Monthly Archives: May 2008

Here in Sunny LA

Heather, Carole and I arrived yesterday. We’re staying in Hollywood right near the Kodak Theater. I’ve never been to LA before. It’s sunny with wide boulevards. Last night Heather and I went to a cocktail party at this neat bar called The Woods. It’s full of wood paneling and antlers. We were there as part of the Emerging Leaders, an organization for younger booksellers. We met lots of great booksellers from around the country as well as a whole bunch from Skylight Books here in LA.

Today is the day of education here at the hotel. We’ll learn about finance, how to have great events (not that we need that help in my opinion), how to green the store, etc. And of course we hope to spend some time at the wonderful looking poll on the fifth floor!

Miscellaneous Reads

I spent most of the long weekend outside reading. I’ve been meaning to write something about all the books I’ve finished, but I’ve got approximately 18 hours before my plane leaves for LA and a million things to finish before then. I thought at least I can write a sentence or two or three:

  • The Legal Limit by Martin Clark–I was nervous about reading this, like I was nervous about reading Mark Sarvas’s book. Clark reads this blog you see, but it turns out there is nothing to worry about. I blew through the book, enjoying every minute of it.
  • All About Lulu by Jonathan Evison–Yowza, I thought, reading the back of this book. A sensitive vegetarian growing up in a family of body builders. What should have been weird book turned out to be have a wistful and insightful storyline. Really, it’s a charming book.
  • Little Brother by Cory Doctorow–I wish I had the guts and know-how to overthrow a crappy regime. In Doctorow’s world, San Francisco becomes a police state after a terrorist attack. Marcus and his friends decide to bring down the this Orwellian nightmare after being apprehended by Homeland Security.
  • The Broken Shore by Peter Temple–The author has won a whole bunch of awards in Australia and the book was on my table. Those were my criteria this weekend. Melbourne homicide detective Joe Cashin has been temporarily assigned to his hometown, dinky Port Monro and exciting mysteries abound in this backwoods area.
  • The Blood Spilt by Asa Larsson–My friend Genevieve who is really into Scandinavian mysteries recommended this one to me. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first, but I got into it. It’s set in a small Swedish town where a priest is murdered.

Now I have to figure out what books to bring on the plane to LA!

Big Bookstore News!

Frank Kramer, who has owned Harvard Book Store, Cambridge, Mass., since 1962, is putting the store up for sale. In an announcement, Kramer, who is 66, said that he would like to move “into a new phase of his life” and plans “to stay connected to Harvard Square and books.” He hopes to find a buyer “of like mind who loves books, who appreciates the iconic institution that he and two generations of dedicated staff members have built and who will continue the traditions and values that HBS represents to its many thousands of committed customers.”

Kramer has no urgency about selling, saying, “It’s all about finding the right person.” The store is “healthy and vibrant,” he emphasized, and is mainly run by general manager Carole Horne.

Some 46 years ago, Kramer took over the store in his senior year at college, when his father, Mark Kramer, who had founded the store in 1932, died. Kramer decided to take the helm, he remembered, for “at least for a few years until I figured out what to do with my life.” As co-founder and co-chair of Cambridge Local First, he will continue to spend at least some time helping locally owned businesses grow and help Cambridge become a greener city.
What does this mean for me? Not much for now. Frank is committed to finding the best possible person to take over the store. We haven’t seen that person on the horizon yet, but they’re out there. I’m leaving for Book Expo tomorrow morning and anticipate answering a billion questions about this. I say with pride that the Harvard Book Store is one of the best bookstores in the country. With customer support, we’ll be around for a long long time.

Red Mars Redux

Who knew we were so close to science fiction? Okay, I’m sure a lot of people did. Reading this article on the Phoenix Lander, I couldn’t help but wonder how close we are to Kim Stanley Robinson’s vision. After a nine month journey, the Lander is set to land on Mars sometime Sunday and perform a few lab experiments.

But first, it must survive what its developers call the final “seven minutes of terror” to reach the surface.“There are many, many risks and uncertainties,” said Dr. Edward Weiler, associate administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration science division. Since the start of planetary exploration, 55 percent of spacecraft sent to land on Mars have failed, he said.

I don’t know. Maybe if we spent more money on the space program than on say, unnecessary wars, we’d have landed on Mars by now? Just a thought.

Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall

I’m going in record saying that Sarah Hall is one of the most talented writers around today. Her first two novels, The Electric Michelangelo, shortlisted for the Booker prize in 2004, and Haweswater, were both set in her native area of Cumbria. Her third novel Daughters of the North is a bit of a departure, a dystopian novel, with echoes of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Global warming has caused massive flooding in the UK. Fuel is scarce and drug use is rampant as people try to cope with their bleak lives. Women’s reproductive rights are strictly controlled; the government fits every woman of childbearing age with a contraceptive coil. The narrator, Sister, has fled her city to a utopian all-female commune called Carhullan. Yet the farm is no paradise. The women work hard, under the tight control of the enigmatic Jackie. Sister comes to love her life after undergoing a complete transformation. But soon the outside world breaks into their scraggy Eden forcing a brutal fight. Hall’s book ask how individuals respond when things get out of control and governments overstep their bounds. What does it take to make someone react? It’s a haunting question as you read about pharmacists who won’t fill prescriptions for birth control and states trying to ban abortion. I was happy to see Hall’s lovely book win the Tiptree award this year.

Book Expo Invitation

Each year the booksellers and publishers gather in a city for Book Expo America, aka BEA. This year we’ll be meeting in LA starting on May 29th. One of the projects I’m involved with is the Emerging Leaders, which is for young or new booksellers who want to make a career out of bookselling. Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, the Written Nerd, is also involved and you can read more about what this is all about on her blog. We’re having a party this year, so if you work in a bookstore, post this somewhere if you think anyone might want to attend. Here are the details:

THE SECOND ANNUAL BEA EMERGING LEADERS PARTY!
Who: Young Booksellers
What: BEA Emerging Leaders Party
Where: The Woods – 1533 N. La Brea Hollywood CA – 323.876.6612 phone / website: http://www.vintagebargroup.com
When: Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 7:00pm – 9:00pm (open bar from 7:00pm – 8:00pm)
RSVP: Space is limited, must RSVP no later than Wednesday, May 21st at www.bookexpoamerica.com/EmergingLeadersRSVP

Enjoy cocktails and mix & mingle with authors for the young and hip:

– Scott McCloud, author of Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991 (HarperCollins, July)
– Cylin Busby , author of The Year We Disappeared: A Father – Daughter Memoir (Bloomsbury, August)
– Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife (Random House, September)
– Diana Spechler, author of Who By Fire (HarperCollins, September)
– Tony O’Neill, author of Down and Out on Murder Mile (HarperCollins, October)
– Jonathan Evison, author of All About Lulu (Soft Skull, July)

TO RSVP TO THIS EVENT GO TO: www.bookexpoamerica.com/EmergingLeadersRSVP – YOU MUST RSVP BY MAY21st.

Until Tomorrow Links

  • I’m jealous of Alberto Manguel’s 30,000 volume library.

    I have dozens of very bad books that I don’t throw away in case I ever need an example of a book I think is bad. The only book I ever banished from my library was Bret Easton Ellis’s “American Psycho,” which I felt infected the shelves with its prurient descriptions of deliberately inflicted pain. I put it in the garbage; I didn’t give it to anyone because I wouldn’t give away a book I wasn’t fond of.

  • Look at this hilarious makeover of the bible. It’s girly! (Thanks VQR for the link!)
  • Why are British book jackets often so much better than the North American? They’ve created a centenary set of the entire James Bond collection. I’m not sure if they’re available here in the states. We just get these pulp covers for now. russiaus.jpg

Dragons and Gods

I referred last week to two books I had read that involved dragons and the Greek gods. The book with the dragons was the new Naomi Novik, due out in July, called Victory of Eagles. It’s the fifth in the Temeraire series. I love this series which marries the Napoleonic wars with dragons. This new entry in the series picks up with the disgrace of Temeraire and Will Laurence after they gave the cure that had been decimating the dragon population worldwide to the French. It adds a surprising level of gravitas to the story. Napoleon has landed in England and everyone is needed for the fight, including the two “traitors”. Another rich adventure which comes out in July, unfortunately in hardcover now. Personally I find it silly that they’re taking a series which has done quite well as paperback originals and now putting them in hardcover. It didn’t stop me from devouring the galley, but I’m lucky. I wonder how many fans will be put off by this.
The Greek gods were in the fourth book of the Percy Jackson series The Battle of the Labyrinth. If you’re unfamiliar with these books, imagine that the Greek gods are real. And Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon and a mortal woman. He’s one of many half-bloods and as soon as he finds out his heritage, Percy is thrust into a war amongst the gods. The series is funny and exciting. A great read for those who want something after Harry Potter. The fourth one doesn’t disappoint either. This time they have to find a way to prevent Kronos’ army from invading Camp Half-Blood. Percy and his friends set out on a quest through the Labyrinth, built by Daedalus himself. Riordan’s wry humor and gripping plot make this book as good as the last one.