From the page to the screen

Ok, I'm not very good at keeping up with movies and movie adaptations of books. Just recently I've missed announcing and reviewing:The Spirit, The Secret Life of Bees, Revolutionary Road, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and probably a dozen others.

Largely this is because I'm not a huge movie-goer. (For just a few dollars more, I can own the book and be the visual director.) I'm also wary of adaptations because they are re-tellings of stories; stories that we've come to love because they were originally told so well! But, it can also be very magical to see and hear another person's vision of what you've loved.

I have a feeling that this movie will be one of those magical, visual experiences. Coraline by Neil Gaiman looks to be quite tremendous. For those of you who are not familiar with Neil Gaiman, here's my reductive impression of his works: he understand Story(yes, with a capital S) to an extraordinary level; he is not afraid of the dark; because he truly embraces Story, his works span age levels very easily; he has a great wit; and he has a true knack for teaming up with brilliant visual artists. Take that writing force, apply it to a story of a little girl who is fleeing the ordinary and then trapped by the wondrous, compose it with an innovative/creative production company and you have a potential classic on your hands.
Opens February 6th. I'll have to watch it February 7th, since I'll be listening to Michael Ryan read at CSS. So, if you can't make it to listen to Michael Ryan, I highly suggest you see Coraline.
Here's the Gaiman approved trailer:

Now here's an exciting challenge

In a time of year dominated by weight-loss challenges, The Bookstore People announce a challenge that will result in Brain-Gain!

The Independent Bookstore Readers Challenge is a challenge to explore the world of indie booksellers. They have different levels of commitment - check out two new(to you) stores to be a scout - visit Indies in Europe and become a Globe trotter! Sign Up Here!

They are also planning to help cross-post reviews and experiences, so make sure to share your discoveries and help your fellow scouts, specialists, nationalists, continentals, globetrotters and type A personalities (see their page for descriptions!).

So, next time you're about to head out on a trip, check IndieBound to find stores along the way!

The More You Know...

We're big believers in attending class daily through the University of Life Campus at Northern Lights Books.
Today, Melanie and I heard a singer/songwriter referred to as a "songstress" on the radio. I doubted it was an actual word. It sounds like someone slapping a suffix on a noun and calling it a day - I have no real objection to that practice, I'm a suffixer on occasion myself, but this caught me off guard.

So, asking Melanie how sure she was it was a word (She was $1 sure; in these rough economic times, I wasn't that sure, so her wager went unmatched), I googled it. Sure enough, songstress is a word. Melanie would have won a dollar in a non-recession year.

But! The definition includes the root word, song: "a female singer, esp. one who specializes in popular songs." Not esp. helpful in a definition. So- do they mean hits, top 40 songs? Or do they mean popular, "pop," music as a genre? It seems absurd to specialize in writing hit songs (it wasn't mentioned as a career path at my job fair in elementary school), but it's also awkward to refer to a musical genre by "songs."

Is it one of those awkward moments that's actually more correct? Is the dictionary ambiguous because they felt resentful including the word to begin with? What words do you like to suffix into creation? Prefixers out there?

Keep questioning.

Inauguration poem.

Twin Cities Poets weigh in on Inauguration Poem

As I'm writing right now, Obama is motorcading on his way to the Inauguration. It seems redundant to express my excitement on that fact, so, let me shift attention to the fact that poetry is being featured again today!

Elizabeth Alexander will soon be reading her poem to commemorate the occasion. She will be only the fourth poet to read at an inauguration.

The role of the poet and of poetry is... influx; precarious; languishing; misunderstood; vital; all of the above? Whatever your personal stance, there is something truly remarkable, and not just because it is somewhat of a rarity, when a poet gives voice to ideas/emotions/images/sounds. Art and ideas joined in celebration and reflection of an event: they can be very powerful. So, as a lover of words, this is truly a moment of hope and change!

Reading for Comfort

After some discussion about how and what we read, there's a nice new blog out there (in the interwebs) focusing on specific titles and explaining more of the emotional effect the books had for the readers.
Via The Olive Reader (another nice site for book news), Good Books in Bad Times is also backed by HarperCollins but features a range of books and titles, new and old from multiple genres and discussed by different authors. Good to peruse at any time, but I especially recommend it for anyone in search of a good cathartic book. Tearful can be uplifting!

Have you been reading?

Although it's been hard to say how accurate the findings really are, there's a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts released that shows that people, especially younger people, are reading a bit more than in the last few years.

Among the credits: popular book groups (a la Oprah), online resources (both for the writing itself as well as more communcation and awareness of books), and community reads.

Our last One Book, One Community read, Three Cups of Tea was a great success - we're eagerly looking forward to this season and will announce the new title as soon as it's finalized!

But baby, it's cold outside

So what books are you reading to keep yourself warm?
For some reason I've just picked up a handful of books by Scandanavian authors (The Howling Miller & Silence of the Grave), a cool new collection of Minnesota authors,Fiction on a Stick and local short story craftsman, Anthony Bukoski's Twelve Below Zero.

I seem to be taking the aclimation approach to taking on the cold.

How about you? Cold days - do you dive into Pamuk's Snow or are you off to the tropics and mystery Coroner's Lunch? Do you block out the cold by focusing on politics and the world around us?

Zounds!

It's been a while since we've posted! Thank you all for stopping and calling in to the store - keeping us on our toes to the point that we were too busy to post blogs!

Many thanks to those of you able to come out and make our Open House a great success! We helped Cathy Wurzer sell through her first print of Tales of the Road.

It was also a great night to meet up with Daniel Lancaster and discuss his book, John Beargrease: Legend of Minnesota's North Shore.

Now, as we pat our tummies (full of egg nog, sugar cookies and general holiday cheer), we want to invite you to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter - The Northern Lights Gazer. It always has a little bit of what's going on around the store, some reviews, some details on upcoming events, and, especially this week, it has valuable coupons! Sign up this week and you'll receive the Gazer with a coupon worth up to 40% off!

We're trimming down stock for inventory, so all Calendars and Holiday items are 40% off. Print off the coupon from the e-newsletter and bring it in for up to 40% off on all regularly priced items in the store (bookmarks, candles, cards and books). See the newsletter or call for more details!

Why a Book this Holiday Season?

Fellow book blogger, Bookavore, asks this important question this holiday season. Why a book? Honestly, so many thoughts rush to mind that, like a troop of clowns, none seems able to make way all the way past my lips (or, case being, finger tips)!
IndieBound has suggested that one reason is that "a scented candle has never changed anyone's life" [for the better]. That reminds me of the many authors who tell of how books transformed their lives - with language - that communication between reader & author, and with the escape into new worlds, ideas and possibilities.

What stands out to you about books? The smell? The tactility? Engaging new subjects? Taking a quick vacation? Gathering in thrills? Losing oneself in the robes of history? Let us know!

Louis Jenkins breaks in European Shoes

Louis Jenkins, prolific prose poet, has just released a limited edition collection of poetry and prose, European Shoes centering on his travels in the late summer and fall of 2007. We'll be celebrating this release with a reading/reception on Sunday, December 7th, 3:30pm at the Quaker Meeting House 1802 East First Street, Duluth, MN.

A bit about Louis Jenkins- a Duluthian since 1970; widely published and anthologized; a contemporary master of the prose poem known for his clever, dry wit; winner of awards; Prairie Home Companion star; and now skating his way on to just-off Broadway for a workshop of a play based on his poetry.
Visit his press and click on "listen" to hear him read various poems!

A bit about European Shoes- "useless as a travel guide and offers no insight whatsoever into European art, culture, politics or daily life" proclaims the preface. The insight may not be offered, per se, but is rather discovered through the journey. Jenkins alternates between journal entries on topics of travel, and art, people and history - emphasizing a sense of place through careful details of sights and gestures, as well as noting names of people and places. It recreates the feeling of being captivated in a new place - a lot familiar, a lot foreign, and the reluctant realization that you're the foreigner.


The poetry, like a viking ship, travels near and far, attacking quickly but also known to "slip sideways into the lee of the wind. So even with the most skilled sailors [readers] it [is] easy to get blown of course." But that's where we find the insights: a little bit sideways rather than straight on.
One of these insights that I appreciated is that of the writing process. Since these poems are dry and often border on the absurd, it's nice to see them in communication with the journal entries to see the initial spark, as it were (or may have been).
The subjects range broadly: shoes, breakfast, bicycle abandonment, masonry, trains, goddesses, and artists. The speakers change just as much as they remain still:

When it first happened I thought my acquaintance was speaking to someone else. I looked around but there was no one else there. I've tried moving to adjust the conversational direction, but the speaker only readjusts. I realized that if I kept moving our conversation would be going in concentric circles.

(from "Out of It")

Come on out. Enjoy the reading. Chat with Louis and other poetry lovers. Pick up your copy or copies of the book!