Merry Christmas!!!

Mmmmmm Cookies! in an Ugly Doll Cookie Jar!

Another great gift idea, but it is going fast as we only have one more left in the store! Ugly Doll Cookie Jars!

You put your coffee in it!

Check out a great selection of coffee mugs for that last minute Christmas gift!

It's COMING!!!!

We do really love this book. I hope they do it justice. So far so good looking at the casting and the posters etc.

Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans Back in Stock!!

We just received a fresh batch of roasted coffee beans from the Las Chicas Del Cafe!! We are also proud to annouce that their coffee has been feature on Coffee Review Check out what they had to say about the coffee below!

We also have some of the Las Chicas Del Cafe Christmas Jars (227 grams) in stock. The Christmas blend is a heavy bodied coffee with smoky notes. The Christmas blend is only available in the Christmas Jars.

Nicaragua Bourbon City Roast
Roast: Medium
Rated: 93%
AROMA: 8 - ACIDITY: 9 - BODY: 9 - FLAVOUR: 9 - AFTERTASTE: 8

Soft, round, balanced. Quiet aroma: almond, apricot. In the cup complicates and deepens: honey, ripe lemon, cocoaish chocolate, continued almond and apricot. Crisp, juicy acidity; syrupy mouthfeel. Flavor carries persuasively into a sweet-toned finish.

El Patron Nicaragua Espresso
Roast: Medium-Dark
Rated: 94%
AROMA: 9 - BODY: 8 - FLAVOUR: 9 - AFTERTASTE: 9 - WITH MILK: 9

Evaluated as espresso. Great depth and range of sensation. Between Ken (94) and co-taster Sean Kohmescher (94) about a dozen aroma/flavor descriptors surfaced, most circling around fruit (stone fruit, wine grape, berry) and nut-toned dark chocolate. Medium to full body; silky/syrupy mouthfeel; crisply dry, flavor-saturated finish. Balanced, chocolaty and berryish in two parts milk.

Don Rey's Natural Prep Bourbon
Roast: Medium-Dark
Rated: 89%
AROMA: 8 - ACIDITY: 7 - BODY: 8 - FLAVOUR: 8 - AFTERTASTE: 8

Deep-toned, rich coffee with distinct dark chocolate and raisiny aromatic wood notes in aroma, cup and finish. Roast-muted acidity, fullish mouthfeel, dark-chocolaty finish. The cup simplifies a bit as it cools.

Don Rey's Private Reserve Bourbon, City Roast
Roast: Medium
Rated: 89%
AROMA: 7 - ACIDITY: 7 - BODY: 8 - FLAVOUR: 8 - AFTERTASTE: 8

Enthusiastic co-cupper Andy Newbom (89) found this deep, chocolate-leaning coffee luxurious ("sweet and heavy lidded aroma"), balanced ("all-over tongue-hugger"), and complex ("smooth and sultry dark chocolate ... with a hint of lemon/orange and a dash of florals)." Ken (88) noted a pungent fruit that definitely suggested a nut- and peach-toned dark chocolate, but found a bit less complexity than did Andy.

Shakespeare & Company losses it owner George Whitman

Very sad news I just read this on Shelf Awareness. We have lost another great bookstore owner, George Whitman, the longtime owner of Shakespeare & Company in Paris has passed away. I first read of George Whiteman and his amazing store in "Time was Soft there" by Jeremy Mercer. Since then I have always wanted to travel to Paris to visit his store. I hope it is still there when I actually get the chance to visit, though I image it will not be the same without George.

George Whitman, the longtime owner of Shakespeare & Company in Paris, died yesterday in his apartment above the store. He was 98 and had suffered a stroke two months ago, according to his daughter, Sylvia.

Founded in 1951, Shakespeare & Company has been a legendary bookstore, what in a long tribute, the New York Times called "an offbeat mix of open house and literary commune." Whitman was famous for providing room and board in the store to writers and booklovers, some 40,000 over the years, he estimated. He asked his guests to help out in the store, and was known at times to be erratic and dramatic. Still, he was a patron of writers and readers. He commented: "I wanted a bookstore because the book business is the business of life."

After World War II, Whitman moved to Paris and began selling English-language books at a kiosk, then opened a store called Le Mistral. In 1964, the store took the name Shakespeare & Company, to commemorate the bard's 400th birthday and to honor Sylvia Beach, who owned the famous Shakespeare & Company in the 1920s and '30s.

Christmas Is Coming!

Sphinxes with Fricken Laser Beams! :)

Loving this game! We opened it up and started playing last night and had a blast! What's not to like? You get to shoot lasers and everything!



It's the game that combines lasers with classic strategy. Players alternate turns moving Egyptian-themed pieces having two, one or no mirrored surfaces. All four types of pieces (pharaoh, anubis, pyramid and scarab) can either move one square forward, back, left, right, or diagonal, or stay in the same square and rotate by a quarter twist. Each turn ends by firing the real laser diode built into each player's Sphinx piece. The laser beam bounces from mirror to mirror; if the beam strikes a non-mirrored surface on any piece, it is immediately removed from play. The ultimate goal is to illuminate your opponent's pharaoh, while shielding yours from harm!

The Official Hunger Games Trailer!

March 23rd is WAY too far away!

The Official Hunger Games Trailer!

Not too often that I'm excited about a movie the way I am about this one. They better to it right!

Our holiday shopping catalogues are ready!

Starting your holiday shopping? Take a look at our catalogues. Just in time for Christmas!

You can even use them as a handy ordering tool if that's more convenient for you! Just click on the items you's like to order and send it off to us at the end. We'll take care of everything else and we'll give you a call and let know know when they're ready for pick up.


Click on the cover to see The Young Readers Edition:



Click on the cover to see The General Catalogue:





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Lifting the Silence - Book signing with author David Scott Smith

Date: Tuesday, November 8
Time: 4:00pm - 6:00pm
Location: Chat Noir Books

David Scott Smith is an artist, writer, filmmaker, and graduate of Sheridan College's Classical Animation program. His past writing has been in the form of screenplays and storyboarding for major motion picture studios. He now lives in Los Angeles.

Sydney Percival Smith served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War and returned to graduate from the University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry. He was a dentist here in New Liskeard in his early career.

About the book:
At a time of great sacrifice in Canadian history, we are welcomed into the homes, the hearts, and the minds of mothers, sons, fathers, and friends as we follow Syd Smith and his high-school brotherhood of 13 when they answer the call to duty in 1941. Written with his son, David, Lifting the Silence is also a father-and-son journey of discovery that uncovers a remarkable letter that serves as testament to what still defines Canada today. Postmarked "France August 1946," the fragile letter bares the soul of a people beaten down by cruel times and extols their admiration and gratitude for Canada as a nation of spiritual and economic resources that helped them out so much during the war. Within the letter as well, a heartfelt and strikingly prophetic expression of hope to once again receive the downed pilot they had sheltered in 1942. As if by Providence, this letter now serves to reunite Syd with his angel of the French Resistance 61 years later.

10 Myths About Bookselling

I read this this morning and enjoyed it so much I thought I should share it.
Here are some excerpts from Lacey N. Dunham's Bookseller I'd Like to F*** column. Happy Thursday everyone! ;) - Jenn

10 Myths About Bookselling


MYTH 1: Booksellers Spend All Day Reading
Books don’t appear on the shelf in such a tidy order instantaneously. Someone has to unpack the FedEx boxes, add the books to the store inventory database, and place each one in the correct section (no Tolstoy in psychology, please!). Think of doing that for 200-300 books each day (double that on a new release day) all while answering phones, fielding customer questions, processing and sending out books ordered online, explaining e-books, setting up chairs for an author reading, hosting the author reading, updating the store’s social media, checking for shelving errors and re-alphabetizing as necessary, researching a rare title for a customer, collecting books for return to the publisher and selling books at the cash register — you understand why booksellers hate when people tell them, “Oh, I would love to sit and just read all day like you do.” Reading is the last thing booksellers have time to do.


MYTH 2: Booksellers Make Lots of Money, Otherwise Books Wouldn’t Cost So Much
Q: How do you make a small fortune in bookselling?
A: Start out with a large fortune.
Yes, books aren’t getting any cheaper, but neither is milk, bread, or a new car. For many of us, bookselling is a career we do as a labor of love. None of us are getting rich from it—but if you are topping off your bank account with this gig, I’d like to know if your store is hiring.


MYTH 3: Bookselling Isn’t a Career (i.e. so when are you getting a real job?
Although bookselling isn’t as lucrative as a law or business career, it’s still a career choice for literarily minded individuals who love working with the public by day and devouring books by night. Besides, if the legitimacy of a career is based on that career’s annual salary, than booksellers shouldn’t be the only ones asked by well-meaning family and friends when we’re finally going to get a “real” job


MYTH 4: Bookselling Is a Low-Stress Job
Any job is going to have high points and low moments; however, when you’re working with the public, it’s impossible to know if the next person who walks up to you is having the best day of his life and will shower you with rainbows and smiles or if he just lost the all-important Schnizicki account at work and is stomping into the bookstore like Godzilla.


MYTH 5: Booksellers Know Everything About Every Book Ever Published Since Gutenberg Invented the Printing Press
Booksellers possess pride in knowing the ins and outs of recently published books. However, if you’re looking for a book and you can’t recall the author, the title, what the book is about, where you heard about the book, or whether it’s fiction or non-fiction, we’re not going to be much help beyond recommending other books you might enjoy.


MYTH 6: Booksellers Are Literature Snobs
while you’re likely to find that one bookseller at every store who claims they only enjoy seventeenth-century Restoration era literature of the French persuasion, you’ll also find booksellers wild about J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and other “commercial” writers.


MYTH 7: Booksellers Have No Other Interests and Only Talk About Books All Day
The most satisfying and intellectually stimulating conversation I’ve ever had on the topics of our “post-race” culture and the deconstruction of meaning behind Orko’s curious garb both occurred while bookselling.


MYTH 8: Booksellers Just Want to Sell You Something
Ninety-nine percent of booksellers aren’t used car salesmen. We want you to find a book you’ll love because reading should be a passionate endeavor driven by your lust for another page.


MYTH 9: Bookselling is Dead (or Dying)
The entire publishing and retail book industry is experiencing a titanic shift and while this will result in a few casualties, one or two missing limbs (or the entire collapse of Borders) it isn’t the same as flat lining. Publishers are worried. Writers are worried. Bookstore owners are worried. The next few years will be rocky but I firmly believe—and the news of bookstores thriving in the face of Borders decline and Amazon’s giant paws dirtying everything should be proof—that bookselling and books are going to survive.

MYTH 10: That Cute Bookseller You’ve Been Flirting With Won’t Date You



Read more from Lacey N. Dunham on her Bookseller I'd Like to F*** column on UsedFurnitureReview.com



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Sheesham and Lotus Tonight at the Classic!

We just had a great visit from Sheesham and Lotus who were in the store for some coffee. These guys are playing at the Classic Theatre tonight as part of the Piped Piper Kids Show series! If you get a chance go out and see these guys perform!!

Unfortunately Jenn and I will not be able to see the show as we are going to be one of the guest speakers at tonight Enterprise Temiskaming's "The Business Mindset" seminar.(which is also very exciting!!)

Lucky I was able to pick up some of Sheesham and Lotus cd's which we have been listening to today in the store. You can also check out the Classic Theatre website here to see some of their music!

They also gave me some great tips on my banjo playing!!

So cool..... and creepy?

Is it creepy that this came in today and I can't stop looking through it? I'm just fascinated. - Jenn

Read More or Buy a copy here.






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A Cure For Emma book signing!!

Julie Colvin talking about her book!

SO excited!!!!!!!

Release date Oct 18, 2011!!!!







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Ugly Doll Mugs!

YAY! Now in stock!




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Fred Eaglesmith at the Classic Theatre

Did you hear? Fred Eaglemsith will be playing at the Classic Theatre on October 15th 2011!! As a Classic Theatre business partner we would like to invite you out to this great show at the Classic Theatre!

Up coming MTG Tournaments

Tournament: Sealed
Time: 10:30pm Doors open
Date: Jan 29th 2012
Where: Chat Noir Books

The Prerelease tournament will be a Sealed event. Entry fee is $30.00

Doors open at 10:30am and the Tournament starts at 11:00am

There will be a Booster Draft after the event, the price to entry is 4 booster packs. This will not be a rare draft event!

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Tournament: Booster Draft
Time: 10:30pm Doors open
Date: Feb 5th 2012
Where: Chat Noir Books

The Launch Tournament will be a Booster Draft Event. Entry Fee is $20.00

Doors open at 10:30am and the Tournament starts at 11:00am

There will be a Booster Draft after the event, the price to entry is 4 booster packs. This will not be a rare draft event!

Check out our Facebook group Temiskaming Magic The Gathering Guild to find out more on Events, local players and trading cards!

The Lovely Miss Chat Noir Books

A photo from the Fall Fair Parade we thought we'd share with you all.
Thanks for the picture Bill!

:)

The Scorpio Races Interview with Maggie Stiefvater

With her trademark lyricism, Maggie Stiefvater turns to a new world, where a pair are swept up in a daring, dangerous water horse race—with more than just their lives at stake should they lose.

In this interview, Maggie Stiefvater speaks about her love of audiobooks, the inspiration for The Scorpio Races, her career as an author, and her love for playing the dudelsack.

What is a dudelsack? You may just have to listen to find out!


The Scorpio Races Interview with Maggie Stiefvater by Scholastic Audio

You can check out and pre-order the book here!

Dem Northerners are not like dose Southerners eh!

Just a interesting link I found on the National Post today about the area.

'Recently, a team of three undergraduates deployed to Temiskaming Shores and Kirkland Lake by Ms. Tagliamonte uncovered linguistic relics of Ireland, such as residents using the words “dese” for “these” and “dem” for “them.”'...read the rest HERE.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/30/look-north-for-real-canadian-english-eh/

Magic The Gathering Tournaments

For years now, we or I should say I/Paul, have been running Magic The Gathering card tournaments in the store. I am sure some of you are wondering what Magic the Gathering is. You have probably also seen the store full of geeky kids and adults (me included) huddled around tables when we're closed on Sunday... and I am sure if you have been in the store you have probably seen the MTG posters, cards and the huge floor display we currently have up. So if you have been wondering what this crazy card game is, here is the brief low down:

What is MTG - Magic: The Gathering card game, is the world's premier trading card game. It was the first of its kind, and it's still the best and the biggest.

In the Magic game, you play the role of a planeswalker—a powerful wizard who fights other planeswalkers for glory, knowledge, and conquest. Your deck of cards represents all the weapons in your arsenal. It contains the spells you know and the creatures you can summon to fight for you. To learn more you can check out What is MTG - Here.

For the longest time we have only announced the tournament dates in store or on the Temiskaming MTG Facebook group - Click Here to Check it out. Which is great for our members but really hard for new players to find us. So we will be posting updates of Tournaments, New Stock and promo on the blog from now on!

I would also like to point out that MTG is not the only card/board game we sell in the store. We have also been having staff game nights to get our staff familiar with the board games we are selling and are hoping some time in the future to host a game night for our customers. Check out the picture from a game of Munchkin ---->

MTG TOURNAMENTS

October 1st Innistrad Release Booster Draft.
Time 10:30 Doors open 11:00 Tournament Starts
$20 Entry
Location: Chat Noir Books

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October 6th TNM - Modern
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
$5 Entry
Location: Chat Noir Books

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October 27th TNM - Modern
Time: 7:00pm - 10:00pm
$5 Entry
Location: Chat Noir Books

** For TNM -Come out and play some Modern! Time to get out our old cards and make some wicked decks!

Please make sure you sleeve your decks!
Also, the doors open for the MTG events 1/2 hour before start times. Please wait until then to drop by the store. If you show up at 6:00pm you will be asked to leave the store until 6:30. This gives my staff time to close up shop from the regular day.

Thanks Paul

TLT looking for volunteers for their upcoming Show.

TLT(Timiskaming Live Players) are looking for some volunteers for their upcoming Show. So we thought we would help them out by passing along the info!

The Long Red Herring by Pat Cook.......cast of 9 which includes a professor and his creative writing college class made up of 2 men 6 women. Auditions are september 28 and october 3 at 7 at the Classic. Please send us some talent or bring your own and make sure we get it cast.

Maryanne Moffitt will be Directing this comedy thriller. For more information you can contact Larry Aquino at landdaquino@gmail.com.

New Coffee Beans!

We have some new coffee Beans in stock from the Las Chicas Del Cafe!!

Almost 80 years ago as he began to plant his coffee plantations, the Las Chicas Del Cafe grandfather had the great vision to not be persuaded by newer hybrids that promised greater yields and better disease resistance, but compromised flavour. He decided to plant old world varieties with strong flavour profiles. He also had the vision to plant some varieties exclusively on certain plantations, creating their own micro-niche. And so today we can enjoy the privilege of tasting thier beans by their botanical variety; such as Bourbon from El bosque, Catuai from San Antonio and Las Pilas, or Maracatu from Los Robles.

Bourbon

The first Bourbon trees found on their family's farm were planted in the 1950s in the plantations of Lagunillas, San Antonio and La Joya. They were planted by their grandfather. Bourbon was one of their grandfather's favourite varietals. While many growers in the 1950s were switching to more resistant and higher yielding plants to obtain bank financing, their grandfather decided to plant this heirloom variety. Today their Bourbon has received wonderful reviews including recognition in July 2009's Coffee Review.

Maracatu

The first trees of Maracatu were found on a plantation not far from their family's farm. This was a natural cross pollination between the Caturra and Maragogype varieties found in the area. What first strikes you about this bean is its buttery almost creamy body with its soft mellow cup. The tree itself looks very different to any other arabica varieties, much taller and with a longer leaf. The fruit of course is also bigger and it yields a large sized bean.

Treason's Grave: Mentor

We now have copies of Treason's Grave: Mentor in stock by Sarah E. Nemcsok. Sarah is a local author from Kirkland Lake and this is her first novel.

Treason's Grave: Mentor by Sarah E. Nemcsok

Description:

A Galaxy away from her home, Abalan resides on a planet she created: Earth. Searching for her son, (while escaping her government in foreign territory) she trains her brother’s motherless daughter, Brume, in the ways of their culture. She encounters an old friend; a doctor who has his own plans to manipulate her life. Wilk, a troublesome opponent that is much closer to her than she would think suddenly enters into her life. Soon she finds Wilk an asset to her escape. Wilk’s estranged “father”(a disturbing mass murderer) chases his son to complete a self-imposed mission to kill the two people in his life he loves most, creates a dangerous endeavour for all people involved in his life, including Abalan.

Cat's in a Bath Tub

We have some lovely new art work decorating our walls here in the store. Cat's in a bath tub! Laura Landers over at Canvas and Clay did a wonderful job framing it for us!

Book ...uhm and Magazine covers

It has been a while since we posted one of these!

Dies the Fire by S M Stirling

Recommend reading by Paul
Dies the Fire by S M Stirling

The year is 1998 and a strange electrical storm over the island of Nantucket suddenly causes all electronic devices to stop functioning! Cars and trucks stop in the middle of street, planes fall out of the sky and the world is changed forever. Small groups of people realized that this is not a temporary event and begin gathering seeds, farming equipment, livestock and move out to the country to survive. The cities go first with disease and starvation and the more ruthless individuals' are building armies for conquest.

So what would do if the world ended tomorrow? What skills do you have that would help you survive?

A Cure for Emma Book Signing

Time: Thursday, October 13 · 4:30pm - 6:30pm

Location: Chat Noir Books

Come out and meet local author Julie Colvin and get a copy of her book A Cure for Emma signed! Live music by Robyn Dewar!!

A Cure for Emma chronicles a mother’s quest to heal her child from a nearly invisible disease: type 1 diabetes. Millions of parents around the world will relate to Julie Colvin’s roller coaster of despair, frustration, and hope when her daughter Emma was diagnosed with this life-threatening, incurable nightmare. Overnight, Julie left her medical career to become a full-time surrogate pancreas for her daughter. A Cure for Emma is also a spiritual look at one woman’s journey from anguish to hope. Writing with humor and honesty, this devoted mother offers a warm, revealing look at the spiritual questions disease forces into one’s life. We follow Julie’s quest to cut a deal with her analytical, scientifically-trained mind and investigate a world that could not be proven in a lab. While seeking a cure for Emma she risks everything, including her marriage, to follow a path of discovery and wonder.

"From one Mother Warrior to another, I have deep respect and compassion
for Julie's brave and loving journey in search of a cure for her daughter, Emma. There is nothing more powerful than mommy intuition and perseverance as one travels down this difficult, uncharted road. I commend Julie for her tenacity and dedication. You go girl! Much love and best wishes with your journey and your book."

... Jenny McCarthy - model, comedian, actress, author and activist.

"Nothing touches us more meaningfully than the story of a parent's care for a child-in-need. As the father of a diabetic, I understand Julie's roller coaster of despair, frustration, and hope. The love we feel for our kids is unlike any other emotion in the human spectrum, and capturing it in prose is an art. With gratitude and congratulations to Julie..."

Alan Thicke - actor, songwriter, game and talk show host.

The Faustman Lab is proud to support Julie Colvin and her ongoing efforts to raise awareness about Type 1 Diabetes. This is a disease which demands constant vigilance and determination on the part of diabetics and their families. Our hope is that this book will shed light on the issues surrounding this disease and facilitate the advancement of a cure"

... Dr. Denise Faustman - Director, Immunobiology Laboratory, Associate Professor of Medicine - Harvard Medical School.

The return of the 1909 Roast...dun dun da!

For our Coffee lovers! We should have more of the 1909 roast back in stock on Oct 1st! It is going to go fast so is you would like to have a bag give us a call and we can reserve you a bag!

Pure and honest.
Sweet and strong.
Just like Abuelito Reynaldo.

Luscious Peach Coffee Cake

We have a new Coffee Cake from the Orchard on display at the coffee bar. The Luscious Peach Coffee cake is sooo Tashmmmtasmatyyy! Sorry quality control... had to make sure it lived up to its name!

Our 2011 Harvest Queen Sponsor Miranda Phillips

Well Friday turned out to be a beautiful day for the New Liskeard fall fair! Last night was freezing unless you were in the Horne Granite Curling Club, which Jenn and I were to cheer on one of our staff members Miranda Phillips! Miranda is a valued minion at Chat Noir Books and we are proud to be sponsoring her in this year's 2011 Harvest Queen Pageant.

Hit the nail on the head!

Books 'Are Memories'

"Books can be passed around. They can be shared. A lot of people like seeing them in their houses. They are memories. People who don't understand books don't understand this. They learn from TV shows about organizing that you should get rid of the books that you aren't reading, but everyone who loves books believes the opposite. People who love books keep them around, like photos, to remind them of a great experience and so they can revisit and say, 'Wow, this is a really great book.' "

--Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Company, Milwaukee, Wis., in an interview with OnMilwaukee.com

Please HBO, AMC or Showtime pick up Locke & Key!

I really hope AMC, HBO or Showtime picks this show up! Amazing cast! Great story and a crap load of spookiness! We have the graphic Novels here in the store, and I have been following the story for about a year now! It is a must have for your Graphic Novel Collection!!

Based on Joe Hill’s comic, Locke & Key tells the story of Nina Locke (Otto) and her three children, Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode, who survive an unspeakable horror and attempt to rebuild their lives at Keyhouse, their family home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts. It is a mysterious New England mansion, with fantastic and transformative keys hidden inside its walls that are also being sought by a hate-filled and relentless creature with ties to the Locke family’s past who will stop at nothing to accomplish his sinister goals.

Fresh Roasted Coffee!!

Mmmmmm the front of the store smells like coffee more than usual. Just got in our order of freshly roasted coffee from the Las Chicas Del Cafe!!

Books out Sept 6th 2011 in the store.

Just happen to have a few minutes to spare and thought I would post some of the great books that have come in today!

Trade Paper Back

The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Everything I Need to Know I learned from Dungeons & Dragons by Shelly Mazzanoble
The Golden Mean by Annable Lyon
The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Women who Loved Him by Roy MacGregor

Hardcover

The Race by Clive Clussler
Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Stories by Randy Bachman
Four Strong Winds: Ian and Sylvia by John Einarson | Ian Tyson | Sylvia Tyson

One from Alyssa's Favourites

BACK IN STOCK!

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.





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Robert Rotenberg

From our author evening last night! It was a wonderful evening. A BIG thank you to everyone who came out!




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Author Event with Robert Rotenberg

Time: Friday, August 26 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Chat Noir Books

Robert Rotenberg is one of Toronto's top criminal lawyers. He will be here in the store for a signing and meet and greet. Please Join us!

Robert's second novel is a another scorching page-turner.With a main suspect from Cobalt and a scene right here in the store!!!

From the publisher:
On the morning that his headline-grabbing divorce trial is set to begin, Terrance Wyler, youngest son of the Wyler Food dynasty, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of his million-dollar home. Detective Ari Greene arrives minutes before the press and finds Wyler’s four-year-old son asleep upstairs. When Wyler’s ex-wife, a strange beauty named Samantha, shows up at her lawyer’s office with a bloody knife, it looks as if the case is over. But Greene soon discovers the Wyler family has secrets they’d like to keep hidden, and they’re not the only ones. If there’s one thing Greene knows, it’s that the truth is never simple.

Shared From The Yarn Harlot

Can't Wait To Get This One! :)


August 19, 2011
Going Again

Last night when I was leaving, there was a box on the porch. I was pretty sure that I knew what it was, but I left it there and went on my errands.
When Joe and I got home last night, it was still there.

I brought it in and put it on the counter, and that box and I had a bit of a staring match in the kitchen. It won, so I opened it, half scared, half thrilled, half flipped out. (I know that adds up to 1.5, which is probably why it felt so strange.) I put my hand in the box and pulled out the contents - two books wrapped in brown paper, and I carried them into the living room without unwrapping them. I went back to the kitchen and got a largish glass of wine, and then slowly unwrapped the package on my lap.

It is an actual book, made out of an actual manuscript that I actually wrote. It's All Wound Up, and it is (Joe and I had to count last night) book number seven.
It is very beautiful. I held it, and noted all sorts of details. That it has an orange spine. (I love that) That they are still using the old author photo that makes me look unreasonably young and beautiful (I love that too.) That the book feels good in your hands, has nice paper, feels like it's the right weight, and especially that it looks related to the other books of essays that I've produced over the years. It feels to me like getting a sister, or a cousin in the family, and I'm glad it looks that way. I turned it over and over, and then opened it, and started to read at random spots.

There is virtually no way for me to describe to you (except for those of you who are authors) the feeling that is reading a book that you wrote. The words that I wrote in a notebook or on my computer, now suddenly on pages - The hours and hours of swearing and laughing and crumpling things up and getting up at two in the morning because I'd had an idea and it was a good one, or even the heartbreak of writing for hours and figuring out it was all crap and could never, ever be allowed to see the light of day for even one second... all of that experience, condensed into a book that will go to bookshops and into your homes?

It's like standing in the bushes outside of a school so you can see your child playing inside, or the first time you go into the place where your teenager works and see them doing just that. It's the disorienting feeling of seeing someone you know really well, someone you understand completely in a certain context - suddenly transported to this more formal independent place where suddenly they are their whole own thing, large and real and bigger than you imagined, moving to a place without you.

This book is quite possibly the hardest won of all of them. We have all had (or will have) an Annus Horribilis, and the one designated for this family fell smack in the middle of writing this book. I struggled to write it. There are writers who will tell you that they are not complete without writing. Writers who will tell you that they need to write the way they need air, food or yarn. Writers who tell you that they would do it whether they had to or not, just to be fulfilled as a person.
I am not that sort of writer. I probably would write whether I had to do it or not, but mostly I look at it as my job, and smack in the middle of a crisis or ten, like most people, I would rather not go to work, but had to. What I wrote then didn't make it into this book. It was not bad writing. It was wonderful writing. It was - however, writing produced in the middle of grief and sadness and learning and when I looked at it, I realized that it was - almost all of it, more intimate, more raw, and more naked than I had intended for it to be. It felt like being caught crying at work...topless.)

I tried then to soften it. To cover its nudity with more words and fewer details and at some point I realized that I had dressed it to the point that it didn't even look like me - and I started over. I realized that book- whatever I had written, was something for another time, when wounds were healed, and I put it in a drawer, and went for long walks, and long talks, and sat back down and wrote again, and what I had at the end of that was the book that arrived last night.

It is my favourite.



If you've been reading for a long time you might recognize a few old stories, (Joe and the truck, for starters) but that's only two out of twenty-nine stories. The rest are new, and I think you'll love them. There's a bunch that are funny, and a bunch that are something else, and there's one in there that left and returned to the manuscript about ten times, because it is a little close to that public nudity I mentioned, but in the end it felt good to put it there. An homage to the book and the place I moved through to get here. I'm sure you'll see it when it goes by.

It has been two years since I had a book published. It feels like forever. There will be a tour. I will be on the road and hopefully, if things are the same way between us, I'll meet a bunch of you and see a bunch of you again.

I'm delighted. I'm proud. I'm scared too.

I'm holding a book, and I wrote it, and that never gets old.


(PS. I know some of you will pre-order this book online, and that's great and I'm exceedingly grateful, but if you are considering buying the book (or any book, really) could I ask a favour? Would you consider buying it at your local bookstore? I think it's "use it or lose it" time for a lot of them, and they're the ones who make things like tours and author readings and signings possible. Buying the book at the store is a nice way to thank them for hosting knitters, and make it possible for us to keep meeting like this.)

(PPS. It is the first book of mine that says "New York Times Bestselling Author" on it, and I can't tell you how much I like it. I know that's prideful, but I can't help it.)



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A Cure for Emma avaible At Chat Noir Books

Chat Noir Books now has Copies of "A Cure for Emma: One Mother's Journey to Oz" by Julie Colvin available here in the store!! We also have a few sign copies in stock as well.

If your not able to get into the store we can ship a copy of the book to you. YOu can contact us by email chatnoir@ntl.sympatico.ca or by phone 705-647-8215.

Julie Colvin is a local author who lives here in Temiskaming Shores.

"During my fourteen years as a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, I acquired a vast knowledge of the body and its organ systems. It was not until dis-ease struck my family that I became aware of a larger picture of health. One that involved natural holistic approaches, self-empowerment, and the very thoughts we choose to think."

A Cure for Emma

"The tsunami of '04... The death of my dearest friend... The crash landing of our plane on my family's first vacation. That should have been enough to bring me to a place of deeper reflection—oh, how I wish!

Sometimes, the waters of change become murkiest before settling into their calmer, more pristine state. When that pivotal moment strikes, changing everything, you have a choice: retreat into fear and despair, or heal the wounds of the past, focus on the future you intend to create, and listen to any messages tap-tapping on your door or inside your head.

It took the diagnosis of an incurable disease for my seven-year-old daughter—our fourth catastrophe in one year—to grab me by the shoulders and stop me in my tracks. This turning point, this "cry Uncle" moment made me see the vibrational boomerangs I had been sending out into the universe. I could no longer ignore the relentless pounding of these similar energetic events and ever hope to live in peace.

It was time to cut a deal with my analytical, scientifically-trained mind—to investigate and participate in a world that could not be proven in a lab. From medical professional to wellness facilitator and stay-at-home mom/pancreas, there had to be a way to get back on track and save my daughter, my family and my mental state. There was no doubt: I would turn over every stone until I found it!"

Pirate Day at Chat Noir Books

Hangin' out with Alyssa today in t' store and we have decided it be pirate day. So t' first person who comes into t' store dressed as a pirate wins a prize!!

Green Apple Takes a Page from the Amazon Playbook

Green Apple Takes a Page from the Amazon Playbook

Green Apple Takes a Page from the Amazon Playbook

We're ready to sign up the Green Apple Books guys to do our April Fools issue. Yesterday the San Francisco store issued this announcement:

In a move spurred by Amazon.com's campaign to collect 500,000-plus signatures in an effort to overturn California's Sales Tax Fairness law via referendum, Green Apple Books owners Pete Mulvihill, Kevin Ryan, and Kevin Hunsanger have decided that they, too, will take a step toward not collecting sales tax. "We, too, are fed up with government providing infrastructure, security, and education," says Pete Mulvihill. "Enough is enough."

Co-owner Kevin Ryan further argues that while Green Apple Books is a long-established presence in San Francisco that has always collected sales tax, there are more compelling reasons for the store to discontinue the practice. "Sure, the sales tax on books purchased at our store contributes to a better quality of life for all Californians, including social services for the elderly and disabled, but collecting sales tax kind of feels like overkill. We do enough for the community anyway," says Ryan.

"I like Amazon's angle here, and I think ALL indie stores should be exempt," adds co-owner Kevin Hunsanger.

Additionally, Green Apple's ownership provides this list of talking points:

* More than two-thirds of Green Apple's staff do not have children and therefore should not really contribute tax money to public education.
* Most of the staff members do not own cars, so maintaining good roads isn't that important. They could just walk.
* Statistics suggest that booksellers are 36% less likely to use emergency services than antiques dealers.
* Although many of the staff at Green Apple do in fact enjoy state and local parks, they sort of think someone other than the bookstore's customers should pay to maintain them.

On Saturday, August 20, 2011, co-owner Kevin Ryan will hit the streets in an effort to collect enough signatures to put this issue into the hands of voters.

Game of Thrones: Bloodraven's Quest for Stolen Scripts

Game of Thrones: Bloodraven's Quest for Stolen Scripts


Game of Thrones: Bloodraven's Quest for Stolen Scripts

George R.R. Martin has enlisted his fans' help in tracking down some missing scripts that were to be auctioned off for charity at worldcon this week. On his blog, he wrote that he had hoped "to bring a couple of signed scripts from the first season of the HBO series Game of Thrones with us, and the good folks in Belfast were kind enough to donate them. Dan Weiss sent them across the pond (registered and priority, signature required). All that arrived was a battered envelope and Dan's cover letter."

Martin is convinced the scripts were stolen, so he is "putting out the word to all my fans and readers. Whoever sold these scripts will presumably try to cash in at some point. So if any of you ever see scripts fitting this description turn up on eBay, one of its competitors, or on some dealer's table--notify me at once, and report the stolen property to whatever local authorities are appropriate."

The missing teleplays include the final shooting scripts for episodes nine and ten of season one, "Baelor" and "Fire and Blood," autographed by writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and director Alan Taylor, printed on white paper.

"Like Bloodraven, I have a thousand eyes and one," Martin wrote. "So let's keep 'em all peeled, boys and girls."



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This was too good not to share with you all.

The publication booksellers turn to for news on the book industry is now publishing a version for book lovers! Shelf Awareness: Enlightenment for Readers is a FREE emailed newsletter with reviews on the 25 best books publishing each week along with author interviews, book excerpts, giveaways and more. Right now they’re running a contest for new subscribers. Check out the button below to sign up for the new publication and to be entered for a chance to win a great book!

A Letter From Robert Rotenberg

Hi all. I've asked Paul and Jennifer to move my reading at Le Chat Noir from Thursday August 25 to Friday evening, August 26th. I do this reluctantly, but for a very good cause.

I've joined with Margaret Atwood and other writers to fight the move by Toronto politicians to close a number of our local libraries and have been invited to attend an important press conference on the Thursday.

If any of you have read THE GUILTY PLEA, I think you will see how important I believe libraries are. They sure were to Samantha...who of course was born Cobalt.

Apologies in advance for any inconvenience, and I hope to see you all on, to repeat, FRIDAY AUGUST 26, 6:00 p.m. at Le Chat Noir Books...right across the street from the New Liskeard Library. Seems fitting doesn't it?

Thanks again.


Robert Rotenberg







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A Customer Review of Robopocalypse

A review from our self proclaimed coolest and most awesome customer, Pascal Julien:

Sometimes, in our busy lives, it’s almost a necessity to bother ourselves with the fantastic, the paranormal, and better yet, the almost-could-be. If you like a thrilling tale with loads of action, philosophy, and human stupidity, then Robopocalypse is definitely the right novel for you.

Set in a not-so-distant future earth, the novel relates the downfall of humanity at the hands of an artificial intelligence. Taking advantage of the autonomous A.I. function on most robots (which range from humanoids, to cars, and even tanks), a rogue super-intelligence usurps all electronically controlled devices and transform them into weapons against their human oppressors. Now humanity is in a struggle to survive this unwonted uprising and must defy all odds against an impossibly ruthless opponent. A chilling view of the future, Robopocalypse relates the emotional weakness of human society clashing soundlessly against the cold, hard steel of the robot network. Using different narratives, the story propels itself by the various characters that demonstrate the evolved human ability to adapt.

I recommend this book to those who are convinced (and to those who need further convincing) that we are surrounded by potential death-machines who will eradicate our pitiful race sometime later-on in the not-so-distant future. It’s an easy read and you won’t be reaching for a dictionary when the action starts, so whether you’re in America, Japan or even in Afghanistan, know that the robots are coming and we need to prepare for them (with tin-foil hats, maybe…).

Click Here to Order!





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Come On Over on Thursday!

Drs. Dieter K. Buse and Graeme S. Mount are Professors Emeriti of the History Department at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario. Over their careers they have published many academic books and articles, as well as journalistic pieces, many on northeastern Ontario, where they have travelled extensively obtaining information from historians, geographers and librarians who have researched specific aspects of the area.
Their newest venture was this guide book to Northeastern Ontario.

Meet the Authors
Thursday June 23
3pm-6pm




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For you Harry Potter fans out there....

From Shelf Awareness this morning.

Watch this space dept.: Pottermore.com, a mysterious website featuring "a pink holding page with the description 'coming soon' and Rowling’s signature underneath," has been launched by J.K. Rowling. The Bookseller reported that Pottermore.com has sparked rumors that more Harry Potter novels are on the way, but a spokeswoman for Rowling’s PR company Stone Hill Salt said, "It is not another Harry Potter book but we cannot reveal any more at this stage, fans will have to keep an eye on the website. It will be launching soon."


Ooooo a mystery! We'll let you know more as we hear!



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The Fetch author stops in at Chat Noir for a little Courage

Nico Rogers (author of The Fetch) stopped in for a wee bit of COURAGE before heading out on a 45 day canoe trip in northern Canada.

That's sharpie just in case anyone's wondering - we didn't tattoo him with "courage" in my handwriting, that would have been a wee bit creepy...

Have a fantastic trip Nico! Can't wait to read the stories that come out of this experience!


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Meet the authors! Thursday June 23 3pm-6pm

Northeastern Ontario is central to the Canadian experience. It is a region rich in historical firsts, in quickly made and lost fortunes, and in communities that have remade themselves. Elliot Lake morphed from a uranium producing community to a retirement haven, Sudbury from the world’s nickel capital into an educational, health, and business centre. The book captures both the allure and the survivor tenacity of the northeast’s single-industry towns that either are breaking out of, or are still caught in, the boom and bust cycles punctuating the resource industries Canada’s wealth relies on. A historical and cultural compendium, Come On over! Northeastern Ontario A to Z can tell you where the statues of North America’s most significant explorers are; where you can walk in the steps of British soldiers who won a decisive victory early in the War of 1812; where you can swim with a polar bear; where you can experience Ojibway or Cree culture; where the first Hardy Boys books were written, and even where Winnie the Pooh, Grey Owl, and Shania Twain lived.

Getting ready for Curious George!

Come see Curious George at Chat Noir Books
July 1 & 2
at 1pm



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NEXT Saturday! Plan to join us.

Don't for get that Saturday June 18 Chat Noir Books will be sponsoring a workshop to explore the spiritual meanings of mazes and labyrinths at St Paul's United Church in New Liskeard from 10am - 12pm followed by a book signing by the author of The Spirituality Of Mazes & Labyrinths Gailand MacQueen at Chat Noir Books from 2pm - 4pm

Come out and join us while we work our way through a real maze built in the church basement and then come chat with the author and get a copy of the book signed at the store.

Playful little knits

This is coming in September and I am SO looking forward to it. How CUTE are these??







What a great idea for a gift for a child in your life or a WONDERFUL donation for a child in need.

Click Here to Pre-Order a Copy for yourself or as a gift!


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