Meet Author Karen McBride

Join us at the Queen's Square location of Idea Exchange on Sunday, October 27th at 2:00 p.m.

Karen McBride will read from her newly released novel Crow Winter. Q & A and book signing to follow. Since coming home to Spirit Bear Point First Nation, Hazel Ellis has been dreaming of an old crow. He tells her he's here to help her, save her. From what, exactly? Sure, her dad's been dead for almost two years and she hasn't quite reconciled that grief, but is that worth the time of an Algonquin demigod? Soon Hazel learns that there's more at play than just her own sadness and doubt. The quarry that's been lying unsullied for over a century on her father's property is stirring the old magic that crosses the boundaries between this world and the next. With the aid of Nanabush, Hazel must unravel a web of deceit that, if left untouched, could destroy her family and her home on both sides of the Medicine Wheel. Bio Karen McBride is an Algonquin Anishinaabe writer from the Timiskaming First Nation in the territory that is now Quebec. She holds a bachelor of arts in music and English, a bachelor of education from the University of Ottawa and a master of arts in creative writing from the University of Toronto. Karen works as an elementary school teacher on her home reserve. Crow Winter is her first novel.

Akin

by Emma Donoghue

Regular Price $32.99 

Our Price $25.99

In her first contemporary novel since Room, bestselling author Emma Donoghue returns with her next masterpiece, a brilliant tale of love, loss and family. A retired New York professor’s life is thrown into chaos when he takes his great-nephew to the French Riviera, in hopes of uncovering his own mother's wartime secrets.
 
Noah is only days away from his first trip back to Nice since he was a child when a social worker calls looking for a temporary home for Michael, his eleven-year-old great-nephew. Though he has never met the boy, he gets talked into taking him along to France.
 
This odd couple, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, argue about everything from steak haché to screen time, and the trip is looking like a disaster. But as Michael's ease with tech and sharp eye help Noah unearth troubling details about their family’s past, both of them come to grasp the risks that people in all eras have run for their loved ones, and find they are more akin than they knew.
 
Written with all the tenderness and psychological intensity that made Room a huge bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a boy who unpick their painful story and start to write a new one together.

A Better Man

by Louise Penny

Regular Price $36.99

Our Price $29.99

Catastrophic spring flooding, blistering attacks in the media, and a mysterious disappearance greet Chief Inspector Armand Gamache as he returns to the Sûreté du Québec in the latest novel by #1 New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.
 
It’s Gamache’s first day back as head of the homicide department, a job he temporarily shares with his previous second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Flood waters are rising across the province. In the middle of the turmoil a father approaches Gamache, pleading for help in finding his daughter.
 
As crisis piles upon crisis, Gamache tries to hold off the encroaching chaos, and realizes the search for Vivienne Godin should be abandoned. But with a daughter of his own, he finds himself developing a profound, and perhaps unwise, empathy for her distraught father.
 
Increasingly hounded by the question, how would you feel…, he resumes the search.
 
As the rivers rise, and the social media onslaught against Gamache becomes crueler, a body is discovered. And in the tumult, mistakes are made.
 
In the next novel in this “constantly surprising series that deepens and darkens as it evolves” (New York Times Book Review), Gamache must face a horrific possibility, and a burning question:
 
What would you do if your child’s killer walked free?

The Institute

by Stephen King

Regular Price $32.50

Our Price $26.99

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephen King, the most riveting and unforgettable story of kids confronting evil since It—publishing just as the second part of It, the movie, lands in theaters.
 
In the middle of the night, in a house on a quiet street in suburban Minneapolis, intruders silently murder Luke Ellis’s parents and load him into a black SUV. The operation takes less than two minutes. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there’s no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents—telekinesis and telepathy—who got to this place the same way Luke did: Kalisha, Nick, George, Iris, and ten-year-old Avery Dixon. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, “like the roach motel,” Kalisha says. “You check in, but you don’t check out.”
 
In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. There are no scruples here. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don’t, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from the Institute.
 
As psychically terrifying as Firestarter, and with the spectacular kid power of It, The Institute is Stephen King’s gut-wrenchingly dramatic story of good vs. evil in a world where the good guys don’t always win.

The Testaments

by Margaret Atwood

Regular Price $35.00

Our Price $26.99

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE
 
LONGLISTED FOR THE SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

Margaret Atwood's dystopian masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale, has become a modern classic—and now she brings the iconic story to a dramatic conclusion in this riveting sequel.
 
More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid's Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results.
 
Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.
 
As Atwood unfolds The Testaments, she opens up the innermost workings of Gilead as each woman is forced to come to terms with who she is, and how far she will go for what she believes.

Truth Be Told

by Beverley McLachlin

Regular Price $39.99

Our Price $34.99

Former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin offers an intimate and revealing look at her life, from her childhood in the Alberta foothills to her career on the Supreme Court, where she helped to shape the social and moral fabric of the country.
 
As a young girl, Beverley McLachlin’s world was often full of wonder—at the expansive prairie vistas around her, at the stories she discovered in the books at her local library, and at the diverse people who passed through her parents’ door. While her family was poor, their lives were rich in the ways that mattered most. Even at a young age, she had an innate sense of justice, which was reinforced by the lessons her parents taught her: Everyone deserves dignity. All people are equal. Those who work hard reap the rewards. Willful, spirited, and unusually intelligent, she discovered in Pincher Creek an extraordinary tapestry of people and perspectives that informed her worldview going forward.
 
Still, life in the rural Prairies was lonely, and gaining access to education—especially for girls—wasn’t always easy. As a young woman, McLachlin moved to Edmonton to pursue a degree in philosophy. There, she discovered her passion lay not in academia, but in the real world, solving problems directly related to the lives of the people around her. And in the law, she found the tools to do exactly that.
 
She soon realized, though, that the world was not always willing to accept her. In her early years as an articling student and lawyer, she encountered sexism, exclusion, and old boys’ clubs at every turn. And outside the courtroom, personal loss and tragedies struck close to home. Nonetheless, McLachlin was determined to prove her worth, and her love of the law and the pursuit of justice pulled her through the darkest moments.
 
McLachlin’s meteoric rise through the courts soon found her serving on the highest court in the country, becoming the first woman to be named Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She rapidly distinguished herself as a judge of renown, one who was never afraid to take on morally complex or charged debates. Over the next eighteen years, McLachlin presided over the most prominent cases in the country—involving Charter challenges, same-sex marriage, and euthanasia. One judgment at a time, she laid down a legal legacy that proved that fairness and justice were not luxuries of the powerful but rather obligations owed to each and every one of us.
 
With warmth, honesty, and deep wisdom, McLachlin invites us into her legal and personal life—into the hopes and doubts, the triumphs and losses on and off the bench. Through it all, her constant faith in justice remained her true north. In an age of division and uncertainty, McLachlin’s memoir is a reminder that justice and the rule of law remain our best hope for a progressive and bright future.
 

Vendetta in Death

by J.D. Robb

Regular Price $36.50

Our Price $27.99

Lieutenant Eve Dallas must keep the predator from becoming the prey in Vendetta in Death, the newest thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author J.D. Robb.
 
She calls herself Lady Justice. And once she has chosen a man as her target, she turns herself into a tall blonde or a curvaceous redhead, makes herself as alluring and seductive as possible to them. Once they are in her grasp, they are powerless.
 
The first victim is wealthy businessman Nigel McEnroy. His company’s human resources department has already paid out settlements to a couple of his young victims—but they don’t know that his crimes go far beyond workplace harassment. Lady Justice knows. And in one shocking night of brutality, she makes him pay a much steeper price.
 
Now Eve Dallas and her husband, Roarke, are combing through the evidence of McEnroy’s secret life. His compulsive need to record his misdeeds provides them with a wide range of suspects, but the true identity of Lady Justice remains elusive. It’s a challenging case, made even more difficult by McEnroy’s widow, who reacts to the investigation with fury, denial, and threats. Meanwhile, Lady Justice’s criminal crusade is escalating rapidly, and if Eve can’t stop this vigilante, there’s no telling how much blood may be spilled…

The Water Dancer

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Regular Price $37.00

Our Price $29.99

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, a boldly conjured debut novel about a magical gift, a devastating loss, and an underground war for freedom.
 
Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage. When his mother was sold away, Hiram was robbed of all memory of her—but was gifted with a mysterious power. Years later, when Hiram almost drowns in a river, that same power saves his life. This brush with death births an urgency in Hiram and a daring scheme: to escape from the only home he’s ever known.
 
So begins an unexpected journey that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia’s proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the Deep South to dangerously idealistic movements in the North. Even as he’s enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, Hiram’s resolve to rescue the family he left behind endures.
 
This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.

Paddling The Grand River

Paddling the Grand River, 6th Edition

by Grand River Conservation Authority, with Jamie Kent

Renowned for its recreational paddling opportunities, water quality, cultural heritage and fishing, the Grand River offers paddling trips for both novice and experienced paddlers.

Whether you are interested in a two-hour trip or a five-day excursion, this newly updated guide has everything you need. It includes full colour maps displaying access points, portages, and points of interest; details on local sights, fishing, accommodation, parking, outfitters, and suppliers; and aerial photos showing portages around dams and coordinates for GPS navigation.

With updates by guide Jamie Kent, Paddling the Grand River is now better than ever.

Shattered Ice

by Steve Seftel

This is a story about the author's hockey odyssey and passion for the game. His compelling journey starts on a schoolyard rink in Kitchener, Ontario. It is filled with inspiring memoirs, people, relationships, players and coaches, including chance childhood meetings with Darryl Sittler and Wayne Gretzky. Along the way, young dreams turned to reality as he played his first NHL game at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, starting on a line with Dale Hunter & John Druce. Impassioned coaches he played for like Bryan Murray, Terry Murray, Barry Trotz, and Doug MacLean influenced his love of the sport and outlook on life. Mental health issues that he suffered silently from, grew in his teen years. But now, with the help of his family and the hockey community he loves, he is able to speak about them openly. SHATTERED ICE is a Canadian hockey journey full of entertaining, thoughtful stories.

$27.99 trade paper

The Guardians of Your Heart

By Becca Blue

In this supernatural thriller of a love story, Sophie Reid learns about reiki, dark arts, friendship and love while finding her true self. She also learns that there is a whole other world out there that controls our own and the final battle between the angels above, the demons below, and every last one of us in between was about to begin. Can she risk everyone she loves, including her own life, to save Nathan?
The Guardians Of Your Heart is sure to make you stop and think about the rest of your life. What will you do when fate knocks at your door?

$24.99 trade paper

The Gynesaurs: What Happens Between the Stirrups, Stays Betwen the Stirrups

by Cambridge author Pat Oliver

Nominated for the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal of Humour

Dr. Anthea Brock, gynecologist extraordinaire, was perfectly content to be a single woman past her reproductive prime—or Gynesaur, as she and her coworkers termed it. Her decision to remain childless, after all, was why she’d divorced her ex-husband, Ian, and left Britain to start a new practice in Ontario.
Usually one to lead with her head and not her heart, Anthea is surprised when a return trip to Wales results in a heated romp with Ian. Even more unexpected is the pregnancy that results from it. Conflicted, Anthea turns to her fellow Gynesaurs for guidance. But they’ve got troubles of their own.
Carolina Stiletto, daughter of a murdered mafia member, is unraveling her family legacy. Molly McGilvery—widow, mother, and sister to a special needs brother—is ready for romance. Glynda Wicksteed, left penniless by her gay ex-husband, struggles to pursue her dreams after a devastating diagnosis.
Amid personal strife, the Gynesaurs must also juggle a roster of eccentric patients and plan the upcoming (boring but important) hospital fundraiser. Trusting in the unbreakable bonds of love and friendship, will these four extraordinary women find the courage to evolve or risk becoming extinct?

$20.00 trade paper