8 Novellas

Occasionally I find people who are automatically turned off by the idea of reading novellas or short stories because they are afraid of no ending and that sinking feeling of hanging. True, it can occur sometimes, but what I enjoyed so much about The Most Beautiful Book in the World by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt was each story had a satisfying conclusion and I felt ready for the next little world the author would take me to. Sweet, unexpected, and completely enchanting describe best the novellas and I now honestly hope to read more by this amazing author. It really is the most beautiful book in the world...but you have to read to the very end to find out why!

p.s. I love the book cover.

~Sandi

Finally something new!

Yes it's been awhile since I've written anything here. It's been a busy summer. However, yesterday I found something to write about.

It is the most beautiful coffee table book I've ever seen. Titled A Shadow Falls by photographer Nick Brandt, it is a collection of 58 oversize, tritone photos of East Africa. Brandt is on a mission to document the disappearing landscape and animals of this area.

When I opened the book and went through the photos some literally took my breath away. Just look at the cover photo here and you'll get a sense of what the rest are like.

Yes it's relatively expensive but it is one you'll come back to over and over again.

Now I'm curious to know more about Nick and where I can see the real photos. I want one.

Henry

Book & Wine Pairings

Recently I was talking with Sadee, a customer who also happens to be a marketing guru, about ways to boost sales. Since I also enjoy wine she suggested selling wine as well as books and start thinking of book and wine pairings. The Liquor Control Board quickly dashed my dreams of selling wine but book and wine pairings is something I can do.

Obviously red wine goes with mysteries, white with light fiction. Either will go with cooking since one has to have a glass while stirring the pots and pans. But beyond that I was stumped. This is harder than I thought. OK beer has to be consumed while reading Tom Robbins' new book B is for Beer. A good hearty Cabernet while reading about the latest political and current affairs, if only to drown one's sorrows.

What do you think? What do you like to sip? Come to our first Book & Bottle event on Friday evening June 12 at 7:00 and tell us your thoughts about books & wine. We'll also have some wine to taste while we talk. I hope to have a local wine buyer in attendance to facilitate the discussion.

In the meantime, I'll be doing more research. And I'd like to read your thoughts about what you drink while you read.

year round gardening

Last year I found this awesome book called Don't Throw It, Grow It!: 68 Windowsill Plants from Kitchen Scraps by Deborah Peterson. It's format is so simple and easy to follow to grow anything from fruits, nuts, herbs and spices. For me the most intriguing aspect was realizing how much I could grow just from stuff I either threw away or composted. I love that it's yet another way to recycle so to speak and it's fun to have little side projects on my window shelf throughout the year. ~Sandi

3 books of food and life

It is definitely another cloudy day here, but I have three books I'd like to recommend to brighten it up! The first I read last week by Ruth Reichl (editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine) called Not Becoming My Mother. Just like her other books, Ruth has a way of getting to the heart of things. She relays her mother's life (especially during the 1950's) with her childhood entwined and it is indeed a touching and genuine memoir.

The second popped into the book shop this morning titled Hungry Monkey by Matthew Amster-Burton (Seattle dad and food critic). I've only had a chance to read a few chapters, but I'm hooked already. By taking a new approach to introduce various foods to his daughter Iris, he shows the adventure food and parenting can be. There are also dozens of recipes as he shares his love of food and wonderful humor that will leave you with a big smile.

Finally, the third that I can't help but mention is The Art of Eating by M.F.K. Fisher who took food writing to a literary art. If you haven't read even simply a chapter of one of her books, you're missing out! I'm in love with her writing and can't believe it took me this long to get around to owning her books. Her passion for food and appreciation of life is contagious and stunning (a wee side note: this 50th anniversary edition is a deal as it contains her first 5 books!).

p.s. Happy Earth Day!

~Sandi

These books are getting the most laughs

On our front counter we have a rotating selection of weird and fun books that usually distract customers while they are waiting to buy books. The ones that seem to get the most attention are the take-offs of earlier classic and best-selling books. For example, Goodnight Bush (a take off on Goodnight Moon) was a big hit after the election. Here are a few that are getting the most attention:

Spott's Canine Miscellany - You may remember the hit book a few years ago called Schott's Miscellany that included random facts, factoids and lists about equally random topics. this is the dog version of that book. On the same page is a blurb about Dog Ear, SD, dog & human allergies and a quote from Plato about dogs.


11,002 Things to be miserable about - For the cynics in the crowd this is a great little gift. the opposite of the earlier book 14,000 things to be happy about. With all that's going on in the world I'm a little dismayed that they couldn't come with more things to be miserable about. A random sample of items mentioned in the book: nuclear winter, debates between stupid people, beer that's mostly foam, busybodies and micromanagement. You get the idea.

Grandma's Dead; Breaking Bad News with Baby Animals - A collection of postcards with sappy pictures of cute animals with captions such as "The condom broke" and "Grandpa left you nothing." You have to see it to get the full impact. Several customers have bought this book because they actually want to send one of the postcards.


Stay tuned for more.

David Macaulay show in Tacoma

I've been a fan of David Macaulay's books for along time. His detailed drawings of how things work are very cool. For those of us who like to know weird stuff his books are at the top of the list. I've just found out about a showing of his drawings down at the Tacoma Art Museum. I haven't been yet but it's on my list of things to do soon.

His most recent book about the human body, The Way We Work, is fascinating and fun. The descriptions of the processes of the human body are comprehensive but not designed for casual reading. You need to spend some time with each spread to understand what is going on, but it's well worth the time.

Don't forget his earlier books about castles, cities and skyscrapers.