Village Books Blog

Sarah's Verklempt Books of the Year

One of the greatest things about Village Books is tradition (almost 30 years worth!). And one of my favorite traditions is actually one that customers never see--the tradition of the “Verklempt Books of the Year.” Every year, I choose books to show to the staff that, well, made me a little verklempt. At my first staff meeting, I remember Jasmine, the children’s book buyer at the time, gushing about the book Criss Cross, which eventually won the Newbery. I was so glad to be a part of a place where the staff got openly weepy about books. This year, I’ve decided to let the secret out about the books that I chose to share with the staff.

For picture books, the hands-down winner is Otis by Loren Long. When I first saw this book, tears immediately sprang to my eyes. It’s such a sweet story and the art is breathtaking. The style is a definite departure from Long’s usual approach, but it works like magic. The muted tones and the wide open spaces serve to highlight our hero Otis. I was lucky enough to see a presentation showing the artistic changes that Long had made to get just the right feel for the book and, let me tell you, a lot of thought has gone into this book.

The runner-up is Imaginary Garden by Andrew Larsen, illustrated by Irene Luxbacher. In this story, Theo’s Grandpa is too old to be living in a big house anymore so he moves to a small apartment. Unfortunately, this means leaving his and Theo’s garden behind. So, instead of being bummed out about it, they create an imaginary garden with canvas and paints. The art in this one tells the great story as they put on gardening gear to go out on the balcony and paint more flowers on their garden. A wonderful tale about making do and the power of creativity.

For older readers, I was blown away by two books this year. The first is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. The setting is amazing and the characters are realistic and and and and… Basically, Miranda and Sal are best friends until they aren’t. When Miranda starts receiving little notes that start coming true, her life sort of goes upside down. Combine that with her mother preparing to appear on the game show $20,000 Pyramid (which lends its category approach to the chapter titles) and Miranda’s reading of A Wrinkle in Time, this is a wonderful heart-squeezer of a book. When you finish it, you will want to open the front cover again and commence re-reading.

The second book is The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly. The star of this story, Callie Vee, is the girl who hates to be girly. She is much more interested in plants and dirt and the scientific method than cooking and needlepoint and dresses. Set against the backdrop of Darwin’s publication, this story is broader than just a typical tomboy tale. Add in a persnickety grandfather and the possible discovery of a new species and you’ve got a great book.

Even just by revisiting these books for this post, I’m getting a little verklempt. I need to go grab a tissue. Thanks for reading!

--Sarah

Guest Post: J.A. Jance

J.A. Jance has become a Village Books favorite and we are fortunate enough to be an ongoing host for her readings. She will be appearing at VB on Monday, December 14, 7:00pm for her latest book, Trial by Fire.

 For the first time in many years, I’ll be coming to Village Books to do an event on a weekday evening in December.  For the past several years and more books than I can remember, I’ve come there on late Sunday afternoons and enjoyed seeing the people out in the park listening to music, dancing, and generally enjoying themselves.

 

But this time around the signing will be on a week night.  Since it’s winter, it will also be dark, and that reminds me of the first time I did an event at Village Books.  It was for my first hardback, Hour of the Hunter.  Since my husband was still working (outside the home) at that time, I drove to Bellingham by myself.  It was an amazing drive.  It was dark and cold.  On the radio that afternoon, I was listening to news reports from a hotel in Bagdad where bombs were falling because that happened to be the day the first Gulf War was starting in dead earnest.

 

So as I drove along, I wondered if anyone would show up for the event, or would they all stay at home, glued to their television sets much the same way the whole nation stayed glued to the tube on those long days in November of 1963 when President Kennedy was assassinated and buried?

 

And my concern wasn’t far from wrong.  The bookstore had plenty of chairs set up, but only six people showed for the signing.

 

In twenty five plus years of doing book signings, I’ve come to understand that this is a free country.  Bookstores aren’t able to REQUIRE that their customers show up for events.  My philosophy of doing book signings was already established by the time I got to Bellingham that night, and it continues to be my philosophy:  DO THE BEST YOU CAN WITH WHAT YOU’VE GOT!

 

For some reason, those six people didn’t WANT to stay home and watch the news.  They didn’t need to see bombs falling or hear the resulting explosions.  They needed to be entertained.  They needed to lose themselves in a story that WASN’T a looming war, and my job was to give them what they wanted. 

 

Coming to Bellingham this late in the busy holiday season isn’t exactly like doing an event at the beginning of a war.  But the holidays are similar to that in they are engrossing; they demand attention; they consume energy and time and effort.

 

So we’ll see who comes to a book event on a precious week night in the middle of a very busy season.  Whoever comes, we’ll be glad to see you.  And for those of you who have to take a pass?  Happy Hanukah.  Merry Christmas.  Happy New Year. 

 

See you next time around.

 

Guest Blog Post: The New Approach to Self-Publishing

This week's guest blog comes from The Therapist's New Clothes author, Judith  D. Schwartz. She has a B.A. from Brown University, an M.S.J. from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Northwestern University and lives in southern Vermont.

  When I learned that Village Books was getting the Espresso Book Machine, I was thrilled: another member of the “club”, the small but growing number of bookstores ready to take a leap into new ways of creating books. I’m all for taking that leap. You see, as an author I did it myself: I’ve decided to bring out my latest book, The Therapist’s New Clothes, using the Espresso Book Machine at my nearby bookstore, The Northshire in Manchester, Vermont. The book is a memoir about training as a psychotherapist—and a cautionary tale about the seductions of therapy. Why did I use the EBM? Because I refused to give up on a book readers (and I) loved yet for some reason or no reason didn’t get picked up by a publisher (but ooh, we came so close). Because the publishing industry is in transition (read: in a mess) and I didn’t think I should let a dysfunctional system determine my literary fate. Because I thought it would be kind of fun to be among the first to try out a new technology. Am I glad I did? Absolutely.  

I’ve liked the opportunity to be involved in the physical production of the book—determining the design and other details, and learning of the many decisions that go into the process. In particular, I enjoyed working on the cover—which involved bringing a bunch of fabric to a local artist’s house and being awed by what someone gifted with a good eye can do. I feel empowered by the awareness that I control what happens to the book. I like that it happens fast. I like that I can embrace the spirit of experimentation, and that I can take part in a larger cultural conversation about the future of the book—which is something I care deeply about.  

Then there were benefits to the EBM I hadn’t thought about before. For one thing, it’s less wasteful. Typically, every book you buy travels from printer to warehouse to the retailer. Books that aren’t sold are sent back and pulped. The EBM print-on-demand model means no paper waste or unnecessary transport. Also, in my journalistic work I’ve been writing about building local economies. I saw that using the EBM is essentially creating a form of local publishing: the book is written, design, printed and distributed locally. Nothing is outsourced to New York. That means that 1) money stays in the community; and 2) this helps create local production capacity, which enhances local economic resilience. As someone who lies in a small town in a rural state, I can appreciate that every dollar that stays local matters. So, although I didn’t realize this at the outset, it turned out that this form of publishing was in line with my values.  

There are challenges. It’s prohibitively expensive to send books out to review (where’s my mailroom when I need one?) But perhaps with time people will get used to accepting PDFs as review copies. Getting the word out is hard, and getting books into other stores (I’m using the Ingram/Lightning Source program) is even harder. But the triumphs—the reader who serendipitously finds the book and loves it; the bookstore that wants to feature it—are that much more personal, and rewarding. 

For all you prospective EBM authors, I have a blog that addresses the challenges and implications of publishing with the machine. It’s at: http://litadventuresinpod.blogspot.com. Please come visit and send questions my way; I’ll be happy if my experience proves helpful to others!

I Simply Don't Care...Unless I Win

The National Book Awards were announced last night and the winners are:

Fiction: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Woo-hoo!)

Nonfiction: The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T. J. Stiles

Young people's literature: Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

Poetry: Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy by Keith Waldrop

I don't know how much book awards dictate your book selections. I know for me that book awards don't dictate my book selections. If I want to read a book, I'm going to read a book. And if I don't want to read a book, I don't care who is telling me I should read it, I'm simply not going to read it (unless I suddenly end up back in college where my grade in Practical Criticism pends on my knowledge of and ability to interpret Mrs. Dalloway in at least three different literary analyses ranging from Marxist crit to feminist crit). Even though I don't read what the awards committees tell me to read, I'm still intrigued enough to follow their selections and find out who the winners are. The Man Booker Prize, the National Book Awards, the Newbery, the Caldecott, the list goes on and on. Rarely have I read any of the finalists for these awards, let alone the winners. So what does that mean? Is my taste in books not refined enough? Is my eye for good writing not discerning enough? I mean, I'm apparently pompous enough to think that House of Leaves is a mind-blowing interactive read (if you ever want to hear about my creepy experience reading this book, stop in and I'll tell you), but also lowbrow enough to think Bitter with Baggage Seeks Same is one of the funniest things since Peanut Butter Jelly Time. All that being said, when a book I have read appears on an awards list, I suddenly become the proud parent--"That's my baby! I always knew she'd go places!" Suddenly I feel like I'm in the know--"Oh that old book? Yeah, I read it, like, 6 months ago. Oh? You haven't read it yet? Well, you are absolutely missing out." So when I saw that Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin won for fiction, I was elated. It's such an underrated book. Great concept: It's 1974 and Philippe Petit is walking the tightrope between the Twin Towers. While the crowds gather below, we are told the stories of a handful of characters who are either hearing about or witnessing this feat. I've been plugging this book for months and maybe now will be its time to shine. My little baby has been given the recognition she deserves. Oh? You haven't read it yet? Well, you are absolutely missing out.

-Lindsey

When the Words Won't Come Out Right

This week, Village Books welcomes guest blogger and author Amy Foster. Amy's debut novel is When Autumn Leaves, which is now available. Her first foray into writing was as a lyricist for songs by Josh Grobin, Michael Buble, and Andrea Bocelli. She will be at Village Books on Friday, November 13, 7:00pm.

I really used to think that I had it down when it came to words. Before I started writing seriously, I did some serious reading. And then after I became a lyricist, I was able to manipulate the language to such a degree that it often felt like I was playing Sudoku with words. You have 14 syllables to say "I really miss you" (in an interesting way) and it has to rhyme with "eh." Plug it in. When I started writing fiction, I learned that writing without context, as one must with lyrics, served me well. I could say more in a single sentence, then some writers say in a page. Basically I thought I was pretty darn clever.

Then, I began to do publicity for When Autumn Leaves, my first novel. My trial by fire began with Canada AM (Canada's version of the Today Show). I did a lot of hair flipping and nervous laughter, but the words did not come as easily as they used to. In fact, many of them literally flew out of my mouth without even passing my brain first. My book is not complicated. It's easy to read, and meant to be fun and escapist. But I still have yet to master the perfect pitch for it. After I end up explaining the premise, it sounds a lot more complex than it really is. And more than a couple times, I accidentally implied my father was illiterate. Oops.

And then there are the radio tours. You begin at 4 a.m. and do literally 20 in a row. Half the time I have no clue what I'm saying. Am I even speaking English? I went back and listened to the last one I did, the last after 15 before. I go from being this smart, interesting, fairly articulate person to a someone whose air time is filled with "Ummmms," "I means," "I feel likes" and "I guess." 

Being able to write, even under pressure is one thing, being articulate at a dinner party or a fancy function is another. But being articulate after a 12 hour press day, or on your 25th interview--that is a whole different bag. I don't know if I'll ever master that one. People in the press and elsewhere have said my ditziness is charming. Ditzy? I'm not ditzy! I'm nervous and tired. So just when I believed I had the whole word thing down, I have to start all over again. I want people to find me interesting and accessible, but I don't want to come off as stupid. Now I find I need an entirely new language to deal with this entirely new set of parameters. More words, but a different arrangement. I'm hoping it's just practice and a question of getting used to it. Fingers crossed.

What's Love Got to Do With It?

This Saturday, November 7th is the first annual National Bookstore Day--a day devoted to bookselling around the country. What does that have to do with you? Well, first off, we're celebrating it by having a 10% storewide sale and giveaways (woo-hoo)! Second, I ask that you take a moment to seriously consider what Bellingham would be like if we lost Village Books or Henderson or Michael's or Eclipse or any of our other local bookstores. Sure, if Village Books closed, I'd be out a job, but I would find another one. I have more invested in this store than that, though. When I moved back to Bellingham from North Carolina this past May, I returned to Village Books (I was the Events Coordinator prior to heading to the East Coast). Many people questioned my decision of returning to VB, asking if I felt like I was backpedaling. My answer was (and still is) a resounding "no." Although my job in NC was in book publishing, I so badly missed the atmosphere of the bookstore. I missed knowing what other books were out there, I missed having access to all those books, I missed being part of something so closely tied to the community and so willing to let staff run with their creativity. I was elated when Chuck and Dee so warmly welcomed me back.

Bookstores are quirky and the staff tends to be even quirkier (you should see what a bookselling conference is like. Let's just say some of my favorite memories are with booksellers...and let's be thankful those memories weren't captured on film). Even amid the great migration toward Kindles and Sony Readers and the declarations that "books are dead," I love this business. I hope all of you know how fortunate we are to have Chuck & Dee heading up this crazy ride known as Village Books. Instead of digging their feet in and refusing to change their ways, they reinvent the store over and over and over again (see: Espresso Book Machine and the soon-to-be-introduced Symtio e-books). In a time when indie bookstores are crashing all around us, Bellingham still has Village Books (and Henderson, Michael's, Eclipse, et als.) So, even though Saturday is a day to celebrate bookstores, I see it as a way to celebrate perseverance in an industry that is so volatile. GoooOOOOO BOOKSTORES!

-Lindsey

On Eating Animals

The latest book I'm taking on is Jonathan Safran Foer's latest, Eating Animals. Those of you who know me know that I may be a weensy obsessed with Foer's fiction. Although I'm a strict fiction reader, I had to delve into his nonfiction book about, well, eating animals. When Foer and his wife (Nicole Krauss--The History of Love--are they a power couple or what?!) learned they were having a baby, they really began evaluating their lives--in particular, their eating habits. What sort of habits would they want to pass on to their child? They both came to the conclusion that perhaps this was the perfect time to stop their occasional vegetarian ways and instead go all the way. Eating Animals is the result of Foer's desire to understand why they were making that decision. Thus far the book is an interesting take on vegetarianism (something I don't practice). For example, when I read a book about vegetarianism, written by a vegetarian, I don't expect the author to give an extremely convincing argument on why we should eat dogs (don't worry, I'm not going to eat my dog. Or yours, for that matter). Yet, early on in the book I was facing just that argument. It caught me off guard, and let my guard down that I was going to spend the next 300 pages reading a fire and brimstone sermon on why I'm wrong for being a meateater. Some of the matter is, of course, shocking in its imagery, as we all are aware of the horrific practices of slaughterhouses and factory farming. Much of it is informative. And Foer's style still prevails even in his nonfiction (woo-hoo!) I will always eat meat and I'm ok with that. We'll just have to see if any of my unwise practices as a meateater change after I finish this book. I'm certainly aware of what I do wrong, but will I be moved enough to take action, or will I simply feel like I've just been dealt a major guilt-trip? That's yet to be determined, but it has at least got me thinking and that's better than nothing, right?

-Lindsey

Oh the Horror! An Interview with Chad Helder

Chad Helder is the Stoker Award-winning editor of Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet (Dark Scribe Press 2008), an anthology of queer horror fiction, which he co-edited with Vince Liaguno. Helder's first book of poetry, Pop-Up Book of Death, will be published by Queer Mojo Press, an imprint of Rebel Satori. He is currently working on a new collection of horror poetry for Dark Scribe Press.  He is also the creator and writer of Bartholomew of the Scissors (Bluewater 2008), a comic book miniseries with art by Daniel Crosier. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Jory Mickelson: You recently won a Bram Stoker award for your anthology Unspeakable Horror, tell me more about that.

Chad Helder: The Stoker award was for category “Superior Achievement in an Anthology.” I co-edited it with Vince, the founder of Dark Scribe Press. It was the press’ first book. That was pretty exciting. 

In June, I attended the Horror Writer’s Association convention in Burbank, CA and they had the awards ceremony there. There was a big dinner in a ballroom. It was very Emmy-esque. Our presenter was Ellen Datlow, probably the world’s greatest anthologist. It was a huge honor.

JM: Are you editing anything now? You have worked on several different projects in the past.

CH: I am not editing anymore; I am just writing poetry. The submission period for Unspeakable Horror started in the fall of 2007 and ended in May of 2008. I was reading 35 stories a month for it. We managed to but the book together by December 2008. That was it for me editing. I am not writing comic books right now either. I am working on a collection of horror poetry for Dark Scribe Press and have about 60 pages of poems. I need to get going on it if I am going to meet my deadline.

JM: Can you define horror poetry?

CH: Horror poetry is poetry that uses subtexts and borrowed images from the horror genre. My stuff tends to be very surreal and postmodern, in the sense that it consciously borrows from horror movies.  My poems want to be horror movies. I also use my dreams as a source for my poems. I dream about monsters from the horror genre.

I think that you have to be careful. If you Google “horror poetry” you will find a lot of stuff on the Internet. A lot of it can be really bad. The same thing happens if you search for love poetry online.  When poetry is awesome, it is awesome, no matter what the genre or theme is. Sylvia Plath wrote a poem with vampire overtones. I really love Plath.

Read the entire interview here.

If you would like to hear Chad read from his work, he will be appearing on the Chuckanut Radio Hour on October 13^th at 6:30pm at the Leopold Crystal Ballroom. Tickets are available at Village Books or www.brownpapertickets.com  You can also visit Chad’s website Unspeakable Horror at  http://unspeakablehorror.com/

Jory Mickelson is a VB Bookseller and is the blogger behind Literary Magpie.

 

Half the Sky

Many women around the world have no dreams. None. Can you imagine that? Thirteen-year-old women are raped and then expected to marry their rapists. Young girls with fistula are left alone in huts at the edge of villages to die. Young women are sold into sex slavery and encouraged to become addicts. The list goes on ...

But when women in the world are empowered there is less violence in the world. When impoverished young girls are educated their lives become better and they in turn help others in their communities.  These are some of the amazing things I learned after reading Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a book that describes many horrors perpetuated against women, but also offers solutions and ways for anyone to get involved.

--Sheri

The sensual pleasure of food

The texture. The bite. The aroma. Not to mention that my dog, Sam, likes to park himself on a rug in the kitchen and watch me cook, that is when I make it up from the couch where I'm reading about exquisite pastries that make me want to get up and bake them or wander into one of Bellingham's great bakeries.

Here are some of my favorite books to read and peruse when I want to cook, bake, or just luxuriate in the possibilities of what I could pop into my mouth.

Confections of a Closet Master Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado

Babycakes by Erin McKenna

Frank Stitt's Bottega Favorita by Frank Stitts

America's Best Lost Recipes by Cook's Country Magazine

Food and Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast


--Sheri