The Press Citizen Interviews Prairie Lights' Paul Ingram

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.

The Annual A-List Contest Has Begun

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.

Banned Books

In celebration of banned books - many of them classics vibrant with genuine life, really great stories, major contributions to literature, and kids' books with titles that make some weirdos think they're evil - this week's window display will show off some of our favorite banned or challenged books.

Want to know why they were challenged? Some of the reasons are just plain flabbergasting. The Egypt Game, for example, promotes dabbling in the 'black arts.' Besides the poor choice of phrase, the pretext for banning here demonstrates a lack of understanding of the contents of this book. Anyway, we have the facts up at the counter - just ask.

Unplug your mind from the rigid views, the misunderstandings, the cultural myths. Get the real thing and learn what these important books have to tell us about real life. Want help picking one you'll like? We're happy to listen to your tastes and recommend accordingly.

Meanwhile, we encourage everyone to take this week to express an important idea: Talking about what's really out there helps people learn to make better decisions. Just forbidding art that represents what's out there doesn't change reality or the importance of learning how to handle it. Start a conversation about your favorite banned book. Get an "I Read Banned Books pin" here or at the Public Library. Get seen reading hot books. Show people that you're not afraid to think for yourself.

French and Spanish readers, we just put out more for you; Christian theology continues to expand; and railroad collectors, you've got to see all these amazing manuals from the 1920's-1950's, many with big fold-out color diagrams.

Two dozen Nancy Drew yellow-spine hardcovers and nearly all of the first thirty Trixie Beldens in paperback! Also, watch this coming week for the expansion of Eastern Religions.

What are you doing today? Why not go to the north end of the Ped Mall and listen to the adventures of Aeneas, Odysseus, and other famous heroes - read live by the Classics Department at the University!

Ayumi Irie (UI '09 Psychology) will give a free piano recital. The concert is informal, walk in, so feel free to look at books and pet the cats! :) Attendees can buy raffle tokens to win a piece from Ayumi's latest line of sweets decorations. The proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards prevention of teenage depre...ssion and suicide in families in Iowa.

There will be two sessions, one at noon and one at 1:30pm.

** RSVP to our Facebook event

** Update: 5/12/2010: this event has concluded but thank you to everyone who came! Ayumi was able to drop off a check for $100 to United Action for Youth. Thank you!

On Sunday, May 16, author Erin Hart will read at the Haunted Bookshop from her new book, False Mermaid (Scribner, 2010).

The previous books in the Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire mystery series, Haunted Ground and Lake of Sorrows, followed the work of an American pathologist and an Irish archaeologist investigating deaths in ...Ireland. The author's rich knowledge of Irish culture and history, combined with the taut suspense and mesmerizing atmosphere she surely mastered during her theatrical days, make each book a page-turning and vivid experience. Haunted Ground was nominated for both the Agatha and Anthony awards.

Erin Hart is not just an excellent author; she is also known for her gifts as a performer and musician. The last time she read here, she surprised us by transforming our reading space into an Irish cottage with a small peat fire. This is not a reading to miss!

** RSVP to our Facebook event

Another don't panic alert: Alternative Medicine is now between western Medicine and Biology; Psych is where Alt Med was; this is to make room for four big boxes of Native American Studies and new titles in Women's Studies and Sociology. Phew!

Film and TV buffs, don't be alarmed - your sections have moved onto the stage. This was so that we could make room for almost 200 more books in Eastern Religions and Sacred Writ!

We're now putting out antiquarian books dealing with the U. S. Civil War, religious books from the early 1800's, and THE ANDREAS ATLAS OF IOWA - yes, the mammoth folio, colour tinted first edition - newly restored by our favourite bookbinder. We also have a 1719 study on the culture of fashion in Paris, still in the original full-leather binding, and dozens more newly arrived antiquarian titles.

A special request to friends all over: Please help us place in this year's KCRG Business A-List! We've placed in the top 5 for the last two years - let's get there again. We need your votes!

** Vote for us!

Heads up to our home schooling friends! The children's nonfiction section is in the process of expanding by *600* titles, ranging from books on good manners to ancient history to weird science, appropriate for the 8-14 age group. Some art and more theology also arrived this week, and we had to move Holocaust Studies to European History to make space.

Now arriving: Linguistics, Judaica, Genealogy, kids' books in Spanish, and if we can squeeze it in, some Christian theology as well. Also a lot of oddball stuff, like a history of Mad Magazine, old engineering books, and Iowa town histories. Over 6,000 new titles in stock since November, folks - get 'em before they dis...

Phew! We now have four very full cases of Military History. Also, Eastern Philosophies have been split from Eastern Religions, and both have begun expanding. What's up next? Well, first we have to get through the nine boxes of awesome poetry, plays, and criticism we bought on Sunday....

We have just torn down and rebuilt the philosophy section with gorgeous new pine bookshelves. Come check out our new set up, and watch for more eastern philosophy and religion... coming soon, to a bookshop near you!

After adding several hundred volumes to the Mystery section, we're now working on Military History - and we actually have a full shelf on the Korean War, for the first time ever.

The next thousand include: Mythology and Folklore, United States History, Nature, Animals, Spirituality, Alternative Medicine, and Eastern Philosophies & Religions....

Unpacked: Anthropology, archaeology, film, philosophy (about half done), some small press, a bunch of maritime / nautical, some ancient and medieval history - two thousand books added since we began moving the Bookery in!

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