September Newsletter: events, Events, EVENTS!

Well hello, September. Why does it feel like you've been here all along--rocking on your heels and whistling quietly to yourself? We're off and running with a lot happening this month, so without further ado... Save these dates--

EVENTS:

▪Saturday, September 16: Word on the Street

▪Tuesday, September 19: Heather Smith booklaunch

▪Wednesday, September 27: OBOC Wayne Grady event

Keep reading for more details, or if you're in need of a fun little diversion you can skip to the end and take a book-smarts quiz from the famous Strand Bookstore (NYC).

A bit of a heads-up for October with more details to come in our next newsletter.

▪Wednesday, October 4: Words Worth's very own Kristen Ciccarelli launches the first in a young adult trilogy. The Last Namsara is an epic fantasy about deadly dragons, badass girls, and enemies who save each other. Pre-register for this free KPL event!

▪Mid-October Nancy Silcox will launch her latest book, Kids in the Kitchen: 80 Recipes by Kids, to Kids, for Kids. More details coming soon.

▪Wednesday, October 18: a major event in collaboration with the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Powered by Love: a Grandmother's Movement to end AIDS in Africa, featuring special guests, Evelyne Bakenyaga with ROTOM in Uganda; Kenneth E. Mugayehwenkyi (ROTOM); and Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, co-author, and co-founder/executive director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Pre-register for this free KPL event!

▪Friday, October 20 to 22: our friends down the way have a very exciting line-up at The Stratford Writer's Festival

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WORD ON THE STREET: Showcase Event

Saturday, September 16, 1pm to 5:30pm at KPL -- FREE!

Don't miss this incredible line up of some of the most talented and thought-provoking authors in Canada.

FEATURING: 
Eva Stachniak, author of The Chosen Maiden

Non-Fiction Panel with Ayub Nuri, author of Being Kurdish in a Hostile World, and Tanya Talaga, author of Seven Fallen Feathers

Thriller Panel with Nick Cutter, author of Little Heaven, Grace O'Connell, author of Be Ready for the Lightning, and Nicole Lundrigan, author of The Substitute

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Join us in celebrating the launch of Heather Smith's newest young-adult novel, The Agony of Bun O'Keefe.

Tuesday, September 19th, 7pm at Words Worth Books -- also FREE!

Set in 1986 Newfoundland, Bun O'Keefe has lived a solitary life with her compulsive-hoarder mother. When she's told to leave, she does just that, and finds herself on the streets of St. John's. Fortunately, the first person she meets is Busker Boy, a street musician who senses her naivety and takes her in. Together they live in a house with an eclectic cast of characters: Chef, a hotel dishwasher with culinary dreams; Cher, a drag queen with a tragic past; Big Eyes, a Catholic school girl desperately trying to reinvent herself; and The Landlord, a man who Bun is told to avoid at all cost. Through her experiences with her new roommates, and their sometimes tragic revelations, Bun learns that the world extends beyond the walls of her mother's house and discovers the joy of being part of a new family -- a family of friends who care.

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COOKING THE BOOKS WITH RELISH

Fall 2017 Series

Participants will meet once a month to discuss, eat, explore themes, and share their thoughts on the chosen literary selection--all while enjoying a French-inspired meal.

The price is $260 and it includes books, instructed meals, and guided discussion. All events take place at Relish Cooking Studio.

Visit relishcookingstudio.com to register

Fun Stuff

The New York Times ran an article a while back inviting you to test your book-smarts. The Strand Bookstore has included a literary matching quiz in its job application form since the 1970s.

Here are some quizzes from years past. Can you match the authors and titles? Beware of trick questions!

Brag about your results on our Facebook Page, on Twitter, or email hello@wordsworthbooks.com

August Happenings: $5 Book Sale and a fun little puzzle

We love our location in UpTown--it's been our home for 33 years, after all. We have a wonderful community of friends and supporters, and last year you got us through one of our most trying periods. 

As it stands now, streetscape construction has been ongoing North of Erb and it’s been affecting the recovery of businesses in UpTown since March. As usual, we're pushing through together. But we could all use a little help.This August, we’d like to ask you for one more act of goodwill. We promise, in return, to continue to be the bookstore that YOU want in this community.

We invite you to help out our friends in the construction zone. Support **Settlement & Co.**, **Death Valley's Little Brother**, **Princess Cafe**, **Seven Shores**, and **Cafe 1842**. Bring your receipts to **Words Worth Books** and enter to win. Each week this summer we're giving away a $20 gift certificate.

And speaking of gift certificates...

Take advantage of our **Christmas in August** promotion and purchase a gift certificate of $50 or over at 20% off! That’s $40 for $50, $80 for $100, $120 for …and you get the picture. Save them up for holiday shopping in December, give them as gifts, or treat yourself to a well-deserved book! (We have lots of recommendations, by the way, this Fall in publishing is a doozy!)

Finally, consider snapping up some select gems at our **Five Bucks a Book** table. That's $5.00 each, or three for $12.00! We brought in some quality remainders for the sale and we’re passing them on to you!

And, as always, we are open 24/7 online at wordsworthbooks.com where you can browse every book in print and order direct. Peruse our Summer Catalogue for our favourite beach / cottage/ staycation picks.

See you in the store!

~Mandy

EVENT: Gillian Best, author of The Last Wave  


Tuesday, August 15 at 7pm, Words Worth Books


A beautifully rendered family drama set in Dover, England, between the 1940s and the present day, The Last Wave follows the life of Martha, a woman who has swum the English Channel ten times, and the complex relationships she has with her husband, her children, and her close friends. The one constant in Martha’s life is the sea, from her first accidental baptism to her final crossing of the channel. The sea is an escape from her responsibilities as a wife and a mother; it consoles her when she is diagnosed with cancer; and it comforts her when her husband’s mind begins to unravel.

An intergenerational saga spanning six decades, The Last Wave is a wholly authentic portrait of a family buffeted by illness, intolerance, anger, failure, and regret. Gillian Best is a mature, accomplished, and compelling new voice in fiction.

Wednesday, August 23 Robert Rotenberg will drop by the store for an informal signing.

Robert Rotenberg is one of Toronto’s top criminal lawyers and the author of several bestselling novels, including Old City Hall, The Guilty Plea, Stray Bullets, and Stranglehold. 

In his newest book when Greene stumbles upon the corpse of hated developer Livingston Fox, he is plunged back into the life he tried so hard to leave behind. As the body count rises, Greene is forced into a reluctant reconciliation with his former protégé, Daniel Kennicott. The pair must delve into the tight-knit world of downtown development, navigating tangled loyalties, unexpected corruption and family secrets, some of which are closer to home than Greene could have ever imagined.

BOOKCLUBS
 

Thursday, August 10 at 7:00pm: Blomkvist Wannabees
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Friday, August 18 at 10:30: Books & Babies

Tuesday, August 29 at 7:00pm: Words Worth Bookclub
The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Wednesday, August 30 at 7:00pm: SpecFics and Chill
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

Just for fun...

Missing Vowels: Can you name these books?

Chris alerted us to this DEVILISHLY TRICKY BOOK TITLE PUZZLE saying that between him, Dave, and one of our more brilliant customers, they were able to get all the answers. Go on--see how you do. 

It inspired us to make a few of our own: 

M NCP TNDY
BF RTH FLL
TH BDSSL BR RNSFT MBKT
THRGH T TBCLD
THN S FTM

If you think you figured them out, email your answers to kristen@wordsworthbooks.com for your chance to win a set of OBOC buttons. The contest will be open until August 7 at which point we'll draw five winners from our pool of correct answers.

(Hint: You might want to take another look at our catalogue....)

July Newsletter: Loving Local

We're deep into a summer that's so far offered a lot of rainy days for you to tuck away with a good book. But not us! We've been busy. You'll find this newsletter is devoted to contests, free stuff, give aways, and prizes! Who doesn't love prizes?! 

Read on, dear friends.

UpTown Waterloo "I Choose Local" signs are available for free!

Did you know that for every $100 spent in locally owned stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, wages, donations, and other expenditures. When you buy local you're helping to revitalize the downtown, encourage entrepreneurship, and benefit from our unique expertise. (Nb: when you buy from online retailers and nothing comes home! It goes to Jeff Bezos's home and honestly, does he really need another $42 million dollar clock?!)

Show your support with an "I CHOOSE LOCAL" sign. You can get one at Words Worth Books.

Drink Good Coffee, Read Good Books

Our pals further on up the street are now dealing with construction, and we know all too well what that's like!

Until the end of the summer we're giving away a $20 Gift Certificate every week to people who support DVLB, Princess Cafe, Settlement, Seven Shores, and Cafe 1842.

Just bring us your receipt from a purchase of anything from those five businesses, drop it in the ballot box, and enjoy your caffeine-buzz. We pull a name every Monday and winning ballots go BACK in the draw box for another chance.

One Book One Community One-Of-A-Kind Buttons!

In commemoration of this year's OBOC selection, Emancipation Day by Wayne Grady, we have designed these unique buttons that recall the city, the sea, and the high-spirit of the swinging, big-band era. 

You can get a complete set of five for $8.00 at Words Worth Books

OR... You can try to win our CONTESTS

We'll be giving away 10 sets of buttons over the next few weeks. Follow us on TWITTER for more chances to win.!

From Then to Now with Professor James Walker

Wednesday, July 12, 7:00-8:30 at the main branch of the Waterloo Public Library

African peoples have lived in Canada since the beginnings of transatlantic settlement. Although their migration, settlement and life in Canada has been saturated with prejudice and brutality, their legacy is one of courage and strength. Prof. James Walker from the University of Waterloo joins us to discuss this fascinating chapter in Canadian history.

This program is a tie-in to the 2017 One Book, One Community selection, Emancipation Day by Wayne Grady. Learn more at the One Book, One Community website.

BOOKCLUBS
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Thursday, July 20, 7pm (nb new date): Blomkvist Wannabees -- Darktown by Thomas Mullen
Friday, July 21, 10:30am: Books & Babies
Wednesday, July 26, 7pm (nb new date): Words Worth Book Club -- Nutshell by Ian McEwan
Wednesday, July 26, 7pm: Specfics & Chill -- The Lies of Loche Lamora by Scott Lynch

One of our very own... Soon to be an Internationally Published Author!
 

We're sure you remember Kristen Ciccarelli. She was our resident expert in teen fiction until 2016, when she left WWB to devote herself full-time to writing. We really miss her but that was clearly the right decision...

Did you know she has a book coming out?

The Last Namsara is the debut of the Iskari Series. This teen-fantasy is about deadly dragons, badass girls, forbidden love, and enemies who save each other. Not only will it be available here, but around the world in Australia, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Spain, Turkey, UK, and the US. This is a big deal! Like, Robin McKinley, Kristen Cashore, Sarah J. Maas kind of big.

Preorder at Words Worth and you'll get an autographed copy on October 3. And if you sign up for her newsletter you could win a limited edition, autographed Advanced Reader's Copy of The Last Namsara.

https://www.kristenciccarelli.com/subscribe/

Can we be serious for a moment? We need to talk to you about an issue that is of the utmost importance to you and everyone you love.... it concerns your summer reading list. 

If you are experiencing symptoms of boredom, restlessness, stress, irritability, or the general feeling that the summer is slipping away from you, you may be suffering from Needtoreaditis.

Needtoreaditis can be caught from being too busy, and simply not taking the time you require to sit back and relax. But there is a cure...

Pick up our Summer Reads Catalogue in the store, or peruse it online. Select a minimum of one title from the list, purchase it, bring it with you to a place that makes you happy, put your feet up, and read. For best results consume with a cold beverage.

No one should go through summer without a generous selection of really terrific books. Call on us. We can help. 

A final word...

Your friends at Words Worth have a few... Here are some notables:
 

Mandy: archipelago (pronounced ark-i-pel-AAAA-go) and panacea (pan-AY-sha)

Dave: verisimilitude (pronounced VERSE-mill-i-tude)

John: facade (pronounced fah-KADE, though his favourite is from a friend who thought misled was MY-zeld)

Curtis: chagrin (pronounced SHAW-grin)

Kristen: paradigm (pronounced PAR-da-gim, and for much of her youth, "Peregrine Shift"). She still struggles with halcyon (HAL-Cayenne).

Jessie: Chesapeke (pronounced CHEESE-pake)

Maggie: harbinger (pronounced Har-bing-gurrr)

We asked you on Facebook. Here's what you came up with: 

Caroline commented, "Hyper bowl for hyperbole and yoo-bu-queecious for ubiquitous. I actually love all of these, I think these should become legitimate alternate pronunciations!"

Like a lot of us, Louise was caught out by Hermione (Her-me-own) from the Harry Potter books.

Jen admits that throughout sixth grade she said "chay-ous" for chaos.

One of our most popular mispronunciations was epitome (epi-tome)

But we think Maya spoke for all of us when she said, "Reading these and realizing I still pronounce most of those words that way."

Drink Good Coffee. Read Good Books.

Just a little further up the street our friends are now in a construction zone with infrastructure and streetscape improvements taking place over the summer. Show them the love and you could WIN!

  1. Buy something from Settlement, DVLB, Princess Cafe, Seven Shores, or Cafe 1842.
  2. Bring the receipt to Words Worth Books.
  3. Write your name and contact info on the back of the receipt and drop it in the ballot box.
  4. Tell every single one of your friends how excited and caffeinated you are.
  5. Until September 4th we will have one ballot each Monday. The prize is a $20 gift certificate to Words Worth Books. Winning ballots are put back in the draw for another chance to win!

Tweet about it! 
@BooksWordsWorth 
@Princess_Cafe 
@_SettlementCo  
@SevenShores 
@HuetherHotel