Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021
Picture books are filled with animal characters who happily swim, fly, slither, clip-clop, and stroll through their pages. While plenty are genuinely cute and cuddly creatures like mice, rabbits, cats, and dogs, some, as Anthony points out, are a little more intimidating in the real world.
Tuesday, January 19th, 2021
Conversations at the bookstore get a bit...esoteric sometimes. Like when a discussion about skydiving led Anthony down an etymological rabbit hole regarding the origins of the prefix "para."
Thursday, January 13th, 2021
Last week was the anniversary of not only David Bowie’s birthday (January 8th) but also the anniversary of his death (January 10th). He would have been 74 years old. Bookseller Anthony shares some of his favorite literary works inspired by the Thin White Duke.
Thursday, October 29th, 2020
Adaptations are popular in every film genre, and it's particularly true of horror. Some are able to faithfully recreate the terror of the original source material, while others...let's just say they take a different approach. Anthony highlights some of his favorite (and not-so-favorite) horror adaptations, just in time for Halloween.
Tuesday, September 15th, 2020
Since we can't have dozens of customers in store as we usually would this time of year, we've come up with other ways to keep our booksellers' recommending skills sharp. The latest challenge? The 90 second book list. Here's how it works. Each bookseller gets a topic and 90 seconds to find as many books as fit that topic as possible.
Yesterday's lighter reading recommendations proved so popular that we asked Anthony to keep the recommendations coming.
Today's light-and-fluffy fare: a whole collection of romantic comedies!
Monday, August 10th, 2020
Since we can't have dozens of customers in store as we usually would this time of year, we've come up with other ways to keep our booksellers' recommending skills sharp. The latest challenge? The 90 second book list. Here's how it works. Each bookseller gets a topic and 90 seconds to find as many books as fit that topic as possible.
Like many of you, I've found myself with a lot of free time on my hands these past few months. And you know what they say about idle hands. So, to keep myself sane I turned to an old standby: arts and crafts. I honed the skills I already have and I even learned a few new ones. Here are a few of my new favorite books to help get the creative juices flowing.
“The basis of all true cosmic horror is violation of the order of nature, and the profoundest violations are always the least concrete and describable.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, Selected Letters III: 1929-1931
Wednesday, February 12th, 2020
“There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”
-J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I first read this quote when I was just a kid, and it's always stuck with me. A lot of things in Harry Potter have stuck with me, actually. The idea that love is the most powerful magic of all. The idea that no matter who you are or where you come from, you can do great things. And the idea that our actions, more than our words, are what truly make a difference in the world. I cheered when Harry stood up to Professor Umbridge, refusing to back down from his assertion that Voldemort had returned, even after she forced him to repeatedly write "I must not tell lies" with a quill that magically cut the words into his flesh. I have often wondered if I would have the same resolve to do what he was doing in order to stand up for what I knew was right.
