July 2019

December 17, 2020
We're in the home stretch for the holidays. There are still plenty of books in the store, so whether you want to buy online, over the phone, or in person, we can help you find the right book for everyone on your list.

Visit the store by appointment,
and get recommendations
from our booksellers.
Book an appointment, and stop in to browse a selection of the season's best books. Talk to a bookseller for personal recommendations for everyone on your list. Discover great new books.

Please note that the entire store is not open for browsing. We've gathered a selection of bestsellers and staff picks for you to peruse, and we're happy to show you anything else in the store for your consideration.

Appointments are available Monday to Saturday from 1pm to 5pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm.


Last Minute Holiday Suggestions

Still haven't finished your holiday shopping?
Here are some last minute ideas for our hottest selling titles right now.

Be Wild Be Free By Amber Fossey

Adults need picture books, too! A stunning, full-color debut gift book from renowned artist Amber Fossey (@zeppelinmoon), whose whimsical illustrations and clever witticisms reveal the universal struggle and happy magic of being a perfectly imperfect human being.

Do you hear the beasts scratching at the door? They’ve been sleeping too long, and now they’re getting feisty. 

Through a mash-up of poetry, comic fiction and watercolor illustrations, this beautiful picture book for adults weaves a narrative of how we can all become wild and free again. Looking at life through the eyes of Sloth, Bear, Koala, and even Blob Fish, these animals tell the stories of the raw beauty of life on our planet, encouraging us to let go of fear, stick our fingers/paws up at societal pressure, and love ourselves and one another with abandon.


Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants By Robin Wall Kimmerer

Updated with a new introduction from Robin Wall Kimmerer, the special edition of Braiding Sweetgrass, reissued in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Milkweed Editions, celebrates the book as an object of meaning that will last the ages. Beautifully bound with a new cover featuring an engraving by Tony Drehfal, this edition includes a bookmark ribbon, a deckled edge, and five brilliantly colored illustrations by artist Nate Christopherson. 
A Promised Land By Barack Obama

“Barack Obama is as fine a writer as they come. . . . [A Promised Land] is nearly always pleasurable to read, sentence by sentence, the prose gorgeous in places, the detail granular and vivid. . . . The story will continue in the second volume, but Barack Obama has already illuminated a pivotal moment in American history, and how America changed while also remaining unchanged.”—Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The New York Times Book Review
The Vanishing Half: A Novel By Brit Bennett

“[Bennett’s] second [book], The Vanishing Half, more than lives up to her early promise. . . more expansive yet also deeper, a multi-generational family saga that tackles prickly issues of racial identity and bigotry and conveys the corrosive effects of secrets and dissembling. It's also a great read that will transport you out of your current circumstances, whatever they are. . . Like The Mothers, this novel keeps you turning pages not just to find out what happens.” —NPR

“Bennett’s gorgeously written second novel, an ambitious meditation on race and identity, considers the divergent fates of twin sisters, born in the Jim Crow South, after one decides to pass for white. Bennett balances the literary demands of dynamic characterization with the historical and social realities of her subject matter.”—The New York Times
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless.” It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it’s also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill’s prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London.

Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports—some released only recently—Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents’ wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the advisers in Churchill’s “Secret Circle,” to whom he turns in the hardest moments.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents By Isabel Wilkerson

As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.”
 
In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.



Great books make great gifts

Whether you're looking for cooking or crafts, history or humor, we've got just the book for everyone on your holiday list. Here are a few suggestions. Come in and talk to a bookseller for even more recommendations to help you make just the right choice.




Go Beyond Books

Postcards, puzzles, and calendars make great gifts.



Thank you for being a part of
2020's virtual events.

Thank you for all of the authors and audience members that participated in our events both in person and virtual. It has been a pleasure to be able to continue to bring you great authors and great books in this strange digital year.

You can check out our year's events on our YouTube channel (note that events from this week are still being uploaded)

Please keep a look out on our website for a full schedule of events in 2021.
--Riley Jay Davis (Events Manager)


Thanks for reading all the way to the end.

We've got lots more great books in the store. We hope you'll talk to us soon for a recommendation. Follow us on social media for the latest news. We’re Next Chapter Booksellers on Facebook; we’re @nextchapterbooksellers on Instagram; and we’re @NextChapterMN on Twitter.


--all of us at Next Chapter Booksellers