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Located in uptown New Orleans at the corner of Octavia and Laurel Streets between Magazine and Tchoupitoulas.

Celebrating the spirit of independents and the vitality of our community.

crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and publisher of the crusading journalist magazine Millennium, and publisher of the has decided to run a magazine Millennium, storydecided that will has toexpose run a an extensive sex traffi cking story that will expose an operation between extensive sex trafficking Eastern Europe and operation between Sweden, implicating Eastern Europe and wellknown and highly placed Sweden, implicating wellmembers of Swedish society, business, and government. known and highly placed But he hasofno idea just how explosive will be until, members Swedish society, business,the andstory government. on the theexplosive two investigating reporters But he eve has of nopublication, idea just how the story will be until, are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the on the eve of publication, the two investigating reporters fi ngerprints found on the murder weapon belong to Lisbeth are murdered. And even more shocking for Blomkvist: the Salander – the troubled, fi ngerprints found on thewise-beyond-her-years murder weapon belonggenius to Lisbeth hacker who came to his aid in The Girl with the Dragon Salander – the troubled, wise-beyond-her-years genius Tattoo, who and who becomes the focus andthe fierce heart hacker camenow to his aid in The Girl with Dragon of Stiegand Larsson’s Thebecomes Girl Whothe Played ($25.95, Tattoo, who now focuswith andFire fierce heart Knopf, of Stieg978-0-307-26998-0). Larsson’s The Girl Who Played with Fire ($25.95, Knopf, 978-0-307-26998-0).

Sacred Heart The year Heart is 1570, and in the convent of Santa Caterina in Sacred the Italian of and Ferrara, women The year iscity 1570, in thenoble convent of Santa Caterina in findItalian space to their lives the citypursue of Ferrara, nobleunder women God’s protection. Buttheir the lives community fi nd space to pursue under suffers tremors when it takes in Serafina, God’s protection. But the community the sixteen-year-old daughter of a noble suffers tremors when it takes in Serafi na, family from Milan, by force. Serafi na is the sixteen-year-old daughter of a noble willful,from emotional, andSerafi defiant. family Milan,sharp, by force. na is As disorder and rebellion mount, it is willful, emotional, sharp, and defiant. thedisorder abbess’s and job to keep the convent As rebellion mount, it is stable while, job outside its walls, the the abbess’s to keep the convent dictates of the Counter-Reformation stable while, outside its walls, the begin to purge the Catholic Church dictates of the Counter-Reformation and impose on the the Catholic nunneriesChurch a regime begin to purge of terrible oppression. Sarah Dunant’s and impose on the nunneries a regime Sacred Heart, ($25, Random of terrible oppression. Sarah House, Dunant’s Sacred Heart, ($25, Random House,

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513 Octavia Street New Orleans, LA 70115 504-899-READ (7323) octaviabooks.com [email protected]

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978-1-400-06382-6) is a rich, engrossing, 978-1-400-06382-6) multifaceted story of is a rich, engrossing, passion, spirit, and of multifaceted story friendship. passion, spirit, and friendship.

The Defector In #1 New York Times Ththe e Defector

bestseller Rules In the #1Moscow New York Times by Daniel Silva, Gabriel bestseller Moscow Rules Allon brought down the by Daniel Silva, Gabriel most man the in the Allondangerous brought down world. But he made one mistake – leaving him alive. Inthe most dangerous man in Silva’s encore, The Defector ($26.95, Putnam, 978-0-399world. But he made one mistake – leaving him alive. In 15568-0), Gabriel returned to the tan hills978-0-399of Umbria Silva’s encore, Thehas Defector ($26.95, Putnam, to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and 15568-0), Gabriel has returned to the tan hills of Umbria restore a seventeenth-century altarpiece for the Vatican. to resume his honeymoon with his new wife, Chiara, and But his aidyllic world is once again thrownfor into turmoil. The restore seventeenth-century altarpiece the Vatican. defector and former Russian intelligence GrigoriThe But his idyllic world is once again thrown offi intocer turmoil. Bulganov,and who savedRussian Gabriel’s life in Moscow, vanished defector former intelligence officerhas Grigori without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double Bulganov, who saved Gabriel’s life in Moscow, has vanished agent all along, but Gabriel knows better. Gabriel and his without a trace. British intelligence is sure he was a double team of operatives will fi nd themselves in a deadly duel of agent all along, but Gabriel knows better. Gabriel and his nerve and wits with one of the world’s most ruthless men: team of operatives will find themselves in a deadly duel of the murderous Russian and arms Ivan nerve and wits with one oligarch of the world’s mostdealer ruthless men: Kharkov. And his life will never be same. the murderous Russian oligarch andthe arms dealer Ivan Kharkov. And his life will never be the same.

513 Octavia Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115

OCTAVIA BOOKS

The Girl Who Played Th e GirlWith WhoFire Mikael Blomkvist, Played With Fire

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doing our part to keep america interesting The word “savor” comes to mind this time of year … we savor that ripe, juicy peach that’s just been delivered from the farm to the roadside stand. We savor those vacation days when we have time to gaze up at the clouds in the summer sky and simply let our minds wander. We savor every page of a wonderfully-written novel that we don’t want to see end. We savor those last days of vacation. Earlier this summer, members of the book industry met for BookExpo America, the annual convention where we gather to learn about new books, listen to authors, talk with colleagues in bookstores across the country, and marvel at the sheer energy and creativity of those dedicated to the world of ideas. Now that the annual production of books exceeds 275,000 titles per year, it becomes even more of an effort to find the best writing, refreshing new thoughts, and innovative perspectives. There’s just so much out there. We’re often asked, “You recommended this author’s work way before it became a bestseller … how did you know?” Not only do we spend a considerable amount of time meeting with publishers, reviewing catalogs, scanning reviews, reading galleys and advance readers copies the publishers send us months ahead of time, but we also constantly exchange recommendations within our national

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers ($24, McSweeney’s Books, 978-1-9347-8163-0) When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous SyrianAmerican and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business. In the days after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared. Eggers’s riveting nonfiction book, three years in the making, explores Zeitoun’s roots in Syria, his marriage to Kathy — an American who converted to Islam — and their children, and the surreal atmosphere (in New Orleans and the United States generally) in which what happened to Abdulrahman Zeitoun was possible. Like What Is the What, Zeitoun was written in close collaboration with its subjects and involved vast research — in this case, in the United States, Spain, and Syria.

community of independent bookstores. The “book buzz” helps us focus our own reading and buying … and by the time the books are released and arrive in the store, we’re excited to tell you about the best of the best. When your time is precious and there are so many books being published, it’s our goal to discover the ones that you won’t want to put down, will want to talk about with others, buy as gifts, consider as new favorites — savor until the last page is turned. What will you read next? Come to Octavia Books and browse. Wander around and take a look at our featured selections. Tell us what you like to read and we’ll be happy to place some new choices in your hands. Open to read the next big book that everyone will be talking about? Let us tell you about the latest book buzz. Books always have — and always will be — that affordable vacation for the mind. We hope you savor the last days of the season with time to escape, unwind, relax, and be transported to new places through the pages of a good book. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Local Flavors

A Good Night For Ghosts A.D.: New Orleans by Mary Pope Osbourne After the Deluge ($11.99, Random House, by Josh Neufeld 978-0-375-85648-8) ($24.95, Pantheon In the forty-second Books, 978-0-307installment of the Magic 37814-9) A.D. is a masterful Tree House series, Jack and Annie are on their second portrait of a city mission to find — and inspire under siege. Cartoonist Josh — artists to bring happiness to millions. After traveling Neufeld depicts seven to New Orleans, Jack and extraordinary true Annie come head to head stories of survival with some real ghosts, as well as discover the world in the days leading up to and following Hurricane Katrina. 
Here we meet Denise, a counselor of jazz when they meet a young Louis Armstrong. and social worker, and a sixth-generation New City of Memory: New Orleanian; “The Doctor,” a proud fixture of the Orleans, Before and French Quarter; Abbas and Darnell, two friends After Katrina who face the storm from Abbas’s family-run by John Woodin market; Kwame, a pastor’s son just entering his ($39.95, Center for senior year of high school; and the young couple American Places, 978Leo and Michelle, who both grew up in the city. 1-9351-9518-4) Each is forced to confront the same wrenching One year before decision-whether to stay or to flee. As beautiful Hurricane Katrina as it is poignant, A.D. presents a city in chaos and flooded his childhood shines a bright, profoundly human light on the home, photographer tragedies and triumphs that took place within it.

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Escape Into Story

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Below Zero

Imagine receiving a phone message from a loved one you believed to be dead. Could she still be alive or is this someone’s idea of a cruel joke? April, a foster child supposedly killed in a Wacostyle raid six years ago, might have instead been taken hostage by a deranged and repentant ecoterrorist and his father in Below Zero ($24.95, Putnam, 978-0-399-1-5575-8), a fascinating pageturner by bestselling author C.J. Box.

Once on a Moonless Night

From the author of the beloved Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress comes a haunting tale of love and of the beguiling power of a lost language. When Puyi, the last emperor, was exiled in the early 1930s, it is said that he carried an eight-hundred-year-old silk scroll inscribed with a lost sutra composed by the Buddha. Eventually the scroll would be sold illicitly to an eccentric French linguist named Paul d’Ampere, in a transaction that would land him in prison. Our unnamed narrator, a Western student in China in the 1970s, hears the story and is drawn into a search for the missing scroll in Dai Sijie’s latest, Once on a Moonless Night ($24.95, Knopf, 978-0-307-27158-7), to learn how the power of language truly defines us.

The Puzzle King

On a gray morning in 1936, Flora Phelps stands in line at the American consulate in Stuttgart, Germany with a gift to bribe the consul to help her family get out of Hitler’s Germany. In New York City, she meets and falls in love with Simon, inventor of the jigsaw puzzle. When he makes his fortune, the couple becomes obsessed with rescuing the loved ones they left behind in Europe, whose fates are determined by growing anti-Semitism on both sides of the Atlantic. Drawing from a story within her own family’s legends, Betsy Carter weaves a memorable tale in The Puzzle King ($23.95, Algonquin, 9781-565-12594-0). Avail. 8/18

The Glimmer Palace

When Lilly Aphrodite, the orphaned daughter of a cabaret performer, finds refuge at a Catholic orphanage, a trajectory of reinvention, seduction, and danger begins. From street urchin to maid, war bride to model, Lilly eventually finds her destiny as a famous silent-film star, and enters into a sweeping romance that, crossing decades and continents, becomes inextricable from the astonishing historical events unfolding around it. Set against the backdrop of WW I, Beatrice Colin offers a grand work of historical fiction in The Glimmer Palace ($16, Riverhead, 978-1-594-48381-3).

The Lost Throne

Reaching from the wonders of ancient Greece to a harrowing quest in modern-day Europe, The Lost Throne ($25.95, Putnam, 978-0-399-15582-6) by Chris Kuzneski features Jonathon Payne and D.J. Jones, former members of a top secret unit of the armed forces. Now, as private citizens, they still are recruited for the most delicate and dangerous missions. The two find themselves in ancient Greece where they race to recover a lost treasure that could rewrite history.

A Disobedient Girl

Debut novelist Ru Freeman delivers an impressive story of betrayal and salvation, the strength of the human spirit, and the boundlessness and limits of love in A Disobedient Girl ($25, Atria, 978-1-43910195-7). Set against the volatile events of the last forty years of Sri Lankan history, we meet three women whose interwoven fates and histories force them to answer life’s most difficult questions. Beautiful, haunting, and brimming with truth, this is a novel about extraordinary circumstances that change life in an instant – and the power of love to transcend time and place.

Bad Things Happen

The man who calls himself David Loogan is leading a quiet, anonymous life a midwest college town. He’s hoping to escape a violent past, but his solitude is broken when he finds himself drawn into a friendship with Tom Kristoll, the publisher of the mystery magazine Gray Streets – and into an affair with Tom’s sleek blond wife. When several deaths are uncovered that echo stories in the magazine, Loogan begins to look more and more like the most promising suspect. Bad Things Happen ($24.95, Putnam, 978-0-399-15563-5) is an impressive debut from Harry Dolan.

The Embers

It’s the fall of 2007, and Emily Ascher should be celebrating: she just got engaged, her job is moving in new and fulfilling directions, and her once-rocky relationship with her mother has finally mellowed. But with the promise of new love comes a difficult look at how her family has been torn apart in the many years since her brother died. Moving between past and present over the course of sixteen years, The Embers ($25, Henry Holt, 9780-805-08994-3) is a skillfully structured debut novel by Hyatt Bass of deep regrets that crush a family while forever bonding its members.

Up-an d Auth- Coming ors

Stories to Savor

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Return to Sullivans Island

Newly graduated from college and an aspiring writer, Beth Hayes craves independence and has a world to conquer. But her plans will have to be postponed since she is elected by her elders to house-sit on a tiny sandbar that seems to be untouched by time. Just as she vows she will never give into the delusional world of white picket fences, minivans, and eternal love, she meets Max Mitchell and all her convictions and plans begin to unravel with lightning speed. Dorothea Benton Frank offers an enjoyable escape in Return to Sullivans Island ($25.99, Wm. Morrow, 978-0-06143845-5).

I See You Everywhere

New bin ack Paper

Louisa Jardine is the older of two sisters, the conscientious student, precise and careful: the one who yearns for a good marriage, an artistic career, a family. Clem, the archetypal youngest, is the rebel: committed to her work saving animals, but not to the men who fall for her. In this vivid, heartrending story of what we can and cannot do for those we love, the sisters grow closer as they move further apart. I See You Everywhere ($15, Anchor, 978-1-400-07577-5) is Julia Glass’s candid story of life and death, companionship and sorrow, and the nature of sisterhood itself.

The Condition

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In the summer of 1976, during their annual retreat on Cape Cod, the McKotch family came apart. Now, twenty years after daughter Gwen was diagnosed with Turner’s syndrome – a rare genetic condition that keeps her trapped forever in the body of a child – eminent scientist Frank McKotch is divorced from his pedigreed wife, Paulette. The Condition ($14.99, HarperPerennial, 978-0-060-75579-9), the long-awaited third novel from Jennifer Haigh (Mrs. Kimble, Baker Towers) explores the power of self-delusions, denials, and inescapable truths that forever bind fathers, mothers and siblings.

“The historian can tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.”

– E.L. Doctorow

The Fixer Upper

After her boss in a high-powered Washington public relations firm is caught in a political scandal, fledgling lobbyist Dempsey Jo Killebrew is left almost broke, unemployed, and homeless. Out of options, she reluctantly accepts her father’s offer to help refurbish Birdsong, the old family place he recently inherited. Bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews returns with The Fixer Upper ($25.99, Harper, 978-0-060-83738-9), a story filled with quirky characters in a backwoods setting, about one woman’s quest to redo an old house – and her life.

Last Light over Carolina

Every woman in the low country knows the unspoken fear that clutches the heart every time her man sets out to sea. Now, that fear has become a terrible reality for Carolina Morrison when her husband, shrimp boat captain Bud Morrison, is lost and alone somewhere in the vast Atlantic with a storm gathering and last light falling. Mary Alice Monroe (Time is a River) once again explores the value of community and the mysterious but slowly vanishing shrimping culture in a tale of love and courage, Last Light over Carolina ($25, Pocket, 9781-416-54970-3).

Casting Off

Rebecca Moray comes to a small island off the west coast of Ireland to research a book on Irish knitting. With her daughter, Rowan, accompanying her, she hopes to lose herself in the history of the island and forget her own painful past. Young Rowan befriends Sean Morahan, a cantankerous old fisherman, despite his attempts to scare her off. As Rebecca watches the two interact, she recognizes in his eyes a look that speaks of a dark knowledge not unlike her own. Nicole Dickson offers a wonderful story of forgiving without forgetting in Casting Off ($15, New American Library, 978-0-451-22699-0).

Everything Matters!

At conception, Junior Thibodeaux is encoded with a prophesy: a comet will obliterate life on Earth in thirty-six years. Alone in this knowledge, he comes of age in rural Maine grappling with the question: “Does anything I do matter?” While the voice that has accompanied him for so many years appraises his choices, Junior’s loved ones emerge with parallel stories. While our recognizable world is transformed into a bizarre nation at endgame, Junior’s final triumph confounds all expectation, building to an astonishing and deeply moving resolution in Everything Matters! ($15.95, Viking, 978-0-670-02092-8) by Ron Currie, Jr.

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Caring For Family What to Expect Before You’re Expecting

Let’s Go Outside!

If you or someone you love is ready to start a family, there’s a new helpful and authoritative guide written by the author of the bestselling What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Heidi Murkoff. It’s all here in What to Expect Before You’re Expecting ($12.95, Workman, 978-0-761-15276-7) and is packed with the same kind of reassurance, empathy, practical information, advice and tips.

Your High-Risk Pregnancy

Just what does this mean and what should you know about if you’re in the “high risk” category? Diana Raab, medical writer and active member of the International Childbirth Association, offers straightforward advice about prenatal care, highrisk factors, tests, medications, and procedures necessary for a healthy pregnancy in Your HighRisk Pregnancy: A Practical and Supportive Guide ($16.95, Hunter House, 978-0-897-93520-3). She also gives caring emotional support to help with the mishaps, miscarriages, and trials along the way.

You want your kids to be healthy and balanced – exercising their minds with technology and books indoors while active and able to appreciate nature outdoors. Jennifer Ward, author of I Love Dirt!, offers a new selection of outdoor games, projects, and adventures specifically for families with children ages 8-12 in Let’s Go Outside ($14, Trumpeter, 978-1-590-30698-7). The good news is that as children get older, there are more and more things they are able to do – and this is the perfect time of year to be outside.

Virtual Schooling

We know that technology has an ever-growing presence in our lives, but what does a child need to learn to function well in our virtual world? Top authorities Elizabeth Kanna, Lisa Gillis, and Christina Culver assess programs and opportunities, help you inspire passions to guide your child to new levels of learning, and help you prepare your child for success in the workplace no matter what the economy in Virtual Schooling: A Guide to Optimizing Your Child’s Education ($15.95, Palgrave, 978-0-230-61432-1).

The Philosophical Baby

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For most of us, having a new baby in our lives is one of the most profound, intense, and fascinating experiences of our lives. How is it that babies can figure out how to make us smile? Could they actually be smarter, more thoughtful, and even more conscious than adults? Alison Gopnik – a leading psychologist, philosopher and mother – expands our understanding of very young children, transforming our thoughts of how babies see the world. She promotes a deeper appreciation for the role of parents in The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us about Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life ($25, FSG, 978-0-374-23196-5).

“The family…we were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.

– Erma Bombeck

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Handmade Home

Handmade items are treasured these days for the time, love, and creativity they represent. Amanda Soule presents crafting as an expression of our lifestyle based on the principles of consuming less and reusing more, appreciating the earth, and connecting to our families. In Handmade Home: Simple Ways to Repurpose Old Materials Into New Family Treasures ($12.95, Trumpeter, 9781-590-30595-9) you’ll find plenty of inspiration for creating a life – and a home – full of beauty, integrity, and joy.

A Big Little Life

Dean Koontz, successful New York Times bestselling novelist, thought he had everything he needed, until Trixie came along. Dean had been researching his novel Midnight – a book in which there’s a service dog named Moose – when he came to work with Canine Companions for Independence. That work led to his adoption of Trixie, a retired service dog in need of a home. A Big Little Life ($24.99, Hyperion, 978-1-401-323523) is the joyful story of unexpectedly falling in love with a dog getting on in age and then feeling a tremendous void when her time here came to an end. A wonderful tribute to Trixie and a reminder that the love of our furry friends is a love that lasts more than a lifetime.

Raising A Reader Spoon

Spoon has always been a happy little utensil. But lately he feels like life as a spoon just isn’t cutting it. He thinks Fork, Knife, and Chopsticks all have it so much better than him. But do they? A cute and witty little tale, Spoon ($15.99, Hyperion, 978-1423-10685-2) by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, serves as a gentle reminder to celebrate what makes each child special. Ages 2-6

Spot’s Bus Trip

It’s almost time for school! Climb aboard the school bus for a trip around town with Spot and his classmates with Spot’s Bus Trip ($9.99, Putnam, 978-0-399-25286-0). Lift Eric Hill’s signature flaps in this oversized board book as you enjoy the ride! A fun read that helps little ones anticipate going to school. Ages 2-5

Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill

It’s Fire Safety Week in Miss Mingo’s classroom, which means that it’s time for students to learn what to do in case of a fire. Sprinkled with fascinating facts about animal behavior and what kinds of things happen at school, Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill ($15.99, Candlewick, 978-0763-63597-8), the second book by Jamie Harper, includes the fun characters in Miss Mingo’s one-of-a-kind class and is sure to appeal to young ones. Ages 4-7

Elephants Cannot Dance

Piggie cuts a mean rug, and she’s so pleased with herself she wants to teach everyone – especially her best friend, Gerald. Even though Gerald believes he cannot dance (and encourages Piggie to look it up in the What Elephants Cannot Do book), he gives it a try anyway. This comical dilemma results in Gerald teaching Piggie something even more important in Elephants Cannot Dance ($8.99, Hyperion, 978-1-423-114109) by favorite author/illustrator Mo Willems.

Homework

When Tony falls asleep without finishing his homework, his unruly school tools come to life to get the job done. Pencil and Pen get the story started, along with Eraser, but when Fountain Pen joins in, all ink breaks loose! A little creativity goes a long way, as Tony’s homework turns into a wacky tale about the Planet Splotch in Homework ($16.99, Bloomsbury, 978-0-80279585-4) by Arthur Yorinks. Tony might not be able to hand in this particular assignment, but it deserves an A+ for originality! Ages 4-8

Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli

What do monsters eat? In this rollicking picture book, monsters insist they don’t like broccoli. They’d rather snack on tractors or a rocket ship or two. Monsters Don’t Eat Broccoli ($16.99, Knopf, 978-0-375-85686-0) by Barbara Jean Hicks will have everyone laughing out loud and craving healthy monster snacks of their own. Ages 4-8. Avail. 8/11

Congratulations, Miss Malarkey!

Miss Malarkey has been acting very strange lately. She’s been singing down the halls and laughing with Principal Wiggins. And she’s teaching about different wedding traditions from around the world! What kind of secret is Miss Malarkey hiding? Is she going to quit teaching? Find out in Congratulations, Miss Malarkey ($16.99, Walker & Company, 978-0-802-79835-0) by Judy Finchler. Ages 5-8

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more you learn, the more places you’ll go.” – Dr. Seuss,

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

Read For Fun! Dessert First

Dessert Schneider finds that sometimes walking to the beat of her own drum means walking right into a heap of mischief, especially when it comes to Grandma Reine’s Double-Decker Chocolate Bars, a legendary family recipe. As the oldest child in a rambunctious, restaurant-owning family, Dessert seems to be better at getting into trouble than getting out of it. And that’s because for this eightyear-old, saying sorry is definitely not a piece of cake! Dessert First ($14.99, Atheneum, 978-1-416-96385-1) by Hallie Jones will leave you waiting for another helping! Ages 7-10

Superhero School

Leonard is no ordinary kid–he’s enrolled in Superhero School, where leaping tall buildings in a single bound is considered child’s play. If only division, fractions, and multiplication came as naturally, and weren’t so, well, “ordinary.” But when the kids’ math teacher, Mr. Tornado, and the rest of the staff get kidnapped by ice zombies, Leonard and his pals find themselves using every superhero trick in the book – not to mention a few unexpected math skills – to divide (and conquer!) the enemy in Superhero School ($16.99, Bloomsbury, 978-1-599-90166-4) by Aaron Reynolds. Ages 5-8

Ellie McDoodle

When Ellie’s family moves to a new town, she’s sure she won’t fit in. Nobody else likes to read as much as she does, and even the teachers can’t get her name right. But when the students need someone to help them rally against unfair lunch lines, it’s Ellie to the rescue in Ruth McNally Barshaw’s Ellie McDoodle: New Kid in School ($5.99, Bloomsbury, 978-1-599-90361-3). Ages 8-12

The Word Snoop

Meet the Word Snoop. She’s dashing and daring and witty as can be – and no one knows more about the evolution of the English language than she does and now she’s sharing her secrets. From the first alphabet in 4000 BC, to anagrams, palindromes, riddles to solve, codes to break, and modern-day text messages, you will learn all about the fascinating twists and turns of our fair language in The Word Snoop ($16.95, Dial, 978-0-803-73406-7) by Ursula Dubosarsky. Ages 10+

Operation Yes

No one in her sixth-grade class knows quite what to make of Ms. Loupe, with her taped square “stage” on the floor and her interest in improvisational theatre. After all, their school is on an Air Force base – a place that values discipline more than improvisation. But her students soon come to love her fresh approach; and when her dear brother goes missing in Afghanistan, they band together to support their teacher. What starts as a class fundraiser in Operation Yes ($16.99, Scholastic, 978-0-545-10795-2) expands into a nationwide effort for all injured troops, and an amazing vision of community and hope in this new book by Sara Lewis Holmes. Ages 9-13. Avail. 9/1

When You Reach Me

Four mysterious letters change Miranda’s world forever. By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a new kid for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. And then Miranda finds mysterious notes, the last bringing her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death – but that final note makes her think she’s too late. When You Reach Me ($15.99, Wendy Lamb Books, 978-0-385-73742-5) is an amazing new book by favorite author Rebecca Stead. Ages 10-14

Coffeehouse Angel

When Katrina spots a homeless guy sleeping in the alley behind her grandmother’s coffee shop, she leaves him a cup of coffee, a bag of chocolatecovered coffee beans, and some pastries. Little does she know that this random act of kindness is about to turn her life upside down. Find out how in Coffeehouse Angel ($16.99, Walker & Company, 978-0-802-79812-1) by Suzanne Selfors. Ages 12+

Hunger

In the second action-packed story from Michael Grant about the creation of society in a world without adults, food is running out for those trapped in the bubble known as the FAYZ (Fallout Alley Youth Zone). Soon, tension rises between those with powers and those without – and when an unspeakable tragedy occurs, chaos erupts in the highly anticipated book, Hunger: A Gone Novel ($15.99, HarperTeen, 978-0-06144906-2). Ages 12+

Healthy, Whole Lives

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Prime for Life

We all want to lead a healthy, long life and the good news is that pain does not have to be part of the normal aging process. Randy Raugh has taught thousands of men and women how to keep their body’s muscles, joints, and bones feeling young. Now, in Prime for Life: Functional Fitness for Ageless Living ($25.99, Rodale, 978-1-594-86829-0), he helps us put movement into our lives, assess medical advice, avoid injuries, and maintain a strong, pain-free, and healthy body.

Anywhere, Anytime, Any Body Yoga

There continue to be stories of people living long and healthy lives in remote areas of the world who do yoga to keep them flexible, stress-free, and healthy. Yoga practitioner Emily Slonina and health store entrepreneur Laura Carapellese team up to be your coach in Anywhere, Anytime, Any Body Yoga ($14.95, Hunter House, 978-0897-93519-7). Whether you are ready to begin a regular routine at home, need some practical stretches you can do at work, or want some moves for those long flights, look here for photos and expert advice.

Lessons for the Living

When Stan Goldberg was diagnosed with cancer, he was afraid and deeply saddened by his prognosis, as anyone in his situation would be. Unlike many, however, he chose to face his fear by helping others in the process of dying. He signed up as a hospice volunteer and his experiences changed his view of death – and life – forever. Lessons for the Living ($14.95, Trumpeter, 978-1-590-30676-5) is filled with the stories of the people he met and what we can all learn about the great capacity of the human spirit for beauty, insight, forgiveness, and gratitude from ordinary experiences of facing fear, sadness and pain. A worthy gift for anyone with heavy burdens.

The Three “Only” Things

Have you ever said something was “only a dream,” “only a coincidence,” or “only your imagination?” In The Three “Only” Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination ($14.95, New World Library, 978-1-577-31663-3), Robert Moss sheds light on how these “only” gifts have been used by innovators and world-changers to remake their lives and the world. You’ll learn profoundly simple yet powerful tools to access your intuition, heal yourself, and bring new awareness to your everyday life.

A Place Called Canterbury

If you have aging parents and have begun to think about what old age will be like for yourself, pick up a copy of A Place Called Canterbury ($16, Penguin, 978-0-143-11530-4). Journalist Dudley Clendinen describes his mother’s move to Canterbury Tower, an apartment building in Florida, where the residents are busy with friendships, love, sex, money, and gossip – and the average age is eightysix. You’ll see how she and her eccentric new friends lived out a soap opera of dignity, nerve, and humor otherwise known as the New Old Age. It’s a wonderful tale you’ll want to share with others.

The Richest Season

Sometimes you have to leave the life you know to find yourself again. After more than a dozen moves in 25 years of marriage, Joanna has become a “corporate wife” – an unofficial breed of parent, whose life is devoted to raising her children in a new town as she follows her husband, Paul, up the corporate ladder. But now that the kids are grown, Paul’s latest surprise transfer is too much and she begins to listen to the tiny voice inside her head that shouts “Leave!” The Richest Season ($14.99, Hyperion, 978-1-401-30991-6) by Maryann McFadden is a novel of seizing second chances at the most inopportune times in life.

Unfinished Business

World-famous medium James Van Praagh has spent over twenty-five years making connections between the living and those who have left this world. In Ghosts Among Us (new in paperback: $15.99, HarperOne, 978-0-061-55338-7), he explained the mysteries of the afterlife. Now in Unfinished Business: What the Dead Can Teach Us about Life ($24.99, HarperOne, 978-0-061-77814-8), he shares the personal regrets, misgivings, remorse, and, most important, the advice of the dead who have communicated with him. Read what these spirits have to say about what they have discovered on the other side – and how we, the living, can benefit from their experiences.

“Lisa looked at me with a twinkle in her eye and said, ‘Always take the high road, James. There is less traffic up there.’” – James Van Praagh, Unfinished Business

Rethinking Our Future Free

In his New York Times bestseller, The Long Tail, Chris Anderson provided a glimpse of the business future that’s already here. And now, in Free: The Past and Future of a Radical Price ($26.99, Hyperion, 978-1-401-32290-8), he breaks new ground in exploring how “free” is used not to give away the store, but to generate revenue in this new priceless economy. A fascinating new work that goes beyond the outdated models of “free with purchase” and “loss leaders.”

The End of Money and the Future of Civilization

If the latest money crisis (mortgage, banking, credit cards) leaves you wondering what is happening to our financial system and what one person can do to make sense of it all, look to Thomas Greco’s work, The End of Money and the Future of Civilization ($19.95, Chelsea Green, 978-1-603-58078-6). Greco demystifies our monetary system and provides the necessary understanding – for entrepreneurs, activists, and civic leaders – to implement approaches that would empower communities, preserve democratic institutions, and begin to build economies that are sustainable, democratic, and insulated from the financial crises that plague the dominant system.

Can Capitalism Survive?

Pre-eminent economist Joseph Schumpeter answers the question on everyone’s mind in Can Capitalism Survive?: Creative Destruction and the Future of the Global Economy ($10, HarperPerennial, 978-0061-92801-7). Considered by many economists to have authored the finest analysis of capitalism ever written, Schumpeter now shares insights into how things are changing and what is necessary to adapt and participate in this new era. Avail. 9/1

$20 Per Gallon

Beyond driving less and buying more fuel-efficient vehicles, there are more, not-so-obvious changes on the horizon that Chris Steiner brilliantly tracks in this provocative work, $20 Per Gallon: How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better ($24.99, Grand Central, 978-0-446-54954-7). Steiner, an engineer by training before turning to journalism, sees how this simple but constant rise in oil and gas prices will totally re-structure our lifestyle – and will usher in some new and very promising aspects of our society.

Smart Kids, Bad Schools

A “must” for anyone involved with our education system, Smart Kids, Bad Schools: 38 Ways to Save America’s Future ($14.99, Griffin, 978-0-31258763-5), by award-winning author and educator Brian Crosby, draws on his twenty years as a high school English teacher to offer a candid appraisal of why our schools are failing and what we must do to save them. His bold and revolutionary ideas are likely to inflame passions on all sides of the political spectrum and prompt much-needed debate and action. Avail. 9/1

Leisureville

As the population ages, more and more people are moving to retirement villages. This age-segregated retirement phenomenon is an under-reported trend that has social, economic, and political implications as Andrew Blechman explores in Leisureville: Adventures in a World Without Children ($15, Grove Press, 978-0-802-14418-8). While Blechman delves into life in the senior utopias and looks at the growing demand for “active adult” housing, it’s clear that other things are at stake in this engaging, appalling, and eye-opening read.

The Limits of Power

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Writing with knowledge born of experience, historian and former military officer Andrew J. Bacevich contrasts the illusions that have governed American policy since 1945 with the call for respect for power and its limits, aversion to claims of exceptionalism, skepticism of easy solutions (especially those involving force), and a conviction that Americans must live within their means. Only a return to such principles, Bacevich eloquently argues in The Limits of Power ($14, Holt McDougal, 978-0-805-09016-1), can provide common ground for fixing America’s urgent problems before the damage becomes irreparable.

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“What the people want is very simple. They want an America as good as its promise.” – Barbara Jordan

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Making Sense of It All

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Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets

The Natural Laws of Good Luck

Social networking is expanding and becoming more and more integrated into people’s daily lives. Paul McFedries explores all the features of Twitter in Twitter Tips, Tricks, and Tweets ($19.99, Wiley, 978-0470-52969-0) so that you can join the conversation and discover what everyone is chirping about. From following topics of interest to adding your thoughts, you’ll learn your way around Twitter in this userfriendly guide.

Opposites do attract, when mid-life often prompts people to make radical changes. The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage ($22.95, Trumpeter, 978-1-590-30692-8) is Ellen Graf’s quirky and funny story of a woman who has no luck with personal ads, but takes advice from a girlfriend who suggests she meet her brother in northern China. They don’t share a culture, but together they discover what matters most when they take a brave leap into the unknown.

Traffic

We bet you know someone who would love this book … you know, the person who always has something to say about other drivers on the road. In this fascinating and eye-opening investigation, Tom Vanderbilt uncovers who is more likely to honk at whom, and why; explains why traffic jams form, outlines the unintended consequences of New bin our quest for safety, and even identifies the most k c a Paper common mistake drivers make in parking lots. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (And What It Says About Us) ($15.95, Vintage, 978-0-307-27719-0) is a surprisingly engrossing read. Avail. 8/11

Just how far should you go in changing your lifestyle to save the earth? Vanessa Farquharson took on the challenge of making one green change to her life every single day for a year to figure out how much was enough. Sleeping Naked Is Green: How an Eco-Cynic Unplugged Her Fridge, Sold Her Car, and Found Love in 366 Days ($13.95, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 978-0-547-07328-6) is her lively, self-deprecating, and often humorous story of what can happen when an average girl throws herself into the green movement.

Where the Hell is Matt?

The World in Six Songs

Daniel J. Levitin’s debut bestseller, This Is Your Brain on Music, transformed our understanding of how music gets in our heads and stays there. Now in The World in Six Songs ($16, Plume, 978-0-452-29548-3), he identifies six fundamental song functions or types – friendship, joy, comfort, religion, knowledge, and love – then shows how each in its own way has enabled the social bonding necessary for culture and society to evolve. A revolutionary understanding of how human nature has evolved – right up to the iPod.

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Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?

No matter our age, do we ever really feel like we’re grown up when we’re with our parents and siblings? Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Ask ($14, Villard, 978-0-345-50192-9) explores this phenomenon, through Jancee Dunn’s coming to grips with getting older and her folks’ attempts to turn back the clock. With the trademark humor and lovable spirit that infused her first memoir, But Enough About Me, Dunn offers another series of hilarious and heartwarming essays.

If you’re among the millions who have seen the online video of Matt Harding – now known around the world as “Dancing Matt” – do his special arm swinging, knee-pumping dance of joy in dozens of exotic and famous locations around the world, you’ve got to have a look at Matt’s first book, Where The Hell Is Matt: Dancing Badly Around the World ($14.95, Skyhorse Publishing, 978-1-60239652-4). With 100 photos and stories about the places he’s traveled, you’ll learn all about this thirty-one-year-old sensation and the magical way he’s engaged thousands of people around the globe in his dance.

In 2003, Matt Harding quit his job to wander around Asia until his money ran out. While standing with a buddy taking pictures in Hanoi, his friend suggested he video Matt doing ‘that dance”. Who would have guessed that so many people would want to dance along?

Book Clubs

Octavia Books Book Club Saturday, August 15, 10:30 am The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw-and the city’s zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Jan and Antonina Zabinski began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen “guests” hid inside the Zabinskis’ villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. With her exuberant prose and exquisite sensitivity to the natural world, Diane Ackerman engages us viscerally in the lives of the zoo animals, their keepers, and their hidden visitors in The Zookeeper’s Wife ($14.95, W.W. Norton, 978-0-393-33306-0). Based on a true story.

Saturday, September 19, 10:30 am The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry In Barry’s captivating debut The Lace Reader ($14.99, Harper, 978-0-061-62477-3), Towner Whitney, a young woman descended from a long line of mind readers and fortune tellers, has returned to her hometown of Salem, Massachusetts, for rest and relaxation. Any tranquility in her life is short-lived, however, when her aunt drowns under mysterious circumstances. A mesmerizing tale that spirals into a world of secrets, confused identities, lies, and half-truths where it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction.

Local Flavors

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John Woodin returned to the city that shaped his life. Led by intuition and fading memories, Woodin wandered the neighborhoods of his youth and photographed the architecture of the working poor, documenting the conflict between order and chaos, the effects of poverty and neglect, and the incongruous beauty of decay. The day after the search for Katrina’s victims was abandoned, Woodin returned to the same locations he had photographed the year before. Most of the visual landmarks he had relied on were altered or missing, and the neighborhood where he grew up was barely recognizable. Pairing photos of pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, Woodin creates a document of the changes resulting from that natural disaster. Coming this Fall. Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell ($15.99, Delacorte Press, 978-0-385-73571-1) Iris is ready for another hot, routine summer in her small Louisiana town, hanging around the Red Stripe grocery with her best friend, Collette, and traipsing through the cemetery telling each other spooky stories and pretending to cast spells. Except this summer, Iris doesn’t have to make up a story. This summer, one falls right in her lap. Years ago, before Iris was born, a local boy named Elijah Landry disappeared. All that remained of him were whispers and hushed gossip in the church pews. Until this summer. A ghost begins to haunt Iris, and she’s certain it’s the ghost of Elijah. What really happened to him? And why, of all people, has he chosen Iris to come back to?

Science-Fiction Book Club Saturday, August 8, 10:30 am Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds Alastair Reynolds’s critically acclaimed debut, Revelation Space ($7.99, Ace Books,978-0-441-00942-8) has redefined the space opera with a staggering journey across vast gulfs of time and space to confront the very nature of reality itself.

Saturday, September 12, 10:30 am Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke Giant silver ships appear above every major city in the world. The Overlords have arrived. They eliminate ignorance, disease, poverty, and fear. After fifty years they also start eliminating humans. Clarke takes us to the time when the golden age ends — and then the age of Mankind begins — in Childhood’s End ($6.99, Del Rey Books, 978-0-345-34795-4). “A grimly prophetic tale … Clarke is a master.” — Los Angeles Times

For updates, visit us online at OctaviaBooks.com!

Alan Furst reading from The Spies of Warsaw during his recent visit to Octavia Books. Photo by Tom Lowenburg

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Bill Dixon – Talk & Signing The Last Days of Last Island: The Hurricane of 1856, Louisiana’s First Great Storm Friday, July 31, 6 pm

1856 summer season was like so many that had come before – uneventful, idyllic. The South’s newest and most popular watering spot was a microcosm of Louisiana’s antebellum economic and social structure. On that August 10th, a devastating Category Four hurricane destroyed Last Island. After more than one hundred and fifty years – and the devastation of Katrina – the story remains layered with myths. Last Days of Last Island ($20, Univ. of Louisiana, 978-1-8873-6688-5) removes that shroud and presents the first comprehensive account of “Louisiana’s first great storm.”

Craig E. Colten – Presentation & Signing Perilous Place, Powerful Storms Thursday, August 13, 6 pm

The hurricane protection systems that failed New Orleans when Katrina roared on shore in 2005 were the product of four decades of engineering hubris, excruciating delays, and social conflict. In Perilous Place, Powerful Storms: Hurricane Protection in Coastal Louisiana ($40, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 978-1-604-73238-2) Colten illuminates the political, social, and engineering lessons of those who built a hurricane protection system that failed and serves as a warning for those guiding the recovery of post-Katrina New Orleans and Louisiana.

Ethan Brown – Book Launch Celebration Shake the Devil Off: A True Story of the Murder That Rocked New Orleans Wednesday, September 2, 6 pm

Journalist Ethan Brown, author of Queens Reigns Supreme and Snitch, moved to New Orleans to investigate how Zackery Bowen – a popular, handsome father of two and one of the first soldiers to encounter the fledgling insurgency in Iraq – could have committed one of the most gruesome crimes in the city’s history. Among the newsworthy elements in Shake the Devil Off ($25, Henry Holt, 978-0-805-08893-9) is Brown’s discovery that this tragedy – like so many others – could have been avoided.

Paula Morris – Reading & Signing Ruined: A Ghost Story Tuesday, September 15, 4 pm

Rebecca couldn’t feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She’s staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she’s invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he’s got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca – there’s only one catch: Lisette is a ghost. Ruined ($16.99, Point, 978-0-545-04215-4) is a gripping supernatural thriller. Ages 12+

Michael Buckley – Reading & Signing NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society Sunday, September 20, 3 pm

Michael Buckley, author of the New York Times bestselling series and Today Show Al Roker Book Club pick, The Sisters Grimm, is at his comic best in this madcap new series sure to appeal to kids looking for a quick, exciting read. Combining all the excitement of international espionage and all the awkwardness of elementary school, Nerds ($14.95, Amulet Books, 978-0-8109-4324-7), featuring a group of unpopular students who run a spy network from inside their school, hits the mark. With the help of cutting-edge science, their nerdy qualities are enhanced and transformed into incredible abilities! They battle the Hyena, a former junior beauty pageant contestant turned assassin, and an array of James Bond–style villains, each with an evil plan more diabolical and more ridiculous than the last. Ages 8-12

MAY WE RECOMMEND…

At Octavia Books, we love talking about great books with customers. Here are some of our new staff favorites.

Thomas Lemoine recommends… Foreign Tongue: A Novel of Life & Love in Paris by Vanina Marsot “Amo, amas, amok.” So has passed the love life of young Los Angeles writer Anna – by page four. By page seven, she has run away to Paris, for an indefinite stay. Vanina Marsot’s engaging debut novel Foreign Tongue ($13.99, Harper, 978-0-06167366-5) will sweep you off to Paris with a pleasant mixture of wryly heartbroken wit and cultural exploration. But alas, before I bid you bon voyage, I feel obliged to say: be prepared for an ending both heart-wrenching and astonishing. Bon voyage! Melanie Britt recommends… Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover by Ally Carter There is a small part of every person that wanted to be James Bond. This book can fulfill that fantasy for a short time by taking a trip into an elite boarding school for female spies. Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover ($16.99, Hyperion, 978-1-4231-16387), the third installment in Ally Carter’s “Gallagher Girl” trilogy, brings real espionage into the series. The book goes quickly and left me wanting more of Cameron Morgan’s adventures and all of the other characters. It is young adult fiction, so it’s a perfect book to lounge about reading on a beach or while waiting to catch an airplane for that summer vacation. And if you can’t get away, this book will take you on a wonderful quick trip into the world of Bond. James Bond.