Well, it was harder than it should have been but we made it through 2019! Hugs, high fives, and hurrahs all around! If you're anything like us, 2019 made you take stock of your convictions and priorities. It galvanized you to be the change you want to see in the world. It motivated you to dive into this mess called life and do the right thing. We are so honored to be moving into this new year with passion and purpose alongside people like you.
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As you know, Foggy Pine Books is committed to providing opportunities for giving back, both in our local and global communities. If you've been staying abreast of the news, the fires in Australia are a countrywide catastrophe. Over 18 million acres of land have been burned and half a billion animals are injured, displaced, or deceased. When faced with such widespread destruction, it is hard to determine how we can be helpful, especially from so far away. But every little bit helps and that is why all proceeds of your purchase of a book from our environmental display will be donated to benefit WIRES and The New South Wales Rural Fire Service. Together, we can make a difference for the global community.

We all know that lasting change begins with ourselves. One of the best ways to effect change is to experience new things so we can look at our situation with fresh perspective. Luckily for us book worms, reading can aid us in that pursuit! It's truly amazing that just by sitting down with a good book, we can improve our capacity to understand other individuals and social situations. If you are ready to broaden your horizons, why not join our 2020 Foggy Pine Books Reading Challenge? You can find the challenge here or in the store. If you need a few suggestion, check out this list that Mary pulled together and don't forget to join our other readers via our Facebook group.

And even more good news - it just so happens that our Foggy Pine Book Club read for January will check a book off our reading challenge for you (you're welcome 😊)! Hope in the Dark is a collection of essays about remaining hopeful in a dark political climate. You can read all about this month's book pick (as well as browse past picks) here. And if you'd rather just escape from it all, take a peek at our Fantasy/Science Fiction pick, The Girl in the Tower, the sequel to Katherine Arden's bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale. You can read reviews, interviews, and find links to buy your very own copy here. We update these blogs each month so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming reads!

​It's a new year, so why not throw in a new read? We have some amazing titles coming to the store soon and you're sure to find something you'll love. We will have All the Great Territories, a new book of poetry by local professor & author, Matthew Wimberley; signed copies of Untamed by Glennon Doyle; and the third installment of the Nevermoor series (and staff pick), Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow. Remember, you can get 15% off the cover price when you pre-order any upcoming titles.

If one of your resolutions is to utilize your time more effectively, you're not alone and we've got your back! Can't sit down for an uninterrupted hour to get some serious reading done? Why not listen to a book while driving, running, or cleaning? You're not bored and the boring stuff still gets done - it's a win-win! Check out the incredible titles you want to read at Libro.fm, follow the simple steps to download, and plug into a great story. The best part? You can listen across all your devices because every download is DRM-free!

If you're still wanting to add a few titles to your TBR or you haven't found one yet to tickle your fancy, take a peek at what we're reading in store this month.

A few final reminders as you head into the rest of your day. We have a beautiful, shiny site all ready for your online orders. It only takes a few minutes to set up an account and you can order your books directly to your home or to pick up in store. If you're not able to find something online, don't hesitate to contact the store and let us find it for you.

Finally, if you haven't had a chance to check out our Silent Book Club you should come by next Tuesday, January 14 @ 1pm OR next Saturday January 18 @ 6pm. All you have to do is bring your current read, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and curl up in one of our chairs or couches with your book to read for an hour. Optional discussion group will follow and snacks and drinks are provided. We hope to see you then! You can learn more about upcoming events on our Events page or come grab a monthly event calendar at the store!

Read on!

Every year, for Father's Day, we get to see dads spending this special day with their kids at our bookstore. We can't tell you how much it pleases us to see fathers sharing a love of reading with their children. The encouragement of a father who loves to read can go a long way toward showing children, but boys especially, that reading is not only fun but something you can develop and enjoy your whole life.* So, we want to say thank you to ALL dads but a special thank you to the bookish ones who read bedtime stories, make up silly songs, take their kids to storytimes, and generally model reading as a pleasure activity. You are helping to build the next generation of readers, of critical thinkers, of authors and illustrators, of storytellers. And we all know that the world needs more stories.

We still have time slots available for the conference room so now's your chance to get your book club, knitting club, wine club, whatever club into a great space that is designed to meet your needs. We've got everything set up online so that making reservations is as simple as possible. You can even schedule a time to volunteer at the bookstore! We could always use someone to help out in the garden, clean, organize, read stories, and many other things. We always appreciate any help we receive but, after all, this is your bookstore too! Click here to get started or call the bookstore with any questions!

Don't forget that we accept used books now! We are available to go through your order from 12-5pm Tuesday through Saturday. If you have more than 50 books, please call ahead to make an appointment so we can be sure someone gets through them all at once. Your accepted books will be credited to your account and can be redeemed when purchasing other used books. For more information about our used book program, visit this page. Right now, we could use books to help fill out the fantasy, science fiction, chapter books, mystery, southern nonfiction, and classics sections. It's the perfect time of year to get that spare room/storage unit/closet cleaned out. 

We are still accepting donations for a few items that we need to help make Foggy Pine Books the coziest little bookstore you could imagine. ​We need rugs to help protect a few areas in the store from damage through use, particularly behind the register where we're constantly moving our chairs around and in the seating areas that get the most use. This summer has been sweltering and, even with open windows and ceiling fans, we've been feeling pretty melted by the end of the day. We could use just one standing fan to help create a cross breeze that will, hopefully, keep the store cool for the rest of the summer--especially once the new windows and window screens are installed (thank you, Joan!). Finally, we're trying to green up our space with house plants and we just love how cozy they make our space feel. We've been getting them a few at a time and nurturing some cuttings so that they can be potted but we could always use more. Whether you just have some cuttings or you have full, potted plants, we want to adopt your house plant babies. We prefer ones that need low to medium light since they'll stay inside all year long, often on top of shelves that aren't near windows. As always, a huge thank you to everyone who has donated and volunteered so far!

We have some store adjustments to share with you to make your browsing experience a little easier. We have expanded our religion section and that entire bookshelf now features the Religion/Spirituality section. We also decided to remove all biographies from the General History/Social Sciences section and relocate them to the Memoir/Autobiography section, which has been expanded and renamed Memoir/Biography. We felt that it made more sense to meld these two genres together. We've also added titles to the Discount Section so be sure to check it out!

Attention Watauga High students and parents!! We stock ALL of the summer reading titles for your rising 9th to 12th graders. We have these books in stock throughout the year so that those who won't be taking these classes until the fall will still be able to make the purchase for their class. All assigned titles are in their own section with the Battle of the Books titles. Books are separated by class and a book list is tacked up right next to the shelf. All assigned titles will get a 10% discount, as well! Included in this discount is the title assigned by Appalachian State University for the Common Reading Program--The Laramie Project. You can find this book in the same Summer Reading section.

June is Audiobook Month and our audiobook partner, Libro.fm, is giving you a FREE audiobook! All you have to do is click here to sign up for a membership, which you can cancel at any time, and you'll get your free audiobook--NO STRINGS ATTACHED! While your on their site, take some time to browse their playlists, audiobook bestsellers, and bookseller recommendations. You can always find something excellent to read on Libro.fm!

We have a couple events this weekend and a few more to wrap up the month that we'd like to share with you and hope very much to see you there.

First, let's discuss this weekend's events. On Saturday, June 23rd from 6-9pm, we'll be hosting the Travelin' Appalachians Revue. This event is a showcase of Appalachian authors, artists, and musicians featuring local creators. We're incredibly excited for this unique event and look forward to meeting the local talent. We hope you'll join in and share some free wine with us while we soak up some local Appalachian creativity. 

Next, we have the Young Adult Book Club on Sunday, June 24th at 6:30pm. We meet at the bookstore to discuss the book and share some drinks and snacks. This month we're reading Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi.  You can learn more about this book and our book club through our book club blogs. Click here to read about the June 2018 meeting. You can also check out the Foggy Pine Book Club Blog and the Hatchet Coffee Book Club Blog to learn more about those meetings that will take place next week. 

We are so excited about the Queer Literature and Film Series that we've partnered with Noble Kava to bring to our community next week. On Friday, June 29th at 6:30pm, we'll host the Queer Literature Night at Foggy Pine Books. Mary will give an introduction to the event and talk about the importance of representation and diversity in publishing. Then, we'll mingle and share book suggestions with one another. We'll have our Queer Literature display on hand with lots of LGBTQIA+ titles to help generate discussion. On Saturday, June 30th at 7pm at Noble Kava, we will be showing the movie Milk, about California's first openly gay man to be elected to public office. Kristina will introduce the film and talk a little bit about representation and about queer politics. Then, we'll watch the movie together on the kava bar's projection screen. There will be plenty of seating and snack and drinks available for purchase at the bar. 

Finally, we are pleased to introduce to you our newest featured author as a part of the Local Author's Spotlight program--Kelsey Day. Kelsey is an incredible young person whose passion for writing has led her to publish a variety of things before even finishing high school. She's just graduated now and has released a collection of poetry about her high school and own coming of age experiences titled The Last Four Years. You can pick up a copy of her book from the bookstore anytime and you can meet her at the July First Friday Art Crawl! We'll be hosting the talented young author during the downtown Art Crawl who will be available to chat with about her writing and to sign your books. You won't want to miss out on this opportunity to get Kelsey's autograph before she hits the big time. So, come out for Art Crawl on July 6th and, starting at 6pm, you'll be able to meet this lovely author and browse the store with a glass of free wine. To learn more about Kelsey and her book, click here.

We have a new review up on our website, written by our bookseller, Yelisa. She discusses Leslie Marmon Silko's classic novel, Ceremony. You can read the whole review on our review blog (click here) which features reviews from the owner and booksellers at Foggy Pine Books. 

We also have a review blog to feature reviews written by our community members! You can see the page here to read reviews and to get an idea what we're looking for. Then, the next time you finish a book you love, email it to us, and we'll feature it on our blog! We'll also let you borrow an ARC (Advance Reader's Copy) book if you'd like to review something but are unable to buy a book right now. We just want to know what books our community is into and we know that the community wants to know what everyone else is reading. So, don't be shy! Please email us your reviews!

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* - Five Reasons Why Dads Should Read to Their Children More

     You already know we love books, but we love our literary swag as well! Check out our totes, mugs, pins, socks, coasters, and much more for 10% off. We've got something for everyone, so come take a peek at our nerdy merch and take home something that marks you as a true bibliophile!     
     And as a true bibliophile, if you see a book during your browsing Saturday that you've read a million times over, sit yourself down and write us a review! Let us know which book you're writing up, give us a thoughtful and descriptive review, and you'll earn yourself a coupon for 20% off any book in the store (one per customer, pretty please). You might even get published on Our Community Reads!
    Didn't know we offered special orders or hosted community events? Sign up for our monthly Foggy Pine newsletter and get a sneak peek into the bookstore world. There are loads of perks for signing up! You'll be the first to know when new titles are coming out and what events are happening that month AND you'll be entered into a raffle to win a Libro.fm shirt and sticker!
     Speaking of Libro.fm, get a FREE audiobook when you create an account with them, Saturday only. Already a Libro.fm member? You still get that audiobook for free - they're so great like that! They have a huge selection of indie audio for you to enjoy (and a really pretty website to boot!
     We can't wait to see you Saturday to celebrate books and the places that offer them to you!

Hello, everyone! I can't believe I almost let this month get away without giving you an update. We have so much to talk about!

I'll start with events first. We have two more February events left and both take place this week. Tomorrow, Thursday, February 23 we'll meet at Hatchet Coffee at 7:30pm for our first Hatchet Coffee Book Club. We'll be discussing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and they will have Butterbeer Lattes available for $3, all day. I'm so excited for this meeting and to kick off this new book club in partnership with Hatchet Coffee. We still have copies of the screenplay available for purchase at the store. 

Saturday, February 25 we'll meet at the store for the February meeting of the Foggy Pine Book Club. We'll be discussing the beautiful novel, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. We'll also be finalizing our book choices for the next 6 months of reading! And, as always, we'll have wine and snacks to share. 

​There are also some March events that I'd like to go ahead and tell you about. We'll be jumping back into Spring with our First Friday event. It begins at 7pm on March 3rd and will last until 9pm. We'll have free wine. a giveaway, 10% off the entire store, and a Thirty-One vendor available for questions and orders. 

We'll also be returning to our children's story time. This event will take place on Saturday, March 11 at 3pm. We'll read a story together and have some kind of activity related to the story. This event usually lasts about 30 minutes and we'll have free coffee available for the parents. 

Finally, on Saturday, March 18 at 6:30pm, we have an author reading and signing with Lynn C. Willis for her book, Tell Me No Lies. This event will take place at the bookstore and books will be available for purchase beforehand at 10% off their list price. ​

We will also be sending out a new email newsletter in partnership with the literary website: Shelf Awareness. Currently, if you have signed up for the store e-newsletter, you are signed up for the Shelf Awareness e-newsletter. If you would like to be removed from the Shelf Awareness mailing list in advance, you can email Mary to have that done. If you check it out but decide that you don't want it, there's an unsubscribe button in the e-newsletter that you can click to have yourself removed. That said, we're really excited to send this newsletter out to our customers. Not only does it keep you up-to-date with the most current releases in hardback/paperback/children's books, you'll also find author interviews, book reviews, and links to other interesting articles on literary sites around the web. Plus, if something sounds so great that you can't live without it, you can click right on the "add to cart" button to buy it from us online. If you would like to register for this newsletter, please use the newsletter sign up. It has been adjusted to let you make a choice of which newsletter you'd like to have delivered to your inbox. 

One of the things we believe bookstores exist to do is to function as a community space. Right now, we don't have the space to do a lot of the things that we'd like to do but that doesn't mean that we can't start to offer more community events. So, in the spirit of community interest, we want to know which events you would be the most interested in participating in at the bookstore. We've created a quick, two question survey for you and would really appreciate you taking the time to answer it. We will definitely be reading and acting on responses so the more we have, the better we can serve the Boone community. Since it's such a short survey, we thought we'd just post it here:

The program we're most excited about offering is the Foggy Pine Ambassador Program. We love our customers and we love that our customers love us back. So, we've created an ambassador program for those that want to spread the good news about Boone's new bookstore. Here's how it works: starting in March, you will have the opportunity to become an Ambassador. We will include a signup link in the March newsletter, across social media, and on our website.

To be an Ambassador, you must agree to:
-be vocal about supporting FPB--word of mouth is the best form of advertisement
-write reviews for the store online or write book reviews for the Our Community Reads project
-give interested parties the FPB business card
-volunteer in at least one event every 6 weeks

In exchange, we will:
-give you a 10% discount on all purchases
-let you choose 1 ARC/month (doesn't have to be one we already have! Mary will ask publishers for you!)
-create a private Ambassador page on Facebook to connect Boone's most dedicated bibliophiles
-make sure you're the first to know about upcoming events, store changes, and community updates

So, stay tuned for the signup link coming soon!

​We're also extremely excited to tell that we are now able to offer digital audiobooks to our customers! Just go to the Libro.fm website to shop for audiobooks. They start as low as $5 per book and include new releases and children's books! Once you've made your purchase, you simply download the FREE Libro.fm app to your iOS or Android device and sign in. You'll be listening in no time. If you prefer to download your book and listen from your laptop or desktop computer, it's a very simple process. Every purchase you make supports Foggy Pine Books. So, shop away and please let us know if there's anything we can do to help you with this new program. 
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Last, but not least, we want to talk about Black History Month. We've had an excellent time sharing our favorite authors of color with people celebrating BHM. Though we are dedicated to promoting the voices of marginalized people through literature every day, this month has been a special time to reflect on the contributions that black people have made to literature and to the world. We have thoroughly enjoyed the warm, friendly conversations that we've been able to have with our customers about Black History Month. So, we wanted to take this moment to let you know that we are always okay to have those conversations. We want you to feel comfortable, regardless of race/gender/ethnicity/sexuality/religion/citizen status expressing yourself at Foggy Pine Books. We want to help you find your favorite book or a new author you heard about. We want to help you find the stories and the information that you long to see. We're here to support you. So, please, don't hesitate to make our store your space. Bookstore's belong to community. Let's make sure Foggy Pine Books belongs to Boone. 

Thanks for being a part of our community. ​