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Shop early...for last minute gifts?

Newsletter, Dec 9th 2022


How we got from “shop early” to “last minute”, I'll never know. I received a bunch of messages earlier this week with “last minute…” in the title, so here we are, two weeks to go. No pressure :)


Product Updates


  • This week's FLASH SALE - ALL eeBoo (Woman owned, Mother run, Recycled, Always good) products are on sale - 20% off, Dec 9th through 16th. If you were eyeing these gorgeous, colorful games and puzzles for the under 5 age group, now's your chance.

  • Jolabokaflod - Thank you to all who responded to the survey. Based on the responses, I am offering a limited set (5) of these boxes this year - for Adults. If these are well received, I will attempt something for the kids early next year. Order online here or call/stop in. Orders must be received by Dec 18th and will be ready for pickup on the 22nd.


  • Little Big Things - makers of those cute crochet bookmarks and baby books have dropped off some adorable Christmas themed bookmarks - there's Santa, a snowman and a reindeer. Priced at $20, each one comes with a cute gift box.

Events and Holiday Hours

Last two events of the year! The store will be closed for two weeks Dec 25th through Jan 6th. We will be back open Saturday Jan 7th with renewed energy for a fun 2023! Online ordering for store pickup will still be available during those two weeks.



Math Games Event - Our final game night of the year is tonight 6p. Author Ben Orlin will be in house guiding us through the games from his newly published game box! Take a break from shopping and join us for a fun evening tonight 12/9 at 6p.



Paul Douglas event - Those of you who came on Small Business Saturday heard that Paul Douglas couldn't make it that day due to a family emergency. He has offered to stop in on Dec 17th at 11a to make up for it! Stop by to say hello and get your book signed. This is a great opportunity to meet 1-1 with a local weather celebrity!

Book Clubs

  • Non Fiction - Meeting on Dec 11th at 2p for the last section of “Joy of x”. Our next book club pick is “Forgetting”. First session for that book will be Sunday, Jan 8th. Join our little gang of book lovers for an afternoon of fun and engaging conversation!

  • Middle Grade Fiction - December book pick is “Animal Rescue Agency #1”. Meeting on Dec 11th 4p. January pick is “Always, Clementine”, meeting Jan 15th 4p.

Science News

Did you hear the news about the about the shell hurling Octopus? 2022 seemed to be a year of discovering all kinds of weird and wild behaviors in animals. Scientific American has this compilation - from shell throwing octopus to bin wars with cockatoos - of strange animal behaviors. Or maybe they're just mimicking humans. That can't be good, can it?


Couple other fun tidbits I thought you might enjoy:

  1. At the Jessica Nordell event last Sunday someone said, in effect - "How did you manage to snag such a highly regarded Author? This feels like a Kerri Miller (MPR) level event! After I laughed out loud at the thought of the few hundred people difference in audience, I realized, that is in fact the beauty. Our smaller, more intimate gatherings, give you the opportunity to hang out and connect 1-1 with some of the coolest, most thoughtful members of our community. So, although small is not good for business, I kinda like it :)

  2. Someone called earlier this week from out of town, looking to send a book to family here. Reason for calling me? Amazon couldn't deliver the book until January! Love it! Small win, I will hand-deliver with a gift-wrap :)

Keep reading and see at The Spot soon,

Rima.

New Releases this week

How Far the Light Reaches
By Sabrina Imbler
December 6th 2022; Science / Essays

A fascinating tour of creatures from the surface to the deepest ocean floor, inviting us to envision wilder, grander, and more abundant possibilities for the way we live. “A miraculous, transcendental book.” (Ed Yong, author of An Immense World) One of TIME’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year • A PEOPLE Best New Book • A Barnes & Noble and SHELF AWARENESS Best Book of 2022 • An Indie Next Pick • One of Winter’s Most Eagerly Anticipated Books: VANITY FAIR, VULTURE, BOOKRIOT A queer, mixed race writer working in a largely white, male field, science and conservation journalist Sabrina Imbler has always been drawn to the mystery of life in the sea, and particularly to creatures living in hostile or remote environments. Each essay in their debut collection profiles one such creature, including:

  • the mother octopus who starves herself while watching over her eggs,

  • the Chinese sturgeon whose migration route has been decimated by pollution and dams,

  • the bizarre, predatory Bobbitt worm (named after Lorena),

  • the common goldfish that flourishes in the wild,

  • and more.

Imbler discovers that some of the most radical models of family, community, and care can be found in the sea, from gelatinous chains that are both individual organisms and colonies of clones to deep-sea crabs that have no need for the sun, nourished instead by the chemicals and heat throbbing from the core of the Earth. Exploring themes of adaptation, survival, sexuality, and care, and weaving the wonders of marine biology with stories of their own family, relationships, and coming of age, How Far the Light Reaches is a shimmering, otherworldly debut that attunes us to new visions of our world and its miracles. Sabrina Imbler is a writer and science journalist living in Brooklyn. Their first chapbook, Dyke (geology) was published by Black Lawrence Press. They have received fellowships and scholarships from the Asian American Writers' Workshop, Tin House, the Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat, Millay Arts, and Paragraph NY, and their work has been supported by the Café Royal Cultural Foundation. Their essays and reporting have appeared in various publications, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Catapult, and Sierra, among others.


Beaverland
By Leila Philip
December 6th 2022; Nature / Animals / Wildlife

An intimate and revelatory dive into the world of the beaver—the wonderfully weird rodent that has surprisingly shaped American history and may save its ecological future. From award-winning writer Leila Philip, BEAVERLAND is a masterful work of narrative science writing, a book that highlights, though history and contemporary storytelling, how this weird rodent plays an oversized role in American history and its future. She follows fur trappers who lead her through waist high water, fur traders and fur auctioneers, as well as wildlife managers, PETA activists, Native American environmental vigilantes, scientists, engineers, and the colorful group of activists known as beaver believers. Beginning with the early trans-Atlantic trade in North America, Leila Philip traces the beaver’s profound influence on our nation’s early economy and feverish western expansion, its first corporations and multi-millionaires. In her pursuit of this weird and wonderful animal, she introduces us to people whose lives are devoted to the beaver, including a Harvard scientist from the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana, who uses drones to create 3-dimensional images of beaver dams; and an environmental restoration consultant in the Chesapeake whose nickname is the “beaver whisperer”. What emerges is a poignant personal narrative, a startling portrait of the secretive world of the contemporary fur trade, and an engrossing ecological and historical investigation of these heroic animals who, once trapped to the point of extinction, have returned to the landscape as one of the greatest conservation stories of the 20th century. Beautifully written and impeccably researched, BEAVERLAND reveals the profound ways in which one odd creature and the trade surrounding it has shaped history, culture, and our environment.

Leila Philip is the author of award-winning books of nonfiction that have received national glowing reviews. A Guggenheim Fellow, she has also been awarded fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Philip was a contributing columnist at the Boston Globe and teaches in the Environmental Studies Program at the College of the Holy Cross, where she is a professor in the English Department.


Of Ice and Men
By Fred Hogge
December 6th 2022; Science / History

An exploration of humanity’s relationship with ice since the dawn of civilization, Of Ice and Men reminds us that only by understanding this unique substance can we save the ice on our planet—and perhaps ourselves. Ice tells a story. It writes it in rock. It lays it down, snowfall by snowfall at the ends of the earth where we may read it like the rings on a tree. It tells our planet’s geological and climatological tale. Ice tells another story too: a story about us. It is a tale packed with swash-buckling adventure and improbable invention, peopled with driven, eccentric, often brilliant characters. It tells how our species has used ice to reshape the world according to our needs and our desires: how we have survived it, harvested it, traded it, bent science to our will to make it—and how in doing so we have created globe-spanning infrastructures that are entirely dependent upon it. And even after we have done all that, we take ice so much for granted that we barely notice it. Ice has supercharged the modern world. It has allowed us to feed ourselves and cure ourselves in ways unimaginable two hundred years ago. It has enabled the global population to rise from less than 1 billion to nearly 7½ billion—which just happens to cover the same period of time as humanity has harvested, manufactured, and distributed ice on an industrial scale. And yet the roots of our fascination with ice and its properties run much deeper than the recent past. Fred Hogge is a historian and filmmaker who has collaborated on or ghost-written books on a wide variety of subjects from the history of cocktails to martial arts. He is British by birth and lives in Thailand.


Pests
By Bethany Brookshire
Deember 6th 2022; Nature / Animals / Wildlife

An engrossing and revealing study of why we deem certain animals “pests” and others not—from cats to rats, elephants to pigeons—and what this tells us about our own perceptions, beliefs, and actions, as well as our place in the natural world

A squirrel in the garden. A rat in the wall. A pigeon on the street. Humans have spent so much of our history drawing a hard line between human spaces and wild places. When animals pop up where we don’t expect or want them, we respond with fear, rage, or simple annoyance. It’s no longer an animal. It’s a pest.

At the intersection of science, history, and narrative journalism, Pests is not a simple call to look closer at our urban ecosystem. It’s not a natural history of the animals we hate. Instead, this book is about us. It’s about what calling an animal a pest says about people, how we live, and what we want. It’s a story about human nature, and how we categorize the animals in our midst, including bears and coyotes, sparrows and snakes. Pet or pest? In many cases, it’s entirely a question of perspective.

Bethany Brookshire’s deeply researched and entirely entertaining book will show readers what there is to venerate in vermin, and help them appreciate how these animals have clawed their way to success as we did everything we could to ensure their failure. In the process, we will learn how the pests that annoy us tell us far more about humanity than they do about the animals themselves.

Bethany Brookshire is an award-winning science writer who was a 2019–2020 MIT Knight Science Journalism fellow. Her work has been published in outlets including the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Scientific American, Science News, and Slate. She is a host of the podcast Science for the People. She holds a PhD in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.


The Secret Science of Baby
By Michael Banks
December 6th 2022; Science / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics

The Secret Science of Baby answers these questions and many more, revealing the fascinating physics behind conception, birth, and babyhood. Parents and parents-to-be are bombarded with information, from what to expect to what to do (and not to do) when it happens. But what they may not realize is that from the chemistry of pregnancy tests to the vacuum physics of breastfeeding, there is fascinating science at the heart of every aspect of creating and raising a new human. Written by science journalist Michael Banks, The Secret Science of Baby won’t tell you how to raise a perfect violin-playing, mandarin-speaking toddler, but it will shed a new light on how and why things happen as they do—from conception and pregnancy to cooing and pooing. Exploring the hidden physics behind uterine contractions, the fluid dynamics of diapers, and more, both parents and curious non-parents (who, after all, were once babies themselves) will gain a fresh perspective on the infant universe . . . and the thrilling science that makes it possible. In these pages, readers will discover: The physics of the playground and common toys—from the swing to the Slinky

  • What it really means to "sleep like a baby"

  • The surprising shared vocal cord features of lions and (human) infants

  • The miracle of a baby's first breath and how surface tension provided the key to helping preemies breathe

Banks draws from his own experience, interviews with scientists, and the latest research (including some involving conception inside an MRI machine) to offer a book that focuses on “how?” rather than “how-to.” The result is an illuminating and hilarious journey through the everyday science of making, baking, and bringing up baby.

Michael Banks was born in Oldham, Lancashire, UK. After an undergraduate degree in physics from Loughborough University, UK, Michael did a PhD in condensed-matter physics at the Max Planck Institute for Solid State Physics in Stuttgart, Germany, studying magnetism. For over a decade, Michael has been news editor of the international monthly magazine Physics World, where he covers the latest developments in physics. Michael has given talks worldwide about science and science journalism including in China, Japan and the US. In addition to Physics World, Michael has written for Nature, BBC Focus and Science Uncovered as well as appeared on BBC Radio 4. Michael is based in Bristol, UK, where he lives with his wife and two boys. He tweets at @Mike_Banks.


The Flying Man
By Mike Downs
December 6the 2022; Juvenile Nonfiction / Transportation / Aviation; Ages 7 to 10, Grades 2 to 5

Here is the little-known history of Otto Lilienthal, a daring man whose more than 2,000 successful flights inspired the Wright Brothers and other aviation pioneers. In 1862, balloons were the only way to reach the sky. But 14-year-old Otto Lilienthal didn’t want to fly in balloons. He wanted to soar like a bird. Scientists, teachers, and news reporters everywhere said flying was impossible. Otto and his brother Gustav desperately wanted to prove them wrong, so they made their own wings and tried to take flight. The brothers quickly crashed, but this was just the beginning for Otto, who would spend the next 30 years of his life sketching, re-sketching, and building gliders. Over time, Otto’s flights got longer. His control got better. He learned the tricks and twists of the wind. His flights even began to draw crowds. By the time of his death at age 48, Otto had made more than 2,000 successful glider flights. He was the first person in history to spend this much time in the air, earning the title of the world’s first pilot and paving the way for future aviation pioneers. Story Locale:Anklam, Germany

Mike Downs is the author of more than 30 books for children, including the books You See a Circus, I See... and You See a Zoo, I See.... He is a lifelong pilot who has flown hang gliders, jet fighters, airliners and more. He is a graduate of the USAF Academy, with a Master’s Degree in Aviation Science. David Hohn is the illustrator of several books including Just Like Beverly: A Biography of Beverly Cleary, which garnered starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and Booklist. Visit davidhohn.com.


Youniverse
By Lizelle van der Merwe
December 6th 2022; Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Astronomy; Ages 9 to 12, Grades 3 to 8

This nonfiction picture book, by a South African writer, explores how light weaves the universe together and how much we have in common with a quivering aspen leaf and the dust of a distant nebula.Youniverse aims to inspire a reverence for our fragile blue planet voyaging through space. The lyrical text and simple, childlike illustrations linger on one object at a time, building a mind-liberating journey from electrons and photos through atoms, molecules, cells, and the human body; outward to the solar system, the Milky Way, and the universe; and backward to the beginning of time in the Big Bang. Light weaves through the pages as it weaves the universe together, showing us that we have almost everything in common with a quivering aspen leaf and the dust of a distant nebula. “Your imagination is the greatest of miracles,” van der Merwe writes, “a consciousness that contemplates the atoms and the stars from which it was made.”

A child sees a world in a tidepool and an enchanted forest in a copse of trees. Songbirds speak messages. Moonlight whispers through an open window. The inner and outer worlds flow together without boundaries. Does growing up have to mean leaving that magic kingdom behind? Lizelle van der Merwe believes that a child’s sense of wonder should instead be encouraged, expanded, and immortalized with the real-life magic of science. The more we know about the quantum worlds within and outside us, the more wisdom is evident in a child’s view of the world.

Lizelle van der Merwe is an Afrikaans-speaking artist, writer, and mother who has lived in India, Paris, and elsewhere in the world. Her passions include astrophotography, beekeeping, and teaching, especially Reggio Emilia - inspired teaching for preschool. She writes every day, mostly for herself but also, over the years, for newspapers and beauty magazines. Having studied fashion design, she is a freelance makeup artist and hairstylist for the advertising and fashion industries and has worked as an illustrator. A single mother, she created Youniverse for her daughter Kenji, who is her muse.


The Science of Light
By Margaret Peot
December 6th 2022; Juvenile Nonfiction / Science & Nature / Physics; Ages 4 to 7, Grades P to 2

With a striking glow-in-the-dark cover, this intriguing science book invites young readers to find light all around. An Orbis Pictus Honor Book Sun shines. Stars twinkle. Aurora borealis glimmers. Dramatic paintings of lightning, fire, fireworks and more introduces the sources of light—both natural and manmade—and encourage children to look around and observe. Kids will gasp in surprise at the beautiful glow-in-the-dark cover, and the bold spreads within. Margaret Peot's distinctive art style captures the elusive nature of light. Bioluminescent squid, fireflies and phytoplankton reveal light sources in living things. Fireworks and light bubbles sparkle on the page. This foundational science book will kindle curiosity in physical science and the natural world. The simple text makes science accessible to all ages. Toddlers will delight in the colorful art at storytime. As they grow, kids will return to this nonfiction favorite and discover new ideas each time. Science vocabulary and definitions are included in the back of the book.

Margaret Peot is an artist, writer, and teacher. She paints costumes for Broadway theater, as well as dance shows and ice shows, and she creates activity book sets and instructional arts and crafts books. She wrote and illustrated Crow Made a Friend, an I Like to Read Book, for Holiday House.


The Bird Book
By Steve Jenkins
December 6th 2022; Juvenile Nonfiction / Animals / Birds; Ages 6 to 10, Grades 1 to 5

Caldecott Honor–winning team Steve Jenkins and Robin Page celebrate the astonishing diversity of bird species in this magnificently illustrated picture book.

They can dance, sing, and, of course, fly—what’s not to love about birds?

With more than 10,000 species of dramatically different colors, shapes, and sizes, birds are some of the most fascinating creatures on the planet. The only animal with feathers, birds have soared through the skies for millions of years. Learn what makes a bird a bird, what birds like to eat, and how these masters of the air have evolved. Ever wonder which bird is the smallest? Or the fastest? Which can fly the highest? Or stay airborne longest? You’ll find answers to these questions and countless others in The Bird Book. Whether in the water, on land, or flying high above, Jenkins and Page present a stunning array of these amazing aviators and the extraordinary ways they survive this world.

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page are the award-winning team behind many nonfiction picture books for young readers, including the Caldecott Honor title What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? They live in Boulder, CO.

www.stevejenkinsbooks.com


Majestic Mountains
By Mia Cassany
December 6th 2022; Juvenile Nonfiction / Animals; Ages 8 to 12, Grades 3 to 7

Which animal lives on top of the Everest? Where can you spot the majestic condor? How does the ibex climb up rocks?

Mountains are home to 25% of terrestrial biodiversity and a multitude of fragile ecosystems. What if you could fly and discover those places and the incredible wild animals hidden at high altitude?

This large format book transports you to inaccessible places and helps you discover the incredible fauna that live in these mountains, volcanoes, hills or valleys.

Throughout the book is a search and find counting game enabling you to spot bats ready to take flight, sloths hanging from branches, wallabies and their babies, and butterflies aplenty.

This large format illustrated book transports you to inaccessible mountains and helps you discover the incredible fauna that live in these mountains, volcanoes, hills or valleys.

Mia Cassany is editor, creative director, and founder of Mosquito Books. She is currently teaching at the master's degree in Illustration and Comic at the Elisava School in Barcelona and is a creative consultant for the publishing house The Story Tailors. She has written several successful books for children for Mosquito Books.

Marcos Navarro is an illustrator and painter. His work was shortlisted for the World Illustration Awards in 2019. His clients include Adobe, Universal Music, Volcom. He recently has devoted his time to street art and his mural s can be found in Europe and in Portland (USA).


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