Anthem Book Blog

Hi Tim,

I'll bite at your request. Well played my friend. Read12 is a great idea for a website. Actually, I'm going to give you seven books and five bookstores that excel at atmosphere, selection, and bookselling prowess. All are great places to discover literature. And all of them have websites where your readers can purchase books online and support independent bookstores.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - This is a book that seems to go over well with a wide variety of ages and interests. Some people love the scifi aspect of it, but a lot of non-scifi fans really get into the messages about leadership, teamwork, and working toward a larger goal. Something about the story seems to resonate with almost everyone. I have a few good friends who count this as one of their life-changing books in their reading trajectories.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780812550702

On Writing by Stephen King - I want to recommend one King book, because so so many people dig his books. He works especially well with people who aren't used to reading a lot of books. But I really admire this one, his memoir about writing. The opening autobiographical memories key in on his early experiences and how it led to his writer life. The later chapters with advice for writers are clean and articulate. And I think a lot of the material is useful to readers to see how a book is put together.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780671024253

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - This is a fun book. It is whimsical and showcases the power of good comedic writing. I judge a lot of potential friends by whether they love this book or not.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780345453747

Ishmael by Daniel Quinn - A book at the top of my "Books that Changed My Life" list. Read at the right age at the right moment, Ishmael can forever alter how you see the larger world around us. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring will always be known as a critical text for the environmental movement, Ishmael should be a central book in the rising sustainable/green living movement.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780553375404

Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon - A great novel by one of the most skilled writers practicing today.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780312282998

Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley - my favorite personal finance book and one that is very applicable this year. I wish more people would use books to educate themselves financially. One of the key elements of increasing reading nationally is for people to elevate their financial net worth so they have more time and freedom to read, and more disposable income to purchase good books.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780671015206

The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway (Finca Vigia edition) - I was skeptical of Hemingway. I knew all the stereotypes and was turned off by the macho bullfighter in Africa with large guns and cocktails who shot people in the Spanish Civil War persona. Then I took a college seminar and read this book. I can still flip open to a story and get lost in the clean, simple writing that somehow creates breathtaking vistas of human experience. Amazing.
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780684843322


Tattered Cover LoDo store (lower downtown) Denver, CO - this is the store I grew up in and where my love of independent bookstores began. I have many author event memories. Library green carpet, gorgeous floor to ceiling bookshelves, the entire place exudes everything that is great about book culture.
http://www.tatteredcover.com/

Wild Rumpus Minneapolis, MN - the best children's bookstore I have ever seen. The front door has a smaller door inset, for kids to enter. Inside there are cages of lizards, spiders, and birds mixed among the bookshelves. The stars, though, are the resident chickens (Elvis and Priscilla) that wander the aisle. The staff knows their children's lit and can connect any reader with an appropriate title. Board books through Young Adult, with plenty for adults to discover too.
http://www.wildrumpusbooks.com/

R.J. Julia Booksellers Madison, CT - The inventory here is carefully chosen. I always discover new novels I want to read. This is my image of the quintessential New England bookstore.
http://www.rjjulia.com/

Third Place Books Lake Forest Park, WA - In Seattle, booklovers have to make the pilgrimmage to Elliot Bay Book Company in downtown Seattle. It has one of the best bookstore atmospheres in the country. But me, I actually prefer what is going on up north at Third Place Books. It's built around the sociologist concept of "Third Places." The idea is that everyone needs three places to have a balanced, happy life: your first place is home with family, the second place is work - what you do, and the "third place" is a community-oriented public space for you to interact with neighbors. This idea is what drew me to work at the store for two years starting in 2001. Third Place Books has a large "commons" area in between the bookstore and the restaurants. Groups congregate, live music is performed on weekends, and anytime people are encouraged to come and read, study, talk with each other. A busy night here can be a magical experience.
http://www.thirdplacebooks.com/

Tatnuck Booksellers Worcester, MA - Great space, tons of books, fun cafe. I could spend a whole day at Tatnuck. I have a lot of admiration for the way they renovated an industrial space into a book center.
http://www.tatnuck.com/

I have more favorite bookstores listed here: http://www.indiebound.org/users/bookdad

Take care,
Jay

Mid-Atlantic

Delaware
Maryland
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Washington, DC

Midwest

Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin

New England

Connecticut
Maine
Massachussetts
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Vermont

Pacific Northwest

Alaska
Oregon
Washington

Mid-South

Arkansas
Oklahoma
Texas

South

Alabama
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia

West

Arizona
California
Colorado
Hawaii
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Utah
Wyoming

Frequently, I hear about a bookstore I've never been to and think, "if I'm ever near that town, I have to check it out." This is my list to help me remember.

Mid-Atlantic

Delaware
Maryland
New Jersey
New York
Books of Wonder - New York, NY http://www.booksofwonder.com/

Pennsylvania
Anthology New and Used Books - Scranton, PA http://www.scranthology.com/
Chester County Book Company - West Chester, PA http://www.ccbmc.com/
Moravian Book Shop - Bethlehem, PA http://www.moravianbookshop.com/
Otto's, A Booklover's Paradise - Williamsport, PA http://www.ottobookstore.com/

Washington, DC

Mid-South

Arkansas
That Bookstore in Blytheville - Blytheville, AR
Oklahoma
Texas
Blue Willow Bookshop - Houston, TX http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/
Bookpeople - Austin, TX http://www.bookpeople.com/
Brazos Bookstore - Houston, TX http://www.brazosbookstore.com/
Katy Budget Books - Houston, TX http://www.katybooks.com/

Midwest

Illinois
Anderson's Books - Naperville, IL http://www.andersonsbookshop.com/

Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Watermark Books - Wichita, KS http://www.watermarkbooks.com/

Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
Driftless Books and Music - Viola, WI http://www.driftlessbooks.com/


New England

Connecticut
Maine
Sherman's Books and Stationery - Freeport, ME http://shermans.com/

Massachussetts
Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art Bookshop - Amherst, MA http://www.picturebookart.org/shop
Inkwell Bookstore - Falmouth, MA http://inkwellbookstore.blogspot.com/ http://www.inkwellbookstore.com/


New Hampshire
RiverRun Bookstore - Portsmouth, NH http://www.riverrunbookstore.com/

Rhode Island
Vermont
Galaxy Bookshop - Hardwick, VT http://www.galaxybookshop.com
Northshire Bookstore - Manchester Center, VT http://www.northshirebookstore.com/

Pacific Northwest

Alaska
Fireside Books - Palmer, AK http://www.goodbooksbadcoffee.com/
Title Wave Books - Anchorage, AK http://www.wavebooks.com/

Oregon
Washington

South

Alabama

Florida
Books and Books - Coral Gables, FL
Inkwood Books - Tampa, FL http://www.inkwoodbooks.com/

Georgia
Kentucky
Louisiana
Mississippi
Lemuria Bookstore - Jackson, MS http://www.lemuriabooks.com/
Square Books - Oxford, MS http://www.squarebooks.com/

North Carolina
Malaprop's - Asheville, NC http://www.malaprops.com/

South Carolina
Tennessee
Virginia
Zazzy Z's - Abingdon, VA http://www.zazzyz.com/
West Virginia

West

Arizona
Changing Hands Bookstore - Tempe, AZ http://www.changinghands.com/
Poisoned Pen - Scottsdale, AZ http://www.poisonedpen.com/

California
A Great Good Place for Books - Oakland, CA http://ggpbooks.com/
Bluestocking Books and Bindery - San Diego, CA http://www.bluestockingbooks.com/
Book Passage - Corte Madera, CA http://www.bookpassage.com/
Bookshop Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz, CA http://www.bookshopsantacruz.com/
Capitola Book Cafe - Capitola, CA http://www.capitolabookcafe.com/
Hennessey and Ingalls - Santa Monica, CA http://www.hennesseyingalls.com/
Hicklebee's - San Jose, CA http://www.hicklebees.com/
Mrs. Dalloways Literary and Garden Arts - Berkeley, CA http://www.mrsdalloways.com/
Moe's Books - Berkeley, CA http://www.moesbooks.com/
Mysterious Galaxy - San Diego, CA http://www.mystgalaxy.com/
Sepulveda Westside Car Wash - Los Angeles, CA
Skylight Books - Los Angeles, CA http://skylightbooks.com/
Vroman's Bookstore - Pasadena, CA http://www.vromansbookstore.com/

Colorado
Maria's Bookshop - Durango, CO http://www.mariasbookshop.com/
Old Firehouse Books - Fort Collins, CO

Hawaii
Idaho
Bookpeople of Moscow - Moscow, ID http://www.bookpeople.net/

Montana
Chapter One Book Store - Hamilton, MT http://www.chapter1bookstore.com/

Nevada
Bauman Rare Books - Las Vegas, NV http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/
Sundance Bookstore - Reno, NV http://www.sundancebookstore.com/

New Mexico
Utah
King's English - Salt Lake City, UT
Sam Weller's - Salt Lake City, UT
Wyoming

This month is going to be remembered for all the changes happening in our lives. I left my job at Voltedge on May 30. We bought our first rv, a pop camper 2002 Viking Saga, from a couple in Merrimac, WI, to be used for camping and traveling for the next 2+ years. Erica found out she received a National Science Foundation grant to do research work this summer/fall throughout the state. We will know very soon if Erica is going on the academic job market this year or next. Her dissertation proposal is in process. Will is changing daily.

I'm at another career crossroads. All my many interests are converging in strange ways. Right now the simplified list of interests is: books, technology, history, bookselling, progressive economics, travel, business, entrepreneurship, economic development, parenting, community building.

A few things I'm reading this week:

- Jessica Stockton's Written Nerd blog has a great dialogue between Carl Lennertz, Andy Laties, and Dave from NJ about the importance of Book Sense. The debate started here with Dave's complaints about the ABA.

- I'm following the Whole Foods stock now, for a number of reasons, but one of them is because I admire the shopping experience I get at Whole Foods and want to learn more about how the company operates. Tonight I discovered the CEO's blog and this amazing post on how he sees Whole Foods using the theory of Spiral Dynamics to advance their company mission. Spiral Dynamics seems to have some good points and I see vague connections to some of the directions my bookstore thinking has been heading lately. If you read a little about the CEO's thoughts on changing agricultural practices, you see that this company has way bigger, global goals than simply profit and loss.

- This Tuesday, Aug 8, Connecticut Democrats vote to keep Joe Lieberman or oust him in favor of Ned Lamont. This election could be a historic moment for the future of Democrats and defnitely will shape the political dialogue for Fall midterm elections. I think it's indisputable that political books are a key category for many bookstores and will only become more popular as we hit the next presidential cycle. I'm reading Daily Kos for CT Primary news.

- Baghdad Burning paints a grim picture of life inside Baghdad. I'm not a foreign policy expert and I don't have any answers on the Iraq war. But the closest I see to positive steps forward is actually talking one on one with people across cultures. Doing it through the universality, security, and anonymity of blogs seems a good place to start. This person who says "You can only hope your family and friends will remain alive- not safe, not secure- just alive. That’s good enough," is also posting Iraqi recipes for the world here. That's something isn't it? Isn't it?
UPDATE: The blogger has a book out from Feminist Press.

Travis turned me on to the Yotophoto site for aggregrating free stock photos and that led me to this flickr link for pictures of Acres of Books in California.

Acres of Books website

from the BBC:

A rare book of Shakespeare's plays, considered to be one of the most important in British literature, is to be auctioned at Sotheby's in London.

The complete first folio of the playwright's work had a print run of approximately 750 in 1623.

However, only a third of these survive and most of them are incomplete.

The book is being sold by Dr Williams's Theological Library in London, which hopes the proceeds - expected to be more than £3m - will secure its future.

Full Article

I'll never forget seeing a first folio at the British Library. It's amazing to me whenever something like this comes up for auction. I'm sad that the Theological Library has to sell it to continue their existence, but at the same time hopefully another institution will buy it (or have it bought for them). Then they can be the safekeepers for another three hundred years until they need to sell it to raise some funds.

There's a group of booksellers forming a discussion group to discuss how bright, talented people can afford to stay in the book industry, particularly bookselling.

They've come up with a great list of topics:

Financial Seminars: how to be a bookseller and not have a roommate; how to be smart with the little money you have; etc.

Bookstores of the Future: What do they look like? Will they include multi media? Is their a new model emerging?

Pushing the Status Quo: how can we improve profits to directly increase salaries?

Mentoring and Peer Networking from booksellers who have been leaders in the industry.

The ABA is sponsoring a scholarship to BEA open to booksellers who consider themselves Emerging Leaders. The ABA is also sponsoring a get-together on Wednesday night of BEA.

Read the whole article on the scholarship and EL group idea at Bookselling this Week:

Emerging Leaders grew out of an ongoing conversation among several booksellers that took place at industry events. "We were looking to see who was in the new group of booksellers moving up behind us, and we couldn't see who they were. We thought we needed to create an opportunity for the next generation to find each other."

Hill described Emerging Leaders as "more of a movement, not a membership. We're just trying to start a dialogue and raise awareness around issues related to the future of the industry, and create ways to support the emerging leaders who will be directing that future." Emerging Leaders is open to "anyone who sees themselves in the book industry 20 years from now," Hill said.

To find out more about Emerging Leaders, or to be added to the mailing list, e-mail emleaders@gmail.com.

I'm very excited to see this dialogue opening. Longtime friends and readers know that this site has been collecting news and idea of interest to independent bookstores for years. I've been hoping that a new generation of booksellers would find each other and figure out how to take independent bookselling forward.

Looks like we're taking a giant step towards that this year.