Their big upcoming project is the Eat Local Challenge. It's not just the UEC--Slow Food Wisconsin Southeast, Outpost Natural Foods, and two farmer's markets, Fondy and Westown, are also involved.
las, our other current collaboration with the Urban Ecology Center is on hold. We were cosponsoring an event for The Green Travel Guide to Southern Wisconsin, but the there was a problem with the first date, Wednesday, August 18th, so alas, this event is postponed indefinitely. It's a great book that we're selling quite well, so we're hoping to put something new together. For now, please unmark your calendars.
essed that these were the kind of books where most of the sale was still in independent bookstores.
here is another sub-category of this category, which doesn’t do quite as well, but is beloved by folks like us—books about bookselling!
casualty insurance. No, he can’t even get customers.
Liesl Schillinger's review in the New York Times Book Review. Here's just a teaser, for those who don't like to link:
ife with paradox. And King is too sophisticated to offer a straightforward redemptive arc. Instead, we see Gardiner grow, and we see him revert. We see Daley root for him, and we see her question whether doing so means personal stagnation. We see mistakes repeated and hopes renewed. Ultimately, King suggests, redemption lies less in healing than in living — simply being present to what is."
el, Jackie Loohauis-Bennett featured a collection of dog books. Cooper was very excited.
og!: What is Your Dog Really Thinking, by Professor Happycat
d. It's one of those kids books where a substantial amount of the readership is adult. It's not quite at The Book Thief level, where it seems that all of our purchases are too adults, but maybe more in the Twilight level.
f The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, readying ourselves for book #3. And Jason explained to me that I shouldn't let the seemingly quieter sales on book #2 get to me; as is the case for adult fantasy series, a lot of folks want to read all three books at once, and when the series is complete, will rush to buy all of them.
Parking Lot: A Zen Approach to Overcoming Anger. Having had irrational fits of anger myself, I am intrigued by any sort of way to get around it. Most of the time, it doesn't seem particularly productive or satisfying. 
ms to have really gone out of style, 3x5, but that's another story). Anyway, I don't like the exercise part. But still, we've done so well with The Power of Kindness (past 100 and keeps on chugging), so why not try this experiment.
the original post in the Boswellians here.
pied our location between 1979 and 1990. I'm sure every year the press thinks about updating their catalog distribution list, but things get in the way and it doesn't happen. Twenty years later, it's a good laugh. 
hat I worried about when I decided to host the new book by Michael Clemens, The Secrets of Abu Ghraib: American Soldiers on Trial on Thursday, August 5th, at 7 PM. As we discussed the situation, Clemens noted that interviews have been going well, and he's been able to change a few people's minds about what exactly happened and why. I think it's important to note here that the book is published by Potomac Books, a noted publisher of military history and world affairs.
dge, offering up knitted caps (modeled by this satisfied customer) and other wearables made from old sweaters, empowering the women of Guatemala to find solutions to poverty. You've probably heard of their swittens (sweater-made mittens), which have gotten a lot of nice write ups over the last few years.
recommends both books, by the way.“Alas, Madam! How few books are there of which one can ever possibly arrive at the last page…” Samuel Johnson
During recent travels to London, I adventured toward 17 Gough Square, the one time home of Dr. Samuel Johnson, author of the first English Dictionary. Lived in from 1748-1759, the Johnson house remains one of the few residences of its period, and is now surrounded by modern office buildings occupied by solicitors. The interior of the house contains period furnishings, portraits of Johnson and his friends (including James Boswell), and an extensive collection of dictionaries.
The highlight for most visitors unveils itself on the top floor, 
specifically the location Johnson worked on his dictionary for years. A collection of his favorite words from the thousands of books he read, Johnson’s dictionary codified definitions and spellings within the English language. Intriguingly a modern observer might be confused by the dictionary itself, as it contains many interesting editorial sayings, and quotes from contemporary authors. For example, the definition of oats reads:
OATS. n.s. [?, Saxon] A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
It is of the grass leaved tribe; the flowers have no petals, and are disposed in a loose panicle: the grain is eatable. The meal makes tolerable good bread. Miller.
The oats have eaten the horses. Shakespeare. 
It is bare mechanism, no otherwise produced than the turning of a wild oat beard, by the insinuation of the particles of moisture. Locke
For your lean cattle, fodder them with barley straw first, and the oat straw last. Mortimer.
His horse’s allowance of oats and beans, was greater than the journey required. Swift.
Following Johnson’s death, his long time friend James Boswell wrote The Life of Dr. Johnson. Although it is off the beaten path (near Temple Church), and requires payment to enter, this little house and museum remains one of my favorite parts of London. As Dr. Johnson stated, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”
ar, tomatoes would be my parents’ housewarming gift of choice, and they went out of their way to warm a lot of houses.
dia seemed to think it was ok to post the Rolling Stone piece on Robert Gates in its entirety because they hadn't put it up themselves (because they wanted to...sell magazines.) Pinch me. Anyway, it's up now.
t’s too late to read something and start recommending it, unless I am preparing for the paperback release. 
sister Leigh got along with their dad, and both left as soon as they could. Annie's now 28, a photographer in Michigan and engaged. When she gets a call that her father has been murdered, she travels to Florida intent on a quick funeral and a quicker departure.
ator. She’s in the sights of literary luminaries, but she also might be in the sights of Blade Markham. Ian doesn’t have much, but whatever he does have seems on shakey ground. Then there’s Faye, his fellow employee, an artist who turns forged paintings into artwork in their own right. Is this just friendship or something more? 
erences, and as a third strike, it was very Chicago-ish. And none of these restrictions seemed to hurt Saul Bellow, though it’s not like I’m selling him hand over fist in the bookstore*. (Note: both Crossing California and Washington Story are out of print--the link goes to my email, where we can discuss this further).
racters, as there is much genius in the story, and the strongest character was just a bit player in the first novel anyway. 
paperback original, which means, this better work! It sometimes does—look at Anne Enright’s The Gathering. Now all Langer has to do is become a citizen of the ex-British Empire and win the Man Booker.
ore pub date. Two months is when the Indie Bound nominations are due. Periodically I’ll get a request to read a bound manuscript (or more recently, a pdf file); the publisher is hoping I’ll like the book enough to give them a quote to use with other booksellers in the advance edition.
me friends in the process. On a moonlit birthday cruise for his wife on the Buffalo Bayou (well, more like hot links and grape soda on something not much nicer than a barge), they hear a woman’s scream. Do they help? The answer has serious repercussions. 
Friday, July 23rd, at 7 PM. Finny is the story of Delphine “Finny” Short, daughter of a socialite and academic, coming into her teen years, but more secure about who she is not than who she is. She finds herself attracted to Earl, a neighbor boy, and starts to see him under the guise of taking piano lessons from her father. The ruse is discovered, and she is sent to boarding school.
: I was curious about your inspiration. There were periods when I was reading it when I thought you were doing some sort of homage, only I didn't know the source. My literary vocabulary can be somewhat limited.
antly surprised that our sales have been generally up over what this store did over the last two years.
ulled out our holiday spinner (you've also seen markdown cards on it) to expand our birthday selection.
It's not the the colors are that unusual, but I was quite surprised when I realized that two of our most popular gift items at the moment come in identical shades of chartreuse, turquoise, cerise, and violet.
