Recent events at Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery

Recent Events

Saturday, September 2, at the Armory

William Kent Krueger William Kent Krueger

William Kent Krueger was with us via zoom, speaking and signing copies of The River We Remember.

The book release date is September 5, and we had special permission to sell it on the 2nd!!

The River We Remember is a stand-alone, not part of the Cork O’Connor series.

In 1958, a small Minnesota town is rocked by the murder of its most powerful citizen, pouring fresh fuel on old grievances in this dazzling standalone novel.

Both a complex, spellbinding mystery and a masterful portrait of midcentury American life The River We Remember is an unflinching look at the wounds left by the wars we fight abroad and at home, a moving exploration of the ways in which we seek to heal, and a testament to the enduring power of the stories we tell about the places we call home.

Amy Thielen

We hosted the book launch for Amy Thielen’s new book, Company, celebrating the release of Amy’s newest cookbook!

Tickets included:

Hors d'oeuvres based on or inspired by recipes in Amy’s book
A talk by Amy
One book, which Amy signed
Live music
Cash bar
Additional books for $40.00 plus tax.
Two people coming together wanting to purchase one book? An additional ticket will be available for $15.00

In her much-anticipated follow-up to The New Midwestern Table, Amy writes, “no one will ever care about the food as much as you and I do.” Company will have you rethinking the way you entertain, throwing dinner parties that are less formal, more frequent, and as fun for the cook as for the guests. Preaching leniency, not-guilty pleasures, and the art of making it in advance, Amy soothes the most common party anxieties one by one. Her reflections on writing menus, produce shopping, and how to time a meal are novel but timeless. Not afraid of meat (but obsessed with vegetables), these 125 loyal recipes are arranged in menu form—from intimate dinner parties to larger holiday feasts to parties that serve up to twenty.

With a feast of gorgeous photography and plenty of down-in-the-pan cooking nerdery, Company encourages a return to the habit, and the joy, of cooking for family and friends.

Reading Road Trip
August 7 to 28

What a fun reading road trip across Minnesota! Up North Reading Road Trip passports were available from any of these 5 indie bookstores: Four Pines Bookstore, Bluebird Books, The Willow Bookstore, Cherry Street Books, or Beagle and Wolf Books & Bindery. Visiting each bookstore between August 7th to 28th to get your card punched got you a giveaway! Each bookstore had their own giveaways and prizes to win during this time. You left your passport at the last bookstore you visit for a chance to win a gift basket of books! You could use the #ReadingUpNorth hashtag to share your road trip and the books you were reading!

Bruce Carlson Bruce Carlson
August 19

Bruce Carlson combines almost 70 years of observations, along with his training as a scientist, to provide a unique perspective on the natural history of the iconic north-central Minnesota lake Ten Mile Lake in Hackensack. From ice-out in the spring, through the open water season, to the next winter, this profusely illustrated book provides a vivid picture of the seasonal changes in a lake. The account of these changes includes not only observations of what can be seen above the surface and on the land surrounding the lake, but also almost 75 underwater videos (in the electronic version that accompanies the printed book) that depict in stunning detail the underwater landscape of a glacial lake and its inhabitants.

Much of what happens beneath the surface is unseen by most users of a lake. Underwater videos provide a unique window into that world. The author has taken and analyzed hundreds of hours of underwater videos of this lake over the past 30 years. This, plus his background as a fish biologist, has allowed him to paint a vivid picture of the complex seasonal rhythms of life that take place in any north country lake.

Cary Griffith
Signing Killing Monarchs
August 12

Cary was with us to sign Killing Monarchs, the latest Sam Rivers mystery, which was released July 13. We had the earlier books in the series as well as Burning Gunflint, Cary’s popular non-fiction book about the fire in the Boundary Waters.

Waldo in Park Rapids!

Iconic Children’s Book Character Continues to Create Summertime Fun to Support the Shop Local Movement

Where’s Waldo? In Park Rapids, of course! The iconic children’s book character in the red-and-white-striped shirt and black-rimmed specs visited several businesses throughout downtown this July. Find Waldo Local is a great summer vacation activity and a wonderful way to support local businesses. The event ended with a drawing at Beagle Book for a Grand Prize.

Once again, in celebration of Waldo’s longevity and popularity, Candlewick Press is teaming up with hundreds of independent bookstores across the country for some hide-and-seek fun designed to encourage residents/vacationers to patronize local businesses. The hunt lasts for the entire month of July.

Mark Therrien
Signing The Megavan
July 29

Mark is a proud driver of an awesome 2011 Honda Odyssey minivan, which was his inspiration for The Megavan.

Barry Babcock Barry Babcock
Saturday, July 22

Barry signed copies of his new book, Bongat.

Bonga: A Safe Abode in the Wilderness is the incredible story of how an African slave and family made their escape from the West Indies to the Northwoods of the Great Lakes where three generations married into the Ojibwe tribes and distinguished themselves in the fur trade, were seen with great respect by the Anishinaabeg and white-men alike, and propelled themselves into the vortex of the great events that occurred at this time in the making in the territories of the Great Lakes region and the Headwaters of the Mississippi.

Julie Jo Larson
July 15

Looking for a fun day trip for yourself or a way to entertain out of town guests? There’s no shortage of activities in 100 Things to Do in Minnesoata Before You Die to keep readers aged two to ninety-nine busy 365 days a year. Get ready to experience four seasons of great adventures where the journey is as meaningful as the destination!

We also had copies of Julie Jo’s earlier book, 100 Things to Do in Minnesota Northwoods Before You Die.

Stephanie Hansen and Kurt Johnson
July 9

It was a rare Sunday event for us, and a great doubleheader!

Stephanie Hansen, the author of True North Cabin Cookbook, was with us. Summer is prime cabin season and this great cookbook features recipes for straightforward, creative, tasty dishes that offer ample opportunity to savor north woods living at its very best. For more about Stephanie, visit her website.

Kurt Johnson is co-author of The Barrens, winner of this year’s Minnesota Book Award in the novel category. Kurt’s co-author was his daughter Ellie, and The Barrens was inspired by a forty-five day canoe trip she took at age seventeen, paddling four hundred-fifty miles along the Thelon River in subarctic Canada.

Read our review of The Barrens in our March newsletter!

book cover Lynette Reini-Grandell and Venus de Mars
Signing Wild Things: A Trans-Glam-Punk-Rock Love Story
July 1

"The person I married, who I am still married to and remain very much in love with, is now legally named Venus de Mars, and she uses she and herpronouns. But to get to that point was a journey of decades. At the time we didn't know where it would lead—we had no real role models and made it up as we went. Most of this story took place at a time when the kind of knowledge and terminology we now have about being trans didn't exist."

—from the Author’s Note

Featured in MPR News!

In 2019 Lynette and Venus de Mars were in the store to talk about the memoirs they were working on. Lynette finished her memoir, and it has recently been published! Lynette and Venus came back to sign copies of Lynette’s book.

Author Fest
June 17

Author Fest, our annual celebration of Minnesota authors and their books, is always a great chance to visit with authors, meet new authors, and get signed books.

Noon—Crime Time
Frank Weber and Josh Moehling were in conversation about writing true crime/mystery books. Jen Geraedts moderated the discussion.

The event was at the American Legion, 900 E. 1st St. (Highway 34).


Frank F. Weber The Haunted House of Hillman	Jason Lee Willis The Alchemist's Stone	Angela Greenman The Child Riddler
Joshua Moehling And There He Kept Her	Mary Perrine The Lies They Told	Kaitlin Dawn Thomson If I’m Not Yours
Darrell Pedersen Campfire in the Basement	Pamela Joern Toby’s Last Resort	Susan Aune Better Together: Celebrating Service Dog Teams
Dan LaRock Grandpa's Gift	Candace Simar Shelterbelts	Peter Bremer The Forever Stone
Stephen Schaitberger Stands Before His People	Annmarie Boyle Love Me Like a Love Song	Sheri Brenden Break Point
Mary Logue The Big Sugar	Kristy Boike Rise Up, Little Bluebirds	Mary Woster Haus Out of Loneliness
Pete Kero Minescapes	Charleigh Fredericks Demon Scout	Nicole Kronzer The Roof Over Our Heads
Heather Bouwman Gossamer Summer	Payal Doshi Rea and the Blood of Nectar	Charmaine Donovan Tumbled Dry

Children's Book Week
May 1 to 7

Books have a powerful impact on children, one that is celebrated during Children’s Book Week (and all year, we hope!) Here’s a link for information on encouraging children to read.

As part of our celebration, all used picture books were 25% off May 1 to 7. We have a great selection, and this was an economical way to add to your library at home or in the classroom!

April is National Poetry Month!

Here were 30 ways to celebrate in 2023.

Some of our favorites were:

Sign-up for Poem-a-Day, curated this month by award-winning poet N aomi Shihab Nye, and read a poem each morning.
Record yourself reading a poem, and share why you chose that work online using the hashtag #NationalPoetryMonth. Be sure to tag @poetsorg on Twitter and Instagram!
Read and share poems about the environment in honor of Earth Day.

Independent Bookstore Day
April 29

Independent Bookstore Day is a one-day celebration that takes place at indie bookstores across the country. We had birthday cake (it’s been eight years since we combined Beagle Books & Bindery and Sister Wolf Books!), exclusive merchandise produced just for the day, great prizes, AND the new Indie Bookstore map! We gave away journals created in our bindery from recycled materials. We provided a free book with each purchase and, thanks to Harper Collins publishers, a great tote.

Our special guest on the day was Allen Eskens! Allen, an engaging speaker, is the award-winning author of The Life We Bury and other mysteries. His latest, Forsaken Country, was released last September. He signed many books for our customers.
book cover

Easter Egg Chase
April 6 to 8

Children came downtown for the 2nd Annual Easter Egg Chase!

Find the participating businesses in this PDF.

Our Spring Retreat was April 1, no fooling!

Well, we could have been spring cleaning, but we’d much rather hang out for a day, talking about books and eating a meal someone else has prepared.

Our theme was The Power of Women’s Friendships.

We discussed We Are Not Like Them and Dinners with Ruth.

Northern Pines Lodge