"It's absolutely absurd to devalue our product but I'm not surprised because our industry is populated by nincompoops."

 

"Independent and loving it," proclaimed the Glens Falls, N.Y., Post-Star in an article about bookselling in the age of e-books that profiled several indies in the region, including Battenkill Books, Cambridge; Red Fox Books, Glens Falls; and the Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vt.

"We have to compete with book sales online... and to do that we have to just think very thoroughly about what we can offer that's different," said Connie Brooks, Battenkill's owner. "There are no events online--you never get to bring your kids to story hour or meet a local author."

"We do feel that they will certainly take up a fairly significant percentage of book sales. How much and when, we don't know yet," said Susan Fox, co-owner of Red Fox Books, regarding digital growth. The Post-Star reported that Red Fox "currently directs customers from its website to Ebooks.com for e-book downloads," but the business plans to sell them "from its home page in the fall when the Google agreement is finalized. Later, Red Fox may add a kiosk for downloads in the store."

Ultimately, however, "People want to talk about what they are reading and they still want recommendations," Fox said. "We offer a very personalized service and can help someone pick out a book because we hand-select every book in our store."

Northshire's general manager Chris Morrow observed: "I think we will sell some, but I don't anticipate it replacing the lost sales as people migrate from physical books to digital books." He added that the bookstore's role in its community and as a forum for events will be a primary focus: "In various ways we have to offer more to our customers."

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The Railroad Book Depot, scheduled to open this December in Pittsburg, Calif., will be one of the city's "publicly subsidized downtown attractions, which now includes a handful of destination restaurants, a gourmet pastry shop and a caviar emporium," the Contra Costa Times reported.

"The bookstore provides some more synergy for downtown. It's a perfect fit for activities there," said Councilwoman Nancy Parent. According to the Times, the "city is spending $450,000 on the improvements, and has spent about $26 million on the entire Vidrio project. Pittsburg has reduced costs by purchasing shelves and books from stores that went out of business."

"While bookstores have a hard time being profitable, they don't tend to be prone to large losses. It's a low-risk way of bringing some economic vitality and cultural life to (downtown)," said project head Peter Guadagni, who ran the former Bonanza Street Books in Walnut Creek.

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On his blog, photographer Steve McCurry offers a wonderful series of pictures of people around the world reading.

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Many college bookstores are experimenting with rental textbooks and supplying e-books, but one college store is making a huge leap into the future, it hopes: the bookstore at Christopher Newport University, Newport News, Va., is closing January 1 and will be replaced by a textbook website, the Newport Daily Press reported.

The decision was based on "student buying patterns and the proliferation of online competition, according to CNU," the paper wrote. University executive v-p Bill Brauer said in a statement, "The vast majority of our students already purchase textbooks online or obtain books from other sources."

The new website will provide textbook services including new and used books, rentals, e-books and used book buy-backs.

Part of the current bookstore's space will be used for a store selling clothing and school supplies.

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Gayle Anderson, CEO and president of the Winston-Salem, N.C., Chamber of Commerce, "said that the survival of bookstores will depend on how well they differentiate themselves from their competitors and offer services that people want and cannot get by downloading books and reading them at home," the Journal reported.

"I think they're going to have to provide a social function, as well, for people," she added.

The Journal reported that "diversification is part of the reason bookstores such as Special Occasions and Edward McKay Used Books and More in Winston-Salem have remained in business for years. Special Occasions offers church supplies, items for fraternities and sororities, and greeting cards in addition to books."

"We are different from the traditional bookstore in that we don't rely on just the paper products," said Annie Hall, Edward McKay's general manager. "I think e-books will grow in popularity, but I don't think--for the type of bookstore that we are--that their gain is our loss at all."

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"But if you try sometimes you just might find, you get what you need." Sheila Redcay, a librarian at Matthews Public Library in Fredericksburg, Pa., has extended an invitation to guitarist Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones to visit her library "after reading a preview of his autobiography, Life, coming out in October, in which he says he considered becoming a librarian," the Patriot-News reported. More than 500 people have joined Redcay's Facebook group, Keith Richards, Please Have Sympathy for America's Public Libraries!

"He's still considering professional training so he can organize his collection of books--he loves books, loves libraries," Redcay said. "Having him come to a public library, wherever it may be--why not here--will just simply bring awareness to the many struggles many libraries are having just to keep their doors open."

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The Rumpus, the online magazine that has a regular book club, is creating a special Jonathan Franzen One-Off Book Club that will focus on Freedom and exist for only a month. To join, readers must buy the book from the Rumpus or an independent bookstore. Proof of purchase is required.

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On the Tor Books blog, Ryan Britt discussed books and their future as depicted in science fiction. "Sometimes the medium by which people 'read' is altered by technology," he wrote. "Other times, books are preserved in their exact form as today, either as antiques or for another reason. Sometimes, books don't exist at all or are in the process of being destroyed. And other times, books barely even resemble themselves."

One of our favorite parts: "And for those us who think the Kindle is the sign of the apocalypse, then contemporary Battlestar Galactica agrees. Admiral Adama, President Roslin and company all read from printed books, because their technology literally wiped out the majority of the human race. In BSG, owning books and having limited amounts of data on non-networked, not streaming computers isn't a result of nostalgia, but instead a real way of staying alive. The message here is clear: if we stick to printed books, then our Nooks and Kindles will never be given the opportunity to eat us up!"

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Medieval DRM? An antiquated anti-shoplifting device?

The blog Got Medieval noted that during the Middle Ages, "book owners were so worried about theft and damage to their property that they often included what is known as a 'book curse' on the inside cover or on the last leaf of their manuscripts, warning away anyone who might do the book some harm."

One example: "Should anyone by craft of any device whatever abstract this book from this place may his soul suffer, in retribution for what he has done, and may his name be erased from the book of the living and not recorded among the Blessed."

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Book trailer of the day: Chick 'n' Pug (Bloomsbury), which will be published next month.

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E-readers lead to more social interaction and add a new coolness to reading, according to most e-reader owners quoted in a story yesterday in the New York Times's Style section.

"Strangers constantly ask about [my iPad]," Michael Hughes, a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School Health employee, told the Times. "It's almost like having a new baby. People approach me and ask to see it, to touch it, how much I like it. That rarely happens with dead-tree books."

And Debra Jaliman, a dermatologist in Manhattan, said that based on her experience with her iPad, there is no longer "a slight stigma about people reading alone." She explained: "We are in a high-tech era and the sleekness and portability of the iPad erases any negative notions or stigmas associated with reading alone."

Fordham professor Paul Levinson commented: "I think, historically, there has been a stigma attached to the bookworm, and that actually came from the not-untrue notion that, if you were reading, you weren't socializing with other people. But the e-reader changes that also because e-readers are intrinsically connected to bigger systems. Buying literature has become cool again."

But Jenny Block, a Dallas writer and sex columnist, said she believes that her Kindle rebuffs people more than if she were reading a book. "I think the Kindle sends the imperative 'I'm busy, please don't disturb me' message when you are traveling on a plane or eating in a restaurant or relaxing at a resort."

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India has its own e-reading device. Last week EC Media introduced Wink, "trying to capture the Indian reader's grasp by selling a device that can be picked up from a local electronic store. They've partnered with Croma, a biggie Indian electronics chain, for this," Techtree.com reported.

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For a view of several new color touchscreen Velocity Micro Cruz e-readers available from Borders beginning at the end of September, touch your screen here.

 

It was just another average summer morning last Friday at Bunch of Grapes Bookstore, Vineyard Haven, Mass., until President Barack Obama and his daughters stopped by for a visit to start their first day of vacation on Martha's Vineyard.

Oh, and then there was the motorcade... and the media:

The Associated Press (via NPR) noted that the president "had a simple task for his first morning on vacation: shoot over to a Martha's Vineyard bookstore to fill out his daughters' summer reading list and grab himself a novel. Easier said than done. His SUV, part of a 20-vehicle motorcade, passed through a cordon of Massachusetts State Police motorcycle officers, in a protective cocoon of Secret Service agents. Tagging along for the quick trip Friday were White House communications trucks, an ambulance and two vans full of reporters and photographers."

The Cape Cod Times featured a video interview with Dawn Braasch, owner of Bunch of Grapes, and reported the distinguished customers "bought Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and John Steinbeck's The Red Pony.... Obama was given an advance copy of the book Freedom by Jonathan Franzen--which is not yet released--after he asked about its availability, said Braasch. He also signed copies of his book Dreams From My Father for the bookstore staff."

ABC News reported that "Obama and his girls made a beeline upstairs to the children’s book section where they picked out some titles from the The Land of Elyon series and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.... Some of the patrons at the Bunch of Grapes bookstore said they were tipped off when casually dressed U.S. Secret Service agents showed up. And there was no doubt when the motorcade rolled into town, blocking traffic on the busy Main Street for about 20 minutes."

The bookstore was also a favorite of Bill Clinton when he was president and vacationed on Martha's Vineyard.

 

This morning on Good Morning America: Harriet Brown, author of Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia (Morrow, $25.99, 9780061725470/0061725471).

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This morning on the Today Show: Edward Ugel, author of I'm With Fatty: Losing Fifty Pounds in Fifty Miserable Weeks (Weinstein Books, $23.95, 9781602861213/1602861218).

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Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation: Sissela Bok, author of Exploring Happiness: From Aristotle to Brain Science (Yale University Press, $24, 9780300139297/0300139292).

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Today on NPR's Fresh Air: Scott Simon, author of Baby, We Were Meant for Each Other: In Praise of Adoption (Random House, $22, 9781400068494/1400068495).

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Today on NPR's Here and Now: Manal Omar, author of Barefoot in Baghdad: A Story of Identity--My Own and What It Means to Be a Woman in Chaos (Sourcebooks, $14.99, 9781402237218/1402237219).

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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Leslie Kean, author of UFOs: Generals, Pilots and Government Officials Go On the Record (Crown, $25.99, 9780307716842/0307716848).

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Tomorrow on a repeat of Oprah: Todd Bridges, author of Killing Willis: From Diff'rent Strokes to the Mean Streets to the Life I Always Wanted (Touchstone, $26, 9781439148983/1439148988).

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Tomorrow on Fox's Hannity: Bobby Bowden, author of Called to Coach: Reflections on Life, Faith, and Football (Howard Books, $25, 9781439195970/1439195978).

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Tomorrow on NPR's Diane Rehm Show: Herbert Benson and William Proctor, authors of Relaxation Revolution: Enhancing Your Personal Health Through the Science and Genetics of Mind Body Healing (Scribner, $26, 9781439148655/1439148651).

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Tomorrow on NPR's Fresh Air: Eliza Griswold, author of The Tenth Parallel: Dispatches from the Fault Line Between Christianity and Islam (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $27, 9780374273187/0374273189).

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Tomorrow night on the Colbert Report: Jeffrey Goldberg, author of Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror (Vintage, $14.95, 9780375726705/0375726705).

 

Jim Carrey will star in a film adaptation of Mr. Popper's Penguins, the popular children's book by Richard and Florence Atwater that was first published in 1938. "The film is on the fast track at Fox and will begin production in October in New York," the Hollywood Reporter wrote, noting that in the movie version of the book, "Carrey plays a New York businessman who receives a half-dozen penguins who wreak havoc on his business and apartment before he finds important life lessons in their presence."

 

From last week's Indie bestseller lists, available at IndieBound.org, here are the recommended titles, which are also Indie Next Great Reads:

Hardcover

This Must Be the Place: A Novel by Kate Racculia (Holt, $25, 9780805092301/0805092307). "A quirky cast of characters comes together to make up a highly entertaining, engaging, and touching book. Chief among them are Oneida Jones, a self-described freak who has embraced her oddness; her mother, Mona, a wedding cake baker and the proprietress of the Darby-Jones boardinghouse; and Arthur Rook, a recently widowed photographer who believes he can 'see' the real essence of a person. You will come to love these characters and this book!"--Avery Dickey, Inkwood Books, Tampa, Fla.

Composed: A Memoir by Rosanne Cash (Viking, $26.95, 9780670021963/0670021962). "Composed is a very personal account of Cash's musical career, her roles as mother, daughter, and wife, and her battle with cancer and brain surgery. She eloquently shares the journey of her musical career as she tenderly evokes the losses of those closest to her and reflects on the moments when she truly connected as a daughter to her iconic parents. Rosanne Cash is a theatrical triple threat: a lyrical singer, a choreographer of words, and a skilled thespian who relies on tears or wit at just the right moments."--Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books, Wichita, Kan.

Paperback

The Koala of Death by Betty Webb (Poisoned Pen Press, $14.95, 9781590587584/1590587588). "Zookeeper Teddy Bentley is back in this delightful second book in the Gunn Zoo mystery series. This time, in addition to solving the murder of her fellow zookeeper, Teddy finds that she has hidden talents as a TV personality. The characters are wonderful, and the setting reminds you of your childhood. Can't wait to read more of these!"--Linda Dewberry, Whodunit? Books, Olympia, Wash.

For Ages 4 to 8

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead, illustrated by Erin E. Stead (Roaring Brook Press, $16.99, 9781596434028/1596434023). "A steadfast friend to the animals at the zoo, Amos McGee's careful routine ensures that he never misses a day to sit quietly with the penguin (who was very shy) and lend a handkerchief to the rhinoceros (who always had a runny nose). So when the day comes that Amos is sick in bed, his friends come to his house to visit him. Reminiscent of The Napping House, children will love this gentle story of friendship and quiet fun."--Anne Holman, the King's English, Salt Lake City, Utah.

[Many thanks to IndieBound and the ABA!]

 

A.S. Byatt and John Carey were named winners of this year's James Tait Black Memorial Prizes, "following in the footsteps of acclaimed writers including D.H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh," BBC News reported. The award is given for the best work of fiction and the best biography published during the previous 12 months. Each winner receives £10,000 (US$15,535). Byatt won the fiction category for her novel The Children's Book, and Carey garnered the biography prize for William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies.

 

Lane Smith has been deconstructing things ever since he fractured his first fairy tale, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, with Jon Scieszka. He's poked fun at science and math (Science Curse; Math Verse, both with text by Scieszka), has taken a stab at the future (Madam President, which he wrote and illustrated) and a crack at the history books, when he imagined the mischievous childhoods of the Fab Four Founding Fathers: John, Paul, George & Ben. It's a Book!, which Smith wrote and illustrated, takes things a bit further: a jackass questions a monkey about the very nature of the bound book itself ("Can it text? Tweet? Wi-fi?")! Here Smith discusses the influencing factors that led him to this moment. It's a Book! (Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan, ages 4-8) was published August 10, 2010.

 

On your nightstand now:

ChapStick, Gringos by Charles Portis, pen and paper, Marvel Masterworks: Rawhide Kid Vol II, iPod, Selected Short Stories of William Faulkner (Modern Library), booklight.

Favorite book when you were a child:

Some favorites: Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Poe, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Jean Shepherd's stuff, Major Matt Mason (Big Little Book #22).

Your top five authors:

Flannery O'Connor, Charles Schulz, Truman Capote, George Saunders,  Italo Calvino.

Book you've faked reading:

Epson 10000 XL Scanner manual. Overwritten, dense and confusing. The illustrations are unimaginative as well.

Book you are an evangelist for:

True Grit by Charles Portis.

Book you've bought for the cover:

Oh lord, I have hundreds. And many in languages I can't read. Check out my site curiouspages.blogspot.com/ for some of my favorites.

The five artists you most admire:

Edward Hopper, Paul Klee, Edward Gore, Jean Dubuffet, Alexander Calder.

Book that changed your life:

Calvino's Marcovaldo. Like Buster Keaton on the page.

Favorite line from a book:

"And it was still hot."--From Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Book you most want to read again for the first time:

The Nick Adams Stories by Hemingway.