Month: November 2012

Collecting Modern Library Books

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In the period during which I was working to create a store and open it for business I was asked many times if I would specialize in anything. This is not a question that I spent much time deliberating over. Most of my favorite bookshops have been general interest stores; they tried to find good books of all types, and offer books that fit their customers’ needs.

Still, I now realize that, without consciously intending to, I am in the process of becoming a specialist. It seems obvious now, but as I worked to fill the store I wasn’t aware how powerfully my tastes and interests – my personality – would contour the store’s collection. This is obvious, for example, in how many good history, biography and philosophy books I quickly acquired, and how few good science books I’ve found. As I’ve mentioned before, I have many hundreds of good baseball books; and relatively few on golf or auto racing. But the real specialty that I’ve found, and that I am now embracing, is Modern Library books.

collecting modern library books
Collecting Modern Library

Over the past 20 years, I have bought quite a few Modern Library books. These appeal to me for two chief reasons: they are inexpensive and they are (most of them, at least) the perfect size for a book. There are other good reasons to collect Modern Library books, beginning with the quality of the paper, the overall durability of the bindings, and the design, including the Rockwell Kent endpapers. And the catalogue contains all worthwhile titles, many of which have been forgotten by modern readers and dropped from the current canon of classic literature. But if you are willing to go on a blind date with a book, if it was published by Modern Library, you’ll probably be glad you took a chance.

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When Shipping Costs, Cost a Sale

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I hate paying for shipping. For anything. Psychologically, the seller would be better off charging the shipping within the price, and give ‘free’ shipping, rather than add it on–for me, anyway. I’ve desired a certain Oxalis plant for years. The only online store that sells the bulbs charges so much shipping, I won’t buy them. For three teeny rhizomes, I’m to shell out 10 bucks? Really? So, I deprive myself of that gorgeous plant.

Recently, I finally had to give into my desire for a certain book–well, the illustrations within the book. I’ve never heard of it before–a friend on flickr had scanned plates from it, and it’s weird and quirky enough for me to lust after the book. Problem–I can’t afford the prices being asked for this title. Even though under 100 bucks, that’s still to rich for me at the moment. I knew there was a copy for around 45 dollars out there, and was still listed every time I checked. I finally broke down and decided I had to have it, even though in rather poor condition, and not a first. Another crappy thing–the book is in the UK–not unusual as it was published there. And, I’m guessing, never published in the US. I expect to pay more shipping, logically that would have to be the case. When I checked the shipping price, it seemed very reasonable–I think it was 6 or 7 dollars, as opposed to US regular shipping costs–around 4 or 5. So, I’m  excited. I took the plunge, ordered the book, now to wait for it’s arrival and to drool over the contents–all 16 crazy plates, plus black and whites I’ve never seen. And because the illustrations are so intriguing–I’m going to do the unthinkable–read the book too.

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Random Musings of A Mad Bookseller

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  It must have been in 9th grade or so when I first read the poem in my high school English class.  The imagery of the poem entranced me !  It became one of my favorite poems.  Like a piece of clothing washed too many times , life and time washed away the vibrant memory … Read more

The Short and Shorter Of It Part 3

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You may be under the illusion that 3 of these articles are  revealing every word, pause, comma, dash to the reader. Not so. Remember, there are 100 Malicious Little Mysteries within, and I’m highlighting only a handful.  It’s unusual for me to enjoy that many short stories within one large volume and because of that–I am forced to share. Don’t blame me, it’s the demand of the universe.

Maxine O’Callaghan provided the biggest surprise in An Insignificant Crime. The story is thin, on the surface. A store owner in the late 1900s is ready to call the authorities finally, and have the well known customer arrested for her habitual shoplifting. His employee  son-in-law keeps at him to drop the idea. Narrated by the employee, he points out that the customer isn’t stealing for money, or in malice, it’s something she apparently has no control of. The son-in-law lays on the line that the customer’s father has a lot of influence in the community, and that the father would not tolerate the humiliation his daughter’s arrest would bring. His argument concludes asking the storekeeper why he doesn’t simply charge the customer’s father’s account, like all the other times?. But his father-in-law is obstinate. The clerk thinks:

“The old fool can’t see beyond the end of his thin quivering nose. He would sacrifice the business and our future, his daughter’s and mine, and feel smugly sanctimonious. And for what? An insignificant little crime that would hurt nobody.”

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Sticks and Bones: Some of the Best Anthropology Books for Non-Anthropologists

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by Jas Faulkner 

I was voted most likely to be eaten by my subjects at WKU anth school.

Many brick and mortar stores ceased to have anthropology sections some time in the mid to late 90s’ .   One of the best anth sections in Nashville outside of the book store at Vanderbilt was at Davis-Kidd.  D-K was an indie that stubbornly provided good books for graduates of  programs at Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Vanderbilt and UTK years after the anth sections at the remaining big box stores were relegated to “social science’ shelves or co-opted by the rather academically anemic travel sections.

This is a pity, because most  people either took a single course as an undergraduate elective or had some form of anthropology class on their wish lists and never managed to find the time or an open section.  Those of us who majored in the subject often hear similar responses of regret about missed opportunities during university, especially when it came to working archaeological digs.  I’ll cut to the chase about most teaching digs:  Lying on the ground with a dental pick or a tooth brush while every bit of your body heat leeches into the soil or your backside bakes is not as glamorous as it sounds.  Is it exciting to find you’ve been sitting on top of a habitation site or the rock you’ve been patiently digging around is actually a diagnostic projectile point? Oh, yes it is! I’m

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Are e-Readers Just a Fad?

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Closing Too Soon

 e-reader fadI just found a used bookstore for sale via the internet.  In the listing, the current owner writes, “Looking for a new owner who knows people read something other than the Kindle.”
I’ve seen a few bookstores liquidating inventory, listing their store for sale on eBay, and simply closing up shop.  My immediate thought isn’t, “Boy, it’s a shame the market shut them down” or “I guess the e-readers drove them out of business.”  My response is, “They closed too soon!”  I know of one former bookseller who closed his shop after 6 months of poor sales.  I tried to make suggestions about things he could improve, but he had already “checked out” from bookselling.  He was discouraged because another local used bookshop was closing down at the same time.  I told him that he’d be the only game in town, things would get better, and to think about the years of positive cash flow he had.  “Stay in there” is easy to say when you’re running successful shops.  With 5 stores, I can have a slow quarter at one location as long as other locations are staying strong.  There are many advantages to owning a multi-store chain.  However, I do think that the solo independent bookstore, new or used, can make it nowadays.  These booksellers need to stick it out, fight the good fight, and let this fad called “e-reading” subside.

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The Rube At The Carnival of Politics

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It’s not enough that 24 hour news stations have little armies of a single point of view, there are talking heads that ‘write’ full of sound and fury, signifying nothing and are paid to do so. These so called political pundits make it their life’s work to polarize as many US citizens as possible. Are they really zealots for a cause? Does Ann Coulter, Russ Limbaugh, Keith Obermann, Bill O’Reilly believe their scorching opinions disguised as facts? Or have they hit upon a way to aggrandize themselves, inflate their already bursting egos, and revel in what they believe is power? It seems as though every month a new title on either political side is released blasting one individual or party for the demise of  the democracy we as Americans believe  have ‘inalienable rights’ to. And, people pay money to buy them. In droves. I understand that the amount of books sold of one egomaniac only represents a small portion of the entire population–but apparently those portions control the rest of us–or so these pundits like us to believe. And I do believe. I do believe that there is a segment of every country on earth, whose common sense and ability to stand on their own principals and ideals and not be swayed by the loudest most outrageous of talkers, exists.

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Walls & Wallaces: Author Reading and a New Mural

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Daniel Wallace arrived at Circle City Books Saturday afternoon and kept an audience spellbound with an artful reading of the first chapter of his new book, The Kings and Queens of Roam. Wallace’s appearance as the chief feature of our Grand Opening was a complete sensation for several reasons. First of all, if an author has a distinctive voice, and Wallace does, he can suffuse a reading with the inflection and tone the story requires. Second, he has a gift for inviting an audience into his world and making it feel welcome. And third, his writing, wry and ironic, smoothly unfolding in bold, picturesque sentences, sparkles when read aloud. The result was an audience eager for more but facing a six-month wait until the book is finally released. When it comes out this spring, it will likely catch the slipstream of the new musical adaptation of “Big Fish” that hits Broadway in May. I was loaned Wallace’s galley and though I haven’t finished it, I’ve read enough to know I won’t be the only reader enthralled by it.

Otherwise, the success of our opening was mostly due to my wife, Virginia, who organized the whole day. She solicited local businesses that generously contributed 25 door prizes, and is still notifying the winners. She ordered 20 new copies of “Big Fish” for the signing, but on Thursday it seemed impossible that they would arrive on time. Because of the hurricane, the shipping center in New Jersey was shut down Tuesday and Wednesday, though UPS wasn’t picking up in New Jersey anyway. But, somehow, the books made good time on Thursday and arrived here Friday. In the end, everyone who wanted one got a signed book.

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