Someone just donated piles of pretty, old leatherbound books to the Benefit Sale. $1 each while they last, and the entire $1 goes straight to Local Foods Connection.

Also, some beautiful and thought-provoking Judaica, 19th century volumes of poetry, and an adorable set of Shakespeare - 12 volumes, 4" tall, red cloth with gilt titles, $36 if you buy it before the weekend.

We've got some lovely 19th-century surprises for you, from popular poetry titles to self-help and anti-atheism tracts (remarkably similar to each other) to a somewhat preemptive History of the United States dated 1835. Also lots of recent plays, reference works for Finnegans Wake dorks, and some nice, crispy Twain paperbacks.

Logan also wants me to tell you that he is desperately lonely and neglected and hasn't been admired properly for more than an hour.

Someone must realphabetize the cats. Alas.

Looking directly forward when you walk in the door, you'll see new arrivals on the right and Brown Paper Staff Picks on the left of our extensive selection of Important People Magnet / Finger Puppets. We're having a blast thinking of six-word trailers for the books, such as "Before China discovered America, Vikings did" and "She taught me how to think." Come in and see the fun - plus all the new arrivals in Young Adult, Poetry, and 19th-20th century Russian philosophy, among others.

A really lovely shout-out for several Iowa City bookshops appears among the Literary Boroughs series in Ploughshares:

Literary Boroughs 21: Iowa City 

This is the back of a book. The book is a fairly obscure retelling of Robin Hood. 

The text of this sticker needs to be artistically rendered in bronze and set in an arch over the front door of this bookshop.

Unfortunately that won't the first on the list of store improvements for this winter, but someday. Someday.

Folks with families, we love it when you come to visit, but we don't love it when we discover that tags have been ripped or cloth torn during play. _We must ask you to pay for any toys damaged during your visit._

It's not just that we shouldn't have to throw things away.* It's that everyone should help everyone remember to show good manners.

*We take a lot of pride in selling only well-tested, non-toxic toys. Torn tags or mended pieces can void the product warranty, which puts us in an awkward position, because we can't sell what we can't prove is safe. Help us be good to your kids: help us keep the toys clean with proof of manufacturing quality intact.

Hey, it's moving weekend and you all have a lot to think about, but could you do us a favor?

When you're emptying out the cabinets and finding those still good and still sealed, but too bulky to move, non-perishable food items, could you swing by the Johnson County Crisis Center to drop them off? Or drop them off here and we'll take them.

Thanks.