"There is no way that sales online are going to substitute for something that is tangible."--Eduardo Lago, novelist and executive director of Instituto Cervantes New York, in a New York Times article about the closing this coming Saturday of the storefront of Librería Lectorum, the Spanish-language bookstore on 14th Street, which we've noted here earlier.

The Strand bookstore, New York City, has finalized its schedule of author appearances for the Literary and Arts Festival on Saturday, October 13, to celebrate the landmark bookstore's 80th anniversary. For a complete listing, click here.

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Speaking of the Strand, the New Yorker offers many column inches in its coverage of the store's Books-by-the-Foot service, begun in 1986 to provide "ready-made libraries for private homes, stores, and movie sets." A current client: the upcoming Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The books, for Indy's personal collection, are to cover "paleontology, marine biology, and pre-Columbian society. They had to be in muted colors and predate 1957."

"People have gotten so character-specific nowadays," Jenny McKibben, a manager at the store, told the New Yorker. "It can't just be color anymore. With high-def, they can just freeze the film and say, 'Oh, that’s so inappropriate.' "

The store offers 18 basic library styles, for purchase or rent. The random hardcover bargain books version goes for $10 per foot of shelf space. For $30, clients can customize the color. For $75, they can get a "leather-looking" library.

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Chapters Literary Bookstore, Washington, D.C., will close its current location at 445 11th Street when the lease runs out this coming Saturday. The 22-year-old store is negotiating for space nearby in Penn Quarter and is asking supporters to make a donation to its nonprofit entity, the Chapters Literary Arts Center, which was created this summer and succeeds Wordfest, the nonprofit literary arts organization that owners Terri Merz and Steve Moyer founded in 2001. Suggested donations are $50, $100, $250, $500 and $1,000. If the center does not obtain a new lease, it will return the money.

The Center will house the bookstore and tea room, arts center, which includes monthly programs, a literary reference library and letterpress center.

To make a donation and learn more, call 202-737-5553.

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The 30th anniversary of Book People, Sioux City, Iowa, was noted in the Sioux City Journal: "In 1976, four women, Edith Greenstone, Dorothy Williams, Margaret Stauch and Mary Jo Davey, opened the independent book store in Indian Hills. Although there have been a few different owners through the years, they have all been women and for the most part have hired women for the staff."

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Congratulations to Kepler's, Menlo Park, Calif., which in October celebrates the second anniversary of its rebirth. Events include an appearance by Ken Follett; dinner with the Food Network's Hearty Boys, who will unveil their first cookbook, Talk With Your Mouth Full; Michael Krasny who interviews authors and others on KQED and has written Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life; and Paola Gianturco, the photojournalist who has co-authored several books, including ¡Viva Colores!: A Salute to the Indomitable People of Guatemala, presented by and benefiting the Global Fund for Women. The store is also participating in Litquake, San Francisco's literary festival, with author events featuring Gail Tsukiyama and Haven Kimmel.

In addition, Kepler's is staging community and author events for youth and family, including the Kepler's/Menlo Park Library Youth Author Series; Diva Night; Spook Night; and a Youth Writing Workshop. Among authors appearing at the store will be Marcus Zusak, Nick Hornby and Rosemary Wells.

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The Harvard Coop, which has been tossing out students who write down information about textbooks (to be used on a price-comparison website, CrimsonReading.org), went a step farther last Thursday and called local police on three such students, the Harvard Crimson reported. Now the group is relying on students and faculty to submit ISBNs and other information to them.

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Read the classics in just five minutes a day. The Book Standard noted the continuing growth of DailyLit, a website launched last May that emails subscribers brief passages from books every day. Founded by Albert Wenger and Susan Danziger, the service offers "more than 500 public domain titles and starting later this month, DailyLit will offer certain in-copyright titles for a small fee."

Globe Pequot, Perseus, Chronicle and Kaplan are among the publishers who now have an agreement with DailyLit. According to Bill Smith, director of digital and domestic rights at Perseus, "As a publishing group, Perseus is always looking for new and innovative ways to offer our content to the digital audience. Daily Lit's business plan makes good sense, targeting commuter readers in an easy to access format and in a timely, bite-sized manner."

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You can now officially "get your ya-yas out" in "cattle class," according to the most recent revision of the Oxford English Dictionary. The Guardian reported that these terms--the first meaning to "enjoy yourself uninhibitedly" and the second, "economy seats on aircraft"--have passed OED muster.  

Another big change to the OED's format "is a mass removal of hyphens. More than 16,000 have been taken out in cases such as 'fig-leaf' and 'leap-frog,' after monitoring showed that 'our world of fast keying and quick edits onscreen has largely given up searching for the hyphen.'"

We old-school editors take a big-time dim view of this uncalled-for change . . .  

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Bookstores in northeast Ohio are now "the place to be seen," according to a Cleveland Plain Dealer article headlined "Hangin' with the hardbacks." Operating on the premise that "bookstores aren't just for books anymore," the piece focused "on shops with a particular niche, ambience or location that make them must-visit spots."

Bookstores rated for their vibe, book selection and extras included Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lyndhurst; Borders at the Promenade at Crocker Park, Westlake; Liberty Books and News, Rocky River; Loganberry Books, Shaker Heights; Bookstore on West 25th, Cleveland; and Fireside Books, Chagrin Falls.

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Successfully messy. William Phillips and Sherry Wendell, owners of Camelot Books, Fountain Valley, Calif., were the focus of a "Business Profile" in the Orange County Register. They said that what makes their business unique "is our vast selection of titles crammed into most every corner of the store. Many people comment that our store is exactly what they think a used bookstore should be--a little messy with unprocessed boxes of new arrivals calling out to them to take a quick peek to see what treasure might be hiding inside."

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Comic book stores made news in Texas, Michigan and New York over the weekend.

"I wanted my comic book shop to be nothing like the traditional comic book shop," Dale Morris, owner of Dale's Planet Comics, Midland, Tex., told the Midland Reporter-Telegram. "You have to watch out for the Simpsons character stereotype--a lot of sarcasm and judgementalness. I know that the first 10 seconds are the most important when a customer comes in."

The Detroit Free Press's "Five Things" column featured a brief interview with Brian Kelly, owner of Detroit Comics, Ferndale, Mich.  

And, according to the Times Herald-Record, the opening of Winn Cards & Comics in historic downtown Chester, N.Y., is "the most recent of several store openings that have given the downtown a younger feel, attracting teens and young adults that, in the past, have not had a strong presence here."

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Duck, duck, bookstore. The University of Oregon Bookstore in Eugene is changing its name to the Duck Store, adapting to the name of its satellite stores--Duck Shops--and using the name of the school's mascot, the Oregon Daily Emerald reported. The mascot is Donald Duck himself, which the school uses with the permission of Disney.
 

As U.S. and Canadian currencies hit par for the first time since 1976, the differential in book prices printed on most North American titles has become ever more glaring and annoying to Canadian readers. A Saturday New York Times story about how the crashing U.S. dollar has changed border buying and selling dynamics quoted one Canadian bookstore customer whose recent purchases cost her $18 more than an American shopper would have paid: "It's ridiculous. They still charge more, but the [Canadian] dollar has been going up for two years. I find it inexcusable."

Dave Hill, manager of Munro's Books of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., who has lobbied for less of a differential, which the Times estimated at 15%-20%, commented: "We're always the lightning rod when the dollar goes up or down. But it's a lot more complicated issue than the customers perceive." He said publishers have been "responsive" and that Random House Canada had adjusted prices for him, allowing the store to discount Random titles 10% and make their price closer to the suggested U.S. retail price.

Noting that much merchandise that seems overpriced was ordered and priced earlier this year when the Canadian dollar was worth 15% less than the U.S. dollar, the head of the Retail Council of Canada said, however, that the price differences also reflect "economies of scale, different tax and cost structures, and exchange rates with third countries." In part because the U.S. has "10 times the purchasing power" of Canada, she said pricing at par is "not realistic."

Borders Group is selling its U.K. and Ireland Borders and Books etc. stores to Risk Capital Partners, a London private equity company that specializes in retail companies. But the sale will not involve a complete jettisoning of the stores: they will keep their names under a licensing agreement that is part of the sale, and Borders will have an equity interest of about 17% in the subsidiary Risk Capital is creating to run the stores, called Bookshop Acquisitions. In addition, Borders is not selling its Paperchase stores, including the branches in Borders stores.

The sale price consists of a £10 million (about $US20 million) immediate payment plus up to £10 million of "deferred cash consideration," depending on the performance of the business, which like much of U.K. book retailing has faced major challenges in the past few years. Borders's sale of the unit is part of its strategic plan, announced earlier this year, allowing the company to focus on its U.S. operations. The company is also in the process of selling its stores in Australia and New Zealand. Its franchised stores--in Dubai and Malaysia--and its superstore in Singapore are not for sale.

Borders has 41 superstores in the U.K. and one in Ireland and 28 Books etc. stores in the U.K. The Borders management team will remain with the company, and David Roche will now be CEO of Bookshop Acquisitions.

Borders said it will incur a non-cash, after-tax loss of about $115 million because of the sale.

 

Because of an odd sequence of events, we can report that Ingram Book Group sales in 2006 were up "modestly" and sales in 2007 so far are up "significantly," as John Ingram, vice-chairman of Ingram Industries and chairman of Ingram Book Group, said on Friday in a statement responding to what Ingram called "a gross error and careless journalism" on forbes.com and in Forbes magazine.

The Forbes 400 listing published on Friday said that Ingram book division sales were down 48% last year. After Ingram protested, Forbes took down the characterization from its website and will correct it in the next issue of Forbes magazine.

John Ingram added, "Not only is our core book wholesaling business steady, but our Lightning Source business continues to grow rapidly, and our Ingram Digital opportunities are extremely exciting--which all adds up to the opposite of what Forbes reported today. We are baffled as to where their information came from and appreciate the editor's willingness to dig into that further and make the correction meanwhile."

This morning on Good Morning America: Jenny McCarthy, author of Louder Than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism (Dutton, $23.95, 9780525950110/0525950117).

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Today on the Diane Rehm Show: Wangari Maathai, author of Unbowed: A Memoir (Anchor, $14.95, 9780307275202/0307275205).

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Today on Dr. Phil: T.D. Jakes, author of Reposition Yourself: Living Life Without Limits (Atria, $24, 9781416544319/1416544313).

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Today on NPR's All Things Considered: Philip Roth, whose latest book is Exit Ghost (Houghton Mifflin, $26, 9780618915477/0618915478), the last starring Nathan Zuckerman.

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Today on the View: Senator Joe Biden, author of Promises to Keep: On Life and Politics (Random House, $25.95, 9781400065363/1400065364).

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Today on Oprah: Kay Redfield Jamison, author of Exuberance: The Passion for Life (Vintage, $14.95, 9780375701481/0375701486).

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Tonight on PBS: the second segment of The War, whose tie-in book is The War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (Knopf, $50, 9780307262837/0307262839).
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Tonight on the Colbert Report: Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Picador, $16, 9780312425074/0312425074).

 
At first glance, the title of Michael Gates Gill's memoir begs credulity. Other than resuscitation by caffeine, it isn't easy to imagine how a behemoth such as Starbucks could actually save a life. Nor would we expect such a corporation capable or willing to assist in such tender personal business. Yet Gill's paean to Starbucks is so genuine and sincere that within the first few pages it becomes impossible to read it with a cynical eye.
 
At the age of 64, Gill found himself sitting in a Manhattan Starbucks wondering if he could afford a latte. This privileged son of famous New Yorker writer Brendan Gill was nearly at the bottom of a reverse Horatio Alger slide. He'd been fired from the ad agency where he'd worked for 25 years; the consulting business he'd subsequently started had all but petered out; both his 20-year marriage and the affair that had ended it were over; and he'd recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor.  While he mulled his limited prospects, he was approached by Crystal Thompson, a young African-American woman, who asked him if he'd come to apply for a job. Why not, Gill thought. Some weeks later, he was hired and began his second act--the Starbucks way.
 
Gill soon learned that his new job was more physically and mentally challenging than he'd anticipated. An older white man, he quickly came to appreciate and rely on the kindness, professionalism and patience of his young, African-American co-workers as he worked his way up from cleaning to manning a cash register, and finally preparing Starbucks' famed beverages. Wisely he avoids attempts at complex social analysis, offering instead a personal commentary on acceptance, diversity and race relations as he sees them from his vantage point behind the espresso machine. Gill's portraits of his coworkers are affectionate and endearing (much more so, in fact, than the numerous name-dropping flashbacks to his high society past) and he describes the Starbucks philosophy with a Forrest Gumpian sense of awe (appropriately Tom Hanks has already signed on for the film version). For example, employees are referred to as "partners" and truly seem to believe in and practice the Starbucks ethos of respect and dignity for all. And the company pays more than lip service to its goal of community mindedness. When a district manager realized that Gill had a three-hour commute every day, he was transferred to a store within walking distance of his apartment (and let's face it, there is always a Starbucks within walking distance).
 
Gill is not a particularly sparkling writer and his narrative is sometimes sweeter than a double-syrup shot Frappuccino, but his utter lack of disingenuousness and very real sense of wonder at the spiritual rewards of his new life give his story a charming freshness. As for his portrait of the company that saved his life, Starbucks could not have asked for a better pitchman. There were two things I wanted after finishing this book: a grande Americano and an application. I imagine many other readers will feel much the same way.--Debra Ginsberg