THE TOWN BOOK STORE

~ Satisfying Book Lovers Since 1934 ~ 

  

January 2016

In This Issue
Like Us on Facebook
May the Force Be With You
TBS Top 10 Bestselling Adult and Children's Books
Calendar Sale
We Are Seeing This Too!
Independent Bookstores are a Necessity for a Civil Culture
Quick Links
Web Site

Descent
  
At the Water's Edge
  
The Dinner
  
I'll Give You the Sun
  
The Other Boleyn Girl
  
The Kitchen House
  
It Was Me All Along

The Hollow Ground
  
  

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New Year's Greetings from

THE TOWN BOOK STORE
 
I hope each of you enjoyed a safe and relaxing holiday season with your family and friends. Owning a retail business means that the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas go by in a flash and when things slow down for a minute you suddenly realize it's all over!
 
So many of you told me that you embraced the idea of "shopping small" this holiday shopping season and it showed. The 4th Annual Small Business Saturday on November 28th was an overwhelming success and a great kick-off to the holiday season.
 
I had several heart-felt conversations with customers who told me how much they believe that supporting the merchants in our town has a direct impact on the health of our community. I am continually grateful for all the well wishes and fervent hopes expressed by so many of you that we can continue to hold on in the face of online competition.
 
As I enter my 10th year (how is this possible!) of being the proud owner of TBS, I have such renewed hope for the future of the bookstore because of talking to so many of you! I want to thank all of you for your support this holiday season. 
 
January can be a bit of a letdown after the whirlwind of December. We'll be busy doing inventory so we would the distraction of a visit from you!

Happy New Year!
 
Anne

 

 

 

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  May the Force Be With You!
We have a big selection of Star Wars themed books.
We even have "light sabers"!
 

 
Our Top 10
Best Selling Books in 2015
How many have you read?
~Listed in order~
For Adults:
 
1. All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This year's Pulitzer Prize winner is a beautiful story about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II. This is a must read.
 
2. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown. This bestseller is about American Olympic triumph in Nazi Germany and has been on our top 10 list for the past two years. There now is a young adult version.
 
3. Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Compulsively readable, this book is a Hitchcockian thriller.
 
4. Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. A landmark new novel set two decades after her beloved Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird.
 
5. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. A profoundly moving story of family, secrets, and longing that is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

6. The Memory Box by Eva Lesko Natiello. This thriller written by a Westfield resident makes our top 10 for the second year in a row!

7. My Brilliant Friend: Neopolitan Novels Book One by Elena Ferrante. A meticulous portrait of two women that is also the story of a nation and a touching meditation on the nature of friendship. If you love this one, there are 4 books in this series.
 
8. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.  A romantic comedy  featuring the oddly charming, socially challenged genetics professor, Don, as he seeks true love.
 
9. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  This wonderful book tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France. It captures the epic panorama of WWII illuminating an intimate part of history seldom seen: the women's war.
 
10. Lighten Up! Cooking with Trader Joes by Susan Greeley.
This cookbook is a staff favorite and has been on our top ten list for the last 4 years. We have sold over 725 copies! FYI...There are a whole series of these great TJ cookbooks!
 
For Children and Teens:
 
1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid #10: Old School by Jeff Kinney. A new one in the series comes out every November and always makes the top of our bestselling list.
 
2. Paper Towns by John Green. He writes with a trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty. His Fault in Our Stars made our list in 2014.
 
3. The Book With No Pictures by B. J. Novak. This innovative and wildly funny read-aloud will turn any reader into a comedian.
 
4. Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows. Once again, making our top 10 for children. This first chapter book series is about 2 little girls who are a dynamic duo like no other. 
 
5. What Pet Should I Get?by Dr. Seuss. This never before seen picture book by Dr. Seuss about making up one's mind is the literary equivalent of buried treasure!
 
6. Critter Club: Amy and the Missing Puppy by Callie Barkley. Another series for new readers, Amy and her friends solve a canine caper in this start to a pet-friendly illustrated chapter book series.
 
7. Press Here by Herve Tullet. Press the yellow dot on the cover of this book, follow the instructions within, and embark upon a magical journey! This unique picture book about the power of imagination and interactivity will provide read-aloud fun for all ages.
 
8. The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt. The companion to The Day the Crayons Quit. Having soothed the hurt feelings of one group who threatened to quit, Duncan now faces a whole new group of crayons asking to be rescued.
 
9. Adventures of Beekle: The Imaginary Friend by Dan Santat.
The winner of the 2015 Caldecott Award combines classic storytelling with breathtaking art, creating an unforgettable tale about friendship, imagination, and the courage to find one's place in the world.
 
10. The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. The second year this book makes our list, it is hilariously written and a clever imagining of what would happen if crayons could talk!
 
 

CALENDAR SALE
All 2016 Calendars 25% off
 
We Are Also Seeing This at TBS!

 "I think the most interesting [change] is one we are still riding right now: what I'd call 'the return to the bookstore.' Over the past couple of decades, some of our customers were tempted to fill their book needs elsewhere--at inexpensive retail outlets, online, through e-books, etc. But many of those customers have returned to our stores these past few years with a renewed sense of commitment. Our customers' awareness of the importance of shopping local, the pleasure of the physical book, the value of browsing a well-curated selection, and the fulfillment that is gained by interacting in person, in a real space with other readers engaged in the activity of sharing and exchanging ideas, is greater than it's ever been."

~ABA Vice President Robert Sindelar, Managing Partner of Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park and Seattle, WA~

 
Independent Bookstores Are a
 "NECESSITY FOR A CIVIL CULTURE"
 
"I want to see more public understanding of independent bookstores' purpose and, perhaps, necessity for a civil culture. I would like this front-of-mind in the media and in the minds of readers. Also, in the minds of governing officials and publishers and authors"

~ABA board member John Evans, co-owner of DIESEL, a bookstore in Oakland, Brentwood, and Larkspur, CA~

 
We are one of the last two remaining       independent bookstores in all of Union County. It is your support that has kept us going for the past 81 years.
  THANK YOU!

 
 Buy One Book,
Get the Second 25% off!

One Offer per person.  Not to be combined with any other offers. Cannot be used on used books, consignment items or gift certificates. Discount applies to book of equal or lesser value. Other exclusions may apply.

 

Offer Expires 
January 31, 2016