"My general conclusion about it has been the same as my conclusion about Britney Spears - some of the masses need to be opiated." - Nialle, regarding the really wonky stuff in the New Age section

"I wasn't questioning your logic, I was making sure you were in your right mind..." - Ali

"They need to hid the spice rack filled with different angst." - Anna

"I can juggle for, like, two seconds. But then I drop the eggs on the carpet and my mom gets mad." - Luke

"There are people trained to avoid subtleness with violent, screaming bounciness." - Nialle

Over the next few months, you'll see big changes at the store. We have purchased The Bookery,Along the Iron Curtain (a recollection of his military service) and Booking in Iowa (a memoir of bookselling and of the many bookstores of Eastern Iowa). We're looking forward to adding 13,000 volumes of history, religion, philosophy, science, children's nonfiction, and more to our collection. Check in frequently - we're already adding new titles to the shelves, and we'll be unpacking more as quickly as we can! long an Iowa City landmark, upon the retirement of owner Joe Michaud. Joe is looking forward to finding more time to write; he has already published two books,

Nobel Prize in Literature 2009

Herta Muller is the winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Literature.

Man Book Prize Winner 2009

So, it is time, once again, for one of the major book awards to be announced. This time, it's the Man Booker, 2009, and the winner is Hilary Mantel with Wolf Hall. Stop on by the store and we'll see if we can hook you up.

Customer: "Oh you look so sensitive..."
Ali (as Harbour Seal hand puppet): "You should see my iPod."

Nialle and Claire will be celebrating their fifth anniversary together on 9/9/9. If Nialle is ambitious, Nialle may bring cookies or something. Feel free to drop by and promote the general atmosphere of ongoing silliness and bibliophilia.

Josh: "You started talking like it could happen and I just started believing you."
Nialle: "Dammit! I knew I should have been a dictator!"

"It was sort of like Hitchcock's 'The Birds', only they were well-meaning." - Nialle

"Preemptive denial makes me really suspicious." - Nialle

"I like being art." - Nialle

"I was like, 'Where is the nearest centaur, please?' " - Nialle

"There is complete irony in the universe and it makes me squee." - Nialle

"They're in a Klingon vessel... It's complicated." - Nialle

"The Romans were cute and cuddly in a not terribly cute and cuddly sort of way." - Ali

"... It's like saying that Spartans were fluffy. - Ali

"Oh god, you mean I have to wait until middle age to get cranky? Nobody told me!" - Kelly, customer

"I just sell people things, I don't tell them what to do with their babies." - Ali

"He is not the hero command.com wants, but he is the hero command.com needs." - Luke, RE: 'Digital Justice Batman'

"... You are more cognizant of crap..." - Nialle, RE: Anna's ability to pull books from sections

"Nothing says STOMP STOMP like a T-Rex." - Nialle

Nialle: "Testosterone..."
Erin: "It's what's for dinner!"
- this conversation caused Ali to bang her head against the button case and the bookcase

We're thrilled to be participating in Iowa City's first major book fair. Look for more information about what we'll be doing soon, but more importantly, check out the festival's website! We think this is a wonderful way to celebrate IC's designation as a UNESCO Literary City.

"I want you to know I have two socks!" - Nialle, threatening Ali & Luke

" 'So Nialle, how was work?' 'Oh fine, except a whale was asking for asylum'." - Nialle, RE: the Blue Whale finger puppet's plaintive cries for mercy and asylum

"I don't want it running to the pigs..." - Anna

"Why are there pictures in a book? People are strange enough without evidence for it!" - Anna

The cats love the new place - it's bigger, so Logan can get going really fast before failing adorably to make the tight turn from the History aisle into the Science room, and it has better windows, which means Nierme can bask in lots of places.

"WE HAVE NOT YET BEGUN TO SNARK!" - Anna

"Humans! Humans are running away!" - Nialle

"The power of silliness can do... stuff." - Ali

"She's wearing... like... squirrels!" - Leiden, RE: an Edgar Rice Burroughs book cover painting

"It's a vortex of improbability." - Nialle, RE: the bookshop

"Did you just compare high intellecutalism to a Twinkie??" - Ali to Nialle

"This is not reality, it's a bookstore." - Nialle

In honor of our late investor, business advisor, proud promoter, and beloved grandfather, William Weldon Woods (d. 22 April 2009), and his father, Weldon William Woods (d. 16 Jan, 1991), mentor and friend, we will be naming the room containing antiquarian and rare books and books about Iowa "Weldon's Room." Both men farmed at Maple Knoll in Cedar County, Iowa, which has been in the family for over 150 years, and both encouraged Nialle in her education; Bill Woods was enormously supportive of Nialle's purchase and management of the Haunted Bookshop, and we guess he understood that while Nialle is inept at growing even cherry tomatoes, the seeds of curiosity and literacy, well tended, can fruit as bountifully as a field of good Iowan earth.

We just went on a huge buying binge. Come see all our wonderful new toys!

National Book Critics Circle Award Winners 2008

Best Novel was awarded to the late Roberto Bolaño for his novel 2666.

The Poetry Prize was awarded to Juan Felipe Herrera for Half the World in Light.

Welcome to our new house! We now have over 40,000 books and almost twice the space - come see what's changed (taller bookcases and tons of new toys) and what's the same (Logan, for example, still really desperately needs your attention).

We've moved!

Volumes of thanks to the volunteers who chipped in a half hour here or (in the case of some, like D) two weeks there. I couldn't have done it without you; you know that; but in case I haven't mentioned it enough, can I also say that you did an incredible job? The place looks great! I wish there were some wa...y I could tape all the compliments the store gets so that you could hear all your hard-earned praise.

What's next? Well, the Ghosts and I are still unpacking (!) for now, but I have placed some new toy orders. Look for new action figures, glow-in-the-dark zombies, and tons of new puppets in the next two weeks, with more board and card games coming soon thereafter!

We still need volunteers, 10am-whenever, to help move the bookshop into its new home. Volunteers can help unpack boxes, move bookcases, carry loads, organize their favorite sections, and more... come to our new location and check in with Nialle! We could REALLY use a truck or large van, too.