Tis The Season

     It's a shame that sarcasm is harder to detect in a venue such as this one, but the title is in fact dripping with it.  It's hard to maintain holiday cheer when working in retail and there is little heart for those of us who work in retail because for the most part we choose to.  There is some truth in that.  I do choose to work in a bookstore.  I choose to serve you in that manner.  When you enter my store it is my job to help you and I do for 40 hours of my week.  But there is something that I think that a lot of shoppers don't realize.  I am not out to get you because I don't have the obscure picture book on mushrooms from around the world that you wanted.  Contrary to what you think I am not there to ruin your Christmas.  In fact I want you to spend tons on money when you walk in that door, but as a shopper you need to think before you shop.  Do a little research before you walk in my door asking for something that hasn't been in print for 25 years or that you aren't even sure if it exists (this happens more than you know: "I'm looking for a book on antique porch furniture").  I am good at my job and can probably locate a title or two to order for you but we cannot possibly carry every book that was ever published, it's impossible.
     It's the time of year when I put on what I like to call my airline stewardess face/voice.  My normal octave gets a little higher and my smile get super close to being obnoxious, but I do it because I like it crappy customers an all.  I do it because despite all the crap there are some days that are just awesome.  Yesterday I had the two most amazing customers ever right in a row.  The first, a nice gentleman who needed help finding a couple of thing, sure no problem we've got that, nothing to out of the ordinary right. Wrong! When I greeted him hello and asked if I could help him find anything he replied, "Yes you can, and Merry Christmas."  Okay, to the ordinary person that doesn't sound like it would be something to make an awesome customer, but in truth most customers can't even manage a hello or Hi for us, most are talking on their phone and we're trying to get out of them what they want.  So someone wishing me a Merry Christmas made my day.  At the end of our customer service experience he told me I had a beautiful smile, energetic spirit and hugged me.  It put a bigger non-airline stewardess grin on my face.  I get back to the computer and an older woman and her husband came up to the counter.  "What can I help you find today?" I inquired.  "I'm wondering where you keep your croshworrrr" followed by a very loud laugh.  I laughed a little, not wanting to offend when her husband looked at me and said "You'll have to excuse her she had drinks with her dinner."  I'll tell you it's the hardest I laughed with a customer in a long time.  It was a good day, and it reaffirms that I like what I do.  I need a day like that every now and then between the crappy ones.

     So just remember it's Christmas time for everyone, not just you!! Take your time and don't always be in a rush to get in and get out.  If you really want me to help you pick something out I'm not a magician, I will have to ask you questions.  Have patience and try to enjoy the holiday a little.  Merry Christmas from the Book Store Dork :)

P.S.  I've read some killer books lately (mostly teen, but really addictive!!!)

Teen Geek Out John Green Style

     As I have said before I love the teen books.  It's not always about some serious piece of fiction that may change the literary world.  Sometimes it's just simply about reading a book, falling in love with the characters and just enjoying it.  I have long been a follower of John Green, a YA author, a history video cast maker, a renaissance man if you will.  And for a couple of hours I became a 13 year old girl when I read "The Fault in Our Stars".  I read it about 5 or six months ago with a box of tissues.  The word spread about this charming book and a  movie was to be made.  More importantly it was to be made in Pittsburgh.  I was then approached during my bookstore dork daily life about filming in the store I manage.  I went through the roof and I could feel my teen girl excitement growing.  Filming a movie in my store was cool on it's own merit, but the fact that John Green himself had been showing up to filming around this city made me want to explode.  So I went to work at 3 in the morning to let the crew set lights etc.  It was like Christmas morning for me, will he come? will he show? will he sign my book?  John Green did not disappoint, early that morning he walked into the store toward all the employees and my heart skipped a beat.  I actually teen geeked out.  That's right a 37 year old woman jumped in place and clapped her hands with excitement (yep that's me).  Sure there were movies stars walking around my store but for me John Green was the movie star.  And he was the nerdy, lovely guy I had hoped he would be.  He took pictures with everyone (including me), signed all the books of his we had on our shelves (and there was a lot), and hung around and chatted with us.  It was a day I won't soon forget.  I met a favorite author of mine, got some signed books, talked with him and oh yeah I forgot Laura Dern and her kids came by to watch! So I may be in my late 30's but for one very long morning I became a teenage girl again, if only for a few minutes.  So if you haven't been swept up in the local filming and buzz that's been floating around about this book, pick it up.  It's a charming story about two kids with cancer who fall in love their own way.  You will fall in love with John Green just as I have :)

Ahhh Neil It's Been a While

     There are very few contemporary authors out there that have such a diverse fan base.  Neil Gaiman is one of those blessed people who have fans young and old.  Truth. . .  I hadn't read him until last week.  He is one of those guys that is liked on principle.  I've long admired him but never read him.  Today I type as a fan.  I read, I turned pages and I fell in love with his characters.  I am no longer just a fan on principle.

     The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a fairy tale/ghost story.  To tell you the truth I really wanted more.  I wanted to dive further into the lives of several of his characters.  The Hempstock women were older than time itself and charmed the hell out of me.  They were not the focal point but they were mesmerizing. I don't know if they were witches or elders who have been around since the creation of the universe. I couldn't tell and I didn't care. He could easily write an entire book about them alone and I would buy it in a heart beat.  As much as I did enjoy it, I felt a little empty when I was done.  Something felt incomplete and I'm certain it was because it was so short.  It was good enough to make me want to visit some of his other works, the question is: which one of his books do I go too?

Mea Culpa, Well Sort Of

     As you  know I've been stuck, crazy stuck, in my book reading.  I think it was an overload of good new releases.  Too much to read, too little time.  I am reading 4 books right now and haven't finished a damn one.  So I made a bold call.  I decided to finish Fifty Shades of Grey.  Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. To put it mildly, I was not a fan.  But damn it I needed to finish a book, good or not.  Onto Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.  I did it, in 4 days I read both.  I even tried to hide it by reading them on my NOOK so that no one could tell.  I read good books, I don't read that crap.  But in 4 days I was done. 

     I felt dirty and ashamed that I bent down to the crush of non-readers who think this is one of the best books they've ever read.  I thought I was better than that.  Turns out I'm not.  Now I've said it, I need to defend myself.  I still think it's crap.  I still think it's terribly written.  It is truly fan fiction: not original, very predictable, and full of plot holes.  That being said, it's readable if you can get past her over use of "inner goddess," "heady" and my favorite phrase, "he rubbed my sex." By the time I got halfway through book 2 I started to skip the sex scenes because they were almost all the same, this stymied me seeing as how this was supposed to be the big deal about it. As I have said before, I've read dirtier much better written.  By book three I wanted to know more about the characters and less about the sex.  The problem is everything that happened in the book wasn't built up to, it wasn't alluded to it just sort of conveniently occurred when she needed her story to turn.  Something to throw off a flowing relationship let's drop in a pregnancy by running into your gynecologist on the street. . . .  really?  Need some drama no problem we'll throw in a kidnapping with a five million dollar ransom.  But when it was all said and done I was ,for the most part, entertained.

Mea Culpa. . . . well sort of :)

    

Where are the Bookstores Going?

     As you all probably know I manage a bookstore, I am a self proclaimed book guru.  I love books and always have.  Getting lost in a world someone else created is one of the greatest past times around.  I know that I sound old fashioned and maybe I am but a good book can take you places that are imagined by someone else.  In my opinion that's pretty cool.  That being said my world is threatened.  Bookstores, publishing, what we read and how are changing.  I am no fuddy-duddy.  I have a NOOK, in fact I have several as do the members of my family.  I love being able to take hundreds of books with me wherever I go.  I love not having to decide what 5 books to take on vacation with me.  I love that I can read anywhere.  But I also love walking in my front door and being surrounded by shelf after shelf of books, old and new.  I love books whatever format they come in, and I have them all.

     I get asked more times than I can count in a day "are you going out of business?" I want to scream out loud every single time I hear it.  But the truth is no one knows.  With some of the big box retailers that sell everything from toilet paper to windshield wipers trying to cash in on best sellers, selling them for several dollars cheaper, we lose business.  That's fine if you only ever read the 10 most popular books.  Where will you go when you want to look for a book?  Where will you go when you want someone to help you pick out a book or recommend one?  I'm fairly sure most employees as those big box will point you to their top ten display and tell you that those are good.  This will have no impact on those who don't enjoy reading and I understand.  To those of that do this is an uncertain time. 

     The changing business has also brought some wonderful perks.  We now have a direct line to some of our favorite writers through on line forums, twitter, Facebook etc.  You can drop one them a question and in most cases you'll get a response, it's awesome.  It has given authors that wouldn't have been picked up by a traditional publisher the means to get their book out there, to be a published author.  My point is, technology cannot replace all of the people who go into getting a book out there.  The writer writes it, it's edited and edited again, it's printed, shipped, unpacked, stocked on shelves and talked up by a bookseller.  There are hundreds of people that make a book happen.  So shop in a bookstore, ask someone who works there to recommend you a book they liked and I almost guarantee you'll find something you love.  The fortunate thing is, I'm not the only one who feels this way.  John Green wrote a small article on www.shelf-awareness.com called "We built this together", you should read it.

Sinking Deeper

     Okay, Fine! I still haven't finished a freaking book yet and just keep finding more.  This madness needs to end.  I've been so busy working and procrastinating that I just haven't made much headway.  I've also shamefully gotten sucked into Candy Crush Saga and that is seriously cutting into my reading time.  I'm in a drought and don't know how to get out.  I'm stuck on a level  and I can't read until I get out of it damn it! I know I've disappointed folks here choosing a game over a book, but I'm only human and easily sucked into games:)

     And while I'm lost in my game black hole new books keep coming out.  The new Dan Brown came out this week, and while he may not be a literary giant his books are entertaining so that one gets thrown on the pile too.  I'm hoping the pile stops growing soon. One thing I do have going for me is the new releases from now until mid June are more History and Biography related for all the Daddy's out there.  Since I'm not the target audience for this time of year I think I may be safe until mid June. Now if I could just get past level 147 I may be able to finish a damn book!

Hit list #3 and 4. . . .Oops and #5 Too

The search continues. . . still reading a million books and mentally adding a million more titles I feel I have to read!  There really is always something new that I want to put my hands on.  But as promised I will continue with my immediate list. 

Slot #3 goes to Angelopolis by Danielle Trussoni.  This book is apparently a series now, I had no idea.  Her first book Angelology was first published several years ago and it was stand alone.  Of course I was under the impression then that it was to be the only one.  But as so many things go these days, the publishers wait to see how money the first one makes and then they go from there.  Then several weeks ago I was surprised and a little excited to unbox a book I didn't even know was coming.  So for me book number 2 is on the list but book one should be on yours.  It has been several years since I read it but I remember really liking it and finishing it rather quickly.  The highlights include a convent with a slightly mysterious past, a young girl with an ambiguous history, mystery, intrigue and the angels that fell from grace in the great battle.  Truth be told the titles of both of these books suck, they sound cheesy and not at all interesting, please look past that and give it a try. 

Slot #4 is won by Jo Jo Moyes.  Her new novel Me Before You just came out a little over a month or so ago.  Now, I've never read Jo Jo before and know nothing of this book or any of her other books for that matter.   What I do know is that all my book store dork cohorts love it and were unable to put it down.  Two of them finishing it in one night.  Frankly, that's all I need to know to buy a book.  Hopefully I'll love it as much as they have and it'll get it's own review here. 

I believe that should keep me busy for a while.  Oh wait  . . .  I've already found another to add to the list Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight.  Seems to be more of a chick book so men you might want to steer clear until I actually get to read it.  I do have a feeling I'm going to need tissues for the reading! Enough chatting, I'm off to read.  I have to finish at least one of these soon, right?

The Hit list #1 and #2

     At the moment I'm stuck.  I am reading a million different things hoping one will catch me and pull me into the abyss of "I must finish this book tonight." So I'm plodding through and none have gotten me.  Lots of potential,  a bunch of good but not great.  So here's the hit list currently:  "Z, A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald" by Therese Fowler.  This one strikes my fancy for the Ex-Patriots and the time in which all was swell in the world of literature. When the world oozed great writers and their words.  And a fictional book about one of the big guns (Fitzgerald) and his relationship with his wife (Zelda) has great potential.  It also contains one of my secret passions. . .  southern culture!  So I am really hoping that Fowler knocks this one out of the park.  What scares me is that it falls into the same line as "The Paris Wife" which I just couldn't get through.

     Book number 2 on the currently reading list is "And The Mountains Echoed" by Khaled Hosseini.  Now this one isn't available until late may but I was lucky enough to score an advance readers copy (a great perk of working in the book business!) I enjoyed his other two books so much, in fact they were both books that induced tears.  I don't cry easily while reading, now show me a sad commercial or a sick kid in a show and I'm a ball of blubber, but books usually don't turn on my waterworks.  What I fear the most here is that Hosseini is at a crossroads.  This is the crucial book.  "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and "The Kite Runner" were similar stories, formatted very much the same and followed the same plot form.  He needs to do something completely different with his new book or her could fall through the cracks and become a James Patterson.  He is such a gifted character writer that I really don't want to see this happen to him, I hope he can prove me wrong. 

   Ok, enough food for thought for the moment, I'll be back with 3 and 4 of the currently reading hit list.

    

A Holocaust Classic

     Night by Elie Wiesel is one of those books that is meant to be read by everyone.  There is something in the pages that is sure to pluck a heart string and if you don't tear up at least once while turning the pages, I can say for certainty that you have no soul.   You are a guest  behind the eyes of a teenage Elie while he is rounded up in the Jewish Ghettos and then packed into a train car and taken to a concentration camp.  It is a book that you read and wonder how something like this could have actually happened.  How is it possible that people were exterminated like a savage dogs. If the weren't murdered in the gas chambers  they we starved to the brink of death.  It is a shocking and heart breaking narrative of the day to day life of someone being held prisoner simply because they were Jewish. It is a book that reminds us that the Holocaust is something that we should never forget.

My Guilty Pleasure

     Since I've recently bashed the guilty pleasure of the masses, I figure it is time to reveal one of mine.  I told you all that I have no shame and I truly mean it.  Mine may be even worse than Fifty Shades of Grey! Okay, so here it is, it's Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz.  It's not even an adult novel, it's a teen vampire series.  See I told you it was bad and a slight bit embarrassing! As shameful reading goes this should be at the top of every ladies list.  I say lady because I'm not sure the other gender would buy into the storyline.  When I tell customers about it I say that it's a vampire version of The Gossip Girls with a little bit of religious lore thrown in.  Sound confusing? Well it's not, it's delightfully intoxicating.  An awkward Schuyler Van Allen is starting to change, but into what?  There is always an awkward girl but she is so in a very endearing way.  She is forced into the vampire elite with very little history as to why.  You are slowly let into her past.  Her present is whirlwind and her future is uncertain.  To put it simply it's book crack and the 13 year old girl in me soaks it up. It is an easy read and the story moves fast to keep you turning the pages.  Don't be sad when you finish the first one because there is a total of 7 books for you to indulge in (all 7 are out so no waiting required).  And don't worry, if I see you reading I won't tell :)

Stephen King Does it Again

     There are certain Stephen King books I love, mostly the classics: Pet Cemetery, Carrie, The Shining, The Green Mile and Hearts in Atlantis.  His more current stuff hasn't interested me until 11/22/63.  Stephen King in my opinion is good at two very important things: First he's great at horror, there is no question there, he's earned his accolades, and second he really knows how to write a lovable character.  You wouldn't think that would be something a horror writer would concern themselves with but when he ventures away from the classic horror he's famous for and dips his pen into a more heart felt story he really comes out on top.

     11/22/63 answers a question that has been on the countries mind for decades.  What would the world have been like if John F. Kennedy hadn't been assassinated in Texas on that fateful November day.  Would racial tensions still have escalated?  Would his brother or Martin Luther King Jr been saved as well?  Would the world have turned into a better place?  These questions became the focus for a time traveling Diner owner.  When he finds out he's dying he brings in an old friend and teacher to take over his mission.  Jake Epping is thrown into 1958 to figure out he can stop Lee Harvey Oswald from shooting the president and he has 5 years to do it. 

     I was mesmerized by Jake's journey to the past, watching him adjust to life in the 50's, changing his identity all the while keeping his true purpose hidden from those who become like family to him.  I couldn't wait to get to the end to find out what happened.  Does he succeed in stopping Oswald and at what price?  It is a question I will not answer for you, it's worth reading to find out for yourself. 

To Alienate or Not?

     As I have previously mentioned I run a bookstore.  This has one very amusing perk. . . I know your secret. . . I know what you're reading.  This years dirty little secret seems to be Fifty Shades of Grey.  This trilogy was fantastic for business.  It has even sparked a new sub genre called Romantica (not yet erotica but a touch dirtier than your average Harlequin).  As wonderful as it was for our bottom line it makes me want to weep for the state of literature.  My husband has told me to tread carefully here, not to bash a book that millions have flocked to read.  I say to hell with it! If one of the few folks that read this becomes that offended by my dislike of this book, well then okay.

     Where do I even begin?  I guess my major peeve with this is that it's fan fiction.  That's right, someone loved The Twilight Saga so much they wrote a porny version of it.  It doesn't have the same plot or vampires but it is common knowledge that the main characters (Anastasia and Mr. Grey) are Edward and Bella in human format.  You can think I'm a book snot and maybe I am but one redeeming quality of my reading habit is that I will try anything, I really don't have much shame.  I've read it all from cheesy romance to teen books to one of those ridiculous food mysteries.  So I read it.  I tried I really did but the writing is just plain awful.  It really is that bad.  There is the constant reference to Anastasia's inner goddess that by page 50 I wanted to put a ball gag in her mouth along side of Mr. Grey, and can completely understand why he wanted her to sign the dominate/submissive contract. . .  so he could tell her to shut up! I am completely aware that that I am in a minority here.  Trust me, I know.  I've sold it to old ladies, I've seen teenagers trying to read as much as they can before Mom comes to pick them up, and I've sold it to men who are hoping a light S&M book will get them laid by their ladies.  It seems to be a universal book, again I don't know why. 

     All that being said I do stand behind reading anything because reading is good for the soul.  So if this is what gives you your jollies then all the power to you.  But maybe, just maybe consider stepping it up a little bit next time.  Give Anne Rice's erotic fairytale series a try.  At least she can write and your damned sure there will be a decent plot.  Or if you're feeling very brave try my favorite spin off called Fifty Shades of Chicken which boasts an elegantly tied up roasted chicken on the cover and plenty of good recipes. That would be time better spent.

I've Been in the Time Out Chair :)

     It's been a while since I've reviewed a book and I want to apologize for that.  Truth be told I am a book store dork but I also run a bookstore.  Now that Christmas is over and the rush has gone I'm back to reading, thank god!  I am currently reading three books, first up is A Game of Thrones ( a hefty undertaking no doubt, so that one may take me a while), The Fifth Assassin (what I like to call a cheesy thriller), and a non-fiction tome called Far From the Tree (So far very interesting study of children who are genetically different than their parents i.e. deaf children of hearing parents, children who turn out to be murderers etc.).  So I promise that a review is coming soon, I just need to catch back up and read!