WORDS BY THE WATER - Drury Lane Books

The Drury Lane Books NewsletterVol. 25, May 2019

TRAVELING THROUGH BOOKS with Manager Gwen Danfelt Can’t travel to the bookstore

as often as you’d like?

•Order online 24/7 - Ship to you - Free pickup at store.

•Keep in touch on Facebook or Instagram. I post about upcoming events, what we’re reading, and yes, photos of the lake.

•Living offline? Call 218-387-3370 to order books or gift certificates.

“It’s a magical world, Hobbes, ol’ buddy . . . Let’s go exploring!” ― Bill Waterson, Calvin and Hobbes

12 East Wisconsin Street, Grand Marais, MN 55604 218-387-3370 drurylanebooks.com

WORDS BY THE WATER

Few of us have the means, the time, or the inclination to travel the world. But all of us have the ability to travel it through books! Here’s a few titles I read recently that took me away from my wonderful little town out into the wide world.

Barkskins by Annie Proulx starts in New France (Eastern Canada & Maine) in 1693, as two young Frenchmen arrive to become woodcutters, or barkskins, in the New World. We follow these two Frenchmen and their descendants through to modern day, as they marry into the Mi’kmaq tribes of the East Coast, cut vast forests of New England and Canada, travel to China and New Zealand, and ride (and drive) the tide of colonization and migration across the new America, changing the landscape as they go. This epic has been called an “environmental novel”, and I learned so much about our continent’s history and people.

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal takes us to the traditional Sikh community of Southall, London. Nikki is the daughter of modern Sikh Indian immigrants, and prefers her Westernized London life. After taking a job in Southall teaching Punjabi widows to write, Nikki learns there is much more to these widows than drab arranged marriages and cooking. This warm, funny novel gave me a fascinating look into the worlds of Indian Londoners, Punjabi traditional society, and Sikh life. And there’s a mystery!

Stay with Me by Ayobami Adebayo is also set in a world where traditional cultures are colliding head-on with modern values, but this time in 1980s Nigeria. A young, modern, educated, married couple are unable to conceive children. Their families’ rural values demand polygamy, a traditional practice in Nigeria. The story unravels from there. Secrets, deceptions, plot twists, this story is a roller coaster of emotions thatdefinitelytookmefaraway!

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westovertakes place closer to home geographically, but still worlds away. Tara Westover was raised in Idaho by her Mormon, survivalist, conspiracy-theorist father and herbalist and midwife mother. She had no formal education and never visited a doctor, and lived in a world where drinking Diet Coke was a sin. Today she has a PhD from Cambridge and a fellowship from Harvard. Her educational journey is just one theme in this incredible story.

We read Educated and lots of other great books in our new Drury Lane Book Club! Open to all, join us for monthly book discussions after hours at the store. More info on page 5.

Even if I had the means and the time to travel the world, for cultural and temporal reasons I wouldn’t be able to access the places that these stories took me to. Thank goodness for books!

Best Sellers 2017

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“I wish for nothing more than this cobble beach, this sun, these pines, this necklace of air…This smooth tumbled stone in my palm.”—Jean Miriam Larson, The Superior Life


FICTIONStill Life Louise PennyFolly Laurie R. KingIron Lake William Kent KruegerThe Lightkeeper’s Daughters Jean PendziwolWintering Peter GeyeThe Hungry Coast: Fables from the North Shore of Minnesota Marlais BrandThe Hate U Give Angie ThomasDreadful Young Ladies Kelly BarnhillA Gentleman in Moscow Amor TowlesThe Alice Network Kate Quinn

CHILDREN’S BOOKSOne North Star: A Counting Book Betsy Bowen & Phyllis RootThe Sock Goblin Rose Arrowsmith Decoux & Kari VickGood Night Stories for Rebel Girls Elena Favilli & Francesca CavalloGoodnight Loon Abe SauerAntler, Bear, Canoe Betsy BowenHush Hush, Forest Mary Casanova & Nick WroblewskiThe Birchbark House Louise ErdrichThe Girl Who Drank the Moon Kelly Barnhill

NON-FICTIONGunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters CaryGriffithBoundary Waters Boy Jack BlackwellThe Art of the Wasted Day Patricia HamplMinnesota, 1918: When Flu, Fire, and War Ravaged the State Curt BrownGichi Bitobig, Grand Marais: Early Accounts of the Anishinaabeg and the North Shore Fur Trade Timothy CochraneGrandmother Dreams Jennifer ShoalsRock Picker’s Guide to Lake Superior’s North Shore Mark StensaasLake Superior Rocks & Minerals Bob LynchWaterfalls: Minnesota’s North Shore Eve & Gary WallengaThe Superior Life Jean Miriam LarsonOnigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year Linda Legarde GroverOMG: Growing Our God Images Mary Ellen Ashcroft

Bestsellers 2018

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Events Calendar 2019


WRITER’S SALONS Join us to hear authors read from their work, answer questions, discuss writing and literature, and sign books.

June 8 7 PM Lorna Landvik Chronicles of a Radical Hag (with Recipes) June 15 7 PM Linda Legarde Grover In the Night of Memory June 29 7 PM Sheila O’Connor Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth July 6 7 PM Shannon Gibney Dream Country July 13 7 PM Cary Waterman Threshold: New & Selected PoemsAug 3 7 PM Sara Paretsky Shell GameAug 17 7 PM Anthony Bukoski Head of the Lakes: Short StoriesAug 24 7 PM Leif Enger Virgil WanderSept 7 7 PM Marcie Rendon Girl Gone MissingSept 21 5 PM William Kent Krueger This Tender Land

FULL MOON READINGS Eachfullmoonwegatheroutsidearoundthefiretohearlocalwritersread their own work or the work of others. Join us to enjoy the spoken word and the moon rising over the lake.

June 17 7 PM Karen HalberslebenJuly 16 8 PM Music with Yvonne MillsAug 15 7 PM Children’s books read-aloudSept 13 7 PM Amanda HandOct 13 6 PM Ruth Pszwaro

THE MUFFIN MAN STORY HOURCaptivating picture books read aloud for young children and the young at heart.Saturdays 11 AM Memorial Day through Labor Day

NORTH SHORE READERS & WRITERS FESTIVALNovember 7-10, 2019The North Shore Readers and Writers Festival is a biennial event that locates, celebrates, and fosters the literary arts and engagement with the written word. Readers, writers, and book professionals come together overfourdaysfilledwithauthortalks,paneldiscussions,mini-classes,and craft seminars.Registration opens summer of 2019 at grandmaraisartcolony.org.

Cary Waterman

Leif Enger

Linda Legrade Grover

Lorna Landvik

Marcie Rendon

Sara Paretsky

Sheila O’Connor

William Kent Krueger

Shannon Gibney

Anthony Bukoski

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Staff Recommends


JOAN’S RECOMMENDATIONS

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is a memoir, sort of, written in the form of a letter to his teen-aged son. Coates is an impressive, exquisite writer and an astounding thinker. I’ve never read anything that made me better grasp what it means to be a black man in this society. Incredibly thought-provoking. I agree with Toni Morrison: This should be required reading. I intend to re-read it yearly to refresh my knowledge.

Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth by Sheila O’Connor

An epistolary novel, letters written between an eleven-year-old girl, Reenie, and an elderly man, Mr. Marsworth. This takes place in 1968 and is about the war in Vietnam and conscientious objection. It makes the reader considerpatriotism:isitfightingforone’scountry or is it believing in everyone’s right to their own opinion and the right to speak their mind? Or both? But mostly, this is about friendship and love and how love makes the world a place in which we’re glad to live. I loved this book!

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

This is an odd and unique mystery about a young woman and a family she never knew existed as well as many family secrets that the main character unravels, gradually, throughout the book. The characters are extremely believable: often unlikable, later more likable than one expected. The pacing keeps the reader turning the pages with curiosity and apprehension. This is splendid writing and a fascinating story. I couldn’t (nor didn’t want to) put it down.

JANE’S RECOMMENDATIONThe Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld

Something woeful happens to Taylor. All the animals try to help, but only the rabbit knows what to do. This book is a wonderful way to teach children (of all ages) how to deal with sorrowful happenings in their lives. It touched my heart, and I recommend it to everyone!

MARY ELLEN’S RECOMMENDATIONSThe Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

Set along the Zambia/Zimbabwe border, this novel brings the history up close and personal, following three generations of women’sverydifferentlifeexperiencesthere.Serpell’s writing is outstanding: each section about an individual woman is introduced with a short piece of prose playfully highlighting colonial issues (makes it palatable!) Distinct personality and detail characterize these stories of grandmothers, mothers and daughters.Greattohaveanotherfinewriterof the African experience!

“I would not have you descend into your own dream.

I would have you be a conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.”

—Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me

The Lost Forest by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Betsy Bowen

When my grandchildren go to the book shelf to pick out a book for me to read to them, they most often choose one illustrated by Betsy Bowen—something about the bright colorful illustrations, the northern themes, the mix of story and fact—grabs them like it does me. The Lost Forest delights—with its Root’s story of a fortunate muddle by surveyors, its lists and illustrations of foresters’ gear, and the wonder of trees and animals left to thrive.

What Book Groups in Cook County are Reading 2019


WEST OF EDEN BOOK CLUBThe Book that Matters Most Ann HoodI Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya AngelouGift from the Sea Anne Morrow Lindbergh

WEST END BEER AND BOOK POSSEBarkskins Annie ProulxSolar Storms Linda HoganChance Kem Nunn

READ IT OR NOT, HERE I COMEHomegoing Yaa GyasiRaising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America Jennifer HarveyBecoming Michelle Obama

WESTENDERSBarracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” Zora Neale HurstonEducated Tara WestoverWhere the Crawdads Sing Delia Owens

WHOLE LOT OF WOMEN WINE AND WORDSPachinko Min Jin LeeThe Cuckoo’s Calling Robert Galbraith

801 BOOK CLUB Anna Karenina Leo TolstoyDead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania Erik LarsonThe Road Back to Sweetgrass Linda Legarde Grover

AVID READERSLincoln in the Bardo George SaundersThe Life We Bury Allen EskensMagpie Murders Anthony Horowitz

THE BOOKIESThe Line Becomes a River Francisco CantuLess Andrew Sean Greer The Refugees Viet Thanh Nguyen

THE BOOK TROUTSWhere the Crawdads Sing Delia OwensThe Sparrow Mary Doria RussellEducated Tara Westover

BOOKS THAT BINDPachinko Min Jin LeeTinkers Paul HardingThe Life We Bury Allen Eskens

HOVLAND BOOK GROUP (open to public)Our Towns James & Deborah FallowsNotorious RBG Irin Carmon & Shana KnizhnikA Gentleman in Moscow Amor Towles

NO GUILT BOOK GROUPThe Tattooist of Auschwitz Heather MorrisBread of Three Rivers SaraMansfieldTaberThe Hate U Give Angie Thomas

SHAKESPEARE READERS GROUPThis group is public and meets October - May to read Shakespeare. Richard III Tyrant: Shakespeare on Politics Stephen Greenblatt

DRURY LANE BOOK GROUPOur monthly book discussions are open to anyone! Join us any of the following Sundays at 5 PM.

May 19 – The Stranger in the Woods Michael FinkelJune 23 – Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth Sheila O’ConnorJuly 28 – Dream Country Shannon GibneyAugust 18 – All the Wild Hungers Karen BabineSeptember 15 – This Tender Land William Kent KruegerOctober 20 – The Great Alone Kristin Hannah

SENIOR CENTER BOOK CLUB (Open to public)Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea Barbara DemickThe Art of the Wasted Day Patricia HamplGunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters CaryGriffith

HOURS 2019

Open 6 days a week 10 – 5 May – December

Open till 6 PM in July & August!

Open Sundays 10 – 4 May 19 – Sept 29

OPEN ALL WINTER

Call or check online for open hours

PO Box 998, Grand Marais, MN 55604

218-387-3370 drurylanebooks.com

There is no frigate like a book

To take us lands away,

Nor any coursers like a page

Of prancing poetry.

This traverse may the poorest take

Without oppress of toll;

How frugal is the chariot

That bears a human soul!

― Emily Dickinson

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WORDS BY THE WATER - Drury Lane Books