Brag!

What a month! Last week we helped our local library, Farnsworth Public Library , celebrate National Library Week . Librarian Wendy read three stories, including one of my personal favorites, Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney and one of hers, Wake Up, It’s Spring by Lisa Campbell Ernst. A percentage of all sales during this special preschool story time was then donated back to the library. It definitely made for a lively Friday morning in the bookstore!

Last week was also the first National Poem in Your Pocket Day since April is National Poetry Month . Of course this is incorporated into our teen writing club. This month each member will be writing their own poem to read aloud at the next meeting. The teen book club also chose Crank by Ellen Hopkins, which is written in verse, as their next pick.
This week wraps up TurnOff Week . Were you able to catch up on some of your reading instead of sitting in front of the TV or computer? Maybe you were out enjoying the beautiful weather that finally showed up for a short visit. Or were you busy riding your bike or picking up litter to celebrate Earth Day ?

This is a week to brag.

What great things did you accomplish this month to support your library or help the environment?

Hats Off!

Today I would like to say Hats Off! to independent authors. I’m not talking about the dozens of writers who send postcards and emails each week referring to their website where there is a link to “buy my book now” either at a specific online bookseller or to buy direct from the author or publisher at a discounted price. Nor am I talking about the self published local writers who have been kindly invited for a book signing only to discover them making cash sales under the table. Or those that take their leftover books to every business in town and sell them at a discount to get rid of them.

I’m talking about actual AUTHORS. Those that realize how important booksellers are to their career and vice versa. How we can all benefit when independent authors, publishers and booksellers work together for a common goal. After receiving an e-mail from Ben Tanzer, author of Lucky Man, I sent him a response asking him to consider adding a link to his site for independent booksellers. As of today, the link has not been added, but these things take time. He did, however, blog about it.
Hats off to you, Ben!

Although I would love to take the credit for the wonderful idea of responding to these authors instead of just hitting delete, that honor goes to Deb of Chicklet Books in New Jersey who shared this wonderful idea with fellow booksellers.

Hats off to you, Deb!

Kevin Wignall, who wrote Who is Conrad Hirst? , posted a blog on his site giving independent booksellers verbal support and calls for readers to give shout outs for their favorites.

Hats off to you Kevin!

What about you?

Do you have any independent authors, publishers or booksellers you would like to say

Hats Off to?

A Duck and a Polar Bear ...

Wednesday night I sat through two and a half hours of Idol Gives Back only to discover I would have to sit through another hour on Thursday to find out who would be eliminated. Okay, truthfully I watched about 15 minutes of the program considering the fact that I flipped channels during every commercial, African visit, guest singer, etc. I was watching, after all, to find out who would be eliminated! It’s not that I don’t have a heart and that I don’t think the program is all for a good cause, but it is called AMERICAN Idol, so I do have trouble understanding why a large chunk of change will be sent to Uganda, Zambia, Angola, Madagascar, and Mali. There are plenty of children living in poverty right here in America.

Thankfully on Thursday I was able to enjoy Survivor when the “hidden immunity idol” finally came into play. What a riot! Right after tribal counsel I flipped back to American Idol
to find out the results. What a complete shock! I don’t know which idol should have been sent packing, but definitely not *this one!
*I so wanted to include a picture, but I don’t want to be a spoiler, so this will have to do.

So, how do I tie the fact that I wasted 3 1/2 hours of my life in front of the TV this week with books? Obviously I should have been reading instead! This weekend we will have the perfect weather to curl up and read. Do you have any suggestions on titles which will wash away my Idol anger?

How often can you include a duck and a polar bear to describe the weather?

Hiatus

For the first time since I started this blog, I am at a complete loss.

Could it be the weather roller coaster we have been on with snow on Monday and Spring coat weather on Friday?

Could it be lack of sleep?

Hot flashes have begun and it would be a concern if I weren’t so darn grateful for the warmth.

After this winter I was beginning to believe I would never feel warm again.

Whatever the reason, I suppose my brain is entitled to a short hiatus.

Unfortunately, that means I have absolutely nothing to write about today.

With nothing to say, how can I possibly match a picture with that?

It appears that this Friday morning requires more creativity than I can muster.

Help!

Mind Over Matter

An out of breath customer rushed through the door recently and requested Grisham's latest. As I fondly placed a copy of The Appeal in her hands, she exclaimed, “My pocketbook demands the paperback!”

When a local teen requested Twilight, I walked her to the Teen Book Club shelf where the paperback is displayed. “I already read it,” explained the Stephenie Meyer fan, “but I want the whole series in hardcover.”

I can’t possibly wait until Nicholas Sparks’ latest comes out in paperback, so the hardcover is a must. In fact, there about half a dozen authors I can’t wait a year or more for. Paperbacks are much easier to throw in my purse, pack in my luggage or read in front of a campfire. Hardcover books can be so cumbersome to read in bed; however the print is friendlier to tired eyes.

Hardcover versus paperback. It’s undeniably a conundrum.

What do you think?

Heaven and Dreams

Yesterday I had a regular customer stop in to tell me he absolutely loved the book he purchased last week, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. He was so enthusiastic about this F Scott Fitzgerald satire, which he read on the bus during a school field trip, that he passed it on to a teacher and also promised to let a friend read it next. This very animated teen did a brilliant job of describing the story just enough to draw interest without giving away too much information. Not an easy task with a 64 page short story.

Can you figure out why this picture is included other than the obvious fact that anyone would enjoy looking at a shirtless Brad?

I remember the year I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven and went out the very same day to purchase a copy for my sister. Or the year both my brother and father received Einstein's Dreams for their birthdays.

There are some books which remind me of a certain friend or family member and there are others I am eager to share with everyone I know.

Have you read any books lately that you just could not wait to share?

Happy Days Are Here Again!

Good morning fellow book lovers!

And what a wonderful morning it is. For the first time in months I was able to skip across the beautiful (albeit cracked and sunken) blacktop of our parking lot without gliding across the ice rink or wading through the lake of melted snow. The sun is shining and I expect a robin to land on my shoulder and serenade me at any moment.


Okay, I realize the picture doesn't exactly fit this description - Robins are the first sign of spring in Wisconsin and I don't sing, so that leaves it up to the bird.

Now if I can only discover a book to match my mood. In honor of
St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, our book club choice this month is The Gathering by Anne Enright and although beautifully written, the first half of the book, which I have read so far, is not exactly uplifting. Normally when I need a chuckle I pick up the latest Janet Evanovich, however, I’m looking for something a little more profound for our next book club meeting. Our last five choices provoked deep discussions and were acceptably stimulating for a book club, but cheerful subjects they were not!

What can you suggest for a title which will leave us rolling and yet leave enough to discuss in our next book club meeting?