January 2015
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Our resolutions for the new year include reading more.If you made a similar resolution, you’re in luck! This newsletter is full of book suggestions and an event to help make your resolution a reality.
If you got an e-reader over the holidays, remember that you can download books from Beagle Books!And there's a big holiday sale on e-books now... Call or e-mail if you’d like us to walk you through the process.
Our Inventory Reduction Sale is in progress through January 3.We’re starting inventory on the 4th, and whatever we sell before then we don’t have to count!
Speaking of taking inventory, we’re looking for volunteers to help us on January 4, 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. We’ll provide lunch and give you the staff discount for the day. We’ll show you what to do, but basically we’ll be counting everything in the store (except the dogs!) We’ll have a lot of fun, and you’ll get a glimpse of the work behind-the-scenes at the store, plus an intimate knowledge of our stock.Select books are 25% off, we have a group of hardcovers which are $5, select paperbacks are $2, calendars are 30% off,Christmas cards are 25% off, and all Elf on the Shelf and Christmas plush are 30% off.
detail of photo by Alexandre Duret-Lutz
Annual Night In
We had a beautiful fall in Minnesota, and an unusually mild December— but cold weather seems to have arrived. That means it’s time for our annual Night In! Join us on January 17 at 7:00 p.m. for an evening just for book group members and wannabees. Jen and Sally will recommend 20 books we think would be great for book groups. In addition, we’ll serve wine and hot apple cider, appetizers, and give you a bag of book related information, including a brochure listing all the books we recommend. Our publishers get behind the event in a generous way, so we’ll have some terrific door prizes. That evening, we’ll offer a 20% discount on the books we feature. Brave the cold and bring a friend, your entire book group, or come by yourself for an evening which will warm your book-loving heart!
National Readathon Day
Here’s another fun way to beat the cold with books! The first National Readathon Day, sponsored by Penguin Random House, the National Book Foundation, and bookstores across the country, is noon—4:00 on January 24. Come to Beagle that afternoon to demonstrate your love of reading!
These chairs will be at the front of the store, and we’d like to have YOU in one, reading for a half hour or longer. Sign up for your time by phone (237-2665), email jen@beagle-books.com or on Facebook so we’re sure to have enough chairs. Readers of all ages are welcome! And we’ll have small prizes for everyone who participates! Make #TimeToRead
BestSellers in December
The New Midwestern Table The Best of Itasca The Christmas Story My Beloved World Last Child in the Woods Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography Frozen Night Before Christmas
Books to Movies
We like to read the book before seeing the movies—how about you?
January releases of books based on movies:
January 9, Inherent Vice, based on the book by the same name by Thomas Pynchon. See the movie trailer.
January 16, American Sniper, based on the book by the same name by Chris Kyle. See the movie trailer.
Midwest Connections
Books or authors of particular interest to our region
The Magician’s Lie
A novel by Greer Macallister
The Amazing Arden is the most notorious female illusionist of her day, renowned for sawing a man in half. One night, with policeman Virgil Holt in the audience, she swaps her saw for a fire ax. A new trick or an all-too-real murder? When a dead body is discovered, the answer seems clear. But under Holt’s interrogation, what Arden’s story reveals is both unbelievable and spellbinding. Even handcuffed and alone, she is far from powerless. During one eerie night, Holt must decide whether to turn Arden in or set her free…and it will take all he has to see through the smoke and mirrors.The Rocky Mountains have cast their spell over the Courtlands, a young family from the plains taking a last summer vacation before their daughter begins college. For eighteen-year-old Caitlin, the mountains loom as the ultimate test of her runner’s heart, while her parents hope that the beauty and grandeur will somehow repair their damaged marriage. But when Caitlin and her younger brother, Sean, go out for an early morning run and only Sean returns, the mountains become as terrifying as they are majestic, as suddenly this family find themselves living the kind of nightmare they’ve only read about in headlines or seen on TV. Author Peter Geye (Safe from the Sea, The Lighthouse Road) has been raving about this book!
Descent
A novel by Tim Johnston
The Resurrection of Tess Blessing
A novel by Lesley Kagen
After she is diagnosed with breast cancer, fifty-one-year-old Tess sets forth on a mission to complete her final “to-do” list before what she’s sure is her impending death. She needs to make peace with her estranged sister, say goodbye to her mother’s ashes (which she keeps in the garage), rescue her daughter from the grip of an eating disorder, help her son grow up, and reignite the spark in her marriage. One factor she never considers is that she might have to stick around and deal with her handiwork.
Tess is aided on her quest by narrator, Grace, who lends the story its most brilliant elements: subtle magical realism and deep psychological complexity. Is Grace an “imaginary friend,” guardian angel, or a part of Tess who knows better than she?
The Resurrection of Tess Blessing is authentic, funny, sad, and at its heart… redemptive. Kagan is the author of the beloved novel, Whistling in the Dark.
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