Retirement? What a Concept!

I just received copies of Bill Peace’s new book, and I love the subtitle. Just looking at the back cover, I see too that he offers advice I could easily live with, such as “Never eat what you don’t want to eat.” I’m not retired, but that’s my new vacation meal philosophy, and it worked out fine in September. I also like “Strive for excellence vs. perfection,” and I like that because, as my old friend Marcy once said in an office staff meeting, “Perfection is a moving target.”

Yes, I think this will be an inspiring book and a great gift to give at retirement parties. Not a tome that will take your entire retirement life to read – more something you’ll pick up and read in here and there, and then find yourself re-reading here and there as time goes by.

Retirement: The Surreal Life Adventure

by William D. Peace, Jr.

Traverse City: Mission Point Press, 2016

Paperback, 178pp, $14.95

Trilogy Now Available as Gift Package

The third and final volume of Kathleen Stocking’s nonfiction trilogy came out this year, and now the author has packaged the three books together, for giving as a hostess gift, birthday or holiday present, or just a way of saying “I love you!” with books. At $19.95, $19.95, and $23.97, the three books purchased individually – Letters from the Leelanau; Lake Country; and The Long Arc of the Universe -- would total $63.87 plus tax, while in the gift ribbon they are priced together at only $50 plus tax, for a savings of $13.87.

Come buy the trilogy today or phone in your order for December.

Looking Ahead to Holidays

A new book from Bill O. Smith is available this season, certain to be one of this year's must-have Christmas books. What is happening at 4 a.m. on December 25? Bill’s gentle rhymes lead readers -- and children being read to -- around the world, through page after page of beautifully illustrations by artist Glenn Wolff.

Bill Smith of Traverse City is already well known in northern Michigan as the author of two earlier children’s books, Chickadees at Night and Chickadee Spirit (both of those books illustrated by Charles Murphy). Smith is donating all profits from sales of Four a.m. December 25 to veterans’ groups, specifically: Air Force Enlisted Village; Air Warriors Courage Foundation; Our Military Kids, Inc.; and Cherryland VFS Post 2780 Relief Fund.

Four a.m. December 25

by Bill O. Smith,

illustrated by Glenn Wolff

Sleepytime Press, hardcover, $19.95

Inspiring Original Music -- Live!

Pianist and composer Tristan Eckerson, whose CDs I’ve been selling at Dog Ears Books since April, will give a performance of contemporary classical music on November 3 at 7 p.m. at the Suttons Bay Congregational Church in Suttons Bay. Seating is limited, so get your tickets in advance.

Tickets are $15 each and available at the Business Helper, Leelanau Books, Dog Ears Books, and the Pennington Collection. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Leelanau Early Childhood Development Commission to benefit their Parenting Communities Program. A reception will follow the performance. 

For Future Snowy Days

We don’t want to think about snow yet! Fall color is late this year, giving us the happy illusion that winter will never arrive; we know it will, but we don’t want to go there yet! When winter does come, though, and holiday season comes around, here is a fun new book for little ones and those who read to them.

Samson loves dandelions. He loves the color yellow. What will he find to love when his world turns white? Story and captivating pictures answer that question.

Samson in the Snow

by Philip Stead

Hardcover, $17.99

Michigan ROCKS!

I’m thrilled to announce that I now have, back in stock and even autographed by one of the co-authors, the popular, much-desired, and for a time elusive Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide. Since Partners Book Distributing went out of business, the former publisher of this book dropped it, and the copyright went back to the authors, who have now had it reprinted in color better than the original.

Lake Michigan Rock Picker’s Guide

by Bruce Mueller & Kevin Gauthier

Paperback, 80pp, $15.95

And that’s not all. For intrepid adventurers whose Michigan experiences extend as far as the “Sunrise Side” and the Upper Peninsula, I also have a couple copies each of Lake Huron Rock Picker’s Guide and Lake Superior Rock Picker’s Guide – same amateur-friendly information, same beautiful color, and same great price. 

Trees, Mushrooms, and Books (Again)

Today's post features items found in but hardly unique to Michigan.

First, do trees communicate with each other? Peter Wohllenben thinks they do, and he explains their diverse methods in this fascinating book, an investigation in the spirit of French entomologist Jean-Henri Fabre, one of my all-time nature heroes.

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World

by Peter Wohllenben

Greystone Books, 2015

Hardcover, 272pp w/ index, $29.95

Next, moving from spores to seeds --

It’s fall mushroom time again, time to get out the field guide. What one friend calls “dead man’s fingers,” Audubon calls “elegant stinkhorn,” but there’s no mistaking it, thanks to the color photograph. Audubon! Don't leave home without it!

National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms, North America

Flexible cover, fully illustrated, over 900pp, cross-referenced and indexed, $22.95

Finally, on to one of my all-time favorite subjects, do your children have any idea what goes into making a book? “Based on a true story,” Mac Barnett and Adam Rex undertake to explain the entire process to young people, from start to finish, clearly and engagingly. (Older people will be equally engaged.) How could I not love this book?

How This Book Was Made

by Mac Barnett & Adam Rex

Hardcover, $17.99