The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

In 1930 Czechoslovakia, the new Mr and Mrs Landauer commission a man they meet on their honeymoon, Rainier van Abt, to build a modern house for them. His answer is the Landauer House, a house with a glass room that is the talk of the town, where they raise their two children and hold dinners and piano recitals, and where Mrs Liesel Landauer feels truly content. But when the Nazi regime begins to gain ground in Europe, the family has to find a way to escape, eventually leaving their beloved house, never to truly return. In their absence, the house becomes many things - a lover's paradise, a bartering centre, a place for research - always waiting for the return of its original inhabitants.

The Glass House is a beautifully written story, and while Mawer writes a great deal about what goes on the house itself, his main focus is on the Landauer family and Liesel's closest friend, Hana, through their extramarital affairs, trials and tribulations. This is a beautifully written novel, and is an extremely enjoyable novel. It's not a book for the beach, and it's a sad novel, but beautiful nonetheless.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

I had previously read Fingersmith and immensely enjoyed it. Then Sarah Waters' newest book, The Little Stranger, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, so of course I had to read it. Waters is an amazing writer of historical novels, but this was a little bit different from her previous books. It's partly a ghost story, but mostly it's a novel about class in postwar Britain.

Dr Faraday is a quiet country doctor and the son of a maid; Mrs Ayres is the owner of Hundreds Hall, a once-grand manor now in shambles; her two children are Caroline and Roderick, whose leg was damaged in the war. Strange things start happening in the house, with no explanation, and Dr Faraday, the gallant narrator, relays the story to us through his eyes. He begins treating Roderick using induction coils, but quickly integrates himself into the Ayres household, and consequently shares in their various misfortunes.

Unfortunately, I was dissapointed with this novel. While it's gotten great reviews and it's certainly worth a read, I didn't think that it was up to the standards of or Waters' other novels. It may be that it's a little bit creepy, but I also felt that some of the suspense-building in the middle section was a little bit too much, and then when it did speed up near the end, the action seemed to be going too quickly and even wildly. The Little Stranger is by no means a long and tedious novel, but I felt it might have been better if the middle was made shorter and the last part made longer.

As said before, however, this novel is worth a read, especially if you liked Sarah Waters' writing style as seen in her Victorian trilogy. But I don't see it as Man Booker material, if only because I enjoyed Fingersmith so much more.

New Books Update!

We've got some cool new books in, some signed, some not, all in superb condition and ready to go! Plus, if you're looking for a gift, some relatively inexpensive signed copies of some great books priced from $20-$50 are here - including Zafon's The Angel's Game.

Also remember about signing up for our book clubs; you can find more information on our website - just click on the "Book Club" link:

http://www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com/announcements.php

And while you're at it, if you've got young kids, e-mail us for updates on the September Storytimes.

Finally, we're hard at work on the Man Booker Prize reading.
Less than two weeks to go!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, quite strangely (and, as our proprietor suggested, distastefully) titled, is truly a remarkably original and intelligent debut novel from Canadian author Alan Bradley. Guided by an eleven-year-old protagonist--with a precocious vocabulary and a keen interest in poisons--readers are led hop-skip across the English countryside in order to unravel the mystery surrounding her father and his curious stamp collection.

Early one morning, young Flavia de Luce and her father find a dead Jack Snipe on the doorstep with a stamp pierced by the end of its bill. Colonel de Luce, as Flavia notices, reacts in an odd way: with fear. The next morning, Flavia discovers a man lying in the cucumber patch, and as she draws near, he breathes his last word to her ear: Vale.

Confused? I bet you are. But intrigued? I know I was.

Once I began this book, I couldn't put it down. I'm never one for any old mystery novel--especially those that ignore character development and depth in exchange for an engaging plot--but I must say The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie does not sacrifice a thing. It is both well-written and comical, with an original voice and a cast of characters overflowing with oddity and nuance. AND, I really enjoyed reading it: it had me laughing and it had me guessing.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first in a series of Flavia de Luce books by Alan Bradley. For his first novel, Bradley received the Crime Writers' Association Debut Dagger Award.

New Pastries in the Shop: A Poem

Amaretto biscotti, chocolate chip biscotti,

Coffee nut

Blueberry

Scones,

Bigger than ever before.

No-fat berry muffins, trenchant and luminous,

Cranberry nut

Pecan coffee praline.

Then, suddenly,

chocolate chip cookies,

oatmeal cookies,

mocha chip cookies.

Amaretto biscotti,

Chocolate chip biscotti.

Lemon

Lavender

Mini

Cookies

25cents each.

They wait together

With upturned eyes

Wanting to be chosen

And dipped in coffee.

Where the Wild Things Are

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Kiss Painting by Sandra Jeppesen

A few summers ago, I found myself aimlessly wandering the streets of Montreal. I spent the day watching couples in Parc Lafontaine drink wine and smoke unfiltered cigarettes, French Canadian mothers unpack a lunch of Pepsi and moon pies for their children, and waiters specifically ignore the American patrons. As the day waned and the couples became drunker, I happened upon an obscure bookshop on Sherbrooke. And in this "eclectic" shop, I stumbled upon an unusually rare find: a great book.

Don't let the cover fool you; this is no politic-ridden manifest of punk-anarchist angst. Sandra Jeppesen's Kiss Painting (Toronto: Gutter Press), defies the constraints that anarchist literature usually bears. I know I know, I'm sick of their studded leather chaps and chains too... but, this book is about so much more. As reviewer, Sue McCluskey, put it: [Kiss Painting] is a tale of three friends; street kids, punk rock anarchist squatters, who meet, live together, move away and travel to the ends of the earth to find each other. It is a tale of loyalty and love, in which a ragtag tribe of society outcasts--or, rather, people who have rejected society--create a generous, compassionate community out of the squalor and chaos within and around them."

While Jeppesen's politics do show its neon-green head, it is with compassion for our lost humanity and a genuine want for community among people. Jeppesen utilizes stylistic choices akin to Mooly Bloom's Soliloquoy in Ulysses, creating with flowing prose-poetry, a cachophony of colors and sensations and thoughts. The language is so decandent it's almost edible; it reminds the reader just how beautiful the world can be.

It really is a shame that some brilliant authors, who push the conventions of the written word, can receive so little attention. Sandra Jeppesent is yet another one of those voices that drown in the deafening yells of the Dan Browns and Stephanie Meyers of our time. Kiss Painting has the opportunity to shift the paradigms of readers and I hope you give it the chance it deserves. I loved this book!

ABCs and 123s

I'm ordering some new stuff for the children's section. Some of my favorites are cool-looking ABC and counting books. Here's a few pictures:

Asterios Polyp

I liked Asterios Polyp too, but maybe all the hype had gotten to me-- I was expecting something bigger. The different fonts and colors assigned to different characters was a neat idea, but it seemed like such a basic conceptual use of the medium. All the reviewers are saying that Asterios Polyp is such a big deal because Mazzuchelli is taking advantage of what the graphic novel can do that a written novel can't, and it definitely had the feel of a book written for a set of ideas. In the end, I wanted more than that, and the story itself didn't really compel me.

But I loved the ending.

Books We've Read

Emma and I both read the raved-about Asterios Polyp, a graphic novel by David Mazzucchelli. It's a relatively quick read, and a good one - especially for first-time graphic novel readers like myself. The story line has some nice twists but the pictures are definitely the best part! All the characters have their own colours and font style, which makes it a lot easier to keep track of everything that's going on and adds a unique flair to the novel.

"Asterios Polyp, its arrogant, prickly protagonist, is an award-winning architect who's never built an actual building, and a pedant in the midst of a spiritual crisis. After the structure of his own life falls apart, he runs away to try to rebuild it into something new. " (Amazon)

Then there's The Help, by Kathryn Stockett. I was pretty excited to read this one since it had great reviews on Amazon and Indiebound. It's a wonderful, well-written book, but it didn't live up to my expectations (which, granted, were probably too high). If you're looking for a fun read, this is a book to consider! It's an uplifting novel, told from three perspectives in 1962: Eugenie Skeeter Phelan, an (unhappily) tall white woman with a bossy mother and married-with-children friends, Aibilene, a maid who's raised seventeen chidlren, and Minny, who's smart mouth has lost her more jobs than she can count. An aspiring journalist, Skeeter decides to anonymously publish a book about the lives of "The Help" in the South. An amazing debut novel!

The cafe

The Wellington Square Bookshop cafe is now open!!!!! Come by for a cappuccino, espresso, latte, Americano, French press or plain ol' coffee. We have pastries, too.

All our coffee is supplied by Terroir, a division of the famously delicious George Howell Coffee Company. Terrior produces sustainable single-origin coffees grown in partnership with coffee farmers.

More Photos

Our New Shop - A Life in Pictures

Here are some photos from our new shop - enjoy!

A seating area outside, featuring Cinzano umbrellas

A cafe area with good cappuccinos for good people made by good frothers
Featuring George Howell's coffee from Massachusetts

Our new Children's Corner, with new, used, and rare children's books
(plus young adult novels!)

You can even enjoy a romantic dinner with our ambient music
We're open 'till 7 on weekdays
And we wear our prom dresses to work every day (on occasion)

THE LOOK

Relaxing outside the bookshop
(Notice the lions in front of our doors!)

Enjoy a coffee in one of our comfy chairs

Come see us in Eagleview Town Centre!
We've got a fountain and lots of cool books!

Host Your Book Club... and Anticipate Pat Conroy

Pat Conroy's first new book in a decade, South of Broad, is being released in a couple of weeks. It's a great read, and follows the lives of a group of schoolmates right as segregation was ending and integration beginning, throughout their lives through the AIDS crisis and other historical milestones. A recommended read.

Also, if you're interested in hosting your book club, we'll provide you with free coffees and pastries. Plus, there's a 20% discount if you buy your book club books from us! Stop in or call for more information and to schedule. We're open from Monday to Saturday from 9 - 7 and Sunday 10-3.

549 Wellington Square

Exton, PA 19341

610-458-1144