January & February 2017
IN THIS ISSUE
BOOKS
2016 Manitoba Bestsellers || 2016 Saskatchewan Bestsellers || Discover Canada 150 || Canada Cooks || New in Paperback || What To Read || Author of the Month: Adiga & O'Neill || Because You're Worth It! || Come On, Get Happy, the Danish Way || Beat the Blues || Difference: South Korean Lit || Uneasy Tales of Mayhem and Detection || Tales Re-Told || Hidden Hearts || One Woman's Walk Towards Forgiveness || World Fiction
GIFTS, MEDIA, and NEWS
The honeycombs board game || Appointed stationery || Our Community Classroom || Hillborn Pottery Design || Stick to Reading & "I Love to Read" Month || Our Sights & Sounds || Our Vibrant Communities: Winnipeg & Saskatoon || Prairie Ink's Winter Fare
FOR BABIES, KIDS, and TEENS
BABIES Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library in Board Book || Babylit History || Chicken Nesting Toy || KIDS Celebrate Canada's 150 Years || Canadians Love to Read || And the Love Keeps on Coming || The Possible Dream || INVENTIONS: A Writing Contest || Saskatoon's SuperHero Brunch || Wanna Be an Astronaut? || An Astronaut's Handbook || Ride an Interstellar Rover || The Kid's Watch List || TEENS Divided Loyalties || Step into a World of Danger and Fantasy || The "Be First" Book Club
Your 2016 MANITOBA Bestsellers
FICTION
- The Break by Katherena Vermette. Softcover. $22.95.
- Stranger by David Bergen. Hardcover. $29.99.
- The Shadow Over Portage and Main edited by Keith Cadieux & Dustin Geeraert. Softcover. $19.95.
- The Evolution of Alice by David Alexander Robertson. Softcover. $19.95.
- Making a Break by Thursday Knight. Softcover. $20.00.
- Strangers Among Us edited by Susan Forest & Lucas K. Law. Softcover. $19.95.
- Calling Down the Sky by Rosanna Deerchild. Softcover. $16.95.
- The Bootlegger's Confession by Allan Levine. Softcover. $16.95.
- Visiting Fellow by Dave Williamson. Softcover. $19.00.
- Living Secrets by M.K. Stoddart. Softcover. $19.95.
NONFICTION
- Abandoned Manitoba by Gordon Goldsborough. Softcover. $29.95.
- An Army of Problem Solvers by Shaun Loney. Softcover. $20.00.
- The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew. Hardcover. $32.00.
- The Hot Line by Geoff Kirbyson. Softcover. $29.95.
- Her Worship by Susan A. Thompson. Softcover. $35.00.
- Her Darling Boy by Tom Goodman. Softcover. $29.95.
- The Ballad of Danny Wolfe by Joe Friesen. Hardcover. $34.00.
- Aqueduct by Adele Perry. Softcover. $14.95.
- First Star I See Tonight by Orysia Tracz. Softcover. $49.95.
- Reflections by Karen E. Toole. Softcover. $19.95.
Your 2016 SASKATCHEWAN Bestsellers
FICTION
- The High Mountains of Portugal by Yann Martel. Hardcover. $32.00. (Now available in paperback.)
- Set Free by Anthony Bidulka. Softcover. $23.95.
- What's Left Behind by Gail Bowen. Hardcover. $32.00.
- A Beauty by Connie Gault. Softcover. $21.00.
- Scattered Bones by Maggie Siggins. Softcover. $21.95.
- Daddy Lenin and Other Stories by Guy Vanderhaeghe. Softcover. $19.95.
- Wild Rose by Sharon Butala. Softcover. $21.95.
- Swedes' Ferry by Allan Safarik. Softcover. $19.95.
- Corvus by Harold Johnson. Softcover. $19.95.
- 12 Rose Street by Gail Bowen. Softcover. $19.95.
NONFICTION
- A World We Have Lost by Bill Waiser. Hardcover. $70.00.
- With Love from Iraq by Mareen Haddock. Softcover. $13.95.
- Indian Ernie by Ernie Louttit. Softcover. $25.00.
- The Great Saskatchewan Bucket List by Robin & Arlene Karpan. Softcover. $19.95.
- More Indian Ernie by Ernie Louttit. Softcover. $25.00.
- The Education of Augie Merasty by Joseph A. Merasty. Softcover. $21.95.
- A Guide to Nature Viewing Sites In and Around Saskatoon, 3rd Edition by Saskatoon Nature Society. Softcover. $20.00.
- Photographer's Guide to Saskatchewan by Robin & Arlene Karpan. Softcover. $24.95.
- Firewater by Harold Johnson. Softcover. $16.95.
- Clearing the Plains by James Daschuk. Softcover. $27.95.
Discover Canada 150
Guide to the National Historic Sites of Canada
by National Geographic
$29.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
As the official companion book to the 150th anniversary of Canada’s birth, the Guide to the National Historic Sites of Canada from National Geographic celebrates the historic sites that are key in building the story of Canada. This guide showcases 236 national historic sites of Parks Canada and gives visitors fact-packed text that features history, natural history, and must-see elements and events at each place. Great visuals and poetic insight into the lands and events reveal how Canada grew into the creative, thriving, and proudly independent nation it is today. Each entry gives the site’s unique story and how it contributes to the greater story of Canada. (January)
Guide to the National Parks of Canada, 2nd Edition
by National Geographic
$29.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
The National Geographic's Guide to the National Parks of Canada, now in a completely updated second edition, shows you how to make the most out of your visit to Canada’s 47 gorgeous national parks — from the Cape Breton Highlands to Banff to Pacific Rim National Park Preserve, plus the five newest additions: Nááts’ihch’oh National Park Reserve, Mealy Mountains, Rouge Urban, Qausuittuq, and Sable Island National Park Reserve of Canada. Written by national park experts, this guide highlights the best spots for wildlife watching, favourite places for kayaking, swimming, camping, hiking, and other activities, as well as information as how to get to each park, the best seasons, where to stay, and much more. (January)
150 Years of Canadian Politics. Join award-winning author and historian Allan Levine in the Community Classroom for a four-session course that explores the personalities, power struggles and impact of Canada’s key prime ministers from John A. Macdonald to Justin Trudeau, starting Tuesday January 17, 2:00 to 4:00 pm.
Pre-registration required. Cost $100.00 per person. Register online. Please note: Community Classroom programs are only available at our Winnipeg location.
Canada Cooks
Speaking in Cod Tongues
by Lenore Newman
$29.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
In Speaking in Cod Tongues, Lenore Newman explores Canada's rich and evolving culinary landscape. From oceans to prairie, from bakeapples to fiddleheads, from maple syrup to k'aaw, from the height of urban dining to picnics in parks, Newman describes a delicious and emerging melange representing the multifaceted nature of Canada.
Speaking in Cod Tongues is the first book in University of Regina Press’s newest book series, Digestions, co-edited by Sarah Elton and Jayeeta Sharma. With scholarly and popular appeal, Digestions considers the history, culture, and politics of food from a Canadian perspective. (University of Regina Press. January)
New in PAPERBACK
Our Featured Paperbacks
JANUARY
Open Heart, Open Mind
by Clara Hughes
$22.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Our January 30% OFF Price: $15.40
In 2006, when Clara Hughes stepped onto the Olympic podium in Torino, Italy, she became the first and only athlete ever to win multiple medals in both the Summer and Winter Games. Four years later, she carried the Canadian flag during the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. But there’s another story behind her celebrated career, a story of growing up in Winnipeg using drugs and alcohol to escape a stifling home life — until she saw speed skater Gaétan Boucher race at the 1988 Calgary Olympics. (Simon & Schuster. January)
FEBRUARY
Furiously Happy
by Jenny Lawson
$22.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Our February 30% OFF Price: $16.09
In this humourous memoir tinged with tragedy and pathos, Jenny Lawson examines her own experience with severe depression and a host of other conditions, and explains how it has forced her to live life to the fullest. Many people struggle with depression and mental illness, either themselves or someone in their family. With Jenny Lawson, they will find a member of their tribe offering an uplifting message. Furiously Happy is about depression and mental illness, but deep down it's about joy — and who doesn't want a bit more of that? (February. Flatiron)
Hardwiring Happiness
by Rick Hanson
$22.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Having a brain wired to take in the bad and ignore the good makes you come down harder on yourself than you do on other people, feel inadequate even when you get a hundred things done, and feel lonely even when support is all around you. Rick Hanson, an acclaimed neuro-psychologist, shows us what we can do to override the brain’s default programming. Hardwiring Happiness lays out a simple method that uses the hidden power of everyday experiences to build new neural structures that attract happiness, love, confidence and peace. (Crown. January)
Hitler's Art Thief
by Susan Ronald
$24.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Eighty-year old Cornelius Gurlitt became a media superstar in 2013 on the discovery of over 1,400 artworks in his Munich apartment, valued at around $1.35 billion. He had inherited the collection from his father, Hildebrand Gurlitt, who had acted as an "official dealer" for Hitler and Goebbels, becoming one of the Third Reich's most prolific art looters. Ronald reveals the untold story of Hildebrand Gurlitt, who stole more than art. He stole lives, too. (St. Martin's. February)
This Census-Taker
by China Mieville
$20.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
In a remote house on a hilltop, a lonely boy witnesses a traumatic event. He tries to flee but fails. Left alone with his deranged parent, he dreams of safety, of joining the other children in the town below, of escape. When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over. But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his questions? Is he friend? Enemy? Or something else altogether? (Del Rey. January)
And Yet ...
by Christopher Hitchens
$22.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Hitchens' latest collection of essays ranges from the literary to the political and is, by turns, a banquet of entertaining and instructive delights, including essays on Orwell, Lermontov, Chesterton, Fleming, Naipaul, Rushdie, Pamuk, and Dickens, among others, as well as his laugh-out-loud self-mocking “makeover.” Often prescient, always pugnacious, and formidably learned, Hitchens was a polemicist for the ages. With this posthumous volume, his reputation continues to grow. (Signal. December)
The Hanging Girl
by Jussi Adler-olsen
$22.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Somewhat reluctantly Carl Mørck leads Department Q into the tragic cold case of a vivacious seventeen-year-old girl who vanished from school, only to be found dead hanging high up in a tree. The investigation takes Mørck and his team (Assad, Rose, and newcomer Gordon) from the remote island of Bornholm to a strange sun worshipping cult, where they attempt to stop a string of new murders and a skilled manipulator who refuses to let anything or anyone get in the way, in the latest mystery from the internationally bestselling Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen. (Dutton. January)
All Out
by Kevin Newman
$22.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Kevin Newman and his son, Alex, open up in this moving chronicle about the personal and societal expectations surrounding masculinity. While Kevin reached the summit of American network television and was coached on how to develop a “quarterback” persona, Alex realized he was gay. Both hungered for each other’s approval, but didn’t know how to bridge their differences. Today, a decade later, father and son retrace their steps (and missteps) to reinventing their relationship. (Vintage. February)
Quantum Night
by Robert J Sawyer
$21.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Experimental psychologist Jim Marchuk has developed a flawless technique for identifying the previously undetected psychopaths lurking everywhere in society. But while being cross-examined about his breakthrough in court, Jim is shocked to discover that he has lost six months of his own memories from twenty years ago, a dark time during which he himself committed heinous acts. The Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author explores the thin line between good and evil as Marchuk and a former girlfriend try to stem a rising tide of violence which is sweeping across the globe. (Penguin. January)
The Happiness Equation
by Neil Pasricha
$22.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
After selling over a million copies of The Book Of Awesome series, Pasricha illustrates how to want nothing and do anything in order to have everything. If that sounds like a contradiction in terms, you have yet to unlock the 9 Secrets to Happiness. Each secret takes a piece out of the core of common sense, turns it on its head to present it in a completely new light, and then provides practical and specific guidelines for how to apply this new outlook to lead a fulfilling life. (Putnam. January)
Dark Money
by Jane Mayer
$23.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Why is America living in an age of profound and widening economic inequality? Why have even modest attempts to address climate change been defeated? Why do hedge-fund billionaires pay a far lower tax rate than middle-class workers? Mayer illuminates the history of an elite cadre of plutocrats — headed by the Kochs, the Scaifes, the Olins, and the Bradleys — who have bankrolled a systematic plan to fundamentally alter the American political system. Mayer reveals the secretive figures behind the new American oligarchy in a searing look at the carefully concealed agendas steering a nation. (Anchor. January)
Runaway
by Peter May
$20.49. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Five teenage boys leave their homes in Glasgow in 1965 and head for London to pursue fame and fortune, only to discover disillusionment. Fifty years later a brutal murder forces three of the boys, now in their sixties, to return to London to confront the demons which have haunted them and blighted their lives for five decades in this tense crime thriller of shattered passions. (Quercus. February)
The Naturalist
by Alissa York
$21.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
In 1867, when naturalist Walter Ash suddenly dies, his son, Paul, is obliged to complete his father’s expedition to the Amazon. Though he was born there, he holds no memory of the place, but neither the region nor its people have forgotten Paul. The Amazon lays claim to him in no uncertain terms, but it also works a peculiar magic on his father’s widow and her friend, a quiet Quaker who proves strangely at home in the wild. (Vintage. January)
What To READ
A collection of recent books particularly recommended by Chris Hall. Look for our in-store What To Read display tables.
The Mare
by Mary Gaitskill
$22.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Velveteen Vargas is eleven years old, a Fresh Air Fund kid from Brooklyn, hosted by a liberal couple in upstate New York. Gaitskill gradually reveals Velvet’s shifting relationship with Ginger and Paul over several years, as well as her encounter with the horses at the stable down the road — especially with an abused, unruly mare called Fugly Girl. In Gaitskill's hands, the timeless story of a girl and a horse is joined with a timely story of people from different races and classes trying to meet one another honestly. (Vintage. October)
Stranger Than We Can Imagine
by John Higgs
$22.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
How can we truly understand the twentieth century if we don’t understand the ideas that drove its innovations and discoveries? The trouble is these ideas include quantum entanglement, cubism, relativity, psychedelics, postmodernism, chaos theory, and the Somme. What hope do we have? Enter John Higgs who explores, with clarity and wit, the extremes of twentieth century thought, and in doing so shows how a world of empires became a world of individuals. (McClelland & Stewart. November)
The Little Red Chairs
by Edna O'brien
$20.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
One winter night, a charismatic stranger arrives in the small Irish town of Cloonoila. Dr. Vladimir Dragan is a poet, holistic healer, and a welcome disruption to the monotony of village life. Fidelma McBride falls under his spell and turns to him to cure her deepest pains. Then, one morning, Dr. Vlad is arrested and revealed to be a notorious war criminal. The community is devastated, particularly Fidelma. In disgrace and alone, she struggles through profound hardship before finding the prospect of redemption. This is an unflinching exploration of humanity's capacity for evil and artifice as well as the bravest kind of love. (Little, Brown. December)
Shelter in Place
by Alexander Maksik
$23.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Maksik has already written two extraordinary novels: You Deserve Nothing and A Marker to Measure Drift. His third is a stylish novel about mental illness, the intensity of youth, family obligations, and the consequences of love. Just when Joseph March is on top of the world, his life implodes when he starts to suffer the symptoms of bipolar disorder, and then his mother kills a man she's never met. Maksik explores the modern world's battered soul, forcing us to confess the things in life we are willing to die for and those we're willing to kill for.(Europa Editions. September)
What Belongs to You
by Garth Greenwell
$22.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
This is a novel where the sentences are so well written that plot becomes secondary. That said, the story begins with an American teacher who enters a public bathroom in Sofia, Bulgaria, meets Mitko, a charismatic young hustler, and pays him for sex. He returns again and again until he finds himself in a relationship of lust and mutual predation. As he struggles to reconcile his longing with his anguish, he's forced to grapple with his own history. Greenwell has created a story about the ways our pasts and cultures, our scars and shames can shape who we are and determine how we love. (Picador. January)
Caught
by Henry Green
$19.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
The New York Review of Books’ publishing program is in the business of rediscovering lost classics. You may recall Stoner, a recent success, which was rescued from obscurity and returned to the bestseller list. Henry Green may be their next big hit. I’ve chosen this novel to recommend here, but plans are to reissue all his novels. Green has an idiosyncratic style which effectively puts the reader right in the moment of the novel. So go ahead and travel back to post war England in these newly recovered gems. (New York Review Books. November)
The Queen of the Night
by Alexander Chee
$22.50. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
An old-fashioned great read that follows one woman's rise from circus rider to courtesan to world-renowned diva. Lilliet Berne is a sensation of the Paris Opera during the late 19th century, a legendary soprano with every accolade except an original role. When one is finally offered, she realizes that the libretto is based on a hidden piece of her past. Surrounded by a cast of characters drawn from history, Lilliet moves ever closer to the truth behind the mysterious opera and the role that could secure her reputation — or destroy her with the secrets it reveals. (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. November)
Dance on the Volcano
by Marie Vieux-chauvet
$24.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
This is another gem from world literature, brought to our attention by the consistently remarkable Archipelago Books. It tells the story of two sisters growing up during the Haitian Revolution in a culture that swings between decadence and poverty, sensuality and depravity. One sister, because of her singing ability, is able to enter white colonial society otherwise generally off limits to people of colour. Closely examining a society sagging under the white supremacy, it is a story about hatred and fear, love and loss, and the complex tensions between the colonizer and the colonized. (Steerforth Press. January)
Public Library and Other Stories
by Ali Smith
$22.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Smith is so consistently interesting and entertaining that a new book from her is always a reason for celebration. In this, a book of stories all about why books mean the world to us, she asks, Why are books, in all their forms, so very powerful? What do the books we've read over our lives, our own personal libraries, make of us? What do we do with books and what do they do with us? And how do they remind us to pay attention to the world we make? (Hamish Hamilton. October)
The Unwinding
by George Packer
$18.50. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Still trying to make sense of how our southern neighbours elected a man whom only a decade before everyone thought was a buffoon? The New York Times recommended several books to read in the wake of the election and top of that list was this book. If you’ve read George Packer’s pieces in the New Yorker magazine, you won’t be surprised. Packer makes a legitimate attempt to understand both sides of the political divide in the U.S. Here he works his way through the past three decades to try to figure out how we came to be where we are today. (FSG. 2016)
AUTHOR OF THE MONTH
JANUARY
Aravind Adiga
Aravind Adiga, who wanted to be a novelist since he was a boy, was born in Madras and now lives in Mumbai. His debut, The White Tiger, which has been described as a "compelling, angry and darkly humorous" novel about a man's journey from Indian village life to entrepreneurial success, won the 2008 Man Booker Prize when he was thirty-three.
In his new novel, Selection Day, Manjunath Kumar is fourteen and living in a slum in Mumbai. He knows he is good at cricket, if not as good as his older brother, Radha. He knows that he fears and resents his domineering and cricket-obsessed father, admires his brilliantly talented sibling, and is fascinated by curious scientific facts and the world of CSI. But there are many things, about himself and about the world, that he doesn’t know.
Filled with characters from across India’s social strata — the old scout everyone calls Tommy Sir; Anand Mehta, the big-dreaming investor; Sofia, a wealthy, beautiful girl and the boys’ biggest fan — Selection Day is a moving story of adolescence and ambition, fathers, sons, and two brothers whose coming of age threatens their relationship, future, and sense of themselves. (Hardcover. $32.00. Simon & Schuster. January)
FEBRUARY
Heather O'Neill
Heather O’Neill is a Canadian novelist, poet, short-story writer, screenwriter and essayist. Lullabies for Little Criminals, her debut novel, was published in 2006 to international critical acclaim and won Canada Reads. It was shortlisted for both the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the Orange Prize for Fiction. She has since published the novel The Girl Who Was Saturday Night and the short story collection Daydreams of Angels, both of which were shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in consecutive years.
In her new novel, The Lonely Hearts Hotel, two babies are abandoned in a Montreal orphanage in the winter of 1910. Before long, their true talents emerge: Pierrot is a piano prodigy; Rose lights up even the dreariest room with her dancing and comedy. As they travel around the city performing for the rich, the children fall in love with each other and dream up a plan for the most extraordinary and seductive circus show the world has ever seen.
The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose fortune hinges on the price of a kiss. (Hardcover. $29.99. HarperCollins. February)
E Winnipeg Event Feb. 13 & Saskatoon Event Feb. 14
The honeycombs board game
honeycombs™ comes with fifty-two hexagon shape tiles. Each tile has six symbols on it and no two tiles are the same. Players compete to build the biggest honeycomb possible. To build a honeycomb, players connect two tiles by matching their symbols. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for the honeybee. It is wild and can be connected with any other symbol. One point is awarded for every connection made. honeycombs™ has three distinct ways to play, each varying in speed and competitiveness. Choose the one that’s right for your group.
For up to four players, ages 6 & up. Playing time 15-30 minutes. $25.00
Because You're Worth It!
We live in a world of growing singleness. While lots of attention is being paid to senior singles, less has been given to younger women and men who find themselves suddenly single through separation or divorce or through the death of a partner — or to those who come to the realization that partnership isn’t in the cards and they need to start planning for themselves. Single women make up more than half the population of Canadian women. And they’re facing financial and life challenges for which they might not be prepared.
CEO of Everything
by Gail Vaz-oxlade
$22.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
CEO of Everything by financial experts Gail Vaz-Oxlade and Victoria Rice map out the territory that singles find themselves in and guides readers through topics that form the new land of singleness. What is normal when you are suddenly planning for life for one? What do you need to look out for, be responsible for and be prepared for? The authors help readers decide what’s urgent, what’s important and what you can afford to just let go unattended because you may be strong, but nobody can do it ALL. (HarperCollins. December)
Worth It
by Amanda Steinberg
$35.00. Hardcover. Add to Cart
From Amanda Steinberg, the founder of DailyWorth.com — the go-to financial site for women with more than one million subscribers — comes a fresh book that redefines the relationship between women, self-worth, and money. Worth It shows women how to view money as a source of personal power and freedom, and live life on their terms.
Worth It outlines the essential financial information women need as well as everything the institutions and advisors don’t spell out. Steinberg gets to the bottom of why women are stressed and anxious when it comes to their finances and teaches them to stay away from strict budgeting and other harsh austerity practices. Instead, she makes money relatable, while sharing strategies she uses herself to build confidence and ease in her own financial life. Through her first-hand experiences and the stories from other women, Steinberg’s advice can help women of any age and income view money as a source of freedom and independence, creating for themselves a bright financial future. (Simon & Schuster. February)
Come On, Get Happy, the Danish Way
The centuries-old Danish tradition of hygge (pronounced “hue-gah”) comes from a country voted to be the happiest on Earth, and its special custom of emotional warmth, slowness and appreciation, is becoming increasingly familiar to an international audience. To hygge means to enjoy the good things in life with good people.
Hygge
by Marie Tou Soderberg
$27.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
Though we all know the feeling of hygge instinctively, few of us ever manage to capture it for more than a moment. In her book Hygge: The Danish Art of Happiness, Danish actress and hygge aficionado Marie Tourell Søderberg has created the perfect guide to cooking, decorating and entertaining the hygge way. Full of inspiring photographs and practical ideas, this book is an easy way to introduce hygge into your life.
How to Hygge
by Signe Johansen
$27.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
How to Hygge by chef and author Signe Johansen is a fresh, informative, lighthearted, fully illustrated how-to guide to hygge. It's a combination of recipes and helpful tips for cozy living at home: essential elements of living the Danish way, which encourages a daily dose of "healthy hedonism." Who can resist that? (St. Martin's Press. January)
The Book of Hygge
by Louisa Thomsen Brits
$29.00. Hardcover. Add to Cart
A beautifully aesthetic four-colour guide to the hygge philosophy, including steps to incorporate the practice into everyday life. We all hygge — around a table for a shared meal, beside a fire on a snowy night, making coffee together at breakfast, wrapped in blankets at the end of a day on the beach, alone in bed with a hot water bottle and a good book. (Plume. February)
Beat the Blues
Take a Walk
The Nature Fix
by Florence Williams
$35.95. Hardcover. Add to Cart
For centuries, poets and philosophers have extolled the benefits of a walk in the woods. In The Nature Fix, Florence Williams investigates cutting-edge research as she travels to fragrant cypress forests in Korea to meet the rangers who administer “forest healing programs” to the green hills of Scotland and its “ecotherapeutic” approach to caring for the mentally ill. The Nature Fix demonstrates that our connection to nature is much more important to our cognition than we think and that even small amounts of exposure to the living world can improve our creativity and enhance our mood. (Norton. February)
Read a Book
Books for Living
by Will Schwalbe
$34.95. Hardcover. Add to Cart
From the author of the bestselling The End of Your Life Book Club, Books for Living a wonderfully engaging celebration of reading in general and an impassioned recommendation of specific books that can help guide us through our daily lives. In each chapter Schwalbe talks about the ways in which a particular book has helped to shape how he leads his own life and the ways in which it might help to shape ours. He also discusses what brought him to each book or vice versa; the people in his life he associates each book with; how each has led him to other books; and how each is part of his understanding of himself in the world. (Knopf. January)
Difference
"If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking."
—Haruki Murakami
The enormous success of Han Kang’s 2016 Man Booker Prizewinning novel The Vegetarian has helped direct attention to the literature of South Korea, a country whose modern literature is sorely under-represented in English translation.
Deborah Smith’s translation of Han Kang’s Human Acts has helped bring attention to this important work set during the aftermath of the massacre following the 1980 Gwangju Uprising against South Korean military leader Chun Doo-hwan. Kang gives voice to those citizens caught up in the brutal event, focusing on smaller human stories in this spare and sobering masterpiece flush with horror but imbued with marvel at the indomitability of the human spirit. (Softcover. $25.95. Portobello Press)
Also translated by Smith are two novels by Bae Suah, a translator herself of Sebald, Kafka, and Erpenbeck, who has a unique voice that plays with time, memory, and music. A Greater Music follows a Korean visiting Berlin, lost in her past and present memories of the country after falling through river ice. The two periods fold in on each other over a procession of chapters focused on her efforts to learn German while dealing with two relationships: one to a metalworker named Joachim and the other with her enigmatic music loving German teacher M. (Softcover. $20.50. Open Letter)
Bae Suah’s Recitation takes the form of a masterful series of stories within stories told by Kyung-hee, a travelling actor who specializes in recitation to a group of emigrants gathered at a train station. She unfolds the tale of her life and rootless wanderings to them while being regularly interrupted by both her audience and the characters within her stories who all have their own tales to tell. Recitation is a dazzling matryoshka doll of a novel that promises to be one of the year’s best. (Softcover. $21.95. Deep Vellum. January)
Those looking for something a little left of centre will enjoy Jung Young Moon’s Vaseline Buddha. Adroitly translated by Yewon Jung, the book is less a novel than an absurd internal monologue. After a burglar’s attempts to clamber into his room are thwarted, our deliciously unreliable narrator laments his absence and embarks on a vast stream of stories and comic wordplay with little concern paid to narrative cohesion. Those choosing to accompany him should attempt to do so in an uninterrupted sitting, surrendering to his reverie which is more connected than it may appear. (Softcover. $21.95. Deep Vellum)
— John Toews
Uneasy Tales of Mayhem and Detection
The Couturier of Milan
by Ian Hamilton
$19.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
In The Couturier of Milan, Ava Lee, the Chinese-Canadian forensic accountant in Ian Hamilton's intriguing series, finds herself leading a confrontation between two of the world’s biggest global crime syndicates, the Camorra and the Triad, when she and her partners launch the career of a young Chinese fashion designer. (Anansi. January)
The Woman in Cabin 10
by Ruth Ware
$24.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Journalist Lo Blacklock's plum assignment aboard a luxury cruise ship turns into a nightmare when she witnesses a passenger being thrown overboard. With spine-tingling twists and turns, The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware is a haunting novel that leaves even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned. (Simon & Schuster. January)
The Girl Before
by J.P. Delaney
$24.95. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Two women answer an odd request with devastating consequences. In the tradition of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl, J.P. Delany's The Girl Before is an enthralling psychological thriller that spins one woman’s seemingly good fortune with another woman’s mysterious fate through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death and deception. (Doubleday. February)
Appointed
A line of thoughtfully designed desktop products that make utility look luxurious.
Practical, beautiful and handcrafted from the finest materials, the wide range of stationery goods from Appointed are designed to elevate the work experience. Prices range from $14.00 to $40.00. Please visit us in-store to browse these items.
Tales Re-Told
Norse Mythology
by Neil Gaiman
$34.95. Hardcover. Add to Cart
Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman fashions primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds; delves into the exploits of the deities, dwarves, and giants; and culminates in Ragnarok, the rebirth of a new time and people.
Gaiman stays true to the myths while reincarnating Odin, the highest of the high; Thor, Odin’s son, strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki, the son of a giant, a trickster and manipulator. Gaiman deftly renders the gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to dupe others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions. (Norton. February)
The Beauty and the Beast
by Barbot de Villenueve
$36.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
MinaLima, the award-winning design studio behind the graphics for the Harry Potter and Peter Pan films, re-imagines the French fairy tale The Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve in a deluxe unabridged edition illustrated with full-colour artwork and nine 3-D interactive features, published to coincide with the release of the Disney live-action musical film starring Emma Watson, Ian McKellen, Josh Gad, Ewan McGregor, and Emma Thompson.
This unique gift edition of the classic tale, in which Beauty learns to see beyond the Beast's grotesque appearance, includes a map of the French city where the Merchant (Beauty’s father) and his family reside; a fold-out that reveals the interior of the Beast’s enchanted palace; a series of flaps that open to reveal different entertainments available to Beauty in the Beast’s palace; and a dial of the ring Beauty turns on her finger to return to the Beast. (HarperCollins. January)
Hidden Hearts
In the Great Green Room
by Amy Gary
$37.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
In 1990, author Amy Gary discovered unpublished manuscripts, songs, personal letters, and diaries from Margaret Wise Brown, the author of the children's classics Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny, in the attic of her sister’s barn. Gary's book, In the Great Green Room, reveals a woman who embraced life with passion, threw wild parties, attended rabbit hunts, and lived extravagantly off of her royalties. She carried on long and troubled love affairs with both men and women, including the ex-wife of John Barrymore, and was engaged to a younger man (who was the son of a Carnegie and a Rockefeller) when she died unexpectedly at the age of 42. (Flatiron. January)
Nearly Normal
by Cea S. Person
$24.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
In her memoir North of Normal, Cea Sunrise Person wrote about her unconventional childhood living in a tipi in Alberta with her free-loving counterculture family before she escaped through a modelling career. At the age of thirty-seven, she had what she wanted, an enviable career and the normal family life she had craved as a child. But as this carefully created world crumbled around her she realized she needed to look at her past to make sense of her present. In Nearly Normal she draws connections between her early experiences and later life mistakes. But more importantly, she discovers the power of taking responsibility for the choices she made in the face of her many challenges. (HarperCollins. February)
One Woman's Walk Toward Forgiveness
The Way of Letting Go
by Wilma Derksen
$21.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Wilma Derksen's world collapsed when her teenage daughter, Candace, was taken hostage and murdered. In The Way of Letting Go, she shares her choices to “let go” of heartbreak, which gave her the courage to navigate through the dark waters of sorrow. Like Wilma Derksen, maybe heartbreak or tragedy has forced you to retreat from happy expectations, of believing that life is fair, of finding closure for every circumstance. She encourages patiently: let go of the happy ending, let go of perfect justice, let go of fear, and let go of closure. Derksen's wisdom helps you overcome your broken heart, and her advice enables you to break free of pain and to live a life of true joy. (HarperCollins. February)
Our Community Classroom
• Niigaanwewidam Sinclair's How Can You Have Seven Genders? Indigenous Gender Identity in Today's World is a two-session course that explores the diverse, complex, and rich senses of multiple genders that are associated with different roles and purposes in life and ceremony, starting February 21, 2017, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Cost per person $50.00.
• JP Hoe presents three different ukulele courses — Back in the 'Uke'-SSR 101, Tangled Up In 'Uke' 101, 'Uke' Wreck Me Baby 101 — and 'Uke' 201, which expands upon the basics learned in any of the '101' classes. Each course comprises a four-week, one hour session starting the evening of March 1, 2017. Cost per person, per course $105.00.
• Join Kim Wheeler for Indigenous Media In Canada, March 23, 2017, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, in an examination of how media coverage of the Indigenous community has changed in the last 20 years. And why more non-Indigenous people are willing to listen to their stories. Cost $20.00.
Please note: The Community Classroom program is only available at our Winnipeg location, and all sessions require pre-registration. You can register in-person at our Grant Park store, over the phone at 204-475-0483, or register now online.
Hillborn Pottery Design
Hilborn Pottery Design is a Canadian company specializing in original handmade ceramic designs of exceptional function and form.
Prices range from $17.00 to $160.00. Please visit us in-store to browse these items.
World Fiction
Son of a Trickster
by Eden Robinson
$32.00. Hardcover. Add to Cart
Jared is a burnt out high school kid who sells weed cookies and has a scary mom who’s often wasted. He’s also a kid who has an immense capacity for compassion. For himself, he always counted on his flatulent pit bull for love and support — but now she’s dead. Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson, author of the classic Monkey Beach, blends humour with heartbreak in a compelling coming-of-age novel in which everyday teen existence meets indigenous beliefs, crazy family dynamics and cannibalistic river otters. (Knopf. February) E Winnipeg Event Feb. 12 & Saskatoon Event Feb. 15
Autumn
by Ali Smith
$30.00. Hardcover. Add to Cart
Autumn by Ali Smith, the 2015 Baileys Prize-winning author of How to be Both, is the first of four novels in a shape-shifting series that crosses the boundaries of time and history. This, and the three stand-alone novels to follow, are separate yet interconnected, a cyclical quartet that explores time, how we experience it, and the recurring markers in the shapes our lives take and the stories we tell. (Hamish Hamilton. February)
4 3 2 1
by Paul Auster
$39.95. Hardcover. Add to Cart
From a single beginning, Archibald Isaac Ferguson, born March 3, 1947, takes four simultaneous and independent fictional paths. Four Fergusons made of the same genetic material, four boys who are the same boy, go on to lead four parallel and entirely different lives. 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster is the story of possibility in which the four parallel lives, loves, and obsessions are played out during a time of great change in America and the world. (McClelland & Stewart. February)
Transit
by Rachel Cusk
$29.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
In the wake of family collapse, a writer moves to London with her two young sons. The process of upheaval is the catalyst for a number of transitions as she endeavours to construct a new reality for herself and her children. Transit by Rachel Cusk, the author of Outline, a finalist for the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize, is a penetrating and moving reflection on childhood and fate, the value of suffering, the moral problems of personal responsibility, and the mystery of change. (HarperCollins. January)
The Chosen Maiden
by Eva Stachniak
$24.00. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
The passionate story of Bronia, an extraordinary ballerina forever in the shadow of the legendary Nijinsky — Russia’s greatest dancer and her older brother. Overshadowed by Vaslav, plagued by a body deemed less than ideal and struggling against the constraints of her gender, Bronia has to work triply hard to prove herself worthy in a world that wishes to see her fall. (Doubleday. January) E Winnipeg Event Jan. 26
Universal Harvester
by John Darnielle
$21.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Jeremy works at the Video Hut in a small town in Iowa. When a local schoolteacher returns an old movie starring Boris Karloff, she has an odd complaint: “There’s something on it.” And she's just the first. When Jeremy investigates, he discovers a short black-and-white scene buried in a number of movies with only the faint sounds of someone breathing. But there is something profoundly unsettling about that scene. Universal Harvester by John Danielle tells an eerie tale in which the once placid Iowa fields are suddenly filled with foreboding. (HarperCollins. February)
Dragon Springs Road
by Janie Chang
$22.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Dragon Springs Road, the new novel from Janie Chang (Three Souls), is set in early-twentieth-century Shanghai, where, as an ancient imperial dynasty collapses, a new government struggles to life and two girls — one a Eurasian orphan, the other a daughter of privilege — are bound together in a friendship that is tested by duty, honour and love. (HarperCollins. January)
Stick to Reading & "I Love to Read" Month
McNally Robinson Booksellers Teams Up with the Manitoba Moose and the Saskatoon Blades to Celebrate "I Love to Read" Month
WINNIPEG
McNally Robinson Booksellers teams up with the Manitoba Moose Hockey Club, in conjunction with "I Love to Read" Month, to present "Stick to Reading," a program designed to encourage literacy among the youth in our community.
Enter to Win a School Visit from the Moose
Students and teachers, grades 1 to 6, are invited to apply online at moosehockey.com/sticktoreading and tell the Moose why they should visit your classroom during "I Love to Read" month. The contest runs from January 1st to January 30th, 2017. Winning classrooms will be selected the week of January 30th – February 3rd, 2017. Visit moosehockey.com/sticktoreading for contest details and rules.
Ten Lucky Schools
In early February, ten lucky schools will receive a visit from the Manitoba Moose players. The winning classes will enjoy readings by the players from a featured book and listen to them talk about the important role reading plays in their lives. Want an autograph? The players are happy to oblige. The students in the winning classes will get a free McNally Robinson goodie bag that includes free copies of the books read by the players, fun reading goodies from participating publishers, as well as a buy-one-get-one-free coupon to the McNally Robinson-sponsored "Stick to Reading" game on February 25th, 2017, against the San Antonio Rampage.
SASKATOON
Meet the Blades at McNally Robinson February 12
Meet players from the Saskatoon Blades and their fun-loving mascot Poke Check on Sunday, February 12, starting at 2:00 pm at McNally Robinson Booksellers. Enjoy readings by the players from a featured book and listen to them talk about the important role reading plays in their lives. A Q&A will follow. You can also pick up a coupon at the in-store event that entitles purchasers of an adult ticket to one free kid's ticket for the game on Friday, March 10, which pits the Saskatoon Blades against the Swift Current Broncos. This is the "I Love to Read" game and is sponsored by McNally Robinson Booksellers. Love hockey! Love to Read!
Win a School Visit from the Blades
From January 1 to January 31, students and teachers are invited to go to the Blades website to enter a contest for a school visit by players from the Saskatoon Blades. Select the "Community" tab and go directly to the contest. There students or classrooms can submit a short paragraph about their favourite book and why it is their favourite, with an action shot of them reading. Three winning classes will receive an "I Love to Read" visit from the Saskatoon Blades. Players will read from featured books, hand out goodie bags containing a copy of a featured book, a variety of "reading" goodies, and a coupon that entitles purchasers of an adult ticket to one free kid's ticket to the McNally Robinson-sponsored game on March 10.
OUR SIGHTS & SOUNDS
Blue & Lonesome
by The Rolling Stones
$14.99. Compact Disc. Add to Cart
$37.99. 2 LP set. Add to Cart
$47.99. Deluxe Limited Edition CD. Add to Cart
Their first studio album in over a decade, Blue & Lonesome takes the band back to their roots and the passion for blues music which defined their early years. The album is also the band's first all-covers studio release since 1964 and features the music of Jimmy Reed, Willie Dixon, Eddie Taylor, Little Walter, Howlin' Wolf and other classic blues performers. Throughout, Blue & Lonesome captures the sound of the Stones faithfully rendering the music of their heroes.
Reflection
by Brian Eno
$21.99. Compact Disc. Add to Cart
$25.99. 2 LP set. Add to Cart
In addition to his incomparably off-kilter work as a producer for envelope-pushing artists like David Bowie, Talking Heads and Laurie Anderson, the Suffolk-born multi instrumentalist was a pioneer - if not the originator - of the lulling, measured musical genre we now call "ambient." Eno's latest album consists of one 54-minute track and continues the experiment with the ambient music which as he says, "started (as far as record releases are concerned) with Discreet Music in 1975."
Peace Trail
by Neil Young
$17.99. Compact Disc. Add to Cart
$25.99. Vinyl. Add to Cart
Young's 37th record is a largely acoustic 10-track affair that is blunt and to the point, operating not only as a defense of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the protesters championing its cause, but also as a hot-blooded critique of the corporate interests at the heart of the controversy. The record's sparse instrumentation backs up the weight of Young's words, and Jim Keltner's drumming, much of it driven through toms, often gives Peace Trail the rootsy, tribal feel that suits its subject matter.
Morricone 60
by Ennio Morricone
$14.99. Compact Disc. Add to Cart
$40.99. 2 LP set. Add to Cart
$26.99. Deluxe CD/DVD set. Add to Cart
The first album of Morricones' greatest hits conducted, recorded and curated by Morricone himself sees the celebrated maestro performing some of his greatest film music from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to his recent Academy Award-winning score for Quentin Tarantinos The Hateful Eight. The album marks Ennio Morricones 60th anniversary as a composer and conductor, and features brand new recordings with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
A Man Called Ove, a film by Hannes Holm. DVD. $29.99. Based on the novel by Fredrik Backman, this quirky comedy/drama from Sweden focuses on Ove (Rolf Lassgård), a cantankerous 59-year-old widower who obsesses over enforcing neighborhood rules despite being removed as his condo association’s president. But his crabbiness hides a deep grief for his deceased wife, whom he hopes to soon join. His clumsy attempts at suicide bring him into contact with the Persian family next door, and his unlikely friendship with them helps him reconnect with life. In Swedish with English subtitles. (Music Box Films. December)
Closet Monster directed by Stephen Dunn. DVD. $32.99. When Oscar Madly is six years of age, his mother gives him a hamster, then promptly walks out of his life, leaving him with his father, at their home in a small Newfoundland town. Shortly after that, he witnesses a brutal hate crime. Both events come back to haunt him over and over as he grows up. Struggling to find his place in the world, the teenage Oscar (played by Connor Jessup) dreams of escaping his small town. With the guidance of his pet hamster Buggy (voiced by Isabella Rosselini), Oscar faces his demons and sets off to find the life he wants. (Strand Home Video. January)
His Girl Friday directed by Howard Hawks. Blu-ray. $52.99. One of the all-time-great comedies, this fastpaced joyride through the newspaper business is filled with some of the sharpest rapid-fire dialogue to ever grace the screen. Adapted from the play The Front Page, His Girl Friday stars Cary Grant as a newspaper editor who will stop at nothing to lure his former star reporter (Rosalind Russell), who also happens to be his ex-wife, back onto the newspaper and into his life. His Girl Friday may well be the fastest moving comedy of the 1930s, with kaleidoscope action, plot twists, and overlapping dialogue. (Criterion. January)
Ixcanul directed by Jayro Bustamante. Blu-ray. $38.99. Spanish with English subtitles. On the slopes of an active volcano in Guatemala, a marriage is arranged for seventeen-year-old María by her Kaqchikel parents. But María longs to discover the world on the other side of the mountain, a place she cannot even imagine. Bustamante's debut is a dreamlike depiction of the daily lives of Kaqchikel speaking Mayans on a coffee plantation at the base of a volcano. Immersing viewers in its characters' customs and beliefs, Ixcanul chronicles a disappearing tradition and a disappearing people. (Lorber Films. January)
McNALLY ROBINSON for Babies, Kids, and Teens
BABIES
Baby toys, teddy bears, clothing, gifts, and, of course, books in our baby boutique
Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library
Now available in Board Book
The four volumes in Maurice Sendak's Nutshell Library contain a fun alphabet book (Alligators All Around), a book of rhymes about each month (Chicken Soup with Rice), a classic counting book (One Was Johnny), and a cautionary tale about a boy who learns to care (Pierre). All four books featuring Sendak's original work are now available in a board book format. You loved Nutshell Library as a miniature collection, and these durable board books make it even easier for children to share with their grown-up readers. ($9.75 each. HarperCollins. January)
Sendak received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are; the 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Award for Illustration; the 1983 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, given by the American Library Association in recognition of his entire body of work; and a 1996 National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America. In 2003, he received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize for children's literature established by the Swedish government.
Babylit History
Two new alphabet board books by Greg Paprocki join M is for Monocle and R is for Railway to open a window on history while teaching toddlers their ABCs.
G Is for Go-Go
by Greg Paprocki
$13.99. Children's hardcover. Add to Cart
G is for Go-Go includes a fun collection of twenty-six illustrations featuring educational concepts for your toddler from the explosive 1960s, the decade the Baby Boomers came of age. Rock and roll, the space race, pop art, divisive wars both hot and cold, psychedelia, and important gains in civil rights framed this exciting era of cultural and social change. (Gibbs Smith. February
J Is for Jazz
by Greg Paprocki
$13.99. Children's hardcover. Add to Cart
J is for Jazz features a charming collection of twenty-six illustrations from the Roaring Twenties with fun and educational concepts to introduce to your toddler. Between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression, jazz music blossomed and Art Deco became the vogue in design. Sports figures and movie stars becameicons, and women won the right to vote. (Gibbs Smith. February)
Chicken Nesting Toy
This basic nesting toy from PlanToys® comes with a chicken theme. It consists of 4 pieces and a circle base. Children are able to learn about sequencing, life cycle of a chicken and play in various styles. $22.00. Ages 12 months and up. Please visit us in-store to find this item.
KIDS
Celebrate Canada's 150 Years
Canada Year by Year
by Elizabeth Macleod
$21.95. Children's hardcover. Add to Cart
In Canada Year by Year, author Elizabeth MacLeod and illustrator Sydney Smith take readers on a tour of Canada's fascinating history by highlighting a single milestone for every year from the country's founding in 1867 up to its 150th anniversary in 2017. Divided into ten distinct eras, coverage ranges from politics, sports, business, and arts and culture, and covers significant events both at home and in world affairs. Includes sidebars with short biographies, quotes, important firsts and trivia, that are linked to that year, plus 39 separate capsule biographies of noteworthy Canadians. (Kids Can. October) (Ages 8-12)
Making Canada Home
by Susan Hughes
$24.95. Children's hardcover. Add to Cart
Making Canada Home by Susan Hughes chronicles the country’s major waves of immigration, from welcoming early Europeans to becoming a modern-day safe haven for refugees, as well as acknowledging times when Canada has not been welcoming. It explores how each period of immigration has shaped the laws, values, and face of Canada on the way to today’s multicultural society. A rich source packed with primary materials including personal accounts, historic documents, memorabilia, and archival photographs, as well as maps, sidebars, a timeline, and a glossary. (Owlkids. November) (Ages 8-12)
Canadians Love to Read
Start off the new year with our January Author of the Month, featuring Canadian journalist, travel writer, avid sailor, and author Iain Lawrence. His latest novel is The Skeleton Tree, out in softcover January 3.
The Skeleton Tree
$21.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
Less than 48 hours after twelve-year-old Chris casts off on a trip to sail down the Alaskan coast with his uncle, their boat sinks. The only survivors are Chris and a boy named Frank, who hates Chris immediately.
Chris and Frank have no radio, no flares, no food. Suddenly, they’ve got to find a way to forage, fish and scavenge supplies from the shore. Chris likes the company of a curious friendly raven more than he likes the prickly Frank. But the boys have to get along if they want to survive. As the days get colder, survival will take more than sheer force of will. There in the wilderness of Kodiak, they discover a bond they didn’t expect, and through it, the compassion and teamwork that might truly be the path to rescue. (Tundra. January) (Ages 8-12)
And the Love Keeps on Coming
The New Year is a great time for other Canadian books as well. Here's a few — a picture book, a graphic novel, and a YA novel — that caught our attention.
Little Blue Chair
by Cary Fagan
$22.99. Children's hardcover. Add to Cart
Boo’s favourite chair is little and blue. He sits in it, reads in it and makes a tent around it — until the day he's too big for it. What happens after that makes Little Blue Chair by Cary Fagan and illustrated by Madeline Kloepper a charming picture book that follows the adventures of a little chair, beginning as the seat of a small child who loves books and circling back to that child’s child many years (and bottoms) later. (Tundra. February) (Ages 3-7)
Viminy Crowe's Comic Book
by Marthe Jocelyn
$13.99. Children's paperback. Add to Cart
What's it like to live in a graphic novel? In Viminy Crowe's Comic Book, now in paperback, by Marthe Jocelyn and Richard Scrimger, and illustrated by Claudia Davila, geeky Wylder Wallace and the cool Addy Crowe find themselves in the pages of the latest steampunk novel by Addy's uncle. Do things go wrong? You bet they do as they scramble from one hilarious adventure to another looking for a portal back to the real world. (Tundra. January) (Ages 9-12)
Optimists Die First
by Susin Nielsen
$21.99. Hardcover. Add to Cart
Petula’s a crafting genius, but no social star at high school. It doesn’t help that she’s isolated herself after her toddler sister died. Though her parents insist it was an accident, Petula blames herself. Now, she sees danger everywhere. Then a new boy joins Petula’s art therapy program. But a secret behind why he’s in the group could derail them all. Optimists Die First by Susan Nielson is a touching novel that proves life is out to get you. But so is love. (Tundra. February) (Ages 12 & up)
The Possible Dream
The Little Boy From Jamaica tells the inspiring tale of how a little boy from rural Jamaica, growing up with no electricity, running water, or any of the conveniences of North American life, goes on to become the first black Chief of Police in Canadian history. Written by Devon and Pearlene Clunis, this moving narrative invites us to nurture the potential in every child and encourages a child to dream the impossible. (January. Friesen Press) E Winnipeg Event Jan. 28
INVENTIONS: A Writing Contest
McNally Robinson Booksellers and Scholastic Canada invite Manitoba and Saskatchewan’s grade 5 and 6 students to enter our annual writing contest. This year the theme is INVENTIONS — imagine what you could invent, or what others will invent in the future, from helpful gadgets to things that might change the world. Let your imagination run wild.
As we go to press, this year's special guest judge has not yet been finalized. But, as in the past, the judge will be an enthusiastic reader of your work. Watch for more information in our next newsletter, due at the start of March, or check the Kids section of our website.
Writing submissions should be between 500 and 1000 words, and may be fiction or non-fiction.
Entries will be accepted in-store or via email (Winnipeg: [email protected]; Saskatoon: [email protected]) until 11:00 pm on Friday March 24, 2017. For more information, visit the Kids desk on the mezzanine or call: Winnipeg 204-475-0492, Saskatoon 955-1477. The contest is being held seperately at our Winnipeg and Saskatoon bookstores, so please submit your entry to the location nearest you.
SuperHero Brunch Feb. 19
In Saskatoon, dress up in your best SuperHero outfit and join us for a SuperHero Brunch Sunday, February 19 at 9:30 am. Hang out with Spider-Man and enjoy a SuperHero craft, story and game. Tickets are $15.00 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Reservations are required and can be made at Prairie Ink Restaurant or by calling 955-3579. Tickets go on sale January 9.
Please note: This event is only taking place at our Saskatoon location.
Wanna Be an Astronaut?
Find out what it means to be an astronaut in the Little Astronaut series by Kathryn Clay. (Softcover. $7.95 each. Capstone) (Ages 7-9)
Want to go to space? Before launch, you've got some work to do! Find out what scuba diving, medical skills, and survival training all have to do with being an astronaut in Astronaut in Training. Then it's 3-2-1 lift off!
For more than 50 years, humans have been exploring space. How do we get there? Why do we go? And where will we go next? Discover the wonders of space flight from the past, present, and far into the future in Space Flights.
Find out what it's like to step outside your space vehicle and go for a walk in space! Whether you're collecting samples, fixing equipment, or sightseeing, Spacewalks gets you ready for an out-of-this-world experience! What's it like to live in space? How long can you stay in space? Living in Space explores these questions and others, including how astronauts eat, sleep, work, and even exercise in a weightless world.
An Astronaut's Handbook
Astronaut Handbook
by Meghan Mccarthy
$10.99. Trade paperback. Add to Cart
Do you have what it takes to be an astronaut? Blast off in Astronaut Handbook, a fun nonfiction picture book by Meghan McCarthy, and find out!
With an appealing text and funny, brightly coloured illustrations, Meghan McCarthy transports aspiring space travelers to astronaut school where you can take a ride on the “Vomit Comet” and learn how it feels to be weightless. Try a bite of astronaut ood, such as delicious freeze-dried ice cream. Have your measurements taken for your very own space suit. Get ready for — liftoff! (Dragonfly Books. January) (Ages 3-7)
Ride an Interstellar Rover
Explore the final frontier with the galaxy-spanning, self illuminating, 8-in-1 National Geographic Interstellar Rover kit from Laser Pegs!
Use the fully loaded Rover to collect samples from any system, mine for precious minerals with the Subterrene, or chart alien waters with the Mini Submersible and Hydrofoil. When the universe gets a little too dark, light up your creations to keep curiosity alive and explore the edges of the universe and beyond!
Includes Power Block Power Base, 2 Laser Pegs, 100 Tinted Construction Bricks, and 4 Tire Pegs. Batteries not included. $56.00. Ages 5 & up. Please visit us in-store to find this item.
The Kid's Watch List
- Spring According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney. (Softover. $7.99) January 3
- Star Wars Adventures in Wild Space # 1: The Snare by Lucas Film Group. (Softcover. $6.50) January 3
- Star Wars Adventures in Wild Space # 2: The Nest by Lucas Film Group. (Softcover. $6.50) January 3
- Inspector Flytrap #3: The Goat Who Chewed Too Much by Tom Angleberger & Cece Bell. (Softcover. $7.95) January 10
- House of Robots: Robot Revolution by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein. (Hardcover. $18.99) January 10
- Bad Luck by Pseudonymous Bosch. (Softcover. $10.49) January 17
- Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: Crafting Alliances by Cube Kid. (Softcover. $11.99) January 17
- Sci-Fi Junior High by Scott Seegert & John Martin. (Hardcover. $18.49) February 21
TEEN SCENE
Divided Loyalties
Blood Brothers
by Colleen Nelson
$12.99. Young adult softcover. Add to Cart
Fifteen-year-old Jakub Kaminsky is the son of Polish immigrants, a good Catholic boy, and a graffiti artist. While his father sleeps, Jakub and his best friend, Lincoln, sneak out with spray paint to make their mark as Morf and Skar. When Jakub gets a scholarship to an elite private school, he knows it's his chance for a better life. But it means leaving Lincoln and the neighbourhood he calls home.
While Jakub's future is looking bright, Lincoln's gets shadier as he is lured into his brother's gang, the Red Bloodz. In Blood Brothers by Winnipeg author Colleen Nelson, Lincoln has to either save his friend, or embrace life as a member of the Red Bloodz. (February. Dundurn)
Carve the Mark
by Veronica Roth
$28.50. Young adult hardcover. Add to Cart
On a planet where violence and vengeance rule, everyone develops a currentgift, a unique power meant to shape the future. While most benefit from their currentgifts, Akos and Cyra do not. Their gifts make them vulnerable to others’ control. Can they reclaim their gifts, their fates, and their lives, and reset the balance of power in this world?
In Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth, the author of the Divergent trilogy, Akos is thrust into Cyra’s world, where the enmity between their countries and families seems insurmountable. They must decide to help each other to survive — or to destroy one another. (HarperCollins. January)
Maresi
by Maria Turtschaninoff
$21.95. Young adult hardcover. Add to Cart
Inside the ancient Red Abbey, women and girls are shielded from abuse, rescued from poverty, and taught the skills to improve their homelands. Novices Maresi, 13, and newcomer Jai have both lost their sisters, but while Jai wants revenge against the men who buried her sibling alive, Maresi is trying to escape the pull of death itself.
In Maresi, the first book in the Red Abbey Chronicles by Maria Turtschaninoff, translated from the Swedish by A.A. Prime, the dangers of the outside world invade the sacred space of the Abbey, and Maresi must become one who acts. This is one of those stay-up-all-night-to-read books that inspires questions about the influence of women in the world. (Amulet. January)
Step into a World of Danger and Fantasy
Will I See?
by David Alex Robertson
$18.95. Children's paperback. Add to Cart
May, a young teenage girl, traverses city streets, finding keepsakes in different places along her journey. When May and her kookum make these keepsakes into a necklace, it opens a world of danger and fantasy in Will I See? the latest graphic novel by David Alexander Robertson, GMB Chomichuk, and Iskwé.
While May fights against a terrible reality, she learns that there is strength in the spirit of those that have passed. But will that strength be able to save her? A story of tragedy and beauty, Will I See? illuminates the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. (Portage & Main Press. February)
The "Be First" Book Club
Our Winnipeg “Be First” reading group for teens is a book club with a difference. Receive a preview copy of a selected title, read the book before it even hits the shelves, then join us to discuss it. The registration fee is $5.00. The pre-publication copies are limited. Please sign up asap. For more information, visit the Kids desk or call 204-475-0492. Please note: This program is only available through our Winnipeg location.
January
It's been a shattering year for seventeen-year-old Zoe, who's still reeling from her father's death in a caving accident and the mysterious disappearance of her neighbours' from their own home. Then on a terrifying subzero, blizzardy night in Montana, she and her brother are brutally attacked in the woods, only to be rescued by a mysterious bounty hunter they call X. But X is no ordinary bounty hunter. He is from a hell called the Lowlands, sent to claim the soul of Zoe's evil attacker and others like him.
The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles is a gripping start to a new supernatural thriller series that takes readers right to the edge of everything. (Hardcover. $24.99. Bloomsbury. February)
Our January discussion group meets Thursday January 19 at 7:00 pm.
February
When seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase finds a skeleton on her family's property, she has no idea that investigating the brutal century-old murder will lead to a summer of painful discoveries about the past… and the present in Dreamland Burning by Jennifer Latham. Nearly one hundred years earlier, a misguided encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a racial firestorm.
Through intricately interwoven alternating perspectives, Jennifer Latham brings the Tulsa race riot of 1921 to blazing life and raises important question about the complex state of US race relations, both yesterday and today. (Hardcover. $24.99. Little, Brown. February)
Our February discussion group meets Thursday February 16 at 7:00 pm.
OUR VIBRANT COMMUNITIES
What's coming up in Winnipeg & Saskatoon
Winnipeg
Million Dollar Quartet
January 5 to 28. John Hirsch Main Stage. On December 4, 1956, Sun Records founder Sam Phillips gathered rock 'n' roll royalty for an impromptu jam session. That night, four music legends — Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis — made recording history as the Million Dollar Quartet. Inspired by that moment in music history, this show features some of rock's greatest hits from the Sun Records era. royalmtc.ca
Moi, monsieur, moi!
January 12 to 28. Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain. Alone on stage, a woman narrates the fate of a girl born in Senegal. Born into a family of seven, she will be “given” to an aunt, “borrowed” to a cousin, “confined” by an uncle, yet finds her way to become a woman. She dances, sings and bites into a dozen characters with humility and an authentic voice, transcending suffering and causing a whirlwind of laughter. cerclemoliere.com
Papa Haydn
January 13 & 14. Centennial Concert Hall. Haydn, master of masters and the man Mozart referred to as "Papa," practically invented the symphony. Four WSO principals shine as soloists in his Sinfonia concertante. Maestro Mickelthwate closes the program with DvoĆák’s joyful 5th Symphony. wso.ca
Bach to the Future with Flûte Alors
January 21. The University of Winnipeg's Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall. Dynamic and versatile, this Montreal-based ensemble continues a grand tradition of the recorder ensemble, revealing an instrument capable of expressing the most extreme emotions and the most gentle of nuances. virtuosi.mb.ca
Hand to God
January 26 to February 11. Tom Hendry Warehouse. As one of the malcontent teens in his mom’s Christian puppet ministry, Jason tries to be a good son. But his foul-mouthed sock puppet, Tyrone, has other ideas. As Tyrone gets increasingly aggressive, Jason finds himself in a battle for his soul in this provocative, raunchy and side-splitting play by Robert Askins. royalmtc.ca
Dib & Dob and the Journey Home
January 27 to 29 & February 4 to 5. MTYP. Dib and Dob have been lost for so long that they only speak their own made-up language. As they journey through the forest, they camp overnight at the foot of a mysterious tree, where a monster, who dislikes their constant clashes, happens to live. This comic adventure has Dib and Dob working together to overcome the monster and find out about home. (Ages 6-11) mtyp.ca
Royal MTC Master Playwright Festival: Christiefest 2017
February 8 to 26. Various Venues. The 17th annual Master Playwright Festival Highlights Agatha Christie's extensive body of work, which includes 66 detective novels, 150 short stories and 19 plays. royalmtc.ca
The Winnipeg Singers Valentine: Songs for Lovers
February 12. 3:00 pm & 7:00 pm. Young United Church. The third Winnipeg Singers concert returns with an entertainment style space at Young United with tables and bar service for wine and beer. Choral works include selections from Liebeslieder Waltzes of Johannes Brahms, Liebeslieder Polkas of PDQ Bach, romantic choral works by Claudio Monteverdi, Lionel Daunais, Harry Freedman, Paul Halley, John Wilbye, Richard Rogers, Matthew Emery and Jonathan Quick’s Loch Lomond. Two pianists will perform, and Michael Mckay returns as narrator. Advance tickets are available at McNally Robinson Booksellers. winnipegsingers.com
Red River Reverie with Frontier Fiddlers
February 14. Westminster United Church. The Red River Fiddlers present a delightful medley of Red River jigs and traditional folk music. The Frontier Fiddlers and the orchestra also perform a new work together by Winnipeg composer Jim Hiscott. theMCO.ca
Huff
February 16 to 26. Rachel Browne Theatre. Huff, written and performed by Cliff Cardinal, is a darkly comic tale of Wind and his brothers, caught in a torrent of solvent abuse and struggling to cope with the death of their mother. Wind’s fantastic dream world bleeds into his haunting reality, as he’s preyed on by the Trickster through the hallways at school, the abandoned motel he loves more than home, and his own fragile psyche. With biting humour and vivid imagery, Cardinal portrays over a dozen characters in his captivating solo performance. theatreprojectsmanitoba.ca
Festival Du Voyageur
February 17 to 26. Whittier Park. Every winter since 1970, Saint-Boniface hosts the largest winter festival in Western Canada. Voyageur, Métis and First Nations histories are brought back to life, not only through the historical interpretation offered inside reconstructed Fort Gibraltar, but also through the many attractions inside Voyageur Park and at the festival’s various official sites. festivalvoyageur.mb.ca
Wild Winter Canoe Race
February 20. Red River Trail, The Forks. Inclusion Winnipeg hosts the Wild Winter Canoe Race where Winnipeggers test their voyageur grit and sense of humuor in this inclusive, high-energy outdoor steeplechase. wildwintercanoerace.com
Saskatoon
Western Canadian Crop Production Show
January 9 to 12. Prairieland Park. Western Canada's premier grain industry showcase presents information to grain producers on the latest technology, services and products. Includes informational seminars and educational youth tours, complementing over 600 trade show display booths. cropproductiononline.com
Amati Quartet in Concert
January 14, 2:00 pm & 7:30 pm. Knox United Church. Amati presents three famous quartets by Haydn, Mozart and Tchaikovsky. amatiquartet.usask.ca
Winterruption
January 19 to 21. Four venues over three days: Broadway Theatre, The Refinery, Louis', and The Bassment. The Broadway Theatre, in conjunction with CFCR 90.5FM, Saskatoon Community Radio, Planet S Magazine and Regina Folk Festival present Winterruption! Break up the winter chill with three days of live music at four venues throughout the city. broadwaytheatre.ca
An Evening with Steve Patterson
January 20. Broadway Theatre. Familiar to hundreds of thousands of Canadians as the host of CBC Radio One’s hit show “The Debaters”, Steve Patterson is a veteran headline comic who has performed all across Canada and all around the world. In 2016 he added “published author” to his repertoire with the critically acclaimed The Book of Letters I Didn’t Know Where To Send. broadwaytheatre.ca
Live 5 Presents Ground Cover Theatre Performing Displaced
January 27 to 29 & February 2 to 5, 8:00 pm, matinees 2:00 pm. Mary escapes the Great Irish Famine in 1847, Sofia flees war-torn Germany in 1947 and Dara bolts from Afghan Taliban rule in 2007. Canada is their new home, but relocation carries with it the struggles and pains of adapting to unfamiliar customs. Through sensuous movement, text and music, Displaced interweaves the stories of these three immigrant women. livefive.ca
Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra Presents Mozart Festival
January 28, TCU Place. The SSO is proud to work with the local musical community to present a week-long celebration of the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. saskatoonsymphony.org/event/mozart-festival
Potash Corp Wintershines Festival
January 28 to February 5. Saskatoon Farmer's Market. PotashCorp WinterShines is one of Saskatoon's must-attend winter events. Featuring an Ice Park, Ice Sculpture Garden, Winter Camp in the City, Soup Cook-Off and so much more. Various events and activities happening every day. Celebrates Saskatoon's "cool" local winter culture. potashcorpwintershines.ca
Persephone Theatre Presents Our Man in Havana
February 1 to 15. Persephone Theatre. In pre-revolution Cuba, a hapless vacuum cleaner salesman agrees to feed information to the British Secret Service. With nothing to report, he lets his imagination run wild, inventing agents, secret plans and daring missions, soon sending both London and Havana spinning out of control. A co-production with Vertigo Theatre, Calgary and adapted for the stage by Clive Francis. persephonetheatre.org
Game Changers
February 7 to April 30. Western Development Museum. Game Changers examines how the intersection of audio, storytelling, graphics, and gameplay creates the immersive environment of current video gaming systems. Live the video game evolution, from memorable Pong to the photorealistic games of today. wdm.ca/stoon/gamechangers.htm
This is That LIVE!
February 11 & 12. Broadway Theatre. Satirist Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring, stars of CBC Radio's This is That, hit the road with a new version of their popular live show This Is That LIVE! With a healthy mix of character interviews and mockumentary stories, this live send up of public radio doesn't just report the news, it makes it up! broadwaytheatre.ca
Saskatchewan Equine Expo
February 16 to 19. Prairieland Park. Saskatchewan Equine Expo presents equine related lectures, presentations, demonstrations, entertainment, and opportunities focusing on the Equine Industry. Discover the newest industry products, techniques, and technologies. saskatchewanequineexpo.com
Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra Presents Jan Lisiecki – An Encore
February 21 & 22. Convocation Hall, University of Saskatchewan Campus. A special fundraising Recital with Jan Lisiecki. After his triumphant SSO debut, world renowned pianist Jan Lisiecki makes stops in Saskatoon while on a Canadian recital tour. saskatoonsymphony.org
Saskatoon Blues Festival
February 27 to March 5. TCU Place. The Saskatoon Blues Festival opens your eyes to the diversity and scope of that multi-faceted music genre known as "The Blues". The Saskatoon Blues Festival features some of Canada's best musical talent, along with International artists. saskatoonbluessociety.ca
WARM UP WITH PRAIRIE INK'S WINTER FARE
Warm your body and brighten your soul throughout the chilly days of winter with food specials and drinks from Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery.
TREAT YOUR VALENTINE TO A SPECIAL DINNER ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
In Winnipeg: Four options to choose from for the meal: beef, fish, chicken, vegetarian. Reservations are recommended. Call 204-975-2659.
In Saskatoon: A three-course dinner from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. Reservations are required. Call 955-3579.
A BISTRO-STYLE DINING EXPERIENCE
Prairie Ink Restaurant and Bakery offers an eclectic menu of locally sourced produce and meats in a bistro-style dining experience. We are proud to support Manitoba and Saskatchewan farmers, fishers, and food producers. Enjoy classic and nouvelle cuisine made by our talented team of chefs, or just drop by for a glass of wine or signature cocktail any evening. We feature live music every Friday and Saturday night from 8 to 10 pm.
SASKATOON SUPERHERO BRUNCH SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19
At our Saskatoon location only: Dress up in your best SuperHero outfit and join us for a SuperHero Brunch Sunday, February 19 at 9:30 am. Hang out with Spider-Man and enjoy a SuperHero craft, story and game. Tickets are $15.00 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Reservations are required and can be made at Prairie Ink Restaurant or by calling 955-3579. Tickets go on sale January 9.
For more information on Prairie Ink, or to make a reservation, please give us a call.
Winnipeg 204-975-2659 | Saskatoon 306-955-3579
Visit our Prairie Ink site for hours, menus, upcoming events, and more.
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