Come meet Craig Oliver at Books on Beechwood! He will be here signing copies of his memoir “Oliver’s Twist” from 11:00am to 1:00pm on Saturday, December 17.

“Oliver’s Twist” is a wry and intimate account of an extraordinary life from a beloved newsman.
From the jacket:
“As chief parliamentary correspondent for CTV News, Craig Oliver is one of Canada’s most recognized and respected journalists, a newsman who has reported on the major political figures and news stories of our times with passion, insight, and bracing candour.
He brings those same qualities to this many-layered memoir of an extraordinary professional and personal life.”

What people are saying about “Oliver’s Twist”:
“A book at once human and sharp … Oliver brims with insight.” - Maclean’s
“A moving tale of a fascinating life.” - Winnipeg Free Press

We hope to see you all here on Saturday to meet our visiting author and buy some books! See you then!

Ottawa author Adrian de Hoog will be here signing his new book Natalia’s Peace from 11:00am to 1:00pm on Satuday, December 10.

From the jacket:
“In Adrian de Hoog’s new thriller, forces pushing for a more enlightened world order are pitted against ones that profit from armed conflict. Natalia’s Peace is a fast-paced novel that deftly examines the role of culture, beliefs and collective memories in today’s wars, and what the international community could do to end the senseless killing.”

Adrian’s two previous novels are The Berlin Assignment and Borderless Deceit.

We look forward to seeing you all on Saturday!

Come down to Books on Beechwood on Saturday, November 26 to meet Ottawa author Mark Frutkin. He will be here signing his book “Walking Backwards: Grand Tours, Minor Visitations, Miraculous Journeys, and a Few Good Meals” from 1:00pm to 3:00pm.

From the jacket:
“From Istanbul to New Delhi to Boulder, Colorado, through Venice, Paris, Rome, and points between…
As travelers, we are always “walking backwards,” forever on the verge of stepping into the unknown, never knowing what waits around the next corner.
You could be lost, forget your passport, fall ill. You could be served a bowl of food and not know whether it’s animal, vegetable, or mineral. Even flushing the toilet can be an adventure.
You are a child again, innocent and hoping for the best, forced to trust strangers. Quite often this works out. Not always.
Walking Backwards is a return to to ten cities and what happened there. Whether inadvertently smuggling “cloth” in to Istanbul, reading poetry in New Delhi to a crowd expecting a world-famous pianist, or wandering endlessly through Mantua searching for a non-existent hotel on a street that’s fallen off the map, Mark Frutkin is a master at rediscovering the magic at the heart of all travel.”

Come visit us on Saturday, November 26 to meet the author and get a book signed! We hope to see you all then!

Come down to Books on Beechwood on the evening of Friday, November 18 to meet author Robert Fowler. He will be here from 5:00pm to 7:00pm signing his new book “A Season in Hell: My 130 Days in the Sahara with Al Qaeda.”

From the jacket:
“Robert Fowler was a dominant force in Canadian foreign affairs, as a policy advisor to three prime ministers, as a deputy minister of National Defence, and as Canada’s longest-serving ambassador to the United Nations. A skilled diplomat and an influential player on the world stage, Fowler has been involved in most of the important discussions about Canadian diplomacy and security policy over the past thirty years.”

“On December 14, 2008, Fowler, acting as the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Niger, was kidnapped by Al Qaeda. Along with his colleague Louis Guay, Fowler lived, slept, and ate with his captors for over four months, gaining rare first-hand insight into the world’s most feared terrorist group. For those 130 punishing days, Fowler survived in extreme desert conditions at the whims of his volatile kidnappers, fearing every moment could be his last. Fowler’s capture, release, and subsequent media appearances have shed new light on the confrontation between Western values and violent Islamic fundamentalism.”

We look forward to seeing you all on Friday evening! Come down, meet the author, buy a book, and get it signed!!!

This one is for all the mystery lovers out there. Canadian mystery writer Hilary MacLeod will be at the bookstore on Sunday, October 23 from 1:00pm to 3:00pm to sign copies of the second book in her “Shores Mystery” series. “Mind Over Mussels,” like the first Shores Mystery, “Revenge of the Lobster Lover,” features amateur detective Hyancinth “Hy” McAllister.

From the jacket:
“Nothing big ever happens in The Shores. Ceilidhs, yes. Killings, no. That all changes when amateur sleuth, Hy McAllister trips over a body on the beach and tumbles head first into a murder case. Cottager Lance Lord, dressed like Jimi Hendrix, has had his head split open with an axe. As Hurricane Angus storms up the coast, Hy and Mountie Jane Jamieson vie against the elements to uncover the murderer in a village where almost everyone has something to hide.”

We look forward to seeing you all then!

Author and High School teacher, James Leck will be in the store on Saturday, October 22 from 11:00am to 12:30pm to sign his book “The Adventures of Jack Lime,” a wonderful trio of sleuth stories for young adults (ages 10 and up). This book introduces readers to the delightful character of Jack Lime, a narcoleptic private investigator who solves problems for his schoolmates.

From the jacket:
“Whether he’s tracking down a missing banana-seat bike or a kidnapped hamster, or cracking open a trivia tournament betting ring, Lime will follow every lead.”
“Readers will identify with this funny, cynical sleuth who has the makings of a top-notch PI, though his personal life frequently goes awry. In these three stand-alone detective stories, readers will immerse themselves in an offbeat fictional world populated with eccentric characters where everything is not as it seems.”

We have updated the Book Club page with details on the 2011-2012 meetings, as well as updating the dates we are meeting over the next few months. Thank you to our friends and customers who pointed out the scheduling errors!

We’ll be sharing our opinions of Barbara Kingsolver’s “The Lacuna” on wednesday evening of the 28th, at our regular time of 7:30pm. Meetings take place in the lounge of the New Edinburgh Square retirement residence located at 35 Beechwood Ave.

This is a gripping story of identity, connection with our past, and the power of words to create or devastate, unfolding at a moment when the entire world seemed bent on reinventing itself at any cost.

Born in the United States, reared in a series of provisional households in Mexico, Harrison Shepherd is mostly a liability to his social-climbing flapper mother, Salomé. From a coastal island jungle to the unpaved neighborhoods of 1930s Mexico City, through a disastrous stint at a military school in Virginia and back again, his fortunes never steady as Salomé finds her rich men-friends always on the losing side of the Mexican Revolution. Sometimes she gives her son cigarettes instead of supper.

Everyone is welcome! Don’t forget: all copies of our book club books are available at a 20% discount until the meeting…

On Sunday, September 25, come down to Books on Beechwood to meet author and organizer Sandra Tisiot. She will be here from 1 to 2pm. Her book is called “My Life Locker: The Ultimate Life Organizational System.” It is a nice spiral bound book that allows you to organize all your affairs neatly and efficiently in one place.

Take a look inside the book!

We are having a book signing with Natasha Ferrill this coming weekend!

The first book in the series, “A Picnic, a Toad and Swampwater Road”, takes the young reader on a picnic adventure with The Lemonman and his friends, along with a trouble-making Pear and a swindling Toad. It is a delightful story about friendship, the gift of forgiveness, and the power of kindness toward others.

You can see inside the book on the Lemon Man web site!