When it rains, it pours!  Not only have I given away close to 75 movie passes for The Golden Compass today, but I seem to have a couple others here as well.  I have very limited quantities of these, and I'm giving them away on a first-come, first-served basis.  If you are interested, please call first to reserve (216.795.9800), and come pick 'em up.  Each pass admits two; one per customer, please.  Thanks.

JUNO
Wednesday, Dec. 5, 7:30pm @ Shaker Square

THE KITE RUNNER
Thursday, Dec. 6, 7:30pm @ Shaker Square

ATONEMENT
Tuesday, Dec. 11, 7:30pm @ Shaker Square

GOLDEN COMPASS FREE PASSES
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Harriett

The good news is, we're giving away free passes for the preview screening of The Golden Compass!  This is exciting stuff!

The troublesome part is that the Free Times ad that announces this wondrous deal has the date wrong.  It reads Thursday, November 30 for pass give-aways, and of course that date doesn't exist.  We'll be giving away the passes on Friday, November 30 at noon (no earlier!).  Sorry for the mix-up. 

So come pick up a pass on Friday, and I'll see you at the preview on Tuesday, December 4 at 7:30pm at Regal Richmond Town Square.

We're also offering 20% off on all Philip Pullman books 'til the end of the year.  Great stuff!

WORD OF THE YEAR: LOCAVORE
Monday, November 26, 2007
Harriett

Oxford University Press has announced its Word of the Year for 2007:  locavore. 

The word was intentionally coined (as opposed to folk origins or collolquial slang) by Jessica Prentice of San Francisco to help promote consumers to buy and eat local products.  The word has since taken off (in part thanks to Barbara Kingsolver), as have buy local campaigns across the country. 

Such a simple concept it is:  support your community by consuming local goods sold by local people.  Goes for books too -- so if you consume books and purchase them from an independent bookseller near you, that makes you a biblio-locavore, right? 

HORSE & BUGGY 
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Harriett

This year's Holiday Stroll is almost over.  That's Friday's photo of the horse and buggy in front of Loganberry.  It was cold but fair, and felt like winter approaching, which is generally good for the holiday shopping spirit.  We had good crowds on Friday and Saturday, and people enjoyed browsing, checking it out, drinking cider... 

The 34th annual Thanksgiving weekend shopping spree continues on Larchmere.  Three dozen locally-owned businesses on Larchmere Boulevard welcome the holiday season with good cheer and nostalgic fanfare.  Come browse the boulevard and discover old-world shopping in your hometown neighborhood.

Like old time winter festivals around the world, a traditional horse and carriage will give free rides up and down the boulevard on Friday 12-4pm. Best Horse Drawn Carriage Service from Farmdale Ohio will provide the horse and buggy.

On Saturday 1-3pm, Mr. Jingeling kicks off a new chapter with a book signing of a new book by Teri Arthur and Rob Sirn.  Mister Jingeling Keeper of the Keys continues the tradition of the well-loved Cleveland character.  Books both new and old entice the shopper into new discoveries at Loganberry, with one of the best bibliophilic collections in town.

Elsewhere on Larchmere, music, food, and great deals abound, from the crafts at Dancing Sheep to the Asian antiquities at John Young's.   Enjoy classic good food at Larchmere Tavern or the brand-new Flying Cranes Cafe.  The exquisitely wrapped packages at Elegant Extras are always a treat in and of themselves, and fine yarns at Fine Points are a craft lover's dream.  New openings this weekend include Groovy Grooming and a personal trainer.  Come discover these wonderful stores, and more, during the Larchmere Holiday Stroll.

No need to box yourself in huge stores this Thanksgiving weekend; instead get a breath of fresh air and come browse the boulevard.  Treasures await you.

PREP WORK
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Harriett

Getting ready for the Holiday Stroll is hard work.  But it's good to remember that the hype is really just about getting a book into someone's hands, and that's ultimately a good thing for everyone concerned.  The quote of the day comes from Vivien Jennings of Rainy Day Books in Fairway, Kansas (thanks). 

"We are so lucky to be able to believe in what we sell. Books can make you laugh, keep you on the edge of your chair in suspense, take you back in history, help you be healthier, and encourage you to live a better life in a better world. Best of all, they are always the right color and size, won't wilt, are non-fattening, lead-free, and are recyclable. What more can we ask?"

Thanks also to Kelly Ferjutz today for a nice profile piece in CoolCleveland.com.  Now we just have to get Thomas Mulready's Cuyahoga passport stamped and remind him that we're on Larchmere Boulevard.  Locally owned, locally responsive (no link to Amazon. ok?). 

DELIVERIES
Tuesday November 20, 2007
Harriett

The packages are still coming in from CIROBE, where we bought so many wonderful books we came home dizzy and euphoric.  So far, we're keeping pace, but we're riding against the clock now as the Holiday Stroll approaches and we're still missing at least 3 major deliveries.  We got one today, and they're all duly processed ~ unpacked, tallied, priced, displayed or shelved ~ but if we get 20 boxes delivered on Friday during the Holiday Stroll, it'll be bedlam.  We're hoping for Wednesday.  In the meantime, it's hard to imagine that more are expected, because we have an awful lot of beautiful, new, and cheap books here.  Favorites run the gamut from Indian Embroideries to The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys.  Great holiday shopping fodder here; we hope you come check it out.  When they're gone, they're gone.

DIVINE
Monday, November 19, 2007
Brenda

Now is a good time to mention a product sold at Loganberry you may not have seen before.  I'm referring to DIVINE CHOCOLATES.  The bookstore proprietor has a sweet tooth, and when she discovered a particularly delicious chocolate bar produced by a fair-trade farmer-owned cooperative, she wanted to share the find, and ensure herself a continuous supply.  So a small display box of Divine Chocolate bars, in milk or dark chocolate, appear on the checkout counter, and lucky customers often add one to their book and card selections.  Now for the holidays we have an expanded line that includes after-dinner chocolate mints and big 3.5-ounce super bars.  These are simply the BEST chocolate, and every stocking should have some.  Certainly mine. 

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD
Friday, November 16, 2007
Harriett

It's a fun game trying to predict what books might win the major awards:  National Book Awards, Caldecott, Newbery, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.  It's also fun to buy the anticipated winners, hoping to get a true first edition before it becomes a collectible book.  I'm not very good at this game.

But I did it this time, and I'll admit that I have not read the book. Denis Johnson's Tree of Smoke just won the National Book Award for fiction. Perhaps it was the Publishers Weekly review that convinced me: "Is this our last Vietnam novel?  One has to wonder.  What serious writer, after tuning in to Johnson's terrifying, dissonant opera, can return with a fresh ear? ...  When the book ends ... you feel that America's Vietnam experience has been brought to a closure that's as good as we'll ever get." 

NOBS FORUMS 
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Harriett

Tonight at 7pm:  Cathie Bleck on Scratchboard Techniques

N.O.B.S. Forums features an artist this month, alongside her Annex Gallery exhibition of scratchboard painting.  Cathie Bleck studied design and painting at the University of Illinois.  Her delicate yet powerful scratchboard carvings appear to dance into spirals which she describes as “the unseen swirl and flow of internal and external spirits that entwine us.”  Cathie Bleck has lectured, conducted workshops and exhibited throughout North and South America and Europe.  Sponsored by the Nothern Ohio Bibliophilic Society, $3 suggested donation. 

PIMP MY BOOKCART
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Harriett

The results are in!  This is the second year our buddies at Unshelved (a fantastic comic strip about a library -- anyone who likes books or who works with the general public will love this strip) has sponsored a contest called Pimp My Bookcart.  There are prizes for the most creative, and they are all featured online.  Check it out, it's wonderful.  Maybe next year I'll get around to this project...

IN MEMORIAM: NORMAN MAILER
Monday, November 12, 2007
Harriett

There are some really great essays and memoriams on Mailer, now that the news has sunk in a little.  My book-biz e-newsletter presented a nice list of links to some great obits, and since most of you probably don't know about Shelf Awareness, I thought it might be appropriate to share that list here. 

"He probably would not have wanted an old man's death. He would have preferred some other way: an accident or a bar fight or a lover's brawl. So that his death, like his remarkable life, could inspire or appall and above all, cause people to talk."  (The Guardian).  Well, people are talking.
 

APOLLO'S FIRE
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Harriett

A customer walked in yesterday and my greeting fell out of my mouth without thinking: "are you the famed Anna?"  I know Anna, or at least her voice, from numerous concerts at CWRU's Chapel, Court and Countryside early music series.  She earned her Ph.D. in music at Case, and sings with many different early music ensembles (there seems to be a rather small and academic world of early music performers).  This weekend she was back in town to sing with Apollo's Fire, and while I am disappointed that she was only in the chorus and didn't have a solo role, it was a great performance.  Yeah, I went -- Anna gave me tickets!  Nice customer...

MORNINGS
Friday, November 9, 2007
Harriett

Sometimes it's hard to get up in the morning.  Especially after a rough, long day at the shop.  But that's okay, it's good to have everyone back in town, and friends coming for the Gene's Jazz Hot concert.  Even Becky, former employee, showed up!  So since she told me she actually reads this blog (amazing, isn't it?), I dedicate this morning video to Becky.  Random?  Sure.  And funny.  Enjoy.

BOOK REC:  THE WOMAN WARRIOR
Thursday, November 8, 2007

Title:  The Woman Warrior
Author:  Maxine Hong Kingston 
Reviewer: Jeneen [Annex Gallery artist, January 2008]

This book is a compelling memoir of a young Chinese-American woman growing up in California in a family that owns a laundry business. It is very powerfully written, with strong, simple sentences. However, the book is anything but simple. It is extremely poetic, and has passages that are dream-like, especially when ghosts are evoked. The book can be terrifying at times, and the main character claims vengeance. This is an intense, original, lyrical book that stays with you.

SOUTHERN PUMPKINS
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Harriett

My Southern cousins take the same annual autumnal trip to the local pumpkin field as my New England cousins do.  This is Meredith and Barrett with their Zen pumpkins and pumpkin stool, respectively, in a pumpkin patch in Alabama.  Can't beat that.

Except they also have cotton plants in the south.  See those little white fluffy puffs?  Cotton.  It's an amazing thing, this simple thing called cotton.  And if you've never seen it grow, it just boggles the mind that a plant would produce something so ubiquitous in our society, both ancient and modern.

SUZIE'S POEMS
Monday, November 5, 2007
Harriett

Here are two poems by my goddaughter Suzie, age 9.  (That's Suzie in the back of the USPS truck, her Halloween costume.)
 

 

SEA  The sea swells with Unknown joys and Victory, Bubbles with faults And sorrows, Sings little sparkling  Tunes when a baby Is born, And gurgles violently When a tragedy befalls, It’s waves crash against Rocky banks. The sea rolls on, Dark. Deep. For ever.

UP ABOVE The sky rolls over my head Big and blue, Vast and continuing Forever, it seams. The clouds are puffy and Organized, Drifting along And following their master Skys requests to Snow Sleet Hail Rain.

HELP DESK
Friday, November 2, 2007
Harriett

Introducing le Book.  Akin to Monty Python in Norwegian, this short video shows us medieval monks meeting new technology.   Yes, you'll enjoy it, whoever you are.  It's a YouTube thing.

POPSICLE TREE
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Catapiwwa

I woke up this morning thinking about popsicle trees, and realized that a bright blue sunny sky on the first of November was the perfect time to go harvesting popsicles.  Turtle thought I was a little wacked, as usual, but since she just wanted to compose industrial grunge music on alphabetical keyboards, I knew I had a better plan.

So I did a quick google image search to present my image of a popsicle tree (you can find everything on google, right?), and I was surprised to find ... a book.  That's right, bookseller finds a book.  Dorien Grey's book is a mystery about awakening parental instincts when a gay couple suddenly finds themselves responsible for the care of small children. 

The cemetery pic on the cover shows popsicle-shaped tree, but no fruit.  Not exactly what I had in mind.  Damn, have to go find my own, again.  Halloween candy will run out eventually, after all.