A former bookkeeper at Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, N.C., has been arrested and charged with embezzling $348,975 from the bookstore since 2001, the News & Observer reported. Anna Susan Kosak worked at the store from 1998-2001 and again from 2004 until this past September, though general manager Sarah Goddin said Kosak's departure was unrelated to the charge.
"We're shocked," said co-owner Nancy Olson. "We felt a professional closeness with her. We thought a lot of her." According to Goddin, the theft went undetected because the money disappeared over a long period of time.
Olson told the News & Observer that while the bookshop does about $3.4 million in sales per year, neither the embezzlement nor current economic conditions threaten the business.
"We are in very good shape. I would call our sales flat, which is a good thing these days." Olson said, noting that the bookstore was already striving for increased financial diligence in a tough economy. "We thought we were watching our every dollar. I guess we weren't."
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Battling the economic downturn was challenge enough this holiday season, but many retailers have also had to deal with ill-timed weather patterns. The Tacoma, Wash., News Tribune reported that snowstorms had a negative impact on the normally high-volume weekend before Christmas.
"Generally bookstores, and particularly used bookstores . . . aren’t as affected by the economic downturn," said Jerry Culpepper, owner of Culpepper Books, whose business was down 60-70% last week. "November was the best November we’ve ever had. This should be our booming week, and it’s just not. I do think it’s the weather."
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Last minute holiday shoppers defied the weather and turned up at Schuler's Books & Music, Lansing, Mich., over the weekend. "It's been very, very, very busy, " store manager Rhoda Wolff told WLNS6 News. "From the moment we opened the door people have been pouring into our store. This has been our busiest day yet."
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While blizzard-induced cabin fever may conjure images of readers curled up under quilts beside roaring fires, Jane Janke Johnson, co-owner of Janke Book Store, Wausau, Wis., told the Daily Herald, "There are summer readers, winter readers and people who read all the time." She conceded, however, that winter readers tend to shy away from outdoor activities. "They're much more comfortable in their winter chairs, reading a book. It also might include the older population, who are perhaps unable to partake in the winter."
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The Bookworm, Bernardsville, N.J., was profiled by MyCentralJersey.com, which observed that Mary Ann Donaghy, owner of the 23-year-old indie bookshop, "is in increasingly rare company," but succeeds because "what she especially offers her readers is service on many levels."
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"Bookshop owners usually have such extensive knowledge of an area of interest that should warrant some PhD recognition," noted the Ann Arbor, Mich., Chronicle in its tribute to the pleasures and rewards of shopping used bookshops. "Jay at the West Side Book Shop is extremely knowledgeable on polar exploration. Paul at Motte & Bailey is consumed by medieval history and in particular the Crusades. . . . Ann Arbor has many old bookshops, as have other urban and academic communities such as Chicago, Madison and Chapel Hill. Typically housed in old and quirky buildings, these meeting places are important to a vibrant community lifestyle."
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One of the most popular offerings from the Seattle Public Library is "Books for Giving," a series of recommendations for young readers available both in print and online. SPL's David Wright notes, "Most of our lists are aimed at library users, but of course they're also used by book buyers; the gift lists are obviously aimed at buyers, and we find the holiday shoppers sometimes like tips from readers' advisers with nothing to sell."
Wright adds that the library often partners "with local independents such as Secret Garden, University Bookstore and Elliott Bay, and have started to mix it up with booksellers at a quarterly drinking bout started by The Stranger's book editor, Paul Constant, called 'Get Lit.'"
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In the Washington Post, Carleen Brice suggested December be considered "National Buy a Book by a Black Author and Give It to Somebody Not Black Month," explaining that "as a black author trying to reach a wider audience, I believe that this guerrilla marketing effort--although sort of a stunt--may be one of the only ways writers like me will be able to find white readers."
Brice challenged "the accepted wisdom of the publishing industry . . . that books by black authors should be marketed to black audiences; after that, hopefully, they will cross over to whites and others."
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What did Laura Bush know and when did she know it? Memoirs by former First Ladies are generally hot publishing properties, but this may not be the case with the wife of the current U.S. president. According to the New Yorker, "One question that seems to be weighing on prospective editors is whether a book by Mrs. Bush will provide a candid account of her feelings, and perhaps counter the popular view of her as an opinion-free robot."
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Winnie the Pooh grows up in this week's Lit Spirits feature in the New Yorker, which offered a mixologist's formula for "Honeysuckle Rouge," an "original cocktail [that] puts honey in the role of lion tamer (the lions being the tequila and the red-wine reduction)."
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After a year defined by "an extraordinary groundswell of hope (yes, that unavoidable word) as well as lie-awake-at-night dread (nothing quite like bracing yourself for the Great Depression 2, or, if you prefer, the snappier GD2)," the San Francisco Chronicle offered its best 50 fiction and 50 nonfiction picks for 2008, noting that many of these titles "also remind us, in these challenging times, of what is most valuable in life: family, friends, community."
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"The 12 Books of Christmas" are being showcased by the Los Angeles Times because "this year, it seems as though we have more gorgeous travel books than ever."
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Effective January 1, the Hachette Book Group in the U.S. will directly handle all fulfillment, customer service and credit operations for Phaidon Press's Canadian customers. Canadian sales representation will continue to be handled by Jacqueline Gross & Associates and by James Whittaker, Phaidon Press's Canadian national accounts representative. Canadian customers will have the same discount terms as when Phaidon Press was serviced by HB Fenn. Canadian returns may be made to HB Fenn until April 1.
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