Author visit: JB Harris & Kim McCollum
We are so excited to welcome Kim McCollum and JB Harris to Wheaton. Stop by the store for this book signing and conversation with the authors!
$5/person
What Happens in Montana
Author: Kim McCollum
"...a beautifully written tale of strong female relationships that draws you in from the beginning and won't let go. Reading this book is like spending the afternoon with comforting friends. Enjoy the experience." -Diane Dickinson, author of Final Transaction
A ghost's antics, a harrowing moose chase, a hypnosis session, and smuggled booze lead to spilled secrets and betrayal, but do they also lead to murder?
At a hot springs retreat in Montana, whiskey-swigging Maude, the nearly eighty-year-old chef, longs for the glory days when the retreat hosted martini-sipping celebrities instead of long-haired hippies who refuse to wear deodorant. Brooke, feisty, adventurous, and a bit reckless, proposes a reunion at the retreat with her best friends to get away from the chaos of her life with teenagers and the emotional aftermath of her postponed wedding. One of those friends, Tracy, has devoted her life to her children and her husband despite her excruciating boredom. But a long-held secret could cost her the most important friendships in her life. Haunting the place is a ghost who, in life, dealt with tragedy by turning to prostitution which led to her murder over 100 years ago at the very place they all are staying.
What Happens in Montana explores friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness with blunt truth and witty insights. Together, these friends learn to navigate empty nests, infidelity, deception, and poltergeists. Most importantly, they learn their friendship is strong enough to get them through it all.
The Immigrant’s Wife
Author: J B Harris
"The Immigrant's Wife is a vivid and haunting novel told with great precision and heart. You can't help but root for Charles and Anna, two star-crossed strivers making their way in an unforgiving world. JB Harris has written a transporting debut." —Christopher Castellani, author of Leading Men
Not all men who abandon their families are scoundrels. A story of love and perseverance set when consumption ravaged America. Anna Patrinos is deserted by her husband. What she doesn’t know is he anonymously exiled to a TB sanatorium to protect her and their unborn baby from the deadly disease and the ruinous cost of his care. Anna’s battle with ostracism, starvation and assault to keep herself and her child alive interweaves with Charles’ fight to survive and return home to his family, which is complicated by his one night of indiscretion. Reunited, Anna and Charles confront what it means to belong and whether love is enough to heal their devastated lives and start anew. Harrowing but ultimately hopeful, The Immigrant’s Wife is a compelling story of self-sacrifice, resilience and devotion.
Independent Bookstore Day
One Day. Fifty States. Over a Thousand Bookstores.
JOIN US FOR OUR 11TH ANNUAL INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE DAY!
All day long come over for great reads, local bakes and zippy beverages, indoors and out. Remember we have a covered porch now and a yard, so plan to linger!
Skinny Book Club
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water
A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR'S CHOICE - A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK - REVIEWED ON THE FRONT COVER
From GMA BOOK CLUB PICK and WOMEN'S PRIZE FINALIST Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana, an electrifying new novel about a woman who has lost everything but the chance to finally tell her story
"Will have you LAUGHING line after line...Cruz AIMS FOR THE HEART, and fires." --Los Angeles Times
"An endearing portrait of a FIERCE, FUNNY woman." --The Washington Post
Cara Romero thought she would work at the factory of little lamps for the rest of her life. But when, in her mid-50s, she loses her job in the Great Recession, she is forced back into the job market for the first time in decades. Set up with a job counselor, Cara instead begins to narrate the story of her life. Over the course of twelve sessions, Cara recounts her tempestuous love affairs, her alternately biting and loving relationships with her neighbor Lulu and her sister Angela, her struggles with debt, gentrification and loss, and, eventually, what really happened between her and her estranged son, Fernando. As Cara confronts her darkest secrets and regrets, we see a woman buffeted by life but still full of fight.
Structurally inventive and emotionally kaleidoscopic, How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water is Angie Cruz's most ambitious and moving novel yet, and Cara is a heroine for the ages.
Skinny Book Club
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
Siddhartha
In the novel, Siddhartha, a young man, leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh. He conceives a son, but bored and sickened by lust and greed, moves on again. Near dispair, Siddhartha comes to a river where he hears a unique sound. This sound signals the true beginning of life - the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace and, finally, wisdom.
Women In Europe: A New Seasonal Book Club
Imagine yourself in our PPB cozy home setting, gathered with like-minded lovers of tales featuring life across the pond — all the while enjoying continental tidbits with some sparkly bees on the side. Yes please, right?
Join Shelly Wildman as she guides this small group in chatting over the delightful journeys abroad of women who are so worth knowing. First up a terrifically enjoyable memoir by a dauntless American who dares to open a cooking school ... in Paris. Twenty years later, this University of Illinois graduate and self-professed “meat-and-potatoes-eating gal” has a hugely successful business. You’ll love her story.
Cost: $45/person, includes book
Champagne & Daffodils
Join us as we share our best, most favorite books for the coming warm season!
Glenys Nellist Author Event
We are so excited to welcome bestselling author Glenys Nellist to our store on Tuesday, April 9, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Glenys will be reading from her new book, “Songs of the Season,” a rhyming, whimsical, faith-building journey through the four seasons!
“Best-selling children’s author Glenys Nellist is not only prolific and supremely talented, but a delightful person! I highly recommend all of her books!” — Jennifer Grant
Please RSVP; $5 to attend is creditable to your book purchases.
Skinny Book Club
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
The Missing Word
A BEST BOOK OF 2022 (Crime Reads)
Based on a true story, an urgently told psychological thriller and the fierce portrait of a woman in all her frailty and courage
Irina's life with her husband and her twin daughters is orderly. An Italian living in Switzerland, she works as a lawyer. One day, something breaks. The marriage ends without apparent trauma, but on a weekend seemingly like any other, the girls' father takes Alessia and Livia away with him. They disappear. A few days later the man takes his own life. Of the girls, there is no trace.
Concita De Gregorio takes the unadorned, terrible facts of this true story and embodies the protagonist's voice. In a narrative that is fast and urgent, she unravels these traumatic events to tell the story of a mother bereft of her children - a state for which there is no word.
The Missing Word delves deep into Irina's thoughts and memories as she grasps at the shreds of truth and, piece by piece, stitches her life back together.
Katherine Reay Author Visit
Bestselling author Katherine Reay returns with an unforgettable tale of the Cold War and a CIA code breaker who risks everything to free her father from an East German prison.$5 per person; space is limited.All attendees will receive a $5 store credit with ticket purchase.
Skinny Book Club
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
Foster
An international bestseller and one of The Times' "Top 50 Novels Published in the 21st Century," Claire Keegan's piercing contemporary classic Foster is a heartbreaking story of childhood, loss, and love; now released as a standalone book for the first time ever in the US
It is a hot summer in rural Ireland. A child is taken by her father to live with relatives on a farm, not knowing when or if she will be brought home again. In the Kinsellas' house, she finds an affection and warmth she has not known and slowly, in their care, begins to blossom. But there is something unspoken in this new household--where everything is so well tended to--and this summer must soon come to an end.
Winner of the prestigious Davy Byrnes Award and published in an abridged version in the New Yorker, this internationally bestselling contemporary classic is now available for the first time in the US in a full, standalone edition. A story of astonishing emotional depth, Fostershowcases Claire Keegan's great talent and secures her reputation as one of our most important storytellers.
SOLD OUT The Hebridean Baker, Coinneach MacLeod
We are thrilled to welcome back Coinneach MacLeod to entertain and delight us with tales of the Hebrides and the Gaelic life.
Tickets are $40/person and includes the book “Hebridean Baker At Home”
Location of the event TBD.
Skinny Book Club - 7:30 p.m.
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
Described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Red Notebook is a charming, quirky love story from one of the UK's favourite French authors.
'The very quintessence of French romance' The Times
'Soaked in Parisian atmosphere, this lovely, clever, funny novel will have you rushing to the Eurostar post-haste. . . . the perfect French holiday read' Daily Mail
Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?
Skinny Book Club - 6 p.m.
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
Described as 'Parisian perfection' by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, The Red Notebook is a charming, quirky love story from one of the UK's favourite French authors.
'The very quintessence of French romance' The Times
'Soaked in Parisian atmosphere, this lovely, clever, funny novel will have you rushing to the Eurostar post-haste. . . . the perfect French holiday read' Daily Mail
Bookseller Laurent Letellier comes across an abandoned handbag on a Parisian street, and feels impelled to return it to its owner. The bag contains no money, phone or contact information. But a small red notebook with handwritten thoughts and jottings reveals a person that Laurent would very much like to meet. Without even a name to go on, and only a few of her possessions to help him, how is he to find one woman in a city of millions?
SOLD OUT Champagne & Snowflakes Book Review Party
Folks attending will receive 15% off during the day of the event.
Cost $15, call the store to say you can come, limit 45.
Book Chat
We will try to meet in our new cozy digs: 107 W. Willow. The forecast is for crazy cold, but hopefully not as deterrent as snow. If weather thwarts us, we will let you know.
Stay warm, stay safe, stay on the couch with a book!
Carrie & Sandy
Skinny Book Club
Skinny Books is a lively, thoughtful book club that reads and discusses fiction around 200 pages or less. These books are small but mighty in their presentation of great moral dilemmas, plot twists, memorable characters and ideas that beg for conversation; they will WOW you with the depth of their meaning and the precision of their language.
Even if you are already in a book club, you could squeeze this one in.
Meetings take place the first Wednesday of the month from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Prairie Path Books (255 Town Square Wheaton).
Contact Carrie at carrie@prairiepathbooks.com with questions or to join for one book or all. 15% off the selections, just let us know you'll be attending.
A spare and haunting, wise and beautiful novel about war and the endurance of the human spirit and the subtle ways individuals reclaim their humanity.
In a city under siege, four people whose lives have been upended are ultimately reminded of what it is to be human. From his window, a musician sees twenty-two of his friends and neighbors waiting in a breadline. Then, in a flash, they are killed by a mortar attack. In an act of defiance, the man picks up his cello and decides to play at the site of the shelling for twenty-two days, honoring their memory. Elsewhere, a young man leaves home to collect drinking water for his family and, in the face of danger, must weigh the value of generosity against selfish survivalism. A third man, older, sets off in search of bread and distraction and instead runs into a long-ago friend who reminds him of the city he thought he had lost, and the man he once was. As both men are drawn into the orbit of cello music, a fourth character--a young woman, a sniper--holds the fate of the cellist in her hands. As she protects him with her life, her own army prepares to challenge the kind of person she has become.
A novel of great intensity and power, and inspired by a true story, The Cellist of Sarajevopoignantly explores how war can change one's definition of humanity, the effect of music on our emotional endurance, and how a romance with the rituals of daily life can itself be a form of resistance.
Open for our annual “Make Way for New Inventory!” sale
Open for our annual “Make Way for New Inventory!” sale
Santa Visit
Private Visits with Santa
(10 minute time slots)
Sunday, December 10, 10 a.m. -1 p.m.
$80 ticket
includes our favorite Christmas book with the price of ticket
This is PPB’s hottest ticket for the past 8 years because it’s a one-of-kind + fabulous experience. Private, pre-planned 10-minute visits with Chicago’s top Santa? Imagine—no lines, no hassles, just a family appointment with the man in red—one you can count on. Our head elf Leona handles all the merry details and can answer any questions, but here’s the basic scoop:
We create the most lovely twinkly-tree alcove complete with merry details and a cushy couch; you just bring your camera and the kiddies;
Santa will shower you and yours with his every attention (he’s a 40 year+ veteran so he loves hearing everything your wee ones (the tiniest believers) and ages on up - meaning he can handle all possible inquiries, he is a master); and
We will, of course, offer a jolly set of snacks (no worries, nothing to mess up pretty dresses) and activities for the littles.
Email santa@prairiepathbooks.com today or call the store
Santa Visit
Private Visits with Santa
(10 minute time slots)
Sunday, December 3, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday, December 10, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
$80 ticket
includes our favorite Christmas book with the price of ticket
This is PPB’s hottest ticket for the past 8 years because it’s a one-of-kind + fabulous experience. Private, pre-planned 10-minute visits with Chicago’s top Santa? Imagine—no lines, no hassles, just a family appointment with the man in red—one you can count on. Our head elf Leona handles all the merry details and can answer any questions, but here’s the basic scoop:
We create the most lovely twinkly-tree alcove complete with merry details and a cushy couch; you just bring your camera and the kiddies;
Santa will shower you and yours with his every attention (he’s a 40 year+ veteran so he loves hearing everything your wee ones (the tiniest believers) and ages on up - meaning he can handle all possible inquiries, he is a master); and
We will, of course, offer a jolly set of snacks (no worries, nothing to mess up pretty dresses) and activities for the littles.
Email santa@prairiepathbooks.com today or call the store
Jenny Riddle presents “Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas”
Saturday, December 2, 7:00–8:30 p.m.
$30 per person, limit 100 at Gary Church, 224 N. Main Street in Wheaton
Jenny sings and shares the fascinating stories behind our most beloved Christmas songs, based on Ace Collins’ book of the same title. The history of these cherished songs will come to life in the hands of Jenny’s engaging storytelling. You’ll laugh and cry and learn things you didn’t know before. Get ready to sing along.
Book Chat
Book Chat is simply chatting about what we are reading.
Engaging conversation led by Carrie and Sandy, snacks and bevs will be provided.
Free Event! Drop-ins welcome; RSVP preferred, read@prairiepathbooks.com or call the store, 630-765-7455..
Pageturners Book Group: "In Love" by Amy Bloom
Pageturners, facilitated by the book club leader Kathy — is a 30+ years strong book group and takes on both fiction and nonfiction eight times a year. Kathy carefully selects a wide range of perspectives and content, and interweaves her titles each month with purpose.
Shortlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize for Non-Fiction 2023 New York Times Bestseller
A poignant love letter to Bloom's husband and a passionate outpouring of grief, In Love reaffirms the power and value of human relationships. In January 2020, Amy Bloom travelled with her husband Brian to Switzerland, where he was helped by Dignitas to end his life while Amy sat with him and held his hand. Brian was terminally ill and for the last year of his life Amy had struggled to find a way to support his wish to take control of his death, to not submerge 'into the darkness of an expiring existence'. Written with piercing insight and wit, In Love is Bloom's intimate, authentic and startling account of losing Brian, first slowly to the disease of Alzheimer's, and then on becoming a widow. It charts the anxiety and pain of the process that led them to Dignitas, while never avoiding the complex ethical problems that are raised by assisted death. 'Poignant, kind, funny and ultimately redemptive' - Alain de Botton, author of The Course of Love 'In Love is a thrillingly beautiful, laser-eyed book about love, life, mortality and, most remarkably, about the ways in which no one of the three can be separated from the others' - Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World
Santa Visit
Private Visits with Santa
(10 minute time slots)
Sunday, November 26, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Sunday, December 3, 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Sunday, December 10, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
$80 ticket
includes our favorite Christmas book with the price of ticket
This is PPB’s hottest ticket for the past 8 years because it’s a one-of-kind + fabulous experience. Private, pre-planned 10-minute visits with Chicago’s top Santa? Imagine—no lines, no hassles, just a family appointment with the man in red—one you can count on. Our head elf Leona handles all the merry details and can answer any questions, but here’s the basic scoop:
We create the most lovely twinkly-tree alcove complete with merry details and a cushy couch; you just bring your camera and the kiddies;
Santa will shower you and yours with his every attention (he’s a 40 year+ veteran so he loves hearing everything your wee ones (the tiniest believers) and ages on up - meaning he can handle all possible inquiries, he is a master); and
We will, of course, offer a jolly set of snacks (no worries, nothing to mess up pretty dresses) and activities for the littles.
Email santa@prairiepathbooks.com today or call the store
"Butter, Flour, Sugar, Joy" book tour with Danielle Kartes
Can’t wait to cook and go foodie alongside Danielle Kartes, author of Rustic Joyful Food cookbooks, and her brand new one, “Butter, Flour, Sugar Joy.” She is the delightful infectious doyenne of family food and kitchens wholesome and fun but only with manageable meals (that are also repeatable, I promise).
Thursday, November 16 at 6:00 p.m.
Tickets are$35, includes “Butter, Flour, Sugar, Joy” cookbook, snacks and bevs. Call the store to get your ticket!
SOLD OUT! Champagne & Sleighbells Holiday Book Review Party
Folks attending will receive 15% off during the day of the event.
Cost $10, call the store to say you can come, limit 45.
Payment is required for RSVP.
Katherine Reay Author Visit
In the thick of the Cold War, a betrayal at the highest level risks the lives of two courageous female spies: MI6’s best Soviet agent and the CIA’s newest Moscow recruit.
“Eloquently portrays the incredible contributions of women in history, the extraordinary depths of love, and, perhaps most important, the true cost of freedom.”
—Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Veil
All are invited to this free author visit and book signing!
Jenny Riddle presents “Mozart’s Women: His Family, His Friends, His Music”
“Mozart’s Women: His Family, His Friends, His Music” by Jane Glover
Dramatic book reviewer, Jenny Riddle, in character as Constanze Mozart, along with classical pianist, Jeffrey Panko, bring to life the fascinating story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the most important women in his life, based on the best-selling book “Mozart’s Women” by Jane Glover. In this special collaboration, Jenny wears a custom-designed period costume as she tells the moving story of Wolf and Constanze’s lives—their love AND the music, while Mr. Panko performs some of Mozart’s best-loved music on the piano.
$30 per person, limit 100
Book Chat
Book Chat is simply chatting about what we are reading.
Engaging conversation led by Carrie and Sandy, snacks and bevs will be provided.
Free Event! Drop-ins welcome; RSVP preferred, read@prairiepathbooks.com or call the store, 630-765-7455..