As
a bookseller in northern Michigan, offering both new and used titles, with most
of my walk-in trade coming in July and August, I naturally give Michigan books
and authors my highest level of attention. But ever since I first began to
stock new books, as well, I’ve tried to keep my eyes open to titles that go
beyond our state, into areas that fascinate me and will, I hope, attract the
attention of my bookstore customers. My own interests are eclectic, and I think that helps me connect to customers with different interests.
In
that light, below is a very, very abbreviated sample of books I’ve ordered for
stock in the last few weeks. As you can see, they range from Buddhist through
outdoor, nature, animals, and travel, to parenting and children’s and
illustrated books, with a couple modern classics in the list.
BUDDHIST ANIMAL WISDOM
STORIES, by Mark W. McGinnis, illustrated by author (oversized hc with jacket -
$19.95)
DRAWN TOGETHER, by
Aline & R. Crumb (oversized hc with jacket - $49.95)
I LOVE DIRT! 52
ACTIVITIES TO HELP YOU AND YOUR KIDS DISCOVER THE WONDERS OF NATURE, by
Jennifer Ward (pb - $14)
IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN,
by Maurice Sendak, illustrated by author (25th anniversary addition,
hc with jacket, $17.95)
IT’S OKAY NOT TO SHARE...AND OTHER
RENEGADE RULES FOR RAISING COMPETENT AND COMPASSIONATE KIDS, by Heather Shumaker
(pb - $15.95)
OWLS, by Marianne
Taylor (oversized hc with jacket - $35)
THE PLACES THAT SCARE
YOU: A GUIDE TO FEARLESSNESS IN DIFFICULT TIMES, by Pema Chodron (pb - $14)
THE SHEEP BOOK: A
HANDBOOK FOR THE MODERN SHEPHERD, Revised and Updated, by Ron Parker (pb -
$24.95)
TUVA OR BUST! RICHARD
FEYNMAN’S LAST JOURNEY, by Ralph Leighton (pb – $17.95)
WHAT MAKES YOU not A BUDDHIST, by
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (pb - $15.95)
WHERE THE WILD THINGS
ARE, by Maurice Sendak, illustrated by author (hc with jacket, $17.95)
WINTER: FIVE WINDOWS
ON THE SEASON, by Adam Gopnik (pb - $19.95)
What
do you think of my hand-picked inventory? Which would you pick up for a closer look?
Through
the year, in every season, you will also find at Dog Ears Books fiction,
poetry, cookbooks, and history. We have a strong science section of used books,
and equally strong sections in religion and in philosophy. There are fine
bindings and first and signed editions for the collector, but the reader who
wants a paperback mystery for bathtub or beach won’t be disappointed, either.
What we don’t have in stock, I will happily special-order for you.
One
new book I could not resist ordering for the holiday season, a book yet to
leave the bookstore to find its first real home, is Fair Culture, by Harold Lee
Miller. This oversized paperback volume of photographs captures beautifully the
quintessential rural Midwest of my childhood, a world that continues to exist.
In August 2005 Harold Lee Miller, a nationally known photographer with offices in Indianapolis and New York, started a series of photographs of 4-H participants at the poultry and rabbit barns of the Indiana State Fair. Over the past few years, Miller expanded his project to include people and activity from fairs held in Jackson, Elkhart, Dubois, Delaware, Washington, Owen, Monroe, Knox, Jay, and Marion counties. The photographs depict people and their horses, sheep, cows, as well as life on the midway and other activities associated with this Hoosier summer pastime.
Did
you grow up in the Midwest? Love the world of the county fair? Do you still?
It’s all here in these delightful and evocative pages.
5 comments:
I would pick up Tuva or Bust. I've always enjoyed Feynman, and remember both Leighton and him as interesting characters from my college days.
I think the Winter, Five Windows....but I was also intrigued by Drawn Together...don't know why...and some of the others. For sure would thumb through most of them.
I like the eyes on that "What" book. A book that reads you! And not even in Soviet Russia.
Actually, I want to order the dirt book for Janet, Matt, Trevor and Wes. I think they'll love it.
Well, actually, Deborah, someone who read the blog came in this morning and bought that book! I'll be putting another order in on Monday, though, and was going to re-order that book, so now I'll re-order an extra copy. It does look like great fun! One copy of WINTER is spoken for, but another is still available, are are TUVA, and WHAT MAKES YOU NOT A BUDDHIST and others.
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