Village Books Blog

But Does It Contain Wizards?

I recently told a friend that I had begun reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman and he replied "Do let me know what you think of the book, from your perspective not steeped in sf/fantasy." He's right. I typically . . . mostly . . . alright 98% of the time cannot stand sci-fi/fantasy. That's most evident when sheer panic arises when I'm approached by a customer and asked to recommend something from that section. I tried reading the first Harry Potter. I really did. It just wasn't for me. Actually, I'm so resistant to those genres (they are two separate ones, correct? Kidding! I'm kidding! I think.) that when my friend introduced even the possibility of The Magicians being fantasy, my opinion changed. Do I really want to read this? Even as I carry on through the book, I find myself asking, "Is this too much fantasy for me? Am I getting my usual sci-fi/fantasy heebie-jeebies?" To be fair, though (perhaps I need to whisper this): I am enjoying the book. There, I said it. I AM ENJOYING THE MAGICIANS!  Actually, I'm finding myself as intrigued with the story as I was while reading The Secret History (now THERE'S an amazing book!) This inner conflict ("I hate this genre, but I like this book") has me thinking--what have I missed out on by closing myself off from certain types of books? What amazing pieces of writing exist that, simply because of a dragon or perhaps a robot alien thingy on the cover, I have overlooked? I mean, perhaps I don't need to delve into The Wheel of Time series, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to check out American Gods. Don't hold me to that, though. I'm not ready to commit. I mean, I love zombie reads. That counts for something, right? But my endeavor with The Magicians does beg the question: What have I been missing? And really, I suppose, the same could be asked of you.

--Lindsey

The Anti-Aging Process

Recently I've found myself involved in numerous conversations about favorite children's books. Perhaps these talks are the result of the surge in young adult fiction (most recently, of course, being the Twilight series). One thing I've noticed--bringing up kid's books with a group of adults causes an immensely different reaction than say, bringing up religion or politics. Rather than heated arguments, people let out exclamations of "Oh my god! I LOVE that book!" or get wide-eyed with excitement and wave their arms wildly, practically jumping up and down like a 5-year-old (maybe that's just showing the true maturity of my friends). Now that I think about it, these recent conversations are the result of the upcoming release of Where the Wild Things Are (Chills! Chills, I tell you, from the trailer alone! SO excited for the movie!) A beloved book of so many of our own youths is being made into what looks to be an amazing movie. Huzzah! My absolutely favorite kid's book is and always will be The Monster at the End of This Book, narrated by none other than Grover. Know this one? If not, you need to set aside 2 minutes to read it (plus you can say you read an entire book today). My mom used to read this book to me, doing the most fantastic Grover impression she could conjure. And no matter how many times we came to find out who the monster at the end of the book was (I won't spoil it for you), I still held my breath as the brick wall crashed down and the ropes shredded apart at the turn of each page. And my mom, such an amazing mom she is, would be just as shocked as I was when the monster was revealed. I get so excited when I sell someone that book. I tell them my own story and, quite often, they've had a similar experience as a child. Few things can so quickly transport adults back to their childhood like their favorite book as a child. Think about it--what is your favorite children's book? Do you remember how you felt when you read your favorite book as a child? Are you smiling right now just thinking about it? When is the last time you sat down and read ________? Maybe today's a good day.

--Lindsey

Blount Gets Blunt About Shopping at Indie Bookstores

You may know Roy Blount Jr. as a Southern humorist.  He's also the current president of the Author's Guild.  This past week he issued the following about shopping at independent book stores.

Subject: Holiday Message from Roy Blount

I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are 
hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, 
so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose 
enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A 
government bailout isn't in the cards.

We don't want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do 
neighborhoods. So let's mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends 
together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy 
the rest of your Christmas presents, but that's just for starters. 
Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science 
fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the 
university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten 
up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance!

There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; 
they're easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any 
books looking raggedy on your shelves.  Stockpile children's books as 
gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold 
off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they'll be cheaper after 
Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful 
booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging 
you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: "Got to move on, 
folks. Got some books to write now. You see...we're the Authors Guild."

Enjoy the holidays.

Roy Blount Jr.
President
Authors Guild

Based on the Novel by...

Please welcome guest blogger, and fellow Village Books bookseller, Dave Wheeler, with his take on movies made from books.  And, while you're at it, check Dave's blog.

We’ve all said it: “No, but I saw the movie.” I say it about No Country 
for Old Men and frown at anyone who says it about The Lord of the Rings. There always seems to be a wealth of movie adaptations flooding theaters across the nation. Look for Watchmen, Twilight, Choke, and The Secret Life of Bees, and those are just out this fall. I could give you a whole list of books I enjoyed better than their movie counterpart and vice versa, but we’d be here all day. And don’t even get me started on book-about-the-movie adaptations, either. On some level, it bothers me that both media pervade each other so much, but it seems that if it weren’t for literature, cinema would mostly be sequels to Oceans 11 and Saw, and if it weren’t for movie rights, books (as a career) might be a little less lucrative. There’s nothing more exciting for an author to get bids on movie rights to his or her book—I’d imagine, although I do not know this for a fact since nobody’s breaking down my door to make a movie about anything I’ve written (ha ha ha). 

In the end, I cannot read every book--try as I might. So I think I should approach literary cinema with a better attitude. I should maybe replace vocabulary like “inaccurate,” “cop-out,” and “hack,” in my reviews of movies with a more sentimental understanding that what I have just seen is an interpretation to supplement its audience’s experience with the story. I need to remember that I actually do like movie adaptations: Stand By Me, my favorite movie of all time, is an adaptation of the Stephen King novella The Body, which I still have not read. It's the same thing (and will probably continue to be the same thing) about anything based on a John Grisham book. And there are books I’ve read that I have no desire to see the movie for, like Bee Season and Running With Scissors. So when I buy my ticket to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince come July, I’ll try to celebrate the story along with director David Yates instead of acting like J.K. Rowling’s self-righteous pit bull. Because the story, in all its manifestations, is really the most important part.

Another Great Evening With Chuckanut Radio Hour

I had a great time last night with the Chuckanut Radio Hour.  Our special author guest was our long-time friend Ivan Doig, who was interviewed by Floyd McKay about his latest novel, The Eleventh Man.  The rest of the show was great fun as well -- the ongoing comic serial, The Bellingham Bean, provided us another twisted tale; guest essayist and outdoors writer, Mike McQuaide, regaled us with a laugh-out-loud remodeling saga; Emily Warn shared her work in the Poet's Corner and the Quickdraw String Band provided some lively, lovable music.  One of the highlights of the evening was recognizing our recently deceased friend, Tom Hunter.  Governor Gregoire had pronounced yesterday, October 24, Tom Hunter Day: A Day for Singing in Washington State.  After Dee read the proclamation, Matt Novac of the Quickdraw String Band and his friend Jenny Woods sang Tom's song, Beautiful Nighttime.  It was a touching moment, watching some in the audience mouth the words as others reached for their handkerchiefs.  The song was beautifully rendered and was a great tribute to a remarkable life.

On the Loose in London

April has nearly swirled away in a whirlwind of activity and an absence of posts here. Dee and I were fortunate to be able to go to London for the London Book Fair. Organizing the trip, the journey itself and the "getting back in the saddle" activities have taken up much of our time this month. I thought you might find interesting the article Dee and I wrote for Bookselling this Week.

Rhyme Time

OK, so I know that poetry doesn't have to rhyme. I was just looking for a cute title. It is, once again, National Poetry Month. There's lots of information on the website of the Academy of American Poets. Though, when you check on information state by state, information about Washington's first ever (and current) Poet Laureate, Samuel Green, is woefully missing or, at least, very well hidden. Enjoy the month and, if you'd like to receive a poem-a-day from Village Books, go to our website, scroll down on the left, enter your email in the mailing list slot, hit go and add the Poem-a-Day to your email choices. Here's our April 1st poem:

Introduction to Poetry
by Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Less Miserable for Seeing Les Misérables

It was kind of nuts to trust myself to stay awake in a dark theater just over twenty-four hours from touching down from an international flight (more on that in another post).  But, stay awake I did and, so did the rest of the audience.  It was the best theatrical production I've seen in a long, long time.  I've been fortunate to see musicals in Seattle, Vancouver, on Broadway and in London and some of those didn't hold a candle to this one.  You might be imagining a touring professional company but what I saw was a production by a combined cast from four high schools under the direction of the remarkable Teri Grimes and the musical direction of Linda Short--both high school teachers.  The standing ovation that erupted at the finale was, perhaps, the most spontaneous I've ever seen.  And, it wasn't just because parents were cheering for their kids.  It was clearly in appreciation of some of the most amazing voices  and acting talent I've ever seen at this level.  Village Books sold more than 2500 tickets to the SRO performances of the world-renowned musical and, while it was someimes a bit frustrating with phones aringin' and folks three-deep in line, we're happy to have contributed in some small way to this remarkable cultural happening here in Bellingham.  It takes real moxie for teachers and students to tackle--much less master--such challenging material.  Three cheers for Teri and Linda and all of the students involved.  You've done yourselves proud!

Launching a Laureate

I was thrilled last night when more than 80 folks sat in rapt attention as Washington State's first Poet Laureate, Samuel Green, read in his first truly public reading since his appointment.  I say "truly" public as Sam did open the legislative session for both the House and Senate in Olympia for the current session.  About half of the poems that Sam read last night were from his latest collection, The Grace of Necessity.  The other half were the works of  ten deceased poets claimed by Washington State--Theodore Roethke, Raymond Carver, Denise Levertov, Robert Sund, Robert Huff, Arthur Oberg, Richard Blessing, Eve Triem, Nelson Bently and Richard Hugo. It was a marvelous collection of poems and a magical evening.

We've known Sam for most of the years we've been in the book business.  He was one of the early readers at Village Books, shortly after we opened in 1980. While Washington is littered with good poets, none is more deserving than Sam.  Nor would any I know take more to heart the mission--to build awareness and appreciation of poetry across the state.  In appointing Sam in December, Governor Chris Gregoire said, “not only will he encourage people across our state to learn about and appreciate poetry, his appointment to this position will honor the important role that poetry and poets have played in Washington’s creative culture.”  I'm pleased and proud that Washington State has a Poet Laureate, I'm pleased and proud that he launched his two-year stint at Village Books and, I'm extremely pleased and proud to count Sam Green as a friend.  Sam will appear as a guest for a live taping of the Chuckanut Radio Hour on March 19, at the American Museum of Radio and Electricity.  Tickets ($5 each) are available at Village Books.

Water for Elephants: Big Book to Hit the Big Screen

Flashpoint Entertainment recently announced that it had acquired the screen rights to this year's Book Sense Book of the Year adult fiction winner, Water for Elephants (Algonquin), by Sara Gruen. The book has been a big favorite at Village Books since Sara came to the store last July and, of course, a big seller across the country.  Andrew R. Tennenbaum, a producer of the Bourne Identity film franchise, will produce the film.

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