Thank you and blogs!

Heather Johnson of Age 30+...A Lifetime of Books blog fame just reviewed our shop for the She is too fond of books blog. Thanks, Heather - lovely review!!

In other blogs, have you discovered the Baltimore Sun's Read Street blog yet? Lots of interesting bits, reviews and literary-related news. I am fascinated by Eleanore Herman's debate with the another responder on the historical accuracy of her latest book. (under "Vandalism at the Pratt") I am also vastly entertained by the conflict: Poe: Northern Writer or Southern Writer? The latest salvo is this bid to move Poe's remains to Philly. HAH.

truecrime Jake Arnott

What can I say about this surprising book? Four voices, an unconventional plot and a moral at the end. Plus this quote from David Bowie right on the front cover - 'Pure gangland bliss.....Funny, fast and brutal.' This is cool Britannia with Tony Blair just assuming office. Britain has discovered its 'villians' and they're cool - at least the way truecrime publishing portrays them. We get to mix with real villains, the wanna-bes and those who make their living writing about them, plus the screenwriters a la' Pulp Fiction. What an interesting unpredictable book this is.

Tea with Cynthia Polansky this weekend

Join us for tea and cookies with Cynthia Polansky . Her latest book, "Remote Control," is about a ghost that attempts to help those she left behind.

Winner of the Indie Excellence Award in the category of New Age Fiction, Remote Control is the story of 30-something Judith McBride, a Jewish control freak with an unlikely last name. When she dies in a medical mishap, she calls upon her supernatural status to "rescue" her widowed husband from the sexy clutches of their gold-digging, thrill-seeking blonde accountant. But interference with earthly events is strictly verboten and the repercussions ripple outward, affecting not only Judith, but the lives of her husband and best friend. Judith's journey from the physical world to the spiritual is peppered with adjustments, choices, and self-discovery, ultimately leading her to the realization that loving sometimes means learning how to let go.

Vote for the weirdest, oddest book title

Some of you may have heard about The Bookseller's Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year. Well, in honor of its 30th anniversary, they're running a Best Of contest. The winner was
Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers.

Catchy, huh?
Lauretta

Wine & Song - Tonight!

Wine and Song, tonight, Friday, September 5, 2008 - 6-9pm
Join us! Wines will be provided by our friends at Vino 100. Vino 100’s motto is “100 great wines for $25 or less.” They use two barometers - Flavor (which runs from Fruity to Dry) and Body (which runs from Light to Full) – to make wine buying easier for the customer. We will have wines, along with munchies, available for tasting.

We will also have live music from folk musician Steve Haug. Steve tells me the rest of his weekend will be spent playing at the Enchantment Faire in Natural Bridge, VA...where they have a replica of Stonehenge made out of foam. Yes, indeed - a full-size-Foamhenge. I did ask if there was a special, druid-type, folk song he would plan to play. He replied that he was thinking about the song from "This is Spinal Tap."
You know which one.
Yep.
Ahuh.
I can see the smiles on your faces now.

Lauretta

this night's foul work

This Night's Foul Work Fred Vargas

Dotty serendipity, quirky misfits, odd instinctiveness - Commissaire Adamsberg leads the Serious Crime Squad of Paris in some twisted adventures. In this, the third book of the series so far, Adamsberg's troops emerge as people .
There is Retancourt, earth Mother to the group and a force of nature, stupendous in her emotional strength. The way she conserves her energy and then expends it at the most crucial time leaves Adamsberg reeling. She is one character who confounds him, usually Adamsberg's encounters end with him confusing the other. Danglard is the second in charge. A cultured, knowledgeable widower with six children. He runs interference for his boss.
This Night's Foul Work is all about shades. Adamsberg can feel them settling around him - the past, ghosts and evil. This is definitely not a police procedural , maybe a police 'intuitional'? And Fred Vargas the author? She is an historian and archaelogist as well as one of France's best selling writers.

Today's quote

I was trying to explain why I couldn't use the standard Halloween decorations for tonight's Breaking Dawn party.
"We don't do cobwebs or bats," I said.
Anne responded, "We do relationships."

Good one, huh?
Lauretta