Happy New Year to you all, as the new year begins I have a sense of optimism that it will be a good one for all!

Changes in the publishing and book business still present a challenge for independent book stores but we are planning to carry on as usual – maybe even better than usual as we go into the next year and plan for many more. When you read about bookstores (or any business) closing, in my opinion for what it’s worth, there is probably more than one reason. A tired business owner, ready to retire, faced with reduced sales or a rent increase, will often decide it is time to call it quits, while another person might have met the challenge and found a way to adjust and carry on.

Our last Scottish Terrier may have died, but the “terrier” in the owners of Parry Sound Books is alive and very well – as is our business thanks to our loyal customers.

We begin the New Year with a clear-out of our basement – offering a selection of already reduced titles – BUY 1 – GET 1 FREE for the month of January.

After that we will tempt you with a fresh selection of newly reduced titles in February.

Thank you all for a good Christmas season and we look forward to serving you in 2012.

It’s beginning to NOT look a lot like Christmas – all of our beautiful snow has been washed away in the rain. Will this be my first green Christmas in Parry Sound after 23 years? I certainly hope not!

Regardless of the weather Christmas Day will come and we can help you choose just the right book for everyone on your list.

New books in this week are Bryce Courtenay’s Fortune Cookie – hot off the press in time for his many fans. The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon continues her very popular series.

Both Danielle Steel and John Grisham have new novels this season, as do Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich.

For the little ones in your life we would like to recommend Paddington Bear – there is a very lovely Paddington Bear to go along with a very beautiful collection of stories – perfect for the 2-6 year old.

There are other winning toy & book combinations that make perfect gifts for children, including Goodnight Moon & Bunny toy, the Very Hungry Caterpillar and a lovely plush caterpillar, and Corduroy bear who needs a home this Christmas!

Christmas Traditions

Every family has their own unique Christmas and holiday traditions – and what we bake at this time of year is an important part of that tradition. As I rolled coconut strawberries the other night I thought about my mother making them every year when I was growing up. Along with other holiday baking she put them away in tins in the cold cellar – and her children would sneak down and snitch them on the sly during the days before Christmas. I have just put 50 into my freezer and with no children in the house they should be safe. Last Christmas friends dropped by for tea, and one exclaimed, “where did you get these!” when she saw coconut strawberries on the plate of cookies. Her mother also had made them when she was a child – I was happy to share the recipe. Like a lot of 50‘s recipes I suspect this one came from the Eagle Brand milk that is the necessary ingredient to get just the right flavour and texture. This is such a politically incorrect recipe with red food colouring and more calories than you even want to think about, but it is Christmas time, and you can go on the South Beach diet for the months of January and February.

My mother also made fruit cake, with recipes for both dark and light fruitcake that were baked by her mother before her – I use the same ones. No one in my family loves fruitcake as much as I do – my late father-in-law was the exception. With no one to help me eat it there have been a few years without fruitcake in our house. This year my husband suggested I make some – which I have happily done. Perhaps the grandchildren will like fruitcake if they get started young enough. I think of my mother, and my grandmother as I bake these cakes – that is tradition.

Then there are the Russian teacakes, made a friend every Christmas when our children were all small. Those days are gone but I still make Russian teacakes every year, they are everyone’s true favourites.

This year I am adding a few new sweet treats to our usual lot. There is a gorgeous new cookbook, Christmas cooking with kids by Annie Rigg. It certainly has recipes that could be prepared by children but I am going to use it myself – well before Christmas I had already made the buttermilk pancakes and the cranberry streusel muffins – both excellent, and will be recipes I will use year round. To my Christmas baking I am going to add almond crescents and biscotti with pistachios and cranberries, and apple and cranberry pies will take the place of mince tarts this year. There is a gingerbread house recipe that even I could make. I just can’t wait to get home at the end of the day and bake from this book! This is a book you can use year round, but it would be especially fun to use with children when preparing for the holidays.

So, eat drink and be merry this Christmas as you enjoy the baking and cooking that is part of your own family tradition!

Christmas is really all about children – we have precious memories of the books and toys we received as children, and we now choose gifts for our own children and grandchildren knowing we are giving them not only a Christmas gift, but the gift of life long memeories of this special family day.

As we increase our selection of quality toys we choose items that we are happy to give to our own grandchildren, confident in the quality and safety – and the play time fun that these toys will provide.

Let us introduce just a few of the items we have added to our selection this Christmas

Corduroy Bear – a lovely plush bear, in his corduroy trousers of course – this well loved bear, created in 1968 by Don Freeman, is a very popular fellow – matching the book and the bear would be a wonderful gift for a little person.

We have carried train sets for some time – from Melissa & Doug and Pierre Belvedere who make train sets featuring CN train cars – we are now carrying Thomas train sets and cars. All of these wooden trains are compatible, so you can start with a relatively inexpensive Melissa & Doug set and add on the Pierre Belvedere and Thomas components and cars to build your set. We also have connector pieces to help you make your set as versatile as you wish. These trains will be huge hit with the toddler set – and you will find that they will be played with for years and years to come, from one generation to the next.