Blog Posts

March 2020

3/9/2020

by Katharine Brown

Hello fellow bookworms! Spring is here with grey mornings, soggy afternoons, and chilly evenings but don't you worry, we have some great opportunities to keep you from getting bored as we wait for the sunshine. We have our monthly book clubs, an open mic, author events and more. Or, if you'd rather stay inside and snuggle up with a good book, check out our staff picks and new releases. There's something for everyone at Foggy Pine Books!

We are always excited to be partnering again with Out of Your Mind, a local, non-profit mental health community, to bring you Foggy Minds Open Mic! This open mic will provide a space for our local high school students and extended community to creatively express themselves and socialize with other artists! Musicians, poets, comedians, and magicians are welcome. Foggy Minds Open Mic will take place every second Monday of the month from 5:30-7:00pm at Foggy Pine Books. Our next meeting is Monday, March 9th, TODAY, and we hope to see you there. You can learn more and RSVP here on our Facebook page.

We are continuing to host Silent Book Club and have meetings twice a month, the second Tuesday @ 1pm and the third Saturday @ 6pm. Getting involved is simple. Just show up with the book you’re currently reading, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and read for an hour curled up in one of our chairs or couches. When you're finished, you can chat with other members in the conference room or you can head out. No pressure. If you're interested in a more traditional book club, our Foggy Pine Book Club meets on the last Saturday of the month @ 7:30pm and a Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Club that meets the last Thursday of the month @ 6:30pm. Check out this month's selections on the book club blogs where you can read author interviews, book reviews, and more.

Come join us for a community event featuring local author Meredith Leigh and Blue Ridge Women In Agriculture (BRWIA) in celebration of the second edition release of Ms. Leigh's book, The Ethical Meat Handbook. Foggy Pine Books will host a conversation between Ms. Leigh and BRWIA on assuming responsibility for the food on your fork, integrating animals into your garden or homestead, and the economics and parameters for responsible meat production. For more information or to RSVP check out our Facebook event.

Last month, we introduced you to Elly, our new professional writing intern. She has been hard at work researching literary news, writing reviews, and crafting blog posts. If you've read The Golden Compass you'll love her take on the award-winning YA book and, if you're a Gaiman fan (and who isn't?) you'll be over the moon when you read her piece about The Sandman. Take a peek, leave a comment, and let her know what you think!

You may have heard that the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce is offering an opportunity to recognize the best and brightest of our community and we think we know just the person to support! Mary works tirelessly to make sure your community book store is a safe place for all & would be a great nominee. Contact us with any questions, then follow the link to make your nomination today!

As you know, we have partnered with Libro.fm to bring you the hottest new audiobooks at great prices that support your local indie bookstore (that's us!). They have everything you want to listen to, including a Foggy Pine Books Staff Picks list and a playlist for Women's History Month. Want to earn two free book credits? Switch from Audible & use the code SWITCH when you sign up to get your free credits! We want to reward you for choosing your local indie bookstore.

We do have a bit of housekeeping to cover when it comes to parking. We know how difficult it is to find parking on King St. but, with the amount of downtown traffic, we are having to enforce our customers-only parking policy more strictly. The 6 spaces marked by 3 signs on the Turchin Center side of the lot and the handicapped parking space are for Foggy Pine customers currently in the store ONLY. You may not leave your car & walk elsewhere. If you do this, we will have you towed, at your expense, according to the signs posted clearly in our lot. If your car has been towed, you may pick it up from Bill's Garage. Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Staff Picks:

Take a peek at what we're reading behind the scenes this month. As always, if you've read any of these titles, we'd love to chat with you about them!

Mary:

Josh:

Raj:

Deion:

Elly:

Katharine:

Before we wrap up this post, we have some sneak-peeks at events coming soon that we know you'll be as excited about as we are. April 25th is Independent Bookstore Day and we have lots of exciting things planned to celebrate. Keep your eyes peeled for a blog post detailing all the discounts, giveaways, and other surprises we have in store! Then, in May, we are thrilled to bring author Brian Panowich to Foggy Pine Books to launch his new book, Hard Cash Valley. Finally, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement later this week about a new series of low stress social events. If you’re an introvert, new in town, or just want to socialize in a casual, task-oriented environment, these events will be perfect for you. More details will be forthcoming so make sure you’re signed up for our newsletter! We can't wait to see you all there!

Read on!

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Up & Coming Books of 2020

2/26/2020

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By Elly Murray

Hey there! Are you looking for some interesting new reads in the coming year? Look no further; we’ve gone ahead and picked out some of our favorites for you. This list of 10 books coming out this year includes powerful stories of historical fiction, memoirs that challenge the society we live in, a few books for younger readers, and books suited to many other interests.

Read on for descriptions of each book, as well as where you can pre-order them, and when they’ll be available at Foggy Pine Books. In addition, several of these books can be used to check off your 2020 Reading Challenge!

1. Docile by K.M. Szpara

“Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles. To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents’ debts and buy your children’s future.”

Elisha, a young farmer, must become a Docile to provide a better future for his sister. However, he’s going to do it without the aid of Dociline, the drug that makes Dociles blissfully unaware of their pain and surroundings. The same drug that permanently damaged his mother after years of use. What he doesn’t bank on is becoming the Docile of Alexander Bishop III, whose family created Dociline.

K.M. Szpara is a queer and trans author who has already recieved Hugo and Nebula nominations for “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” a novelette about a gay trans man who gets bitten by a vampire. Docile is his debut novel and it promises to be a riveting book. Bonus: Mary loved this book & highly recommends you give it a read!

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on March 3rd.

2020 Reading Challenge:

14. A book with a one word title
or
22. A book by a trans-gender/non-binary author

2. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on March 3rd.

2020 Reading Challenge

24. A historical fiction

“Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new “emancipation” bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress.

It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. The bill is a ‘termination’ that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity. How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans ‘for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run’?”

Louise Erdrich is an American author who writes stories featuring Native American characters and settings. She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. The Night Watchmen is based on the life of Erdrich’s grandfather, as well as a few other characters central to the story.

3. The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane by Kate O'Shaughnessy

“Eleven-year-old Maybelle Lane collects sounds. She records the Louisiana crickets chirping, Momma strumming her guitar, their broken trailer door squeaking. But the crown jewel of her collection is a sound she didn't collect herself: an old recording of her daddy's warm-sunshine laugh, saved on an old phone's voicemail. It's the only thing she has of his, and the only thing she knows about him.

Until the day she hears that laugh--his laugh--pouring out of the car radio. Going against Momma's wishes, Maybelle starts listening to her radio DJ daddy's new show, drinking in every word like a plant leaning toward the sun. When he announces he'll be the judge of a singing contest in Nashville, she signs up. What better way to meet than to stand before him and sing with all her heart?”

Kate O’Shaughnessy’s debut novel promises to be a heart-wrenching, spectacular read about the difference between blood relatives and the family you choose for yourself.

Pre-order online or purchase in store on March 3rd.

2020 Reading Challenge

7. A middle-grade novel
or
20. A book with a coming of age story

4. The Story of More by Hope Jahren

Pre-order online or purchase in store on March 3rd.

“Hope Jahren is an award-winning geobiologist, a brilliant writer, and one of the seven billion people with whom we share this earth. The Story of More is her impassioned open letter to humanity as we stand at the crossroads of survival and extinction. Jahren celebrates the long history of our enterprising spirit--which has tamed wild crops, cured diseases, and sent us to the moon--but also shows how that spirit has created excesses that are quickly warming our planet to dangerous levels.

In short, highly readable chapters, she takes us through the science behind the key inventions--from electric power to large-scale farming and automobiles--that, even as they help us, release untenable amounts of carbon dioxide. She explains the current and projected consequences of greenhouse gases--from superstorms to rising sea levels--and the science-based tools that could help us fight back.”

In a time where everyone is throwing out random information about climate change, some true and some false, Jahren provides an uncompromised guide to understanding just what is going on in our world, and what we can do about it.

5. Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit

“A landmark memoir from the author of Men Explain Things to Me: an electric portrait of the artist as a young woman that asks how a writer finds her voice in a society that prefers women to be silent.

In Recollections of My Nonexistence, Rebecca Solnit describes her formation as a writer and as a feminist in 1980s San Fransisco, in an atmosphere of gender violence on the street and throughout society and the exclusion of women from cultural arenas. She tells of being poor, hopeful, and adrift in the city that became her great teacher; of the small apartment that, when she was nineteen, became the home in which she transformed herself; of how punk rock gave form and voice to her own fury and explosive energy.”

This pivotal memoir examines the voicelessness and abuse that women are forced to struggle through every day, as well as Solnit’s own experiences with that sort of helplessness. She recounts how she was liberated and became a voice for women’s rights.

Pre-order online or purchase in-store March 10th.

6. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on March 10th.

2020 Reading Challenge

14. A book with a one-word title

“There is a voice of longing inside every woman. We strive so mightily to be good: good mothers, daughters, partners, employees, citizens, and friends. We believe all this striving will make us feel alive. Instead, it leaves us feeling weary, stuck, overwhelmed, and underwhelmed. We look at our lives, relationships, and world, and wonder: Wasn’t it all supposed to be more beautiful than this? We quickly silence that question, telling ourselves to be grateful. We hide our simmering discontent—even from ourselves. Until we reach our boiling point.

Four years ago, Glennon Doyle—Oprah-endorsed author, renowned activist and humanitarian, wife and mother of three—was speaking at a conference when a woman entered the room. Glennon looked at her and fell instantly in love. Three words flooded her mind: There. She. Is. At first, Glennon assumed these words came to her from on high. Soon she realized that they came to her from within.”

Best-selling author Glennon Doyle has produced yet another impactful book about the power of women to overcome society’s expectations and recognize themselves.

7. So We Can Glow by Leesa Cross-Smith

“From Kentucky to the California desert, these forty-two short stories—some long, some gone in a flash, some told over text and emails—expose the essence of girls and women in moments of obsessive desire and fantasy, wildness and bad behavior, brokenness and fearlessness, and more.

Teenage girls sneak out on a summer night to meet their boyfriends by the train tracks. A woman escapes suffocating grief through a vivid fantasy life. Members of a cult form an unsettling chorus as they extol their passion for the same man. A love story begins over cabbages in a grocery store. A laundress’s life is consumed by obsession for a famous baseball player. Two high school friends kiss all night and binge-watch Winona Ryder movies after the death of a sister.

Leesa Cross-Smith’s sensuous stories will drench readers in nostalgia for summer nights and sultry days, the intense friendships of teenage girls, and the innate bonds felt between mothers, while holding up the wild hearts of women so they can catch the light.”

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on March 10th.

2020 Reading Challenge

20. A book with a coming of age story

8. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on April 7th.

2020 Reading Challenge

24. A historical fiction

“It’s August in Paris and 17-year-old Khayyam Maquet—American, French, Indian, Muslim—is at a crossroads. This holiday with her professor parents should be a dream trip for the budding art historian. But her maybe-ex-boyfriend is probably ghosting her, she might have just blown her chance at getting into her dream college, and now all she really wants is to be back home in Chicago figuring out her messy life instead of brooding in the City of Lights.

Two hundred years before Khayyam’s summer of discontent, Leila is struggling to survive and keep her true love hidden from the Pasha who has “gifted” her with favored status in his harem. In the present day—and with the company of a descendant of Alexandre Dumas—Khayyam begins to connect allusions to an enigmatic 19th-century Muslim woman whose path may have intersected with Alexandre Dumas, Eugene Delacroix, and Lord Byron.

Echoing across centuries, Leila and Khayyam’s lives intertwine, and as one woman’s long-forgotten life is uncovered, another’s is transformed.”

9. Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

“Conjure Women is a sweeping story that brings the world of the South before and after the Civil War vividly to life. Spanning eras and generations, it tells of the lives of three unforgettable women: Miss May Belle, a wise healing woman; her precocious and observant daughter Rue, who is reluctant to follow in her mother's footsteps as a midwife; and their master's daughter Varina. The secrets and bonds among these women and their community come to a head at the beginning of a war and at the birth of an accursed child, who sets the townspeople alight with fear and a spreading superstition that threatens their newly won, tenuous freedom.

Magnificently written, brilliantly researched, richly imagined, Conjure Women moves back and forth in time to tell the haunting story of Rue, Varina, and May Belle, their passions and friendships, and the lengths they will go to save themselves and those they love.”

Afia Atakora’s debut novel is a riveting historical fiction that for once presents the unique point of view of African-American women during the Civil War, while adding just a hint of magic.

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on April 7th.

2020 Reading Challenge

24. A historical fiction

10. Bedtime Bonnet by Nancy Redd

Pre-order online or purchase in-store on April 7th.

2020 Reading Challenge

12. A picture book

“In my family, when the sun goes down, our hair goes up!
My brother slips a durag over his locs.
Sis swirls her hair in a wrap around her head.
Daddy covers his black waves with a cap.
Mama gathers her corkscrew curls in a scarf.
I always wear a bonnet over my braids, but tonight I can't find it anywhere!

Bedtime Bonnet gives readers a heartwarming peek into quintessential Black nighttime hair traditions and celebrates the love between all the members of this close-knit, multi-generational family.”

Nancy Redd is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Bedtime Bonnet is her first children’s book, and so far it’s been described as “the best children’s book of 2020” by TheGrio. This book is a cozy story of a family’s bedtime rituals, and is a great read for families who enjoyed Hair Love by Matthew A. Cherry.

All of these exciting new books at Foggy Pine promise for a year of snuggling cozily into your armchairs with some hot chocolate and a good read. If you'd like any recommendations on books for the 2020 Reading Challenge or just for fun, our booksellers are always happy to help. Remember, all pre-orders are 15% off the list price. And as always, read on!

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Neil Gaiman's Sandman

2/10/2020

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By Elly Murray

Novelist and comics writer Neil Gaiman has been on a roll for the past few years.

American Gods, the 2017 television adaptation of his 2001 book, was praised for its visual style and was renewed for a third season to be released sometime in 2020. Good Omens, a hit 2019 interpretation of the book he co-wrote with Terry Pratchett way back in 1990, has also seen incredible success in the months since its debut.

Now, Gaiman is working with Netflix to produce a television show based on The Sandman, one of the most influential comics he’s ever created.

Gaiman released the first issue of The Sandman in 1988, under DC’s Vertigo imprint, and the series was soon a cult classic. The story mainly follows the misadventures of Dream of the Endless a.k.a. The Sandman, a powerful being who controls the Dreaming, the place we visit in our dreams. Dream is, as Gaiman describes him, “a gloomy sort of bugger” and throughout the comic he constantly struggles with the knowledge that everyone must change or die, and he will also have to make that choice.

Written in Gaiman’s singularly unique style, The Sandman was one of the few comics to ever make the New York Times Bestsellers list, with Maus, Watchmen, and The Dark Knight Returns for company. It was also one of five graphic novels to make Entertainment Weekly's "100 Best Reads from 1983 to 2008," ranking at No. 46.

For over two decades, fans of The Sandman have been hoping desperately that it will be reworked for the screen--any screen, really. There have been a few movie attempts, and the inklings of a television show as well, but nothing has really gotten off the ground.

However, the new partnership with Netflix shows some real promise, especially in the wake of Gaiman’s latest successful TV adaptations. Netflix has also already produced Lucifer, a TV show based on a character from the original Sandman run.

Gaiman is set to be executive-producer of the show, with co-writer David Goyer (The Dark Knight) and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman) as showrunner. He confirmed in a Twitter post that the first season will be eleven episodes, and will cover The Sandman’s first volume, Preludes and Nocturnes, and possibly part of the second volume, The Doll’s House.

"I hope that it's gonna be about as faithful as Good Omens the TV series was to Good Omens the book,” Gaiman said in a CBC interview. “Which is to say, you do things that people loved in the comic on the TV because they loved that thing and why would you change it? But you also take advantage of what you can do on television and what you can do on the screen. There are a lot of Sandman fans, and they're waiting for the Sandman that they know and love to be on the screen, and that's what we want to give them."

The Sandman TV show is still in the early stages of development, so there’s no release date or cast lined up as of yet. However, fans of Gaiman’s work (myself included!) will eagerly await the news.

And while we’re waiting, if you want to jump into The Sandman or any of Gaiman’s other works, Foggy Pine Books has got you covered!

Come by anytime to get a recommendation from our booksellers or you can get started here:

From this article--
The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes (Vol. 1)  Paperback
American Gods  Mass Market Paperback  Audiobook
Good Omens Mass Market Paperback Audiobook
Lucifer   Paperback

More for Adults--
Anansi Boys
Neverwhere
Norse Mythology
The Ocean at the End of the Lane

For young readers--
Blueberry Girl
Coraline
The Graveyard Book
Stardust

Be sure to pop by the store, get your fill of Neil Gaiman’s unique writing style, and give Jane the cat some pets. Happy reading!

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February 2020

2/6/2020

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February is here and no matter how you feel about Valentine's Day (😍/🤮), we know you'll agree that everyone wants to feel loved. You have certainly made that feeling real for us this year as we were honored to receive the Startup Business of the Year award from the Boone Chamber of Commerce. We know this award is directly related to community nominations and we literally could not have done any of this without you so thank you, from the bottom of our hearts! We are grateful to be part of such a generous and open-minded community of book lovers and we look forward to serving you for many years.

If you're a lover of Valentine's Day, be sure to come by the store for our First Friday Art Crawl, Friday, February 7th, and create your own love notes to distribute to your favorite people. We will have a Valentine's craft station, free wine (with valid ID), and a great giveaway! Plus, if you make a shelf-talker for a book in our store, you get a coupon for 20% off ONE BOOK.

Not sure which book to purchase with your 20% off? Why not snag one of our new releases? There are several new titles available this month and you're sure to find something you love. You can choose from the following: A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Barry, Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller, How to Live on 24 Hours a Day by Arnold Bennett, When We Were Vikings by Andrew David MacDonald, The Third Rainbow Girl by Emma Copley Eisenberg, and Highfire by Eoin Colfer.

Watching a show or texting with a friend and the name of a great new book comes up? Afraid you won't remember the title when you finally make it to the store? Jump online and order it while you're thinking about it! You can have it shipped directly to your home or order it for in-store pick-up.

When you're ready to recommend your new book to a friend, you can use Libro.fm's new service, Bookstore Link, to be sure those you love are supporting your local bookstore. Bookstore Link connects readers to their local independent bookstore for online book purchases. When you follow a link to a book on Bookstore Link, you'll choose your local independent bookstore and be connected directly to our website to complete your transaction. This ensures that Foggy Pine Books, not Amazon, is making book sales. It's a win for all of us!

Not only does Libro.fm provide thousands of DRM-free audiobooks and independent bookstore support via Bookstore Link, they also offer FREE ALC's (Advanced Listening Copies) for all teachers and librarians. That's right! If you are a teacher or librarian, you can sign-up and download the books everyone else is waiting to read! Get started here!

Wondering what titles you can expect in your ALC's? Chances are, some of our most popular upcoming pre-orders will be available! These include: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, If It Bleeds by Stephen King, Conjure Women by Afia Atakora, The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickles, Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi (Book 3 of the Pandava Series), and Stormsong by C.L. Polk. If you're wanting to get your hands on a hard copy of these titles you'll be happy to know that all pre-orders are marked 15% off the cover price. So browse away and, when you're ready to order, head over to the website to choose your favorite one(s)!

If you've been by lately, maybe for a book club or author event, you may have noticed a new face around the store. We would like to formally introduce y'all to Elly Murray, our newest staff member. Elly is interning with Foggy Pine Books as she pursues her professional writing degree at App State. She is writing content for the blog and newsletter and, closer to the end of the semester, will be doing an intern takeover of all our social media. Keep your eyes peeled for her exciting, literary content and be sure to give her a wave if you see her around the store!

Speaking of book clubs and author events, we are excited to be hosting/co-hosting a ton of amazing events in February. First up is Story Slam at Noble Kava on Saturday, February 8th at 7pm. Come out and tell your true, 5 minute story on the theme "Moral Dilemma". Not ready to share your own story? Come listen and enjoy this welcoming and supportive community storytelling event. Foggy Pine Books also hosts a monthly open mic in partnership with Out of Your Mind, a local, non-profit mental health community. We'll be meeting on Feb. 10 at 5:30pm at the bookstore. This open mic provides a space for our local high school students (& extended community) to creatively express themselves and socialize with other artists. Musicians, poets, comedians, dancers, and magicians are welcome!

We are, once again, hosting a TRIO Live event on February 18th at 7pm. TRIO is a testament to the way words, music and art can come together around the power of a single story. We will be hosting the following authors/songwriters/visual artists this year and we hope you'll join us for this free event brought to you by Working Title Farm and check out some of the books, music, and art promoted by TRIO: PJ Brunson, Mark Bumgarner, Kay and Patrick Crouch, Eric Erdman, Radney Foster, Joanie Gardner, Jim Hamilton (The Last Entry), Caleb Johnson (Treeborne), Liz McKay, Dale Neal (Appalachian Book of the Dead), Bobbie Pyron (Stay), Kimberly J. Simms (Lindy Lee: Songs on Mill Hill), Shari Smith (I Am A Town), and Terry H. Watkins (Darling Girl).

On the 20th we are thrilled to offer a reading/signing/Q&A session with Lees-McRae professor Scott Huffard for his new book, Engines of Redemption. In his book, Huffard examines the rapid growth, systematization, and consolidation of the southern railroad network, demonstrating how economic and political elites used the symbolic power of the railroad to proclaim a New South had risen. The railroad was more than just an economic engine of growth; it was a powerful symbol of capitalism’s advance. Come by the store at 6:30 to learn more!

Our book clubs will meet as usual this month. Silent Book Club will be meeting February 11th @ 1pm and February 15th @ 6pm. Bring any book you're currently enjoying for an hour of quiet reading in the company of other book lovers. If you want to discuss what you're reading afterwards, the conference room is available for discussion. If you want to read and leave, you can do that too! Whatever makes you comfortable.

Our Fantasy/Sci-Fi Book Club will meet on the 27th @ 6:30pm to discuss Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Foggy Pine Book Club will meet on the 29th @ 7:30pm to talk about My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithewaite. We'll share wine & conversation as we discuss the books. These book clubs are open to anyone & we want to hear what you thought about the book, even if you didn't finish it. Book club is an excellent way to meet fellow book nerds in your community!

For more information on book clubs, author events, and featured events, check our our Facbook page or online calendar.

Staff Picks:

Take a peek at what we're reading behind the scenes this month. As always, if you've read any of these titles, we'd love to chat with you about them!

Katharine:

Lillian:

Mary:

Josh:

Elly:

Raj:

And last, but not least, our labor of love is finally ready to share with you! We have been fine-tuning our local consignment page and we are beyond excited to announce that it is open for submissions! If you are an author who lives in NC full time, who is independently published, and whose book is not published via CreateSpace, which is an Amazon-owned company, we would love to talk with you about stocking your book in-store. Please read our FAQ here and, if you think your book would be a good fit for the store, fill out the application and we will be in touch!

And that's a wrap for February. We can't wait to see you around the store for an event or just to chat about what you're reading. You can find more information about any of our events or readings on our Facebook page. Read on!

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January 2020

1/9/2020

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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.

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.

While you're here picking up your copy of the reading challenge, be sure to also pick up a ballot to vote for the 2020 Southern Book Prize. 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.

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.

Mary:

Lillian:

Rasier:

Josh:

Katharine:

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!

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December 2019

12/6/2019

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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!

December Staff Picks

Lillian:

Rasier:

Mary:

Katharine:

Josh:

*Note: We can only order used copies of this book. Please call the store to place your order.

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!

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National Book Award Long/Shortlists for 2019

11/14/2019

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The National Book Award Longlists have been announced, with the fiction category released in late September. Comment and tell us which of these are you looking forward to reading most? The winners will be announced November 20th & we will create a new list and a display in-store for you when that happens. In the meantime, feel free to browse this list! If there's anything you just can't live without, you can click the Buy Online Now button to shop our online store.

Nonfiction:

The first chronicle of A Tribe Called Quest, the visionary, award-winning group whose jazz-infused records and socially conscious lyrics revolutionized rap in the early 1990s.

University of Texas Press, American Music Series. Paperback, $16.95.

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

A brilliant, haunting and unforgettable memoir from a stunning new talent about the inexorable pull of home and family, set in a shotgun house in New Orleans East.

The Yellow House is a brilliant memoir of place, class, race, the seeping rot of inequality, and the internalized shame that often follows. It is a transformative, deeply moving story from an unparalleled new voice of startling clarity, authority, and power.

Grove Press, Hardcover. $26.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

In eight highly praised treatises on beauty, media, money, and more, Tressie McMillan Cottom—award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed—is unapologetically “thick”: deemed “thick where I should have been thin, more where I should have been less,” McMillan Cottom refuses to shy away from blending the personal with the political, from bringing her full self and voice to the fore of her analytical work.

The New Press, Paperback. $15.99

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

What You Have Heard is True is a devastating, lyrical, and visionary memoir about a young woman’s brave choice to engage with horror in order to help others. Written by one of the most gifted poets of her generation, this is the story of a woman’s radical act of empathy, and her fateful encounter with an intriguing man who changes the course of her life.

Penguin Random House, Hardcover. $28.00

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From award-winning New Yorker staff writer Patrick Radden Keefe, a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.

Doubleday, Hardcover. $28.95

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

In The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, Treuer melds history with reportage and memoir. Tracing the tribes’ distinctive cultures from first contact, he explores how the depredations of each era spawned new modes of survival. This book is the essential, intimate story of a resilient people in a transformative era.

Riverhead Books, Paperback, $17.00

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Ever since this nation’s inception, the idea of an open and ever-expanding frontier has been central to American identity. Symbolizing a future of endless promise, it was the foundation of the United States’ belief in itself as an exceptional nation—democratic, individualistic, forward-looking. Today, though, America has a new symbol: the border wall.

Metropolitan Books, Hardcover. $30.00

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Burn the Place is a galvanizing memoir that chronicles Iliana Regan’s journey from foraging on the family farm to running her Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth. Her story is raw like that first bite of wild onion, alive with startling imagery, and told with uncommon emotional power.

Agate Midway, Hardcover. $25.00

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Race for Profit uncovers how exploitative real estate practices continued well after housing discrimination was banned. The push to uplift Black homeownership descended into a goldmine for realtors and mortgage lenders, and a ready-made cudgel for the champions of deregulation to wield against government intervention of any kind.

UNC Press, Hardcover. $30.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Solitary is the unforgettable life story of a man who served more than four decades in solitary confinement—in a 6-foot by 9-foot cell, 23 hours a day, in notorious Angola prison in Louisiana—all for a crime he did not commit. That Albert Woodfox was able to emerge whole from his odyssey within America’s prison and judicial systems is a triumph of the human spirit, and makes his book a clarion call to reform the inhumanity of solitary confinement in the U.S. and around the world.

Grove Press, Hardcover. $26.00

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Poetry:

Acting as poetic records of light, the poems in Variations on Dawn and Dusk follow the sun as it warms, cools, colors, and shifts the space of Robert Irwin’s untitled (dawn to dusk) in the desert of Marfa, TX. Through this deeply engaged ekphrasis, Dan Beachy-Quick uses language to participate in the overpowering elegance of Irwin’s structure. Here, the very foundation of our vision—light—forms the vocabulary from which these poems are built.

OmniDawn Publishing, Paperback. $13.95

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

The Tradition details the normalization of evil and its history at the intersection of the past and the personal. Brown’s poetic concerns are both broad and intimate, and at their very core a distillation of the incredibly human: What is safety? Who is this nation? Where does freedom truly lie?

Copper Canyon Press, Paperback. $17.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

“I”: New and Selected Poems shows the reader both the closeness of the enemy and the poet’s inherent courage, inventiveness, and joy. It is a record of one woman’s response to the repressive and fracturing forces around the subjects of race, class, color, gender, and sexuality. Each poem is an act of victory, finding a path through repressive forces to speak with both beauty and truth.

University of Pittsburgh Press, Hardcover $29.95

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This is about what grows through the wreckage. This is an anthem of survival and a look at what might come after. A view of what floats and what, ultimately, sustains. Build Yourself a Boat redefines the language of collective and individual trauma through lyric and memory.

Haymarket Books, Paperback. $16.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Deaf Republic opens in an occupied country in a time of political unrest. When soldiers breaking up a protest kill a deaf boy, Petya, the gunshot becomes the last thing the citizens hear—all have gone deaf, and their dissent becomes coordinated by sign language. At once a love story, an elegy, and an urgent plea—Ilya Kaminsky’s long-awaited Deaf Republic confronts our time’s vicious atrocities and our collective silence in the face of them.

Gray Wolf Press, Paperback. $16.00

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A Sand Book is about change and quantification, the relationship between catastrophe and cultural transmission. It moves among houses of worship and grocery stores, flitters between geological upheaval and the weird weather of the Internet.

Tin House Books, Hardcover. $24.95

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In Dunce Mary Ruefle returns to the poetic practice that has always been at her core. With her startlingly fresh sensibility, she enraptures us in poem after poem by the intensity of her attention, with the imaginative flourishes of her being-in-the-world, always deep with mysteries, unexpected appearances, and abiding yearning.

Wave Books, Hardcover. $25.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Be Recorder offers readers a blazing way forward into an as yet unmade world. The many times and tongues in these poems investigate the precariousness of personhood in lines that excoriate and sanctify. Carmen Giménez Smith turns the increasingly pressing urge to cry out into a dream of rebellion—against compromise, against inertia, against self-delusion, and against the ways the media dream up our complacency in an America that depends on it.

Gray Wolf Press, Paperback. $16.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

From the current phenomenon of drawing calligraphy with water in public parks in China to Thomas Jefferson laying out dinosaur bones on the White House floor, from the last sighting of the axolotl to a man who stops building plutonium triggers, Sight Lines moves through space and time and brings the disparate and divergent into stunning and meaningful focus.

Copper Canyon Press, Paperback. $16.00

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Doomstead Days is a lyrical series of experiments in embodied ecological consciousness. Drafted on foot, these site-specific poems document rivers, cities, forests, oil spills, mountains, and apocalyptic visions. They encounter refineries and urban watersheds, megafauna and industrial toxins, each encounter intertwining ordinary life and ongoing environmental crisis.

Nightboat Books, Paperback. $17.95

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Translated Literature:

An unflinchingly raw and lyrical exploration of a mother's grief and how it transforms her relationship to time, reality, and language. Intensely moving, When Death Takes Something from You Give It Back explores what is it to be a family, what it is to love and lose, and what it is to treasure life in spite of death’s indomitable resolve.

Coffee House Press, Hardcover. $22.95

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Eliane Brum is a star journalist in Brazil, known for her polyphonic writing that gives voice to people often underrepresented in popular literature. Told in the vibrant and idiomatic language of the people Brum writes about, The Collector of Leftover Souls is a vital work of investigative journalism from an internationally acclaimed author.

Gray Wolf Press, Paperback. $16.00

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Space Invaders is the story of a group of childhood friends who, in adulthood, are preoccupied by uneasy memories and visions of their classmate Estrella González Jepsen. The novel effortlessly builds a choral voice and constantly shifting image of young life in the waning years of the dictatorship. In her short but intricately layered novel, Fernandez summons the collective memory of a generation, rescuing felt truth from the oblivion of official history.

Gray Wolf Press, Paperback. $14.00

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When a dispute over her parents’ will grows bitter, Bergljot is drawn back into the orbit of the family she fled twenty years before. Will and Testament is a lyrical meditation on trauma and memory, as well as a furious account of a woman’s struggle to survive and be believed.

Verso Fiction, Paperback. $19.95

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Khaled Khalifa’s Death Is Hard Work is the new novel from the greatest chronicler of Syria’s ongoing and catastrophic civil war: a tale of three ordinary people facing down the stuff of nightmares armed with little more than simple determination. A mixture of brutal, front-line reportage and surreal humor evocative of Beckett and Kafka, Death is Hard Work is an unforgettable journey into a contemporary heart of darkness.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Hardcover. $25.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Nearing the end of his life, Baron Bela Wenckheim decides to return to the provincial Hungarian town of his birth. Having escaped from his many casino debts in Buenos Aires, where he was living in exile, he wishes to be reunited with his high-school sweetheart Marika. What follows is an endless storm of gossip, con men and local politicians, vividly evoking the small town's alternately drab and absurd existence.

New Directions, Hardcover. $29.95

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

The story of the author’s mother, a fierce, loving woman who for years protected her family from the violence encroaching upon them in pre-genocide Rwanda. Recording her memories of their life together in spare, wrenching prose, Mukasonga preserves her mother’s voice in a haunting work of art.

Archipelago Books, Paperback. $16.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past. A surreal, provocative fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language.

Pantheon Books, Hardcover. $25.95

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Steeped in a rich heritage of bewitching Albanian myth and legend, this is a deeply timely and deeply necessary novel about the broken reality for millions worldwide, about identity in all its complex permutations, and the human need to be seen.

Pantheon Books, Hardcover. $25.95

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A deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale, Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead is a provocative exploration of the murky borderland between sanity and madness, justice and tradition, autonomy and fate. Whom do we deem sane? it asks. Who is worthy of a voice?

Riverhead Books, Hardcover. $27.00

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Young People's Literature:

This poem is a love letter to black life in the United States. It highlights the unspeakable trauma of slavery, the faith and fire of the civil rights movement, and the grit, passion, and perseverance of some of the world's greatest heroes. Robust back matter at the end provides valuable historical context and additional detail for those wishing to learn more.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Hardcover. $17.99

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Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #MeToo and #TimesUp, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. Shout speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice—and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

Text Publishing, Paperback. $17.99

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question–How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?

Make Me a World, Hardcover. $17.99

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A Japanese-American family, reeling from their ill treatment in the Japanese internment camps, gives up their American citizenship to move back to Hiroshima, unaware of the devastation wreaked by the atomic bomb in this piercing look at the aftermath of World War II.

Atheneum/Dlouhy, Hardcover. $17.99

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Jason Reynolds conjures ten tales (one per block) about what happens after the dismissal bell rings, and brilliantly weaves them into one wickedly funny, piercingly poignant look at the detours we face on the walk home, and in life.

Atheneum/Dlouhy, Hardcover. $17.99

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt, and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin’s murder. Hoping to uncover more about Jun and the events that led to his death, Jay is forced to reckon with the many sides of his cousin before he can face the whole horrible truth — and the part he played in it. As gripping as it is lyrical, Patron Saints of Nothing is a page-turning portrayal of the struggle to reconcile faith, family, and immigrant identity.

Kokila, Hardcover. $17.99

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

From the author of Printz Medal winner Bone Gap comes the unforgettable story of two young women—one living, one dead—dealing with loss, desire, and the fragility of the American dream during WWII.

Balzer + Bray, Hardcover. $17.99

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

1919 was a world-shaking year. Full of movements which reached their tipping point that year. Now, one hundred years later, these same social issues are more relevant than ever. Sandler traces the momentum and setbacks of these movements through this last century, showing that progress isn't always a straight line and offering a unique lens through which we can understand history and the change many still seek.

Bloomsbury, Hardcover. $24.99

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When a local psychiatrist is murdered by what seems to be werewolves, the town of Salem, Oregon, becomes even more hostile to "monsters," and Z and Aysel are driven together in an attempt to survive a place where most people wish that neither of them existed. The best Teen Zombie Werewolf Witchy Faerie fantasy murder mystery you’ve ever read––by debut author, Hal Schrieve.

Seven Stories Press, Hardcover. $19.95

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Mads is pretty happy with her life. She goes to church with her family, and minor league baseball games with her dad. She goofs off with her best friend Cat, and has thus far managed to avoid getting kissed by Adam, the boy next door. It's everything she hoped high school would be… until all of a sudden, it's not. Kiss Number 8, a graphic novel from writer Colleen AF Venable and illustrator Ellen T. Crenshaw, is a layered, funny, sharp-edged story of teen sexuality and family secrets.

First Second, Paperback. $17.99

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Fiction:

A finely observed, timely exploration of marriage, divorce, and the bewildering dynamics of ambition from one of the most exciting writers working today. Fleishman Is in Trouble is an insightful, unsettling, often hilarious exploration of a culture trying to navigate the fault lines of an institution that has proven to be worthy of our great wariness and our great hope.

Wildfire, Hardcover. $27.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

As captivating and tender as it is surprising, Susan Choi's Trust Exercise will incite heated conversations about fiction and truth, and about friendships and loyalties, and will leave readers with wiser understandings of the true capacities of adolescents and of the powers and responsibilities of adults.

Serpent's Tail, Hardcover. $27.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit in the American West. Against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado—a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite—these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives: with caution, grace, and quiet force.

One World, Hardcover. $26.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Drawing from African history and mythology and his own rich imagination, Marlon James has written a novel unlike anything that’s come before it: a saga of breathtaking adventure that’s also an ambitious, involving read. Defying categorization and full of unforgettable characters, Black Leopard, Red Wolf is both surprising and profound as it explores the fundamentals of truth, the limits of power, and our need to understand them both.

Michael Joseph, Hardcover. $30.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

Here is a timely and powerful novel about the suspicious death of a Moroccan immigrant—at once a family saga, a murder mystery, and a love story, informed by the treacherous fault lines of American culture. As the characters—deeply divided by race, religion, and class—tell their stories, connections among them emerge, even as Driss’s family confronts its secrets, a town faces its hypocrisies, and love, messy and unpredictable, is born.

Bloomsbury, Hardcover. $25.95

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With raw, poetic ferocity, Kimberly King Parsons exposes desire’s darkest hollows—those hidden places where most of us are afraid to look. In this debut collection of enormously perceptive and brutally unsentimental short stories, Parsons illuminates the ache of first love, the banality of self-loathing, the scourge of addiction, the myth of marriage, and the magic and inevitable disillusionment of childhood.

Vintage Books, Paperback. $15.00

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Part domestic thriller, part speculative fiction, part psychological drama, The Need is a novel about Molly, a scientist and mother of two young children. When a masked intruder appears in her home and demonstrates an eerie familiarity with the inner workings of her life, Molly falls down a mind-bending rabbit hole. The book explores maternal love, loss, and what one human can be asked to do for another.

Viking Books, Hardcover. $26.00

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Shortlisted for the 2019 NBA's

One August afternoon, on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, two girls--sisters, eight and eleven--go missing. In a story as propulsive as it is emotionally engaging, and through a young writer's virtuosic feat of empathy and imagination, this powerful novel brings us to a new understanding of the intricate bonds of family and community, in a Russia unlike any we have seen before.

Scribner, Hardcover. $26.95

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On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity.

Jonathan Cape, Hardcover. $26.00

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Based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped the lives of thousands of children, The Nickel Boys is a devastating, driven narrative that showcases a great American novelist writing at the height of his powers.

Fleet, Hardcover. $24.95

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November News & Updates

11/5/2019

1 Comment

Hello fellow bookworms! As we head into the next few weeks, many of us are looking for ways to give back out of our abundance. We are excited to share with you an opportunity to do just that this holiday season. We have set up a donation program to benefit OASIS by providing books for all their littlest clients during the holidays. Get 25% off any children's or YA book that is purchased for donation and Foggy Pine Books will match that with a book donated for an adult. Together, we can spread the joy of reading and be sure that no one is without a gift this season!

While you're here picking out the perfect donation title, don't forget to snag a copy of our beautiful holiday catalog. Filled to the brim with lovely books and great gift-giving ideas, you're sure to find something for the reader on your list. Can't swing by the store but still want to shop? Browse from the comfort of your couch on our brand new website. That's right - we've been hard at work and we finally get to share our online store with you! We can't wait to hear what you think!

There are a few other changes ahead as we move toward the end of the year and the calendars start filling up. The Swap Shop is ending in December and will no longer be accepting donations. All items will still be available for $1 per item or $5 for a bag. Swing by and take a peek - you never know what you will find! We have also decided, after a show of hands, to change the meeting time for the Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Club. The club will meet on Thursdays at 6 pm starting January 2020. If you're not already part of a book club, we would love to have you try us on for size!

Not ready to commit to monthly book club meetings? An author visit may be just what the doctor ordered. We have local author Jim Hamilton in the store this month, doing a reading from his debut novel, The Last Entry. Come by this Friday and see what all the buzz is about!

We will be closed for Thanksgiving to allow our staff time to visit with family & friends. We'll be open our regular hours on Black Friday & Small Business Saturday. Come see us first thing Saturday and be entered to win one of THREE amazing giveaways - a set of books, a $30 gift card, or a canvas totebag! If you're one of the first ten purchasing customers, you will get 25% off your total order. Can't make it in first thing? We are also offering 10% off all books purchased between 5-9 pm. All purchases entitle you to a free, warm cup of coffee/tea/cider/cocoa and some Jane cuddles. So many reasons to shop local!

Looking for things to do this month? In addition to today's author visit, we have quite a few things events to join in this month. We have two regular book clubs that meet once a month to discuss our shared read. You can learn more about them here. The inaugural meeting of the brand new Silent Book Club is November 12th at 1pm. Learn more about that here. It's also NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and we're holding 4 more write-ins this month. Come write with us and get free coffee & snacks then, during the last write-in, we'll have cake to celebrate your writing all month! There's always a lot happening at Foggy Pine Books so keep an eye on our calendar & we hope to see you at an event.

November is shaping up to be a busy month but that doesn't mean we've taken a break from reading over here at the store. Check out our staff picks and let us know what's on your list this month! Hint: You can click each cover to buy online from our new store!

Mary:

Rasier:

Lillian:

Katharine:

We look forward to seeing you soon. Read on!

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Scary Stories for October

10/21/2019

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If you see something you like, all these spooky stories are in stock so come grab your favorite. If you have something else in mind, remember that all special orders get 10% off. Read on!

Board Books & Children's Stories:

Learn all about your new body with this spooky, and sweet, anatomy primer.

With interactive pages and beautiful black-and-white illustrations this little book is perfect for baby's first Halloween.

An excellent book for emergent readers, Adam Rex's Are You Scared, Darth Vader? is a hilarious adventure to share together.

From "Mary, Mary, Tall and Scary" to "Wee Willie Werewolf," this collection of classic nursery rhymes turned on their heads will give readers the chills--and a serious case of belly laughs. With clever rhyme and spooky illustrations, Mother Ghost is perfect for getting in the Halloween spirit. Boo!

A jaunty rhyme takes readers on an underwater scavenger hunt as a comical skeleton tries to put itself back together piece by piece. Make no bones about it: this rollicking read-aloud will have young ones learning anatomy without even realizing it.

Middle Grade Fiction:

When middle schooler Kelly Ferguson’s Halloween plans switch from party-going to babysitting, she thinks the scariest part of her night will be the death of her social life. But then Baby Jacob gets kidnapped by the Boogeyman’s minions and Kelly learns there’s a whole lot more to childcare than free snacks and Netflix.

After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie who only finds solace in books discovers a chilling ghost story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man." Captivated by the tale, Ollie begins to wonder if the smiling man might be real when she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about on a school trip to a nearby farm.

A creepy, spellbinding ghost story destined to become a classic.

Ever since Cassidy Blake almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn’t like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead . . . and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they’re about to get much stranger. When Cass meets a girl who shares her “gift,” she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil — and herself. And she’ll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

First in a collection of three books, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark draws heavily from folklore and urban legends to create truly hair-raising short horror stories for children. Read at your own risk!

Young Adult:

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, she must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and ask the difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family - she's a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But as Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha―one who can wield elemental magic, dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles...and make a powerful choice.

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence.

Edgar Allan Poe is ready to go to college to escape his overbearing foster father, who believes poetry is a waste of time. Although Poe admires Byron and love poems, he secretly yearns to tell tales of death and darkness. While he is daydreaming in church about 72 people who died in a theater fire, his Muse manifests into a raven-haired girl. Muses of art are frowned upon because they lead to debauchery, and Edgar tries hard to abandon his Muse, Lenore, but it becomes too late as the town and his father have encountered her. Hoping to escape Lenore at the University of Virginia, Poe finds himself in deeper trouble as he is penniless and cannot afford to pay his college debts.

Nonfiction reads:

North Carolina is considered one of the US headquarters for ghost lights—that is, for spooky and unexplained luminous phenomenon. Nearly half of all reported ghost lights shine, blink, burn, dance, or float somewhere in the state. These ghost lights are well known in their localities. There are scary and fascinating stories associated with them, and they attract many visitors, each hoping to see a ball of fire floating over a cemetery or a jack-o’-lantern illuminating a corner of the Great Dismal Swamp or a long-dead railroad man swinging his lantern in search of his severed head.

Adult Fiction:

For more than ten years, a mysterious and violent predator committed fifty sexual assaults in Northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated ten sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area. Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." I’ll Be Gone in the Dark is a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Utterly original and compelling, it has been hailed as a modern true crime classic—one which fulfilled Michelle's dream: helping unmask the Golden State Killer.

The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby. Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries—and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?

When reclusive writer Leonora is invited to the English countryside for a weekend away, she reluctantly agrees to make the trip. But as the first night falls, revelations unfold among friends old and new, an unnerving memory shatters Leonora’s reserve, and a haunting realization creeps in: the party is not alone in the woods.

In this horror story set in colonial New England, a law-abiding Puritan woman goes missing. Or perhaps she has fled or abandoned her family. Or perhaps she's been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes. In the House in the Dark of the Woods is the story of a bewitching, a betrayal, a master huntress and her quarry. It is a story of anger, of evil, of hatred and of redemption. It is the story of a haunting, a story that makes up the bedrock of American mythology, but told in a vivid way you will never forget.

In the north of England, far from the intrusions of cities but not far from civilization, Silvie and her family are living as if they are ancient Britons, surviving by the tools and knowledge of the Iron Age. The ancient Britons built ghost walls to ward off enemy invaders, rude barricades of stakes topped with ancestral skulls. When the group builds one of their own, they find a spiritual connection to the past. What comes next but human sacrifice? A story at once mythic and strikingly timely, Ghost Wall urges us to wonder how far we have come from the “primitive minds” of our ancestors.

With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Meddling Kids subverts teen detective archetypes like the Hardy Boys, the Famous Five, and Scooby-Doo, and delivers an exuberant and wickedly entertaining celebration of horror, love, friendship, and many-tentacled, interdimensional demon spawn.

Once united by their ambitions, Victor and Eli now face off from opposite sides of the law: the first is fresh out of prison, the latter is working with the police. But Eli–the “good guy”–and his partner Serena are hunting down everyone else with superpowers, and Victor and his companion Sydney are pursuing revenge instead of the greater good. Friends turned foes and sisters turned sworn enemies will plumb the depths of cruelty in their quests for retribution.

Betrayed by those she trusts most and her magic ripped from her, all Sal the Cacophony has left is her name, her story, and the weapon she used to carve both. But she has a will stronger than magic, and knows exactly where to go. The Scar, a land torn between powerful empires, where rogue mages go to disappear, disgraced soldiers go to die and Sal went with a blade, a gun, and a list of seven names. Revenge will be its own reward.

The Cabin at the End of the World is an unbearably tense, gripping tale of paranoia, sacrifice, apocalypse, and survival that escalates to a shattering conclusion, one in which the fate of a loving family and quite possibly all of humanity are entwined. It is a masterpiece of terror and suspense from the fantastically fertile imagination of Paul Tremblay.

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October News & Updates

10/11/2019

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Hello fellow bookworms! As the weather turns colder, there's more time for snuggling up with a good book. So why not make it a new book? We are now offering a 15% discount for any book ordered more than 30 days before its release date! Now's your chance to get the hottest titles at a steal. And remember, any special order will, as always, receive our 10% discount. Can't come and browse during the day? Our new weekend hours are perfect for you! Swing by this Friday or Saturday until 9pm. We can't wait to see you!

As you may know, October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and we are partnering with OASIS for a DVAM book club. We will be reading No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder. Please come and join us on Thursday, October 10th and Wednesday, October 23rd to discuss this book and raise awareness around intimate partner violence. We are offering 15% off your book order with all proceeds donated directly to OASIS. Contact Sara Crouch at outreach@oasisinc.org for more information.

While you're here placing your orders, take a peek at our new display from our local indie publisher, Working Title Farm. The display features books the authors are reading right now and their recommendations draw from all genres: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, regional interest, cooking, art – every month will offer new perspectives. The Farmers are pumped to share their picks with you and we hope you will find them as exciting as we do!

In Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Joy Davidman, long hidden in the shadowlands of history as the dying wife of C.S. Lewis, comes to life in all her brilliant, flawed, and fiercely complicated glory. If, like me, your childhood imagination was shaped by the magic of Narnia - the lure of wardrobe doors and the roar of Aslan - this dazzling novel will open your eyes to an entirely new side to this beloved author and Oxford don, and, more particularly, the woman he loved. —Aimee Bumgarner, Working Title Farmer

Rarely have I rooted for a character to overcome the chaotic seediness of his life as I did for Shuggie in Daniel Woodrell’s unshackled brutally-painted The Death of Sweet Mister. Unsentimental, raw and masterfully drawn. This book will break your heart beautifully. —Rod Picott, Working Title Farmer and author of Out Past the Wires

If you never managed to climb the rickety stairs and cross into the netherworld of Po’ Monkey’s, one of the last true juke joints, Po’ Monkey’s: Portrait of a Juke Joint is your portal to a lost world. Gifted photographer Will Jacks spent ten years photographing the regulars and chatting with the man himself, Willie Seaberry; Boyce Upton’s essay contextualizes this dazzling final look back at a place whose very betweenness defined our beautiful, painful, unavoidable South. —Nicole Sarrocco, Working Title Farmer and author of Ill-Mannered Ghosts

I've always loved the way John Lane writes, but in Neighborhood Hawks you ride in his truck until you know how he thinks, a man in search of answers to "where" and "why," always "why." I found myself more than a little jealous that he has the sense of priorities to drop everything to follow the sound of a hawk and wondered if that could be my life. I wonder if that should be my life. In Neighborhood Hawks, it gets to be mine for 147 pages. —Shari Smith, Working Title Farmer and author of I am a Town

Our booksellers also have a staff picks shelf, in addition to having their current titles included in these blog posts. Mary (our owner) is almost always reading at least 3 books at once (how does she do that?!). Lillian and Rasier (our booksellers) read often and eclectically. Katharine (our marketing manager) loves anything inspired by fairy tales and includes a title she's reading with her kids (marked "with the littles"). If you pick up one of these titles - and even if you don't - we would love to chat with you about books so stop by any time!

Mary:

Lillian:

Rasier:

Katharine:

As always, there are lots of events and readings coming up this month so be sure to subscribe to our calendar. A couple final notes: we now require a minimum purchase of $5.00 on all card purchases, but that should be easy to hit with these spooktacular savings! Our credit card fees were increased and we can't afford them on anything lower than $5. Also, for the month of October only, shop our fall sale to get 10% off all hardcover picture books (fiction & nonfiction), fantasy, chapter books, young adult, and mystery books.

We look forward to seeing you soon. Read on!

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Staff Picks:

Mary:

Josh:

Raj:

Deion:

Elly:

Katharine:

1. Docile by K.M. Szpara

2020 Reading Challenge:

2. The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

2020 Reading Challenge

3. The Lonely Heart of Maybelle Lane by Kate O'Shaughnessy

2020 Reading Challenge

4. The Story of More by Hope Jahren

5. Recollections of My Non-Existence by Rebecca Solnit

6. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

2020 Reading Challenge

7. So We Can Glow by Leesa Cross-Smith

2020 Reading Challenge

8. Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

2020 Reading Challenge

9. Conjure Women by Afia Atakora

2020 Reading Challenge

10. Bedtime Bonnet by Nancy Redd

2020 Reading Challenge

Staff Picks:

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Lillian:

Mary:

Josh:

Elly:

Raj:

Mary:

Lillian:

Rasier:

Josh:

Katharine:

December Staff Picks

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Mary:

Katharine:

Josh:

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Poetry:

Translated Literature:

Young People's Literature:

Fiction:

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Board Books & Children's Stories:

​Middle Grade Fiction:

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