|
|
|
|
|
|
Greetings!
Alice Munro sneaked onto our radar a couple of times this year before the Nobel announcement of last week. During our June trip to British Columbia we visited Munro’s Books founded by Ms. Munro and her then husband, Jim, fifty years ago. As we exulted in these notes at the time, it is the best bookshop we had ever been in. Last week the Nobel Committee had a hard time locating Ms. Munro to give her the news and in desperation called Mr. Munro. “Sorryâ€, he said, “Alice doesn’t live here anymore.†LOL! Then, on our return from Europe last week, we browsed the English language section at the Brussels Airport bookshop and picked Dear Life, the new collection of stories by Alice Munro. Little did we know what was in store a few days later!
We have been invited to join the juries of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute’s Nature Writing Awards. These awards honor the memory and literary legacy of Sigurd F. Olson and help support and encourage the work of contemporary writers who seek to carry on his tradition of quality nature writing. Since its inception in 1991, the award competition has attracted entries from the best nature writers in the nation. The writing awards are presented annually to authors (one in adult and one in children’s literature) whose books best capture the spirit of the human relationship with the natural world. As if we didn’t have enough to read!
The Heartland Fall Forum, a trade show and conference for independent booksellers hosted by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, was a great success. Held in Chicago on October 3-6, the event brought together nearly 300 booksellers and some 450 exhibitors to celebrate their spunk and resourcefulness in this volatile industry. Spirits were high and we learned much from our colleagues and the many authors and publishers who attended. Two of our favorites – William Kent Krueger (who will be here with us on Sunday) and Michael Perry (who is also with us often) – took top honors. Krueger won the 2013 Choice Award for Fiction with his Ordinary Grace and Perry won the 2013 Choice Award for Non-Fiction with his Visiting Tom. They were in good company as Mary Oliver won the 2013 Choice Award for Poetry with her A Thousand Mornings (see below) and Loren Long won for Otis and the Puppy in children's literature.
With your support we have had a great summer season and hope we will see more of you in the winter as well. Bayfield has sled dog racing, ice fishing, snow-shoeing, skiing (both downhill and touring), snowmobiling, ice sailing and a variety of fun weekend events. Then, curl up in front of the fireplace with a good book. Oh, don’t throw me into that briar patch!
Remember, if you’ve lost yours, we are your local bookstore!
Happy Reading!
All of us at AIB
|
|
|
Upcoming Event...
 Meet Author and Inspiration, Lori Schneider!
Lori Schneider is an international speaker, accomplished author, teacher of 20 years, Everest and ‘Seven Summits’ mountaineer, adventurer, and advocate for those living with neurological disorders and disabilities. Her story has been translated into more than 20 languages, giving hope and inspiration to people around the globe.
Lori Schneider and her organization, Empowerment Through Adventure, inspire others to take their own leap of faith, scaling life’s mountains and obstacles, and climbing beyond their own preconceived limitations.
Schneider is the author of several books, including More than a Mountain-Our Leap of Faith. In 2011, Schneider led a group of uniquely abled climbers to the top of Africa, on a trip that would challenge the body, mind, and spirit. The Leap of Faith Mount Kilimanjaro expedition paired 14 climbers who had either MS or Parkinson’s disease with 14 companion climbers. As with other expeditions, the summit loomed large in the hopes and dreams of the climbers. In the end, 21 of the 28 Leap of Faith team members would indeed make it to the top. But for all the men and woman on this trip, the climb had a higher purpose: to carry the light of hope and a message of strength to the highest reaches of both our planet and the human spirit.
Join us on Sunday, November 3rd at 2pm at the Bayfield Heritage Association as we learn more about Lori's journey. We will also be joined by photographer Jeff Rennicke and fellow climber Suz Thompson.
|
|
What we're reading...
A Thousand Mornings 
by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver was born and grew up in a small Ohio town not far from Lake Huron and her Great Lakes sensibilities have travelled with her to her adopted New England home. Her work grows organically out of the natural world and expresses itself in a quiet and lyrical voice. She is an acute observer of the quotidian life and her apparently simple language, upon further reflection, reveals complex universal themes. Here she ranges from Bob Dylan to Percy, her dog, and from Provincetown to Varanasi – “Foolishness? No, it’s not.â€
|
|
Burmese Days
by George Orwell
Typically the name George Orwell brings to mind his dystopian novels 1984 and Animal Farm, which together by 2009 had sold more copies than any two books by any other 20th Century author. Those who have delved deeper usually come up with Homage to Catalonia, an account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, and Down and Out in Paris and London, the account of his deliberately living the low-life in those European cities in the late 20’s. Buried yet deeper is his novel Burmese Days that portrays the dark and sordid life of colonial society in the waning days of the British Raj. Orwell had spent five years (1922-27) as a police officer in the Indian Imperial Police Force in Burma (now Myanmar). One of his postings was Kathar, a backwater village in the up-country teak forest, which provides the setting for the story. His depiction of the malignant culture of the colonial functionaries and their “burra memsahibs†is alternately humorous and horrifying, but always gripping.
 At Night We Walk in Circles
by Daniel Alarcon
This one resonates with the feel of latter day Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Set in an unnamed Latin American country (Peru, would do) it follows the deteriorating life of young Nelson. He joins a guerilla theatrical group – Diciembre - led by his revolutionary idol, Henry Nunez, and goes on tour. He becomes progressively entangled with the lives and relationships of his fellow actors during performance after performance of The Idiot President. Eventually the pot boils over and a hidden betrayal fuels a chaotic disintegration of the troupe. A meditation on obsession, identity and fate.
|
|
 Local Literary and Visual Arts continue to thrive...
We are thrilled to say the the second volume of our region's literary and visual arts journal Aqueous is just as good (if not even a bit better) than the first. Local writers and visual artists have come together to create an amazing gallery on the page. The cover art features Madeline Island resident Madeline Brown. Stunning photographs of fruit that is well past its prime. Madeline finds absolute beauty in what many would consider to be quite ugly.
On the words front, there is a story that became even more important as this issue went to print. Madeline Island resident Ed Hartig submitted a 25 page typed story for this issue. Symphony Cacophony was accepted and will be published in three parts over three volumes. Tragically the Hartigs' house burned down in early September. Ed was a collector of books and words. Everything he had written and read on the Island was now gone. Everything except for these 25 pages he had submitted to Aqueous. It is a well written and thought provoking piece. We encourage you to check it out!
Other artists included in this volume are local poet Rob Ganson, photographer Don Albrecht, our own AIB staff member Thom Rauch, and many others. If you're interested in learning more about Aqueous we do have a few more free copies available at Apostle Islands Booksellers. Visit their website and consider subscribing!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Attention: Fans of the bestselling Divergent series by Veronica Roth!
