Anyone who knows me can tell you that nothing makes me happier than getting a new book to read, and yesterday I was delighted to receive two books in the mail. One was Devon Monk's latest Allie B book, Magic on the Line, which I ordered from the perfectly wonderful Island Books on Mercer Island, and the other was an unexpected but most welcome copy of Kristin Hannah's "Home Front" which is due out next year. I was so delighted that I was doing my "Milk the Dairy Cow" happy dance, recently stolen from the TV series "Body of Proof!" So now I have a ton of great reading ahead of me. The enclosed literature says that if I like the book and post a review, they will send me a free hardback copy of the novel...I like the sound of that, getting another free book in the mail, hurrah! I've already read three of Hannah's other books, Magic Hour, True Colors and either Night Road or Firefly Lane, I don't remember which, with the other one in my TBR. Still, I always look forward to reading good local authors whose works are traditionally published.
Meanwhile, here are some fun things I found in Shelf Awareness this week:
I couldn't agree more:
"You must hold a real book in your hand, smell the pages, examine the
type face, the spacing between letters; must note the shape and size of
the book, the weight of it. Only then can you experience the book's full
import. And its magic.
"A book as an object is a piece of history....
"Of course, new books are not quite the same, but you can be a book's
'first' owner, the first to hold, read and study it. You can learn from
its binding and paper and weight and lettering and smell. You can hold a
new book in trust for its future owners. You can become part of its
history.
"Give your e-reader a rest, grab a real, printed book: and feel the
magic."
--Helen Selzer, owner of Farshaw's Too
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz11985866, South
Egremont, Mass., in a post on her blog Books Books Books
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz11985867.
This is a splendid idea!
Point Reyes Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz11978833,
Point Reyes, Calif., has developed a program called community supported bookstore (CSB)
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz11978834,
based on the principles of community supported agriculture (CSA), the
Point Reyes Point reported.
Under the CSB, customers can deposit from $150-$500 into a bookstore
account, make purchases from that account and receive a 5% discount. The
bookstore will use CSB fees for operational and community events during
slower months. The store introduced the program two weeks ago at an
event with Michael Ondaatje and already has 30 members.
Steve Costa, who with his wife, Kate Levinson, bought the store in 2003,
told the paper: "It's an opportunity for locals to step up and really
support the bookstore. To say, 'I really want this bookstore to survive
over time.' Those dollars really will make a big difference."
The store hopes to have 200 members in the CSB by the end of the year
and at least 500 members within a year. The model might work for other
indies, Costa said.
Sad, but true:
"When we are green, still half-created, we believe that our dreams are
rights, that the world is disposed to act in our best interests, and
that falling and dying are for quitters. We live on the innocent and
monstrous assurance that we alone, of all the people ever born, have a
special arrangement whereby we will be allowed to stay green forever."
--Tobias Wolff, This Boy's Life: A Memoir
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