Featured Selections

Ice-Out

by Mary Casanova
Middle Readers/Young Adult
University of Minnesota Press
Hardcover, 264 pages
$16.95

Ice-Out returns to the frigid and often brutal Prohibition-era borderland of Mary Casanova’s beloved novel Frozen, and to the characters who made it a favorite among readers of all ages. Owen, smitten with Sadie Rose, is struggling to make something of himself at a time when no one seems to hold the moral high ground. Bootlegging is rife, corruption is rampant, and lumber barons run roughshod over the people and the land. As hard as things seem when his father dies, stranding his impoverished family, they get considerably tougher—and more complicated—when Owen gets caught up in the suspicious deaths of a sheriff and deputy on the border.

Inspired by real events in early 1920s Minnesota, and by Mary Casanova’s own family history, Ice-Out is at once a story of young romance against terrible odds and true grit on the border between license and responsibility, rich and poor, and right and wrong in early twentieth-century America.

News of the World

by Paulette Jiles
General Fiction
William Morrow
Hardcover, 224 page
$22.99

Set in Texas in 1870, this is the story of a journey taken by 72 year old Captain Jefferson Kidd and 10 year old Johanna Leonberger. The Captain has been asked to return Johanna to her aunt and uncle in San Antonio, after her having spent the last four years living with the Kiowa tribe. Arriving in San Antonio, the reunion is neither happy nor welcome. The Captain must hand Johanna over to an aunt and uncle she does not remember—strangers who regard her as an unwanted burden. A respectable man, Captain Kidd is faced with a terrible choice: abandon the girl to her fate or become—in the eyes of the law—a kidnapper himself.

Locally Laid

by Lucie B. Amundsen
Sustainability
Avery Publishing
Hardcover, 336 pages
$26.00

When Lucie Amundsen had a rare night out with her husband, she never imagined what he’d tell her over dinner—that his dream was to quit his office job (with benefits!) and start a commercial-scale pasture-raised egg farm. With an unexpected passion for this dubious enterprise, Amundsen shares a messy, wry, and entirely educational story of the unforeseen payoffs (and frequent pitfalls) of one couple’s "ag" adventure—and many, many hours spent wrangling chickens.

For the Love of Rivers

by Kurt D. Fausch
Reflections of Nature
Oregon State University Press
Paperback, 288 pages
$22.95

While Kurt Fausch is a scientist’s scientist, he also happens to be a writer’s writer. He is winding up his career as a professor in the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at Colorado State University. In his book he celebrates the beauty and mystery of rivers and streams in lyrical, accessible prose. He draws from a lifetime career as a field biologist and weaves in the human dimension from the tragic death of a young Japanese colleague. The result is the winner of the prestigious Sigurd Olson Nature Writing Award for 2016.

The Jealous Kind

by James Lee Burke
Mystery
Simon & Schuster
Hardcover, 400 pages
$27.99

Don’t be confused by the sexy cover of Burke’s marvelous new novel. Set in Houston in the early 1950’s, Burke’s provocative prose spins a compelling tale of the transition from teenager to manhood for Aaron Broussard and his peers. With hard hitting clarity and intense emotions, Burke uses the uncertainties of class warfare, random violence, new-found love, treachery, honor, family, and friendship to create a tension where the reader wants the pages to turn faster and faster. Rich with compelling characters and historical context, this is one of Burke’s best.

Parnassus on Wheels

by Christopher Morley
General Fiction
The Modern Library
Paperback, 204 pages

In 1917 William Morley anticipated the bookmobiles of today! In this short and charming novel Roger Mifflin, a squat, balding, red-bearded man, plies his trade as an itinerant bookseller from a horse-drawn cart called Parnassus. Seeming to have had about enough of it, he seeks to offer it for sale to a farmer-turned-author who lives in isolation with his sister. Instead, the sister (old and fat by her own reckoning) and seeking escape from the drudgery of her lonely life, preemptively buys the Parnassus herself and sets out with Roger to learn the trade. What follows is a sweet tale of love and marriage bound together by a love of books.

84, Charing Cross Road

by Helene Hanff
Memoirs
Penguin Books, 1990
Paperback, 112 pages
$14.00

In the mid-20th century Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus, London was an enclave of salons and accompanying businesses of the literary world including bookstores. In this quirky little novel one such was Marks & Co. whose chief buyer was a man named Frank Doel. A New York writer, Helene Hanff, responding to an ad began a 20-year exchange of letters with Frank and, from time to time, a few others in the store. Her letters are brash and witty. His are formal and frank. Their sweet and savory correspondence ranges widely across literature and life in general. Their epistolary relationship matures and deepens. Helene takes on a charitable role as war rationing settles on London and she sends food parcels that are received with huge enthusiasm. An enchanting little book!

The Little Paris Bookshop

by Nina George
General Fiction
Broadway Books, 2016
Paperback, 416 pages
$16.00

Okay…Parnassus was a horse-drawn book wagon. The Literary Apothecary is a book barge moored along the bank of the Seine from which the owner, Jean Perdu, dispenses books that he prescribes for those suffering the slings and arrows of modern life. The only patient he seems unable to heal with this literary pharmacy is himself and the heart that was broken when he was left by his great love. So, finally he sets sail to ply the rivers of southern France (with blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef) dispensing wisdom along with his paper-bound pharmaceuticals. Not as deep as the Seine, but winsome little book.

The Bookstore Mouse

by Peggy Christian
Early Readers
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2002
Paperback, 144 pages
$6.95

Cervantes is a mouse who lives in a bookstore. Not just any bookstore, but an antiquarian bookstore. He loves words and knows his way around and in books. His diet is of delicious words from fancy cookbooks. He can throw sharp words and pointed remarks...and does at Milo, the bookstore cat who would love to get his claws on Cervantes.

The Hour of Land: A Personal Topography of America's National Parks

by Terry Tempest Williams
Reflections on Nature
Sarah Crichton Books, 2016
Hardcover, 416 pages
$27.00

One of our favorite books and bestsellers in the shop is Terry Tempest Williams’ memoir/meditation When Women Were Birds. Now, on the 100th anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service we have her brilliant reflection on the American national parks. But, don’t take it from us! Andrea Wulf, author of the prizewinning biography of Alexander von Humboldt, says this: “The Hour of Land is one of the best nature books I’ve read in years… My only advice is to read the book. And then read it again, with pen in hand. And then visit a national park, because as Williams reminds us, they are ‘portals and thresholds of wonder,’ the ‘breathing spaces for a society that increasingly holds its breath.”

The Seven Stairs

by Stuart Brent
Memior
Touchstone, 1989
Paperback, 256 pages
$17.95

A week or so ago a young woman came into the store and asked if we had known Stuart Brent. Well, no we hadn’t. So, who was he? He was her father (or, maybe, grandfather) and he had a place on Bark Point on the south shore of Lake Superior not far from here. And, he was the founder in 1946 of the Seven Stairs bookstore on Rush Street in Chicago. Interesting! She returned a few days later and handed us a copy of The Seven Stairs. Embarrassing! Little had we known that one of the great literary lights of the upper Midwest had been our neighbor. He had died here on his Bark Point place within days of the opening of our bookstore in 2010. This is the memoir of one of the most colorful and revered independent booksellers in the country. He knew them all – on the back cover of the book is a group photo of him with Studs Terkel, Robert Parrish, Stephen Spender, Jack Conroy and Nelson Algren! The subtitle is An Adventure of the Heart – a love affair with life and literature. We wish we had known him!

Wilderness Warrior

by Douglas Brinkley
History
Harper Perennial, 2010
Paperback, 960 pages
$19.99

The national park system would not be what it is today without the bold and visionary actions of Theodore Roosevelt. “I so declare it!” he said (presaging the executive orders of our current president). And so it was that over 230 million acres of America’s forests, wild lands and waters, and the wildlife that called them home were protected from development and desecration by the mere scratch of a quill. Roosevelt believed deeply that it was the very essence of democracy to ensure that every American could experience a personal connection with the magnificent natural legacy contained within America and her territories. He was literally disgusted with the greed, corruption, and petty profiteering of his fellow man and committed his life to fighting the forces of destruction and protecting America’s treasure for future generations. In The Wilderness Warrior, Douglas Brinkley tells this captivating story of an extraordinary and complex man and how he and his compatriots accomplished what seemed impossible. A terrific book!

Jewels on the Water

by Jeff Rennicke
Reflections on Nature
Hardcover
$24.95

We display this book as the must-have book on the Apostle Islands. Layne Kennedy’s photos are stunning. Jeff Rennicke’s text is fluid and knowledgeable. Unlike many coffee-table-style books this one has more than a pretty face. It was inspired by Martin Hanson and his cohorts and was published as a project of The Friends of the Apostle Islands. The Friends is a nonprofit organization which, in alliance with the National Park Service, serves to advance the interests of the park and its visitors. Check it out and become involved!

Apostle Islands: From Land and Sea

by Craig Blacklock
Reflections on Nature
Adventure Publications
Hardcover
$24.95/$8.95

The beauty of our namesake Apostle Islands is legendary. Never before have they been captured with such splendor and intimacy. Craig Blacklock arrives by sea kayak and shoots the spectacular sea caves, pristine beaches, light houses, flora, and fauna in brilliant color prints. There is a succinct introductory page of text and the rest is gorgeous color. There are two versions of the book: the Gallery Edition is 10 x 12 inches and 72 pages - coffee table style; the Souvenir Edition is 6.75 x 8 inches and 48 pages - quick reference style. Craig has simultaneously released a similar pair of books on the Pictured Rocks of the Upper Peninsula - equally beautiful. But, the Apostle Islands are home!

A Storied Wilderness: Rewilding the Apostle Islands

by James W. Feldman
Reflections on Nature
University of Washington Press, 2011
Hardcover, 320 pages
price varies

"Rewilding" - as Feldman conceives it- is not about simply eradicating the traces of human presence and activity in the natural world, but rather recognizing the shared roles of people and nature in restoring and maintaining wild places. His laboratory is the marvelous landscape of the Apostle Islands - once a bustling hive of human community and commerce - which came to be the only area in the continental United States granted "wilderness" status during the presidency of George W. Bush. One of the key "stories" in the book is that of the Noring Farm - an abandoned homestead on Sand Island. In his forward, the eminent historian William Cronon describes his own experience of the fading remnants of the old farm and points out how Feldman drew upon it to demonstrate his insights into the intertwining of human and nonhuman nature. This is one of many of his stories of the Apostle Islands and as Cronon puts it, "[These] stories will remain legible on these pages in all their poignant ambiguity for a very long time to come."

 Environmental Politics and the Creation of a Dream: Establishing the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

by Harold C. Jordahl with Annie L. Booth
Reflections on Nature
University of Wisconsin Press, 2011
Paperback, 360 pages
$24.95

In Environmental Politics and the Creation of a Dream, Harold (Bud) Jordahl, one of the primary advocates for designating the islands as a national park, discloses the full story behind the effort to preserve their natural beauty for posterity. He describes in detail the political and bureaucratic complexities of the national lakeshore campaign, augmented by his own personal recollections and those of such prominent figures as Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson and President John F. Kennedy. Writing in collaboration with Annie Booth, Jordahl recounts how activists, legislators, media, local residents, and other players shaped the islands’ future establishment as a national park.

On Sand Island

by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Childrens/Local Interest
HMH Books for Young Readers, 2003
Hardcover, 32 pages
$17.95

Based on her summer living as an Artist in Residence on Sand Island, one of the largest and westernmost of the Apostle Islands, Martin wrote this captivating story of early 20th century life on Lake Superior. Carl, a boy in a family of Norwegian immigrant fishermen who live on Sand Island, wants to have a boat of his own. Through dogged persistence and the barter of his labor for the materials and supplies, he achieves his dream. The illustrations by David Johnson are exquisite. This is the perfect children’s book for the Apostle Islands.

If Not For You

by Bob Dylan
Childrens
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Hardcover, 32 pages
$17.99

As a dog savors time spent with his rambunctious puppy, his thoughts turn to... Bob Dylan. Although the bittersweet text describes how bereft the narrator would be without his loved one, Walker—with his palette of nursery blues and greens and a cast that resembles cuddly plush toys—keeps the mood mostly light. At times, Dylan’s lyrics force Walker to slip into something more existential—a mood that can feel out of step with the way children think about the parent-child dynamic. The line “I’d lay awake all night/ Wait for the mornin’ light” finds Dad by himself on his bed at 4am, looking up at the moon with an expression of mild anxiety. Is he pondering the inexorable passage of time? His own mortality? The cost of raising kids? Don’t think twice, Dad—it’s all right.

Richard III

by William Shakespeare
Penguin Classics
Paperback, 208 pages
$8.00

“Now is the winter of our discontent.” Thus begins Shakespeare’s dramatic account of the Machiavellian rise to power of the ugly hunchback, King Richard III, and his brief reign. In the opening monologue Richard draws us in league with him as he sets about his nefarious business. Throughout the play his soliloquies and asides keep the audience “in the know” regarding his actions and intentions and keep us somewhat on his side. This is the second longest of Shakespeare’s canon (after Hamlet) and it is often abridged in a variety of ways. But always, when Richard is unhorsed in the Battle of Bosworth Field, his cry of “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!” resounds throughout the house.

Wintering

by Peter Geye
General Fiction
Knopf
Hardcover, 320 pages
$26.95

There are two stories in play here, bound together when the elderly, demented Harry Eide escapes his sickbed and vanishes into the Minnesota wilderness —instantly changing the Eide family forever. He'd done this once before, thirty-some years earlier, in 1963 with his son Gus. It's certainly a journey Gus has never forgotten. Now—with his father pronounced dead—Gus relates this harrowing story to Berit Lovig, who'd waited nearly thirty years for Harry. So, a middle-aged man rectifying his personal history, an aging lady wrestling with her own, and with the entire history of Gunflint. This is a story about the power of relationships the power of storytelling. Peter's use of language is mesmerizing. Trust us; if you loved The Lighthouse Road, you will be amazed by this breathtaking story.

Raymie Nightingale

by Kate DeCamillo
Middle Readers
Candlewick
Hardcover, 272 pages
$16.99

Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie's picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who’s determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship — and challenge each of them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways.

Don Quixote

by Cervantes
General Fiction
Penguin Classics
Paperback, 1072 pages
$17.00

There is nothing lightweight about Don Quixote – the Penguin Classic edition weighs in at 1072 pages. It is widely considered to be the first modern novel with its wit and innovative form. Seduced by tales of chivalry, Quixote and his squire, Sancho Panza, roam the world and engage in all sorts of wonderful exploits. Tilting at windmills is only the tip of the iceberg! The splendid translation is by John Rutherford and there is a brilliant critical introduction by Roberto Gonzalez Echeverria. It’s never too late sit down with this one!