Premier Independent Bookseller/Coffeehouse in Sauk Valley
COVID-19 2021
COVID-19 fight update:
Congratulations and thanks to all of you who are fully vaccinated and now boosted. This has made a big difference in the fight against this hard-to-understand virus.
As of 28 February 2022, please come in, shop, sit (or stand) and converse without requiring to cover your nose & mouth.
BUT, please respect our service team and fellow patrons who may want to continue to wear face coverings, keep a physical distance or do the safest thing for their & their loved ones' health & safety.
How to physically distance: Just stay 8 books laid end-to-end from your fellow booklover!
Whether you think the devastating effects of this novel coronavirus have been overblown or not, let's all work as a community to stay safe and keep our local businesses here for you!
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Three-Body Trilogy, Cixin Liu's Ball Lightning is the story of what happens when the beauty of scientific inquiry runs up against the drive to harness new discoveries with no consideration of their possible consequences.
When Chen’s parents are incinerated before his eyes by a blast of ball lightning, he devotes his life to cracking the secret of this mysterious natural phenomenon. His search takes him to stormy mountaintops, an experimental military weapons lab, and an old Soviet science station.
The more he learns, the more he comes to realize that ball lightning is just the tip of an entirely new frontier. While Chen’s quest for answers gives purpose to his lonely life, it also pits him against soldiers and scientists with motives of their own: a beautiful army major with an obsession with dangerous weaponry, and a physicist who has no place for ethical considerations in his single-minded pursuit of knowledge.
"Wildly imaginative."—Barack Obama on The Three-Body Problem trilogy
Tor books by Cixin Liu
The Three-Body Problem Series #1 The Three-Body Problem #2 The Dark Forest #3 Death's End
About the Author
CIXIN LIU is the most prolific and popular science fiction writer in the People’s Republic of China. Liu is an eight-time winner of the Galaxy Award (the Chinese Hugo) and a winner of the Chinese Nebula Award. Prior to becoming a writer, he worked as an engineer in a power plant. His novels include The Three-Body Problem, The Dark Forest, and Death's End.
Joel Martinsen is research director for a media intelligence company. His translations have appeared in Words Without Borders, Chutzpah!, and Pathlight. He lives in Beijing.
Praise For…
"Wildly imaginative, really interesting." -President Barack Obama on the Three-Body Problem trilogy
“A breakthrough book . . . a unique blend of scientific and philosophical speculation, politics and history, conspiracy theory and cosmology.” —George R. R. Martin, on The Three Body Problem
“Extraordinary.” —The New Yorker, on The Three Body Problem
“Remarkable, revelatory and not to be missed.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on The Three Body Problem
"A must-read in any language.” —Booklist, on The Three Body Problem
"A meditation on technology, progress, morality, extinction, and knowledge that doubles as a cosmos-in-the-balance thriller.... a testament to just how far [Liu's] own towering imagination has taken him: Far beyond the borders of his country, and forever into the canon of science fiction. - NPR, on Death's End
"The best kind of science fiction, familiar but strange all at the same time." -- Kim Stanley Robinson, on The Three Body Problem
Thank you for your support!
For those of you not interested in ordering from that largest river in South America that rivals the Mississippi and the Nile, but BoF is out of stock at the warehouse, try our new affiliate, Bookshop, started by a Columbia University MFA who just wants to help the Indies out a bit while being able to put a meal on the table for himself and others.
We Now Are Affiliated with Hummingbird, a Great eBook Resource!
You can still buy titles in other formats (hardcover, paperback, audio CDs) with a Books on First gift card as well as buy a Books on First giftcard which we will send especially to that lucky recipient (free postage!).
More than a card.
More value than many other store-bought surprises (except a book!)
Put a 3D paper sculpture in a loved one's hands and see the spontaneous delight.
That's a lovepop.
The Last of Tim's Bees' Honey is Creamed
The Bee's are busy at the moment, but we will restock by mid-summer!
From Tim Benedict's Orion Artisinal Honey & Garlic Farm
HONEY from Tim's BEES flying around FRANKLIN GROVE, IL
While honey is the one foodstuff that never goes bad, it does get kind of hard to use when it crystallizes. Creamed honey is taking crystallized honey, heating it and stirring/blending in liquid honey until the result is a smooth, sweet treat, easy to measure for recipes or to spoon into beverages or onto the medium of your choice (honey peanut butter toast, yum, yum!)!
It's been said that local honey is great for warding off bad germs and aiding in the relief of sinus/breathing difficulties. Regardless, it tastes great!
And What a Great Gift Idea!
This is the last of this season's bounty, so get it while you can.
Based on the Book ...
We are always delighted when someone sees a movie in the book, because now, millions of more people know about the book! It might have been a great film or it might have been a total dud.
But, read the book yourself to see just how good or different the original is!
