The Sioux City Journal profiled three
bookstores in the Sioux City,
Iowa, area
all of which use hybrid bookstore
models.
In Sioux City, Book People
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz17070462 has a travel
agency in
the back of the store, a legacy of
Chriss Camenzend, who in 2003 bought
the store, which was founded in 1977,
and has worked in the travel
business more than 40 years. "It
was one of my favorite places to shop,"
she told the paper. "I just
didn't want to see it close after that many
years."
opened in 2007, features wine from
around the world. Owner Mollie
Loughlin commented: "We can't
compete with the Barnes & Nobles of the
world. We have to create our own
niche." The Book Vine has "high
ceilings, a fireplace and sliding
ladder [that] give the
2,000-square-foot store a distinct
ambiance, providing a quiet place to
read," the paper wrote. "To
get customers to linger a little longer,
Loughlin stocks wine accessories,
stationery, a wide array of jewelry
and other novelty items throughout
the store."
In Sheldon, Iowa, Sara Beahler and
her husband opened Prairie Moon Books
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz17070464 in 2007. Last
year, the couple bought
a struggling clothing store and moved
the bookstore and coffee bar into
the clothing store's building. As if
those weren't enough businesses,
they also opened a bicycle shop in
the basement. The small retail empire
is now called Contents.
Beahler said customer service is the
store's most important offering:
"We remember what book we sold
you a week ago. We know what to
recommend. You don't get that service
when you shop online or shop at
the big-box stores."
Second, Powells, my favorite bookstore in Oregon is undergoing renovations!
Powell's Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz17123137,
Portland, Ore., unveiled plans
for a renovation of its flagship
store at 1005 West Burnside St. next
year. The project will focus on
"seismically updating the southeast
quadrant of the city block the store
occupies, commonly known as the
Green and Blue Rooms," according
to the bookseller.
"This is the last piece of a
long-term movement towards fully upgrading
the entire Burnside Building,"
noted Powell's CEO Miriam Sontz in a memo
to staff. "Back in 1990, we
started the project by building a
three-story building in the northeast
quadrant of the block. From there
we upgraded the parking structure and
the Gold and Coffee Rooms in 1997.
In 2000, we upgraded the old Orange
Room, replacing it with the
seismically upgraded four-story
building."
The renovation will maintain the
location's current footprint and
one-story design. In addition to the
necessary seismic measures, the
project includes new lighting, new
windows and a new roof. The design
review process will take place during
the summer in preparation for work
to begin next January. During
construction, the store will continue
normal operations. The Green and Blue
Rooms will be closed, with books
currently in those areas temporarily
moved to other locations in the
building.
This
past Thursday morning I picked up my copy of "Where'd You Go,
Bernadette" by Maria Semple, for my usual morning hour of reading, when
I discovered that I could NOT put it down. I read it all the way
through in roughly 7 hours and some odd minutes, which is unusual for
me, because I prefer to savor books and read several at a time.
But
Semple has created a story told through modern methods, such as emails,
letters, texts and mundane items like invoices and clinical notes, that
truly rivets the reader, taking you on a journey of discovery that
leaves the reader, like the characters, breathless by the final
chapter.
It's
the story of genius architect Bernadette, her husband Elgin and their
daughter Bee as they attempt to build a life together in Seattle, though
Bernadette, in particular, hates Seattle and the Pacific NW, and, as a
Californian, is somewhat of a judgmental, arrogant snob. Along with
those traits comes an eccentric way of living, where Bernadette buys an
old children's reformatory that is nearly condemned and then lives
outside of it in an airstream trailer her daughter dubs "Petite Trianon"
after Marie Antoinettes little escape place when she lived in
Versaille.
Elgin
is also a genius, but with computers, so he works for Microsoft once
the company buys his own robotic software startup. He's a bit of a
cypher, but, like most men, seems to stumble along making mistakes with
emotional issues and dealing with his family on a daily basis. While
Elgie, as he's called, isn't good with people, other than nerds who
speak his language, Bernadette is too cynical, angry and sarcastic to
get along with any of her neighbors, so she becomes a misanthrope and
hides herself away behind sunglasses and snark, while her neighbors plot
and gossip about her.
Unfortunately,
Bernadette has some seriously crazy neighbors who drive her to
retaliate in cruel, if hilarious, fashion. Bee, who was born premature
with a heart defect, adores her mother and has come to understand her
rants and raves, but still considers her a great parent, since her
father is away most of the time. Following some very Seattle
circumstances that go wrong, Bernadette's husband tries to have her
committed to a mental institution and at the same time ends up getting
his admin assistant pregnant, though he doesn't love her and is still in
love with his brilliant wife. Meanwhile, Bernadette thinks she has
hired a virtual assistant in India, when in reality, she's given all her
financial information to the Russian Mafia, who are coming to Seattle
to kill her and take over her identity. The FBI and local authorities
show up to try and catch the RM in action, only to find that Bernadette
had no idea what was going on and is in the middle of an "intervention"
to get her committed.
While
the whole family was supposed to take a trip to Antartica, Bernadette
ends up escaping all her troubles on the ship while her daughter is sent
to a fancy boarding school and her husband tries to figure out where it
all went wrong. Soon, Bee has gathered interviews with old professors
and collegues of her mothers, along with emails and texts and invoices,
in order to make a book that she believes will lead her to find her
mother, who is considered dead after drinking too much and supposedly
going overboard on the ship. When Bee and Elgie undertake the journey to
Antarctica for "closure," things wind up being even more complex than
previously thought.
If
I had one criticism about this book, and it's a minor one, it would be
that Bernadette doesn't actually disappear until the last third of the
book, so we are treated to all these materials about her prior to that,
which really isn't a bad thing, since they're all so interesting. But it
would have been great if Bee and Elgie had been looking for her before
the book was almost over. I realize that is somewhat of a plot style
choice, but still, it is just a wee bit frustrating. Still, the book has
a wonderfully happy ending, and we're left feeling as if we actually
know these people, and have learned to love them, quirks and all. A
solid A, and I would recommend this book to those who enjoy satire that
is somewhere between Voltaire and David Sedaris.
Last
Night at the Chateau Marmont was a book that I've read for the
library's Tuesday night book group, and I was expecting it to be much
more literary than it actually was. As it is, the book read like a cross
between a Helen Fielding novel and a Candace Bushnell book, with a
touch of Danielle Steel thrown in for good measure. Melodramatic,
pot-boiler, chick-lit, whatever you want to call it, the story revolves
around Brooke, a redhead who is a bit ditzy but has great stylish
friends, and Julian, her musician husband, whom she's been working two
jobs as a nutritionist to support for 5 years.
Here's the official blurb
review from B&N:
Brooke loved reading the dishy celebrity gossip rag Last Night. That is, until her marriage became a weekly headline.
Brooke was drawn to the soulful,
enigmatic Julian Alter the very first time she heard him perform
“Hallelujah” at a dark East Village dive bar.
Now five years married, Brooke
balances two jobs—as a nutritionist at NYU Hospital and as a consultant
to an Upper East Side girls’ school, where privilege gone wrong and
disordered eating run rampant—in order to help support her husband’s
dream of making it in the music world.
Things are looking up when after
years of playing Manhattan clubs and toiling as an A&R intern,
Julian finally gets signed by Sony. Although no one’s promising that the
album will ever hit the airwaves, Julian is still dedicated to logging
in long hours at the recording studio. All that changes after Julian is
asked to perform on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno—and is
catapulted to stardom, literally overnight. Amazing opportunities begin
popping up almost daily—a new designer wardrobe, a tour with Maroon 5,
even a Grammy performance.
At first the newfound fame is
fun—who wouldn’t want to stay at the Chateau Marmont or visit the set of
one of television’s hottest shows? Yet it seems that Brooke’s sweet
husband—the man who can’t handle hot showers and wears socks to bed—is
increasingly absent, even on those rare nights they’re home together.
When rumors about Brooke and Julian swirl in the tabloid magazines, she
begins to question the truth of her marriage and is forced to finally
come to terms with what she thinks she wants—and what she actually
needs.
I found the book easy reading, and fun in spots, though the constant
detailed description of every scrap of clothing the couple wears, and
the shoes, and the coats, etc, got to be a bit much, and was tedious by
the time I finished the novel. The thinly-veiled celebrity send-ups were
fun, but nothing revelatory, and I found Julians weaknesses, (and they
were many) to be annoying and unrealistic. I wasn't surprised at all
when he got 'caught' with another woman, and I wasn't surprised that his
manager had the whole thing set up. Neither was I at all surprised that
the couple got back together. Love conquers all in books like this,
especially when there is fame and fortune on the line. The prose was
decent, if a bit breathless in spots, and the plot moved along at a
metered pace, only slowing for the endless fashion descriptions. I'd
give this novel a B-, with the caveat that it is what it is, a chicklit
feelgood book that runs along the same lines as a Candance Bushnell
novel. Sweet, but not horridly so, not enough to give you a cavity or
diabetes. I'd recommend it to those who like a light, fluffy beach read.
