Shelley Macbeth from Blue Heron Books shares 3 books that are popular in her Uxbridge, Ont. store
Shelley Macbeth is the owner of Blue Heron Books. The bookstore is located in a two hundred year old building in Uxbridge, Ont. The township's literary claim to fame is that beloved Anne of Green Gables author Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote 11 of her 22 novels there.
Macbeth says that at Blue Heron they believe that, "books are magic," and they take pride in connecting readers with the perfect books.
Macbeth stopped by The Next Chapter to talk about three books that are popular in her central Ontario store.
The Great Escape by Ted Barris
"The Great Escape by Ted Barris is probably my favourite of Ted's many military history books. I think most of us are familiar with the movie starring Steve McQueen, The Great Escape, but what Ted has done has given us Canadian history dispelling the Hollywood myth. So March 24th, 1944, 80 airmen tunnelled through 400 feet of tunnel codenamed Harry and fled Stalag Luft III.
It's absolutely gripping — and dare I say, better than the Steve McQueen version.
"It took a year to plan. There were 2,000 prisoners of war involved and all but three were recaptured and 50 were executed by Hitler. So the book is original interviews, diary entries, letters, memories. It's absolutely gripping — and dare I say, better than the Steve McQueen version."
LISTEN | Ted Barris on The Next Chapter
Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner
"Natalie Jenner's new book, Bloomsbury Girls is coming out in May of this year. Her previous book, The Jane Austen Society was a bit of a runaway bestseller. This new book, Bloomsbury Girls, is also postwar London. It's about three lovely women working in a bookstore. It's fabulous, a great book club choice. And it's one that we really love."
It's fabulous, a great book club choice. And it's one we really love
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
"My current fave is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus told from the point of view of a woman in the 1960s who is a scientist — a chemist. But of course all her findings and research and so on is attributed to men.
It's really got everything that you could look for in a book.
"So she ends up as the host of a cooking show and she does all her recipes as a dash of NaCl and so forth. It is brilliant and funny and it has a happy ending. It's really got everything that you could look for in a book."
LISTEN | April edition of the Fiction Shelf
Shelley Macbeth's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
