Nonsuch Book

day at the bookstore

 

Fundraiser time again at my favorite bookstore, Politics and Prose. Now this benefits the school where I work and is technically another day on the job, but the reality is that I get to hang out in a fantastic bookstore all day, and read, browse, talk to people and finish off the day with a wine and cheese happy hour. Not exactly a difficult day.

Last book fair day, I purchased a ridiculous number of books. Today, I displayed admirable self-restraint though. Just the stack you see above. All selected from the remainder section. $26 total. Awesome.

See anything you would recommend?

amazon author stores

The random associations of the internet are one of the things that make it so attractive to users. One never knows where one will land. Can be like a surprise gift every time you log on. Might also be what is shortening our attention spans. In just a few minutes yesterday, I happened across a sidebar "Born Today" list on a literary blog that informed me it was Umberto Eco's birthday which reminded me to check if I added in those Eco books of mine on to my Library Thing book list. I then discovered I had not added them yet but found some lists of other users' Eco lists and saw a book I had not read and do not own so I cruised over to Amazon to check if the book is currently in print/available where I typed in "Umberto Eco" and discovered these new Amazon Author Stores. Surfing is a run-on sentence.

On December 29, Amazon unveiled the beta version of approximately 2,500 individual author stores:

"Amazon Author Stores (beta) are new corners of our bookstore dedicated to offering customers a new way to browse and shop favorite authors, discover new books, and more. Today each Author Store includes a bibliography, and can include a biography, author photo, and discussion board. But stay tuned--we'll be adding more features in the months to come."

Smart. Refine your access points based upon consumer usage data generated by current Amazon functions. But Amazon search engines are genius. Could teach librarians a thing or two. Here are a couple of samples you might want to check out and see what you think.

• Umberto Eco
• Evelyn Waugh 
• Jane Austen 
• Alice Hoffman 

bas bleu, champion of the odd little book

The new Bas Bleu catalog arrived in the mail this week, and my fall reading wish list has grown in length once again. There are many great reasons to shop this catalog or the online store. They are an independent bookseller who still manage to produce a charming print catalog several times a year. They celebrate the bluestocking or literary woman among us with inspired book and product selections for us smart girls. Most of all, their offerings cover the great expanse of human creative and personal endeavor instead of aggressively foisting upon us the latest bestseller, Oprah selection or Bookmarked pick. This is not to say that these books do not have merit, but I feel even my own reading selections have become too "of the moment" of late.  I pick up the Bas Bleu catalog and seem to re-connect to my own reading desires in this unique and wonderful catalog that champions the "odd little book." They are not selling Watching the English, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, or Proust and the Squid at the local Target.