Bookstores

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap

1 Comment / 2012, Books in Bed, Bookstores, Non-Fiction /

I kept seeing The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap on the shelf at the library. First on a shelf when you walk in the door. Later on the “recommended” shelf. Then, on the Large Print shelves. It just kept appearing. Since I had an Adriana Trigiani book checked out the last time it jumped in front of me, I took it as a sign and checked it out. Large Print.  

TW’s mom read it and didn’t say anything about it.

TW read it and really liked it. Liked it so much that she bought a copy for Erica, Wild Iris Bookstore co-owner.

I read it and also really liked it. TW did freak me out by telling me that “the store burns down in the end”. I thought she was serious and was really upset about it. TW can be a pain in the butt sometimes. Bookstores should not burn down. People’s houses should not burn down, forcing them to have to replace their books, either.

I can’t decide if the book made me want to own a bookstore or convinced me that I don’t really want to own a bookstore, lol.

Posted via email from Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

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Bought today at Alibi Books

3 Comments / 2010, Books in Bed, Bookstores /

Alibi books is going out of business. Their entire stock is 50%. Hard to resist that. It’s even harder to go into a nice little independent bookstore and buy a ton of books at 50% because they’re going out of business. So sad.

Besides the books in the picture – we bought a birthday card, a “water board” (aka Buddha Board), and the game Civil Lore (which we’ve looked at a million times but never bought.)

I’ll miss Alibi Books.

Posted via email from Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

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Books, Books and Surrealism

1 Comment / Bookstores, cookbooks, Family Funk, Kid Talk, Travel Log /

First stop, after Cafe Nero for breakfast, was Foyles on Charing Cross.  OMG – better than the Tattered Cover in Denver because it’s well lit and modern and the books are new – except of course for the antiquities which I missed but TW saw – and bought… We spent a very long time there and could have spent a full day if we had left Master J at home.  E asked to go back at 5:30pm – even after a full day out.  It was that good.

Then we went back across town and walked down Portobello Road, without getting pickpocketed though someone else did while we were there, and got to Books for Cooks just in time to get a table for lunch.  I enjoyed the shop, and the lunch, so much that I PURCHASED COOKBOOKS.  TW also purchased cookbooks.  And, I bought one for RJ too but I don’t think she knows that I did.

We went home and dropped off our books and took a 15 minute breather and then headed across town in the other direction for a walk past Big Ben and a visit to Dali Universe.  Not enough paintings, a lot of sketches and watercolors but the sculptures… fabulous.  If we could combine Dali Universe in London with the Dali Museum in St Pete… now that would be a Dali museum! The kids enjoyed the trip more than I thought they would.  Surrealism is always interesting and at the end of the musuem they have a gallery with Dalis (and Picassos and Chagalls) for sale.  We all picked out one or six that we would like to buy.  Ah to own a Dali.

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Michelle Tea – Fiction!

2006, Books in Bed, Bookstores, Favorites, Feminism, Fiction /

michelles.jpgIf you read the Daily Dose then you know the picture in this entry comes from the reading/signing at Wild Iris with Michelle Tea. You also know we bought Rose of No Man’s Land, Tea’s first attempt at “fiction”. I read it yesterday and loved it.

Tea said at the reading that it was hard to write fiction, compared to memoirs, I can understand that. She also said she worried that she’d written characters nobody would care about or a narrator who was so obnoxious you wouldn’t want to read the story, this I don’t understand. I thought Trisha was terrific. And Rose, ah Rose, she wasn’t bad herself.

I can totally see this as a film. A cult classic for wild and alternative teen girls. Sort of like Virgin Suicides and Thirteen. Stuff parents do not want to see because it would give them nightmares about their daughters. What it ought to give them is nightmares about what men and boys do to girls everyday and what effect that has on girls.

No, it’s not one of those male-bashing feminist books. Not really. Tea did a nice job of putting across the mesage without slamming it down your throat. And, she gave her female characters the power to deal with the BS men dish out to them. Excellent.

This isn’t going to be any adult’s favorite book of all time. The writing just isn’t that great and the story is bouncey. It might, however, become your daughter’s favorite book – if she’s a fan of The Virgin Suicides, or Thirteen or anything by Francesca Leah Block.

I look forward to Tea’s next work of fiction – well not the comic book. Maybe the further adventures of Trisha and Rose (Trisha should be on Real World, imagine THAT!) or just a story about Rose? Whatever it is, I’m pretty sure I’ll smile my way through it – just like I smiled my way through Rose of No Man’s Land.

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Charis Books and More

6 Comments / Bookstores, Feminism, GLBT /

I don’t know why we’ve never noticed Charis Books and More on previous trips to Atlanta.  I could use the excuse that we most often go at night and it’s set just far enough off of the main road that it is easy to miss.  But we’ve gone often enough during the daytime that you’d think we’d have noticed it.  Weird.  Maybe the fact that we’ve missed it is part of what’s keeping Charis in financial trouble?  Or maybe it’s just that small independent bookstores everywhere are suffering?

I made sure we visited this time.  It was the least we could do since we all three really love our little women’s bookstore, Wild Iris and would be very sad if it closed.  We even bought a little rubber wristband to support their cause.  But, well, we weren’t really all that impressed. 

We’ve heard about how great this bookstore and what we found was a pretty run of the mill woman’s bookstore.  Nothing unusual or special about it.  I’m not sure what we were expecting – something to live up to the hype?  Oh well, that’s ok, it didn’t stop us from spending just shy of $100 in there, did it?  Charis doesn’t have to be anything other than what it is to be worthwhile to the community.  It was a nice, clean, well-lit bookstore full of interesting books.  Tons of women’s literature, lots of GLBT books, a nice children’s section and TW’s favorite item, Pussy Pucker Pots (you’re welcome, TechnoDyke). 

If you’re in Atlanta, visit L5P and be sure not to miss Charis set back just a tiny bit from Moreland, on Euclid.  The oldest feminist bookstore in the south is worth a visit. 

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Feminist Bookstores?

Bookstores, Feminism, GLBT /

Do we really need feminist bookstores anymore?

I saw this tiny little question linked to a tiny little article about a bookstore I’ve never been to.  I was immediately sorry to realize that even though we’ve been to Atlanta many, many times and we’ve been to quite a few bookstores, we have never been to this one.  When we go back again, which will be soon, we will seek this one out and enjoy it while we can – since it seems the end may be near. 

But beyond this particular bookstore, the question is what really stuck with me.  Do we?  Do we really still need these kinds of bookstores? 

Of course we do!  Ummm or do we?  I’ve gone back and forth with this, over and over again for two weeks and I still don’t know the answer.  Not for myself or for the collective "we". 

I didn’t grow up with a feminist bookstore.  I don’t think I visited my first one til I was in my late 20’s.  Until I moved to Gainesville in 2002 I did not live in a town that had one.  So do we really need them?  I did fine without one, right? 

One of the best things about this town is it’s tiny little women’s bookstore, Wild Iris.  We don’t go often, we can’t afford it!  Everytime we go in, we walk out with a ton of books and another $100 (or more!) on a credit card.  Just knowing it is there, though, makes me happy.  It makes me happy to hear my almost 16 year old say "Oh I bet they have that at Wild Iris".  It makes me happy to hear her say she went in to browse at Wild Iris while she was wandering around downtown.  When we had our mommy and me day last month, we enjoyed going in together and browsing and talking about the books and the women’s comic books and just being there.  In that female space. 

Last year (or was it the year before) we thought Wild Iris might close.  Luckily a new buyer was found and it survives.  And it appears to be the only surviving feminist bookstore in Florida.  Imagine that…

This still doesn’t answer the question – or maybe it’s the wrong question altogether.  Maybe it isn’t about need, it’s about want and the answer to that is a definite yes.  We still want feminist bookstores.  Definitely. 

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In Search of Geometry….

Bookstores, Favorites, Homeschool, Reading Lists /


We went to Barnes & Nobles this evening in search of some geometry books to help Michelle. She’s struggling a bit and really hates calling her teachers to say “I’m struggling a bit”. Considering she’s a teenage girl, she really doesn’t like talking on the phone very much. Weird kid. Anyway, we walked out of BN with a few geometry books and a bunch of other stuff. But what I like most about our once in awhile visits to BN is grabbing their New Discoveries flyer! My library reserve list is about to grow by leaps and bounds!

Another fun find at BN was their flyer about the Quill Book Awards. We’ve actually read a lot of these! I’m excited about voting for one of my favorite writers in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror category. I love, love, LOVE Christopher Moore! The Stupidest Angel is not my favorite but I’m happy to give it a vote in this category – especially since I am probably the only person on earth who really did not enjoy Jonathon Strange & Mr Norell.

I’m troubled by the best fiction category though. The only one I haven’t read is A Long Way Down and it’s probably the one I’d vote for if I had. I was so disappointed in The Mermaid Chair and only barely liked Gilead (TW didn’t even finish it). I hated The Plot Against America (TW really liked it) and I struggled to get through Allende’s Zorro, though once I get past the first 150 pages I didn’t struggle as much. Sigh, who to vote for …

Go over to the Quill Book Awards page and cast your votes… and tell me who you voted for!

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The Ministry of Reshelving

Books in Bed, Bookstores /

Courtesy of Jane – will you join the minstry? And, shouldn’t we be reshelving in libraries too?

1. Select a local bookstore to carry out your reshelving activities.

2. Download and print “This book has been relocated by the Ministry of Reshelving” bookmarks and “All copies of 1984 have been relocated” notecards to take with you to the bookstore. Or make your own. We recommend bringing a notecard and 5-10 bookmarks to each store.

3. Go to the bookstore and locate its copies of George Orwell’s 1984. Unless the Ministry of Reshelving has already visited this bookstore, it is probably currently incorrectly classified as “Fiction” or “Literature.”

4. Discreetly move all copies of 1984 to a more suitable section, such as “Current Events”, “Politics”, “History”, “True Crime”, or “New Non-Fiction.”

5. Insert a Ministry of Reshelving bookmark into each copy of any book you have moved. Leave a notecard in the empty space the books once occupied.

6. If you spot other incorrectly classified books, feel free to relocate them.

7. Please report all reshelving efforts to the Ministry. Email your store name, location, # of 1984 copies reshelved, and any other reshelving activities conducted, to reshelving @ avantgame.com. Photos of your mission can be uploaded to Flickr, tagged as “reshelving”, and submitted to the Ministry of Reshelving group.

Our goal is to relocate one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four copies, and to complete successful reshelving of 1984 in all 50 United States. Global contributions are welcome.

Note: this project is not a critique of bookstore culture, the state of the shelving industry, or even of pervasive government surveillance. It is merely an observation that 2 + 2 = 5, and 5 is no longer fiction.

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Curmudgeonalia

2 Comments / Books in Bed, Bookstores /

On Friday when I was checking to see if Cedar Key had added any new vegetarian restaurants to their tiny town, I stumbled upon the Curmudgeonalia website and blog. I think all bookstores ought to be blogging, don’t you?

So when TW said to me very late on Friday night, “You didn’t pack many books this time” I knew we were going to be book shopping at Curmudgeonalia the next day.

The first thing you should know about the Curmudgeon is that he does look very much like the cute little Curmudgeon on the website and he acts pretty curmudgeonly too, in the nice way that curmudgeons are. Quirky, outspoken, cranky but interesting sorts of people. Only interesting people should own bookstores, that should be a law.

The next thing you should know is that the Curmudgeonalia store is a tiny little thing with an interesting array of books. There was a nice selection of books about Florida, nice selection of young adult books. The young children’s selection was a little weak, in my humble opinion, but since I didn’t have any young children with me I didn’t particularly mind that.

The Curmudgeon offers internet access on one of his computers and it’s a wee bit pricey though he has a nice note on his computer telling you how much you’d pay for the service at an airport (apparently he hasn’t heard about all the folks grabbing free wifi in airports lately). It’s a nice service because there simply was no connection to be had on the island and there was a moment when I thought I might avail myself of it to email my kids because my cell phone also wasn’t working. But, I resisted spending the $10 and we bought books instead. 😉

TW bought “The Passionate Vegetarian” and the Curmudgeon told us all about the author’s days as a strung out hippy in Haight Asbury and how she’s made a gazillion dollars with a hotel and B&B in Arkansas and how interesting she is because he’s met her a few times. TW also bought “How We Eat” which is going to provide me with all sorts of inspiration for work. I bought “Tellable Cracker Tales” and “Florida’s Fabulous Natural Places” for the kids. I wonder if I can convince the kids to “retell” these Cracker Tales in a podcast…. I bet RJ would do it!

If you find yourself in Cedar Key, Florida then you must check out Curmudgeonalia and the Curmudgeon who runs the place. I bet you will find it as interesting as we did.

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