This
is vindication for those of us who love print books and generally eschew ebooks
and digital printing. For me, it's hard on the eyes to read sitting up on a
computer screen or a Nook tablet, so, though I've tried it, I have found that
the most enjoyable reading experience still contains a physical book, or what
the young folks call the "dead tree edition."
panic
over the uncertain future of print," today's New York Times
examines
the recent slowing down of e-book sales, including a 10% drop in the first five
months of this year for publishers reporting sales to the Association of
American Publishers, and suggested that "the digital apocalypse never
arrived, or at least not on schedule
"E-books
were this rocket ship going straight up," said Len Vlahos, a
former
executive director of the Book Industry Study Group and now part of the senior
management team of Tattered Cover Book Store
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz26472559,
Denver, Colo. "Just about everybody you talked to thought we were going
the way of digital music."
American
Booksellers Association CEO Oren Teicher observed: "The fact that the
digital side of the business has leveled off has worked to our advantage. It's
resulted in a far healthier independent bookstore market today than we have had
in a long time."
This
was posted on Shelf Awareness last week, and I thought this advice article was
very well written.
Wise
Advice for Writers
We are
old nobodies who love what we do. We would be old nobodies even if Oprah and
the New York Times best-seller list consecrated us, because we don't want
to create illusions around ourselves like so many others have done before.
Instead, we make what we love and dress how we like and dance in our kitchens
and breathe in the good moments because we know nothing lasts that long. We are
old nobodies who love what we do. We would be old nobodies even if Oprah and
the New York Times best-seller list consecrated us, because we don't want
to create illusions around ourselves like so many others have done before.
Instead, we make what we love and dress how we like and dance in our kitchens
and breathe in the good moments because we know nothing lasts that long.We
aren't rushing to some imaginary finish line. We are inching along slowly,
smelling the flowers, playing with our dogs and cats, giving generously to
those who need our help when we can.
We
wake up very early in the morning, before the sun comes up, and we say to the
world: I AM OLD AND I AM A NOBODY AND I LOVE WHAT I DO. You will be just like
me someday. If you're lucky.
I
completely agree that what booksellers do isn't as easy as it looks, though
I've not had the privilege of working in a bookstore yet.
'What
Independent Booksellers Do Isn't Easy'
"What
independent booksellers do isn't easy. They face frequently overwhelming odds
and strains, long days and recurring doubts. It isn't an easy life. And yet,
every day, they find time to read. The booksellers I know read incessantly; the
backrooms and sales floors of every independent bookstore I've ever been to are
a hum of 'Have you read this?' and 'What did you think of that?' No matter the
financial pressures and the ongoing stresses, booksellers find time to immerse
themselves in books new and old, to read deeply and passionately.
"They
are also, it has to be said, some of the most critical readers you are ever
liable to meet: if they feel strongly enough about a book to recommend it, you
know it's a good one. They won't dis a book they don't like, at least outright,
but another bookseller can always tell. It's as simple as the difference
between a book on the shelf, and a book in their hands as they press it toward
you, their face lit up with enthusiasm. 'You have to read this,' they'll
say.... And I suspect I speak for all writers in this country when I repeat,
'Thank you. Thank you, independent booksellers, for all you do.' "
--Canadian
author and bookseller Rob Wiersema
http://www.shelfawareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz26405725
in his latest post for the "Shelf Talkers" series at 49th Parallel
I
picked up a copy of The Scavenger's Daughters by Kay Bratt because it sounded
just like my kind of tale, full of heroism and triumph over adversity, with the
added bonus of it being about a man who survived Mao's Cultural Revolution in
China. Here's the blurb:
Coming
of age during China’s Cultural Revolution, Benfu survived the cruel years, but
he did not emerge unscathed.
The
Scavenger’s Daughters is the story of Benfu and his beloved wife Calli, chronicling
their attempts to build a life in the turmoil and aftermath of Maoist China. At
the heart of their struggle lies the pain of losing their only child. To fill
the terrible hole in their lives, they take in abandoned girls — the unwanted
“weeds” — as their own, lovingly caring for them as flowers in a garden.
Linnea, the oldest of the scavenger’s daughters, embarks on a struggle of her
own, as she falls in love with the son of a wealthy family.
Inspired
by a true story, this poetic tale of modern-day China chronicles Benfu and
Calli as they turn their path of hardship into a beautiful field of flowers.
I was
surprised to discover that this is a self published/POD book, printed by Amazon
publishing, mainly because it is so well written and has a beautiful cover.
Still, having studied Asian history in college, I have always been fascinated
by China and Japan and their myths, legends and history of bizarre and cruel
rulers. This tale starts with poor Benfu as a young man being tortured in a
"rehabilitation" camp because his parents were teachers and
intellectuals, and therefore despised among Mao's communist cadre during the
revolution. Benfu, who is guilty by association, fully believes he's
going to die in an outhouse, when he's rescued by a young man with food and
water and helped to escape. We then fast forward to more recent years, when
Benfu is old and has rescued many girl babies and children from the trash heaps
of his area of China, and is raising them with his wife because they lost their
only daughter many years ago. Benfu and his wife barely manage to survive and
have enough food on the table for themselves and their adopted daughters
because Befu is a scavenger who goes through trash for recyclable materials to
sell. Unfortunately, he's getting old, and his sickness soon lands him in the
hospital with tuberculosis. Meanwhile, one of his older daughters has fallen in
love with the wealthy son of a government employee, and Benfu, who has had many
run-ins with tight-fisted government officials, does not approve. Still, the
boyfriend proves himself kind and generous, and helps them all keep going while
Benfu is in the hospital. The boyfriend also helps Linnea get set up with her
own t-shirt shop, so there is more money coming in to help with the other
girls, several of whom are handicapped. You can't read this book and not fall
in love with old Benfu, whose kindness and compassion are seemingly infinite.
His daughters, whom he and his wife Calli name after flowers, are beautifully
rendered here, and I could almost see their little home and hear them each
trying to help the family survive by working in whatever way that they can.
Benfu's love of these little girls is so beautiful, I got misty eyed several
times. The prose is straightforward and strong while the plot cycles along as
steadily as Benfu on his bike. This book deserves an A, and a recommendation to
anyone who has an interest in the fallout of the "one child" rule in
China and other repercussions of Maos Cultural Revolution on the people of China.
We are
reading A Sudden Light by Garth Stein for the month of October for my library
book group. I've read, and loved, Stein's award-winning previous novel, The Art
of Racing in the Rain, so I felt confident going in that this would be, at the
very least, a well-written tale by Seattle author Stein. Here's the blurb:
Twenty-three
years after the fateful summer of 1990, Trevor Riddell recalls the events
surrounding his fourteenth birthday, when he gets his first glimpse of the
infamous Riddell House. Built from the spoils of a massive timber fortune, the
legendary family mansion is constructed of giant whole trees and is set on a
huge estate overlooking Seattle’s Puget Sound. Trevor’s bankrupt parents have
separated, and his father, Jones Riddell, has brought Trevor to Riddell House
with a goal: to join forces with Aunt Serena, dispatch the ailing and elderly
Grandpa Samuel to a nursing home, sell off the house and property for
development, and divide up the profits.
But as
young Trevor explores the house’s hidden stairways and forgotten rooms, he
discovers secrets that convince him that the family plan may be at odds with
the land’s true destiny. Only Trevor’s willingness to face the dark past of his
forefathers will reveal the key to his family’s future.
Spellbinding
and atmospheric, A Sudden Light is rich with vivid characters, poetic scenes of
natural beauty, and powerful moments of spiritual transcendence. “Garth Stein
is resourceful, cleverly piecing together the family history with dreams,
overheard conversations, and reminiscences…a tale well told,” (The Seattle
Times)—a triumphant work of a master storyteller at the height of his power.
I was
surprised at how creepy this book was, considering Stein's book told from a
dogs point of view has not an ounce of horror about it. I know we are supposed
to love Trevor, but he's more than a bit awkward with his snooping and his
erections every time his Aunt Serena even looks at him, or he catches a glimpse
of her feet or her breasts. I mean really, Ewwwwww. I can understand admiring
someone's beauty, but wanting to have sex with your aunt, even if she is evil
and manipulative, is grotesque and disgusting. I also felt that Trevor's
parents were pathetic and ineffectual, and his father's in ability to even talk
to his own father was bizarre. The unsung hero of this moody piece is the huge
old house built by timber and railroad barons back in the 19th century. I
happen to know some people living in those old mansions in Tacoma, and they're
amazing structures, full of old hardwood floors and staircases and beautiful
rooms and passageways. The ending of the book was overly melodramatic, and
unrealistic, I felt. Still, the prose was elegant and helped along the
eccentric characters navigating the twisty plot. I'd give it a B, and recommend
the book to anyone who finds Seattle history fascinating.
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