The Story of "Keep Calm and Carry On"

Two things about this video. Firstly, I've seen the "Keep Calm and Carry On" signs and posters all over the place as of late, but until I watched this video earlier today I had no idea what kind of historical significance the message carried. I'm sure I'm in the minority on recently gaining this bit of knowledge, but if you too don't know the back story, you've got to watch this short video. It's a lovely and inspiring story. Secondly, this bookstore from which the sign was rediscovered, Barter Books, looks like heaven on earth. I'm not sure I've seen a more magical looking bookstore in my existence. It's no wonder it was named one of the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world. I'm thinking this place might have to go on my bucket list. 



Have you been to Barter Books? What did you think? After tweeting this video earlier, Ana directed me toward her post that details her visit there. So jealous!

The Joy of Books

This video has been making the rounds and I wanted to share it with those of you who haven't yet seen it. Filmed at a bookstore in Toronto, Type, this magical video is a wonderful testament to the fascination of physical books. 

Eugenides is coming to Boswell!

I'm super pumped about this one! Jeffrey Eugenides is coming to Boswell Books on Sunday, October 23rd for a reading of The Marriage Plot! You know, that book everyone is talking about that I absolutely adored. From the Boswell Books website:

What more praise do you need than Boswell bookseller Stacie’s enthusiastic recommendation: “Eugenides deftly delivers a novel of great thought and romance, using the languages of philosophy, literature and theology to astutely explore the labyrinthine pathways of the heart. The warmth, intellect and beauty that glows from its eloquent pages and immersive characters had me in tears by the end. It's been years since a novel touched my soul so effectively: I LOVED THIS BOOK!”

I am definitely planning on attending this event. I'd put Eugenides in my top five authors I'd love to meet, so I feel really lucky that he is coming to Milwaukee and I am available to attend. Since I received an ARC of this one, it's a perfect opportunity to buy a hardback copy and get it signed.

Boswell Book Company is located at 2559 N. Downer Avenue, Milwaukee WI 53211.

In a somewhat related note, you know that vest that Eugenides was photographed in for a billboard in Times Square (pictured above). The one that is basically the wardrobe equivalent to Franzen's glasses? Well, you can follow it on Twitter now @EugenidesVest.

Jen Campbell and the weird things customers say in bookshops

I stumbled across this gem yesterday and wanted to bring it to your attention.

Jen Campbell from this is not the six word novel works a bookshop in London and began posting weird things customers say in bookshops, a series of strange conversations she has had while working at the bookstore.

If you haven't already read these, I highly suggest you head over to her blog and check them out. I guarantee a laugh from it. Among my favorites:
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Customer: Do you have any books on the dark arts?
Me: ...No.
Customer: Do you have any idea where I could find some?
Me: Why don't you try Knockturn Alley?
Customer: Where's that?
Me: Oh, the centre of London.
Customer: Thanks, I'll keep my eyes peeled for it.
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Customer: Do you have a copy of Jane Eyre?
Me: Actually, I just sold that this morning, sorry!
Customer: Oh. Have you read it?
Me: Yep, it's one of my favourite books.
Customer: Oh great *sits down beside me*, could you tell me all about it? I have to write an essay on it by tomorrow.
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Old Man: Hi do you have books on sex?
Me: I think we have a couple, yes.
Old Man: Excellent; I've had a hip replacement, and I wasn't sure how long I had to wait, you see.
Me: Right.
Old Man: I bet you could look it up on that computer there, though couldn't you?
Me: ... I suppose I could, if I needed to.
Old Man: Excellent thing, the internet.
------

There are loads more over at Jen's blog. Please go read them. They are priceless.

You can also follow her on twitter.

Mumford & Sons - Bookshop Sessions

I love Mumford & Sons and recently came across a bookshop edition of "White Blank Page" - which means it's officially book-related and I can post it here.

Enjoy.

St. Nick Knows I Like Books

I can say St. Nick brought me books, or I can tell you I went to Half Price Books and treated myself. Either way, I'm really excited about the goods:

The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood: I loved Oryx and Crake and this is her follow-up. I also managed to find the UK edition, which has an awesome cover.

Rabbit Redux, John Updike: Part two of the Rabbit series. I liked part one (Rabbit, Run) but wanted to give myself a break before I revisited Harry Angstrom. I'm ready now.

The New York Trilogy, Paul Auster: I recently discovered how much I like Auster after The Book of Illusions and Ben from Dead End Follies told me The New York Trilogy is a must. I'm super excited about this one.

The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath: I've never read any Plath and want to change that immediately. I was hoping to find her unabridged journals, but The Bell Jar will work in the meantime.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thorton Wilder: This is a book I've had on my TBR list forever. It sounds really interesting and I think I'll read it for part of my classics challenge. 

The Old Man and the Sea, Earnest Hemingway: I loved The Sun Also Rises and since Hemingway won the Pulitzer in 1953 with The Old Man and the Sea, I don't think I'll be disappointed. Again, I'm going to read this one for the classics challenge. 

Me Talk Pretty One Day, Sedaris: A collection of essays that has gotten great reviews. This will be my first Sedaris. 

That bookstores are such places is always hoped for...

Reading now: The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay

When I was looking for new mysteries/dark fiction to read for the R.I.P. Challenge I stumbled across The Secret of Lost Things on a Flashlight Worthy List Literary Thrillers for the Book Lover. The synopsis explains the book is "a literary adventure that captures the excitement of discovering a long-lost manuscript by a towering American writer and an evocative portrait of life in a bookstore very reminiscent of the world-famous Strand." In the novel, the bookstore meant to represent The Strand is named "The Arcade".

So, The Stand is my all-time favorite bookstore and I knew had to immediately buy this book; fifty pages in and it is living up to it's potential. Here is a beautiful passage that uniquely captures the experience and abidance of The Strand.

Understand, The Arcade itself is a city; itself, an island. That bookstores are such places is always hoped for but The Arcade is like the original wish behind such hopes. The Arcade was population, mass, the accomplishment of a city. Books were stacked like teeming New Yorkers, invisible inside their buildings, but sensed as bees in a hive. The hum of life issuing from the crowds that filled the city I had begun to experience, but in The Arcade that buzzing life was made calculable in things. Chaps always told mother and me books were minds on the shelf. Here is seemed true, books didn't seem inanimate, a kind of life rose from the piles heaped on tables before me.

I Love Half Price Books

A new Half Price Books opened near my house and I love it. Well, they actually relocated across the street but had a Grand Opening for their new location.

The goods:

The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie

Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood

The Woman Warrior - Maxine Hong Kingstong

The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Bank

The Book of Illusions - Paul Auster

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Jean-Dominique Bauby

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

Ann Patchett's Favorite Bookstore is Her Own "Personal Idea of Heaven"

Ann Patchett wrote a small article for NYTimes Magazine that details her life as a blur of bookstores and why she love this one in Petoskey, Michigan:

It is just so thrilling to be around people who read, people who will pull a book off the shelf and say, "This is the one you want." People who want to know what I'm reading and will tell me what they're reading so that while we talk , stacks of books begin to form around us. It's my own personal idea of heaven. It is also, in this age of the overnighted electronic hand-held, a bit of America you aren't going to see everywhere. 

If I ever get to Michigan I'll be sure to visit.