So I had just barely finished putting out a box of Native American history when a ton of biology, programming, and two great big, crisp, clean omnibus editions of The Walking Dead came in, and I wasn't done even sorting those before about thirty books of classical theology came in, and that's to say nothing of the daily oddments like birding books and practically-new fiction and - oh yeah, boxed set of George R. R. Martin hardcovers - so. This is Monday. I reckon we've put out about three hundred books since last Monday. If you haven't been in, you might not have seen the one (or more) that you want....

So back on the subject of Milton, Shakespeare, the history and criticism of English literature - see, the person from whom we got this collection gave us a *very* generous deal on the books, fourteen boxes of them, so we can pass savings on to you. Average price of books I'm putting out right now: $2.95. Come see what treasures you can own for less than the cost of lunch!

Taking a break from putting out dozens of books about Shakespeare, Milton, and the literary scene between them (temporally) to think about a word.

On the cover of a book of found-poems, a blurb says the author has 'astringent intelligence.' Poets and poetry readers, what do you make of that? It seems like it could be functionally correct, considering that it's found and edited material, but - somehow the word seems unindicative of desirable poesy. Am I wrong?

Whew. More than a hundred fresh titles in fiction, still working through the Judaica collection (four boxes out now), distracted by books on acting technique and Aldo Leopold. If you haven't been in to see all the new arrivals lately, you're missing out!

There are things we almost never have, things we have often wished we could get, things you've been asking for, and things so surprising and fascinating that we all wish we had five or six extra days just to read them....

Our house: as it appeared in Margaret Keyes' book "Nineteenth Century Home Architecture of Iowa City," first published by the University of Iowa Press in 1966.

To give you an idea of the age of the house: Iowa had only been a state for a few months when it was built. The house is younger than the Old Capitol, Stone Academy, and St. Mary's Church by just five years; it is older than Old Brick. It was fourteen when the Civil War began, and it turned 100 not long after World War II ended. This year, the house will celebrate its 167th birthday.

Nialle plans to be here for its 200th

Quick Tour of the New Haunted

Virginia's Room - A star quilt over a comfy chair, an endtable for your coffee cup and book pile, and visible beyond are part of World War II through the Korea and Viet Nam conflicts. You're in the Military History section.

Virginia's Room - Looking the other way, toward the U.S. Civil War and the first World War. While we often give directions by calling this "the red room" it is actually named for Nialle's grandmother, who has been a tremendous supporter of the Haunted over the last nine years.

This squishy chair is in Will's room, also known as "the green room" or "the science room." Look: bird books and gardening books... hey, which smart aleck put a book with tigers on the cover in the bird section?

Looking the other direction in Will's Room: Linguistics and a lot of books in French, German, Spanish, Latin, and more. Behind you are Biology and Ecology, and off to your right are Astronomy and Physics; to your left are Psychology and Medicine.

Will's Room, the Human Department: Psychology, Education, Games, Sports, and Medicine. Visible at left, books by Dr. Nancy Andreasen; at center, the rapidly growing Chess section; not so visible at the right but definitely a priority with us, Baseball, and some other sports.

Agriculture and Anthropology and the door from Will's Room to the next room. Anna, you old skeptic you, I want you to notice that while you can *see* sacred writ from the science room, it's not *in* the science room.

Where sacred literature *is* is in the Radulpharium, named for Ralph Keen. Visible here is Christian theology; not shown but to the left is general spirituality, and to the right are Eastern religions; around the corner to the right (it's a maze) are Judaica and Islam. In the background/center of this picture is the other side of the room, where we keep philosophy and cultural history.

Cultural history (Native American Studies is particularly visible at the left front) and Philosophy (now with more philosophers! on the right), as well as our (in)famous Sex, Death, and Cities sections (now with more cities). Also visible at the top left is a south-facing cat bed and the trim that gives the Radulpharium its nickname of "the blue room."

Between the Radulpharium ("philosophy and religion room") and the history rooms on the north side of the building: Mythology and Folklore. Yes, we did that on purpose. The couch is under the east window and is sunny by day and cozy by night; make yourself comfortable. The cats might even sit in the baskets in the window and not on you. Unless you pet them, and then your lap trumps the baskets.

Across the hall: Josh's Room. On the near left is the currently unusually large Medieval History section; on either side of the chair are Oceania, Africa, and Asia; housed in the bookcase on the right (on loan from the Jon Collection) is Geography, conveniently located in exactly the same way that the Urals are, between Asia and Europe (not shown, off to the right).

Europe is still just a bit of a jumble, but probably because it is confused about Russia being at the beginning of this bay, or possibly about the book displayed two pictures ago - the flag book with the possibly soon to be altered Union Jack on the front. (Vexillology alert: If Scotland secedes, some feel, the blue has to leave the UK flag.)

This photo, which shows the mess - I mean the room - to the right as you walk in the front door of the bookshop, is a placeholder awaiting tomorrow's project: to depict the main floor.

WE'RE HOME.

We have finished moving into our new location on Gilbert Street. One more day of settling and moving things around to make room for book buying, and we will resume regular buying hours - 11am to 4pm, Monday-Saturday.

There's still a mess, and we still welcome help with checking to make sure that the alphabet happened where appropriate, or with moving this to that spot, or with making Logan and Nierme feel welcome in the new space, but WE'RE HOME.

Pictures, events, and general delight to follow.

Now accessible: customer facilities. Next step: complete the first phase of construction, clear the parking lot and access to the short ramp in back.

Thank you for your continued patience. Five days left to get everything out of our old location! Cheers to Josh, Brendan, and Will for their heroic efforts today. This has been no small journey, but we're almost there.