Hey! We have a blog!

I should write that on my mirror, so I'm reminded every morning.  Sorry there's been such a space between posts- there have been some issues with emails reception rates at the store, we're working on getting our new website organized, and I also teach part-time and have been recognizing and addressing all the mistakes my students and myself have made over the course of the semester!  That grading game continues for another week, so this is just a quick post to suggest other fine literary-type blogs to hold your attention in the interim (and beyond)!

In no particular order-

First: Perfect Duluth Day is a great site for knowing what's happening in the Twin Ports - reflections on movies, concerts, webvideos, news articles, etc.  Eclectic with a very local spirit.

Second: Magers & Quinn down in the cities has a great blog run by my friend and fellow bookseller, David E.  Book news, links and info on their events and deals.  Great read all-around and I'd qualify it as rather vital if you're living in or headed down to the Cities.

Third: Bookavore a very cool bookseller now managing a store in Brooklyn.  Great insights, fantastic suggestions and, in the last piece, a great recipe.

Fourth: The Word Hoarder, Rich is another bookseller out east, and has great posts on the book industry from a practical, bookselling position.  Especially if you're interested in the drama surrounding the digital books.  ALSO, he has compiled a great collection of forthcoming books.  Check them out.

Fifth: Vromans a great bookstore on the other coast.  Again, a great space for insight into the state of the publishing/bookselling industry.  If you're ever in Cali, try to make a visit to their store.

And our very own friend, Author, Andrew Slade keeps us up to date on developments and news up and down the North Shore.  He and his poodle are out on the trails often and he writes to tell how they are doing.  His books are available at our store!  If you're interested in the Northland Outdoors, I highly suggest checking his blog often.

What other Northern MN/WI blogs do you read?  How do you keep the pulse of the local community?  Where do you go for book news/review/and insights?  Let us know!  

I'll be back in a week.  Hopefully some of my colleagues here at the store will chime in with a review or two.  If not, I have a lot on deck myself!

Peace Love and Books!

~john 

Buying Local

Supporting community, encouraging independence, sharing passion - these are all things we think of when we think of shopping locally. It's hard to over-emphasize how important it is to a community to have and maintain that ability. Just browsing through other blogs of other great independent bookstores and came across a posting from the owner of The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina, who describes the issue very nicely, finishing:

There's no escaping the fact that we live in a global economy. And for a lot of reasons the global end of things has been running rampant lately, driving local business to the brink. Some of this has to do with efficiencies, but a lot of it also has to do with access to capital, exchange rates, and things like the financial backing needed to sign a lease at most shopping malls.

But we also live in a very specific (and I think very remarkable) place. And supporting a little local balance to the global giants can only be a good thing for this place we call home -- and, really, for the global economy as well.

Buying Local Has a Big Impact

Quick note on Graphic Detail

A link via FSG books: The Cleveland Free Times posts a nice review of non-fiction books using extended illustration, a la graphic novels, to better explain their concepts at hand. Shows that with innovation, there are always new ways of telling stories and sharing information.

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!

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!