Happy Holidays From Chat Noir Books!

Good Day Folks,

Jenn and I would like to thank all of you for all the support these past
5 years, you have helped us become your local independent community bookstore! We would like to wish you all an amazing Holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!

Jenn & Paul

For those of you who are doing some last minute shopping we are open until 3:00pm today, we also have still have stock coming into the store.

Here are a few of my recommendations:

30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna: The Life & Times of a Fat, Furry Legend!

When the world’s most famous feline hits the three-decade milestone it’s time to celebrate! 30 Years of Laughs & Lasagna is a tribute to this tremendous achievement. Organized by decade, each with an introduction by Jim Davis, this lavishly illustrated volume features more than four hundred strips, including thirty of Jim Davis’s all-time favorites–with informative remarks from Jim on why they made the grade. Packed with early sketches, enlightening quotes, and fun facts (did you know that the Garfield comic was originally titled Jon?), this book shows how Garfield evolved from a witty kitty to a world-renowned fat cat.

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The Clash

Written by the surviving members of the band--Topper Headon, Mick Jones, and Paul Simonon--this comprehensive work is packed with more than 300 photos as well as personal memorabilia, and is being published to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the band's first U.S. album release.

The unique story of the Clash, by the Clash. The Clash were a band like no other. Pioneers of British punk rock, their incendiary gigs, intelligent songwriting, definitive style and passionate idealism caught the spirit of the times and made them a worldwide phenomenon. Rolling Stone magazine declared London Calling one of the greatest albums of all time, their autobiographical documentary Westway to the World won a Grammy, and their music lives on, influencing emerging bands and exciting new audiences today.


This is the first official book to be created by the band. With unprecedented access to the Clash archive, this landmark publication brings together previously unseen material--including tour posters, artwork, and photos of the band at home, on stage, in the studio and on the road--with each member telling it like it was, in their own words.

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Mysterio's Encyclopedia of Magic and Conjuring: A Compendium of Astonishing Illusions

Quirk's Amazing Magical Wonder Deck charmed amateur and professional magicians with its gorgeous aesthetic and fiendishly clever card tricks. Now these same readers can experience a complete course in magic with Mysterio's Encyclopedia of Magic and Conjuringa giant compilation of more than 300 tricks and variations.
Here are illustrated step-by-step instructions for rope tricks money magic mind-reading effects stage illusions everyday magic and plenty of all-new card tricks. Readers will learn how to bend spoons stretch handkerchiefs levitate glassware make small children disappear shuffle playing cards with aplomb and much moreeverything from simple street-magic effects to epic on-stage illusions. Mysterio's Encyclopedia of Magic and Conjuring is a beautifully designed reference for magicians of all ages and abilities.

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Just After Sunset: Stories

Stephen King -- who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies -- delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.

Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating -- and then terrifying -- journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable -- and resourceful -- as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Just After Sunset -- call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

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The Complete Star Wars® Encyclopedia

THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE GUIDE TO A SPACE FANTASY PHENOMENON

The Star Wars universe, much like our own, is constantly expanding. In the ten years since the publication of the Star Wars Encyclopedia, a lot has happened in that galaxy far, far away: four new feature films, a host of official original novels, comics, video games, and more. Now, thirty years of information on all things Star Wars–ranging from science and technology to history and geography, culture and biography to ecology and cosmology–has been supplemented with an entire decade’s worth of all-new material. Abundantly illustrated with full-color artwork and photos, and now in a new three-volume edition to accommodate its wealth of detailed entries, the Star Wars Encyclopedia encompasses the full measure of George Lucas’s creation.

Here’s just a sampling of what’s inside:
• character portraits of both the renowned (Luke Skywalker, Queen Amidala, Darth Vader) and the obscure (Tnun Bdu, Tycho Celchu, Bib Fortuna)
• the natives and customs of planets as diverse as Tatooine and Hoth, Dagobah and Kashyyyk
• the rituals, secrets, and traditions of Jedi Knights and Sith Lords
• a timeline of major events in Star Wars history, from the Clone Wars and the inception of the Empire to the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker and the invasion of the monstrous Yuuzhan Vong

Scrupulously researched and written by leading authorities Stephen J. Sansweet, Pablo Hidalgo, Bob Vitas, and Daniel Wallace, this landmark work is the must-have!

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Ugly Dolls

From the creative minds of two love struck artists David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim emerge the Uglydoll family!  What started as a drawing of a playful orange character known as Wage has turned into a whole new world of fun! In 2001, when David's soon to be wife and creative partner Sun-Min had to return to Korea, he sent her many "I miss you" letters with his little Wage character drawn at the bottom. Sun-Min sewed Wage into a plush doll and sent him to David as a surprise gift. David asked Sun-Min to sew a couple more for the Giant Robot store in Los Angeles and they sold out in one day! A very excited Sun-Min sewed many more and those sold just as fast! Sun-Min and David then began to pull more characters from the Uglyverse, a universe where UGLY meant unique and special, to translate into plush Uglydolls.  They both met again at their very first Uglydoll Toy Fair booth (a small 6x6 booth made of felt and wood) in New York, where they would go on to win Toy Of The Year 4 years later!

Now the award-winning Uglydoll characters are available in a variety of sizes and styles of plush, and are available  at right here at Chat Noir Books.

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Driven Magazine Featuring Joseph Boyden

Driven magazine Dec issue has a great article on Joseph Boyden the author of "Three Day Road" and this years Giller Prize winner for "Through Black Spruce". If you are like us and cannot find an issue to read, not a problem! Just follow the link below to Driven's website. You should get the current issue of Driven magazine coming up with Joseph on the cover(who cleans up very nicely!! As all of the female staff told me!) Just click on the next page arrows to page 39 and you can read the full article. Check it out! Then go read "Through Black Spruce" if you haven't yet!!

P.S. Thanks Mary!!

http://www.drivenmag.com/theissue





IN OTHER NEWS:

It has been pretty busy here at the store with the Christmas season started, hopefully we will be able to get a chance to get up or top 5 list's for this year, there are also more pictures from our Halloween Party, plus Robert Rotenberg stopped by the store. Robert has a new book called "Old City Hall" that will be out in March. This Fiction Thriller Mystery Detective novel is already starting to get some great buzz! Look for it in the new year!

Live at Chat Noir Books - Wabi Delta Blues Band!!

This video was taken from the night we had the book reading for "Walking with Wolf". The picture isn't the best, but the sounds not bad.

Today's Picks

Today's Picks



A Small Tall Tale from the Far Far North

Every culture has its own folk heroes who embody values, explain history, and fire children's imaginations. When Peter Sís was growing up in Czechoslovakia, Jan Welzl, who went out on his own to the Yukon to seek a more rewarding way of life, was that hero. In this book, Peter Sís combines the stories he remembers and the facts about Jan Welzl's life with a traditional American folktale form: the tall tale.





Boys In The Trees

Newly arrived to the countryside, William Heath, his wife, and two daughters appear the picture of a devoted family. But when accusations of embezzlement spur William to commit an unthinkable crime, those who witnessed this affectionate, attentive father go about his routine of work and family must reconcile action with character. A doctor who has cared for one daughter, encouraging her trust, examines the finer details of his brief interactions with William, searching for clues that might penetrate the mystery of his motivation. Meanwhile the other daughter's teacher grapples with guilt over a moment when fate wove her into a succession of events that will haunt her dreams. In beautifully crafted prose, Mary Swan examines the volatile collisions between our best intentions--how a passing stranger can leave an indelible mark on our lives even as the people we know most intimately become alienated by tides of self-preservation and regret. In her nuanced, evocative descriptions a locket contains immeasurable sorrow, trees provide sanctuary and refuge to lost souls, and grief clicks into place when a man cocks the cold steel barrel of a revolver. A supreme literary achievement, The Boys in the Trees offers a chilling story that swells with acutely observed emotion and humanity.



Order yours for pick up! Chat Noir Books Online Ordering

Today's Picks

Today's Picks



Santa Claus

Have you ever wondered how Santa's sleigh really works? Or what reindeer eat? Or just how big the North Pole's mailroom must be? Well, this Christmas all of your questions will be answered with this ultimate book of SANTA CLAUS. This is your lavish behind the scenes tour of the history, the mystery, and the magic of Jolly Saint Nick. Learn all about the clothes, the elves, and the gadgets that make the man. Find out all the secrets about the man who makes miracles happen every December 25th.

So very cute.



Quilt Counting

Quilt Counting uses rhythmic verse to count up to 10 and then back down with each page consisting of 4 lines of verse. While counting up, the rhymes involve paraphernalia used for quilt making such as thread, scissors, and pin cushions. While counting down, the rhymes relate to the farming landscape. Ransome’s illustrations are effective and add much to the book. However, the rhyming verses are often forced and would be difficult for younger children to read and understand.






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Today's Picks

Today's Picks



Fiction

So Brave, Young, and Handsome

A stunning successor to his best selling novel Peace Like a River, Leif Enger’s new work is a rugged and nimble story about an aging train robber on a quest to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, and the failed writer who goes with him.
In 1915 Minnesota, novelist Monte Becket has lost his sense of purpose. His only success long behind him, Monte lives simply with his wife and son. But when he befriends outlaw Glendon Hale, a new world of opportunity and experience presents itself. Glendon has spent years in obscurity, but the guilt he harbors for abandoning his wife, Blue, over two decades ago, has lured him from hiding. As the modern age marches swiftly forward, Glendon aims to travel back to his past--heading to California to seek Blue’s forgiveness. Beguiled and inspired, Monte soon finds himself leaving behind his own family to embark for the unruly West with his fugitive guide. As they desperately flee from the relentless Charles Siringo, an ex-Pinkerton who’s been hunting Glendon for years, Monte falls ever further from his family and the law, to be tempered by a fiery adventure from which he may never get home.



Non Fiction

Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story

In 1992, Chuck Cadman was regarded by his Surrey neighbours as a typical suburban couch potato, a man who, despite the ponytail left over from his days as a small-time rock musician, had settled into a nine-to-five job and seemed content to pay down the mortgage, watch TV, drink a few beers and enjoy family life. Then, on October 17, his sixteen-year-old son Jesse was senselessly murdered by teenage delinquents, and Chuck's peaceful world changed forever.
Overnight, the quiet homebody was galvanized into an inspired public spokesman, an articulate and unshakeable advocate of stricter treatment of young offenders and more compassionate treatment of victims of crime. He became a rallying figure for people across Canada growing impatient with tolerant attitudes toward youth crime, and in 1997 the people of Surrey North elected him as their Member of Parliament. In Ottawa, Chuck kept his focus and made himself one of the most authoritative voices on the parliamentary justice committee. He also kept his ponytail and blue jeans and his down-to-earth, man-of-the-people manner; his reputation as a straight-shooter earned him respect on both sides of the house. His final moment in the spotlight came on May 19, 2005 when, though in the final stages of terminal cancer, he made one last long trip to Ottawa to save the Liberal government from defeat--not because he wanted to, but because his constituents wanted him to. When he died six weeks later his loss was mourned by people from all walks of life across the entire country. In a time of deepening disenchantment with the political process, Chuck had given citizens a reassuring reminder that public service can still be an honourable calling.




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Today's Picks

Today's Picks



The Origin of Species Winner of the GG's this year

Whenever Alex’s thoughts grow darkest, he is compelled to recall Desmond, the British professor with dubious credentials whom he met years ago in the Galapagos. Treacherous and despicable, wearing his ignominy like his rumpled jacket, Desmond nonetheless caught Alex in his thrall and led him to some life-altering truths during their weeks exploring Darwin’s islands together. It is only now that Alex can begin to comprehend these unlikely life lessons, and see a glimmer of hope shining through what he had thought was meaninglessness.

Funny, poignant and visceral, Nino Ricci’s most recent masterpiece The Origin of Species will remind you of the wonder of life, the beauty of existence and the great gift that is our connection to the universe and all that is.



The 19th Wife

Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense.

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.




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Today's Picks

Today's Picks



Fiction

Something to Tell You

In the early 1980s Hanif Kureishi emerged as one of the most compelling new voices in film and fiction. His movies My Beautiful Laundrette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and his novel The Buddha of Suburbia captivated audiences and inspired other artists. In Something to Tell You, he travels back to those days of hedonism, activism and glorious creativity. And he explores the lives of that generation now, in a very different London.

With great empathy and agility, Kureishi has created an array of unforgettable characters -- a hilarious and eccentric theater director, a covey of charming and defiant outcasts and an ebullient sister who thrives on the fringe. All wrestle with their own limits as human beings; all are plagued by the past until they find it within themselves to forgive.

Comic, wise and unfailingly tender, Something to Tell You is Kureishi's best work to date, brilliant and exhilarating



Non Fiction

Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

In this hilarious, deliciously skewed collection, Chelsea mines her past for stories about her family, relationships, and career that are at once singular and ridiculous. Whether she's convincing her third-grade class that she has been tapped to play Goldie Hawn's daughter in the sequel to Private Benjamin, deciding to be more egalitarian by dating a redhead, or looking out for a foulmouthed, rum-swilling little person who looks just like her...only smaller, Chelsea has a knack for getting herself into the most outrageous situations. Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea showcases the candor and irresistible turns of phrase that have made her one of the freshest voices in comedy today.


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Today's Pick

Today's Picks




Fiction

The Condition

The Condition tells the story of the McKotches, a proper New England family that comes apart during one fateful summer. The year is 1976, and the family, Frank McKotch, an eminent scientist; his pedigreed wife, Paulette; and their three beautiful children has embarked on its annual vacation at the Captain's House, the grand old family retreat on Cape Cod. One day on the beach, Frank is struck by an image he cannot forget: his thirteen-year-old daughter, Gwen, strangely infantile in her child-sized bikini, standing a full head shorter than her younger cousin Charlotte. At that moment he knows a truth that he can never again unknown something is terribly wrong with his only daughter. The McKotch family will never be the same.




Non Fiction

Dark Days

That’s what happened to FOUR CANADIAN MUSLIM MEN accused of terrorist links. One of them, Maher Arar has been fully exonerated by a public commission of inquiry. Now Dark Days chronicles the shocking story of how three other Canadian men experienced similarly devastating ordeals. One of these men, Ahmad El Maati, says that despite everything that’s happened, “I always remember that we are the lucky ones. Since 9/11 so many others have just disappeared, or are still in secret prisons, with no right to ask questions. At least we have the right to ask questions about why this happened. At least we might get answers.”




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Today's Picks

I know all the hype seems to be about Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series this season. There are other books out there believe it or not.
I'll to try to highlight a few each day leading up to Christmas.

Today's Picks



Fiction:
Through Black Spruce (The Giller Prize Winner this year)

From internationally acclaimed author Joseph Boyden comes an astonishingly powerful novel of contemporary aboriginal life, full of the dangers and harsh beauty of both forest and city. When beautiful Suzanne Bird disappears, her sister Annie, a loner and hunter, is compelled to search for her, leaving behind their uncle Will, a man haunted by loss.While Annie travels from Toronto to New York, from modelling studios to A-list parties, Will encounters dire troubles at home. Both eventually come to painful discoveries about the inescapable ties of family. Through Black Spruce is an utterly unforgettable consideration of how we discover who we really are.



Non Fiction:

An Imperfect Offering

An Imperfect Offering is a deeply personal, deeply political book. With unstinting candor, Orbinski explores the nature of humanitarian action in the twenty-first century, and asserts the fundamental imperative of seeing as human those whose political systems have most brutally failed. He insists that in responding to the suffering of others, we must never lose sight of the dignity of those being helped or deny them the right to act as agents in their own lives. He takes readers on a journey to some of the darkest places of our history but finds there unimaginable acts of courage and empathy. Here he is doctor as witness, recording voices that must be heard around the world; calling on others to meet their responsibility.

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Holiday Hours Start Dec 15

Click for larger image

PJ Party

Stories and Songs to get you in the mood for the tree lighting Nov 21. Come by and enjoy storytime in your PJ's, then head out to the tree lighting before tucking the children in for the night. Stories and Songs from 6:15-6:45 then the NL BIA presents the annual tree lighting in front of the library at 7:00pm.

We Called It!

Congratulations Joseph Boyden!

The 2008 Giller Prize winner was announced last night and "Through Black Spruce" by Joseph Boyden was the winner.

We have been getting tons of phone calls about when Joseph will be back in the store for a visit. We don't know yet, as soon as we know we'll get the word out!

Again Congratulations Joseph - you deserve it!

Thank You!!

Thanks you for helping us make our first five years amazing!!

Get It Here!!

Headframe was born out of a band called Natural Fact, which started gigging in 1990. That band included Eva Graves, Tom Preston and Terry Graves and eventually evolved into Gone To The Dogs. The latest incarnation has seen the addition of Amanda Mongeon on drums and Jeff Lundmark on lead guitar and banjo. Tom Preston plays bass guitar, and occasionally rhythm guitar. Eva Graves plays keyboards and

Headframe has been playing together for more than two years and has performed at Fred Eaglesmith's Great Northern Picnic, the Cobalt Miners' Tavern, Fall fairs and coffee houses.

The music tends to fall into the alt-country/roots category. Influences include Bob Dylan, Steve Earle, Gurf Morlix, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, James McMurtry and a whack of others.

CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE
www.headframe.ca

The Giller

The 2008 Scotiabank Giller Prize finalists are:

Joseph Boyden for his novel Through Black Spruce, published by Viking Canada

Anthony De Sa for his collection of short stories Barnacle Love, published by Doubleday Canada

Marina Endicott for her novel Good to A Fault, published by Freehand Books/Broadview Press

Rawi Hage for his novel Cockroach, published by House of Anansi Press

Mary Swan for her novel The Boys in the Trees, published by Henry Holt/HB Fenn




Here's our store pick for the Giller. We're rooting for Joseph and Through Black Spruce. If you haven't read it yet read it! It is worth every minute and while you're at it Read Three Day Road too if you haven't already!

If you like Laurell K. Hamilton

War is brewing in a near-future world where murder is all but unheard of, and the existence of creatures known as the "Others" has yet to be proven. Gina Santiago is a member of an elite tactical team in charge of protecting this world--even as a killer stalks her.

If you like Laurell K. Hamilton try this. A bit grittier than your average romance novel with an interesting story line....

Just a Reminder

Come get your self warmed up for the big night out!

Winter?

Winter is on it's way. There was more than a flake or two of snow around the area this morning. Winter of course puts us in mind of Christmas, and Christmas stock - which is currently coming in at an alarming rate. It's only the end of October and we're already running into "where the heck am I going to put this?" issues...

So...

Books make great gifts! Shop early for best selection! Insert marketing lines here (grin). Come buy a book or 4!




On a more serious note, I had mentioned a while ago that I was going to read Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson. Well I did. I have now finished Gargoyle and I really really enjoyed it. It was a great love story with little bits of historical fiction woven into a contemporary setting.

As a recap:
The Gargoyle

An extraordinary debut novel of love that survives the fires of hell and transcends the boundaries of time.

On a burn ward, a man lies between living and dying, so disfigured that no one from his past life would even recognize him. His only comfort comes from imagining various inventive ways to end his misery. Then a woman named Marianne Engel walks into his hospital room, a wild-haired, schizophrenic sculptress on the lam from the psych ward upstairs, who insists that she knows him – that she has known him, in fact, for seven hundred years. She remembers vividly when they met, in another hospital ward at a convent in medieval Germany, when she was a nun and he was a wounded mercenary left to die. If he has forgotten this, he is not to worry: she will prove it to him.

And so Marianne Engel begins to tell him their story, carving away his disbelief and slowly drawing him into the orbit and power of a word he'd never uttered: love.



Man In The Dark
Seventy-two-year-old August Brill is recovering from a car accident in his daughter's house in Vermont. When sleep refuses to come, he lies in bed and tells himself stories, struggling to push back thoughts about things he would prefer to forget.

What would have happened if the people of America had not let the controversy of the Bush / Gore election blow away in the wind. What if they fought for the president the popular vote elected? What if?

I liked this novel. It's actually the first Paul Auster book I've read although he's been recommended to me forever. He is definitely not a fluff read but if you're looking for something a little more literary but still highly accessible I would recommend him for sure.

Deep Economy

We have been getting calls in this morning for Bill McKibben's book "Deep Economy"! I guess David Suzuki is Hosting the Current today on CBC and they have been talking up Bill's book, which is great since the Economy is on everyone's mind these days! Jenn and I were lucky enough to sit in on a seminar with Bill this summer and we have been hand selling "Deep Economy" to everyone we know. Every small business owner should read this book!

Create a Strong Local Deep Economy

Acclaimed author and activist Bill McKibben coined the term "deep economy" to refer to the economy that each of us actually lives in--places we shop, the items we purchase, and the impact of those choices. In his New York Times bestseller, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, McKibben makes the compelling case for moving beyond "growth" as the paramount economic deal and pursuing prosperity in a mare local direction. Inside are suggestions on how to do just that.

Invest in Your Community
Top Ten Reasons to Buy Local

1. Money spent with local businesses stays in the community.

2. Small businesses create more new jobs.

3. Local businesses give the community its unique character.

4. Small-business owners invest more in the community.

5. Local merchants provide better customer service.

6. Small businesses increase competition and provide more choices.

7.Locally owned businesses leave a smaller carbon footprint.

8. Locally owned businesses use relatively fewer public services and less infrastructure.

9. Entrepreneurs and young leaders settle in communities that support local businesses.

10. Small businesses give more of their proceeds to local charities.

Want to learn more?! Read Deep Economy!!

Also check these other interesting links!

American Independent Business Alliance
www.amiba.net

Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
www.livingeconomies.org

Community Alliance with Family Farmers
www.caff.org

local Harvest
www.localharvet.org

Institute for Local Self-Reliance
www.ilsr.org

The Relocalization Network
www.relocalize.net


350.org Global Warming. Global Action. Global Future.

International effort to raise awareness of the need to decrease carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million.

http://www.sharkwater.com/

For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth.

Driven by passion fed from a lifelong fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas.

Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world's shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Sharkwater Shot in high Definition

In an effort to protect sharks, Stewart teams up with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Their unbelievable adventure together starts with a battle between the Sea Shepherd and shark poachers in Guatemala, resulting in pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges, forcing them to flee for their lives.

Through it all, Stewart discovers these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to prey, and how despite surviving the earth's history of mass extinctions, they could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed.

Stewart's remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to save the world's sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

Halloween Party!!!

Pop in to our Halloween Party / Open House.
We're celebrating 5 whole years! (We haven't killed each other yet) This will be our Sixth Christmas believe it or not! Come visit! There will be loads of free stuff, music, contests and other fun stuff.

Shards of Alara - Now in stock!!

We just got in the new MTG set Shards of Alara. The art for this set is amazing!!

Interested in playing "Magic The Gathering" in Temiskaming Shores? Want info on MTG Tournaments and Events in taking place in Temiskaming Shores?

Then email us at mtgtemiskaming@gmail.com.

Here is a little background on the new deck.

SHARDS OF ALARA

Alara was whole once. But that was millennia ago. Where once there was a plane, now there are five: the Shards.

The plane of Alara was a world rich with mana, a world in balance...until the Sundering. In a cataclysm of unimaginable proportions, Alara was rent asunder into five separate worlds, each a refraction of the others.

The cause of this cataclysm has been lost to time. Some ancient lore of the Shards suggest a being of godlike power forcibly split Alara to seize its mana for himself. Some believe it was caused by the titanic battle for the fate of Alara, waged by the archangel Asha and the demon Malfegor. But for most, only the dimmest cultural memories remain of a richer world that existed before their own.

Whatever the cause of the splitting, one thing is clear: The Shards have become very different places in the time since the Sundering. Each plane was all but severed from two of the five colors of mana. The Shard of Bant, for example, lost almost all its black and red mana, maintaining only white, blue, and green.

This mana imbalance caused the Shards to evolve in wildly distinct directions over the course of thousands of years. Now only hints of a common ancestor plane remain on the five worlds, and their environments and denizens could hardly differ more.

You can also check out http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=121541 and see some of the amazing art work.

From the Yarn Harlot - needed to be shared

September 28, 2008
Dear Mr. Harper

I am pretty sure that I am an ordinary Canadian. I've checked the Stats Can website, and other than the fact that Joe and I earn a little less than the national average and seem to have picked up an extra kid along the way, we're really, really ordinary.

This is why Sir, I was absolutely flabbergasted to learn that you had made a statement that the arts "don't resonate" with "ordinary Canadians". I had suspected, after your 45 million dollars in cuts to the arts, that they didn't resonate with you... but all ordinary Canadians? I listened as you lashed out at artists, claiming that we stand around at "rich galas" complaining that our subsidies aren't big enough, and I could hardly speak. Although Joe and I both work in the arts, we've never been to a gala (though I hear that your wife is honorary chair of the National Arts Centre Gala) and although we both pay taxes, we've never received a subsidy or a grant... so I'm really not quite sure what you're talking about.

Joe and I added up the number of people we know working in the arts. It was virtually everyone we know (with the exception of our friends who work in Health Care, but that's a debate for another day) and not a single one of them are as wealthy as you, although most of them pay more taxes. Sorry. That was cheap. I'm still mad about your tax breaks for the richest Canadians. I'll try to get a hold of myself and stick to the facts.

The fact is that last year your government invested 3.3 billion dollars in the arts, which would be shocking except for the fact that (as reported by ACTRA's national president Richard Hardacre) the arts returned the favour by providing 1.1 million jobs within cultural industries and contributed $86 billion to the GDP. To put that in context, Margaret Atwood noted that the arts industry employs roughly the same number of Canadians as agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining, oil & gas and utilities - combined. I see you Sir, day after day after day, talking quite rightly about jobs lost in manufacturing and the industries named above and how our country needs to make financial investments in their businesses to create as many jobs as we can, and dude... you're absolutely right. Job loss in Canada is a huge thing and boy, should the leader of this country ever be trying to prevent any further loss any way he can... and Mr. Harper... that's what makes your cuts and your statements so darned confusing to me.

I've thought and thought about it, and I've come up with some possibilities for why you're doing what you're doing.

1. You are trying to lose the election, and throwing away the votes of 1.1 million "ordinary" taxpaying Canadians by trashing them, their integrity and their industry in public is just the beginning of your master plan. (In which case Sir, I can only say "AWESOME START.")

2. You had no idea that the Arts industry was an actual industry (I mean, not like cars or oil) or that it employed that many Canadians, and when you walked off stage after making your statement, you had to ask someone why your entire campaign staff was lying on the floor seizing in a pool of their own cold sweat.

3. You're still sort of scarred about that day in kindergarten when the teacher said that Bobby's fingerpainting was nice and didn't say anything about yours, and then on top of it he got the be the carrot in the school play when the teacher knew you wanted to be the carrot and would make a way better carrot than him and ever since then you just haven't been able to see what the big deal is with the whole art thing.

4. Maybe Gordon Pinsent has always sort of annoyed you and this is a revenge thing.

5. You made a strategic decision to say that. You sat down and decided that there were an awful lot of Canadians (a lot more than 1.1 million) who would really, really want to stick it to artists. You figured that there must be an awful lot of voters who don't read books, don't go to the movies, don't listen to CD's, don't dance or watch dance, don't read magazines or newspapers, don't listen to the radio and wouldn't touch the TV with a ten foot pole and therefore don't have the arts "resonate" in their lives.
(Well. That or you were hoping that there were a whole lot of Canadians who didn't know about the 1.1 million jobs/ $85 billion dollar industry thing or were hoping they were stupid enough to be tricked. Good luck with that.)

Some time ago, when I made a political comment in this space, someone said to me that if I were going to state my political position publicly - even if I did so without condemning the views of others, that I should expect to lose the support of people who didn't agree with me. They felt that if I said I wasn't a conservative (or a whatever), that I should expect to lose the readership of conservatives (or whatevers). This person maintained that simply not being on the same page politically was enough to justify not continuing to support me professionally. This is a position I was absolutely stunned to read and still don't understand. I feel that politics belong in public. That ones political positions are a reflection of ones moral and ethical concerns, and that as long as no-one is condemned for their views or insulted for their beliefs, that everyone wins when politics are discussed in the pubs, kitchens and blogs of the nation.

That's something I've kept in mind as I listened to your speeches throughout this campaign. I reflected on how your political positions were reflecting your ethics, and kept a clear head - listening to your positions and promises. I stuck to my position, which is that it is possible to disagree on matters of personal choice while still liking, respecting and enjoying the people with whom you debate or disagree, and I believe that it is unchecked politics, unexamined policy and an unconcerned nation that let politicians run amok and invites corruption of all forms. In short, Mr. Harper... I think that the cornerstone of all good politics is respect. Respect for positions that run counter to yours, respect for jobs that are not like yours, and in this case, respect for all Canadians.... especially as you ask for our votes.

I would submit, Mr. Harper, that suggesting to all of Canada that a particular 1.1 million Canadians who have helped to pay your salary for the last several years and whose money you would like the privilege of continuing to spend, are not "ordinary Canadians" is the absolute definition of disrespect.

Further to that, claiming that you represent "ordinary Canadians" (we'll overlook the number of galas you're at in a year) while the 1.1 million of us who are working in film, music, writing, dance... are not only excluded from your definition of "ordinary Canadians", but according to you "don't resonate" with the people who are.... Well. I think it was rude. Darned rude. The Canada that I thought I lived in doesn't have some Canadians who are worth the efforts of the Prime Minister, and some Canadians who are not. The sort of Canada I want to live in has always had a society based on respect, the respect we are supposed to show each other and the respect that leaders are especially expected - or maybe owed to give their constituents was entirely absent in your statement, and a leader who is that rude to his fellow Canadians, boldly and in public - isn't observing the cornerstone of civil and progressive politics... respect.

In light of that, and remembering that ones politics are a reflection of ones morals and ethics - I'm afraid that not only have you lost my vote (Oh, fine. You didn't have it anyway) but greater than that and with every cell that I posess... I humbly withdraw my respect for you as a leader, and submit that there's just got to be a lot of "ordinary Canadians" who feel the same way.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Writer.

(PS. I am going to consider it seriously hypocritical if you keep playing music at your events, hiring writers for your speeches and getting graphic designers to make those pamphlets that keep landing in my mailbox. If art doesn't resonate... they why are you using so much of it? Just saying.)

(PPS - For the Non-Canadians who are thinking "huh?", Mr. Stephen Harper is our Prime Minister, and the leader of the Conservative Party in Canada. During our last election he formed a minority government, winning 124 of 308 seats, and 36% of the popular vote, which means that roughly 2/3 of voting Canadians didn't vote for him or his party, and chose an option to the left. (There are no options to the right of Mr. Harper.) This is possible because we have a multi-party system. Mr. Harper and the other party Leaders, Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois (a federal party that only runs in the enormous province of Quebec), Stéphane Dion of the Liberal Party, Jack Layton of the NDP and Elizabeth May of the Green Party (I'm leaving out others, but they don't hold seats in parliament) have been campaigning since The Prime Minister asked the Governor General to prorogued Parliament earlier this month (that's sort of like dissolving the current session so they can start fresh with a new government after the election) and calling an election for the 14th of October. (We do it fast.) In Canada, we don't have set dates for an election. We hold them whenever the party in power thinks it would be a good time or they run out of time (at least every five years) or whenever a government loses a confidence vote (which is essentially like getting fired.) We have no term limits - you can be Prime Minister for as long (William Lyon MacKenzie King served a total of 21 years as Prime Minister) or as little (Sir Charles Tupper was Prime Minister for 68 days) as the Canadian people allow you to serve.

From Carissa

Atonement- Ian McEwan

A heartwrenching tale of love... It's been made into a movie but as usual the book was 100 times better. McEwan has a simple yet beautiful way of writting making you want more. Definately worth the time to read it. It's a love story set around the time of World War II where young Robbie and Cecilia begin to realize there is something between them. Something that Cecilia's younger sister Briony cannot even begin to understand; one evening a crime is commited and Briony's imagination creates a series of events noone is prepared for. Such an enjoyable and beautiful novel to read...

Spanish Fly

From the Publisher:
Raised by his father in the dying town of Paradise Flats, Jack McGreary has learned to live by his wits. The year is 1939. Drought has turned America’s heartland into a dust bowl, and the world is on the brink of war. Jack’s father wants him to head north to Canada to sign up in the fight against Fascism. But when a pair of fast-talking swindlers named Virgil and Miss Rose blow through town, Jack falls in with them instead. Together, they go on a crime spree across the Southwest, staging a series of inventive and often hilarious cons, while sexual tension between Jack and Miss Rose grows ... Someone is being set up.


I really enjoyed this novel. Read it and watch "Carnival" and you'll feel kike you've had an entertaining education regarding the great depression.

In Book News

I read this this morning in Shelf Awareness (a magazine for us book industry types)and I thought it was interesting enough to pass along:

Jane Belson, the widow of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams, has given permission for a sixth book to be added to the series. The Guardian reported that And Another Thing . . . will be written by children's author Eoin Colfer, who said being chosen by Belson for this task was "like suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice'."

The book, which is scheduled to be published next fall by Penguin, will "make no claims for Eoin being Douglas," said Joanna Prior, the publisher's marketing and publicity director. "It's not Eoin Colfer writing as Douglas Adams, as was the case with Sebastian Faulks [who wrote as Ian Fleming]. It's absolutely about him being himself--Eoin the author, but with the cast of Hitchhiker."

Grind Master

The newest member of the team. A Grindmaster 500 from the 1950's. These things can't be killed! It works better than the grinder we bought in 2003.

Good Grief a good choice

Good Grief

The brilliantly funny and heartwarming New York Times bestseller about a young woman who stumbles, then fights to build a new life after the death of her husband.

At 36, Sophie Stanton loses her husband to cancer. Sophie desperately wants to be a good widow,composed and in control. Unfortunately, Sophie is not in control. She is breaking down in the produce section of supermarkets and showing up to work in her bathrobe and bunny slippers.In a desperate attempt to right herself, Sophie moves to Oregon and proves that with enough humour and chutzpah, it is possible to move on after loss.

Kay Chornook - Walking with Wolf

Kay reads from Walking with Wolf for a rapt crowd.

Tonight!

Okay. This is going to be next on my list. After reading the book jacket and these reviews I can't NOT read it. I'll let you know what I thought.


About this Book:

On a burn ward, a man lies between living and dying, so disfigured that no one from his past life would even recognize him. His only comfort comes from imagining various inventive ways to end his misery. Then a woman named Marianne Engel walks into his hospital room, a wild-haired, schizophrenic sculptress on the lam from the psych ward upstairs, who insists that she knows him – that she has known him, in fact, for seven hundred years. She remembers vividly when they met, in another hospital ward at a convent in medieval Germany, when she was a nun and he was a wounded mercenary left to die. If he has forgotten this, he is not to worry: she will prove it to him.

And so Marianne Engel begins to tell him their story, carving away his disbelief and slowly drawing him into the orbit and power of a word he'd never uttered: love.


“There is an admirable clarity to his prose, a careful avoidance of the kind of turgid or melodramatic sentences one finds in lesser writers….The Gargoyle does not disappoint….Sweeping, intergenerational, wholly implausible, unapologetically melodramatic, and absolutely absorbing. While reading it I rolled my eyes more times than I care to remember; it was, at the same time, impossible to put down..”
—The Globe and Mail

“You want to be lost in its pages, immersed in the unfolding tale of the human gargoyle and a flesh and blood wraith. In the final analysis, the real tragedy of this book is that it ends.”
–New York Daily News

“It's wildly romantic, a la Diana Gabaldon, but anchored by a 21st-century sensibility that owes more to Chuck Palahniuk.”
–Winnipeg Free Press

“A wild page-turner and a boldly impudent work that flirts with the trappings of gothic romances, historical novels and fantasies while skirting their clichés and remaining defiantly unique.”–Edmonton Sun

"I was blown away by Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle. . . . A hypnotic, horrifying, astonishing novel that manages, against all odds, to be redemptive."
–Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants

“After 44 years of reading anything I could get my hands on, including Moby-Dick, reading Andrew Davidson’s debut novel made me feel as if I were done. The Gargoyle had it all – all I’d ever wanted or needed from a book….[The] characters are rich and knowing, the imagery breathtaking, the voice and rhythm unfailing.”
–The Raabe Review

The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel

The Heretic's Daughter: A Novel

Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused, tried, and hanged as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts. This is the haunting story of Carrier's courageous defiance and ultimate death, as told by her daughter, Sarah

I really enjoyed this historical novel. I was engaged right from the beginning and I at one point found myself googleing "Cones of Sugar" to see what that was exactly. I felt emotionally tied up in the characters and by the end of the story I really felt that I had also learned a little more about what it may have been like to live through that terrible period of history.

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

We now have copies of Joseph Boyden's new book "Through Black Spruce" in stock at the Chat Noir Books, drop by to pick your copies I am sure they will be going quickly.

This past spring Jenn and I were grateful to have Joseph in the store where he read from both his books "Three Day road" and "Through Black Spruce". We then ran into Joseph again at Book Expo, where Jenn was greeted with a big hug and I with an advanced readers copy of "Through Black Spruce". It didn't take me long to devour my copy of "Through Black Spruce" and like "Three Day Road"(which rumour has it maybe turned into a major motion picture!!) it has since become one of my most favourite books. Joseph is truly a spinner of tales who creates characters so believable that you cannot wait to turn the page to find out what happens to them next.

From internationally acclaimed author Joseph Boyden comes an astonishingly powerful novel of contemporary aboriginal life, full of the dangers and harsh beauty of both forest and city. When beautiful Suzanne Bird disappears, her sister Annie, a loner and hunter, is compelled to search for her, leaving behind their uncle Will, a man haunted by loss.While Annie travels from Toronto to New York, from modelling studios to A-list parties,Will encounters dire troubles at home. Both eventually come to painful discoveries about the inescapable ties of family. Through Black Spruce is an utterly unforgettable consideration of how we discover who we really are.

"Through Black Spruce is an arresting novel with unexpected twists and turns. It's also an important contribution to the Native literary voice in this country."
—Tomson Highway, author of Kiss of the Fur Queen

“Joseph Boyden achieves a beautiful balance between his characters and nature, between the hardships of contemporary life and their strong connection to the past.”
—Nino Ricci, Author of The Origin of Species and Testament

Pretty dirty and I loved it

From the Publisher:
Pretty Little Dirty

Lisa sees the life of her gorgeous best friend Celeste as just about perfect: she has a gigantic house, two older sisters to coach her through the hazards of high school, and loving, lively parents. As Lisa's own home has long been a place devoid of joyful noise—her mother has shut herself off in her bedroom for years—Lisa joins the Diamond household, slipping into their routine of sit-down suppers and soaking in the delicious normalcy of Diamond family life. But what begins as the story of two young women living a charmed adolescence, one of mastering dance moves and the protocols of male-female interaction, soon swirls into an intoxicating novel of art, music, and self-destructive impulses as Lisa and Celeste dare each other ever onward.

From Me:
Okay - loved it! Really loved it. It is raw and rough and slightly nasty and that all turns out to be a good thing. I felt like I was reading a real story of real teenage girls when I read this. I often feel like coming of age stories are written the way authors wished life was rather than how raw it often is. This book was a great example of a story that your grandmother would probably not approve of and it's totally worth the read.

Temiskaming Tourist Attractions & George Straatman's new book!

Tourist Attractions in Temiskaming...

Next week the New Liskeard Fall Fairr begins, which we always look forward to attending. since we started gardening, pickling and making our own jams, Jenn and I also like to check out the local Homecraft section.

Speaking of local attractions and events, Barb from the our local Chamber has created a wonderful list of Local attractions for the Temiskaming area. You can download the list by clicking HERE.


In Book News...


We just got in our copies of George Straatman's second book "The Converging: Mark of the Demon". Hopefully sometime in the near future we will also have George in for a book reading and signing!!

“Our day of reckoning will come, though not for some years. Know this; you cannot die unless I allow you to. I can cause you to suffer a limitless amount of agony if I so choose." The Baroness Cynara Saravic to a young Nathaniel Simpson.

After laying waste to the small Washington town of Semelar, the Demon Cynara Saravic leaves the United States with her coveted prize firmly in her grasp. Paving a bloody road of death and despair, that leads her from a remote village in Northern Mexico through the very home of the Roman Catholic Church, Cynara returns to her ancestral homeland of Romania to bask in her triumph and enjoy the spoils of her conquest. The ancient soil resonates with the agonized screams of Cynara’s past victims and these bloody ghosts cry out for retribution. The children of these restless victims will converge upon Cynara, intent upon forever purging her evil from the world. Among them will come Nathaniel Simpson and Jimmy Simms, two men driven to pursue a seemingly unstoppable monster, each driven by their own complex motivations of revenge and closure. Together they will join the beautiful and tempestuous Contayza Prowzi…a living weapon forged in the furnace of long-harboured hatred and vengeance…and confront Satan’s favourite daughter.

As Cynara prepares to meet their challenge, she discovers her greatest adversaries are not the engines of revenge that her past evils have set in motion, but rather love and her own conflicted nature.

George Straatman’s epic horror trilogy The Converging continues with the second segment, Mark of the Demon. Part intense horror and part psychological thriller, Mark of the Demon will plunge the reader into the deepest recesses of Cynara Saravic’s dark and twisted soul