Friday, January 29, 2010
BIBLIOMANIA
"Like an alcoholic who can't take a drink unless he has the bottle in front of him, the bibliomaniac can't read a book without a comfortable reserve pile of six more on the arm of his chair." -- Elinor Goulding Smith, "Confessions of Mrs. Smith" (1958)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
THOUGHTS FOR THE NEW YEAR
A Happy and Healthy New Year to all you bookies.
With an emphasis on healthy.
Randy Cowmeadow is my first cousin, and we were best friends growing up. We did and learned everything together, including a solemn drive in November, 1963, to D. C. in order to see JFK lying in state after being assassinated in Dallas on the 22nd. Randy hitch-hiked from Slippery Rock State College in PA to Bethany, WV, where I was a freshman. We joined four car-loads of my new fraternity brothers – Alpha Sigma Phi – for the subdued drive. After waiting in line from 5 in the morning until just before 9, we were the last ones allowed to see the dead president.
A year earlier, during our senior year in high school – at two different schools, I began dating a cheerleader from our arch-rival school. She had a best friend named Julie. I introduced Randy to Julie in the fall of 1962, and until she died on Monday 47 years later, they’ve been together and raised three kids
.
Julie is the first of my generation in the family to die. No longer is it the aunts and uncles of our parents’ generation. Now our generation is beginning the inevitable disappearance. I hope Randy and I are among the last to go, still able at 80 to attend spring training baseball games near his home in Florida, and to talk about his life with Julie and mine with Linda.
I’m taking a week’s vacation in order to be at home to read, write, and attempt further reorganization of my study, an endless process when so many books surround me. It’s one of my favorite things to do – play with my books, move them around, make them logically accessible.
As I do this, I uncover books with Post-it notes fluttering from the fore-edge of a few books, reminders of passages marked to think about again, some to be shared.
● “When I escaped into a second-hand bookshop that felt like coming
home, I went into a trance.” -- Richard Rayner, in “The Blue Suit:
A Memoir of Crime”
● “Answer me, is there anything more appealing than the sight of a cat
curled up next to an open book?” –A. R. Moran, in a story “The
Hemingway Kittens” in “Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating
Bookstores”
● From John Ballinger, in his novel, “The Jefferson Letters”:
● “The wonderful thing about having your own bookshop is
choosing the eighty hours a week you want to work…
bookstores can take as much of your time and energy as you
are willing to give, and still ask for more.”
● “As a bookseller, you have to be focused, or crazy – one of the
other – in order to survive.”
● “You can tell a lot about a person from the way he handles
books.”
● “Sitting alone in my bookshop at night, with a cat asleep on my
lap, is the closest I have ever come to peace.”
And peace to you, my readers. May you honor the memories of your past, as well as make a few more to be remembered down the road.
Bookstore George
With an emphasis on healthy.
Randy Cowmeadow is my first cousin, and we were best friends growing up. We did and learned everything together, including a solemn drive in November, 1963, to D. C. in order to see JFK lying in state after being assassinated in Dallas on the 22nd. Randy hitch-hiked from Slippery Rock State College in PA to Bethany, WV, where I was a freshman. We joined four car-loads of my new fraternity brothers – Alpha Sigma Phi – for the subdued drive. After waiting in line from 5 in the morning until just before 9, we were the last ones allowed to see the dead president.
A year earlier, during our senior year in high school – at two different schools, I began dating a cheerleader from our arch-rival school. She had a best friend named Julie. I introduced Randy to Julie in the fall of 1962, and until she died on Monday 47 years later, they’ve been together and raised three kids
.
Julie is the first of my generation in the family to die. No longer is it the aunts and uncles of our parents’ generation. Now our generation is beginning the inevitable disappearance. I hope Randy and I are among the last to go, still able at 80 to attend spring training baseball games near his home in Florida, and to talk about his life with Julie and mine with Linda.
I’m taking a week’s vacation in order to be at home to read, write, and attempt further reorganization of my study, an endless process when so many books surround me. It’s one of my favorite things to do – play with my books, move them around, make them logically accessible.
As I do this, I uncover books with Post-it notes fluttering from the fore-edge of a few books, reminders of passages marked to think about again, some to be shared.
● “When I escaped into a second-hand bookshop that felt like coming
home, I went into a trance.” -- Richard Rayner, in “The Blue Suit:
A Memoir of Crime”
● “Answer me, is there anything more appealing than the sight of a cat
curled up next to an open book?” –A. R. Moran, in a story “The
Hemingway Kittens” in “Shelf Life: Fantastic Stories Celebrating
Bookstores”
● From John Ballinger, in his novel, “The Jefferson Letters”:
● “The wonderful thing about having your own bookshop is
choosing the eighty hours a week you want to work…
bookstores can take as much of your time and energy as you
are willing to give, and still ask for more.”
● “As a bookseller, you have to be focused, or crazy – one of the
other – in order to survive.”
● “You can tell a lot about a person from the way he handles
books.”
● “Sitting alone in my bookshop at night, with a cat asleep on my
lap, is the closest I have ever come to peace.”
And peace to you, my readers. May you honor the memories of your past, as well as make a few more to be remembered down the road.
Bookstore George
Friday, December 18, 2009
TOP TEN CHRISTMAS TIPS FROM GENERAL ELECTRIC
( No accreditation known)
10. If one light bulb goes out, replace them all
9. Fluorescent tubes make great Star Wars light sabers for
the kids.
8. Blow-dryers can be used to keep food warm.
7. Big corporations shouldn’t commercialize this blessed
season by handing out bonuses.
6. Keeping several TVs and radios on all the time creates a
feeling of warmth and intimacy.
5. We heard that Sylvania bulbs give off some kind of poison gas.
4. Same deal with Westinghouse
3. Electric toothbrushes should be left on all day to keep them loose.
2. A GE industrial turbine makes a one-of-a-kind stocking stuffer.
1. Warranties, like greeting cards, should be thrown out.
( No accreditation known)
10. If one light bulb goes out, replace them all
9. Fluorescent tubes make great Star Wars light sabers for
the kids.
8. Blow-dryers can be used to keep food warm.
7. Big corporations shouldn’t commercialize this blessed
season by handing out bonuses.
6. Keeping several TVs and radios on all the time creates a
feeling of warmth and intimacy.
5. We heard that Sylvania bulbs give off some kind of poison gas.
4. Same deal with Westinghouse
3. Electric toothbrushes should be left on all day to keep them loose.
2. A GE industrial turbine makes a one-of-a-kind stocking stuffer.
1. Warranties, like greeting cards, should be thrown out.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
BOOKS AS GIFTS
Merry Christmas, bookies!
It's a busy season at the Acorn Bookshop, with moments of everyone being busy with customers and a half hour later the place is empty and we could frisbee without human consequence.
We're up over last year a bit, but then again, because of the Walgreen's construction, we had little parking, so that bar isn't really very high.
For the 6th consecutive year in December, I'm reading one of my favorite books, "Winter Solstice" by Rosamunde Pilcher. The book takes place in a small Scottish village where characters and events come to a wonderful convergence during the Christmas season, with a stunning resolution on Christmas Eve. It’s about how life is full of losses but also rewards and the treasures of friendships, love, and family—in all, a warm way to wrap up and think about the end of the year and Christmas.
And thinking of the year-end and Christmas, I thought you might enjoy these thoughts on books as gifts. Merry Christmas and have a great reading new year.
Bookstore George
BOOKS AS GIFTS
"People seldom read a book which is given to them." -- Samuel Johnson
"Who gives a good book gives more than cloth, paper and ink...more than leather, parchment and words. He reveals a foreword of his thoughts, a dedication of his friendship, a page of his presence, a chapter of himself, and an index of his love." -- William A. Ward
"The books we think we ought to read are poky, dull and dry;
The books that we should like to read we are ashamed to buy;
The books that people talk about we never can recall;
And the books that people give us, oh, they're the worst of all." --Carolyn Wells
"For every toy you buy a child, and a book." -- Susan Cooper
It's a busy season at the Acorn Bookshop, with moments of everyone being busy with customers and a half hour later the place is empty and we could frisbee without human consequence.
We're up over last year a bit, but then again, because of the Walgreen's construction, we had little parking, so that bar isn't really very high.
For the 6th consecutive year in December, I'm reading one of my favorite books, "Winter Solstice" by Rosamunde Pilcher. The book takes place in a small Scottish village where characters and events come to a wonderful convergence during the Christmas season, with a stunning resolution on Christmas Eve. It’s about how life is full of losses but also rewards and the treasures of friendships, love, and family—in all, a warm way to wrap up and think about the end of the year and Christmas.
And thinking of the year-end and Christmas, I thought you might enjoy these thoughts on books as gifts. Merry Christmas and have a great reading new year.
Bookstore George
BOOKS AS GIFTS
"People seldom read a book which is given to them." -- Samuel Johnson
"Who gives a good book gives more than cloth, paper and ink...more than leather, parchment and words. He reveals a foreword of his thoughts, a dedication of his friendship, a page of his presence, a chapter of himself, and an index of his love." -- William A. Ward
"The books we think we ought to read are poky, dull and dry;
The books that we should like to read we are ashamed to buy;
The books that people talk about we never can recall;
And the books that people give us, oh, they're the worst of all." --Carolyn Wells
"For every toy you buy a child, and a book." -- Susan Cooper
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
THE ATTACK OF THE STUCCO-MEN
As I was walking from my parked van in the back of our building after a PO/bank/Staples/Target run, Howard the Barber walked across Broadview Avenue to me from the Chase Bank parking lot. After initial greetings, I asked him if the scaffolding of the Stucco-Men encasing our store and taking three parking spaces to do it were bothering his business.
"Who knows?" the pessimistic barber shrugged. "It can't be helping either of us, but we got through much worse last year during the Walgreen's construction." He added, "Looks like they have your side door blocked today.
I nodded and said, "It most interferes with people trying to bring boxes of books in to sell. The books have to be lugged around to the front, and there's scaffolding there, too."
Howard gestured toward the back of the bookstore -- which is next to his shop as can be seen in the photo -- and said, "Too bad you can't just knock a whole in the wall so you have a back door like the rest of us in the building."
"The landlord told me they'd do it for $4-500."
"Whoa," he said, pulling back his head at the price.
"Tell you what; I'll let them go through the barbershop for just 50 cents!"
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
THE READER'S BILL OF RIGHTS
Hello, bookies,
I'd like to share with you "The Reader's Bill of Rights", from Daniel Pennac's book, "Better Than Life".
THE READER'S BILL OF RIGHTS
* The right to not read
* The right to skip pages
* The right not to finish
* The right to reread
* The right to read anything
* The right to escapism
* The right to read anywhere
* The right to browse
* The right to read out loud
* The right to not defend your tastes
Have any to add?
Keep on readin',
Bookstore George
Monday, October 5, 2009
THE DA VINCI CODE CUSTOMER: A BOOKSTORE-Y
Dear bookies,
With Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" at #1 on the bestseller lists, I thought you might be interested in reading my bookstore-y about Brown's first #1 book. As always, let me know what you think of this posting.
Bookstore George
THE “DA VINCI CODE” CUSTOMER
A Bookstore-y
Our first customer of 2005 was a 50-ish man with a handsome head of wavy, slick-backed, gray hair. He arrived wanting to sell a few books: three on auto repair, the three-volume paperback set of Anne Rice/Anne Roquelaure's erotica “Sleeping Beauty”, and a box of “The Lover’s Tarot”, which, he pointed out, had never been opened.
After receiving more than he expected for them, he asked if I would be interested in a copy “The Da Vinci Code”, which had been the bestselling book of 2004. I assured him that we did. It was a bestseller that was very unique, and demand for it was high while available used copies were few.
“The Da Vinci Code” is a page-turning thriller with an unusual spiritual dimension. The author, Dan Brown, challenges much of the accepted history of the early Christian church, drawing from a wide variety of published sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls/Gnostic Gospels. The protagonist – a professor of religious symbology – along with a female French code-beaker with the Paris police are chased by the same French police on a scavenger hunt-like trail of clues that lead them into the French country side, London, and eventually Scotland.
Brown provides an intriguing look into church history as the innocent fugitives flee from murder charges, going on a Holy Grail quest as the way to solve the murder that begins the book.
It is in such high demand – even after over a year on the bestseller list – that the publisher has just released an illustrated edition. I found the book interesting enough the first time through to buy the illustrated edition with some birthday (12-26) money to re-read it with all of the symbols evident along with the text that describes them.
With agitation, the customer began talking about his attempt to read the book. "I only got 50 pages into it, and then had to put it down, because it turned my belief structure upside down and inside out. It challenged everything I believed, and it seemed fairly accurate." While standing on the other side of the counter, he kept unconsciously rearranging the books he'd sold me while continuing to talk about something that obviously had deeply upset him.
"I even started reading more about the things he was suggesting, and they seemed to be realistic, too,” he said.
"The part about the church eliminating the gospels that didn't give them the power they wanted was very disturbing. I thought there were only four gospels, and it turns out that there might have been eight dozen! Why would the church tell us that every word of the gospels was divinely inspired if they got rid of the gospels that might have been equally inspired but didn’t agree with their agenda of setting up a powerful church structure?”
He was moving around in front of the counter, unable to stand still while discussing a book that had destabilized his spiritual life.
I asked him if he were Catholic.
"Yes, I was brought up Catholic, but these days I'm more interested in my spiritual development than church teachings."
Which made me wonder about his next statement regarding the popular book, “I...I...I just couldn't bring myself to read any more of it, or about it. I’m almost afraid to read it further.
"Growing up, we were instructed that the Bad Popes had done a lot of things that the church disapproved of, and now I'm learning that a lot of what we were taught just wasn’t true. Just which ones were the Bad Popes and which were the Good Popes? Or was there any real difference?”
Quite upset, he seemed relieved to take a break from talking about the book in order to instruct me to create a card for his store credit for another visit, promising to bring back the book which had exploded his world.
He returned around 4pm, carrying Dan Brown’s book, holding it away from his body, as though to avoid the physical equivalent to the contamination that had already entered his head.
He saw a children’s picture book titled “Winter Solstice” on display, one of the holiday titles we’d overlooked earlier in the day as we de-Christmas-ed our bookshop. “Will you trade me this book for “The Da Vinci Code?” he asked eagerly.
I assured him we would, and give him another $1.75 in cash or $3.50 store credit as well. “You will? You’ve always treated me good in here!” he said.
Leafing through the illustrations, he said, “My wife is gonna love this! We got married on winter solstice.”
“How long have you been married?” I asked, nursing the store-y.
“About three weeks now,” he replied with a smile.
Oh!
Before I could congratulate him, he cocked his head and said, “Winter solstice is another one of those problems with the church that I’m having since reading this book,” tapping “The Da Vinci Code” he’d laid on the counter.
“Because of the way it created questions in my head, I went to the Winter Solstice gathering they had over at the university? And it was a beautiful ceremony.” In an aside, he said, “I could have sworn that (Ohio State Athletic Director) Andy Geiger was beside me.” (Buckeye-worship is widespread around here.)
“We walked the labyrinth – is that the way you pronounce that? And they taught us that there any many paths to the center, including your spiritual center.
“I was really pleased that my new wife and I went to that. It was very moving. But in the beginning the church tried to bury Winter Solstice ceremonies, too. They tried to tell us that it was held by witches and other evil people.”
He tucked “Winter Solstice” under his arm and headed for the door, an unhappy man. As he started pushing the glass door open, he turned to me and rhetorically asked,
"How could the church lie to us like that?!"
With Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" at #1 on the bestseller lists, I thought you might be interested in reading my bookstore-y about Brown's first #1 book. As always, let me know what you think of this posting.
Bookstore George
THE “DA VINCI CODE” CUSTOMER
A Bookstore-y
Our first customer of 2005 was a 50-ish man with a handsome head of wavy, slick-backed, gray hair. He arrived wanting to sell a few books: three on auto repair, the three-volume paperback set of Anne Rice/Anne Roquelaure's erotica “Sleeping Beauty”, and a box of “The Lover’s Tarot”, which, he pointed out, had never been opened.
After receiving more than he expected for them, he asked if I would be interested in a copy “The Da Vinci Code”, which had been the bestselling book of 2004. I assured him that we did. It was a bestseller that was very unique, and demand for it was high while available used copies were few.
“The Da Vinci Code” is a page-turning thriller with an unusual spiritual dimension. The author, Dan Brown, challenges much of the accepted history of the early Christian church, drawing from a wide variety of published sources, including the Dead Sea Scrolls/Gnostic Gospels. The protagonist – a professor of religious symbology – along with a female French code-beaker with the Paris police are chased by the same French police on a scavenger hunt-like trail of clues that lead them into the French country side, London, and eventually Scotland.
Brown provides an intriguing look into church history as the innocent fugitives flee from murder charges, going on a Holy Grail quest as the way to solve the murder that begins the book.
It is in such high demand – even after over a year on the bestseller list – that the publisher has just released an illustrated edition. I found the book interesting enough the first time through to buy the illustrated edition with some birthday (12-26) money to re-read it with all of the symbols evident along with the text that describes them.
With agitation, the customer began talking about his attempt to read the book. "I only got 50 pages into it, and then had to put it down, because it turned my belief structure upside down and inside out. It challenged everything I believed, and it seemed fairly accurate." While standing on the other side of the counter, he kept unconsciously rearranging the books he'd sold me while continuing to talk about something that obviously had deeply upset him.
"I even started reading more about the things he was suggesting, and they seemed to be realistic, too,” he said.
"The part about the church eliminating the gospels that didn't give them the power they wanted was very disturbing. I thought there were only four gospels, and it turns out that there might have been eight dozen! Why would the church tell us that every word of the gospels was divinely inspired if they got rid of the gospels that might have been equally inspired but didn’t agree with their agenda of setting up a powerful church structure?”
He was moving around in front of the counter, unable to stand still while discussing a book that had destabilized his spiritual life.
I asked him if he were Catholic.
"Yes, I was brought up Catholic, but these days I'm more interested in my spiritual development than church teachings."
Which made me wonder about his next statement regarding the popular book, “I...I...I just couldn't bring myself to read any more of it, or about it. I’m almost afraid to read it further.
"Growing up, we were instructed that the Bad Popes had done a lot of things that the church disapproved of, and now I'm learning that a lot of what we were taught just wasn’t true. Just which ones were the Bad Popes and which were the Good Popes? Or was there any real difference?”
Quite upset, he seemed relieved to take a break from talking about the book in order to instruct me to create a card for his store credit for another visit, promising to bring back the book which had exploded his world.
He returned around 4pm, carrying Dan Brown’s book, holding it away from his body, as though to avoid the physical equivalent to the contamination that had already entered his head.
He saw a children’s picture book titled “Winter Solstice” on display, one of the holiday titles we’d overlooked earlier in the day as we de-Christmas-ed our bookshop. “Will you trade me this book for “The Da Vinci Code?” he asked eagerly.
I assured him we would, and give him another $1.75 in cash or $3.50 store credit as well. “You will? You’ve always treated me good in here!” he said.
Leafing through the illustrations, he said, “My wife is gonna love this! We got married on winter solstice.”
“How long have you been married?” I asked, nursing the store-y.
“About three weeks now,” he replied with a smile.
Oh!
Before I could congratulate him, he cocked his head and said, “Winter solstice is another one of those problems with the church that I’m having since reading this book,” tapping “The Da Vinci Code” he’d laid on the counter.
“Because of the way it created questions in my head, I went to the Winter Solstice gathering they had over at the university? And it was a beautiful ceremony.” In an aside, he said, “I could have sworn that (Ohio State Athletic Director) Andy Geiger was beside me.” (Buckeye-worship is widespread around here.)
“We walked the labyrinth – is that the way you pronounce that? And they taught us that there any many paths to the center, including your spiritual center.
“I was really pleased that my new wife and I went to that. It was very moving. But in the beginning the church tried to bury Winter Solstice ceremonies, too. They tried to tell us that it was held by witches and other evil people.”
He tucked “Winter Solstice” under his arm and headed for the door, an unhappy man. As he started pushing the glass door open, he turned to me and rhetorically asked,
"How could the church lie to us like that?!"
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