| Forthcoming | New Releases |
The unpretentious atmosphere of Blue Heron Books with its comfy chairs, wood shelving and creaky floors lends itself to a long slow, browsing session, but under that sleepy atmosphere vibrates a strong pulse. The store has a quaint, old-fashioned look with an up tempo vibe, because there is always something happening. The store is a hub for the community and a bastion of calm chaos where everyone is welcome, even the local dogs that drop by with their owners for a treat from the tin kept under the front counter.
62 Brock St. W., Uxbridge, Ontario. 905-852-4282Recommendations
We recommend…Get Outside by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Armed with Get Outside, a kid will never say, “I’m bored!” again. This book is a key to the world of fun beyond the front door. Activities are divided into four categories (Nature Lover, Outdoor Fun and Games, Cozy Inside and Look to the Sky), where readers will find instructions for making things like sundials, bird feeders and kites, as well as rules for games such as 500 Up, Spud and Shinny. Accompanying these descriptions are fun facts and scientific, historic and cultural context. The passage on playing jacks, for example, includes a sidebar about a similar game played by the ancient Greeks. Children in Northern climes will love learning to play traditional First Nations winter games and be thrilled to find out how to create a backyard ice rink. It’s a wealth of fun and fascination that will captivate any young person — who won’t mind ditching the video game for the great outdoors.
We Recommend…The Petting Zoo by Jim Carroll
The Petting Zoo tells the story of Billy Wolfram, an enigmatic thirty- eight-year-old artist who has become a hot star in the late-1980s New York art scene. As the novel opens, Billy, after viewing a show of Velázquez paintings, is so humbled and awed by their spiritual power that he suffers an emotional breakdown and withdraws to his Chelsea loft.
In seclusion, Billy searches for the divine spark in his own work and life. Carroll’s novel moves back and forth in time to present emblematic moments from Billy’s life (his Irish Catholic upbringing, his teenage escapades, his evolution as an artist and meteoric rise to fame) and sharply etched portraits of the characters who mattered most to him, including his childhood friend Denny MacAbee, now a famous rock musician; his mentor, the unforgettable art dealer Max Bernbaum; and one extraordinary black bird.
Marked by Carroll’s sharp wit, hallucinatory imagery, and street-smart style, The Petting Zoo is a frank, haunting examination of one artist’s personal and professional struggles.
We recommend…The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler
It’s 1996, and less than half of all American high-school students have ever used the Internet. Emma just got her first computer and an America Online CD-ROM. Josh is her best friend. They power up and log on–and discover themselves on Facebook, 15 years in the future. Everybody wonders what their destiny will be; Josh and Emma are about to find out.
We recommend…A Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize and #1 international bestseller, The Sense of an Ending is a masterpiece.
The story of a man coming to terms with the mutable past, Julian Barnes’s new novel is laced with his trademark precision, dexterity and insight. It is the work of one of the world’s most distinguished writers.
Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they navigated the girl drought of gawky adolescence together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they swore to stay friends forever. Until Adrian’s life took a turn into tragedy, and all of them, especially Tony, moved on and did their best to forget.
Now Tony is in middle age. He’s had a career and a marriage, a calm divorce. He gets along nicely, he thinks, with his one child, a daughter, and even with his ex-wife. He’s certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer’s letter is about to prove. The unexpected bequest conveyed by that letter leads Tony on a dogged search through a past suddenly turned murky. And how do you carry on, contentedly, when events conspire to upset all your vaunted truths?
We recommend…The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
“a book that stops you in your tracks, a book [that]… tears you open and leaves you gasping…. A book that makes the hair on your arms stand on end, and that has you picking up the phone or sending a text to tell everyone you know, ‘You have to read this.’… One of those rare, wonderful, transcendent books that, upon finishing, you want to immediately start again…. The Night Circus welcomes all visitors.”
—The Globe and Mail
We recommend…Inheritance by Christopher Paolini
Not so very long ago, Eragon—Shadeslayer, Dragon Rider—was nothing more than a poor farm boy, and his dragon, Saphira, only a blue stone in the forest. Now the fate of an entire civilization rests on their shoulders.
Long months of training and battle have brought victories and hope, but they have also brought heartbreaking loss. And still, the real battle lies ahead: they must confront Galbatorix. When they do, they will have to be strong enough to defeat him. And if they cannot, no one can. There will be no second chances.
The Rider and his dragon have come further than anyone dared to hope. But can they topple the evil king and restore justice to Alagaësia? And if so, at what cost?
This is the much-anticipated, astonishing conclusion to the worldwide bestselling Inheritance cycle.
We Recommend….Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever
Greg
Heffley is in big trouble. School property has been damaged, and Greg is the prime suspect. But the crazy thing is, he’s innocent. Or at least sort of. The authorities are closing in, but when a surprise blizzard hits, the Heffley family is trapped indoors. Greg knows that when the snow melts he’s going to have to face the music, but could any punishment be worse than being stuck inside with your family for the holidays?
We recommend….NEW Stephen King
11/22/63 by Stephen King
ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963, THREE SHOTS RANG OUT IN DALLAS, PRESIDENT KENNEDY DIED, AND THE WORLD CHANGED. WHAT IF YOU COULD CHANGE IT BACK?
In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King—who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer—takes readers on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
We've listened in for years, but this year CBC Books turned the spotlight on Blue Heron Books, naming it the Independent Bookseller for the month of January.
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