Saturday Gift Post--Destination London.

Being that it's bicycle race day, and three days before the release of Chris Cleave's Gold, and just weeks before the Olympics, it seems like a good day to talk about our new London table.

There isn't as much London stuff as their as Paris, but we decided to run with the "Keep Calm and Carry On" theme that's been so successful in the store for the last couple of years. The Peter Pauper journals and cards have been selling out pretty much as quickly as we could restock them. When I saw a more extensive collection from Wild Wolf, we picked up the tote bags, pencil cases, mugs, and yet another journal.

Galison brought out a collection of London journals and sticky notes. And we're featuring our British themed string puppets. You can frog, clown, and British policeman in the photo below.

The books featured include an assortment of Olympics titles, in addition to several books about London. And once it's out on Tuesday, we'll also have a pile of Gold.

Three interesting Olympics books:

1. Igniting the Flame: America's First Olympic Team, by Jim Reisler (Lyons Press). Fourteen American men competed at the first modern Olympics, which was in 1896.

2. Olympic Visions: Images of the Game Through History, by Mike O'Mahony (Reaktion). An analysis of the promotional photos, posters, magazine covers, and other visual images of the Olympics.

3. A Passion for Victory: The Story of the Olympics in Ancient and Early Modern Times, by Benson Bobrick. Benson Bobrick's favorite Olympic athlete is Jesse Owens. PS--this is a book for kids, but Bobrick also writes books for adults. His forthcoming title is The Caliph's Splendor, coming August 14.

And now to study some of our featured titles. I'm being interviewed about Olympics books on Monday.