The Learned Owl Book Shop, Mid-November 2016

  Kate's Corner


Happy Thanksgiving! 

2016 has been a doozy so far with cicadas, oak mites, water damage, construction, and a presidential campaign the likes of which have never been seen. As we head towards a new year, I choose to focus on the things I'm thankful for: stores like Target realizing that Thanksgiving is a sacred holiday and staying closed; Main Street construction wrapping up for the winter before (fingers crossed) Thanksgiving weekend; having my brother home for the first time in three years and having our entire immediate family together for the first time in over eight years; my mom's turkey gravy and pumpkin pie; my Learned Owl family that has been working so hard to get the store ready for the holiday season; our amazingly supportive family, friends, and community that allow us to do what we love every day.

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday, and looking forward to seeing you in the store soon. Happy reading!
- Kate
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Coming up at
The Learned Owl

Saturday, Nov. 19,
10 AM-noon (at The Owl)
Author Robert J. Roman with his new book Ohio State Football: The Forgotten Dawn.

Saturday, Nov. 19,
1-3 PM  (at The Owl)
Local authors Lana Wayne Koehler and Gloria G. Adams will visit us with their book Ah-Choo! Children aged 4-8 are invited to come hear the story, meet a very special puppet, learn a new song and enjoy a cookie while doing a craft. Please call to reserve your spot: 330-653-2252.

Sunday, Nov. 20, 2 PM
(at The Owl)
Wear your favorite pajamas to The Learned Owl for our Llama Llama Red Pajama storytime! Bring a pair of new pajamas with you to donate to those in need this winter.  Please call to reserve your spot: 330-653-2252.

Sunday, Nov. 20, 2 PM
(at The Owl)
Join our History Book Club for a discussion about the History of the Rubber Industry with guest author Steve Love ( Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron).

Monday, Nov. 21, 6:30 PM
(at the Hudson Library)
Meet Lindsay Mattick, author of the Caldecott Award winning book Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear. Please register for this event online at hudsonlibrary.org, or call 330-653-6658.

Saturday, Nov. 26, 1-3 PM
(at The Owl)
Tom Wood, author, photographer and self-professed Rustbelt Refugee, will visit with his books, Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology and Trading Steel for Stone.

Wednesday, Nov. 30, 7 PM
(at the Hudson Library)
Author and researcher Robert K. Elder will discuss his book Hidden Hemingway: Inside the Ernest Hemingway Archives of Oak Park. Register for this free program online at hudsonlibrary.org, or call (330) 653-6658 x1010.

Saturday, Dec. 3,
10 AM-3 PM (at The Owl)
Drop-in gingerbread house decorating! All supplies will be provided; we ask that those who attend bring something for The Landing, a food pantry in Akron.
Quick Links
New memoirs & biography

Settle for More
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We have signed copies!
Settle for More
by Megyn Kelly
[Harper, $29.99]
The anchor of The Kelly File reflects on the enduring values and experiences that have shaped her - from growing up in a family that rejected the "trophies for everyone" mentality, to her father's sudden, tragic death while she was in high school. She goes behind the scenes of her career, sharing the stories and struggles that landed her in the anchor chair of cable's #1 news show. Speaking candidly about her decision to "settle for more" - a motto she credits as having dramatically transformed her life at home and at work - Megyn discusses how she abandoned a thriving legal career to follow her journalism dreams.
She also speaks openly about Donald Trump's feud with her, revealing never-before-heard details about the first Republican debate, its difficult aftermath, and how she persevered through it all.
Deeply personal and surprising, Settle for More offers unparalleled insight into this charismatic and intriguing journalist.
by Trevor Noah
[Spiegel & Grau, $28.00]
Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.
Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist.

Absolutely on Music
Buy the book
Buy the eBook
Absolutely on Music: Conversations with Seiji Ozawa  by Haruki Murakami
[Knopf Publishing Group, $27.95]
Haruki Murakami's passion for music runs deep. Before turning his hand to writing, he ran a jazz club in Tokyo, and from The Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" to Franz Liszt's "Years of Pilgrimage," the aesthetic and emotional power of music permeates every one of his much-loved books. Now, in Absolutely on Music, Murakami fulfills a personal dream, sitting down with his friend, acclaimed conductor Seiji Ozawa, to talk, over a period of two years, about their shared interest.
Transcribed from lengthy conversations about the nature of music and writing, here they discuss everything from Brahms to Beethoven, from Leonard Bernstein to Glenn Gould, from record collecting to pop-up orchestras, and much more. Ultimately this book gives readers an unprecedented glimpse into the minds of the two maestros.
by Mark K. Shriver
[Random House, $28.00; Nov. 29]
Early on the evening of March 13, 2013, the newly elected Pope Francis stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and did something remarkable: Before he imparted his blessing to the crowd, he asked the crowd to bless him, then bowed low to receive this grace. In the days that followed, Mark K. Shriver along with the rest of the world was astonished to see a pope who paid his own hotel bill, eschewed limousines, and made his home in a suite of austere rooms in a Vatican guesthouse rather than the grand papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. By setting an example of humility and accessibility, Francis breathed new life into the Catholic Church, attracting the admiration of Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
In this deeply reported yet highly personal book, Mark K. Shriver explores how Francis's commitment has struck a chord in the hearts of millions who long to make faith, love, humility, and mercy part of their lives as they go out into the world to serve and learn from the most marginalized.
Something big

by Thomas L. Friedman
[Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $28.00; Nov. 22]
We all sense it: Something big is going on. You feel it in your workplace. You feel it when you talk to your kids. You can't miss it when you read the newspapers or watch the news. Our lives are being transformed in so many realms all at once, and it is dizzying.
In Thank You for Being Late, a work unlike anything he has attempted before, Thomas L. Friedman exposes the tectonic movements that are reshaping the world today and explains how to get the most out of them and cushion their worst impacts. You will never look at the world the same way again after you read this book: How you understand the news, the work you do, the education your kids need, the investments your employer has to make, and the moral and geopolitical choices our country has to navigate will all be refashioned by Friedman's original analysis.
Thank You for Being Late is Friedman's most ambitious book and an essential guide to the present and the future.
Behind The Daily Show

by Chris Smith
[Grand Central Publishing, $30.00; Nov. 22]
For almost 17 years, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart brilliantly redefined the borders between television comedy, political satire, and opinionated news coverage. It launched the careers of some of today's most significant comedians, highlighted the hypocrisies of the powerful, and garnered 23 Emmys. Now, for the first time, the people behind the show's seminal moments come together to share their memories of one of America's most groundbreaking shows.
"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."  - Joseph Brodsky