Haunts and ghosts

The incredible success of local author Kathleen McConnell with her book, Don't Call Them Ghosts: The Spirit Children of Fontaine Manse, has been in no small measure a reflection of the tastes of our patrons. Through in-store promotion and word-of-mouth, the winter book-signing she did here at the store remains one of our best-attended events. And, the book continues to sell wildly.

For such fans, we've brought in a special allotment of two key books at a bargain price. Michael Norman and Beth Scott have written guides to Haunted America and Historic Haunted America.

We have a limited supply of these right now, but I wanted to let the readers of this Web log know about it first. I'm trying to get Haunted Heritage and Haunted Heartland in as quickly as possible, too. These are all legendary and/or eyewitness accounts of haunted places in America, and I know many of you will want to add these to your collections.

Patrons, take notice

For the first time since we opened in October, Destinations Booksellers will be suspending its operating hours. You've grown accustomed to our extended operating hours over the last four months, but it's important to alert you to the special circumstances surrounding this suspension.

On Wednesday, we will close the store at 3 p.m. In extreme circumstances, we can make delivery of pending special orders, but browsing and shopping in the store will not be available. We expect a strong turnout for Wednesday night's Public Afffairs Symposium, which begins at 7 p.m., so we will close the store to prepare for same.

We will reopen at 9 a.m. on Thursday. We thank you for your patronage during these first four months of operation, months which have exceeded our projections for sales and vastly exceeded our expectations in terms of the affection and appreciation you, our loyal patrons, have shown to us and the concept of a full-service general bookstore in Southeast Indiana. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

New Albany in Vintage Postcards

We have news about the much-anticipated new book by David Barksdale and Robyn Sekula, New Albany in Vintage Postcards.

This is the first new book about New Albany since the store opened, and is effectively the only one still in print. Arcadia Publishing is known for these local history books filled with vintage photographs and they've recently launched this line featuring collections of postcards.

David and Robyn have already given us a preview during an event earlier this year, and the excitement is building for readily accessible book about historic New Albany. Jeffersonville and Clarksville had each been featured in Arcadia's Images of America series, and we'd like to help get those two books back in print, too.

But the big news is we've come closer to a confirming release date for New Albany in Vintage Postcards, and it looks like it will be available in May (which coincidentally is Preservation Month in Southern Indiana).

Arcadia does limited print runs and then the books disappear from the shelves. It's my impression that Floyd Countians will snatch up all the copies by the end of May and we'll just have to cross our fingers about a reprint for all those Christmas giving plans. Reserve your copy now by coming by the store or dropping us a line. We'll be turning the sign-up sheet into a confirm and reserve sheet, so be sure to let us know how many copies you want for yourself and how many you want to give as gifts. We'll fill orders until we run out. It sells for $19.99, so order several now.

Don't get caught out on this book the way many of us were on the last several books about New Albany.

Busy day, busy week

Running the shop and staying on top of everything is beginning to run me a little ragged, so today I'd like to refer you to one of my favorite Web haunts, The Egglestonian Creed.

We're preparing for Sunday's art exhibition and Wednesday's symposium while maintaining our Friday Third Space Night, our Saturday Rhyme & Reason event, and Monday's Sound Off, so enjoy this Destinations Booksellers patron's erudite musings while I get some work done.

Gramer lessins

Just yesterday I was talking with a store patron about WHY careful editing is so important. We were talking about our proof copies of upcoming books. These advance editions clearly state that they are not final, but are only proofs provided to us for evaluation purposes. Accordingly, they can often be quite a pain to read if you are sensitive to a) facts, b) spelling, c) grammar, and/or d) story continuity.

Recently, my wife was reading an advance copy of one novel. Suddenly, I heard a scream from our living room and rushed in to see what was wrong. It seems that about one-third of the way through the book the author had decided to change the name of a central character. Who the heck was “Susan” and why was she sleeping with “Mary’s” husband?

Anyway, I told my patron my feelings on typos, particularly in professional writing. We learn to spell from reading. When we read a new word in what we believe to be an authoritative document (newspaper, book, encyclopedia), we internalize it. Some time after that, we are likely to write it…or say it aloud. When the “authoritative document” gets it wrong, it’s just like sneezing in someone’s face. Those germs will infect and are likely to go on and infect others.

Which brings me to today’s feeble rant.

In The Tribune’s front page story (and I still think I saw Amany Ali's byline on the article I read - my apologies if I've grown accustomed to her style and misidentified the writer, but I'd swear I saw her name on the story) on the county’s plan commission request to Sammy O’s owner Sam Oskin, she quotes commission member Paul Riggs as saying “What we’re looking for is assurity from someone trained in the safety field, as far as having an adequate fence that would preclude someone from falling or rocks that would potentially fall.”

Even if Mr. Riggs said those words – “assurity?” – don’t spread such hogwash. Before you know it, someone else will be using that word, thinking it’s a real word because they saw it in the paper. Maybe Mr. Riggs was seeking a “surety” or just mangled the word “assurance,” but the newspaper doesn’t need to be propagating mythical words.

New Visions for Downtown New Albany

As you know, we've created a special site just for the upcoming Public Affairs Symposium at the Volunteer Hoosier Web log. Click the link for more details, including the discussion panel for Wednesday's event. It starts at 7 p.m., March 2.

Patron Passport review

As you know, we are often privy to advance reader copies, galleys, and proofs of upcoming books. Obviously, we don't have the resources or the time to read all of these books in the way we'd like.

That's why we count on our Patron Passport members to evaluate books for us. Here is a review of Jeannette Walls memoir, The Glass Castle.

THE GLASS CASTLE, by Jeannette Walls

Three of my family have read this book within the last week and we all agree: READ THIS BOOK!

Ms. Walls writes of her childhood in a way that you ARE her. You feel everything she goes through. You laugh with her and cry for her.

Her family is made up of the most unusual parents possible. Her father can be very loving and then when drunk the most hurtful. Her mother is in her own world, but can draw some of the most unusual answers to their problems you ever heard.

You cannot put the book down wanting to know what will happen to Jeannette and her siblings next. It astounds you how they cope. It even astounds you more how they survive, let alone become normal, productive human beings.

Excellent reading.

Patron Passport member Betty Atkins takes home a review copy of The Glass Castle with our gratitude for sharing her thoughts on this book. We hope you enjoyed it.

On the horizon

Sometimes, you just know a book will be good and can't wait to give it a read and add it to your collection. It's even better when you know that a select group of friends and acquaintances will be reading it, too.

A publisher I trust is Farrar, Straus and Giroux. FSG brings out some of the finest writing each year, although its titles rarely become the blockbusters you would read about in People magazine.

One book I'm looking forward to is American Purgatorio, by John Haskell. It paints a picture of one man's condition of bewildered grief after the mysterious disappearance of his wife. The pilgrimage that follows promises much in the way of philosophy as the wrapping for a classic "quest" tale. Benjamin Kunkel, writing in The Nation, says this:

American Purgatorio ostensibly tracks the seven deadly sins rather than the four noble truths. Still, it seems to me the most Buddhist English-language novel I have read. It's difficult to follow Haskell's narrator from Brooklyn, through Boulder (capital, if anywhere is, of Buddhist America), and finally to beachside nirvana in San Diego, without thining of the precepts of nonattachment, overcoming desire and the unreality of self.

What I'm reading, and more

I'm previewing a May release called Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, and I'm convinced that everyone will be talking about this one.

Levitt is the winner of the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark Medal, awarded to the most promising economist under the age of 40, but he's anything but dry. His forte is asking the right questions. Here's a sample:

If drug dealers are so rich, why do so many of them live with their moms?

What do Ku Klux Klan members and real estate agents have in common?

With the writing help of a New York Times reporter, Levitt takes us on a journey of the mind that will rival Blink, and I never thought I'd say that this year.

We'll have the book on its May 1 on-sale date, but you may want to get your name on a copy right away.

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Tuesday is Dessert Night.

Thursday we're thrilled to have world travelers Andy and Chandy Schanie regale us with their trip to "Europe on a Budget." The event will feature DVD slides from the trip and some tips on how to get around without spending a load. Key information in a year when the dollar won't go so far across the pond.

Friday last was a kicker of a time for Third Space Night and Saturday was an equally enjoyable Rhyme & Reason. Why don't you join us this week - Friday at 8, Saturday at 6.

And the big show starts at noon on Sunday when we're honored to present a showing of the watercolors and oil paintings of Candace Bonn. The reception runs for three hours (drop in at your convenience and meet the artist) and we hope to persuade Candy to leave a few pieces on exhibit throughout March.

And oh, yeah. There's some kind of public affairs thing happening next Wednesday, March 2, starting at 7. If you aren't aware of that yet, you ain't been payin' attention. More later...

THANK YOU!

Our patrons responded winningly to last week's promotion for elementary school libraries. Seven local schools (all in Floyd County) will be receiving 58 books valued at over $600 in the coming week, just as soon as we can get out and to the schools with the books.

If any of you who helped with these donations wish to pick up the books, we'd be happy to let you make the delivery!

A serious contribution to community

One of the things that shocked me when I moved to Indiana was the woeful contribution made from tax dollars to the elementary school library system. I can imagine no more eloquent and dismal statement than the fact that the collection of communal books in the elementary schools system is primarily dependent on voluntary contributions. By all appearances, this is equally true of the parochial schools.

This evening, I'm reading an engrossing essay in The New York Times Book Review. In the essay, A.J. Jacobs, author of The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World, relates his reaction to a recent NYTBR review. Jacobs' essay is titled "I Am Not a Jackass," and here is how it begins...

I experienced plenty of strange things in the weeks following the publication of my book. I got to meet my one and only rabid fan - a man who took off his sweater to reveal passages of my book scrawled on his T-shirt in Magic Marker. I got to see firsthand the alarmingly high average age of the American reader - at one event, there were no fewer than three women with oxygen tanks in the front row (reminder to self: write more books...fast!)...

I've noted the same phenomenon myself (absent the oxygen masks). We're here now, and don't plan to retire for another 25 years. And while we have some dear friends of school age that we consider to be "our" kids, if current trends continue we'll be selling more reading glasses than children's books as the years pass.

It may be that our local kids have lost the habit of reading, and that's the fault of all of us. That reading has become less popular may have something to do with the fact that New Albany has been without a full-service, general new bookstore for, by one account, the last 57 years.

So, let's see what we can do about it, starting right now.

Come in and buy a book appropriate for an elementary school library. Tell us which school you want the book to go to. For every two dollars spent by you, we'll add another dollar in book credit for that school's library. Another way to put it: for every two books purchased, we'll donate the value of one book to the school of your choice in Floyd, Harrison, Washington, Scott, or Clark counties.

Choose from among the many books we've selected for this program all this week. On Saturday, I'll report back to you the results of this effort. If you can't make it into the store, call and we'll make a selection for you. Just tell us which elementary school you want to be the beneficiary.

Taking a cue...

...from a friendly fellow blogger who, by the way, has shamed me with his perspicacity and timeliness, the time has come to see just how large and literate this community on the Web has become.

Accordingly, we launch "What Are You Reading?" with today's posting.

I'd like you to post your answer in the comments section below, but if that's not your style, drop me a line at ops@destinationsbooksellers.com and I will endeavor to repost it here online for everyone to ponder. If you wish, just give us an alias or a set of initials to identify yourself.

You can post briefly ("I'm reading 'Knuffle Bunny.') or at length. You can review the book or make no comments at all. You can even tell us what you wish you were reading.

Here's mine:

I'm Randy Smith, director of operations at Destinations Booksellers. I'm reading American Empire: The Victorious Opposition, by Harry Turtledove (ISBN 0345444248, $7.99).

That's a work of alternate history fiction that envisions an North American continent divided by a different outcome to several wars between the states. The U.S.A. now occupies Canada and the C.S.A. has granted statehood to Guadalajara, giving them a Pacific port. U.S. troops also occupy the Mormon territory of Deseret and continue to brutally suppress the LDS church after a treasonous insurrection. Abraham Lincoln (whose birthdate is assumed to be today), became the most despised man in America after losing the war in the 1860s, and lived long afterward, only to found the U.S. Socialist Party, the opposition party to the Democrats. In the South, the Freedom Party is ascendant and determined to reverse all gains made by the now-freed slaves.

Again, all I'm asking from you, at a minimum, is to answer this question: What are you reading?

Got meetings?

Sunday saw a massive (for us) turnout of browsers and activists to go along with our secret sale. An impromptu community meeting occupied one end of the store while a regional peace group settled in at the other end. Boxes of frontlist sale books were scattered throughout the store during our secret 20% off sale, which continues today.

We were pleased to host TrashForce on Monday. I'm told they want to reserve the 90 minutes just before our Sound Off discussions for their monthly meeting, and it was a delight to meet TF member Geneva Fry. Doesn't TrashForce sound a little like a Saturday morning superhero show?

Tonight is Dessert Night, so remember to skip dessert and join us for a unique treat from 6 to 8 p.m. You'll want to check out our new conversation pit, which we were just able to install before Monday's scheduled meeting.

Sound Off has some exciting news for our Monday night discussion group. You never know what topic will rise to the top, but I have a good guess what next Monday's will be. Look for an announcement following that meeting.

Wednesday we'll be hosting Writers Ink, one of the area's leading writers' groups. Leader Reese Greer tells me they welcome visitors and prospective new members, so I've invited several to this 6 p.m. meeting.

One event that's gaining traction is Friday's store-closing Third Space Night. If you've never experienced "Balderdash: The New Albany Version," you're missing a fun time.

We still haven't induced any local writers to share their works in progress during Rhyme & Reason on Saturdays at 6 p.m., but we've enjoyed our readings from published works. We have new poetry and if no one wishes to perform Saturday, we'll continue our reading/discussion of Voltaire's Candide.

Next Tuesday's Dessert Night will feature an author interview with Jeffersonville's Matthew Striegel at 7, after which Matt will take questions about his new book, Kayraan. This will also serve as the organizational meeting for our science fiction/fantasy reading group.

Later in the month: A travelogue about touring Europe on the cheap and an exhibition of paintings by an outstanding local artist.

Speak Softly, She Can Hear

Patron Passport member Margaret Sager was kind enough to offer us this review of Pam Lewis's Speak Softly, She Can Hear. In gratitude (and as a normal part of our rewards program for members), we'll be giving Margaret her own copy of the Advance Reader's Edition of this Simon & Schuster title, on sale in March 2005 in hardcover at $23.00

The review:

This is a story of secrets and betrayal. Carol, a shy, overweight student at an exclusive New York City High School, decides on a dare to lose her virginity before graduation. She and her best friend set out to accomplish this on a ski weekend in Vermont but things go terribly wrong. The events of that night change Carol's life. This thriller continues for at least twenty years, and we grow to like Carol and share her burden as she lives with her horrifying secret, and ultimately is betrayed by those involved. Happily, truth triumphs in the end.

--Margaret Sager

Wally Lamb calls this a "sexy and suspenseful psychological thriller" and says it sits comfortably alongside Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley.

We're taking advance orders today for this top Spring title. Order by phone or by e-mail and receive a box of South Bend Chocolates now.

Another secret sale

We've encouraged you to keep up with the store by reading this Web log. Here's one reason you should.

Today (Saturday, Feb. 5) and tomorrow, we're putting a grab bag of books on sale at 20% off. Our Patron Passport members had a private sale opportunity to make selections at 50% off back in January. Now, we've opened the boxes for the general public.

All books in our open boxes, in our blue crates, and on our rolling cart, are 20% off today and tomorrow. Current Patron Passport members can purchase the same books at 25% off this weekend.

So, if you're reading this, come on down. There's nothing wrong with these books - many are bestsellers. These are new books, but we have to make room for the Spring list, already beginning to crowd out our Christmas season books.

No gotchas. No requirements to bring a friend. But do let your friends know and introduce them to YOUR bookstore.

You'll want to browse through the boxes, crates, and cart to find the treasures. The only promotion is this blog and in-store signage, making it something of a secret sale for blog readers.

We've Got Magazines!

Hi! Randy is so busy that he is actually letting me blog!

I have just finished putting out a new shipment of magazines and wanted to let all our patrons know that we have some new titles for you to take a look at next time you are in the store.

One of the new titles, "Victorian Homes," has a couple articles by our own Robyn Sekula. Pick up an issue and find out what Robyn is working on when she is not writing New Albany in Postcards.

One of our patrons told me that the February special collectors edition of "Vanity Fair" with a 4-page foldout cover featuring Star Wars was in very short supply. If anyone is looking for a copy it just so happens that we have 2 copies remaining. If you want one please let me know before the end of the day Saturday when they will be returned to the distributor.

Reading groups! Here's one way we can help

As we craft the inventory here at Destinations Booksellers, we are always on the lookout for great discussion group books. Here's a letter shared with us by Ballantine's Readers' Circle. Some groups will want to tackle this book right away (it came in today!) while others will want to plan for its later release in quality trade paperback. Read and enjoy this letter from the author of A Thread of Grace, by Mary Doria Russell.


Dear Reader,

If you're like me, you might once have thought that history happened somewhere else, comfortably distant in time and place. That illusion is gone. We all know now that the frontlines of war can suddenly appear in our own neighborhoods, without warning.

When I started A Thread of Grace, I thought it would just be a historical thriller about the Jewish underground near Genoa during the Nazi occupation. However I soon realized I was writing a shockingly topical book. For the past four years, TV news bulletins and quotes from the morning paper went directly into the context of World War II, often without changing a word.

Some may find comfort in A Thread of Grace, and for those who don't, I think reading it will make war, occupation, terror and insurgency more comprehensible, if no less tragic and regrettable.

"Corragio" my characters would tell you. "Courage. We are in this together. Make your own story an honorable one."

--Mary Doria Russell



Imagine an author visiting you in your very own living room (by phone, of course).

Enter your book club to win a phone chat with Mary Doria Russell and discuss her NEW novel A THREAD OF GRACE.

A THREAD OF GRACE by Mary Doria Russell

You may be familiar with Russell's first novel, THE SPARROW, a fascinating work of speculative fiction about a failed Jesuit mission to outer space. It was a huge success and continues to be a favorite among book clubs.

This new endeavor--her first in seven years-- is again a morally complex, character-driven novel (Russell's trademark). But unlike THE SPARROW, which explored God's role in our universe, A THREAD OF GRACE is an anti-war novel that presents a world that God has perhaps abandoned. Set against the dramatic backdrop of World War II Italy, this ambitious, engrossing tale will haunt you-- from the first sentence on the first page, to the lamentable last word.

Mary Doria Russell describes her work in the exclusive interview:

Your first two novels were literary science fiction. What made you choose to write historical fiction for your new novel?

Actually while I was writing THE SPARROW, I thought of it as a historical novel that takes place in the future. Whether I was going forward 60 years or back in time 60 years, there was still a need to imagine a place and time that aren't my own. I can't tell you the number of times I've asked myself, "Jeez, Mary, would it kill you to write a story with a middle-aged Ohio housewife as the narrator?" But I don't seem to be interested in writing what I know. I write what I don't know, and what I want to learn about.

Why World War II? Why Italy?

I am a Jew by choice and Italian by heritage. Shortly after I converted to Judaism, I came across a book by Alexander Stille called Benevolence and Betrayal: Five Italian Jewish Families Under Fascism. My first reaction was, "Italian Jews? I thought I was the only one! What do they eat? Lox parmesan?" There was a section called "The Priest, the Rabbi and the Aviator," which sounds like the set up for a joke, right? But it was all real, and riveting, and I thought, "This has got to be my next story." Everything in that book fascinated me...We've spent 60 years trying to understand what went wrong during the Holocaust. I wanted to know what went right in Italy.

Would you call A THREAD OF GRACE an anti-war novel?

I wrote it to understand why war is perennial. What's the payoff? Why are some men attracted to it, generation after generation? I wanted to make it comprehensible. Wars always seem to start for two reasons: to redress a past injustice and to restore lost honor. Inevitably, wars create new injustices and a different honor is lost. Each war is begun in hope and ends in despair, and each one carries the seeds of its successor. Understanding that depresses the hell out of me. On the other hand, when the whole world appears to permit and reward the basest and most awful of human impulses, acts of decency and goodness are like gems in a dung pile. When else would the simple act of sharing a meal rise to the level of magnificence and courage?

To read the complete interview click here.

Enter to win one of five autographed copies of A THREAD OF GRACE. Send an email to BPGmarketing@randomhouse.com with the subject "Thread of Grace" and be sure to include your snail mail address. Entries must be received by February 15th. Winners will be chosen at random. Good Luck!

Good stuff, new and true

In the store, some for the very first time, and some just returning to stock:

Five Quarts: A Personal and Natural History of Blood - Bill Hayes describes it thusly: "We're born in blood. Our family histories are contained in it, our bodies nourished by it daily. Five quarts run through each of us, along some sixty thousand miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries."

Kira-Kira - The winner of the 2005 Newbery Medal by Cynthia Kadohata features Katie, who must reminds us there's always something glittering in the future. Columbus, Ind. finds itself in a bit of a controversy over its schools assigning this book.

World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Einstein and Godel - The achievements of these two giants of physics and mathematics are placed in the context of the philosophical traditions that buffeted the 20th century by Palle Yourgrau.

Running Mad for Kentucky: Frontier Travel Accounts - Edited by Ellen Eslinger, this book features firsthand accounts from more than a dozen Ohio River Valley pioneers. Featured recently in The Courier-Journal.

The Pontiff in Winter - John Cornwell chronicles the papal career of John Paul II. Particularly apt as the Polish pope battles to regain his health.

Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map - No other legal crop has created so many instant fortunes or left a trail of such misery. Stephen Yafa tells us how every human being, right now, is using or wearing something made with cotton.

Who Murdered Chaucer: A Medieval Mystery - A grandly crafted book, you'll be amazed at the quality of the scholarship, the binding, and the paper. Lavishly illustrated, this peculiar book combines the work of five scholars, including Terry Jones of Monty Python's Flying Circus, to divine the mystery of Geoffrey Chaucer's death.

My Jim - Nancy Rawley explores the hidden life and love of Huck Finn's sidekick, Jim, in this imaginative recreation of a particular time and place.

Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of a Horse and a Man Who Changed the World - Mim Eichler Rivas has found a fascinating story to tell about a horse who traveled the world demonstrating amazing intellectual powers and the relationship that launched the modern animal rights movement.

The Great Betrayal: Fraud in Science - Horace Freeland Judson dissects the institutional roots of fraud in science. An expose you owe it to yourself to explore.

The Confident Hope of a Miracle: The True History of the Spanish Armada - In a world where the winners write the history, this handsome book by Neil Hanson spins a detailed work that is equal parts drama and tragedy.

Nonfiction Smackdown

2005 is destined to be a lean year for nonfiction, but the early contenders for book of the year in that segment are starting to sort themselves out. At the moment, these are the front-runners:

You've read in these pages of my admiration for Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell. He's a slight, soft-spoken man with a calm visage and the build of a runner. As a journalist for The New Yorker, he has become a facile observer of cultural phenomenon and is the author of the best-selling The Tipping Point.

His second book extends his reach into the consciousness and wallets of corporate America. Gladwell is accomplished at distillation, the ability to coin a memorable and descriptive phrase to cement an idea or concept in the zeitgeist.

This book will popularize the phrase "thin slicing," a process of decision making that contends that choices made on a limited set of data are often just as valid as those made after exhaustive gathering. Without preaching it, he tells example by example how instinct can and does guide our decisions, no matter how analytical and reasoned we think ourselves to be.

January also brought us the followup to Jared Diamond's Pulitzer Prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. Diamond's Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed chronicles the decisions made by societies throughout history that doomed them. His survey informs us of the fundamental choices made by peoples from prehistoric Polynesian cultures, formerly flourishing American civilizations like the Anasazi and Maya, medieval cultures, and up to the modern day.

Keep an eye out for Richard Florida's followup to The Rise of the Creative Class, which has gained adherents elsewhere in our Southern Indiana blogosphere. And February brings us The Flight of the Creative Class, which adds new research to Florida's revolutionary thinking about how to build a survivable future.

In a post down below is a patron review of Adam Hochschild's Bury the Chains, a history of a seminal moment in Western history that's most appropriate during Black History Month. It is sure to join the non-fiction favorites list.

In case you forgot, we are a for-profit operation here at the store. So if you have an interest in any of these, drop us a line and we'll put your name on one. If you've read one of them, we'd love to share your paragraph-or-more review with our readers.

We invite you to add your own nonfiction picks to this thread, too. Let's keep the community going.

Did it capture us?

Today's (yesterday's, for some of you) Indiana Weekly insert into The Courier-Journal contains an interesting article about a new bookstore in town. Do you think Susan D. Hall's article captured the essence of what your bookstore is? Let us know...here's a link to the story:

A hangout for book lovers

e-mail us or post your comments on the link below.

Just doing our jobs

From time to time, it's nice to get a little validation for your work. One patron sent in this letter recently, which I'm proud to share with readers.

I was in the store on Sunday with [my spouse], my brother, his wife, and their daughter and picked up Cyberselfish for $5.99. I might be the only person in New Albany reading such a book...but what a steal! I finished Medici Effect, Florida Roadkill, and am almost finished with Blink. You have definitely got me reading new and different things, whether intentionally or not. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Regards, [name withheld]