Are you looking for a new Bible or maybe an inspirational holiday gift?  Our sections with Bibles, Bible Studies, Prayer and Devotionals, Christian Living, and even Theology are just PACKED!  We even have a large print Bible and several nice children’s and youth Bibles, which are usually  special order items.  I don’t expect them to last long, so hurry in if you have Bibles on your wish list!

Thanks to a wonderful batch of books recently delivered, we now have a wealth of history on Napolean and Imperial France, plus some interesting titles on medieval and ancient warfare.  Military history is always a popular topic, so I am not expecting these to last long – come see if we can fill any gaps in your knowledge!

If you are looking for the new stash, check France – history, and General Military history.  If you don’t see them, we may still be covering or listing them, so please ask!  Here is a sample to tempt you:

It’s graduation time, and the perfect chance to impart a little wisdom to all those young people who’ve reached a significant milestone and are ready to take a new direction, if they can only decide which one!  Since I gift books for every gift giving occasion, of course I give books for graduations too, but I really want to hear your favorites.  I’ll be posting up some I’ve pulled in the store in the next day or two….  but help me out please!

I have been giving my kids a bag of books to celebrate the end of school every year since they were in preschool.  Sometimes I put in art supplies and treats, or other little things that reflect their current interest, but there is always a good stack of books.  I don’t remember exactly how I got started doing this, but it has always been my theory that having books available to read is the first step (or maybe the second after reading to them) to getting them to read on their own and for pleasure.  My kids would have been surrounded by books even without the gift bags, and even before I bought the store, but it was still seemed worthwhile to me to pick out some things that I thought reflected their new interests, might inspire them, and were hopefully just fun to read.  Of course some books went unread and were probably “wasted”, especially as my kids got older, the books longer, their interests more specific, and mom more clueless.  Oh well.  My kids are good readers and enjoy reading, which I am very thankful for.

My first year college student has not been able to read a single thing for pleasure, how well I remember that feeling!  But maybe he will find some time this summer after his long list of delayed projects and work responsibilities.  I just found a biography on Chris Ledoux whom he admires that may spark his interest.  I will probably try another Elmer Kelton book too, it is relatively short and a fun read. Those will go into his bag.  My second son appreciates fine sports writing, and I found another great collection to add to his collection.  I am not sure what fun fiction to try out for him, but I have some time still.  My daughter is an opinionated 13 year old, who reads voraciously.  My challenge  is to nudge her towards some books I consider good literature, throw in some fun adolescent chick lit that is still age appropriate, and find interesting books that address tough issues or historical issues that I believe she needs to know about.  Whew, that may be a full bag!  She is also completing a church confirmation class and I would love to nourish her interest in spiritual growth, but have not found anything suitable just yet.

Finally, I give my kids books as a way to celebrate their hard work through the year, but also acknowledge that learning is really their own responsibility, in or out of school.  Plus, I struggle with transitions of all sorts, even though the end of school is usually one I am grateful for I still tend to regret the things I did not get accomplished during another school year and how quickly my kids are growing up and away.  My coping technique is to celebrate the transition and the changing season, which forces me to move on and be appreciative of the new season.  Like so many things we do with and for our kids, the summer  book bags are as much for me as for them!

If you too are looking for a way to celebrate the end of school with your kids, come in.  We’d love to help you put a bag together.

Happy summer.

I am still having conversations with customers every day in the store about the huge impact author Sherman Alexie had on each person and, hopefully, our community.  I planned to write more, but I think I’ll let one of Mr Alexie’s quotes, stated during the presentation at the High School, speak for itself.  Thanks to all the individuals and organizations who made his visit possible.

We are sold out again of Sherman Alexie’s many books!

I’ve nearly blown my first resolution to make some decent resolutions.  Usually they boil down to “do better”  which is less than desirable in specificity.  And I have to make a few goals for the store every year.  I’ll list them here and open them up for comment, in the interest of #1 of course!  Notice I do not resolve to have a neat and orderly back room.  As of January 10th, and 150 people bringing us books, from one bag to 12 boxes per batch, I am not foolish enough to think I can keep that resolution beyond one day.

1.     Keep blog alive as communication tool with customers

2.     Keep store alive as a community asset and as a community of book lovers

3.     Don’t buy so many old books for store:  I obviously love old and vintage books and tend to load the shelves with them.  Obviously too, I am a minority here and need to leave room on the shelves for the popular contemporary works.

4.     Keep buying old books:  If used book stores and libraries don’t keep old books on the shelves, how else will they be rediscovered?  How will we combat ebooks if the old books are forgotten? What about all of those wonderful illustrations and covers?  I don’t know about the wisdom of stocking old books from a business perspective, but I do feel a little like a crusader here – I just need to remember BALANCE, right?

5.     Make fewer mistakes.  Well there are not too many, but I sure hate them and feel terrible, so less would be better.

6.     Make more room for western history and nature writers, again.  Shrink sociology, womens studies, and political science, again. 

7.      Shrink Religion and Christian Living, again.  These books come in by the ton, and virtually none leave.  If you have interests, better let me know, because I am NOT stocking so many any more otherwise. 

8.    Display childrens  books better to generate interest:  The reality is that few children browse for books anymore.  They either come in knowing what they want or see something interesting right in front of them.  There are MANY wonderful kids books on the shelves, as sellers we need to try and be familiar with as many as possible and display them well in order to point kids in the right directions.  I can’t read them all, so keep feeding me your recommendations please!

9.     Have more storytimes.  I know perfectly well that I enjoy reading stories more than the listenees enjoy listening, but hey, SOMETIMES they remember and look for a wonderful book!

10.   Read more books.  Of course that should be on the personal resolution list, but I can’t give any decent recommendations if I haven’t read the book, which makes it a CAREER REQUIREMENT, and therefore not a selfish indulgence to read instead of doing laundry.

I do look forward to enjoying another year with my wonderful customers.  Thank you for your kind words, patience and support.  May your 2011 be richly blessed, and full of good books!