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!

Whew! We made it! Can you believe it's the end of the year already? We aren't going out with a whimper, either. We have lots of exciting stuff planned for December at the store and we can't wait to share it all with you!

Nearest and dearest to our hearts is our OASIS Holiday Book Drive. We have set up a donation program to benefit OASIS by providing books for all their littlest clients during the holidays. Through the 31st of this month we are taking 25% off any children's or YA book that is purchased for donation. Foggy Pine Books will match your book donation with a book donated for an adult. The books will be given to OASIS to hand out during the holiday season. Our goal is to donate 100 titles and, because of the generosity of our community, we are already well on our way!

While you're here browsing donation books, be sure to pick up a ballot to vote for the 2020 Southern Book Prize and a copy of our newest reading challenge. The finalists for the Southern Book Prize will receive votes until February 1st, 2020. If you've read one of these titles and loved it (or hated it; it happens sometimes) let your voice be heard! You can also vote with an online ballot, here.

Our 2020 Foggy Pine Books Reading Challenge has been a labor of love and we are so excited to share it with you! If you participated in our 2019 Reading Challenge, be sure to bring your completed list with you to receive your FREE BOOK! You have until Dec. 31st to claim it. Take a peek at our 2020 guidelines and start planning your stories for the upcoming year. The challenge officially starts on January 1st. Remember, if you need suggestions, we are always willing to help find something that fits the category AND your reading preferences, so ask away! We also have a Facebook group that you can join to talk to other participants, brainstorm titles, and ask Mary questions without coming into the store. You can request access here: https://bit.ly/2sL9zea 

We are also excited about the support we've received from our friends at the following local businesses: Shear Shakti, Boone Town Hall, Daniel Boone Inn, The Jones House, The Children's Playhouse, Local Lion, Espresso News, and Hatchet Coffee. Our holiday catalog can be found at all of these local shops, as well as a fine array of their specialties and other local offers! If you're not able to grab a hard copy, you can always browse from the comfort of your couch by using our online shopping link.

If you're getting anxious about coming up with the perfect gift for the bookworm in your life - we've got you covered! We have curated this holiday gift books list just for you and the bookworm(s) in your life. Fiction, non-fiction, and children's titles that are beautiful, inspiring, and begging to be flipped through again and again!

​Of course, you can pick up a catalog at the store as well and, while you're here, take a moment to meet our newest bookseller, Josh. Before moving to Boone in 2018, Josh operated a screen printing shop and toured America with a band for more than 10 years! Although he spent time in other parts of the country, driving back through the Appalachian mountains felt like home and Josh is now enrolled at ASU studying Geography (and a real nerd for cartographic design). If he's not at the store, he's either snuggled up on the couch with his partner and dog, or outside rock climbing. He's got some great stories and some great book recommendations so be sure to say hi next time you're in the store!

We are still running our rotating sale at the store so remember to check back as we will feature new sections each week. Used books will be 10% off all month long and we have a great selection right now. This week (through Saturday) get 10% off Hardcover Picture Books and next week (12/8-12/14) get 15% off Romance books. Kids Graphic Novels (12/15-12/21), General History (12/22-12/28), and Cookbooks (12/29-12/31) will round out the month. We also have special "hidden" discounts around the store--books that are on the shelf only (no display or bestseller books) that have a 20% off sticker on the front & will automatically ring up 20% off at the register. Keep some pennies in your pocket while you stock your shelves this month!

Just one more piece of new business: holiday hours. We will maintain our normal hours (Mon-Thur 11am - 7pm; Fri 11am - 9pm; Sat 12pm - 9pm; and Sun 12pm - 6pm) through December 23. On December 24th we will be open from 10am - 3pm and we will be closed Christmas Day. We will resume normal business hours until New Years Day 2020, when we will be closed again. We are looking forward to seeing and serving you this holiday season. Stay warm and read on!

Happy new year, y'all! 2018 was a year of big change for Foggy Pine Books and we couldn't have done it without your support--from painting walls and helping move to the new location to shopping with us all year long and sharing our store with friends, family, even strangers. We are deeply grateful, as well, to the other businesses & non-profits who supported and worked with us this past year: Hatchet Coffee, Out of Your Mind, SAGA, and more. This community of giving, creative, thoughtful book lovers is precisely what we'd hoped to foster in Boone. Thank you for everything. Now, keep reading to find out what 2019 will bring and how you can be involved!

Are self improvement books not your style but you resolved to read more in 2019? Check out the "Best of 2018" list that our booksellers made for you! We had Mary & Saide list their favorite books that were released in 2018 & then compiled them on out website for you to browse. You can also check out the "Staff Picks" section in the bookstore which is on the bestseller shelf.

​If you like to pick out your own books but would like to challenge yourself to read outside the box, consider doing the Foggy Pine Reading Challenge! Our booksellers created this challenge to help our community read things they might not read otherwise. If you decide to do this challenge and complete it, bring us your filled out challenge list to get a FREE book! Check out the webpage for details. 

Moving on to store announcements--we do have a few updates about our event schedule. First, the Young Adult Book Club is currently on hiatus. It didn't get a lot of interest or engagement last year so we're taking a break this winter to develop an excellent reading list and a marketing strategy that will bring this group to the members of our community who need it most.

In addition to this hiatus, the Foggy Pine Storytime is also on hold indefinitely. We spent a lot of time picking stories and creating activities for kids but the event rarely brought anyone in. We tried moving the days & times but there was no change. We still do the Playhouse Storytime on the first Wednesday of every month at 11am, however, and will be considering a renewal of the Foggy Pine Storytime later this year.

​Finally, we are also putting a hold on the Swap Shop that we partner with Noble Kava to bring to the community. The Swap Shop generated a lot of interest but we're taking a break during the winter to catalog all the items, make donations to local charities, and get ready to come back this spring--just in time for spring cleaning!

Not everything is leaving our even calendar though. We still have the Foggy Pine and Hatchet Coffee Book Clubs, the Foggy Minds Open Mic that we partner with Out of Your Mind to bring to you, the Watauga Witches community group, and all the awesome literary events we host throughout the year, like--TRIO, the Queer Arts Series, Indie Bookstore Day, Banned Books Week, and more! We're also excited to offer new programs this year. We are currently developing a book subscription service and a book club discount program. The most current news about these developments will come through our newsletter, which offers, in addition to exclusive news, the first announcements of sales and a coupon for our readers. You can sign up for it here, but we'll also make announcements on our social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as well as this blog.

Lastly, we just have some reminders for you. Don't forget while you're Kon Mari-ing your house and getting rid of all your books that Foggy Pine Books will be happy to take them off your hands! Read up about our used book program here, then call us to make an appointment for your book collection. You'll get credit for other used books in the store so you can keep reading without investing a lot of money or space in your newly organized home!

​Or maybe you didn't use the Kon Mari method but you're still supposed to host your book club meeting this month? Don't worry, we have you covered there too! Rent out our conference room to get a clean, cozy space for up to 12 people to meet. We have store parking, a comfy couch to sit on, a table to work at, and coffee available to all. If your meeting is during business hours, you can make your appointment online here. If you would like to meet outside of business hours, give us a call and we'll make the arrangements together. If you have any questions about the rental space or would like to check view it, please reach out to speak with Saide or Mary.

That's it for all our biggest updates at the beginning of 2019. We'll be posting on this blog several times throughout the year but the best way to get news about Foggy Pine Books is to sign up for the newsletter. If you sign up before the end of January, we will email you a special coupon to use on your next purchase!

Thank you again, Boone! We look forward to seeing you at our events this year and can't wait to see what great tings 2019 brings for us.