Next Week Notes

Leave it to me to skip over a weekend. But, alas, duty calls. At the end of this week two friendly reminders about the start of next week:
• River City Books is open on Labor Day! That’s right, but, however, they are not open as long as during a usual Monday. Actually, they are treating [...]

Price May Alleviate the Blues

I was sailing around the bargain tables at River City Books the other day and my eyes nearly popped out of my little skull. There it was, in hardcover, for just $5.99: Lincoln’s Melancholy by Joshua Wolf Shenk. “Lincoln’s Melancholy” is one of the best biographies I can remember reading. It’s a portrait of Abraham [...]

A ‘Tale’ of More Success Ahead

I have some news to share about Minnesota young adult novelist and former Northfield Reads! star Kate DiCamillo (who also happens to have a Newbery Medal sitting on her mantel):
Candlewick Press has announced plans to release “The Magician’s Elephant,” for middle-graders, in fall 2009. DiCamillo also has a picture book, Louise: The Adventures of a [...]

Counting the Days

I babbled a bit the other day about planning and calendars and that sort of thing. Then I walked into River City Books and — poof! — they got calendars. Yep. And nice ones, too. Not the kind you are afraid to show when company comes over.
The newest of the new calendars are displayed in [...]

August Picks

August: respected, eminent, venerable, hallowed, illustrious, prestigious, renowned, celebrated, honored, acclaimed, esteemed, exalted; great, important, lofty, noble; imposing, impressive, awe-inspiring, stately, grand, dignified. Attach whatever adjective you’d like to this month’s staff selections down at the old neighborhood bookstore. I, for one, am simply calling them early birthday presents for me.
Novels. Nonfiction. Young adult. Poetry. [...]

Looking Ahead …

If you’re like me this is the time of year to recalibrate the calendar. After a few lazy — gloriously lazy — months it’s time to time to whip out the daybook and plot the weeks to come. At River City Books they are doing the same thing and, my sources (OK, a certain Web [...]

Loving ‘Loving Frank’

Speaking of those great MBA picks, I’d like to shine the spotlight on one of those books: Loving Frank, a novel by Nancy Horan. Not surprisingly, this book is also a popular “pick” of readers and it’s currently on the Indie paperback bestseller list. I was checking it out — you should read the description; [...]

Booksellers Make Choices

I’ve been a little behind (yeah, even more than usual) this week. So excuse my tardiness in getting this news to you, but the winners of the 2008 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Awards — these are books that honor authors from the Midwest Booksellers Association region as well as books about the region — have been [...]

The Games Begin

I was reading through some bookish news and I noticed that the Association of American University Presses has focused its Books for Understanding list on China — to, of course, mark the Beijing Olympics. Personally, I’d rather be reading than watching (though the pole vault is rather amusing). If you’re interested to learn more about [...]

Multi-media Merriment

Speaking of lesser media, while browsing the movies I also made a point to zip on over to the music section. If you’re not already a fan of River City Books’ selection you really should take a closer look. Store manager Jon Lee is something of a music maven and over time he’s built a [...]