The Book Shopper

Book Shopping in Seattle

One of my good book shopping friends Dave who lives is Seattle provided me with some related links about the book life there: 

 

The first story is about the is about a well known used bookstore Couth Buzzard, which had closed several years ago but has now re-opened. Never underestimate the power of the used book. Later in the same article there is mention of the Seattle Public Library shutting down for a week as a way to address budget problems.

 

The second story from Read Local Seattle is about Black Heron Press an independent press that recently celebrated their twenty-fifth anniversary. I like the blog and you can see what kind of support it provides local writers.

 

 

 

 

Come Blog With Me

Blogging rarely pays financial dividends, but once in a while you do reap some rewards.

In July, the Alliance Theatre solicited submissions from potential bloggers to review their upcoming season – a kind of “Atlanta Has Blogging Talent.” According to the form rejection letter I later received from Alliance Director Susan Booth, 111 writers auditioned. My disappointment was short-lived, especially since the letter included two complimentary tickets to the opening production of the season, “Come Fly with Me,” a musical based on the vocals of Frank Sinatra accompanied by an all-star jazz orchestra. My friend Denise and I attended Thursday night.

 For details on the performance I will direct you to the thoughts and reactions of the blog winners, except to say that dancers in this steamy production better be wearing their best clean underwear because they all show their due diligence throughout the evening.

 For the record, although I’m no big fan of Sinatra or connoisseur of dance, I found the show worthy of battling the heavy rain and parking problems (they unexpectedly had to close the main garage before the performance for safety reasons) to see this feast of movement and music.

Another Review of the DBF

Reviews of the Decatur Book Festival depend mostly of the perspective of those who are making them. For example, the vendor at the Everdry Basement Waterproofing (Booth 522) was not positive when assessing the foot traffic in his booth.  “A bad demographic, “ he said, “mostly out-of-towners and people living on slabs.”

As one who has written extensively on the merits of economical book shopping, I’m not much different that than the guy at Everdry since what I noticed most was how readers flocked to booths such as Bound to Be Read, Eagle Eye and Better World to look through the lower priced offerings – some books marked as low as a $1. Consumers constantly weigh price vs. performance – why should books be any different?   

This bargain bin scenario invites a comparison to those who discuss the future of the book which  inevitably includes talk about Amazon’s Kindle, the handheld electronic device where you can download new best sellers from Dan Brown or Pat Conroy for under ten dollars each. As revolutionary, or foreboding, as the Kindle technology is (depending on your point of view) aren’t Kindle users saying the same thing as those small clusters of readers who frequent the discount bin: “I like cheap books and lots of them?”

The problem with attaching price to the merit of a book is that it clouds the real value of the book. Of course, one of the premises of my book The Book Shopper is that if you look enough, there are some great reads for a few dollars, but that doesn’t mean I suggest reading only those books. There are many worthwhile new books out there that deserve your attention and your money. The problem is that it is becoming more and more difficult to find out what those books are.

Decatur Book Festival: Photos

Photos from Saturday's action at the Decatur Book Festival.     

DBF Preview #1: Late Breaking News

Admittedly, as a news gathering organization this blog has its limitations, so I reserved my final entry as kind of dustpan where I scoop up miscellaneous bits of information and post them. Here’s a few addendums to previous posts:

• In DBF Preview #3, I mentioned Five Points literary magazine, but I failed to mention they will be at Booth 257 of the Festival.

• Tonight’s keynote speaker, Sir Harold Evans’ recently reviewed Alex Jones’ book Losing the News: The News That Feeds Democracy  in the New York Times Book Review. You can check it out here. 

•  Better World Books’s booth (See Preview #5) will be at the corner of Ponce & Clairemont.  They will also be setting up book donation bins at the entrances of the festival for unwanted books which will go to support the Sheltering Arms Early Education and Family Centers.

• The Decatur Book Festival blog tent (See Preview #2)  will be located the parking loop next to the Brick Store.

• For other late breaking news, refer to the online DBF schedule page but you might also visit the DBF blog since they post updated information as well.

DBF Preview #2: The Blogger’s Weekend Planner

Going into the weekend the weather looks good and not too hot, so my stint as a volunteer water carrier may not be so mission critical.  Last year Denise and I were treated like saints by the thirsty exhibitors as we hauled bottled water throughout the book market. I’m not sure what our responsibilities will be on early Saturday afternoon, but I like the idea of moving around the Festival instead of being confined to one place.

Before reporting to work at the Blogger’s Tent from 4 to 6 p.m., I’ll probably check with the vendors who are carrying my book, The Book Shopper: A Life in Review. Those vendors are: The Carlos Museum Bookshop – booth 301, Eagle Eye Books - booth 251 & 251, and both Books Again locations – 225 N. McDonough Street and at the Antiquarian Book Fair in Holiday Inn Conference Center .

I don’t know what to expect at the Blogger’s Tent. Will my laptop computer work properly? Will it be crowded or empty venue? I’m not a Facebook or Twitter kind of guy, so don’t anticipate that kind of rapid-fire communication from me.  It’s all I can do to blog coherently once a week.

On Sunday, I have only one responsibility and that is to sign books at Eagle Eye’s booth from 2 to 3 p.m. With respect to that timeslot, I think I’m strategically sandwiched in between food writers Chef Rian McDonald (Taste Buds) and the popular Dyer Sisters (You Want Me to Bring a Dish). Lucky for me, I don’t mind leftovers. 

DBF Preview #3: Looking for Lit Magazines

In the past when I’ve walked the festival, I’ve always stumbled across a few booths handing out literary magazines and newsletters. The DBF has been one of the few venues that you can actually see sample copies of magazines like Georgia State University ’s Five Points. (Georgia StateUniversity also publishes New South, which replaced the GSU Review). Sometimes there is a booth or two handing out small newsletter-sized reviews as well. I’ve yet to see a copy of the Chattahoochee Review anywhere, but maybe I’m not sauntering slow enough. 

This year, I noticed that the Georgia Review will be at the festival (booth 504).  The Georgia Review is currently taking submissions for a “revised” Devil’s Dictionary based on one of the crustiest writers in American literature, Ambrose “Bitter” Bierce.

 Similarly the publisher McSweeney’s will be at the festival featuring some of the books they publish (Dave Eggers was one of the founders) as well as samples of the various magazines (I hope). I’m a subscriber of McSweeney’s The Believer. I know I’m not brainy or hip enough to understand every article, book review, or interview, but in almost every issue I’m fascinated to learn something new about a writer, filmmaker, musician or other creative type. McSweeney’s is listed at Booth 505 on Ponce de Leon Avenue.