Sweet “just beyond beginning chapters” book about a year in the life of Flora Smallwood. Her dog has died and her parents are taking a breather from their marriage and she’s about to start 4th grade. This book is tailor made for those sensitive kids who don’t want bad things to happen, just like our narrator. Cynthia Rylant certainly hasn’t lost her touch for creating memorable characters — and the bookstore is called A Wing and a Chair! This is one to savor.
Tag: bookstores
Vive "le Bookstore"
June 22, 2012
According to this NYT article, The French are still going to bookstores. In fact, bookstores in Paris are thriving – and book sales are increasing! Owner of a small publishing house in Paris said “There are two things you don’t throw out in France — bread and books.” Besides their centuries-old reverence for the printed page, there is also the “Lang law” which has fixed prices for French-language books since 1981. And a small organization called Circul’livre determined to preserve the printed book takes over a small street near Montmartre once a month so customers can take as many books as they want – as long as they agree never to sell or destroy them. Yet another reason to love Paris!
Laura
Return of the Independent Bookstore?
August 1, 2011
Best-selling author Ann Patchett is opening a new bookstore in Nashville, Tennessee to “connect with true book lovers”. According to Karen Hayes, who has teamed with Patchett to sell books: “There are times where even when it’s convenient to read on your e-reader, you want that printed word, you want that piece of art. You want it on your shelf. You want it in your hands. It just means something so special.” Patchett will be joining the ranks of several other well-known authors who own bookstores: Larry McMurtry, Louise Erdrich, and Garrison Keillor. Read more in this recent Chicago Sun-Times article.
Laura, Reader’s Services
The Joys of Reading (and Not)
May 24, 2010
Having worked in bookstores and libraries for many years and having loved books for even more years, it was with great delight that I came across an essay Kristy Logan wrote for The Millions about her overflowing collection of unread books. Like Logan, I too am guilty of stockpiling far more books than I will be able to read in any reasonable amount of time. There is something thrilling about browsing little out of the way used bookstores, looking for hidden treasure. Like most book lovers I’ve got my list in hand of hard to find books that I’m hunting for, but the real joy of these visits is the unexpected finds I inevitably come across. On my most recent forays into Evanston and Chicago’s used book emporiums I did not come away with any of the titles from my list, but along the way I discovered a historical account of vampires in colonial New England, a collection of Ogden Nash poetry, and a book of x-rays from the Smithsonian of unusual fish and other deep sea creatures. I would have never thought to look for these books, but once I picked them up I knew that I had to take them home with me. Continue reading “The Joys of Reading (and Not)”