) You kept dollars in our economy
2) You embraced what makes us unique
3) You created local jobs
4) You helped the environment
5) You nurtured community
6) You conserved tax dollars
7) You created more choice
8) You took advantage of our expertise
9) You invested in entrepreneurship
10) You made us a destination
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Don't see a favorite title
on our shelves?
Ordering is easy! Just
call the Book Mouse at (815) 433-7323 or Email Us
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