Friday, August 28, 2009

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

Thursday, May 21, 2009

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.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

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.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

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.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Very Short Introductions


The place to begin to satisfy your curiosity is Oxford University Press' Very Short Introduction series. There are over 150 titles in this series and for curious people like us this is a gold mine. Topics include history, religion, science, politics, art and many others. They are written by British professors who are experts in their field and unfortunately many are too dry and scholarly. But since you don't have to read the whole book you can just read til you fall asleep.

One of the newest ones is on the Meaning of Life. This is a discussion of the question "What is the meaning of Life?". In the preface the author refers to story about Bertrand Russell and the taxi driver. Not familiar with this story I went to Google and found this essay in the Guardian. (That's the thing about being curious. I have to keep following links to find out more)

It's an interesting book in spite of his disparaging remarks about Douglas Adams' suggested answer of 42, which I think is as good an answer as any.

Why Do I Blog?

I've been in the bookselling business off and on for over 10 years. One of the reasons I enjoy it is that I like to know a little bit about a lot of things and in this business I get to see books on just about every subject. I rarely finish a book but I read enough to find out about a particular subject to satisfy my curiosity.

So this blog is a place for me and my staff to talk about things they've learned from books. I'd also like to read what you are curious about and interesting books you've read. Let's make this a discussion about what we're curious about.

The gadgets on the sidebar are for your time wasting pleasure. If you have suggestions of other playful fun things let me know.

I'll also mention upcoming events here at the store, thoughts about bookselling and the business of bookselling.