Burlington

Kids entering 4th-8th grade in the fall are invited to play Bookstore Bingo this summer!  Read books to achieve "BINGO:"

• Complete 1 line or 4 corners and kids get a free advance reading copy (while supplies last).
• Complete the outer border and enter to win a $25 gift card and other great prizes.
• Complete the entire card and enter to win a $50 gift card and other great prizes

Come on in to either Phoenix Books location to sign up and get your Bingo card!  Sign-up begins June 20th, but feel free to join throughout the summer.

Participants of Bookstore Bingo are encouraged to take part in our Tree of Knowledge summer reading program as well.

Longtime Burlington resident and reference librarian Robert J. Resnik has collected a wealth of photographs from local archives and personal collections showcasing the remarkable variety of entrepreneurs, artists, businesses, and individual characters that have contributed to making Burlington such an interesting place. Legendary Locals of Burlington boasts more than 200 images of the places and peoples that make Burlington legendary - including, we're proud to say, Phoenix Books co-owners Mike DeSanto and Renee Reiner!

It is not just the beautiful scenery and endlessly interesting weather that makes Burlington desirable but also the amazing people and businesses of Burlington that make it unique. Burlington is the hometown of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream; Horatio Nelson Jackson, the first man to drive an automobile across the continental United States; the Lake Champlain Chocolate Company; first lady Grace Coolidge; the Vermont Pub & Brewery, one of the nation’s first brewpubs; philosopher and educator John Dewey; the world-renowned jam band Phish; a small army of accomplished and eclectic artists; and more interesting coffee and tea shops than almost any other small city in the country.

Robert J. Resnik is not a native Vermonter (although his mother’s family arrived in Burlington from what is now Belarus in the 1890s), but he has lived in the Burlington area for more than 40 years. In addition to his full time job as a librarian at the Fletcher Free Library (where he has worked since 1990) and his fondness for everything related to the local history of Burlington, Robert also loves music. He plays more than 30 different musical instruments, writes music reviews for local papers, serves as a program consultant for a variety of area concert venues and has also has been the host of “All the Traditions,” a popular folk and world music radio program on Vermont Public Radio, since 1996. Robert is also well-known in northern Vermont as a wild mushroom hunter and a wild chef.

This Halloween season, bats just might prove to be man's best friend: Join Don Mitchell for a discussion of his unlikely adventures befriending bats - and ruminating on the nature of authority, the purview of the state, and the value of inhabiting one’s niche along the way.  Don's new book is entitled Flying Blind.

About the Book: When a biologist with the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department approaches Middlebury writing professor and shepherd Don Mitchell about tracking endangered Indiana bats on his 150-acre farm in Vermont’s picturesque Champlain Valley, Mitchell’s relationship with bats—and with government—can be characterized as distrustful, at best.

But the flying rats, as Mitchell initially thinks of them, launch him on a series of “improvements” to his land that will provide a more welcoming habitat for the bats—and a modest tax break for himself and his family. Whether persuading his neighbors to join him in pulling invasive garlic mustard out of the ground by hand (marketed to them as an opportunity for “silent meditation”), navigating the tacit ground rules of buying an ATV off Craigslist, or leaving just enough honeysuckle to give government inspectors “something to find,” Mitchell’s tale is as profound as it is funny—a journey that changes Mitchell’s relationship with bats, the land, and, ultimately, his understanding of his own past.

The interwoven narratives of contemplations on nature and life in Flying Blind are in the vein of Terry Tempest Williams’s Refuge and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. “Befriending bats had been a means to figure out, against all odds, where in the world I actually was. And exactly who I was,” Mitchell writes. “And to participate—thankfully, joyfully—in the wild party that keeps going on around us.”

Don Mitchell is a novelist, essayist, and sometime screenwriter whose most recent books are The Nature Notebooks (a novel) and a guidebook to Vermont in the Fodor’s/Compass American series. He’s also the architect and builder of over a dozen low-cost, energy-efficient structures on Treleven Farm, and a shepherd with thirty-five years’ experience managing a flock of sheep there. One of his current interests is forest management with the goal of enhancing habitat for endangered bats. From 1984 to 2009 Don taught courses at Middlebury College, primarily in creative writing–especially narrative fiction and writing for film–and environmental literature. Now he devotes most of his time to projects designed to enhance the farm and support the vision of Treleven, Inc.

Join us in welcoming Douglas R. Skopp to Burlington for a reading and discussion of his novel Shadows Walking, the story of a doctor in Nazi Germany who attempts to fathom the unfathomable.

About the Book: Johann Brenner, an idealistic physician and ardent German nationalist, has joined the Nazi Party and willingly participated in its “crimes against humanity.” His Jewish boyhood friend, Philipp Stein, has also become a doctor. Their lives inevitably intersect until their last, fateful meeting at Auschwitz. After the war, Brenner, now with stolen papers and a new name, becomes a janitor in the courthouse where the Nuremberg Trials are being held. Hoping to “heal himself” and begin a new life with his estranged wife, he decides that he must write her a letter telling what he has done—and why.

A SUNY Distinguished University Teaching Professor emeritus, Douglas R. Skopp taught aspects of modern German history, including the World Wars and the Holocaust, during his career at SUNY Plattsburgh. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1963, earned a Master’s Degree in Medieval Studies from Connecticut College in 1964, and a Ph.D. in History from Brown University in 1972. During 1985-1986, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar/Teacher, serving as a guest professor at the Leibniz Universitӓt in Hannover, Germany, and conducting archival research in major German and British archives that forms the base of his research for Shadows Walking.

Celebrate Star Wars Reads Day and master the art of reading! We'll have the latest Star Wars books (for everyone from kids to adults), costumed character appearances by 501st Legion members, Star Wars-themed crafts, and more! Costumes welcome.

The 501st Legion is a world-wide costuming organization dedicated to the 'Bad Guys' (they quibble on that term) of the franchise. They also work closely with their sister organization, the Rebel Legion. While they focus on movie-quality costumes, they work to give back to the communities in which they live. Learn more here.

The local branch of the 501st Legion attended Free Comic Book Day on Church Street with Earth Prime Comics, and trooped at the Brownell Library to support their Star Wars Club, as well as at the Derby Line Community Day. They're actively seeking recruits.  Anyone interested in joining the dark side?

Star Wars Reads Day is a national event that celebrates reading and Star Wars. It was created by Lucasfilm and its publishing partners--Abrams, Chronicle Books, Dark Horse, Del Rey, DK Publishing, Random House Audio, Scholastic, Titan Magazines and Workman.  The first Star Wars Reads Day took place in October of 2012.  Here are a couple of photos from our 2012 SWRD event:

Join us in welcoming Nobel Laureate Jody Williams to Burlington! Jody Williams, who received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to ban landmines, is founding chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative, launched in January 2006.  Her new memoir is entitled My Name is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl's Winding Path to the Nobel Peace Prize.

About the book: From her modest beginnings to becoming the tenth woman--and third American woman--to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, Jody Williams takes the reader through the ups and downs of her tumultuous and remarkable life. In a voice that is at once candid, straightforward, and intimate, Williams describes her Catholic roots, her first step on a long road to standing up to bullies with the defense of her deaf brother Stephen, her transformation from good girl to college hippie at the University of Vermont, and her protest of the war in Vietnam. She relates how, in 1981, she began her lifelong dedication to global activism as she battled to stop the U.S.-backed war in El Salvador.

Throughout the memoir, Williams underlines her belief that an "average woman"--through perseverance, courage and imagination--can make something extraordinary happen. She tells how, when asked if she'd start a campaign to ban and clear anti-personnel mines, she took up the challenge, and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) was born. Her engrossing account of the genesis and evolution of the campaign, culminating in 1997 with the Nobel Peace Prize, vividly demonstrates how one woman's commitment to freedom, self-determination, and human rights can have a profound impact on people all over the globe.

Jody Williams is the recipient of fifteen honorary degrees, and in 2004 Forbes magazine named her one of the hundred most powerful women in the world in its first such list. Since 1998 she has served as a Campaign Ambassador for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which she helped found in 1992. Williams holds the Sam and Cele Keeper Endowed Professorship in Peace and Social Justice at the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. In 2012-13, she became the inaugural Jane Addams Distinguished Visiting Fellow in Social Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Join us for this Grand Celebration to celebrate Find Waldo in Burlington & Essex! Attendees will get to enjoy sweet treats, participate in Waldo-themed activities, and even meet Waldo and Wenda!

Where's Waldo? In Burlington and Essex, of course. The famous children’s book character in the striped shirt and black-rimmed specs is visiting over thirty different local businesses throughout our community this July. Those who spot him can win prizes, including stickers, book coupons and more. From City Market to the Fletcher Free Library, from Outdoor Gear Exchange to Global Pathways, Waldo figures will be well hidden in downtown Burlington business establishments, as well as in businesses in and around Essex Shoppes & Cinema in Essex, Vermont. Find Waldo is a great summer vacation activity, and a wonderful way for residents to support local business and the Shop Local movement.  Learn more about how you can participate!

Join us for the next meeting of the Phoenix Books Burlington Reading Group! We'll discuss The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison.

Register for the reading group in person at Phoenix Books Burlington and
get 15% off the current book club pick! (Drop-ins are welcome too, so
don't be shy!)

*Some exclusions apply.

Where's Waldo? In Burlington and Essex, of course. The famous children’s book character in the striped shirt and black-rimmed specs is visiting over thirty different local businesses throughout our community this July. Those who spot him can win prizes, including stickers, book coupons and more. From City Market to the Fletcher Free Library, from Outdoor Gear Exchange to Global Pathways, Waldo figures will be well hidden in downtown Burlington business establishments, as well as in businesses in and around Essex Shoppes & Cinema in Essex, Vermont. Find Waldo is a great summer vacation activity, and a wonderful way for residents to support local business and the Shop Local movement.

Anyone who wishes to participate can pick up a “Find Waldo Local in Burlington and Essex!” passport with the names of all the participating sites, and get their passport stamped or signed for each Waldo they spot. The first 100 Waldo seekers to get their passports stamped or signed at ten or more sites can bring their passports back to Phoenix Books Burlington or Phoenix Books Essex to collect prizes. Collecting store stamps or signatures at twenty or more businesses will entitle diligent seekers to entry in a grand prize drawing on July 31, with the top prize being a 6-volume deluxe set of Waldo books. (Must be present to win.)

Here's the complete list of businesses taking part!

• Vermont Violins, 23 Church Street, Burlington
• Apple Mountain, 30 Church Street, Burlington
• Outdoor Gear Exchange, 37 Church Street, Burlington
• Uncommon Grounds, 42 Church Street, Burlington
• Catamount Store, 46 Church Street, Burlington
• Jim's Sports, Burlington Town Center Mall, 49 Church Street, Burlington
• Pompanoosuc Mills, 50 Church Street, Burlington
• Homeport, 52 Church Street, Burlington
• Zinnia, 57 Church Street, Burlington
• Vermont Butcher Block, 63 Church Street, Burlington
• Kiss the Cook, 72 Church Street, Burlington
• Sweet Thing, 101 Church Street, Burlington
• Optical Center, 107 Church Street Burlington
• Tradewinds, 110 Church Street, Burlington
• Danforth Pewter, 111 Church Street, Burlington
• Global Pathways, 126 Church Street, Burlington
• Bennington Potters North, 127 College Street, Burlington
• Boutiliers, 194 College Street, Burlington
• Vermont Farm Table, 206 College Street, Burlington
• My Little Cupcake, 217 College Street, Burlington
• Fletcher Free Library, 235 College Street, Burlington
• City Market, 82 S. Winooski Avenue, Burlington
• Patagonia Burlington, 157 Bank Street, Burlington
• Burlington Records, 170 Bank Street, Burlington
• ...and, of course, Phoenix Books Burlington at 191 Bank Street, Burlington
• The UPS Store, 4 Carmichael Street, Essex
• The Dog & Cat, 4 Carmichael Street, Essex
• Dragonfly Treasures, 4 Carmichael Street, Essex
• Mimmo's, 4 Carmichael Street, Essex
• Centerpiece Florist, Essex Shoppes & Cinema, Essex
• Hammerfit, Essex Shoppes & Cinema, Essex
• Essex Cinema, Essex Shoppes & Cinema, Essex
• Sweet Clover Market, Essex Shoppes & Cinema, Essex
• ...and, of course, Phoenix Books Essex at Essex Shoppes & Cinema, Essex!

Want to see how easy and fun it can be to collect your stamps and signatures? Explore this map. You can zoom in on Burlington or Essex.

Where’s Waldo is the creation of Martin Handford, whose entertaining drawings of crowd scenes swept the world in 1987. Since then, the Where’s Waldo books have held a cherished spot on bookstore shelves the world over. There are now over 58 million Waldo books in print worldwide and they’ve been translated into eighteen languages. An entire generation has grown up searching for Waldo and his cast of wandering companions.

In celebration of Waldo's longevity and popularity, his American publisher, Candlewick Press, is once again teaming up with the American Booksellers Association and 265 independent bookstores all across the country, including Phoenix Books Burlington here in downtown Burlington and Phoenix Books Essex in Essex Shoppes & Cinema, for some hide and seek fun as well as to encourage communities to patronize their local businesses. There is no charge to participate, and the hunt lasts for the entire month of July. For more information about hunting for Waldo in Burlington, call Phoenix Books Burlington at 802-448-3350 or Phoenix Books Essex at 802-872-7111.

Phoenix Books is proud to present Archer Mayor, who will read from and discuss his newest Joe Gunther Novel, Three Can Keep a Secret!  (Three Can Keep a Secret will be on our shelves in October of 2013.)

Archer Mayor is the author of the highly acclaimed, Vermont-based series featuring detective Joe Gunther, which the Chicago Tribune describes as “the best police procedurals being written in America.” He is also a past winner of the New England Independent Booksellers Association Award for Best Fiction—the first time a writer of crime literature has been so honored. In 2011, Mayor’s 22nd Joe Gunther novel, Tag Man, earned a place on the New York Times bestseller list for hardback fiction.

Before turning his hand to fiction, Mayor wrote history books, the most notable of which concerned the lumber and oil business in Louisiana from the 1870s to the 1970s. This book was published by the University of Georgia Press and very well received. Prior that, Mayor—who was brought up in the US, Canada and France—was variously employed as a scholarly editor, a researcher for TIME-LIFE Books, a political advance-man, a theater photographer, a newspaper writer/editor, a lab technician for Paris-Match Magazine in Paris, France, and a medical illustrator. In addition to writing novels and occasional articles, Mayor gives talks and workshops all around the country, including the Bread Loaf Young Writers conference in Middlebury, Vermont, and the Colby College seminar on forensic sciences in Waterville, Maine. He is also a death investigator for Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner, a deputy for the Windham County Sheriff’s Department, and has 25 years experience as a volunteer firefighter and EMT.

Mayor’s critically-acclaimed series of police novels features Lt. Joe Gunther of the Brattleboro, Vermont police department. The books, which have been appearing about once a year since 1988, have been published in five languages (if you count British,) and routinely gather high praise from such sources as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the New Yorker, and many others, often appearing on their “ten best” yearly lists.

Whereas many writers base their books on only interviews and scholarly research, Mayor’s novels are based on actual experience in the field. The result adds a depth, detail and veracity to his characters and their tribulations that has led the New York Times to call him “the boss man on procedures.”