World of Doughnuts

The bluster and rain today is putting me in mind of something warm from the kitchen and don't we have several copies of World of Doughnuts by Stephanie Rosenbaum!  Yes we sure do.  Here are some of the recipes found in this book:  Old-Fashioned Glazed, Double Dutch Chocolate, Cardamom Doughnuts with Rose Syrup.  Apple Cider doughnuts?  Yes!  Beignets?  Yes!  Maple Bacon Doughnuts?  Oh my yes!  These books are going fast but we still have a couple here. You know, get 'em while they're hot...

And if you want a little story to go with your doughnuts I can highly recommend the Donut Chef.  He starts out simple but then the competition moves in and the doughnuts get wilder and wilder.  I won't spoil the end for you but rest assured it's all good.

Welcome Fall!

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
- Lucy Maud Montgomery,  Anne of Green Gables

I'm with Anne.  I am grateful every year for the grand finale, the last hurrah, before everything goes cold and dark.  So here's to fall and here's to the revival of Written in the Stars!  We welcome you to sign up to have these posts sent directly to your mailbox so you never have to miss one!  We imagine we'll be having some reviews of books, some author interviews, a peek behind the scenes at the Galaxy Bookshop coming up soon...

And speaking of coming up soon there are a number of events on the way for October including David Gilligan on October 10, Sterling College faculty member and author of Nature, Culture, Consciousness and on October 15, Katharine Britton, reading from her new novel Little Island.  But first:

October 1 we welcome Constance Hale back to the Galaxy for a look at her newly updated and revised book Sin and Syntax and a free workshop, complete with hilarious writing exercises and wacky prizes!

Localvore Week in Hardwick!

Our neighbors at The Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op are promoting localvore week this week by selling only locally grown (defined as "within a 100 mile radius") produce.

So, I wonder, could you limit your reading to a localvore diet as well? When it comes to the diet of the mind, I would venture to say that we would all be poorer for never stepping outside of that 100 mile radius to find books that expand our understanding of the world. Still, it would be easier than you might think to fill up days of reading time solely with books written locally! An unofficial count of our inventory came up with more than 70 authors from Vermont--of those, over 50 fell within the 100 mile radius mark. Poetry, cookbooks, memoirs, novels, picture books--a full range of literature, all created just down the road, so to speak.

If you're in town, stop to browse our new window display - you may be surprised by the numbers and variety of books that have been written locally! You can also take a look at a handful of our local writers at our website, though this list is by no means complete.

For all we know, there may be someone sitting in the Co-op's cafe right now, munching on a sandwich of bread from East Hardwick, sprouts from Craftsbury, and cheese from Greensboro, while working diligently on a soon-to-be-published manuscript!

 

The Awards Go To...

January is not just award season for movie stars and singers, it's also award season for authors and illustrators! This week, the American Library Association held its ceremony honoring children's books. Top honors were awarded to:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="285"] Winner of the John Newbery Medal (for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature): The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate[/caption]

Newbery Honor Books:

Splendors and Glooms, by Laura Amy Schlitz

Bomb: The Race to Build--and Steal--the World's Most Dangerous Weapon, by Steve Sheinkin (This book was also awarded the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, for most distinguished informational book for children, as well as the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults!)

Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="386"] Winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal (for the most distinguished American picture book for children): This is Not My Hat, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen[/caption]

Caldecott Honor Books:

Creepy Carrots! illustrated by Peter Brown, written by Aaron Reynolds

Extra Yarn illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett (The first time since 1947 that an author or illustrator has been awarded both the Caldecott Medal and a Caldecott Honor in the same year!)

Green written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

One Cool Friend illustrated by David Small, written by Toni Buzzeo

Sleep Like a Tiger illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Mary Logue

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="260"] Michael L. Printz Award Winner (for excellence in literature written for young adults): In Darkness, by Nick Lake[/caption]

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="360"] And our sincere congratulations to Vermont author Katherine Paterson, winner of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award! This award honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.[/caption]

Find the entire awards list here.

Join the Club! Stories & Stitches

If you're looking for something to get you out of the house on some of these dark winter evenings, here's a cozy option: join us at The Galaxy Bookshop on Tuesdays from 5 - 6:15 p.m. for our new Stories & Stitches Book Club. Created with the handcrafter in mind, we invite people to bring along a knitting or needlework project (or any other easily portable project) to work on while listening to a short story being read by a volunteer.

We've had one meeting so far and chose to read a selection from Birds of a Lesser Paradise, by Megan Mayhew Bergman. Cups of tea were brewed and knitting projects grew while the story unfolded. (One non-knitter attended, too--crafts are not required!)

We're committed to continuing this book club through January, and through the rest of winter as long as there is an interest! Join us anytime - we'll have a mug of tea and a seat waiting for you!

DATES: January 15, 22, 29

TIME: 5 p.m. - 6:15 p.m.

PLACE: The Galaxy Bookshop

The Bestsellers of 2012

It's always fun, at the end of the year, to run our bestsellers report. It rarely mirrors the national bestseller lists (you'll find 50 Shades of Grey falling square in the middle of the list, rather than up at the top), but instead reflects the books and authors we have admired and welcomed to Hardwick through the year. All but two of the authors of our top 10 books gave readings at the store this year!

The topic of food continues to dominate our local reading lists, and there was an exciting race for our number 1 book of the year--Bethany Dunbar nosed ahead by one single copy to take the title from Ben Hewitt during the last week of the year!

Without further ado, here are The Galaxy Bookshop's Top 20 Bestsellers of 2012:

1. Kingdom's Bounty, by Bethany Dunbar
2. The Town That Food Saved, by Ben Hewitt
3. The Great Northern Express, by Howard Frank Mosher
4. The Lepine Girls of Mud City, by Evelyn Grace Geer
5. The New Feminist Agenda, by Madeleine Kunin
6. Are You My Mother?, by Alison Bechdel
7. True Colors, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
8. Paradise City, by Archer Mayor
9. The Greenhorns, edited by Severine Von Tscharner Fleming, et. al.
10. Vermont Wild: Volume 3, by Megan Price
11. Stand Against the Wind, by Chris Braithwaite
12. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James
13. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
14. Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch, by Constance Hale
15. Park Songs, by David Budbill
16. Falling Upward, by Richard Rohr
17. The Bear That Heard Crying, by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
18. Privacy, by Garret Keizer
19. Life Everlasting, by Bernd Heinrich
20. A Wedding in Haiti, by Julia Alvarez

Celebrating Vermont Children's Authors!

We are very excited about our upcoming Vermont Children's Author Celebration, which will take place on Saturday, December 15th, from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. We are hosting this event as a fundraiser for the Jeudevine Library, which provides our community with access to books, technology, and programming for all ages free of charge.

We are honored to welcome 6 men and women to represent the large and illustrious group of children's authors who hail from our state, writing books for readers of all ages.

Katherine and John Paterson have recently collaborated on a spirited retelling of the 1910 fantasy, The Flint Heart. Katherine Paterson is the two time winner of the Newbery Medal and the National Book Award and author of numerous novels, including the classic Bridge to Terabithia. She and John live in Barre, Vermont.

Linda Urban’s most recent novel, Hound Dog True, was named a Kirkus Best Book of 2011. She is also the author of A Crooked Kind of Perfect and the picture book Mouse Was Mad. She lives with her family in Montpelier, Vermont.

David Martin began writing after having children of his own and making up stories for them. He is the author of fourteen picture books, including Let’s Have a Tree Party and All for Pie, Pie for All. He lives in Lyndonville, Vermont.

 

Jenny Land teaches English and creative writing at St. Johnsbury Academy and works on farms during the summer. Her debut novel, The Spare Room, is set in Vermont during the Abolitionist movement, prior to the Civil War. She lives in Peacham, Vermont with her husband and twin daughters.

Jo Knowles, winner of the 2005 PEN Literary Award, has written three novels for teens. Background for her most recent novel, See You at Harry’s, came from the time her parents ran a restaurant and ice cream factory called Kellers’ Restaurant. She lives in Vermont with her husband and son.

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This event will take place during Hardwick's Holiday Happenings, so be sure to take a stroll around town, before or after visiting with our authors, to enjoy sales and events hosted by other local merchants!