Nita Prose visits the Pink House
Plus, our favourite books right now!
Hello friends,
As the first newsletter in December I thought a little holiday gift guide would be fitting. Here are just some of the books we’re talking up, and buzzing about this season. Any one of these stunning books make an excellent gift, either to give or to receive. We hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we have.
You’ll also find them in stock and on display at Curiosity House Books, in addition to all the wonderful books we carry. We are a highly-curated, independent bookstore with a wide range of books for all ages. We aim to bring you the very best books, and authors all year round. We might be tiny, but we’re mighty.
One of the things we love to do is to recommend books. We’re very happy to help you find the perfect gifts this holiday season, and to place a special book in your hands. Looking forward to seeing you in the shop.
Read to the end for your special invitation.
Here’s what one of our booksellers Nancy is recommending this month:
Table for Two by Amor Towles: “A knockout collection. ... Sharp-edged satire deceptively wrapped like a box of Neuhaus chocolates, Table for Two is a winner.” —The New York Times
I couldn't say it any better. Absolutely loved this book. Uplifting, witty, the perfect foil for today's world-weary reader. I've recommended it so many times to customers as well as Towles' Rules of Civility (another great book by him).
The End & The Beginning by K.J. Holdom: A novel based on true story of a 14-year-old fleeing a Hitler Youth Camp. Loved it! It really had me gripped. Perfect for readers of All the Light We Cannot See and The German Girl. It was just released Nov 4/24.
James by Percival Everett: Tight plot, great writing…Loved it!
Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes: Loved it—absolutely hilarious, delicious wicked, and yet fascinatingly believable. A New York Times bestseller! From Edgar Award–winning novelist, playwright, and story-songwriter Rupert Holmes comes a diabolical thriller with a killer concept: The McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, “a fantasy academy laid out like a combination of Hogwarts, Downton Abbey, and a White Lotus–style resort” (Los Angeles Times) dedicated to the art of murder where students study how best to “delete” their most deserving victim.
Outsider: An Old Man, A Mountain and the Search for a Hidden Past by Brett Popplewell: Enough said. Great read.
What a great night we had earlier this week with bestselling author Nita Prose for the last Beer & Books author event of 2024. It was a very special evening of storytelling and community. Books bring people together, and we are our grateful for our bookish community.
If you missed this event, not to worry. You can now listen to the audio recording of this interview. Our Nita Prose interview, recorded live and in-person at Creemore Springs Brewery, is now up on the Podcast. You can listen to it here.
On Connecting with Readers: An Evening with Nita Prose - the live recording
On Connecting with Readers: An Evening with Nita Prose
A Special Invitation Just for You
Tomorrow, Friday December 6th, is our after-hours Holiday Open House, our annual ‘Sip and Shop’ at Curiosity House Books. It is our special thank you to you: our members, supporters, and subscribers. It’s a great reason to come together and celebrate the joy of the holiday season. Another way in which books bring people together.
It’s a Merry Meet and Mingle with some special guests:
LIANE BROSSARD, artist, her art show “A Little Whimsy” currently on display
GWEN K. HARVEY, author of The Acquisition of Elizabeth Grace
FREDDY LALIBERTÉ & KATIE LALIBERTÉ, co-authors of Heydays at the June Motel: Beach Town Classics
KATIE ZDYBEL, author of Equipoise: Ten Stories
We will have a variety of refreshments and snacks, including samples from the HEYDAYS cookbook.
10% off all in-store books, giveaways, gift wrapping, free tote bags, and more.
Please RSVP to: info@curiosityhousebooks.com or reply to this email.
*Please note: this is an invite-only event, please rsvp.
About our special guests:
Liane Brossard’s art journey began at an early age with a passion for textiles, interior design, photography and fashion. Eventually her dreams of an art-focussed life were put on hold as a legal career and family intervened. Her keen eye for photographic composition led her to drawing and painting the subjects of her photographs. And now, after over 20 years of fitting in an art education at every spare opportunity, Liane is now pursuing her passion for paining full time.
Over the years, her work has reflected the richness of her life experience, often focussing in on a carefully selective narrative. Rich in texture, colour and meaning, her paintings are imbued with a sense of fusion between the past and the present. Her figurative paintings are vignettes of everyday human activity, whether at an outdoor market, a horse race, or a quiet moment on a beach, each giving a distinct impression of the character and mood. The objects of her attention are often reflective of a time gone by, whether a scene of laundry on a clothes line drying in the breeze, a reflection of a rusted lock on a barn door or a neglected vintage sign.
Gwen K. Harvey is an accomplished entrepreneur, active foundation director, and the founder of a well-established Toronto-based family wealth strategy firm. With over three decades of honing her writing skills through business commentary, her passion for storytelling led her to venture into creative writing. She is currently enrolled in the Creative Writing Certificate program at the University of Toronto. She self-published her debut novel The Girlfriend Book in 2021. In addition to her professional achievements, Gwen cherishes her role as a mother of three. Alongside her husband and their rambunctious Bernese Mountain dog, Bear, she divides her time between Toronto and Mulmur, Ontario.
FREDDY LALIBERTÉ opened numerous food concepts in Toronto prior to relocating to Sauble Beach to open Heydays. He researched and developed recipes for the hard-hitting classics that customers keep coming back for, and specializes in sourcing excellent products and keeping quality high in all our Heydays dishes.
KATIE LALIBERTÉ spent weekends in 2020 working the Heydays patio and leverages her day-job skills to support all the tech systems that make up a busy restaurant. She's a writer and sometime bookseller, and is currently working on a restaurant romance!
Katie Zdybel resides in the Blue Mountains region of Ontario. Equipoise is her first collection of stories, and was produced with the assistance of a Canada Council for the Arts grant. Stories have been published in the Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Anthology: Book Nine (CVC9), EXILE Quarterly, The Antigonish Review, Prairie Journal, and The Malahat Review. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC, and is also a graduate of the Humber College Creative Writing by Correspondence program.
And our last event for December:
Bring the kids and enjoy hot chocolate and gingerbread cookies before the Santa Claus Parade. Kelly and Elly will be reading from their books, and making fun crafts. Books available for authors to sign.
KELLY HILL, whose middle name is Ann-with-an-E, is an award-winning book designer. She does all kinds of crafting; the illustrations for this book are a combination of sewing and embroidery. Kelly lives near Eugenia, Ontario, with her husband and two daughters.
ELLY MACKAY is an acclaimed paper artist and award-winning children’s book maker. She is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books, including In the Clouds and Red Sky at Night, and has illustrated, among others, The Enchanted Symphony by Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton and I Am a Meadow Mermaid and The Secret Fawn by Kallie George. Before pursuing a career in picture books, she taught in schools and was an educator in galleries. Elly lives in the winter kingdom of Owen Sound, Ontario, where she and her family often search for snow dragons in the gardens and fields nearby.
Paid Subscribers: Don’t forget to pick up your Winter book selection available at Curiosity House Books. Ask for it under your name. If you need it mailed, please email me to let me know.
Happy Holidays everyone! Have a joyful season.
Thanks for being here.