First Friday Wine Tasting at the Bookstore

Friday, May 2, 2008 - 6-9pm
Join us and our friends Vino 100 us for a Wine Tasting.

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.

Live music will be provided by Daniel Anderson and friends.

"E's for the evil that lures and entices..."

The Dangerous Alphabet, by Neil Gaiman, just arrived. At first, I thought this would be a book for the older kids and adults- but then I remembered how twisted Lemony Snicket's books were and how much the kids loved them. So - yeah - I think the younger set will dig this. The illustrations by Gris Grimly are wonderfully dark.

Lauretta

Irish/Folk Music at the Bookstore

Irish/Folk Music at the Bookstore
Saturday the 26th April - 6-9pm

Celtic/Folk musician Steve Haug is back - yay!
Tea and cookies will also be available.

Cozy murder mystery with a hardcore twist

Thistle and Twigg, by Mary Saums, starts out like a typical Southern-style cozy mystery but ends with a satisfying hardcore twist worthy of Sue Grafton. We join Jane Thistle, recently widowed military wife and archeology enthusiast, as she settles in Alabama forest, which reminds her of her childhood in England. The Point of View goes back and forth between Jane and her new friend, Phoebe Twigg...who might have relatives amongst Janet Evanovich's characters. Yes, Phoebe has to be read to be enjoyed! I didn't laugh out out but the snickers went on and on.

Until I got to the twist and my eyes got really big. I can't tell you - you have to read it. REALLY. Find it at your local library or bookstore - really, really.
Lauretta

Poem in your pocket today

Today I gave a talk to the Renaissance Institute at the College of Notre Dame, Maryland on Pluto and its Planethood. Therefore, the Poem in My Pocket today was

Pluto was a planet.
But now it doesn't pass.
Pluto was a planet.
They say it's lacking mass.
Pluto was a planet.
Pluto was admired.
Pluto was a planet.
Til one day it got fired.

This was from a children's book - I'll look up the author and title and post them tomorrow. Oops, found it! The wonders of the internet led me to Publishers Weekly, which had an article of the book and the Great Planet Debate. This is from Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars (Harcourt) by Douglas Florian.


What Poem are you carrying around today?
Lauretta

Fresh and funny - jaw-droppingly so!

We received McSweeney's Joke Book of Book Jokes and oh, boy, oh boy, oh boy! If you like books, you will love this. I ordered it after I read, in a review, that it includes Lady Macbeth on Ambien and I am twisted enogh to find that whole concept hilarious. Well, there's also Klingon Fairy Tales, Cormac McCarthy's Letter to the Editor and many, many more. When I read about Ikea Product or Lord of the Rings Character? I didn't realize it was a quiz!

Hmn, Jane Eyre Runs for President? Now there's an interesting idea! If Bill the Cat could run, why not Jane?

$12.95 in the US - don't read it where they look at you funny for laughing out loud.
Lauretta

This Poem Last Year

Last year at this time, I was waiting for my landlords to finish the 'build-out' so I could move everything in and open a bookstore. Since it was April, I was trying to write a poem a day.
The poem I wrote this day last year was an attempt at a haiku:

April 3, 2007
I got money!
I can pay for books!
Loans are great!

All rights reserved.

Yes, that was the day I closed on the business loan.
Lauretta Nagel

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month and boy, are we celebrating!
We have new poetry books.
You can sign up for a Poem a Day at poets.org- they do ringtones too!
You can pick up a free poem to carry in your pocket on April 17th - Poem in Your Pocket Day.

Today's Poem:

The Charm by Robert Creeley My children are, to me, what is uncommon: they are dumb and speak with signs. Their hands are nervous, and fit more for hysteria, than goodwill or long winterside conversation. Where fire is, they are quieter and sit, comforted. They were born by their mother in hopelessness. But in them I had been, at first, tongue. If they speak, I have myself, and love them. April 2, 2008 Today's poem is from Selected Poems, 1945-2005, just published by University of California Press. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.