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Wellesley Books Newsletter
November 20th, 2019
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In the spirit of the season, we here at Wellesley Books have been feeling particularly thankful lately. We're thankful for the bounty of excellent books that came out this year--which makes it easy for us to match that choosy reader in your life with the right gift. We're thankful for busy days ringing, shelving, and recommending (and the sturdy shoes and camaraderie that make them possible). We're thankful that your support keeps us anchored in place, year after year.
As a way to thank you for shopping locally, Wellesley Square once again celebrates the season with its Holiday Stroll on the first Sunday of December. And, just a few days later, we'd like to thank you for making Wellesley Books your one-stop-shopping destination with our Gift Shopping Night. Get advice from our great Gifts team while enjoying a laid-back night of snacks and socializing, as well as a discount on all gift items. Thank you for sustaining our downtown, for your good cheer, and for your support of our kinder, gentler alternative to the holiday rush!
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Upcoming Events
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Events are free to the public unless otherwise noted.
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Thursday, December 5th, 7:00 PM
Join local dietician and wellness coach Tricia Silverman for the launch of
Healthy Dividends, her new guide to living a long, flourishing life. Learn how to manage stress and food cravings, what additives to avoid, how to shop for healthy meals, tips for navigating restaurants, and a whole lot more. Tricia debunks myths and busts fads in the service of making you healthier.
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Wednesday, December 11th, 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM
Bring a friend and have lunch with Mary Laura Philpott, author of one of the year's most acclaimed memoirs/essay collections,
I Miss You When I Blink. This story of a Type A person who learns how to change--after completing her life's to-do list, of course--is written by a worthy successor to several memorably witty women of yore (think Nora Ephron and Laurie Colwin).
Click here to purchase tickets to this event.
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Friday, January 17th, 7:00 PM
Join New Yorker humorists extraordinaire Roz Chast and Patty Marx as they present
You Can Only Yell at Me for One Thing at a Time: Rules for Couples, just in time for Valentine's Day. Roz Chast and Patty Marx dispense with old, clichéd relationship advice and present offbeat tips for sustaining romance in their own, inimitable way.
Click here to purchase tickets to this event.
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Book Clubs & Workshops
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Teen Writers' Workshop
Join writing instructor (and children's book expert) Cassie Duncanson for a 90-minute workshop aimed at writers aged 14 to 18. Classes began in September and will run monthly through June. To sign up, please
contact Cassie.
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Rachael's Book Club for Kids
Sofiya Pasternack
Rachael Conrad carefully curates choices for children ages 8-12 who love to read. Join her for a lively discussion about a new book every month.
Parents, if your child would like to attend, please contact Rachael to reserve your spot!
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Betty's Lunchtime Book Group
Chris Cander
Betty Sudarsky, unparalleled bookseller emerita and experienced book club leader, chooses each book carefully and leads the discussion. Bring your own lunch if you like; Betty supplies snacks, drinks, and insight. No need to sign up; drop-ins are welcome.
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Highly Educated: A Book Club for Teachers & Librarians
Celia C. Pérez
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Bill's Book Group for Guys
Join Bill's Book Group for Guys for a relaxed evening in the store discussing a specially-chosen book while enjoying a beer, glass of wine, or select single-malt whiskey. $25 buys the book and a ticket to the event.
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Bookseller Recommendations
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Secrets of the Chocolate House are revealed as you journey between a quaint antique shop in present-day rural England and a 1600s chocolate house in the same community. I really enjoyed this second installment in Brackston's trilogy. This fast-paced novel is laced with history, fantasy, mystery and a sprinkle of romance. This is a delicious read that anyone can enjoy whether or not they've read
The Little Shop of Found Things, its precursor. This novel is like a mug of hot chocolate with a shot of your favorite spirit, topped off with a dollop of a cliff-hanger! Now the wait for book three begins!
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The members of an extended family from a rural village confront life in a changing society in Omani writer Jokha Alharthi's exceptional novel, winner of the 2019 Man Booker International Prize (the first book translated from Arabic to do so) and her first to be translated into English. Throughout all of these intertwined stories run threads of tension between traditional and modern roles, between rural ways and city life, and between generational expectations. This deeply moving novel deserves every accolade it has received.
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Lori Gottlieb worked on Friends and ER before the shows aired. She knew George Clooney when. In her 40s, though, she's a therapist in LA and experiences her own crisis, and begins to see a therapist named Wendell. Through different patients and her own humbling experience, Lori Gottlieb gives away the secret of therapy--how to get someone to open up and talk. Funny and straight-forward, this book takes you on a roller coaster of self-discovery.
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Jia Tolentino's verbose, neurotic style is perfect for 2019. She likes to worry away at cultural issues from all angles in a way that might be polarizing, but that I, personally, find charming. (If all that worrying leads to nothing conclusive, well, that feels appropriate for 2019, too.) Subjects include modern-day scams (social media, Nasty Gal, student debt), the cultural imperative to "optimize," the
Rolling Stone University of Virginia story, and the sudden glut of feminist writing about "difficult" women. If you took David Foster Wallace in reporter mode, but made him grow up as a teenage girl with a Livejournal, you might end up with writing like this.
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New In Hardcover
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The young writers in Cassie's
Teen Writers' Workshop spent their October meeting exploring how point of view and perspective can alter and impact a story. Their first-ever fifteen-minute short story, which they wrote as a group, retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood from the wolf's perspective.
Click here to read it.
"First of all, I am not a bad guy. I prefer Taco Bell over little girls, but a wolf's gotta stay fed somehow. I can't exactly go to Taco Bell because the last time I went, well... let's just say it didn't end well."
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New Books For Young Adults
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New in the Gift Department
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Set a warm and cozy table with us.
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Available for Pre-Order Now
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What We're Reading Now...
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For over half a year, we've been partnering with the Prison Book Program to send books to people in prison. Thanks to your generosity, we've filled five large boxes and counting! We've added some new books in different genres for the holidays; please check out our expanded wishlist here.
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Django
Django is a one-and-a-half year-old Goldendoodle from Peoria, Illinois. A happy-go-lucky guy, he loves people and animals and lives with two cats. He's afraid of one cat but very much enjoys licking the other. Hopefully our biscuits are as tasty.
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Thank you for supporting your community
independent bookstore!
Sincerely,
Rebecca Stimpson
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