MARCH BOOKMARKS
Spring is on the way….
Spring is a time of fresh starts and anticipation. The worst of winter is behind us. Longer days present us with a sun which is warmer on the face. The first flowers will soon poke through the last snows of winter. Seed catalogues sit in stacks, holding out the prospect of new bounty from frozen gardens and lonely golf clubs wait patiently for the beginning of a new season.
At Curiosity House, we greet the month of March with this same sense of eager anticipation. We look forward to the first wave of new titles for 2010, with new fiction from Jodi Picoult, Ian McEwan, John Banville and Christopher Moore, as well as non-fiction from Frances Mayes, Richard Florida, Sebastian Junger and Bill McKibben. We also eagerly anticipate some great books for kids and young adults, including the Wimpy Kid Movie Diary, Twilight: The Graphic Novel and a new installment in the 39 Clues series. All of these selections are sure to engage and entertain readers of all ages and interests.
At this time of year, we are also working hard to plan new events and programs for the Summer season. Our aim, as always, is to give our customers the opportunity to meet fascinating authors and enjoy our excellent selection and friendly, knowledgeable service. We hope you will join us.
M.Vince, Editor
Peoples’ Choice Winner From February Art Show Announced
Curiosity House is pleased to announce that the winner of the People’s Choice Award, for her interpretation of ”My heart sings when…..”, is Darla Anderson. Tied for second place were Rosemary Hasner and Sandi Wong, while third place went to Roslyn Levin.
Celebrate March Break With Our Special Sale On Kids’ Books!
A book is one of the best ways to keep the kids occupied during March Break. We have fiction and nonfiction books for kids of all ages and reading levels and during March Break we are offering a 10% discount on all children’s and young adults’ books.
What’s On in March?
Saturday March 6, 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Artist’s Opening Reception
In The Gallery: Ellie Lagrandeur
Born and raised in Northern Ontario, Ellie Lagrandeur learned to appreciate the beauty of her natural surroundings and its abundant wildlife. In 1986, Ellie began her career as a professional artist, creating large scale wall murals and canvas paintings. Ellie’s works are available in various galleries throughout Ontario and she has been commissioned to create art for a variety of corporate clients, including Fanshawe College and University of Western Ontario. Her Shores and Peaks show features wonderful works in acrylic which are evocative of the beauty of the land around us. Join us at our opening reception and take the opportunity to meet this talented artist and enjoy some refreshments.
Saturday March 27, 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Author Signing - Tom Tavares
What causes the striking similarity in human behaviour in so many organizations? In his insightful book, The Mind Field: What’s Missing in Running Our Organizations? Organizational psychologist Dr. Tom Tavares reveals how jobs, the universal building blocks of organizations, generate psychological factors which lead to short-term thinking, weak internal communication, low levels of innovation and teamwork, and lack of coaching. This prevents companies from achieving the flexibility and response times required to keep pace with high-speed change. Author Tom Tavares will be signing books at the store on Saturday March 27th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Please take the opportunity to drop by the store and meet this fascinating author.
Saturday March 13, 10:30 to 11:15 am
Monthly Story Hour
Miriam will be leading our monthly Story Hour from 10:30 to 11:15 am. Children from 18 months to 6 years of age will have the opportunity to listen to captivating stories, share the love of reading and complete a small craft activity.
What’s Happening with the Book Club?
Wednesday March 3, 2:00 to 3:00 pm
Our Book Club will meet on Wednesday, March 3 to discuss Kate Pullinger’s Governor General’s Award winning novel, The Mistress of Nothing. In April, we will be discussing Jeanette Walls’ heart-rending autobiography, The Glass Castle and our May selection will be My Best Stories by Alice Munro.
Curiosity House Knitting Group
Our Knitting Group meets every Wednesday from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. We gather around the table to work on our latest projects, inspire, support and help one another. Please call us at 705-466-3400 or email us for more information. We have a growing selection of books which are great selections for knitters of every skill level.
Two Great Reads For March
(Reviewed by Catherine Randall)
I recently read two really amazing fiction books. Simon Mawer’s The Glass Room, PB, $19.00 is the fascinating story of a house built in 1929 in Czechoslovakia for a Jewish entrepreneur and his wife. The house is a marvel of modern, minimalist architecture (based on a real house built by Mies van der Rohe ). The story follows the history of the house for the rest of the 20th century and the lives of its various occupants from the first owners to the Nazis, the Soviets and finally the creation of a museum in the house. This book was shortlisted for the 2009 Mann-Booker prize and anyone who enjoyed Loving Frank will want to read it.
Little Bee, by Chris Cleave, PB, $21.95, is a gripping story told in alternate chapters by a young Nigerian woman and a thirty something British female editor of a women’s magazine. Their lives intersect first in Nigeria and then in England. Cleaves weaves together this heartbreaking story brilliantly; with wit, humour and wry observation. The European title The Other Hand is perhaps a better title.
March Break boredom? We can help!
(Reviewed by Miriam Vince)
Kids have a one week break this month. Worried about how to keep them occupied?
The Magic Handbook series, by Joe Fullman, presents simple magic tricks which will amaze family and friends. Each of the four titles in this series, Card Tricks, Coin and Rope Tricks, Sleight of Hand and Mind Tricks, contains easy instructions for successful execution of thirteen tricks, along with colourful illustrations. Famous magicians and their best tricks are profiled to offer a sense of the history of magic. Each volume of this series is $6.95 – a great price for books which will entertain kids for hours. The Book of Cards For Kids (Gail Maccoll, $18.95) provides children and adults everything needed to play 35 great card games. The book focuses exclusively on card games for kids and is paired with an over-sized, custom-designed set of playing cards. What better way to pass the time on a boring day than playing cards with friends? Finally, for kids who want to spend some quiet time exercising their minds during their time off, we have The Brainiest Insaniest Ultimate Puzzle Book!: 250 Wacky Word Games, Mystifying Mazes, Picture Puzzles, and More to Boggle Your Brain by Robert Leighton, Amy Shenk and Mike Goldstein. Fully illustrated in color, with over 250 puzzles on every imaginable theme and subject, this book provides a wealth of engaging and humorous mazes, word games, visual and logic puzzles at assorted levels of difficulty. This book is a great way for kids to amuse themselves during quiet times. All of these books are sure to entertain and inform. Drop by and choose one for the kids at your house.
Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Regional Shortlists Announced
The 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize regional shortlists have been announced. In the Caribbean and Canada field, Best Book nominees are all Canadian:
The Winter Vault
Anne Michaels
February
Lisa Moore
Euphoria
Connie Gault
Goya’s Dog
Damian Tarnopolsky
Galore
Michael Crummey
The Golden Mean
Annabel Lyon
More information about the 2010 Commonwealth Writers Prize is available at
www.commonwealthfoundation.com
Special Orders are Our Specialty!
Looking for a book that we don’t presently have in stock? Books are ordered from a number of publishers, distributors and other sources every week, usually on Mondays. We are able to order any book currently in print and available and while we don’t carry talking books and other specialized materials like large print, we can order those as well. Some books we can receive the following day, some by the end of the week, and some take a little longer. We will advise you of the estimated time when you place the order and call you when the book arrives. Our special order business is tried and true and we’d like to help you find that book you are looking for…..
Quips, Quotes & Trivia
Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all.
