Fiction Club Meets (For Real) Tomorrow Night

I would be remiss without a reminder that the ambitious and welcoming River City fiction book club will meet tomorrow night — 7 p.m., Tuesday, May 1 — in the store’s downstairs meeting area. The book to be read is Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, a gripping tale with its own hard-to-believe back story about [...]

When the Stress Piles Up

I’ve no time for a lengthy diatribe today — have you seen the weather out there? — but a short burst of inspiration before another busy week begins:
“I’ve never known any trouble that an hour’s reading didn’t assuage.” -Charles De Secondat, French lawyer & political philosopher (1689 – 1755)

A Wall of Bargains

Aren’t Adam Gurno’s book reports great? I, for one, think they are. And I say that not just because once in awhile they provide some online ink for little old me. I appreciate reading the other submissions and it’s terrific when books — no matter their source — receive attention in the crowded world of [...]

Remembering Halberstam

As most know by now, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Halberstam died this week. I read several of his books and enjoyed everyone of them. More importantly, they provided a depth of knowledge I would not have received from anywhere else. Among the many tributes this week, I caught Fresh Air’s look back at [...]

Do You Hear that Display?

If you’ve been inside my favorite bookstore recently you probably noticed a few changes. If you haven’t been inside my favorite bookstore recently I am sure you have a good answer for yourself.
I had a chance to peruse the new layout and this is the first of multiple posts on this topic.
As I have reported [...]

Listen to the Poets: Part III

River City Books and The Contented Cow have teamed up on several events of late and, if you ask me — wait, this is my post; I don’t need you to ask me — it’s terrific to see two downtown businesses join forces to serve Northfielders. It’s one of those win-wins that people are so [...]

Listen to the Poets: Part II

The thing I appreciate about events like open-mike poetry night is that I get the opportunity to hear concise, thought-inducing words fill up my ears. I don’t always follow every line — sometimes I am still in the first stanza savoring a clever phrase that spoke to me while the writer has long moved on [...]

Shopping At Indie Bookstores Is Cool

I ran across this comment in my reading about books:
“I’ve never met an independent bookstore staffer who wasn’t a ridiculously knowledgeable book freak.” -Marta Salij, book editor of the Detroit Free Press, who encouraged readers to shop in indies

Listen To the Poets: Part I

Though I blogged incessantly about the event, and though I sent notices to every media outlet I could think of, I honestly did not know what to expect when I showed up to The Contented Cow on Thursday night to listen to Open-Mike Poetry Night, co-sponsored by River City Books and The Cow. I was [...]

Poets Take The Stage

I stopped by The Cow on Thursday night for Open-mike Poetry Night and the event was a smashing success. I will soon have come coverage (another pic or two, maybe some audio if I can turn down the unintended noise) to add. Plus, some anouncements on other poetry events in the offing. But in the [...]