Fireside Books and Gifts- Your Locally Owned Independent Bookstore

Fall Fiction that you do NOT want to miss!

Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins
$14.99
Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place

Orcs
by Stan Nicholls
$14.99
"Look at me. Look at the Orc."

"There is fear and hatred in your eyes. To you I am a monster, a skulker in the shadows, a fiend to scare your children with. A creature to be hunted down and slaughtered like a beast in the fields.
It is time you pay heed to the beast. And see the beast in yourself. I have your fear. But I have earned your respect.
Hear my story. Feel the flow of blood and be thankful. Thankful that it was me, not you, who bore the sword. Thankful to the orcs; born to fight, destined to win peace for all."

This book will change the way you feel about Orcs forever.

A Fireside Films Production

Hitting Shelves Mid-December 2008:

Blood Sins
by Kay Hooper
$25.00 Hardcover
Reserve your copy now and make plans to join us on December 18th from 5:00-7:00 PM
for what's sure to be a special signing!
New Book Trailer and Contest: Watch the new Blood Sins trailer
and enter our new contest!

The nightmare begins with
Blood Dreams
by Kay Hooper
$7.50 in paperback on November 25th!

Graceling
by Kristin Cashore
$17.00
If you had the power to kill with your bare hands, what would you do with it?

Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power. Combining elements of fantasy and romance, Cashore skillfully portrays the confusion, discovery, and angst that smart, strong-willed girls experience as they creep toward adulthood. Katsa wrestles with questions of freedom, truth, and knowing when to rely on a friend for help. This is no small task for an angry girl who had eschewed friendships (with the exception of one cousin that she trusts) for her more ready skills of self-reliance, hunting, and fighting. Katsa also comes to know the real power of her Grace and the nature of Graces in general: they are not always what they appear to be.

Graceling is the first book in a series, and Kristin Cashore’s first work of fiction. It sets up a vivid world with engaging characters that readers will certainly look forward to following beyond the last chapter of this book. (Ages 14 and up)

Dewey
The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World
by Vicki Myron and Bret Witter
$19.99 Hardcover
How much of an impact can an animal have? How many lives can one cat touch? How is it possible for an abandoned kitten to transform a small library, save a classic American town, and eventually become famous around the world? You can't even begin to answer those questions until you hear the charming story of Dewey Readmore Books, the beloved library cat of Spencer, Iowa.

Dewey's story starts in the worst possible way. Only a few weeks old, on the coldest night of the year, he was stuffed into the returned book slot at the Spencer Public Library. He was found the next morning by library director, Vicki Myron, a single mother who had survived the loss of her family farm, a breast cancer scare, and an alcoholic husband. Dewey won her heart, and the hearts of the staff, by pulling himself up and hobbling on frostbitten feet to nudge each of them in a gesture of thanks and love. For the next nineteen years, he never stopped charming the people of Spencer with his enthusiasm, warmth, humility, (for a cat) and, above all, his sixth sense about who needed him most.

As his fame grew from town to town, then state to state, and finally, amazingly, worldwide, Dewey became more than just a friend; he became a source of pride for an extraordinary Heartland farming town pulling its way slowly back from the greatest crisis in its long history.
Fireside Focus of the Month

Why Do Leaves Change?
Most children have jumped into piles of leaves or helped their parents rake the yard, and everyone has wondered: Why do leaves change color? Activities that a child can do with leaves and even a list of places known for brilliant fall colors that readers can visit with their families is included.

Fireside Favorite
Staff recommendation for November

The Lace Reader
by Brunonia Barry
$24.95
Allow me to introduce you to the "Lace Readers" - women of costal New England, who have the ability to hand craft lace, as well as experience premonitions through their work. Towner Whitney, the heroine who returns home when her aunt goes missing, is gifted with this ability also, but resists the ensuing complications brought on by the talent. As Towner returns home after a lengthy absence and desperately attempts to find her aunt, she is re-introduced to her estranged mother, members of the community she grew up with that know her history, and her own past, full of ghosts and illusions. Multiple layers allow the reader to experience the past and incorporate the results into the future; presenting the history of the island and "lace readers" in a realistic fashion. Told from various view points, "The Lace Reader" is enthralling and captivating, with a twist that is difficult to see coming. I found myself staying up late to finish this novel - and once I finished, decided I must read it again!
A new and compelling voice, Barry delivers an incredible debut novel
and left me waiting for the next one.

For more great recommendations, check out our 'Staff Pick' pages!