Notes: Bookseller's Christmas Tale; Food & Books in Seattle
A bookseller's Christmas story. In the Raleigh News & Observer, Diane Neer recalled that last December, when she had to spend 13 days, including Christmas, in the hospital at UNC-Chapel Hill, she "found myself bookless, a state that causes me great anxiety. I asked some of the nurses whether there was a good bookstore in the area and they recommended Market Street Books. From the community phone in the hall, I called and spoke to the owner, Kathryn [Henderson], and explained my plight. I figured that if I told her what books I wanted and gave her my (memorized, of course) credit card number, maybe she could have the books sent to me at the hospital overnight.
"Instead, Kathryn gathered my books and personally delivered them to the hospital where they filled the remainder of my stay with one of my most reliable medications: something good to read. Kathryn may be personally responsible for the demise of my 'bah, humbug' attitude and the rise of the importance of family, which for me includes blood relatives, an amazing abundance of friends and, thanks to Kathryn, the community of people who care about people they don't even know and give without judgment to those who might not be having such a great holiday."
---
"When word got out that Tamara Murphy was revamping the subterranean Elliott Bay Cafe at the Elliott Bay Book Company, I managed to miss the memo," confessed Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson, who made amends last week "when a friend insisted that the James Beard Award-winning chef/owner of Belltown's Brasa was crafting sandwiches in Pioneer Square. I said, 'Sure she is!'--then I hightailed it down there to see whether truth really was stranger than fiction."
In chapter two of her bookstore café report, Leson wrote, "Thomas Soukakos, owner/chef of Vios Cafe & Marketplace--the warm, embracing, family-friendly Greek joint on Capitol Hill--has opened a second Vios in Ravenna. . . . I caught up with him on Day Two at Vios No. 2, which made its bookstore debut at Third Place Books last week."
---
The Burlington Free Press offered "a peek inside" Brown Dog Books & Gifts, which opened recently in Hinesburg, Vt. "It's always been my dream to own my own bookstore," said Natacha Liuzzi. "I was an unemployed bookseller and got a call from the Esteys that a spot in their building was coming available. I knew if I didn't jump at the chance I would regret it."
---
Port in a Storm bookstore, Somesville, Maine, will close January 18, the Bangor Daily News reported. "Everybody is selling books," owner Jan Coates said. "You have to constantly adapt and be creative. There are only so many things you can control. . . . It's been a wonderful journey. One goes into the book industry because you love books. It's been a struggle of the head and the heart."
Coates told the Daily News "she is not sure whether to continue running Portside, a smaller, seasonal sister bookshop in Bernard."
---
We won't say what kind of unfortunate "accident" befell Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos at the Billionaire's Retreat camp in last week's episode of the Simpsons, but we can share his scary story around the campfire excuse--"I did not. That was apple juice from before."
---
The New England Independent Booksellers Association has launched a new website, taking the management of the site in-house. Nan Sorensen, NEIBA's assistant executive director, notes that future possibilities include developing the ability to join NEIBA or sign up for the trade show online, as well as member-only pages, including forums. Calling the new site a work in progress, she invites ideas and suggestions at nan@neba.org.
---
The Atlantic magazine featured its best books of 2008.
---
If you're not a regular ESPN viewer, you may have missed Stephen King's appearance as a ghostwriter in a Sportscenter promotional segment, where he's scolded for, among other miscues, writing about baseball players with telekinetic powers.