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description=A blog about books, movies, music, knitting, and photography. Sometimes cats and opinions get in the mix.;
description=A blog about books, movies, music, knitting, and photography. Sometimes cats and opinions get in the mix.;
description=A blog about books, movies, music, knitting, and photography. Sometimes cats and opinions get in the mix.;

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Text of the page (random words):
surviving copy of the techne tycheon a mysterious volume that has brought and lost great fortune for anyone who has owned it the last record of the book locates it in the san francisco of more than a century earlier and on that scant bit of evidence penumbra s university has dispatched him west to acquire it for their library after a few weeks of rigorous hunting penumbra feels no closer to his goal than when he started but late one night after another day of dispiriting dead ends he stumbles across a 24 hour bookstore and the possibilities before him expand exponentially as a bonus those of us who went to robin s signing got a little paperback novella titled ajax penumbra 1969 it s a fun prequel but it should only be read after reading the actual novel or else you ll spoil some things for later just be prepared for an odd perspective switch from 3rd to 2nd and back in the middle posted by melissa ward at 3 38 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels mini review stuff i read 29 december 2013 the encyclopedia of early earth summary from goodreads a beautifully illustrated book of imaginary fables about earth s early and lost history before our history began another now forgotten civilization thrived the people who roamed early earth were much like us curious emotional funny ambitious and vulnerable in this series of illustrated and linked tales isabel greenberg chronicles the explorations of a young man as he paddles from his home in the north pole to the south pole there he meets his true love but their romance is ill fated early earth s unusual and finicky polarity means the lovers can never touch as intricate and richly imagined as the work of chris ware and leavened with a dry wit that rivals kate beaton s in hark a vagrant isabel greenberg s debut will be a welcome addition to the thriving graphic novel genre who likes beautifully illustrated books i know i do i took one look at isabel greenberg s the encyclopedia of early earth and i just knew that i had to have it a fabulous collection of myths that feel derived from native american legends that center on a nord man and south pole woman who cannot touch because of their opposing magnetic fields one would think that might be cause for a break up but no the artwork is so enjoyable largely through a limited color palette and i loved the typeface created for the writing dialogue posted by melissa ward at 3 38 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels mini review reading graphically stuff i read tis the season i got your anecdata here holidays are winding down the store is filthy from winter mess covered with bargain bins and half off signs and full of customers the cutest customers ever were two teen sisters maybe twins at most only 1 year apart who share a room because they converted the other bedroom into a library a library the whole room is filled with books they were in spending christmas book buying money and think about the buying power when there are two of you and you can pool your money since you like similar things and having a hoot while doing it so cool i had a customer looking for i am malala to my surprise and delight it turned out that we had sold out on christmas eve and were waiting for more stock i may have done the yes thing a little too enthusiastically customer why are you so happy that you re out of malala s book me oops that probably didn t look so good oh sorry not happy that we re out but happy that it sold out we sold out of all the conservative white dude books earlier this month and got a ton of restock but i ve been trying to get people to buy more malala for weeks nice to see that it finally kicked in customer awesome and we high fived and she ordered it it ll probably come monday anyway since we had a boatload on order the fifty shades of gray party game and expansion packs went in the post christmas bargain sale in 24 hours we hadn t sold any copies of the actual game but all the expansion packs sold uh and lastly here s your anecdata a term borrowed off rebecca and jeff of bookriot about using bookstores to browse but buying from amazon i spent the first twenty minutes of my shift yesterday looking for books on norse language and history for a customer male college age ish we didn t have any language books on old norse since those are academic textbooks he didn t want norwegian or swedish language learning books but i did eventually find a few books about the history of the vikings one of the eddas and bengtsson s the long ships a novel yes but well researched i handed the books to the customer who then took pictures of the covers and bar codes and handed them back me pretty well stunned because no one has ever done that in front of me do you want me to hold these for you customer no i m just going to buy them on amazon then he walked out the front door and that ladies and gentlemen is how you induce a murderous rage in a bookseller posted by melissa ward at 10 53 am 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels tis the season customers 23 december 2013 the isle of youth stories summary from goodreads laura van den berg s gorgeous new book the isle of youth explores the lives of women mired in secrecy and deception from a newlywed caught in an inscrutable marriage to private eyes working a baffling case in south florida to a teenager who assists her magician mother and steals from the audience the characters in these bewitching stories are at once vulnerable and dangerous bighearted and ruthless and they will do what it takes to survive each tale is spun with elegant urgency and the reader grows attached to the marginalized young women in these stories women grappling with the choices they ve made and searching for the clues to unlock their inner worlds this is the work of a fearless writer whose stories feel both magical and mystical earning her the title of sorceress from her readers be prepared to fall under her spell i don t know why laura van den berg hasn t shown up on my radar before except for the rather glaring reason that i had stopped reading short story collections one of her previous collections was a discover pick oops but she just started appearing everywhere i looked on the literary web so i really didn t have an excuse not to pick up a copy of the isle of youth a lovely haunting collection comprised largely of female protagonists who feel largely out of sync or out of place in their current role a newlywed whose plane crashes on the way to her honeymoon must deal with resurfaced doubts about marriage a young woman must care for her little brother while on the run from the cops and her crazy prepper father another tries to piece together some part of her brother s life in antarctica after he dies and yet another goes awol with french acrobats as her marriage implodes van den berg has such precise writing perhaps not as scalpel like as alice munro but very pared down posted by melissa ward at 3 37 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels mini review stuff i read tis the season do you know all the capitals in the world we are now into the hellish part of the holiday shopping season the part where people have the most oddball requests and we have zero time in which to fulfill them before christmas day sometimes we just get lucky dad with two teenage girls in tow do you have books about portugal me reminder we are in iowa well i m pretty sure we have some travel guides right now one of the girls with a voice to match all her a f gear we want a book about portugal dad like about where the country came from we have a themed christmas and they picked portugal this year me wtf i bet you knew about this more than three days before christmas and who is they because i want to have a discussion with them well let s head over to the history section and see what we have dad you have a history section excuse me while my eyes roll out of my head so we get to history and lo there with the books about spain is one about lisbon it s the only book about portugal in any way me here you go this is about lisbon the capital of portugal dad wow do you know all the capitals in the world me probably at least most of them other teenage girl do you know where we can buy things made in portugal we are the whitest white people ever oy posted by melissa ward at 1 03 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels tis the season customers 22 december 2013 tis the season classics isn t really a genre the where are your classics question is a late breaker this year i hadn t got that one until yesterday when i had three of them a sample conversation goes a bit like this customer where are your classics me well we don t have a separate section some titles are on a display but most are in their specific subject arranged by author is there a specific title or type of book you re looking for customer blink blink blink a classic me headdesk classic really isn t a genre if you talk to a classics major then you get the greek and roman classics which encompass philosophy history and drama in more general terms a classic work of literature is basically something approaching at least 100 years of age and is still read more or less this is one of those definitions that s become very elastic and those span every conceivable genre and subject plain old fiction romance mystery science fiction and fantasy mythology western drama poetry essays history philosophy cooking sporting economics travel religion and on and on and on all classics are not alike if you want something sort of crazypants and are a lovecraft who depending on definition is approaching classic author status fan then you re probably not going to be over the moon with dickens you d be happier with kafka or stevenson if you are easily offended then don t read dh lawrence if you re looking for something short then eliot or milton are not good choices so when the bookseller asks if you are looking for a particular book or subject that might happen to be a classic piece of writing don t just say classic we do actually want to help you find something you like or find something the recipient of your gift will like put some thought into your answers to our questions anything doesn t count as an answer otherwise we ll leave you alone in the corner to cry over the thickness of don quixote and war and peace and be assured we have found the thickest copies we have posted by melissa ward at 12 35 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels tis the season customers 21 december 2013 a charlie brown christmas the making of a tradition summary from goodreads no holiday season would be complete without watching charlie brown linus lucy snoopy and the rest of the peanuts gang give a forgotten tree a little love recite the christmas story and sing silent night for nearly fifty years since first airing in december 1965 a charlie brown christmas has been one of america s most beloved television shows and is a holiday television staple every year millions of fans tune in to the emmy winning christmas special featuring vince guaraldi s iconic jazz score and charles schulz s peanuts characters as they remind charlie brown and all of us of the true meaning of christmas a charlie brown christmas the making of a tradition is a lushly illustrated tribute to the beloved television classic that takes readers behind the scenes of the peanuts holiday special it includes the script of a charlie brown christmas more than two hundred full color pieces of original animation art vince guaraldi s original score and publication notes for the songs christmas time is here and linus and lucy and a look at the making of the feature from producer lee mendelson and original animator the late bill melendez the two share their personal memories and charming reminiscences on the christmas special and reflect on their three decades of working with peanuts creator charles m schulz a charlie brown christmas the making of a tradition is a delightful and fitting salute to the holiday special that never fails to deepen your love of christmas touch your heart and give you hope there s just something about the charlie brown christmas special it s hard not to love charlie brown as he despairs over his little sister s letter to santa snoopy as he decorates his doghouse a la that annoying clark griswold like neighbor lucy as she bosses everyone around nothing new there and linus as he tells the story of the nativity all the while holding his security blanket the peanuts gang are our old friends this lovely memoir history mini biography originally published in 2000 shortly after charles schulz s death brings together lee mendelson producer and bill melendez animator who also worked for disney and warner bros to tell the story of their good friend sparky and how they managed to bring the peanuts gang to life on the small screen despite the misgivings of a few network executives who thought the whole thing would be a bust they talked to a few of the now grown child actors who provided the voices of the characters and include a very nice chapter on vince guarini the grammy winning jazz pianist who provided us with the iconic linus and lucy theme music mendelson also included many pictures and animation stills as well as the sheet music for linus and lucy and christmastime is here if you aren t me and don t already own the score and the original script for the special there s even a little bonus in the bottom corner of every right hand page is a little still from the skating scene flip the pages a charlie brown christmas the making of a tradition is a great present for the charlie brown enthusiast dear ftc i received a review copy of this book from t books a division of harpercollins posted by melissa ward at 12 08 pm 0 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels happy dance stuff i read 20 december 2013 tis the season hey she s a girl i haven t had that many whacktacular customer encounters this season but i had one on monday that nearly had me in stitches when i wasn t steamed i was near the front of the store madly stickering books for the big display there when one of the merch managers came up with a customer male mid 50s merch manager well a lot of women buy this and he handed the customer a copy of the new nicholas sparks novel customer they do huh merch manager yep customer points at me hey she s a girl why don t we ask her me immediately and with a touch of the oh hell no in my voice i wouldn t read that customer you wouldn t me nope who are you shopping for merch manager his wife customer she s in her fifties sort of religious but not really and she s a librarian me does she normally like maudlin weepy romances customer oh no no she wouldn t lik...