The Haunted Bookshop of Iowa City

First Officer's Log No 43: Out of Hibernation

2012-02-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings, fellow bibliophiles. I realize that we're into the second week of February 2012 here, but we at The Haunted Bookshop are still alive and kicking. Winter has been mild and reasonably friendly to us, though we are into something of a temporary quiet season, but we are still buying, selling, and trading books, and still running around with puppets and acting in our general silly fashions.

We are in something of a weird winter-to-spring transition, with cool temperatures, but some nice sunshine to break through the gray days.

We've recently been stocking up on literature and mystery, as well as quite a bit of Japanese and Russian history. We came into a fantastic selection of business and business-management books a few weeks back, covering topics like kaizen and Sigma Six management styles. They are in beautiful condition, some nearly new. There is also a huge amount of evolutionary biology for the science lovers in our little town.

So, if you are out and about and find you need a warm place to curl up for awhile with a book and a cat, we have our two friendly fluffy friends and some nice cozy chairs.

We look forward to seeing you!

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

This Is Why We Have No LEGOs...

2012-02-01T16:12:00.001-08:00

"Give me 15 minutes and some imagination and I'll build you a LEGO manitou!" - Ali, after Nialle mentioned wanting a LEGO archetype set

First Officer's Log No 42: Holidays Around the Corner

2011-11-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

The Haunted Bookshop has stocked up on some new items, for your reading and having fun pleasure.

Nialle just ordered a whole bunch of brand new games, so we have some old favorites like Scrabble and Parcheesi, and new hits like Apples to Apples, Settlers of Cataan, and Carcasonne. For the people in your life who love the Killer Bunnies and the Quest for the Magic Carrot series (and if you've ever been present in-shop when a game is going on, you know the hilarity that can result), we now have Munchkin, by Steve Jackson Games, illustrated by the one and only Jon Kovalic (if you are unfamiliar with his comic strip Dork Tower, then you owe it to yourself to click the link and indulge in some silly, geeky humor).

W e have one brand new puppet in stock, a very cute puppy dog, who makes a great compliment to the orange tabby kitten puppet. Personally, I like the puppy more; it's the perfect size for smaller kids just learning the puppets, and great for adults, like me, who have small hands. It's cute, and, if you make it shake, its ears make rattling noises. There are tiny beads in the ears of a lot of the puppets now, like the large floppy rabbit, and most of the dogs. That way, when you make the dogs shake (as real dogs do when wet), their ears flop. It makes them even more fun. The puppets also make good stand ins for teddy bears, if you've got some (little or big) kids to buy gifts for. And who doesn't like a teddy bear*?

* or a rabbit, or a dog, or a cat, or a ferret**...

** the ferret is my personal favorite of all the puppets.

National Book Award Winners 2011

2011-11-17T09:20:00.000-08:00

The National Book Awards were announced last night. Here are your winners:

Fiction: Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones

Nonfiction: Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Poetry: Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split

Young People's Literature: Thanhha Lai, Inside Out and Back Again

First Officer's Log No 41: Ideal Wintry Mix

2011-11-10T13:42:00.000-08:00

We experienced our first taste of winter in our little city yesterday morning, with the not-entirely-unexpected rain mixed with wet flaky snow. It was warm enough that the white stuff didn't stick, but that didn't stop me from thinking about how winter in Iowa tends to bring out everyone's inner bibliophile. There are several local coffee shops in Iowa City who have artificial fireplaces inside, and cozy chairs scattered throughout, comfortable enough to curl up with a book and a good cup of coffee, and just let the world go by.

While the Bookshop doesn't have a fireplace (flames + books = bad), we do have comfy chairs, and two fuzzy purring machines (also known as cats) who are happy to serve as warm reading companions. Sometimes, in fact, they are the ones seeking heat, and sometimes customers get a furry companion who really just wants to share the customer's warmth. Whatever it is, cats, winter, and books just go together.

During the winter, if you stop into the shop, or just wander past at night, you'll see the cats curled up in their beds (of which there are four scattered about), or even occupying the lap of an unsuspecting customer (or Nialle, if she's at the desk. You will likely see Logan instigating his own form of occupation). They love to curl up with customers, or burrow under the few blankets in the shop, or even just find the tallest shelf and doze off.

My ideal wintry day? Come in to work, make sure there's tea at hand, and, while elbow deep in books, find a cat who wants warmth, and attention. They are quite helpful this time of year, and that's partially what makes them such great companions to have around.

They're also just the right size to curl up with as you're reading a book. The purrfect (sorry) reading buddy.

Until next time fellow bibliophiles.

First Officer's Log No 40: The Spooky Season

2011-10-23T13:57:00.000-07:00

Halloween is upon us once again. The Spooky Season, All Hallow's Eve, Trick or Treat Night, and all that jazz. I don't have four weeks worth of spooky stories to share with you this year, but I do have four spooky books that I think everyone should read, especially around this time of year.

The spooky classics are always in fashion. Doesn't matter the time of year, the class, or the busy schedule, there's always time for a good, old fashioned ghost or horror story.

I stumbled upon a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde the other day and couldn't help thinking that it's one of those classic stories that everyone knows, but doesn't get talked about nearly as much as, say, Dracula. Jekyll and Hyde is the classic 'good vs evil' tale, a murder mystery, and a story about the proper friendships between good men, and how they disintegrate. It's ultimately a tragedy, but it maintains its ability to unnerve and spook, even 125 years later.

Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera is primarily known for the musical based upon the text. I read recently that the musical is actually more famous than the novel, originally published between 1909 and 1910. The thing is, it's a great scary story, one that has a "ghost", a beautiful woman, the man who loves her, the opulence and splendor of the opera world, and the terrible, truly awful things that the "ghost", the Phantom, does to get what he wants. He's one of the greatest villains in literature, and one of the great monsters of film. The musical makes him fluffy and almost sympathetic; the novel shows you a man capable of horrible things, who takes pleasure in doing them, and ensures that others will suffer as he has suffered, regardless of the cost.

Oscar Wilde's The Portrait of Dorian Gray is a story that looks at the horrors that a man can unleash upon the world, and the price he must pay to redeem such a life, even if that life is beyond redemption. Dorian Gray is one of those novels that can speak to every decade since its initial publication, in 1890. It speaks to decadence, to immersion in the pleasures of the self, the ultimate in selfish desires. Dorian, himself, is a man who lives life to the fullest, but at the cost of many others' happiness. Wilde created a story that can be twisted to the decade, can speak to the pursuit of "happiness" in each decade, and perhaps even speak to the horrors of every day life, regardless of the time when one is reading it. In our time, perhaps it speaks to love of technology, love of the small pleasures, the lack of commitment to living, the fear of suffering because others make all the decisions... Dorian Gray speaks on many levels. It's why it's still one of my favorite books.

Last, I'd pick a real classic: Beowulf. I know, I know, you're looking at me, and thinking 'really, really?' Consider though: the monsters, Grendel and his Mother, are described vividly. The monsters are as much a part of the tale as Beowulf, himself, is. The monsters have a presence, and they are remembered. It's an old story, a classic story, and I think that the monsters have something to do with it. Consider it the next time you need a truly great monster story.

So there you have it! Four classic scary stories, with ghosts, ghouls, monsters, and abominations, all ready for you to curl up in a warm blanket, to get lost in their tales. Definitely sounds like my idea of a great holiday.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

Man Booker Award 2011

2011-10-18T15:47:00.000-07:00

Julian Barnes was just announced as the winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, proving that the fourth time is the charm (look at the smile on his face!). Barnes has been nominated three times previously, and won for his novel The Sense of an Ending.

2011-10-06T10:40:00.001-07:00

"Between the cats and the books, every time I come in here, the studying just doesn't get done." - A customer, quite content to make friends with Nierme

Nobel Prize in Literature 2011

2011-10-06T09:40:00.000-07:00

The winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2011 is Tomas Tranströmer, a Swedish poet. We'll be sure to keep an eye out for his work filtering into the shop.

Iowa Poetry Prize Winners Announced

2011-09-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Iowa Poetry Prize winners have been announced. Thanks to our friends at the Iowa City Press Citizen for the heads up, and congratulations to the winners:

- Joseph Campana for "Natural Selections"

- Kerri Webster for "Grand and Arsenal"

Both works will be available from the UI Press in 2012.

First Officer's Log No 39: Reckless Recommended Reading

2011-09-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

When someone recommends a book to me, it tends to go on my List of Books to Read. Sometimes I get to it, but, more often than not, I don't, because too many other books come my way. However, Nialle mentioned a book that caught my attention: Reckless by Cornelia Funke, the author of Inkheart. Intrigued by the premise - a young man has to save his brother from a curse while immersed in a fairy tale type world - I grabbed a copy and started reading.

Two days later, I was done, and... wow. It wasn't quite what I expected. The story is a familiar enough one, but the world that Funke has built is outstanding, with fairy tale elements popping up, and fantastical races all acting as independent nations. There are some heavy metaphors in this story, especially with regard to the racial dynamics of the world. Nialle explained it as a thinly veiled pre-World War I world, and by the novel's conclusion, I could see it.

The story itself is fast-paced, with little exposition, allowing the reader to experience what happens as the characters do. The main character is a loner who prides himself on his ability to read people, even when he's terribly wrong about their intentions. Jacob Reckless lives up to his name, in his every action, word, and thought.

It's the world itself that draws the reader in, with its complex politics, schemes, and wonders hidden beneath the beginnings of industry. It's a stellar book, one that I was tearing through from the first. I intended to read just a few chapters, and before I knew it, I was half-way done. It's a stunning piece of young adult fiction that might actually sit better with adults. I highly recommend it.

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

First Officer's Log No 38: Events, Events, Events!

2011-08-28T16:09:00.001-07:00

Soooooooooooooo.... rumor has it that there's a shindig going down at the Haunted Bookshop on 9 September, to celebrate the remodel and the grand reopening. Not to mention 7 years under Captain Nialle's leadership. Yes, that is right, the USS Haunted Bookshop will be setting sail (or flight) for an exciting 8th year with Nialle as owner, and zipping ahead into our 3rd year at our new home on the corners of Market and Linn Streets in Iowa City's Northside neighborhood.

We're celebrating the awesomeness that is Nialle and the bookshop in early September, but mark your calendars! There's more events to come!

Banned Books Week is 24 September through 1 October this year. Check back for updates on little things we might be doing to promote literacy. You never know when a section might suddenly become 'member only' or 'forbidden' during the last week of September... Keep your eyes open.

Also happening on 1 October is the Northside Oktoberfest. This is the first time this event has happened, and I confess that I'm not as informed as I should be about it, but their website is filled with updates, calendars, and all sorts of good information about the festival. There will be music, a beer garden for grown ups, and a soda garden for kids.

There may also be a Captain and a First Officer walking about with puppets strapped to our backs, selling them and conversing and carrying on in our generally silly way.

Busy month ahead!

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles!

Hugo Awards 2011

2011-08-24T15:45:00.001-07:00

Hello, all! Your First Officer is here to present you with hi-flying Science Fiction inspired madness in the form of the 2011 Hugo Award Winners!

Best Novel: Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis

Best Novella: The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang

Best Novellete: "The Emperor of Mars" by Allen M. Steele

Best Short Story: "For Want of a Nail" by Mary Robinette Kowal

And, just for fun, here's an added bonus -

Best Related Work: Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O'Shea, published by Des Moines, Iowa's very own Mad Norwegian Press

Congratulations to all the winners and the Mad Norwegians!

First Officer's Log No 37: The Book Madness Commences...

2011-08-17T16:27:00.000-07:00

My book list has thinned itself out, and just as quickly, it resumes its towering stance, and mocks my fruitless efforts to whittle it down to a manageable state of affairs.

I have finally caught up on two of the book series I was devouring, Karen Traviss' excellent Gears of War military science fiction novels (seriously, Traviss is an incredible writers. Check her out. Go, go, go!) and Anton Strout's Simon Canderous books, which are urban fantasy mysteries with bureaucracy and a firm tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Having caught up on these two series allows me to look at all the rest. What I come to the conclusion of with regard to my book collection is that a number of the books on my shelves are titles that I simply don't read.

I have found this to be the true test of the bibliophile's spirit: I make lists of books that I'll want to read; sometimes, should I find the book for a reasonable price, I will procure it and add it to the ever-growing horde. The issue is when I get to that book's place in the Towering Would-Be Inferno, I find that my interest has waned or vanished altogether, thereby making that book a waste of space.

And I hate that.

It's truly the test of the bibliophile's spirit and interest when a book is taking up space, desiring to be read, and yet the reader has no interest.

It's not the first time this has happened to me. I've taken to reacquiring some books I fondly recall from childhood only to go back and read them for a few pages before relegating them to the 'Nostalgia' pile. It's a sad state of affairs when the bookseller can't even get into an old book.

Perhaps that's why the book list thins. I find that my reading time is valuable to me, and if I can have the time to read, I want to read something worthwhile. Even if I deign to read something that could be construed by myself and others as 'junk food fiction' (I have no shame about my love for this genre, and all it entails [mysery, science fiction / fantasy, trashy YA]), I still am somewhat picky: the book can be all kinds of bad for me, but I still want it to taste good.

Junk Food Fiction = spicy hot chocolate from the Java House (hot chocolate, cinnamon, whipped cream, cayenne pepper, and a chili pepper placed in the cream). It's delicious, terrible for me, and I'll probably regret it later, but it sure tastes good at the time.

So, despite my reading time being valuable, I haven't spent it reading classics this summer. I intended to attack the Russian novelists, but found my attention being grabbed by other novels and writers, most of whom were not classics, and suffered that terrible burden of still breathing. My intention was to continue my summer attempt at reading the major works of a certain country's writers; this didn't happen. So Dostoyevsky will probably be devoured sometime in November; I was informed that this is a good month in which to read dead Russians.

Book lists are unique to each person; I've seen countless people wander through the shop with lists in hand, either on paper or on a phone. Some people fill their reading lists with long dead Germans and Brits. I fill my reading list with contemporary politics, military history, and the odd urban fantasy vampires-are-bad-guys-oh-my novel.

And sometimes there's a contemporary political military history novel with vampires as the bad guys. That novel was called 'The Nymphos of Rocky Flatts' by Mario Acevedo. It's hilarious.

Hey. Don't judge.

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

You know it's an ACE night when

2011-08-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

"You're okay? Okay, well, I have to get back. Antony just died, and I'm hoping they'll let me play Cleopatra's death." - Customer speaking into cellphone

First Officer's Log No 36: Ack!ademic Leanings and Readings

2011-08-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

I took something of a cue from Jon and sat down to take a look at my bookshelves, or, rather the two bank boxes, five cubes, and one reluctant desk shelf that amount to bookshelves in my apartment. My scholarly tomes (did I really just say tome?) are relegated to one bank box, wedged up against the corner of the living room beside the DVD tower, packed full of movies and video games, while the second bank box contains untold papers, almost all articles, academic scribblings, and at least two half-photocopied books that I couldn't find in physical form outside of a university library.

It astounds me, to a degree, to realize how ridiculously complicated I made my academic life when I was a Real Academic, as opposed to the Amateur Post-Undergrad Academic that I am now. That is to say that I still view the entire world through academic eyes, as well as possessing a tendency to critically evaluate all of my entertainment as though it were a liberal artistic specimen to be hacked to pieces during a long, drawn out debate amongst fellow students, and then repaired with a pen and a great deal of patience.

I suppose, then, that when I examined the cubes in my room that contain books, I wasn't entirely surprised to find that they are mostly filled with urban fantasy novels, several paperback mysteries, a number of classics, some contemporary Serious Fiction, the odd poetry collection, and several volumes of Nietzsche and Aquinas. There's also some film and literary criticism that I picked up on whims throughout the years, because, apparently, at some point, I reached the Point of No Return when it came to books: if it's interesting or likely to hold my attention, then I'll buy it, read it, and probably shelve it away until such time as I can pass it on, read it again, or pack it away for a rainy day.

The truth is that I used to have a collection of about 800 books. While not a staggering number, it's a big enough number to show that I had quite the book addiction. When I moved out of my parents' house, I must have whittled that collection down to about 300 books, which quickly became 150 due to the presence of friends, libraries, and a pesky little brother who kept nabbing the best books for himself.

The collection has grown somewhat in the past 3 years, and has evened out at about 275, by my last count. It's curious, since I haven't owned a proper bookshelf in years, that I can still find what I'm looking for. I have a good feeling for where the book might be, and I suppose that I classify my book cubes to a degree. I know that most of the 'junk food fiction' (mysteries, urban fantasy, et cetera) are on the left hand side, and the more serious stuff is on the right. There are also piles of history books around the bed. I don't need shelves. I just stack them neatly, according to point of interest. Hence why all the military history is within arm's reach of the bed.

Books are an addiction, ask anybody in the store. The fun part, though, of this particular addiction, is that you get to explore, have adventures, solve mysteries, and appreciate other lives, all from the comfort of your bed or your favorite chair. It's why books are fantastic, and why even an ac(k)ademic like me (I now owe the pun jar a quarter) can learn to look past the book-as-specimen and just appreciate the book as a book.

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

First Officer's Log No 35: This Summer...

2011-07-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

... I intended to lead a charge on Russian literature for my (sort of / I hope I can keep it up) Annual Summer International Fiction Reading List. Sadly, it didn't ever really pan out. I had a few picked out, and they just never got read. About the only Russian reading I did was read up on Catherine the Great, who was quite the fascinating lady. And that was the extent. I think I'll have to try harder in the future. Or choose literature that I will force myself to dive headfirst into.

As far as my summer's reading list has gone, I've been diving through quite a bit of nonfiction, as per the usual. This fall's crash course has been decided, and a reading list is slowly being compiled. Otherwise, every time we buy a bunch of theology or criticism, Nialle and I both start in with the "Mine!" "I'll fight you for it!" "... Fine..." back and forth.

This summer has been quite the adventure around the shop. The expansion has been completed, the layouts redone. Since the last of the bookshelves we had for sale went to their new home, Anna redesigned the windows in the children's room, so we have puppets galore. Stay tuned for more puppet madness!

We're buying a lot this time of year, and we're getting it out as fast as we can. Stop by and check out the new stock, the new layout, and don't forget to pet a cat.

Your First Officer will strive to be more up to date with this little blog in the future.

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

Run-on Sentience #1: Stuck in the Middle With You; or, (Book)marked for Life

2011-07-25T21:57:00.000-07:00

Here we are, gazing in gaping wonder at the vast, pregnant frontier and untapped virgin resources of The Haunted Bookshop's new weblog--or “blog” as the kids are calling it. We're like pioneers! For generations, we have been supplicated by blows from the carpal-tunneled hooks of internet pirates, who, together with marketing departments, have made the internet an overbearing tempest of “Free! Free! Look at me!” demands, an engulfing bit torrent of sleaze and depravity and addiction. We could have built the city of Atlantis; instead, we built an Atlantic City.

Well no more! The hardy and the intrepid (to say nothing of the self-glorifying) have tread a new path toward the inland internet, where we will live off the land; raise upright, respectful families; dress modestly; share recipes for various types of non-greens-based salads; and do other such things as shall establish--wait, wait . . . what? 2008? This blog has been around for three years? On an internet timescale, that puts us well past WWWII. New superpowers have emerged, and advertising campaigns have budgetarily bloated into an in-your-face space race. The roofs of our sod houses sport satellite dishes. Our oxen have been slaughtered, spiced, and smoked, and long since eaten and forgotten. Our horses died and were subsequently beaten.

At any rate, this column at least is new. We're calling this “Run-on Sentience” because I, Jon, your good friend and humble narrator, will use it as a forum to ramble on at length about literature, poetry, and other things in some way related to what we do at the Haunted. Hmm . . . in my excitement, I seem to have skipped something.

Amuse, o muse, and help me chronicle--
Engorge my gut and over-stuff my crop
With art of airy Saint McGonagall--
In prosody foie gras Th' Haunted Bookshop.

There. The muse has been notified of intent. Things are official.

I recently had occasion to look over the books on my shelves--the occasion being that summer term ended, and the dust in the house had gotten so thick that I was expecting to find Buzz Aldrin's boot-print. During my cleaning, I realized that they broke down into three categories: The Pile, being the great unread masses; The Shelved, those individuals of such merit that they were not resold after having been read; and The Dishelved [Note to Nialle: I owe pun jar one quarter.], the books which, for one reason or another, fell out of favor before they had completely said their respective pieces.

The first two estates, I am certain, are inevitable in the governance of literary affairs; being natural opposites, they must exist in some proportion wherever men live with books. Even at the erudite and ignorant extremes, where one type or the other predominates, both are categorical necessities. Say “these” and “those”, “warm fuzzies” and “cold pricklies”, “butter-side uppers” and “butter-side downers”. You are defining each in relation to the other. They go together like love and marriage, which, in turn, go together like a horse and carriage. Ask the local gentry. Erm, anyway, in my case, Sartre and Sophocles wait to join the ranks of Salinger and Nabokov among the masterworks which I have blundered through like a blind man in the Louvre.

Which brings us to the third batch, those tormented souls stuck in unending transition, on a voyage of the damned between the unread nation that doesn't want them and the island of completion which won't accept them. What is to become of them? They seem an unnecessary kind of refugee class of book, axolotls in a neotenic purgatory, half devel--you know what? I'm gonna dial down the noir melodrama.

Am I the only one who winds up with stacks of these bookmark traps? It's not that they are outright rejected; such books I resell or drag to the knacker. It's not that they are all left half-leaved for the same reason, either. Don Quixote I quite prefer to take in episodes, and it has survived about eight moves without being lost or sold. I was cruising through Anna Karenina like a clipper, until I hit a sandbar about 250 pages in, in the shape of two chapters about Levin cutting grass with a scythe. As The Bard, Elvis, reminds us, “Wise men say, 'Only fools Russian.'” [Note to Nialle: two quarters.] Dubliners, I've been told, I started at the wrong end, the beginning. It seems the dead are the most welcoming in Dublin. Les Fleurs du Mal? More like, “Le's bore dem all.” Atlas Shrugged? So did I.

Oh, right, and Tales of Love by Julia Kristeva, which I am supposed to be reading for a class I am supposed to have completed in the spring term. And that is where we hit upon the real trouble with these books, all the “supposed to” and “should” that they bring, all the anxiety and psychic drag. They are neither books to look forward to in anticipation nor ones to recollect in fondness. They are the books which receive a sidelong glance. “I say, Honorea, how did those books get in here? I shall have to have words with the doorman.” They are the books which threaten to embarrass us whenever we have company, for they might necessitate a shameful clarification: “Actually . . . I never finished it,” or “Ratched does what to McMurphy?” or “I'm halfway through, but I found out that Netflix lets me stream The Next Generation. You remember that one where the evil oil monster kills Tasha Yar on the Bonanza sound-stage planet? Yeah, that episode is awful.” It's not merely that we haven't finished these books; it's that they haven't finished their work on us. Like Lilliputians, in a great horde they can tie us down.

The solution is apparent, even if it is merely a reiteration of these same anxieties: we must eliminate this third class of books, either make honest women out of them or send them back home to live with their parents. We can't keep stringing them along, insisting that a few cold winter nights or a weekend by the pool in Santa Fe really meant something, when we haven't checked in to see what's happening in months. I should quit with that analogy before it gets out of hand. My plan is to identify those very few individuals, such as my good friend from La Mancha, to whom I am ready to devote regular, steady resources toward completion, and to privilege them with priority treatment. All the rest will be stripped of their bookmarks and discharged from service until such time as they may be called upon again. Henceforth, there are only two outcomes: completion and triumph, or abandonment and death. . . . well, resale when possible.

What not to put in a book blurb, part 7890487639046707

2011-07-13T16:43:00.001-07:00

ALI: Actually worse than "utterly readable." Yeah. It said "absolutely readable."
NIALLE: If you plot it on a curve, it approaches infinite... being in English?
ALI: There was even one that said "unbearably readable."
NIALLE: What does that mean? It's so not incomprehensible that it hurts? ...No, I know what it means. You know all those people with smooth brains? This is like a waffle iron!

2011-06-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

"Will you guys quit wielding rodents and get back to work??!!" - Nialle, to Ali and Ross, who were facing off with a tiny white rabbit and a squirrel, respectively

2011-06-21T15:52:00.001-07:00

"I can't cuddle with a gastropod!" - Nialle, RE: tiny snail puppet

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2011

2011-06-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

This year's winner is Colum McCann for his novel Let the Great World Spin.

The IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is the largest prize awarded to a work of fiction published in English, or translated into English. Nominations are submitted by libraries around the world.

Adventures In Bookselling: Typewriters

2011-06-02T12:07:00.001-07:00

Some months back a gentleman brought us an old IBM electric typewriter and left a business card with us, desiring to know who acquired the typewriter, so he would know that it would go to a good home. It eventually went to a young man in January of this year.

Yesterday, that young man brought the typewriter back in, saying that as much as he loved writing on it, it just didn't suit his needs. He hoped we would find a better new home for it.

Today, a young man walked up to the counter with a book in hand. Offhandedly, he inquired about the typewriter, sitting on top of a bookcase, asking if we would be willing to part with it. So we asked Nialle, who laid out the rules for the typewriter - 1) he had to promise to write a short story or poem on the typewriter, and send us a copy of that work; or 2) upon completing the work, bring the typewriter back to us.

Turns out that this young man had written a book to be published in November of this year about the history of IBM design engineering from the 1940s to the 1970s. He teaches at Oberlin College in Ohio, and when we explained the terms, his face lit up, and he uttered those wonderful words: "You're serious?"

So we wrapped the typewriter up in a plastic bag (it is monsoon season in Iowa City) and he told us how it would be used in his class this fall, and possibly in a museum exhibit sometime in 2013. He was also able to tell us the name of the engineer who designed the particular IBM typewriter model we had. We asked him to send us pictures, which we will happily post here and on the shop website.

And this, gentle readers, is why we have the best jobs ever.

These Things Really Happen...

2011-06-01T15:40:00.001-07:00

"Why donate my body to science, when I can have it turned into writing implements?" - Ross

Followed by:

"Use your tarsals and phalanges to make a primitive form of typewriter." - Nialle

This conversation followed a previous one for a hypothetical coffee chain called Cthulhu Coffee (because Nialle put tiny Cthulhus into a Vincent Van Gogh coffee mug... long story). Possible drinks for the Cthulhu Coffee chain include:

- The Arkham Americano
- Shoggoth Green Tea
- The Re-Animator (the Cthulhu Coffee version of the depth charge, black coffee with 2 shots of espresso)

2011 Nebula Award Winners

2011-05-28T11:22:00.001-07:00

Attention, Science Fiction and Fantasy fans, the 2011 Nebula Awards have been announced. Sorry for the delay in updating, but here are your winners for this year:

Best Novel: Blackout / All Clear by Connie Willis

Best Novella: "“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window” by Rachel Swirsky

The Ray Bradbury Award (for outstanding dramatic presentation): Inception.

The Andre Norton Award (for outstanding young adult science fiction and fantasy): I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett.

2011-05-04T11:09:00.001-07:00

"Is curmudgeon a sound effect?" - Jon, to Nialle

2011 Edgar Awards

2011-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Edgar Awards were announced on 28 April, 2011.

Steve Hamilton, a prior winner for A Cold Day in Paradise, won his second Edgar for Best Novel for The Lock Artist.

Bruce DeSilva won the Edgar for Best First Novel for his debut, Rogue Island.

2011-04-21T19:32:00.000-07:00

"Your intentions are dishonorable!" - Sir Alistair Hornsby (the garden snail puppet via Nialle) to Ross, who threatened to use a cat as a towel

Pulitzer Prize Winner 2011

2011-04-18T15:51:00.001-07:00

The Pulitzer Prize winners were announced earlier today, and Jennifer Egan's "A Visit From the Good Squad" has been named the Pulitzer winner for fiction for 2011. Congratulations!

Patrick Rothfuss

2011-04-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

AUTHOR EVENT - APRIL 21 - 7:00pm.

Patrick Rothfuss, the author of The Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear will be here to sign, read, and A some Q's. Arrive early to ensure seating; this event is likely to draw a substantial crowd.

Besides having made the New York Times bestseller list and having drawn praise from The London Times, The Onion AV Club, Ursula K. LeGuin, Orson Scott Card, Robin Hobb, Anne McCaffrey, and many (many) more, Rothfuss routinely receives such accolades as "The fantasy world has a new star" (Publishers' Weekly).

Facebook users, click here to confirm your attendance and to invite your friends. Spread the word! This event is on Thursday next, and we want to make sure everyone who wants to be here knows to be here.

(Click here to read the wonderfully kind things Pat and his fans have to say about independent bookstores - and also to read his transcript of our hilarious scheduling call.)

Author Event Signing: Patrick Rothfuss - 21 April 7PM

2011-04-14T09:35:00.002-07:00

Mr Rothfuss recounts the story of how this came about far better than I can (and I'm kind of squeeing about the whole thing, mind you), but this thing, it's really happening here. Nialle and I will definitely be here for it. It's short notice, but spread the word, bring your friends and your books. This is going to rock.

First Officer's Log No 34: Updates, Updates, Everywhere!

2011-04-12T15:20:00.001-07:00

Due to some confusion, let it be known that the Haunted Bookshop is NOT - repeat NOT - going out of business, buying another bookstore, or having any kind of closing sale. We are simply expanding. It's exciting, exhausting, insanity-inducing, and other such things. We gained 1000 square feet, and we're making the most of it. Progress have reached the point where we now have a specific Children's Room, complete with a brand new puppet rank to hold our furry friends, a wrap around stage, and two quite cozy chairs. A couch is in the future!

Nialle, Anna, Jon, Ross and a host of others have been working like crazy to build new bookcases, shift sections into their new homes, and make everything move smoothly. As of today, History has been relocated, and US History and Military History have their own rooms. European, African, Middle Eastern, Oceania, and the Isles all have moved to L-shaped wrap around rooms. Graphic Novels, Cookbooks, and Crafting have also shifted to new locations. Nialle and Anna are hard at work building the new religion room as I type this out.

Some sections have temporary homes until we can relocate them permanently, including Business, Economics and Music. If you can't find what you're looking for, just let us know. It's every changing.

Literature, as Nialle says, is not going anywhere, but it will eventually be gaining 4 big cases, so that is exciting. Literature is expanding!

I'm not sure what the plan is for the back room containing Science, Genre Fiction (Sci Fi, Mystery, Horror), Psychology, Medicine, and Sports. Art will be moving from its current home in the step down area, but I don't know when that will be, nor am I sure where exactly it's going. It's an ever changing, ever shifting game of musical books and shelves.

If you haven't been by the shop yet, our hours are the same as always, 11 - 7 every day. Do pardon the bookcases up front, but aside from the general sense of time-and-spatial displacement, and the occasional hammering and circular sawing needed to make bookshelves fit, the shop is the same as it's always been.

It's just a bit like a rather epic game of Tetris these days. Fear not. It is temporary.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles!

The Press Citizen Interviews Prairie Lights' Paul Ingram

2011-04-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Iowa City Press Citizen has a nifty feature where they interview a local person of interest. This week, that person is Paul Ingram, the long time book buyer for Prairie Lights, the local new independent bookstore. It's a brief interview, but if you ever get the chance, go and chat with Paul. He'll give you endless recommendations and probably sell you a few things too.

Personal note from Ali: Paul is the reason I started reading Denise Mina. If Paul tells you to read something, trust him. He knows what he's talking about.

2011-04-07T13:01:00.001-07:00

"Time isn't allowed to pass until I'm done with it!" - Nialle

2011-04-04T16:24:00.000-07:00

"Trees don't belong in cans." - Ali, referring to pine-scented spray cans

First Officer's Log No 33: Construction, Construction Everywhere And Many Books To Read

2011-04-03T14:17:00.001-07:00

Nialle and the crew have begun construction on the new expansion to the shop. We have a Children's Room now, and it is very exciting. The cats are quite impressed as well... as impressed as cats can be, because they seem to enjoy hopping around and exploring the empty hand built pine cases as much as helping with the shelving. That is, cats are helpful by getting in the way and sitting on the shelf where books need to go.

Ah, cats.

Room is being made, progress as well, and our fabulous volunteers and co-workers are making the new addition pretty spectacular. We should be moving on to History in the next few weeks, making more room for US History and Military History, with bigger, sturdier cases, and 1000 more square feet of space. The space was bigger than I thought, and seeing it for the first time was kind of mind-blowing - you just never realize how much space is in one storefront until you see empty floors and shelves.

Ultimately, the move is bittersweet. Real Records is gone, and I miss the jazz and alternative pop / rock music piping in through the dividers. Craig and his crew brought something quite special to this space, and it was nice to share a book shop and a music shop, drawing people in to check the best of both worlds. However, it gains us so much more space, an opportunity to truly make this a massive, unique used book shop, right in the historic Northside District of Iowa City.

Bitter? Yes, because we've lost a great neighbor and a friend. Sweet? Yes, because we get to grow and redesign the layout and show Iowa City the best of what we can offer. It's a great opportunity, like so many things, and it's going to be a step in the right direction. I have a good feeling. It's bittersweet, but still good.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

2011-03-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

"Good decisions club. Be a member." - Sydney, to Logan

Introducing: Gabriel

2011-03-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

GABRIEL

Gabriel the Snail is happy. He's really happy. He loves surprises, plays hide-and-seek with little kids by ducking into and out of his shell, doesn't mind explaining why he sniffs things with his antennae or what makes him a "gastropod," and even keeps a sense of humor about occasionally ending up in the French regional cookbooks section.

He's also one of the most famous puppets at the Haunted. He gave an interview for local access television last year while helping out at the Iowa City Book Festival and has been known to make guest appearances at coffee shop poetry slams, the kids' table at family dinners, pride parades, and other colorful events. He does a really weird impersonation of Kermit the Frog for extra giggles - and Gabriel is all about giggles. His laugh spreads like a yawn, overtaking whole crowds and leaving them watering at the eyes and sighing joyfully.

Seriously, though, Gabriel's best day ever was the day his little cousins came to live with us. Dan, Mike, and Cass love it when Gabriel gets out their favorite toys - four strips of cloth in four different colors - and they all tie the strips on like headbands and pretend to be pizza-snarfing, unconventional weapon-wielding turtles. Personally, I don't get it, but their routine never fails to leave people in stitches, especially if they can get NICO the rat to put on RALPH's bathrobe and act like a more cynical version of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Kids these days, right? But I can't help laughing with them, even if I don't understand. Because they are just so incredibly happy, and the world needs more of that.

________________________________________________________________________

All Haunted Bookshop puppet profiles reflect the personal ideas and opinions of the Haunted Bookshop crew exclusively and, while the pictures of the puppets are copyright Folkmanis, Inc., none of these profiles are sponsored, endorsed, encouraged, or approved by Folkmanis, Inc.; they are strictly for the amusement of regular bookshop guests who have come to know how Haunted crew develop characters for puppets.

PEN / Faulkner 2011

2011-03-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

17 March, the PEN / Faulkner award for Fiction was announced with Deborah Eisenberg winning for The Collected Stories of Deborah Eisenberg. Eisenberg was previously known for her collection of stories Twilight of the Superheroes.

The Annual A-List Contest Has Begun

2011-03-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

Folks, please vote for your favorite independently, locally owned businesses on KCRG's A-List site this year. We particularly recommend any of the indie bookshops, The Cat Clinic of Iowa City, Home Ec, Oasis, Hamburg Inn, Motley Cow, r.s.v.p. - good neighbors all, and invaluable parts of our community.

First Officer's Log No 32: Big Changes In Store

2011-03-20T12:51:00.001-07:00

Happy spring, Iowa City and book lovers galore. The sun is shining, the snow is all gone, and the spring cleaning has begun, which means we at the Haunted Bookshop have a bunch of new stock to share with our regulars, including a massive amount of Loeb Classical Library editions, quite a few gorgeous new art books, lots of fictions, mystery and science-fiction, and a whole host of other subjects.

We're also planning a big move.

Our friends at Real Records have decided to close down their storefront, so we will be taking it over, and gaining even more room. Big changes are in store for the store, with the children's sections and art room to make some drastic moves, as well as our work area, which will occupy the center of the front room, giving us better ways to serve you as both buyers and sellers. We have big plans courtesy of our Captain Nialle, and I suspect an adventure awaits us as we orchestrate our move.

If you'd care to volunteer to help us out, we'll be posting info on Facebook when we need people, and we'll keep you posted here on our trusty blog. Make sure to check in regularly. We're looking forward to the changes.

More New Inventory!

2011-03-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

We have a treat for you today!

Yesterday and today have brought in several Loeb Classical Library volumes, including works by Homer, Virgil, Herodotus, Xenophon, Plutarch, Ovid... oh I could go on and on (and there may have been excessive excitement on my part upon seeing some of these... but I admit nothing). We got the Big Ones of classical history, both green / Greek works and red / Roman works.

The Loeb editions are dual text, with Greek and English facing in the green books, and Latin and English facing in the reds. These will not last long (Nialle and a few others have already snatched the ones they wanted), so come visit us and check out the beautiful books.

I admit, I've never seen so many Loebs at one time. Nialle says it's unlikely we'll see this many again anytime soon. So come on in and check them out.

New Inventory!

2011-03-14T12:41:00.001-07:00

Spring Break is upon us. Need something new to read? Lots and lots of new books have arrived in the past week.

We have a heaping piles of new Judaica, some gorgeous International Collector's Editions in literature and science, oversized art books including some beautiful (and rare) collections of Picasso and Van Gogh, and, fresh today, lots of near-new graphic novels, including favorites by giants like Alan Moore and Frank Miller.

2011-03-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

"I live for the indignant yo-yo face!" - Ali

Daily Iowan Article 2: E-Books, with Nialle Interview

2011-03-03T10:24:00.000-08:00

Check out today's Daily Iowan article about e-books and small independent bookstores, featuring an interview with our very own Nialle.

2011-03-03T09:56:00.000-08:00

"I want them to make a teeny tiny dinosaur. Birds are too far removed. I want a theropod."
- Anna, first thing in the morning

First Officer's Log No 31: March Looms, Spring Follows

2011-02-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

It is that time of year again, the time of year where the ground is soggy, the trees are shivering in their leaflessness, and the snow keeps filtering in and out, as if it can't decide whether or not that rodent in Pennsylvania was bluffing. In the spirit of these days where we can't be sure what's what as far as the weather goes (this is Iowa, after all), it's time to start planning for a garden, if you have the opportunity to have such a thing. Or a family vacation, or a solitary get away, or something that gives you the opportunity to flee the formerly frigid frontier.

For gardening enthusiasts, we have a whole case of gardening and botany related books, everything from flowers to trees, how-to books on making ponds and tiered gardens, and even the odd professional thesis on the flowering plants of Iowa and what makes them grand. We have a great little Iowa-centric nature section back with the gardening books, as well. So if you're looking for good ideas for your own little piece of gardener's paradise, come on by and we'll see if we can give you some good insights.

For all of our vacation-itching friends out there, those who need books to take with them, we're chock full of recommendations this time of year. If you're planning a weekend getaway, a good mystery never hurts, and Arturo Perez-Reverte's The Club Dumas is a gem of a book, eerie, mysterious and smart. I confess I lost my copy years ago in France, leaving it in a hotel room. Mercifully, I had a back up book with me, which leads me to my next suggestion.

It's never too late to start with the classics, and JRR Tolkien's The Lords of the Rings is as classic as they come. Said book kept me company for two weeks in France and Spain, and I read it twice while traveling by bus and train, from place to place. It's a story with everything: a rich world, great characters, stories within the greater story, a phenomenal mythology, heroes, villains... it's the kind of story that becomes classic because it draws so much of itself from classic stories, like The Odyssey and the great world mythologies. If you've never read it, or if it's been awhile, there's something for everyone within this truly modern classic.

The Club Dumas and The Lord of the Rings. Two great stories for the eager reader, and two great stories that won't fade away any time soon. Check them out and start building your list for your vacation or your weekend getaway.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

Check It Out! We Made the News!

2011-02-23T09:05:00.000-08:00

Check out this article from the Daily Iowan's Ryan Cole about the shop. We're a favorite haunt!

First Officer's Log No 30: Spring-ish In the Air: Spring Reading Recommendations

2011-02-21T11:01:00.000-08:00

So the season of spring is kind of in the air here in good old Iowa City, it's just a matter of waiting until all the snow melts and the ground regains its solid state, as opposed to its current existence of mud, slick mud, slippery mud and some mish-mash of mud and sand / salt residue. Needless to say, when True Spring is upon us, I shall be rejoicing.

Big changes are in store for the bookshop soon, along with some major moving around. Be not afraid, though, for if you come in and find your section of choice has moved, just ask one of us. We'll be happy to direct you to the section's new home.

In the meantime, some new suggestions for our book hungry audience:

** Kate Griffin's A Madness of Angels, or, The Resurrection of Matthew Swift is a dark(ish) fantasy novel set in modern day London about a sorcerer named Matthew Swift who abruptly wakes up in his old house, only to discover that he's been dead for two years, but is now mysteriously alive. After a harrowing venture into this new world, Swift discovers that not only are at least a half-dozen other sorcerers in London dead, murdered as brutally as he was, but that there is something else alive inside of him, and it wants out.

This is a marvelous story from the get-go, with twists and turns aplenty. Swift's speech shifts from 'I' to 'We' as he moves through the world, unnerving most people around him, while just confusing him. He's a great narrator, and Kate Griffin gives him an easy sense of humor. This is no John Constantine (Vertigo Comics' 'Hellblazer' for those not in the know) arrogant English magician with a punk rock past; Swift is more akin to someone whom Neil Gaiman might create, except that Kate Griffin beat Mr Gaiman to it, and gives him a run for his money on the great character creation train. A Madness of Angels is the first volume in this series, followed by The Midnight Mayor, and a third volume, out later this spring, The Neon Court.

** Christopher Rice's Light Before Day is a harrowing, oftentimes disturbing look at the destructive nature of the methamphetamine trade in southern California, and the effect that drugs have on the small, tightly knit gay communities in Los Angeles. The star of this novel is Adam Murphy, an alcoholic journalist, whose lover mysteriously goes missing on the same night that a military serviceman on leave commits suicide via helicopter crash, taking three other servicemen with him. Adam's investigation into the crash leads him to James Wilton, a mystery novelist who needs a new bestseller, and who might be able to help Adam get what he wants. Along the way, they deal with the drug trade and other sordid activities, eventually revealing a mysterious kidnapping ring that links to the explosion of a meth lab.

It's an all over the place novel, but a good one from Rice, whose first two books A Density of Souls and The Snow Garden easily rank among my favorite books. While his prose can border on the silly at times, Rice is growing as a novelist, and Adam is a great narrator, funny and sarcastic, but also well aware of his own flaws, presenting an refreshingly honest character to mystery fiction. While Rice doesn't play with series, he writes good mysteries with (sometimes) uncomfortable themes, forcing readers to go on deeper into his world, even when sense says they should back off. In that regard, Adam represents the audience, as his sense of self preservation often tries to get the better of him, and usually fails. A strong offering for fans of the more intense mystery genre.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

2011-02-17T10:09:00.001-08:00

Anna: "I can't make it fit, Captain!"
Ali: "I'm not the Captain."
Anna: "But you're the ranking officer on the bridge!"
Ali: "I have an alien lifeform growing in my head, I'm not in charge."
Anna: "... Wait! Does that mean I'm ranking officer? AAGH!"

For Your Notificiation: Borders Files Chapter 11 - Be Afeared

2011-02-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

There's a big bookstore chain in a bit of trouble right now.

On a personal note from Ali: I can't say this is a surprise, as I worked for Waldenbooks for 4.5 years, and Waldens was owned by Borders. It's mind-boggling, though, when you look at how much money Borders owes to publishers. Looking at those numbers should make you concerned about your neighborhood independent store. When big chains like Borders aren't paying their bills, the indie stores end up paying for it.

Just a thought.

Why you need at least two Magnetic Personalities.

2011-02-08T11:15:00.000-08:00

"They're finger puppets and they're magnets. ...I could play with these for years."
"Um, yes, you could."
"Imagine the arguments you could make them have. Like, Tesla against Washington."
"...or Frida Kahlo?"
"Or Galileo and Blackbeard."
"Why would you pitch Galileo against Blackbeard?"
"Because Galileo needs pillaging sometimes."

Unemployed Philosopher's Guild Magnetic Personalities.
Like an anachronistic debate club, on your fingers or on your fridge.

2011-02-07T09:17:00.001-08:00

"I am a delicate flower, in a sort of Venus flytrap way." - Ali

First Officer's Log No 29: Something's In the Air...

2011-02-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

It's probably snow. A lot of snow. Per my experience yesterday, everybody has some form of story regarding the Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon of 2011. All I can say? The walk outside the shop got shoveled by our fearless Captain. That is all.

Also, it's that time of year when the endless amounts of promotions for Valentine's Day appear. Not being that big of a fan of the concept of setting aside one day out of the year where people feel an obligation to proclaim their affection or adoration for their significant others, as opposed to a genuine feeling on all those other days of the year, still, I do sometimes hear people asking for books to give as gifts, or tokens of affection. Poetry is big this time of year, as are puppets and small toys, like train letters to spell out your beloved's name, or a classic boardgame.

Our clientele tend to be romantic bunch, with strong inclinations towards the goofy and the silly, and nothing says romance like a garden snail puppet (see the image above. We call him Sir Alistair Hornsby).

2011-02-03T16:58:00.000-08:00

"I will just lie here and make winsome bread noises!" - Nialle

2011-02-01T11:36:00.001-08:00

Ali : Anna, why do you have a teeny tiny purse-sized crowbar?
Nialle: [wearing a 'what did I just walk into' face'] A teeny-tiny purse sized crowbar?
Anna: See? [shows Nialle a teeny tiny purse-sized crowbar]
Ali: See, it was a legitimate question.

First Officer's Log No 28: Cold Snow, Colder Books

2011-01-26T15:53:00.000-08:00

Do you ever start reading a book and realize, at the 3/4 mark that you really, really, really can't find any reason to truly like the main character, and thus you find yourself incapable of even caring what happens to them? I'm having that difficulty with a series I'm currently reading. I find it highly entertaining, exceptionally well written (for a dark urban fantasy with folklore and horror elements), and engaging on an emotional level, but I find myself more emotionally invested in the lives of the supporting cast, not the main character.

Perhaps it's because the writer is a talented one who knows how to write teenage boys. She writes this particular one so well, highlight all of his ignorance, foolishness, general nastiness and hormonal fluctuations, that I find myself infinitely grateful that my teenage brother has none of these qualities (or at least none that I witness). The issue is that teenage characters have a very difficult time impressing themselves upon me as characters whom I should feel anything for. I was a teenager once, and I didn't much care for the experience, so call me crazy but I don't necessarily like reading about them.

Granted, this particular character is nowhere near as unlikable as Gillian Flynn's narrator in Dark Places, but I still have a hard time getting invested in him. Perhaps it's because the character is a teenager, and most of the books I've read involving teenager as characters just don't appeal to me. Also, I find that, lately, the books I've been reading all involve characters who are just unpleasant people, to the point where if there is a redemption factor, by the time it appears, I no longer care.

I suppose that I've become used to seeing characters who have at least some redeemable qualities, as opposed to characters who just don't have any. I look at the main character in the series I'm currently reading, and the fact that from the get-go in volume one, he declares that he is a monster. At first, it was intriguing, and now, the whole 'I am a monster' gig just screams attention getting behavior... just like a teenager boy. The fact that by volume 5 I'm no longer really caring what happens to him speaks volumes. That he doesn't seem interested in changing his outlook or exploring any kind of 'good' qualities he has isolates him further from my interest.

As a reader, I like being able to feel something for a character, whether appreciation, love, hate or indifference, but plain old distaste isn't one of the emotions I want to associate with a character. Redemption isn't a must in literature of any kind for me, but having at least something to relate to, or something to like about a character is an unspoken requirement. I'm not demanding that characters be truly good or evil, nor am I requiring that writers go out of their way to make characters one way or another. All I'm asking is that writers create characters whom I can at least feel one way or another about. Regardless of whether I feel positively or negatively, if the author has given me a reason to care, then they have done what they set out to do in writing their story. That's a pretty hard thing to do, but a writer who does it well has already taken the big steps in the right direction of their craft.

* * *

The most recent experience I had with a character who achieved true redemption in any kind of media was in a video game. It involves a character who turns to a forbidden practice of magic in order to get what he wants most, but ends up causing more pain and destruction because of his action. When he is given the opportunity to atone, he genuinely takes it, and seeks to do good with his life, despite the distrust associated with him. When he is encountered for the final time, the character is truly trying to help people, to use his abilities for good, not evil, and has redeemed himself in the eyes of his former friend, even if the price he was forced to pay was initially more than he could take.

In this regard, strong writing and acting come into play. The player sees a character go from naive and foolish to mature, confident and respected, while earning those last three. Jowan, the character, evolves into a responsible adult, by accepting what he has done, choosing to own his mistakes and not hide from them, and ultimate uses his talents to protect those who need him. In this regard, a video game story actually redeems a character more than a novel could.

This game's story made me care about a character who is quite minor in the long run, but who lingers because of the power of his story. I cared; I genuinely liked his character, and the initial betrayal came as a shock. When he is redeemed, I felt happy, a sense that finally, someone in fantasy writing has truly learned from their actions and can move on, a stronger, better person for their mistakes, no longer afraid, and leaving the reader (player in this case) eager to see where their path takes them next.

* * *

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

Reminder

2011-01-16T13:50:00.000-08:00

The Haunted Bookshop's book buyer is not in the shop on Sundays, so Sundays, we can't take your books.

First Officer's Log No 27: Musings

2011-01-16T13:40:00.000-08:00

Someone asked me today if I was reading anything, and I had to admit that the answer was no. I actually haven't had any interest in reading a book for a couple of weeks now. I stare at my bookshelf every few nights and think that I could start to read one of the novels that I've picked up over the past few months, but then I realize that I'm no longer interested in this or that subject, and I'd rather spend my time with something else.

I spend all my time around books, and each time I hear about a new book I should read, or some new book is given an award, I read up on it and find myself making an uninterested face at best, or wrinkling my nose at the worst. Come to think of it, a lot of things I've heard about that are winning awards make me wrinkle my nose.

I'm not sure what it is. I love to read, I've never made a secret of that, but I've just kind of lost my interest. The only things I have read lately are The Economist magazine and maybe the newspaper when I'm waiting for a sandwich in one of our local shops. All The Economist can tell me is that it's getting harder and harder out there, and all the papers can tell me is stuff that I've already read that morning on the internet newsfeed that cycles across my browser.

I'll have to keep poking around. Maybe change up my taste in books, hope for something new and interesting to waltz my way. If I'm lucky, maybe something will click.

Until next week, fellow... well, maybe not this week since I'm not much of one this go around.

:ahem: Until next week, bibliophiles.

2011-01-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

"I have reached the point in pie shake delirium where I am talking about buying bridges off of cats."
- Customer; he and his friend had just consumed a pie shake at Hamburg Inn and were in quite silly moods

First Awards of 2011: The American Library Association Awards

2011-01-10T14:40:00.000-08:00

Hello, folks, and welcome to another year of the Haunted Bookshop keeping you up to date on the newest news in the world of book awards, as well as our individual blog posts to keep you informed of shop news, cat news, and Iowa City, the World's Third UNESCO City of Literature.

This time around, we're giving you the heads up on the ten books chosen for the Alex Awards for 2011, chosen by the American Library Association as the best books for young adults. Without further ado, here we go.

* The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep and Never Had To by DC Pierson

* Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard by Liz Murray

* Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

* The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni

* The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

* The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake: A Novel by Aimee Bender

* The Radleys by Matt Haig

* The Reapers Are the Angels: A Novel by Alden Bell

* Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue

* The Vanishing of Katharina Linden: A Novel by Helen Grant

Keep an eye out for these books to come in the shop. In the meantime, we've just gotten a whole bunch of young adult fiction, everything from classic Lois Lowry to some more contemporary fantasy, like Stuart Hill (the Icemark series is really quite good, with a fantastic female lead in the first novel). So if you're gearing up for some new things to read before spring semester classes start up, come stop by the Haunted Bookshop and see what we've got in stock.

Happy reading and congratulations to the winners of this year's Alex Awards!

2011 Award Winners: American Library Association, Part 2

2011-01-10T12:51:00.001-08:00

This one I just found and thought it was awesome, and that is the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, which is presented to an author or illustrator whose work has made an outstanding and lasting contribution to children's literature.

This year, which appears to be the debut year for this award, is awarded to Tomie dePaola, best known for his Strega Nona books, and his colorful, distinctive art style. He's also adapted a number of American Indian legends and Italian folktales into children's books.

On a personal note, Tomie dePaola was always one of my favorite illustrators and writers when I was a kid, so I'm really excited to see him winning an award from the ALA.

2010-12-28T14:14:00.001-08:00

":sigh: All right, Literary Truffle Pig will go dig up some more copies..." - Nialle, RE: Cormac McCarthy books and the lack of them in the shop, despite us getting in half a dozen since the beginning of December

First Officer's Log No 26: Plague-Induced Book Lists

2010-12-26T10:46:00.000-08:00

So I have some down with some sort of horrible manifestation of the plague or the flu or whatever, and therefore, sadly, I am not the most effective or most articulate of people right now. However, in between dashes from the couch, and snuggling under the heaviest blanket I could last night just to keep from shivering myself silly, I started to think through the books that I've read this year that have grabbed my attention or made me rethink things. (Please to be bearing with me, I am looptastic as I write this).

First off, I did two themes this year, French literature, and then for October, I read a book each week, four in total, that I felt properly conveyed the Halloween and / or spooky spirit. With regard to French literature, I finally read Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo, as well as Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Both books now rank amongst my favorites. Monte Cristo I found engaging and mysterious, with a long streak of diabolical intent throughout the story. Les Miserables took me some time to read, but Julie Rose's new translation grabbed my attention. Rose has a splendid way of translating French, remaining faithful to the original intent of the phrasing while transcribing it in such a way that it appeals to contemporary readers. If you've not read Hugo's classic, then I highly recommend Rose's translation.

For my Halloween experiment, only one new book truly appealed to me, as Will Storr Vs The Supernatural was an already familiar book to me, but one I hadn't discussed at length before. Of the three other books I read, Jennifer McMahon's Promise Not to Tell had my attention and had me on the edge of my seat. As much a coming of age novel as a suspense thriller, I was drawn into McMahon's gothic world of casual cruelties and friendships that fall by the wayside, but someone revive themselves, even at great cost. McMahon counts high on the list of my favorite new writers.

I confess that I didn't read a whole lot of young adult fiction this year, though I quite liked Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games (I know, not the most original pick, but I really enjoyed it). As to other things, I read a number of newer theology books, but found that none this year really captured my interest or taught me anything that I hadn't learned elsewhere. That's not to say that things like Michael Parenti's God and His Demons and Paul Berman's The Flight of the Intellecutuals aren't good books, they are, but Parenti strives too hard to be amusing with his style of writing, and Berman feels as if he is talking down to his audience. That said, Terry Eagleton's On Evil is probably my favorite theology or philosophy book I've read this year. Eagleton has a fantastic way of writing, and, being a literary critic, offers comparisons and interesting observations from classical lit while he is making his arguments.

History and Social Science are going to wait for next year for me to dive into. Being as that next year is the one hundred and fiftieth start of the American Civil War expect to see lots of recommendations or blurbs about new and exciting Civil War history. I anticipate a lot of it coming through our doors.

Well, folks, that'll do it for this year's First Officer's Logs, but check back with us next year, because we've always got new and interesting things going on at the shop, and we're always restocking with new books. Have a great holiday and a safe New Year.

Until next week (year), fellow Bibliophiles.

Introducing: Ralph

2010-12-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

RALPH

So why do we carry Folkmanis puppets?

As with most Haunted Bookshop stories, this one has multiple beginnings. The main reason we carry the puppets is because, when toyshop legend Mark Gauger of The Fun Zone retired, he taught Nialle how to order puppets because she liked them so much. To back up, Nialle liked them so much because Nialle was awakened by a loud yell from Ralph the White Mouse approximately twenty years ago.

Nialle's sister, the infamous Meara, had gotten Ralph, the family's first Folkmanis puppet, from Mark Gauger at The Fun Zone and had already practiced quite a lot. Nialle doted on Meara and grew up wanting to be a Muppeteer, so naturally, Ralph's appearance at Nialle's bedside prompted delight rather than annoyance. (N.B., this was before Nialle started drinking coffee.)

So, to bring it back around, Nialle met Ralph because Meara got Ralph from Mark, from whom Nialle would later learn the toyshop biz. Small world, right? Wait, it gets better. As recently as three years ago, Nialle was stopped on the street by a woman who thought Nialle looked familiar:

"Aren't you Ralph's sister? I mean... I mean the sister of the girl who had that mouse puppet that used to ride the bus, the puppet's name was Ralph, this was a long time ago but I still have his business card...."

Nialle did an actual, unfeigned double take. "Ralph had business cards?"

"Didn't you know? Oh, was I not supposed to tell you?"

"No, it's cool," Nialle reassured her. "Actually I sort of remember that. Um - I think he lives in Cedar Rapids now, but I can tell him hi from you if you want."

The woman appeared to realize abruptly that weird anthropomorphizing sorts of things were going on, bade Nialle a hasty "Oh, that's okay, I just thought I'd say hello. Good to see you. Bye," and hurried off.

Nialle, however, never thinks it's weird to let puppets be people too. Therefore, Nialle strongly encourages folks who got their Folkmanis puppets at The Fun Zone or The Haunted Bookshop to share the puppets' stories. We'd like to know where everyone ended up, including all those brothers and sisters of Ralph (and his gray cousin, ALOYSIUS) who stayed with us for a while before going out to ride the buses and taunt the sleeping sisters of the world. Submit your puppet's story and, with your permission, we'll reprint it here!

...Starting with Ralph. Meara, dish us up some of Ralph's madcap hijinx, would you? Because to hear people talk around town, he went to the public library, Vortex, Fun Zone, the Co-Op, and a bunch of other cool places all the time. He could well write a 1990's sequel to Irving Weber's history of Iowa City series!

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All Haunted Bookshop puppet profiles reflect the personal ideas and opinions of the Haunted Bookshop crew exclusively and, while the pictures of the puppets are copyright Folkmanis, Inc., none of these profiles are sponsored, endorsed, encouraged, or approved by Folkmanis, Inc.; they are strictly for the amusement of regular bookshop guests who have come to know how Haunted crew develop characters for puppets.

First Officer's Log No 25: Let It Snow... History, All Flavors Thereof

2010-12-12T13:50:00.001-08:00

History, as any regular reader knows, is a subject near and dear to my heart. Since deciding that my efforts to understand World War I may be futile, at least in my attempt at a two - three week crash course, I've decided that moving onto other military histories might create better understanding. Also, a flawed plan, but, hey, at least I'm learning. I figure, anyone who wants to learn anything about the current world would do themselves a favor by reading history, any history they can get their hands on. It's worked for me.

So, for the fans of history on your list, may I present a few of my picks that should appeal to just about anyone.

** For the US History Fan...

You can't go wrong with Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. Even if you don't agree with Zinn's politics, his writing is fascinating.

Anything David McCullough has written, particularly interesting are his biographies of two presidents, Harry Truman and John Adams. Highly recommended.

** For the Military History Fan...

Well, there's plenty to pick from here. If World War I is your interest, then John Keegan's book The First World War is a good introduction. For World War II buffs, Stephen Ambrose's works, including Band of Brothers, are excellent choices.

** For European History Fans...

Check out anything on famous world leaders, such as Napoleon or Winston Churchill. Reading up on men like these two helps readers understand the contemporary world more, especially considering the world when they were alive. Anything on famous revolutions - Russian and French come to mind - are also excellent choices.

There's so much history to choose from right now, and so much to learn, that it often feels like there's not enough time to read it all in order to understand it better. I fully confess that I've only scratched the surface of the history that interests me, but if you stop by the shop, maybe I can help you out with finding that perfect historical period that fascinates you.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

Introducing: Rosalind

2010-12-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

We sell puppets. We're really into puppets. Not just any puppets, either. We carry Folkmanis puppets. We know from experience that they're safe and durable, because my first one is twenty years old now and still chattering away and pretending to sneeze to get out of awkward situations; we also know kids love them, because we do and we routinely see children lighting up at the sight of them. Perfect as baby gifts, storytime assistants, study buddies (no joke; my rabbit and Ross' lobster helped us through classes), gag gifts, host presents, cube spice, personal icons, alter egos, flirtation devices, and more, these puppets include a wide range of animals and curious characters, and we're proud to offer over 50 species at any given time.

Also, when you are not looking, we practice with them. So that we can impress you when we introduce you to them. Seriously. It's very serious business.

It is actually true that, when we have carried a certain type of puppet for a time and have gotten practice with voicing and characterization of that particular type, we end up giving them names and personalities. So I thought I might introduce you to some of our favorites. ...One or two at a time, because it will take a while to list all the ones I like.

ROSALIND

Don't be fooled by the soft cloud of feathers and her skill as a storytime helper. She might be willing to take the role of Crow in a Native American legends storybook or Jeremy from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, but ask her to recite Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and you're likely to lose a finger. Worse, you might be subjected to her snarky renditions of other poems, such as "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" sung to the tune of the "Gilligan's Island" theme song.

Rosalind is one tough bird. Like all corvids, she's intelligent, listens with her head tilted to one side and memorizes at the same time, and loves to mock. She in particular loves to mock. A lot. Sometimes viciously.

The way we hear it is that, a long time ago, she and JULIET, a swan puppet, scrapped over a handsome short-eared owl puppet named ROMEO. Juliet and Romeo took off together (the swan and short-eared owl are no longer in active production, even), and Rosalind got seriously bitter. She'll tell you exactly what she thinks about the other birds in the house, from peacock JUNO to ILENE the hummingbird, and she has zero tolerance for what she calls "the culturally embedded assumptions about dark-plumaged birds," "the indefensible use of cop-out phrases like 'unconventional beauty' or 'interesting perspective," or the use of the words "dark," "soul," "tears," or "dove" in poetry, especially the rhymed and metered kind.

Underneath the razor talons and beak, though, Rosalind is a sensitive companion, quick to defend her close friends and quicker to playful exchanges of wit, and if you can gain her trust, her feathers are soft as a newborn chick's down and her nodding chuckle sweeter than loveliest of loon cries - if you're in to sort of Mae West-sounding chuckles.

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2010-12-07T15:03:00.000-08:00

"If the cats are Jewish, Nierme is Jewish in a Lauren Bacall sort of way. Logan is Jewish in a Philip Roth kind of way." - Paul Morton, customer

Credit card use

2010-12-02T16:15:00.000-08:00

Fact: If everyone had used cash or good checks during each of the last four months - if no one had used credit or debit cards - we could have offered someone a 15hr/week job at $7.50/hour.

Every time you use a credit card, an average of 4% of your purchase goes directly to the credit card company.

Shop green. Use cash at locally owned shops and help us keep the money in the community.

First Officer's Log No 24: Let It Snow... Fantasy, Mystery, and Science Fiction

2010-12-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

The snow whips back and forth in the wind outside, but it's not so much snow as gently wafting flakes of white puffy stuff. It's December, and so winter is officially upon us here in Iowa, but the weather is still reminiscent of extremely late fall. So that means you can walk outside without gloves, but you'll want your hood and a scarf, or, if you're like me, you reject the scarf, throw on your trusty over-the-ear headphones that amplify the bass in lieu of earmuffs, and maybe wear arm warmers on those days when you still need to use your fingertips. I like winter a lot. Snow and ice I can take or leave, but winter as a season is probably my favorite, because as I said a few weeks ago, warm fireplaces in coffee shops and restaurants, or curling up under a warm electric blanket with a book are my favorite things to do.

It's also holiday season. Hanukkah began last night, and Christmas has three full weeks to go before it arrives. That means shopping, shopping, shopping, and people are always popping in and out with lists of books they need, or asking for good recommendations. We're running through our Harry Potter and Steig Larsson as fast as we can get them in, and some of us have taken a fancy to certain books so much that we're having trouble keeping those in stock, too (I confess to being among the guilty parties in this matter).

So, kindly allow me to suggest a few titles that I think will appeal to your gift-giving needs.

** For the Fantasy fan in your life...

If they like Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin, then Steven Erikson will be right up their alley (also, Erikson is a graduate of the Writer's Workshop Program here at the University of Iowa, so there's an Iowa connection).

For the Tolkien fan who might not quite be ready for the heavier fantasy works, Terry Goodkind and Terry Brooks both have complete series set in their respective worlds of the Sword of Truth and Shannara.

Speaking of JRR Tolkien, if there's someone who loved the 'Lord of the Rings' movies in your house, and they haven't yet experienced the books, it's never too late to introduce them to Middle Earth all over again.

For the Harry Potter fan who needs a new series of magic and adventure, look no further than Diane Duane's Young Wizards series.

** For the Mystery reader...

Dennis Lehane's Mystic River and Shutter Island are both excellent novels turned into films, and they're a treat for any mystery lover.

For the Steig Larsson fan, there are plenty of European authors to choose from, including Jo Nesbø (Norway), Arnaldur Indriðason (Iceland), and Henning Mankell (Sweden). Northern Europe has been producing great crime fiction for years, but these three are great additions for Larsson fans to check out.

Denise Mina and Val McDermid are two excellent Scottish crime writers, both of whom have consistently put out great material. Mina's Garnethill is the first in her trilogy of the same name, while McDermid's Killing the Shadows and A Place of Execution are highly recommended.

For more traditional detective fiction fans, you can't go wrong with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's always popular Sherlock Holmes. For other excellent mystery series, I suggest Elizabeth George for those looking for a British detective, while Lee Child's Jack Reacher series follows an American ex-MP who travels the United States perpetually getting into some form of trouble or other.

** For the Science Fiction lover...

For those who love hard science fiction in the vein of Simon R Green's Deathstalker novels, Peter F Hamilton is the author to check out. His trilogy of novels, The Reality Disfunction, combine elements of science fiction, horror, and adventure, sure to please any science fiction fan. Yes, zombies are among the bad guys in Hamilton's universe, so zombie fans will enjoy them too.

William Gibson is the father of cyberpunk, and Neuromancer remains a classic of the genre. He practically invented the concept of the internet in his stories, though I will say that I'm glad my nervous system isn't how I surf the net.

Classic science fiction abounds, and sometimes the old classics, Jules Verne and HG Wells, are the go-to guys. If you are seeking great imaginative worlds and grand tales of high adventure, there's nothing that a little classic storytelling can't do to satisfy that craving.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

Ghostwriting No. 27: Owners' marks, underlining, and library marks

2010-11-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Each independently-owned used bookstore has different rules about what books to buy. We've posted our policy that we never accept former library books and are otherwise somewhat strict about not taking books with a lot of markings in them. Other stores have different policies. In general, the differences have to do with what kind of people want what kind of books, as well as what the bookstore's owner wants to select.

We have, in the past, been offered some really great books with some heavy underlining inside. We've heard from some of our customers that they would buy books with underlining, and sometimes, if we're really short on a book frequently used for classes, we'll buy underlined copies. We also make exceptions on the library rule for books that were owned by monastery libraries (they tend not to put too many stickers and stamps in) or for books over a hundred years old. On the whole, however, if we receive books containing a lot of underlining or with owners' stamps on the front cover or the edges of the book, we donate them to our ongoing Benefit Sale for Local Foods Connection or, if they are heavily damaged, we recycle them.

There are several reasons that this store has this policy. Let me enumerate a few. 1. We have a lot of books, and we buy a lot of books, so when we're buying, we have to think about what we have room to shelve. We're offered a lot of beautifully kept books, so we tend to prefer those. 2. Though some of our customers don't mind or even like prior owners' marks like underlining and inscriptions, many dislike such marks. 3. We price underlined books lower than we price clean ones, but lower still doesn't always make for customer satisfaction. As a matter of business, it's better policy to stock things that make our customers happier - and on which we can make some amount of profit.

With regard to library books, there are many more reasons not to carry them: for one thing, there are dozens of places to buy former library books in Iowa City, often for $3 or less. It wouldn't be cost-effective for us to try to 'compete in that market,' as the business types would say. For another, some have embedded security devices that cause inconvenient beeping noises in buildings with alarm systems, which also raises the problem of having to check each book for discard marks to be certain the library doesn't expect to get them back. And for a third, library books have often been subjected to a great deal more wear than single-owner books; we worry about whether the bindings are still good, whether a page might have gotten torn out, that sort of thing. It's more efficient to turn them all down than to go through each, page by page and signature by signature, to make sure that they are still in good enough condition for a new reader to enjoy.

There are some marks we don't mind as much. A prior owner's name, a date, a meaningful inscription in a very old (100+) book, a neatly affixed bookplate, all are acceptable. What we don't want are marks disfiguring the outside of the book or marks in the text itself. We are more lenient about margin marks and pencil marks than we are about heavily penciled or penned underlining, and we are more lenient about underlining than about highlighting. If you have questions about whether your books meet our guidelines, feel free to call, email, or stop in.

***

For those of you who order books online, here are the technical terms for what we do and don't accept:

- POI or Prior Owner's Inscription - this is usually just a name on the front free endpaper, also known as a 'flyleaf'. (There are two front endpapers - the fixed and the free - left and right sides of what is usually the same sheet of paper, half of which is glued inside the front cover and the other half of which protects the first printed page.) - These are fine.

- Bookplate tipped in / affixed / at the front endpaper. - (Tipped in and affixed are the most common terms for something stuck to a page in the book; we say 'laid in' if it's not attached.) If the bookplate's glue damaged the page, this might be a problem, but usually we don't mind bookplates.

- Mild staining / toning from pressed leaf/flower at pages x-y - As long as it's mild, we don't mind. (Toning is our term for when something acidic, either laid in or sometimes the book's paper itself, causes the pages to turn yellow or even brown.)

- Scattered pencil marks in the text - these are sometimes okay, depending on the book. Same goes for scattered pen marks in the margins.

- "Prior owner's stamp at edge of page block" or "black mark at edge of page block" are kind of suspicious. Sometimes what is being called a "prior owner's stamp" is actually a publisher's "not for sale" or "not for resale" stamp, which means that selling it isn't strictly legal. It might also be a library stamp, including a really big, ugly "DISCARD" stamp. "Black marks" or "publisher's remainder marks" can sometimes be a warning that the book was printed for one of those giant print runs on cheap paper, which means the pages might have toning, which happens quickly with cheap paper. We will sometimes accept books with remainder marks, as long as they are otherwise in excellent condition, but we never pay first edition or collectible prices for remainder marked books, nor should you when you are buying books.

We do not accept:

- "Ex lib. with usual / expected marks / stamps" - I've seen this description all over the internet. It seems to mean library book with any or all of: spine sticker, call numbers written on the outside or inside, library stamps on the first, last, and sometimes middle pages, card pockets, handling spots or stains inside or outside, or worse. My general rule of thumb is: if the seller doesn't take the time to explain to you what 'usual' or 'expected' marks are, the marks are probably really ugly or the seller might just be careless.

- "May have underlining / highlighting / marks in text" - see above.

- "Extensive underlining / highlighting / margin marks" - another description we'd never use, ourselves. What is extensive? Is it extensive enough to keep the book from being useful? Not very clear.

- "Heavy foxing" - Foxing is what we call the little brown freckle-like marks that sometimes appear at the top edges of undusted books or at the first few pages or illustration pages of old books. We don't mind a few specks, but if they even come close to obscuring the printed words or the illustrations, we won't take the book.

- "Bleed-through" or "red/green/blue/etc. stain at edges / on pages x to y" - This is almost always an indication that the book got wet enough for the cover to bleed ink into the pages, which means the cover and pages may be warped, moldy, stuck together, etc. A faint coffee spot may be all right on the outside edge of an academic book, but a coffee spot that stained the margins or text or made the page edges ripple is not.

As always, if you have questions, feel free to ask. We're happy to help you figure out which internet-listed book is right for you or how to describe the condition of your book.

First Officer's Log No 23: Old Favorites and New Toys

2010-11-23T09:02:00.000-08:00

I think I've concluded that global warming must be real, because despite the fact that it's maybe a little over 30 degrees outside in the final full week of November, there's not a speck of snow or ice on the ground. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm quite happy to have winter in Iowa, sans the side effects. That being said, though, there are a few great coffee shops in town that have their fireplaces roaring, and who doesn't love being able to curl up in a comfy chair next to a fire with a good book?

I have a whole stack of books for winter reading, but I'm curious to know what people are planning on attacking this wintry season for their literary or non fiction fixes? I've got a mixture of both, and lately I haven't been able to pin down what The Big Thing will be this year. I mean, Steig Larsson is still selling like hot cakes, and we have a few nice new hardcovers of this year releases like Brady Udall's The Lonely Polygamist and Justin Cronin's The Passage, but I'm curious to see what people are hoping to see their neighborhood used book store have on hand.

It is that time of year again, when holiday shoppers (yours truly included) experience that mixture of dread and eagerness: the dread of braving The Mall, and the eagerness of finding The Perfect Gift. Well, fear not, gentle shoppers, for we might be able to help you out.

The good news is right now we have a lot of older favorites in stock, such as all the Harry Potter Books, including volumes 3 through 7 in hardcover, as well as most of the Cirque du Freak series for those supernatural teen fiction fans out there. As always, we have a great collection of children's picture books with beautiful illustrations, and don't forget our new kids non-fiction section. There are some very nifty reprints of classic Nancy Drew books from the 1920s, as well as an assortment of other old favorites, like Hardy Boys and Boxcar Children. If you need some suggestions for young adult readers who need something new for the winter holidays, just let us know.

We've got several lovely Library of America editions of classic American fiction like Philip Roth and Mark Twain, as well as non-fiction classical political writing from Jefferson, Paine and a very cool edition of A.J. Liebling's World War II articles. Our history section continues to grow, and we have a strictly European History section now, as well as Historiography, or books on writing about history. If you're coming in search of education or parenting books and don't find them up front, don't panic, they're in the back room above psychology now.

We've got a whole bunch of new toys to go along with the books, including some whimsical card games and new puppets. For more information, check our website or stop by and we'll be happy to demonstrate how to best utilize the big turkey puppet for maximum amusement during your big holiday get togethers.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

National Book Award Winners 2010

2010-11-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

The 2010 National Book Awards have been announced. The highlights include:

* Winner for Young People's Literature: Kathryn Erskine, Mockingbird

* Winner for Poetry: Terrance Hayes, Lighthead

* Winner for Nonfiction: Patti Smith, Just Kids

* Winner for Fiction: Jaimy Gordon, Lord of Misrule

Ghostwriting No. 26: Store Policy on Children

2010-11-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

We have always enjoyed the company of young people, from curious-eyed newborns to those just starting to read "grownup" books and beyond. Unfortunately, however, the time has come to state a policy with respect to our youthful company.

Poorly behaved parents will be asked to leave.

DO NOT leave your under-12 children here while you go elsewhere.

DO NOT leave your children alone at the front of the store while you look elsewhere until you have made certain that they have selected an appropriate activity and can engage in it respectfully.

DO NOT permit your children to disrupt the browsing of other patrons.

DO NOT leave the bookstore before making sure that your children have picked up any toys or books they have pulled from the shelves. If you don't know where something goes, please return it to the front counter and suggest to your children that keeping track of where they got something so that they can put it away properly is mannerly and appreciated.

We strongly encourage parents who want to share the experience of visiting a bookstore with children and are happy to do all we can to make the experience fun and interesting. We cannot, however, tolerate situations in which children, particularly disruptive ones, are effectively left in our care without our consent. Please teach your child to enjoy our premises respectfully.

First Officer's Log No 22: "Yes, But Is It Good?", or, Why Ali Has Mixed Feelings On Book Awards

2010-11-14T10:26:00.000-08:00

So this past weekend, I watched quite an amusing little video clip from Slate.com's "Outside the Box" Book Reviews, wherein the reviewer goes after the NBA. No, not the National Basketball Association, the National Book Awards, and proceeds to explain, in a very hyperbolic and amusing fashion, why he doesn't necessarily agree with the choices for finalists, and also makes the, in my opinion, accurate observation that regardless of what the finalists for book awards are, there are always bound to be people who complain that their favorite book was overlooked and why that simply isn't fair.

I recall a conversation I had once upon a time with friends who were all quite well read and liked reading authors who tended to get short listed for prestigious literary prizes. Being in a sarcastic mood, I asked if the books that won were actually any good. The discussion quickly shifted to what defines a truly good book from the rest of the herd, but the question still lingers in my mind today: does a prize attached to a book's name actually make it better, or more deserving than any other book released in that same year?

I'd like to point out that I long ago learned to be skeptical of whatever books were award winners, despite the fact that some books that win awards truly do deserve it. That said, I can't say that somebody who won the Nobel ever made me want to rush out and read their book. Perhaps I read it later, when I stumbled upon it, but the Nobel doesn't make that much of an impression on me. I probably need to work on this.

Since I went through and made a long list for the shop's reference on who won what in what year and why, I gained a newer appreciation for the absolutely levels of frustration that book critics and prize committees must face when deciding on and awarding marks (high, low, in between) to literature, science fiction, mystery, non fiction, what have you. It's got to be the most baffling and unappreciated job in the publishing world, because no matter what you do or say, you can't please everyone.

The Nobel Committee appears to choose literary figures based upon their contributions to writing, but judging from the fascinating article at Wikipedia, I'd recommend jumping straight to this bit, about the controversies in the history of the prize. Perhaps it's because I have an odd affinity for reading about gossip in the literary world (and who doesn't, truly?), but I found the who's-who of authors who never won the prize more compelling than those who have won it. It boggles the mind, comprehending the political nature of the Nobel Prize in Literature, especially when it is, in theory, supposed to be about the art of writing.

There are a few awards that I follow, the Hugo and Nebula, the Edgar Awards; otherwise, I decide on books to read based upon word of mouth or various articles I read. A prize means very little to me as a reader. However, I've discovered, in my almost ten years of working in bookstores, that people respond to half-dollar sized stickers on the front covers of books that announce what prize the book has won. The nature of the prize isn't as important as the fact that a book has won a prize of some kind, therefore elevating it to something other than Just Another Books.

Hundreds of books come out every year, but only a few get to be truly worthy of prizes, and the things that do get chosen for awards inevitably make some book reader, somewhere, miffed that their favorite book of the year wasn't chosen for this award or that. The books that seem to win awards, the last decade or so, for fiction, seem to be long, drawn out accounts of what I like to call Families In Distress, and Drama Drama Drama, With Some Angsty Humor On The Side. These are the kinds of books that sell very well in the past decade, and I think it shows that the publishing industry reflects the country's state of mind. Post-9/11 America is distraught, still, almost ten years later, nervous, scared, worried about every thing. People want to read about things the way that they wish they were, or perhaps they wish to read about lives that seem worse than theirs. That's probably why the misery memoir was so popular in the mid-2000s.

Admittedly, these aren't the kinds of things I usually read. Granted, when I was in college, I didn't really read for fun all that much, and if I did read for fun, it was a trashy urban fantasy novel or a copy of Rolling Stone, something I could stuff in my backpack next to my school notebooks and texts. If a book won a prize, that meant it was Serious Literature, and up until this year I have had a very hard time taking Serious Literature, well, Seriously.

The nonfiction I read nowadays might win notice as one of the Best Books of (Insert Year Here) from The Economist, The New York Times, or some other nationally known magazine or newspaper, and maybe, like Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower, the book might win the Pulitzer. The books that I did enjoy the most, for their writing style, story and characters, those weren't the kinds of books that prize committees looked at. Even when the Quill Award (2005 - 2007, discontinued in 2008) was awarded to Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind in 2007, while I was excited that more people knew it was a good novel, I'd read the book at the insistence of a friend, not because it was winning prizes or recognition from committees.

Literary prizes seem to reflect current temperaments, much like any artistic prize, from the Academy Awards for movies, to the Grammys for music. As such, it's no surprise that whatever is chosen for the current year is what reflects culture the best, but that doesn't mean that genuinely good books have to be pushed out of the way. There is truly great literature out there, strongly written stories that don't get notice or attention until book sellers start noticing them, and even then, no matter how hard you push, you can't convince a committee that the truly great novel is right below their noses.

It's a shame. They must have the most frustrating job. I suppose when you're forced to narrow a field of books down to five or six with true merit, you have to sacrifice really good stuff for the stuff that will sell, that will bring in money. It's trendy, it reflects the times. Hopefully it will change. In the mean time, I'll try to keep my eyes open for good books, but not necessarily stuff that wins prizes.

Three Local Authors Book Event

2010-11-14T10:06:00.000-08:00

Today the Haunted Bookshop is pleased to announce a local author's book event. Come visit us this afternoon for three local children's book authors - Michell Edwards, Claudia McGehee, and Jacqueline Briggs Martin - and their news books. There will be readings, signings and cake. The cats and staff are very excited for this event so come help us show support to our local writing community.

Ghostwriting No. 25: Store Policy on Mold and Mildew

2010-11-11T16:44:00.000-08:00

For health and safety reasons, we must ask that you

NEVER bring moldy or mildewed books into the shop.

This policy is not flexible. Patrons who bring in anything containing mold or mildew will be asked to remove it immediately.

Some of our patrons have allergies. We can't allow mold or mildew to infect our inventory. And staff and cats deserve to have a clean environment free from spores that might make us feel ill or develop infections or breathing problems.

Dispose of moldy or mildewed books responsibly. Put them in the garbage.

First Officer's Log No 21: Random Act

2010-11-11T10:21:00.000-08:00

This past week, a most unexpected thing occurred. A bit of a brief statement, but here it is: a few months back I had a long conversation with a customer about history and the interest I had in particular aspects. We had a great time talking, he bought several books, and I had a good feeling he would definitely return. On Wednesday, he did return, and he brought me a book.

It's one of the most unexpected things I've had happen. He showed up, told me that he had finished the book and wanted my opinion on it, and so gave it to me to read. Needless to say, I was quite surprised, in fact, I am still. It's such an out of the blue thing to happen, and on a topic that I'm genuinely interested in, so for him to do this was... well. I don't really know what to say to it, expect thank you.

To you customers who come in, visit us, shop with us, play with our cats, joke with us, talk with us, tell us stories, and have fun in our place of business, to you, I want to say 'thank you.' I feel, perhaps that I do not say it enough, but thank you.

2010-11-10T15:28:00.001-08:00

"It's funny but will it get them off their tractors in Peoria?" - Jon, as a television exec with reference to 'Moonlighting'

The Fourth City of Literature: Dublin

2010-11-08T09:06:00.000-08:00

The Haunted Bookshop would like to give a shout out to our newest UNESCO City of Literature: Dublin, Ireland!

Dublin joins us, here in Iowa City, along with Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as unique cities that have contributed to the growth and experience of literature and literary communities throughout the world. Congratulations!

2010-11-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

"You are very insolent, cat!" - a customer to Logan, who was attempting to get her smoothie

2010-11-06T17:21:00.001-07:00

"Some cover artist needs to be shot. First against the wall when the publication comes." -Nialle

Ghostwriting No. 24: 50% More Legitimate Endorsements!

2010-11-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

Gold foil stickers. They're everywhere, and they'll say anything.

It's the time of year when I rifle through the fiction section, checking to make sure I am acquainted with each book (and to see what's missing), and this time around I'm noticing how many books have circular gold stickers announcing everything from the obviously useful information that the author won the Nobel or that the book won the Man Booker or Pulitzer to announcing awards I had to look up for lack of familiarity (I had no idea how many writing associations hand out awards in this country), or sharing last-minute, high-powered blurbs (often one-word superlatives by household-name authors), or promising - no, I wish I were kidding - extra material. Reading group guides, added introductions, author interviews, that sort of thing.

Does that actually work on book buyers? The 25% MORE FREE advertising program? I'm dubious. But anyway.

Awards: They are useful insofar as they bring recognition to authors and works of outstanding quality. Have you noticed how many people have lost faith in them, though? Well, maybe not lost, since I'm not sure when who had what faith, but especially since the Nobel committee laureated J. M. G. Le Clezio, I've heard rather the opposite of "Ooo, a Nobel winner, this must be good!" Pulitzer-winning novels, word around the counter informs me, are all very depressing (though the folks who tell me this usually allow that The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay did not follow the pattern they claim). Man Booker prizes, my sources tell me, seem to go to very weird authors (and I don't disagree that Margaret Atwood is weird - I'm not sure she would either - but Peter Carey and Kiran Desai, weird? Unless being articulate and picking topics that don't appear to be grovelling for feature filmhood is weird).

On another point, though, one can suffer from award saturation. The dozens of widely recognized prizes aside, Writer's Digest (the publisher) awards gold foil stickers to the author of a winning self-published novel. This probably isn't quite the branding the Nobel Laureate sticker-bearers were hoping to tap.

Meanwhile, the blurbs. I don't think there's really a way to win at the game of recommending books, since people naturally disagree on what's good and why, but I do think there are a few clear ways to lose. One is to call a book "a glowing triumph of profoundly moving imagination," which uses five out of the seven most overused words in literary-fiction blurbiage (the other two are "exuberant" and "compelling"); one is to have a single adjective, excerpted from what was hopefully a full and intelligent discussion of the book's merit, slapped on a dust jacket with an exclamation point after it, as if to demonstrate the expedience with which the lonely adjective was cleaved from its context; and one is to compare a book to two other books that bear little, if any, resemblance to each other or the book at hand. For example - and I am not making this up, as much as I wish I were - calling The Raw Shark Texts a convergence of "Moby Dick and The Wizard of Oz" (Kirkus Reviews, what were you thinking?) just makes me wonder how many people are literate enough to know that Moby Dick was, not a shark, but a whale.

I'm all for visual cues to help market books. Don't get me wrong - I know how hard the publishing industry has worked to give customers ways to sort through the incredible numbers of titles for kinds they like - I do see that gold foil circles have their uses. But 1. Wolf. Do not cry it. and 2. "Excellent" - New York Times Book Review... really? Couldn't you at least have thrown in a noun so that I know whether it's "Excellent Noir" or "Excellent Recipes"?

2010-10-31T16:17:00.001-07:00

"Come on, sweetie, get out of there... no, not you, Nierme, I'm talking to the menorah..." - Jon

First Officer's Log No 20: Creepy, Eerie and Oh-So-Cool, Part 4

2010-10-28T16:25:00.001-07:00

Well, the end of this little experiment in words and pages that are creepy comes to a close. This week, I get to spotlight one of my favorite books, and I suppose it would be good to say that I've read this particular book several times, regardless of the time of the year, but it always makes an appearance in my life in October. Will Storr Vs. The Supernatural is a nonfiction record of a journalist's attempts to understand the fascination with ghosts, haunted places, possessions, poltergeists, and all sorts of other unexplainable phenomena.

Will's journey begins in the United States, where he spends a few days with a self-proclaimed "demonologist", who opens Will's eyes to the possibility of the supernatural being real. Unnerved by his experience, and determined to understand why the topic of ghosts and ghoulies is so popular, Will sets out on various adventures with local U.K. ghost hunting groups, a famous parapsychologist, and even lands an interview with the Vatican's own chief exorcist. Along the way, he runs into liars, cheats, true believers, self-professed psychics, New Age practitioners, "monsterologists", witches, a Druid, a Newcastle-born "Native American", and the TV set of Britain's own ghost hunting show 'Most Haunted'.

The book is a marvelous exploration of the kinds of things that scare us, and also the stories that keep us awake at night. He begins his tale in the United States, where he claims, eccentric people in the United States are so much more convincing in their eccentricities. The disturbing things he witnesses, and the unnerving realization that his subject might not be crazy, sends him on his year-long quest. Will's journey takes him all over England, and the people he meets make his "demonologist" friend seem absolutely quaint. Throughout the book, Will must keep himself from losing his faith in rationality, even as ever stranger things keep happening to him.

This is probably the best book on ghost hunting or the supernatural that I've read. Will Storr has a great grasp of how to write not only well but with respect for the people he is interviewing and experiencing events with. He doesn't judge his subjects, and instead allows the words he records and transcribes to speak for themselves. It's a great book, a good read for a chilly night, and simply a great example of accessible, interesting nonfiction. I highly recommend it.

And that concludes this year's installment of Creepy, Eerie and Oh-So-Cool. Hopefully we can do it again next year, but until then, I'll try to have something new and interesting to write about each month, and maybe have a few books to throw out at you every few weeks.

Until next time, fellow bibliophiles.

Ghostwriting No. 23: The Ghostlist

2010-10-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

A few words as we approach the Halloween season.

1. One of the things I hate about this time of year is having to tell people that no, we do not have cold spots or blood dripping down the walls. They get so disappointed. Alas, it is fact. We also don't hear voices or footsteps, and I'm sorry, we do not give haunting tours.

2. That said, we do have a small section especially for books about ghosts. While ghosts have not lately been hypersexualized, deprived of historic symbolism, or given supporting roles in blockbuster movies about teenaged girls getting whatever they want, they are nonetheless rich with character possibility. Let me recommend a few favorites:

- Anything by M. R. James. I'm not just saying this because there are so many beautifully described books and libraries in these stories. They are also sterling examples of the short suspense craft. Also they have gorgeous books in. Did I mention the leather bindings?

- Anything by Sheridan le Fanu. Using the frame of the reflections of a doctor with special interest in psychology, this author successfully spooks the reader with a little reverse psychology: what the doctor doesn't tell you will keep you up at night.

- The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Brief, evocative, and full of the sense that even scarier than things that go bump in the night is the astonishing capacity of the human mind to anticipate and dread disaster.

More recent books:

- The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue. Narrated by a ghost, this novel is really about strong women in two different lucrative decades facing unacceptable gender norms, but the ghost is also a genuinely likeable prankster with some keen observations about women, life, power, and the hindsight that gets more twisted the more one tries to fight upstream.

- A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle. The protagonist, a homeless man shacked up in a crypt with an unlocked door, watches the dead struggling with disembodiment. It takes observing a particularly complicated posthumous love affair, dodging the verbal assaults of a particularly insightful crow, and uncertainly accepting kindness from a very lively widow to bring this man back from the proverbial grave(side).

Our Chosen Charity: Local Foods Connection

2010-10-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

Check out this nifty article about the local foods movement here in Iowa City and Johnson County. If you're interested in the Local Foods Connection cookbook, we have them here at the bookshop.

Ghostwriting No. 22: A Plea for Sanity

2010-10-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, may I remind you that other people writing books containing a famous author's characters are, by definition, fanfiction authors. Few, if any, write anything of compelling quality, and let me remind you that most take the story in directions the author would not have approved. Remember Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley? Not only did Rhett and Scarlett supposedly get back together, but Scarlett became the head of a clan - yes, clan - in Ireland. Margaret Mitchell would never have written anything resembling that. The author basically wrote a numbered-series romance novel and used Mitchell's characters' names.

So please, please, if you really want to read something like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from something like Mr. Darcy's point of view, read Henry James' Daisy Miller, all right? E. M. Forster's A Room with a View will also do.

Thank you.

First Officer's Log No 19: Creepy, Eerie and Oh-So-Cool, Part 3

2010-10-20T10:08:00.001-07:00

This week's entry is Body Surfing, a very strange, weird novel from Dale Peck. The basic story involves demons that jump from body to body, two teenage boys, one of whom becomes possessed, and a Croatian demon huntress who comes to save the day. It's not the easiest book to describe, even for supernatural fiction standards (and are there such things?), and the opening sequence, set in ancient Rome, suggesting that the Emperor Nero was possessed by one of these demons... well, it starts off weird and gets stranger. So far, the story is pretty typical, but I absolutely love the characters.

Peck's three main characters are Jasper, a shy, laid back teenager, his best friend Q., the more impulsive of the two, and the huntress, Ileana, who reminds me, as I'm sure Peck intended, of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, minus the extreme angst. She's tough, refreshingly unsympathetic to the things she hunts, and comprehends from the get-go that she is a soldier in a war, and therefore she must shut off the more emotional aspects of her personality and get her hands dirty, with no apologies. Compared to the teenage boys, she's the adult center of the novel, the responsible one, and the novel itself is very, very mature, as far as content is concerned.

A note: this is not fluffy supernatural fiction; it starts as a coming-of-age story, and before you know it, it's a full on horror novel. I wasn't quite prepared for it when I started reading the book, because it seemed fairly silly, after the delicious eerieness of Jennifer McMahon's Promise Not To Tell, and the thoroughly unpleasant events of Gillian Flynn's Dark Places. So, imagine my pleasant surprise, and slightly turning stomach, when I started reading Dale Peck's novel.

It's gory; very, very gruesome at points. I'm not one for extreme blood and guts in my literature, and this initially threatened to turn me off, but once I met Peck's characters, I was hooked. He's got a simple story when you break it down, but the characters and the liberal doses of humor throughout the novel keep it going at a good pace. There isn't a slow moment that I've found. So, compared to last week's offering (to which I am resorting to somewhat mixed feelings) I feel like I can recommend Body Surfing to just about anyone who wants a good, creepy novel to read.

Until next week, fellow Bibliophiles.

(Not so Little) White Whale on the Go...

2010-10-18T08:52:00.001-07:00

Today is the 159th birthday of Herman Melville's Moby Dick, originally called The Whale.

Ghostwriting No. 21: On Collectors' Items again

2010-10-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

As a side note before I begin - this was a really spectacular week, and not just because four different people brought us cookies. It was a great week for conversations, a week of discussing the ideas of the liberal arts, the important trends in recent writing, the book industry from several angles. Thank you very much to all those who participated in these conversations. These are the experiences that motivate us and help us to learn more to share with our other patrons.

All right. Let's return to the topic of collectors' books.

First, you should know - whether you are a serious collector or whether you have stumbled upon a collection you'd like to sell - that the collectors' market is very, very bearish right now. That means that if you're in the market to buy, now is a good time, and if you're in the market to sell, now is not a good time. If you do buy, you need to be informed about what you're buying and for whom - the best investment right now is something that you will enjoy having, because the future of the market is very much up in the air, or something you plan to give as a nice present to another person - or you need to be prepared to wait. And wait. And wait.

Urban folklore has been telling people that items from the childhoods of the baby boom generation are valuable. This is as true as most urban folklore, which is to say, only sometimes sort of. For about a year, I had a strong turnaround in yellow-spined Nancy Drews and blue-spined Hardy Boys from the 1950's-70's. That market has been saturated temporarily, which means I can't offer as much money as I was offering for such books. Which in turn means I've got some very frustrated people who are unhappy that their Nancy Drews and Hardy Boys aren't worth a bundle of quick cash now.

Folks, this is a market. Values go up and down depending on supply and demand. I purchase and sell at the most reasonable prices I can, but if I have eight copies of The Red Barn Mystery and haven't sold one in six months, I'm just not going to pay much for a ninth copy. If I were a monster corporation with vast warehouses and even vaster cash flow, I could maybe stock up on Red Barn Mysteries, if I thought they made a good long-term risk. But I'm not and I can't and I don't.

There are some collectors' books in which I am still and always interested, and some in which I will never be interested again. Here are some to note:

1. Beautifully illustrated children's books. If they are more than sixty years old and in near-perfect condition, they may have collectors' value. If they are less than sixty years old, or if they are worn in the way that children's books usually are, they are not collectors' items, they're just books.

2. Old mass-market paperbacks. For a while, there was a strong collectors' market in mystery and science fiction paperbacks from about 1940-1970. This market is currently in bearsville. It is remotely possible that it might go bullish again, but here's the thing about old paperbacks: they were printed on highly acidic paper and bound with cheap glue, which means that if you actually opened them after 1970, they are no longer collectibles. They are old paperbacks with brown, brittle pages and cracks in the binding glue. Unless they happen to be the only printing of a certain short story or novel by a later-famous author or are perennial favorites with kitschily lurid cover art, they don't have value at all, let alone as collectors' items.

3. Collectors' Editions. There's a sad joke in this industry that is sad because it is about 97% true: If it has the words "collector's edition" printed anywhere on it, it will never be collectible. It might be nice because it has good illustrations or was printed on better-quality paper, but that just means that it might survive in competition with younger copies of the same book. On incredibly rare occasions, a collector's printing actually does have value; one example would be the Heritage Press editions of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, which were illustrated by Norman Rockwell, which makes these two books double-whammy Americana. The Heritage Press editions of almost everything else are just nice copies of books.

4. Signed firsts. There's a trick to signed first editions. The trick is this: the first edition has to have been a small print run; the author has to have signed the book before the author became a household name (at least among literati households); and the author does now have to be a household name. A signed copy of a motivational book is just another copy of a soon-to-be-outdated book. A signed first of a famous author's ninth novel is, given the industry's current insistence that authors run round the country signing books, common and therefore not collectible (though if you're the last one with a copy in nice shape a hundred years from now and the author is still popular, you might get collector's money for it). A signed first of James Oliver Curwood's first novel is, unless you can find the one person in America who might consider writing a cultural studies paper on a very outdated bunch of novels by a nearly forgotten author, a paperweight.

5. On the time frames of collectibility: A first edition of Harry Potter and the (First Three Books) - and mind that the British editions came before the American ones, so purists will want the British ones - simply aren't going to go up in value as collectors' items for a generation or more, if they ever do at all, given the enormous print runs involved. In fact, it is safe for the amateur collector to assume that if a book was first published during the lifetime of the average book dealer, the first edition probably isn't collectible yet. There is one exception to this rule, which is that if the first edition was printed during the early childhoods of a really, really nostalgic generation (and it's true that the Boomers are often nostalgic), it might - might - be collectible now. But only now. Once the Boomers begin retiring and trying to live off whatever retirement savings they've got after the market crash and the Social Security freeze, many will try to sell their old books, the market will be flooded, and there won't be enough demand to keep the prices high because so many of the childhood books of the Boomers aren't popular with subsequent generations. It's brutally sad, but it's true.

This all sounds very gloomy and doomy. Of course some collections still have value. For example, a really good collection of well-chosen, authoritative, scholarly medieval history books is and will remain valuable as long as people still think about history. A collection of first books by subsequently important authors will turn valuable if kept well for a generation or two (out of sunlight, temperature fluctuations, humidity, and smoke). Books over a century old that are still important now do have value if they are still in readable and attractive condition. I'm just suggesting that you probably shouldn't expect to get double your money back on a complete set of Goosebumps books, that things made to be collectible generally don't end up being worth a lot of money, and that selecting what you want based on your taste for your enjoyment is just a better way to think about book ownership anyway.

Collectors' markets are markets. They fluctuate. A good book, however, is still good as long as you keep rereading it, and that holds a value - not necessarily a financial one, but still a real one - for the rest of your life. If you're going to play the markets, do research, understand the trends, keep an eye on sales prices, make sure what you've got is in excellent condition, and choose your reselling methods based on how much time you want to put in and how much money you want to get back. If you're going to build a personal library, decide what you like, change your mind when you feel like it, and enjoy what you've got while you've got it.

Yes, I'm biased. There are a lot of reasons to collect, and in the end, though I routinely circulate my collection to other people, I am essentially a collector too, and what I collect is stuff I think my patrons will appreciate. I don't get a lot of calls for pristine Little Golden Books. I doubt very much that anyone does in this general economic slump we're in. I do get a lot of requests for cheap paperback copies of The Catcher in the Rye, which is why I actually pay as much for nice copies of Catcher as I do for blue-spine Hardy Boys. And to be entirely honest, I like the Catcher readers better than the collection sellers, because there is one thing you can count on about me as a market for books: I think of money as what has to keep moving so that I can do what matters to me, which is to spend time with book lovers.

And as anyone who sells anything will tell you, it's a good idea to know your market. So. Now you know.

First Officer's Log No 18: Creepy, Eerie, and Oh-So-Cool, Part 2

2010-10-14T09:40:00.001-07:00

This is how I imagine the current book I'm reading being created:

'Entertainment Weekly' writer / reviewer Gillian Flynn sits down, perusing her bookshelves for inspiration, and her eyes fall upon Truman Capote's In Cold Blood. She raises an eyebrow, thinks I could write about a farm family - a mother, two sisters - that is brutally murdered and the aftermath of such an event. Of course, she'll need good insight into how someone deals with the aftermath of such a heinous crime, the brutal slaying of a mother, and she sees James Ellroy's My Dark Places. Ah hah! she thinks, There's my title, even. Dark Places. Her eyes scan her shelves, narrowing as she closes in on where to form the central character, the one through whose eyes she can tell the story, and her gaze falls upon Stephenie Meyer's Twilight. Of course! I'll create the most narcissistic, self-loathing woman I can imagine! The sole survivor of what has happened, and she'll make Bella Swann seem like a high class intellectual!

I'm probably being a bit mean. I'm really enjoying Gillian Flynn's Dark Places, which is, as described, a novel about a farm family's brutal murder, and the sole survivor, little Libby Day, who is convinced her older brother Ben is responsible. Her testimony at age seven sends him to prison for the murders, but twenty five years later questions are raised by a group of true crime enthusiasts calling themselves the Kill Club. They are convinced Ben is innocent, and Libby is forced to reexamine that long ago day and the events leading up to the incident which changed her life.

I'm at the half way point in this novel, and Flynn is a marvelous writer. She has a knack for characters, and the sequence in which she describes Libby's first visit to the Kill Club is amongst the most skin-crawling things I've read. There is something truly disturbing about this novel, the understanding that there are people who truly sleep, live and breathe true crime, and will risk the alienation of 'normal' society to pursue their obsessions.

There is something quite compelling about Libby, despite the fact that she is amongst the most narcissistic, self-loathing, and, quite frankly, unpleasant characters I've ever read. Most of the novel is from her perspective, and she is bluntly self aware of her own character, which I do find somewhat refreshing. Perhaps it is the fact that she knows that she's not a nice person, not a good person, and has had questions, but is unwilling to explore them. Flynn has written a great character here, even if I found myself reading her with increasing distaste, but still wanted to read more. To me, this is the sign of a very good book.

Perhaps not as creepy as Jennifer McMahon's Promise Not to Tell, Gillian Flynn's Dark Places is still great reading, and a perfect book to curl up with in mid October.

Until next week, fellow Bibliophiles.

Upcoming Event: Local Children's Book Reading and Signing

2010-10-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to announce an upcoming reading at the Haunted Bookshop. Local authors Michelle Edwards, Claudia McGehee and Jacqueline Briggs Martin will be reading from their new books, The Hanukkah Trike, Where Do Birds Live?, and The Chiru of High Tibet, on 14 November, 2010. There will be a signing with the authors following the reading, and frosted book cakes.

Because who doesn't love books and cake?

Man Booker Prize Winner 2010

2010-10-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Man Booker Prize for 2010 has been announced today, and has been awarded to Howard Jacobson, a British novelist known in England for his explorations of comedy and the lives of British Jewish characters. Jacobson's novel The Finkler Question is the winner of this year's Man Booker, so hopefully we'll see copies of the book floating into the shop in the next few weeks. Check in often, and congratulations to Mr Jacobson.

2010-10-11T13:13:00.001-07:00

"It was cute, but cute in this whole 'ooh in 6 months you'll be a flesh eating monster' kind of way."
- Ali, referring to baby alligators

First Officer's Log No 17: Creepy, Eerie and Oh-So-Cool

2010-10-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

It is that time of year again, when the leaves are a-falling, and the footballs are a-hurling through the air, and the hot apple cider is brewing across the street at our neighborhood coffee shop, T Spoons, and lots and lots of people are coming in and out every week, looking for that excellent fall weather reading material.

Except that the past few days have been absurdly warm for October in Iowa, what with today reaching into the low 80s for temperature. I don't know about you, but if I can be seen wearing shorts (not that I can or will be) in October, then something's up with the weather gods. Well, I can't do anything about the weird fall-ish weather, but I can cue you, my fellow bibliophiles, on to this month's hot tips: namely, my goal, each week, to have a new book to bring your attention to, that fits the creepy and eerie motif of October, and because Halloween is my favorite holiday.

So, without further ado, I would like to draw your attention to Jennifer McMahon's Promise Not To Tell, a marvelously eerie little novel that I started reading two nights ago and have been loathe to set aside ever since. This novel follows a woman named Kate, returning to her childhood home, where a young girl is murdered the night Kate arrives. Disturbingly enough, this new murder bears a striking resemblance to the death of Del, the Potato Girl of local legend, Kate's childhood best friend.

McMahon is an engaging writer, able to write in a child's voice as well as an adult. Her characterization can be a bit off-putting at first (there is a secondary character whose overprotective maternal instinct I find particularly grating), but within three pages I was hooked into the story. I highly recommend Promise Not To Tell as my first official Weekly October Creepy Eerie and Oh-So-Cool Novel (WOCEOSCN) ... and somebody's going to have to recommend a better acronym that that for me.

Until next week, fellow bibliophiles.

Ghostwriting No. 20: A True Ghost Story

2010-10-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am following a trail of
those wire-and-paper twists,
dropped every few yards
and bright against the asphalt.
No long, square plastic bags,
but still, I think of bread.
Who could eat so quickly?
Or make sandwiches while walking?
Was it all flung to the birds?

I wish I were a bird.
Not for the squabbling
that must have followed each slice.
To have been fed.

Then I see them, not many,
but all on the wire, heads bobbing,
and I think: they are full.
I could eat them. One bite, another.
Good breeding stops me.
City birds are covered in lice
and probably diseased.
Vegetarians live longer!

There are no unlocked cars
with bags of chip crumbs
hidden in wheel wells,
no dumpsters with
telltale clouds of fruit flies.

The birds. They would be too hard
to catch, too small to satisfy.

One darts abruptly, dives,
snatches a red wire tie.
I look along the path, the scattered
green and blue and white scraps,
becoming invisible just yards away
because of the heat boiling
over patches of engine fluids.

The birds dropped the ties here.

No, worse.

A little old man, born in the Depression,
collected them for decades
but now knows, his pension gone and
medical bills looming, that wire twists
have no currency anymore,
and he is plucking them from
a coffee tin - its logo from the forties -
and wrapping a happy thought in each one,
then dropping each,
and when he gets to the doors
of the distant wholesale warehouse,
he will sit and hold the can
and hope no one spits in it
because he can't afford to let it rust.

All my dreams are like this now.
I don't go to a doctor; I read enough
to know what I'd be told;
clonazepam and maybe a vacation.
I'll tough it out.

But when I pull the brown bag
out of my briefcase
and reach for the loaf of bread
and a knife to spread some butter
and I'm ready,
the white twist-tie stops me.
What would he have put
in this one? His daughter's first step,
a flawless tomato,
a wet cloth on his forehead,
the squeak of new shoes?

It's 8:43 already.
I've done the math: going 45
in a 35 doesn't actually make time.
I buckle in at the stoplight.
Coffee comes in bags now,
and even if it didn't,
what would I think to save?

Nobel Prize in Literature 2010

2010-10-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

Good news for all you South American novel fans, Mario Vargas Llosa is the Nobel Laureate for 2010. We've got several copies of his books in stock, including The Bad Girl and The Feast of the Goat.

2010-10-06T16:31:00.001-07:00

"Free Association Friday. Every day, at the Haunted Bookshop." - Jon

2010-10-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

"Don't try to understand, just go back to cleaning Noam Chomsky." - Jon