Loganberry Books: Blog

What is Smekday? It is, of course, the day the aliens came to Smekland (we used to know Smekday as Christmas and Smekland as Earth). Gratuity Tucci ("Tip" to her friends) knew something was up when her mom came home with a new mole on her neck. Gratuity's mom then said that aliens were contacting her through the mole. Guess what? They were. Gratuity's not only a funny and witty 11-year-old narrator, she explains lots of mysteries. Why is Happy Mouse Land in Florida always so clean, for example? Why do cats love the aliens? Why is Gratuity on the run with an alien named J.Lo? The True Meaning of Smekday mixes thinly veiled criticism of certain dominant world powers with pop culture and adds a dollop of references to the ol' canon of Western lit (Gratuity aligning herself with J.Lo thinks, "Well, I'll go to hell, then!" in a wonderful Huck & Jim moment). Hurrah for delightful Adam Rex! Hurrah for his excellent narrator who is going to get lots of press for being mixed race (Mom was Italian and Dad was black), but who should be getting all that press for being wise beyond her years and for being vastly entertaining. Get this book for all the smart kids you know, and all the adults who were once smart kids and still recognize and appreciate literary gems for the shorter set. This title has been recommended for elementary and middle school children, but I would not hesitate to push it on college students, retirees or anyone else. Such as urbane and discerning blog readers.

Now, for the first time ever, the original Bunny Planet stories are available in a single volume with a sexy magnetic closure and ribbon place marker. This delightful collection includes Island Light, First Tomato, and Moss Pillows, with full-color illustrations, and a new poem introducing Janet the Bunny Queen.

Benjamin Franklin provides the epigraph: "It is the first duty of a flagging spirit to seek renewal in the latitudes of whimsy. I, for one, dream on beyond the five planets to a world without wickedness; verdant, mild, and populated by amiable lapins." This is a must-have for anyone who occasionally needs to be transported from mundane reality to “the day that should have been."

Resilient booksellers. Less than a year after the Mutanabi Street Book Market in Baghdad was decimated by a car bomb, the booksellers are back to work, selling from make-do shelves and cloths on the ground. And customers are coming, slowly. After all, you can't forever suppress the need for information, intellectual pursuit, and an occasional good read. Just ask the Mutanabi vendors.

Christmas is almost here, and the flocks and hoardes have dwindled, while the customer service needs have increased. Happens every year about this time. But I have just a few moments to reflect on some the best sellers at Loganberry this month. Mind you, we're not a typical new bookstore with skids of pop titles, but a few of these we were counting on, and had multiples available. These are not necessarily in order.

1. Gallop! by Rufus Butler Seder
Outselling all of the Robert Sabuda pop-ups this year is a simple little book featuring "scanimation" movement that delights young and old alike with its old-timey works in a modern techno package and cheap pricetag. Customers tend to buy this in quantity, and we've now run out twice.
2. The Twelve Terrors of Christmas by John Updike and illustrated by Edward Gorey
The sweet-and-sour reprint of this sells for $9.95, but we sold out already. We have the original actually, for a bit more...
3. The Elf on the Shelf by Carol Aebersold, Chanda Bell and Coe Steinwart
This self-published, self-promoted and self-distributed book is hard to get your hands on if you don't go directly to the authors. Luckily, I did, and sold half the case to a friend who's giving them to everyone she knows this year. We've got one left.
4. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
No doubt the movie helps, but so does my display, discount, and free poster deal.
5. How to Traumatize Your Children by Knock-Knock
Knock-Knock is a card and game company really, but they put out a small series of "self-hurt" books, of which this title is a surprise hit.
6. Cartographia: Mapping Civilizations by Vincent Virga
The coffee table hit of the season. A customer actually called and asked if I would "match Amazon's price." Perhaps she didn't know that Amazon was out-of-stock at any price. (We are now too).
7. The Four Seasons of Mary Azarian by Lilias Hart and Mary Azarian
We've had this wonderful retrspective of Vermont woodcut artist Mary Azarian several times, and now we have the paperback edition at a remaindered price, which makes it pretty much irresistible.
8. The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden, Hal Iggulden as well as The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea Buchanan
These books are actually not related, but they do sell side-by-side and even as pairs
9. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I'm not sure it ever got to the shelf, several times.
10. The All-of-a-Kind Family series by Sydney Taylor
Was there recent publicity on this old classic? We have a tribute page on the series under out Most Requested Books, but I haven't seen a rush on them like this for quite a while.
11. The Bob Dylan Scrapbook 1956-1966 by Robert Santelli
We should have bought more Dylan and less Beatles at CIROBE. Damn, I knew that.
12. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
A perfect little stocking stuffer, now that it's back in stock.

It's the end of the year, and year-end lists are abounding everywhere. Bookfinder.com just published their Top Ten most sought-after out-of-print books for 2007, and we smile as we recognize some of these book searches over the past year. We also have at least two of these in stock -- 20% ain't bad for a hot-demand hard-to-find list like this.

1. Once a Runner (1978) by John L. Parker, Jr.
     The cult classic distance running novel; the long-awaited sequel, Again to Carthage, was released in November
2. Football Scouting Methods (1962) by Steve Belichick
     Legendary college football scout’s playbook, used by coaches and players to develop winning game plans
3. Sex (1992) by Madonna
    The pop icon’s controversial book of erotic photos
4. Promise Me Tomorrow (1984) by Nora Roberts
     An early novel that the bestselling romance novelist refuses to reprint, describing it as “mediocre”
5. The Lion’s Paw (1946) by Robb White
     A children’s adventure story about two orphans who travel around Florida in a boat
6. The Principles of Knitting (1988) by June Hemmons Hiatt
    An indispensable resource on hand knitting
7. Raven: The Untold Story of the Reverend Jim Jones and His People (1982) by Tim Reiterman
    Chronicles the inner workings which allowed the Peoples Temple to flourish
8. Aran Knitting (1997) by Alice Starmore
     History and how-to about the Irish knitting technique
9. One Way Up (1964) by John F. Straubel
     The story of of helicopters and vertically rising aircraft
10. Dear and Glorious Physician (1959) by Taylor Caldwell
      A novel based on the life of Saint Luke

Title: The Dangerous Book for Boys
Authors: Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden
Reviewer: Audrey [Loganberry's first employee]

Have you seen The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden? It came out a few months ago and stirred up a little bit of controversy, but it contains stuff that Every Boy Should Know and is packaged as an old-fashioned Book About Being a Boy. Tying knots, making secret ink and paper airplanes, knowing the rules of soccer and about the Battle of Gettysburg and the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and about amazing and daring explorers and their feats--this is a cool thing. The book is cataloged as YA in my library, but I think any sharp 10-to-14-year-old would like it. It's not smarmy, it's just cool. And it's good to have a Navajo Code Talker's Alphabet Table, or a basic introduction to Shakespeare, or directions on building a go-kart or on finding direction with a watch, or any of these things, in a handy reference volume. Get one and check it out!

I just read Salutations, and found it very touching and wonderful. Maybe that's because I had forgotten just how great those illustrations are, and how lovely the prose reads, and how much I loved that book. I wonder if people who either never read it, or don't remember or love it, will like it as much. I think even the reduced version is a treasure.

Salutations! Wit and Wisdom from Charlotte's Web, from E.B. White and Garth Williams. Hardcover. Originally $9.95, now $2.99

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.

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."

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.

Join us this Saturday for local fantasy award-winner Catherynne M. Valente as she debuts Part II of The Orphan's Tales. Part I, In the Night Garden, was nominated for the 2007 World Fantasy Award and was the Winner of the 2006 Tiptree Award. Part II, In the Cities of Coin and Spice, promises even more of these Arabian Nights for our time -- a lush and fantastical epic guaranteed to spirit you away from the very first page.

The event will be a gala welcoming of the new book with the author, a display of fantasy artworks inspired by the first book, and a musical performance by S.J. Tucker.

The event will be held at the Fine Points Carriage House, 12620 Larchmere Blvd., on Saturday, October 27th, 7-10pm. Loganberry Books will be there to sell copies of both books. Join us!

Title: The Attack
Author: Yasmina Khadra (nom de plume of former Algerian army officer Mohammed Moulessehoul, author of three other novels published in English)
Publisher: Vintage Books (London), translated from the French by John Cullen, 2007.
Reviewer: Amy [of “Tell Me a Story” radio show]

The story of an Israeli Arab who works as a surgeon in a Tel Aviv hospital, representing integration at its most powerful and successful. Then Dr. Jaafie's world turns upside down when his beloved wife is found among the dead in a suicide bombing on Tel Aviv's streets. What begins as horror turns still more terrifying when the bomber is discovered and Dr. Jaafie returns to his Palestinian roots seeking answers. The author astonishingly represents every point of view so that the reader's world, like that of the protagonist, is constantly turned upside down and inside out. I couldn't stop reading, never stopped reassessing my own judgments about what and who is good, how to untangle the tangled web of longheld grievances. good and bad, the entanglements of an impossible place and time. As the Literary Review wrote, the author is passionately moral but never sits in judgment--a rare treat. And the prose is as drop dead beautiful as the story is compelling.

Having mentioned "carbon footprint" yesterday reminds me of the news in Oxford-English-Dictionary land. Last year, see, carbon footprint was one of the new words added to the tome. This year, however, there are subtractions: hyphens. Not just a mathematical symbol - and not puncuation - but the symbol that holds things together, especially those newly-constructed adjectives.

More than 16,000 hyphens have been taken out in cases such as 'fig-leaf' and 'leap-frog,' after monitoring showed that "our world of fast keying and quick edits onscreen has largely given up searching for the hyphen."

Title: The Universe in a Single Atom
Author: His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Reviewer: Elaine [Former Director of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition, currently moving to D.C. to work for the Green Chemistry Institute]

This is a joyful exploration of the intersection between science and spirituality. As a scientific layperson, the Dalai Lama recounts his dialogues with scientists as he explores modern physics, neuroscience and others. Fearlessly, he seeks out the most renowned scientists from all over the world to delve into what on the surface fascinates him.

Congratulations! Out of nearly 300 million Americans, you have been selected to promote Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!) on your wildly popular television show. I'm writing to express my excitement on your behalf. This is the break you've been waiting for! ...

Selecting I Am America (And So Can You!) for your Book Club will go a long way toward erasing the long-standing concerns and nagging doubts about your patriotism that have dogged you ever since they were first raised in this letter.

You can read the whole petition on Colbert's website. I am amused (and so can you!).

Many of Tiffany's famous stained glass lamps were designed by a woman named Clara Driscoll? She had a studio of ~35 girls to help execute these designs? And there's a connection here to Kent State University in Ohio?

Yup. The lavish new book sets the record straight: A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls by Martin Eidelberg, Nina Gray, and Margaret K. Hofer accompanies an exhibit that recently closed at the New York Historical Society. Thanks for the news.

The good book I referred to on Monday was Bryan Talbot's Alice in Sunderland. Talbot already has a winning reputation as a graphic novelist and illustrator (he even illustrated some of Gaiman's Sandman). This one has an infectious beginning, blending theatre with literature with history in three different illustration styles. Hooked me right away (as in, oh, I have to take this one home), but I'll warn you: the illustrations are so good that each page will take about 10 minute apiece if you give it due justice. I'm still working on it, and very much enjoying it... what a allusionary riot....

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