A Christmas Wish by, Lori Evert

Christmas books come and go, full of snow and elves, mangers and angels, stockings and jingle bells. Once in a while, one of those books comes with a little extra magic that marks it as a future classic. For us, The Christmas Wish, by Lori Evert, has that magic, the kind of book to share with the family each year, making it as much a part of holiday tradition as A Christmas Carol or The Polar Express.

Plucky and kind-hearted Anja has one wish: She wants to be one of Santa’s elves. After studying hard so that she can find her way to the North Pole and performing several thoughtful tasks for her loved ones before she leaves, Anja starts her journey north. Her kindness is rewarded by offers of help along the way, from a bright-eyed cardinal, a steady horse, a shy musk-ox, a friendly polar bear, and, finally, one of Santa’s own flying reindeer.

The story is gentle and satisfying, and the photographs by Per Breiehagen is beautiful and inviting right from the cover. With a color palette informed by the whites and grays of the snowy north (“a place so far north that the mothers never pack away the wool hats or mittens”), the one spot of color drawing the eye through the story is the holly berry red of little Anja’s hat, plaid dress, and rosy cheeks, also found in the red feathers of the friendly cardinal.

A Christmas Wish captivated all of us, right out of the box, and we are excited to share it with you so that you can share this joyful little book with your loved ones this Christmas.

Coming Soon :: Galaxy Bookshop

There are some exciting goings-ons around the Galaxy in the coming weeks that you should know about.

1.  This coming Saturday, November 23, from 2-4 PM the Galaxy is hosting a space for writers to write in at Claire's.  November is National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo, but you don't have to be working on your 50,000 words in 30 days to join us.  You can just drop in  with your pen and paper or your laptop and spend some time writing in the company of others!  (We need to wrap up swiftly at 4 PM when the dinner staff comes on.)

2.  Sunday, December 1st, from 8 AM to 5 PM is the Galaxy's 25th Anniversary Celebration!  There will be the annual customer appreciation sale as well as guest booksellers: 11 AM will find Natalie Kinsey-Warnock in the store, Howard Frank Mosher steps in at 1 PM and 3 PM will bring David Budbill.  Please come out and celebrate these 25 years with us -- we would love to see you!

3.  And last but not least, mark your calendar now for Tuesday, December 3rd, 7 PM the second ever Galaxy Bookshop Book Jam!  From our web site:

Last spring, we hosted Pages in the Pub, with the Book Jam blog and Jeudevine Library. It was such a popular event, that we're bringing it back, just in time for the holidays! 

Gather some friends and join us for drinks and an evening of great conversation about books with our expert panel. Lisa Sammet, of the Jeudevine Library; Linda Ramsdell; Lisa Christie, of the Book Jam Blog; and a special guest from the community will present a list of the books they are the most excited to share with others this season. It's a great opportunity to make your list of winter reading, as well as to get gift ideas for your friends and family!

Tickets to this event are $10, and the cost includes one beer, wine, or soda and a donation to the Jeudevine Library. Tickets are available for sale in advance at The Galaxy Bookshop and the Jeudevine Library. 

Ed Behr :: 50 Foods

The Galaxy Bookshop and Claire's Restaurant welcome Ed Behr for a conversation about the pleasures of eating over a dinner celebrating the pure tastes of food! Ed Behr will be at Claire's for a special dinner  Tuesday, November 19th, at 5:30 P.M.  The prix-fixe dinner includes five courses paired with wine for $65 per person, tax and gratuity not included.  Please call 472-7053 for reservations.

Mr. Behr agreed to answer a few questions ahead of his visit.

1.  How did you come to write 50 Foods:  The Essentials of Good Taste?

EB:  After 25 years of travel, research, interviewing, and writing about food and wine -- and not least editing and publishing the work of others, including some of the greatest experts -- 50 Foods was the natural book to write, my magnum opus, to risk a grand description. It gathers and presents a large part of my work and of all I've learned. I've always focused on taste. I've often specialized in ingredients and the basic elements of eating -- in bread, cheese, ham, for instance -- the foundations of the pleasure we find in eating. This a sort of how-to book for eaters, a guide to deliciousness. It's full of practical information about food.

2.  Do you have a favorite go-to cookbook?

EB:  No. For me, that's potentially a big question, which doesn't lend itself to a quick response. I look to books more for inspiration than for recipes. But if I were to cite what I think are the two best cookbooks in English, they are Richard Olney's Simple French Food and Patience Gray's Honey from a Weed. Those two writers understand food and drink, they have, or really had, vast experience, and they write extremely well. They are, almost by definition, in the library of every Western cook who loves food and books.

3.  What's your favorite passage or line from a book? 

EB:  Possibly Richard Olney's description of cassoulet in Simple French Food, which I quote in 50 Foods.

4.  What are you reading currently? Non-food, Trollope's Eustace Diamonds. Food:  Jon Bonné's The New California Wine.

You can hear Ed Behr on Vermont Edition on Vermont Public Radio this Monday, November 18th, at noon and 7 P.M as well!

Archer Mayor :: Three Can Keep A Secret

Come out to the Galaxy on Tuesday, November 12 at 7PM to spend an evening with Archer Mayor and his new book Three Can Keep A Secret.

1.  How did you come to write the Joe Gunther series?  Did you realize when you started the first one that it was going to be a series?

AM:  I did intend it to be a series, but had no idea at the start how long it might become. I am surprised but pleased by its longevity. I chose Joe and his stories to serve as social anthropologies more than mysteries, since I am interested by people's abilities or inabilities to sort things out while in crisis.

2.  What book or books are your favorite(s)?

AM:  The one that's in my head — I haven't messed it up by writing it yet.

3.  What's your favorite line or quote from a book?

AM:  Can't think of one offhand.

4.  What are you reading currently?

AM:  Just wrapping up Atkinson's The Guns At Last Light.

Ellen Bryant Voigt :: Headwaters

Mark your calendar for this coming Tuesday evening, November 5, at 7 PM to hear poet Ellen Bryant Voigt read from her new book, Headwaters, at the Galaxy Bookshop.

To read an interview with Ellen, please visit Granta.