March 2010

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Recommended Reading: Let’s All Have a Junky Spring Break!

March 25, 2010 in recommended reading, travel by Claire | 5 comments

KIM:

One of my top two favorite gifts I have given was Claire’s 40th birthday present. We had talked for years about the kinds of books we read and Claire is a big fan of the beach read, or to put it more bluntly, the trashy book. In honor of her reading choices, I bought a small trash can and filled it with the appropriate books. Decorated with balloons and tissue paper, books piled in and stacked up to keep the trash lid open, truly, the gift was a sight to behold. Unfortunately, neither one of us took a picture of it.

I received quite a few stares as I dragged the trash can through Duttons Bookstore, selecting the perfect books and trying to shove in as many as possible. It’s been a few years (actually I can’t remember how many years, but I do remember that it was during the baseball play offs and I would like to take this moment to once again remind Claire that I left a Dodger playoff game to attend your party), so I don’t remember all the books I picked, but here are some of my favorite poolside-thoroughly-enjoyable reads:

1. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon – this is my favorite beach read! I think there are seven in the series, who knows, they seem to multiply like rabbits. Yes, she is in desperate need of an editor, yes, the series isn’t as good as it continues, but none of her fans care. This isn’t high literature, it’s fun and when Claire and Jamie are off on an adventure the world melts away.

2. Any Dan Brown book – Claire and I said we wouldn’t buy his latest book, it’s just not worth the money, but we’re so glad we received it as a gift. I’m scheduled to fly on a little plane to a third world country; with The Lost Symbol to distract me I’m sure not to drive my companions crazy questioning every little noise the plane makes.

3. The Josephine Bonaparte Trilogy (starting with The Many Lives and Sorrows of Josephine B.) by Sandra Gulland – great escapist historical fiction.

4. Tara Road by Maeve Binchy – This is the only Binchy I’ve read completely, the others I’ve dropped after a few chapters, but this book carried me through a terrible week with an insane boss and for that, I’m eternally grateful. Read the rest of this entry »

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When a Card is Not Quite Enough

March 25, 2010 in Uncategorized by Kim | No comments

I don’t recall that we’ve ever done a product review before.  I’m not the type of person who ever notices the “extras” at a bookstore, I always feel like I don’t have enough time for the books.  One of the benefits of visiting a store with Keith is that he notices that sideline items.  When we left Vromans last month, he talked about the non-book items and I talked about eavesdropping on the bookseller, we might have been at two different stores.  But, when Robin Blum of In My Book contacted Claire and I about her combination greeting card and bookmark, we were intrigued.

Each card is perforated so that after reading the message, the receipient can tear off the back and use it as a bookmark.  I like it for three reasons:

The cards are blank so they can be used for any occasion.  There are many times when I give a card but would like it to be a little bit more, yet not a whole gift more.  This fills that gap perfectly.  Plus, by writing on the bookmark side of the card, I know that the person will see my thoughts over time as the bookmark is used.

When I do give a gift, 90% of the time, it’s a book.  These cards are designed to pair with different genres of books.  One has a picture of a man going over a waterfall in a barrel and says “you’re an adventure.”  The one pictured in this post says “you’re a classic.”  Pairing the card and the book makes for a clever presentation.

I like the environmental aspect.  Most cards are read and thrown away, these have a use beyond the words written on the inside.   At a time when many people are mulling the waste of cards but we all appreciate and need the sentiment, this strikes me as a happy compromise.

So next time you’re at your local bookstore, pry your eyes away from the books for a minute and look out for the In My Book cards.

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Two Complimentary Used Bookstores

March 23, 2010 in bookstore, Uncategorized, used books by Kim | No comments

One, B & L Books in Altamonte Springs, FL, has been around for decades and targets a particular customer, while the other, The Book Worm in Orlando, FL, opened last year and serves a broader audience.

B & L Books is the romance reader’s dream come true.  I didn’t know there were so many types of romance books:  Christian romance, series romance, African American romance.  Several of the sub-sections were separated into a ‘mild’ category and a ‘hot’ category.  I paused when I saw those distinctions, pointed them out to my sister, and we both decided to just let that go without further discussion.  The store has a strong showing of adventure/espionage books along with general fiction, and children’s books.  I was Aunt of the year when I returned with a stack of Clifford books for my nieces.  I was tempted, but resisted due to the need to lift my luggage on the airplane, by the mystery bags on the top shelf of several bookcases.  In the bag was a stack of books of the genre it was placed in, all for a dollar.   Of course, it’s older books that have been around for awhile, but that’s the first time I’ve seen mystery bag of books and it looked like fun.

The booksellers take pride in knowing their customers, tracking their purchases and putting aside newly arrived used books for customers who they believe will enjoy them.  Their level of care earned them “Bookseller of the Year” at the Romantic Times Convention.  I chatted with the bookseller for quite awhile and was impressed with her knowledge of who comes in, what they want, and how to keep a customer for life.

The Book Worm started business about a year ago and it serves the general used store book buyer.  All types of fiction and non-fiction are represented.  I spent time looking through the history and art history, for me reading history in older, used books adds to its appeal.  Kelsey and I were reading Anne of Green Gables for our mother-daughter book club (I was on the plane to Orlando sobbing as the book ended and completely mortified that the flight attendant would walk up and ask “tea or coffee?”) and Kelsey fell in love Anne.  I hit the gold mine at The Book Worm, it had the rest of the Anne series and several of the Emily books also written by Montgomery in a cozy corner for children’s and young adult books.  I called over Kelsey when I opened my suitcase to unpack and the top was lined with Anne of Green Gables and Emily books, I was Queen for the Day in her eyes.

If you’re in the Orlando area, stop by both stores to pick up an inexpensive book, even better trade in a book you’ve already read for a discount.

B & L Books

990 State Route 434

Altamonte Springs, FL

T:  407.682.0090

The Book Worm

2400 E. Washington St.

Orlando, FL

T:  407.898.7888

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Literary Links

March 21, 2010 in bookstore, film, movie, publishing, Uncategorized by Kim | No comments

Here are some of the interesting articles I’ve found on the web and saved to share in one batch.  Enjoy!

Bookstores serve another, more subtle purpose: they tell us what our fellow human beings are currently interested in or concerned about. Bookstores are a billboard of our preoccupations. Consequently, I make it a point to read the bestsellers lists to identify the zeitgeist of our times. And it is often alarming to consider what people are spending their time reading about.

We all need to refresh our thinking from time-to-time:

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Random Bookish Thoughts While Waiting for Spring to Spring

March 19, 2010 in Uncategorized, young adult by Claire | 5 comments

Come on, spring, I know you can do it.  Stop knocking at the door and then running away the second we open it:  just come on in and settle down.  We promise to dust ourselves off and be all optimistic and cheerful and hardworking again, if you promise to curl up on the sofa and stay a while.

Kim and I had lunch yesterday and both felt like we–and our kids–were in that weird late winter slump, where there’s too much work to do and no energy or enthusiasm left to get it done.  After we were done eating our oh-so-healthful-salads, we wandered up to the local bookstore and the weather was gorgeous and we lingered, chatting to random people, and it felt kind of like vacation and I felt suddenly optimistic: “We can do this: we can make it to spring break and then it’s just an easy skip to summer.”  I hope you’re all feeling that way today. If not, take a break, walk to a bookstore, buy something junky to read, and get in that mode.

In the meantime, here are some things we talked about at lunch, and some things I’ve been thinking about on my own.  It’s light reading which is all any of us can manage right now, anyway, right?

1.  So will reading be more enjoyable on the iPad than on a Kindle?  And what am I rooting for with this one? The kids and I watched the Apple video that shows you what the iPad can do and of course I was especially fascinated by the demonstration of the new reader.  It looks like it does two things better than the Kindle: it mimics the act of turning a page (it looks really cool on the video; I need to see it in person before I pass judgment on whether it feels real or not) and it shows the cover art.  That second one is important to me.  I think it’s a huge drawback of the Kindle that you don’t see your book cover, that every book looks the same: just words on a screen.  Cover art is very important: not only does it pique your interest in a book in a first place, but sometimes it anchors your memory of the book.  You see it and you instantly get a whiff of the book back in your mind, whether you liked it or not, what emotions it roused in you. Read the rest of this entry »

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