Earthlight Books

Scotland's Secret Book Artist

2012-01-29T15:32:00.000-08:00

A graffiti artist called Banksy became famous around the globe in the 1990s after secretly leaving his art work on walls across London. Now Scotland has its own secret artist.

Keith Wallace reports from Edinburgh on the delicate sculptures made from books which have been appearing in cultural establishments across the city.

Swans have an air of being proud, stupid, and mischievous - three qualities that go well together. -- Diderot

2012-01-27T22:47:00.000-08:00

Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer. He was a prominent person during theEnlightenment and is best known for serving as co-founder and chief editor of and contributor to the Encyclopédie.

Diderot also contributed to literature, notably with Jacques le fataliste et son maître (Jacques the Fatalist and his Master), which emulatedLaurence Sterne in challenging conventions regarding novels and their structure and content, while also examining philosophical ideas aboutfree will. Diderot is also known as the author of the dialogue, Le Neveu de Rameau (Rameau's Nephew), upon which many articles and sermons about consumer desire have been based. His articles included many topics of the Enlightenment.

Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. - Lewis Carroll

2012-01-27T12:23:00.001-08:00

10 Most Anticipated Book Adaptations of 2012

2012-01-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Well, between The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit, and Great Expectations I hope they do a few of 'em justice at least.

Huge 25% Off Sale on All Books Between $50 and $200

2012-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

Take advantage of this limited time sale, we just discounted everything that was priced between $50 and $200 by 25%!

Signed Conan Doyle book donated to Thame Oxfam shop

2012-01-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

A limited edition novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle signed by the author has turned up at a charity shop in Oxfordshire.

The 109-year-old limited edition of White Company was among a pile of books donated to the Oxfam Bookshop in Thame.

Along with it were a further eight volumes from a set of 13 by the Sherlock Holmes author.

Manager Dick Jennens, who has been in the book trade for 45 years, said he was "really excited" about the find.

"We had a lot of donations just before Christmas but these were particularly noticeable because the volumes we received were bound in a red cloth with gilt lettering so they stood out," said Mr Jennens, who has run the bookshop since it opened nearly 11 years ago.

"Then we realised the author was Arthur Conan Doyle so we were a little bit more interested at that point."

Mr Jennens handed the books to one of the shop's volunteer experts, who found the books were part of a 13 volume limited edition of 1,000 copies published in 1903, which the White Company issued as a signed copy.

“Start Quote

We have put a price tag on it at the moment which we believe is fair”

Dick JennensShop manager

He said: "The disappointing bit about it was that the full set was 13 volumes but we only have nine."

It is not known who donated the books.

The signed volume, which is numbered 95 of 1,000, has been put up for sale for £750, while the other eight books are being offered at £75 each.

"We may well auction it," said Mr Jennens. "We have put a price tag on it at the moment which we believe is fair. If it does not sell we will put it on an auction."

It is not the first time that an unusual or valuable book has been brought to the store.

'Full of gems'

Mr Jennens, said: "The most unusual was a book of autographs from the mid 19th century that had autographs from the president of the USA at the time as well as Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens.

"The person who donated it was going to throw it in the skip. That raised £11,000 and we came to an agreement with the donor about that one."

Other donations have included a first edition of George Orwell's Animal Farm and a Bible and prayer book from 1657 that were sold to Oxford's Bodleian Library.

The 500 sq ft charity shops stocks more than 9,000 titles and stores a further 2,000 which are for sale online.

Mr Jennens said: "It's fantastic - Thame is a small market town but we have got a wonderful little shop full of gems."

Postertext - A Full-Size Poster Created from the Text of Your Favorite Book

2012-01-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

This one's from Peter Pan. What an awesome idea.

"The great objection to new books is that they prevent our reading of the old ones". by Joseph Joubert

2012-01-12T22:17:00.001-08:00

Earthlight Books Needs More Google Reviews!

2012-01-12T16:34:00.001-08:00

Hey gang of followers, can you do us a big favor and leave Earthlight Books some positive reviews on Google?

To leave Google ratings & reviews, you just need to:

search for "bookstore walla walla" and locate the Earthlight Books location listing near the top
then, click where it says "3 (or however many) google reviews"
once you're at google's location page for ELB, you'll see "your rating: *****" (*=stars)
click the stars to leave a rating and review

i believe you need a google account, possibly a google+ account to do this. forward to your friends!

Thanks everybody!

RIP Ronald Searle

2012-01-08T12:17:00.000-08:00

UK: Ronald Searle
One of the UK's most iconic cartoonists, Ronald Searle, creator of the tear-away girls' school St Trinian's, has died aged 91. The artist died on 30 December in a hospital near his home in southern France. His spiky comic drawings depicting the outrageous antics of the St Trinian's girls, and for his illustrations of the Molesworth series are memorable. Read more

Cooperative Bookstores of the Future

2012-01-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

From Sheppard's Confidential

Good news to start the year! On 31 December, Clevedon Community Bookshop, a general second-hand bookshop, opened its doors. Located in Copse Road, Clevedon, in North Somerset, this new co-operative bookshop has taken over the premises from which Clevedon Books traded. The previous owners, Wendy and George Douthwaite, are continuing to trade on the Internet.
When, early in 2011, they indicated plans to close, a group of people through Clevedon Society of Friends (Quakers) and Transition Clevedon got together to consider ways in which the shop might be saved. Angela Everitt, formerly of ReadingLasses in Wigtown, who had recently moved to Clevedon, knew of the difficulties in developing a sustainable profit-making business and looked for ways to run the Bookshop as a 'not-for-profit' social enterprise.
Researches revealed that, in the UK, over 150 village shops are run as community co-operatives owned by the people of the village. Contact was made with The Plunkett Foundation which supports such shops, and through the Co-operative Business Hub, the Clevedon group was offered support from the Co-operative Development Agency in Bristol to establish the organisational structure, to register the Community Co-operative with the Financial Services Authority, to develop the business plan and to design the system for funding the start-up costs of the Bookshop.
In September last year a Public Meeting was held to launch a fund raising campaign. On the night 1650 shares were sold. After wide publicity in the Guardian, The Times, the Independent 'i', through most local papers through the Press Association, and even on the Saturday Radio 4 one o'clock news, the membership of the co-operative has soared to 600 from all over the UK and even as far away as Hong Kong and Japan. £13,000 has been received in share income to fund the setting-up costs; £8,500 has been contributed in interest-free loans; a grant of £1,500 was secured from Co-operatives UK. In addition, local businesses, solicitors, removal firms, the DIY shop, and Co-operative members gave a considerable amount of help to renovate and refurbish the premises. Read more

50% OFF - Huge Sale on Our Online Inventory!

2012-01-05T16:42:00.001-08:00

For a limited time only, ALL OF OUR BOOKS UNDER $50.00 that have been online for over a year ARE 50% OFF!!

Book-Hounds: Take advantage of it before we change our minds. If you've had your heart set on something for awhile, chances are it's half-off right now!

The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become. --Mark Twain

2012-01-05T08:10:00.003-08:00

"Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?" (T.S. Eliot)

2011-12-26T15:39:00.001-08:00

The Year in Book News, from Sheppard's Confidential

2011-12-26T15:15:00.000-08:00

Another year comes to an end. And what a year it has been! National and international events aside,
the book trade is itself changing and it seems timely to review some of the major events in 2011 as we
have reported in this newsletter. Here are some of the headlines:

January
Two companies received Royal Warrants: Blisset & Co., and Bibliophile Ltd. Twenty branches of
Waterstones to close… and UK Libraries came under more financial pressure – Devon Libraries started
to sell off valuable books. British Bookshops went into administration. Our business survey suggested
(from 400 who took part) that trade in 2011 would be much better about the same but 41 per cent
thought they would see an increase in their sales. World Book Market offered new Freeware. HD Fairs
went into liquidation. And major floods occurred in Brisbane (Australia).

February
WH Smith buys 22 bookshops. Canadian authors hire their own editors. Euro MP raises the Amazon
Price Parity issue; Delays in postage to USA. Borders book chain fails, and Australian book chain Angus & Robertson – and Whitcoulls went into voluntary administration. Books created from Wikipedia
entries by Alphascript and Betascript were exposed. Major earthquake hits Christchurch (New Zealand). Several dealers lost their businesses and were lucky to get out of their buildings.

March
Abebooks acquires ZVAB. The ‘Bookdealer’ will not reappear in print. Devastation in Christchurch clear for all to see – book dealers suffer. Another comic fetches high price: Archie Comics No 1 (1942) made $167,300. Publishers in Europe raided by EU inspectors – all about the agency model for e-books. Whitcoulls in New Zealand for sale. Sales of books about Hitler boom. Google loses battle to create world’s largest library – US judge rules. Michael Treloar launches ‘Books without Borders’ – to raise funds for dealers in Christchurch. Major earthquake and tsunami hits Japan.

Read more...

Judgemental Bookseller Ostrich

2011-12-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

There are a whole lot of these... and some of them are downright hilarious. Any bookseller or bookstore lover will appreciate the genius.

If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well viewed. -- Lily Tomlin

2011-12-21T13:08:00.001-08:00

Best Sustainable Christmas Tree Ever

2011-12-14T01:29:00.000-08:00

I liked this, simple, creative and aesthetically pleasing to my bookseller eyes.

"Book lovers can sidestep the eternal question of farmed versus PVC (they both suck) and opt for a holiday display that's a monument to reading ... or bibliophilia, anyway, since trying to actually read any of the books in this display would be a holiday Jenga nightmare.

You don't even have to celebrate Christmas to want one of these in your house. Heck, you can build one and still do your part for the illusory War on Christmas, provided you build it entirely out of copies of The God Delusion."

New Concerns About Northwest Nuclear Waste Plant

2011-12-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

11 Dec 2011 The federal government says a one-of-a-kind plant that will convert radioactive waste into a stable and storable substance that resembles glass will cost hundreds of millions of dollars more and may take longer to build, adding to a string of delays and skyrocketing price tag for the project. In addition, several workers at southeast Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation have raised concerns about the safety of the plant's design -- and complained they've been retaliated against for voicing their issues.

Earthlight Books Offers eBooks through Google's Affiliate Program

2011-12-12T13:44:00.000-08:00

Begrudgingly (actually, it's kind of fun, cutting-edge, and cool) Earthlight Books is entering the realm of the eBook. If you follow this link, or any link to eBooks from our website, you will be taken to the mystical land of Google eBooks and their 3,000,000 titles. If you were to purchase anything while there, Earthlight will get 6% of the sale. A pittance perhaps, but an interesting service for us to offer our customers, both local and abroad.

from Earthlight Books

Thanks for your loyalty over the years, we look forward to the continuing evolution of our wonderful world of books!

MISCREANT

2011-12-10T08:01:00.001-08:00

n. A person of the
                                 highest degree of
                               unworth. Etymologically,
                                   the word means
                                 unbeliever, & its
                                present signification
                                 may be regarded as
                                 theology's noblest
                                 contribution to the
                                 development of our
                                    language.

                      — Ambrose Bierce, Devil's Dictionary

Books are the compasses and telescopes and sextants and charts which other men have prepared to help us navigate the dangerous seas of human life. --Anonymous

2011-12-04T11:25:00.001-08:00

A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money. -- W. C. Fields

2011-12-02T18:05:00.001-08:00

Pray to God, but continue to row to the shore. --Russian Proverb

2011-12-02T12:50:00.001-08:00

Washington Rural Heritage

2011-11-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Washington Rural Heritage

www.washingtonruralheritage.org

Washington Rural Heritage is a collection of historic materials documenting the early culture, industry, and community life of Washington State. The collection is an ongoing project of small, rural libraries and partnering cultural institutions, guided by an initiative of the Washington State Library (WSL). The initiative provides the infrastructure and training to both digitize and serve unique collections to a widespread audience.

The mission of Washington Rural Heritage is to:

Enable small and rural libraries to create digital collections of unique items that highlight institutional holdings and tell the stories of their communities.
Make these items accessible online to a wide audience.
Provide long-term storage and preservation of digital masters created by WRH participants.

This mission is in line with the larger mission of the Washington State Library to "ensure that Washingtonians have access to the information they need today and the history of Washington tomorrow."

The Project

On-location large-format scanning. Whitman County Library, 2007.

A large number of small and rural public libraries (defined as serving a population of less than 25,000) and other heritage institutions in Washington are in possession of unique, irreplaceable material highlighting the history of their communities. In the majority of instances, these institutions lack staffing, expertise, and resources to make these treasures widely available to the public. The infrastructure to ensure long-term access to online collections is often a major stumbling block for small institutions.

The Washington Rural Heritage initiative shifts focus from funding repetitive projects at individual institutions, to a collaborative model which centralizes infrastructure and supports community projects at the local level. The initiative provides participating libraries and their partners with training in various aspects of digital project development and management including: selection, copyright research, digital imaging, metadata creation, use of digital asset management software, evaluation & assessment, etc. Initiative staff develop and maintain project standards, guidelines, and best practices.

Washington Rural Heritage also provides on-location services to participating institutions. Traveling staff assist participating institutions with everyday scanning issues, provide specialized scanning on-location (e.g., scanning of-large format items), and train participants in-person.

Collaboration is a critical aspect of the initiative. Identification, research, and cataloging of objects is achieved in a collaborative manner, taking place on-site, within each participating community. Collaboration is encouraged between public libraries and strategic partners such as historical societies, museums, tribes, government agencies, schools, and local subject experts.

Hudson Bay Company Blockhouse.Stevens County Heritage Collection

The Collections

Washington Rural Heritage collections are made up of items of historical and cultural significance. These include: old photographs, historical texts, memorabilia & ephemera, scrapbooks, maps, artwork, objects & artifacts, etc. Video and audio files (e.g., oral histories, lectures, interviews) are also part of the online collection. Many of these collections include unique historical resources not previously available in digital format.

The physical collections are housed locally by owning institutions around the state, while the digital collections are housed by the Washington State Library (WSL), a division of the Office of the Secretary of State (OSOS).

Participating institutions select, scan, and describe items which tell the stories of their communities.

Collections are aggregated into a statewide digital repository—improving access to items across the state, ensuring better consistency across the collections, and providing researchers with the choice to search across multiple collections or limit searches within one collection. WSL creates a customized landing page for participating institutions, allowing for better integration with their own web presence and online collections or catalogs.

Copyright Considerations

Washington Rural Heritage items that fall under copyright protection remain under copyright protection. The Washington State Library is not interested in gaining copyright ownership or selling copies of the images. All requests for use or reproduction of the images will be referred to the owning institutions.

In order to preserve digital surrogates and provide long-term access to the collection, the Washington State Library obtains a release from owning institutions to preserve high-resolution copies in long-term “dark” storage, and to provide access to low-resolution (i.e., publication and thumbnail copies) online.

Visit the Washington Rural Heritage legal page for a full copyright statement.

Advisory Committee

Advisory committee members are made up of volunteers from various institutions (museums, libraries, historical societies, tribes) with expertise in digital collections and repositories, as well as representatives from the established target audiences (historians/researchers, k-12 educators, genealogists, etc.) Committee members will advise on aspects of the project including establishing metadata guidelines, collection selection, insight on use, and discuss other aspects of the project.

Read more at http://www.sos.wa.gov/library/libraries/projects/rural.aspxwww.washingtonruralheritage.org

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. --Mark Twain

2011-11-29T16:13:00.001-08:00

Five Things You May Not Know About Mitt Romney

2011-11-29T08:42:00.000-08:00

by LINTON WEEKS

EnlargeSteve Pope/AP

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks to a group of workers at Nationwide Insurance Co., last week in Des Moines, Iowa.

November 28, 2011

Will the conventional take on Mitt Romney — that he aims to please everyone — take him to the convention in 2012 and on to the Republican presidential nomination?

Time will tell.

For now, the electorate is getting acquainted (and reacquainted) with the man who has seemingly been in the spotlight his whole life.

Born in 1947, Willard "Mitt" Romney is the youngest child of George Romney — an automobile executive, three-term governor of Michigan, himself a Republican presidential candidate, and secretary of Housing and Urban Development in President Richard Nixon's first term.
Mitt Romney is a Mormon. He holds a law degree and an MBA from Harvard University. For two decades he worked with Bain & Co., a consulting firm in Boston, where he rose to CEO. His first political foray was ambitious: an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Massachusetts Democratic icon Sen. Ted Kennedy in 1994. In 2002 he oversaw the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and then ran for governor of Massachusetts and won.

A button from George Romney's 1968 Republican campaign for president.
He sought the Republican nomination for president in 2008. He has been the subject of many books — some written by him, some by others. But here are five things you may not know about Romney:

1) He once spoke out against the Vietnam War. In 1970, a 23-year-old Mitt Romney was interviewed in The Boston Globe about the Vietnam War. "If it wasn't a political blunder to move into Vietnam," said Romney, whose father was then serving in Nixon's Cabinet, "I don't know what is."

2) He was once accused of "trying to bribe" a park ranger. In his new book, Mitt Romney: An Inside Look at the Man and His Politics, author Ronald B. Scott writes that when Romney was a young father, he led a family outing to a state park in Massachusetts. When Romney got ready to launch his unlicensed boat, a park ranger said it would cost him $50 if he did. Romney offered the ranger the money, was accused of trying to bribe the ranger, and was arrested for disorderly conduct. Charges were eventually dropped.
Curious About Other Candidates?

3) His wife's parents once opposed their marriage. Ann Davies' parents did not want their daughter marrying too young or converting to Mormonism, according to Ronald B. Scott. She converted at age 18, and married Romney just a month before turning 20. Ann's parents "were ardent advocates of zero population growth and wary of Mormonism, particularly the way it encourages large families," Scott writes. "Each time Ann gave birth to a new son [the Romneys had five], her parents grumbled openly that Ann and Mitt were overpopulating the earth ... Finally, in frustration, Ann delivered an ultimatum: Knock it off or you won't be seeing as much of your grandsons as you'd like."

4) He once spoke out in favor of big-box stores. When Romney was managing general partner of Bain Capital, his company invested in Staples office supply stores. Romney told The New York Times that he saw the deep-discount chain as "a classic 'category killer' like Toys 'R' Us."

5) He did not actively support California's Proposition 8 to eliminate the rights of same-sex couples to marry. "Although the Mormon Church actively supported Proposition 8 in California in 2008 and encouraged church members throughout the U.S. to contribute time and money to the cause, Mitt Romney did not get involved in the fundraising efforts, although some of his current staff members in California were key players in the [ultimately successful] Proposition 8 campaign," Ronald B. Scott says in an interview. Along similar lines, Scott adds: "After meeting with an apostle of the Mormon Church who was encouraging Mitt ... to get involved in getting Massachusetts to adopt a 'Definition of Marriage Amendment' to its constitution that would define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, Mitt emerged from the meeting and advised confidants: 'We're just not going to do that.' "

A stumble may prevent a fall. --Thomas Fuller

2011-11-27T20:47:00.003-08:00

Amazon Locks Out Certain Users From Their Kindle Libraries, Can't Answer As To Why

2011-11-25T13:12:00.001-08:00

Amazon Puts Your $1000 Kindle Library 'On Hold,' Apologizes, Shrugs

By Laura Northrup on November 23, 2011 9:00 AM

(poopoorama & mundane_joy)

One day in October, Kindle owner Ryan couldn't log in to his Amazon account. He reset his password: no luck. According to Amazon representatives, the account is now "on hold," but no one can tell him what that means. He was told that someone at Amazon would call him back within 24 hours. That was almost a month ago.

Amazon representatives claim that this case is unprecedented. Perhaps the particulars of his case are from Amazon's end, but this isn't the first time we've heard of Kindle owners being locked out of their virtual bookshelves.

“
I have been a Kindle owner for nearly a year now.
I was recently unable to login to my account with the message that the password was "denied". I reset my password and still received the same denied message even though I had an email confirming my reset.
I called Amazon and was told my account was put on hold, but they couldn't tell me why. I was then asked for some basic information and told that an Account Specialist would be contacting me within 24 hours. This was October 25th.
I no longer have access to the nearly $1000 in Kindle content I have purchased. I disputed all of the Amazon credit card charges that I could, however there is still about 10 months of purchases I have lost because of this.
I have filed a complaint with the BBB, emailed everyone I could at Amazon, called the Customer Service Line, the Kindle "Executive" support line, and Corporate. I have been apologized to by everyone I have spoken to and been told that they have never seen this situation before.
None of them can tell me if I will ever receive the content I have paid for.

If this is what the ebook revolution looks like, I'll buy the written history in paperback.]

Welcome to the Future of Automobiles

2011-11-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Wikipedia's Air Compressed Car Page

Tata Motors of India

What will the Oil Companies do to stop it?
It is an auto engine that runs on air. That's right; air not gas or diesel or electric but just the air around us. Take a look.

Tata Motors of India has scheduled the Air Car to hit Indian streets by August 2012

The Air Car, developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy N. For Luxembourg-based MDI, uses compressed air to push its engine's pistons and make the car go.

The Air Car, called the "Mini CAT" could cost around 365,757 rupees in India or $8,177 US.

The Mini CAT which is a simple, light urban car, with a tubular chassis, a body of fiberglass that is glued not welded and powered by compressed air. A Microprocessor is used to control all electrical functions of the car. One tiny radio transmitter sends instructions to the lights, turn signals and every other electrical device on the car. Which are not many.

The temperature of the clean air expelled by the exhaust pipe is between 0-15 degrees below zero, which makes it suitable for use by the internal air conditioning system with no need for gases or loss of power.

There are no keys, just an access card which can be read by the car from your pocket. According to the designers, it costs less than 50 rupees ($1) per 100 KM (62 miles), that's about a tenth the cost of a car running on gas. It's mileage is about double that of the most advanced electric car, a factor which makes it a perfect choice for city motorists. The car has a top speed of 105 KM per hour or 60 mph and would have a range of around 300 km or 185 miles between refuels. Refilling the car will take place at adapted gas stations with special air compressors. A fill up will only take two to three minutes and costs approximately 100 rupees (about $2) and the car will be ready to go another 300 kilometers.

This car can also be filled at home with it's on board compressor. It will take 3-4 hours to refill the tank, but it can be done while you sleep.

Because there is no combustion engine, changing the 1 liter of vegetable oil is only necessary every 50,000 KM or 30,000 miles. Due to its simplicity, there is very little maintenance to be done on this car.

This Air Car almost sounds too good to be true. We'll see in August. 2012

What 10 Classic Books Were Almost Called

2011-11-21T22:37:00.000-08:00

Remember when your high school summer reading list included Atticus, Fiesta, and The Last Man in Europe? You will once you see what these books were renamed before they hit bookshelves.

1. F. Scott Fitzgerald went through quite a few titles for his most well-known book before deciding on The Great Gatsby. If he hadn’t arrived at that title, high school kids would be pondering the themes of Trimalchio in West Egg; Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires; On the Road to West Egg; Under the Red, White, and Blue; Gold-Hatted Gatsby; and The High-Bouncing Lover.

2. George Orwell’s publisher didn’t feel the title to Orwell’s novel The Last Man in Europe was terribly commercial and recommended using the other title he had been kicking around—1984.

3. Before it was Atlas Shrugged, it was The Strike, which is how Ayn Rand referred to her magnum opus for quite some time. In 1956, a year before the book was released, she decided the title gave away too much plot detail. Her husband suggested Atlas Shrugged and it stuck.

4. The title of Bram Stoker’s famous Gothic novel sounded more like a spoof before he landed on Dracula—one of the names Stoker considered was The Dead Un-Dead.

5. Ernest Hemingway’s original title for The Sun Also Rises was used for foreign-language editions—Fiesta. He changed the American English version to The Sun Also Rises at the behest of his publisher.

6. It’s because of Frank Sinatra that we use the phrase “Catch-22” today. Well, sort of. Author Joseph Heller tried out Catch-11, but because the original Ocean’s Eleven movie was newly in theaters, it was scrapped to avoid confusion. He also wanted Catch-18, but, again, a recent publication made him switch titles to avoid confusion: Leon Uris’ Mila 18. The number 22 was finally chosen because it was 11 doubled.

7. To Kill a Mockingbird was simply Atticus before Harper Lee decided the title focused too narrowly on one character.

8. An apt precursor to the Pride and Prejudice title Jane Austen finally decided on: First Impressions.

9. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? Secretly, apparently. Mistress Mary, taken from the classic nursery rhyme, was the working title for Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden.

10. Originally called Ulysses in Dublin, James Joyce’s Dubliners featured characters that would later appear in his epic Ulysses a few years later.

Read the full text here: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/70037#ixzz1ePhbBdnm
--brought to you by mental_floss!

testing ELB's twitterfeed...

2011-11-21T11:30:00.001-08:00

testing ELB's twitterfeed...

2011-11-21T11:16:00.001-08:00

Snippets from Sheppard's Confidential: News & Events in Antiquarian & Second-Hand Books

2011-11-20T14:00:00.000-08:00

The news that the Booksellers Association is downsizing and moving to
smaller premises is not surprising. The numbers of booksellers in the new
book trade has fallen from 1,483 (in 2006) to 1,099. The BA is putting up a
good fight of course on behalf of their members. Obviously, the Internet and
supermarkets have had a huge and damaging effect but it is interesting that
the BA is now also blaming charity shops.

One quote by the Charity Retail Association is odd: 'We think that independent retailers could be supported in a variety of ways without penalizing charity shops . . . and we would support
greater help for independent booksellers in the current economic climate.

Really. Then why not government help for every shop that is struggling? And
from whose purse does this financial help come?

Reports that the UK MPs are pushing the Government to have the cheque
guarantee card restored is good news - anything that makes it easier for
collectors to pay by cheque will help our trade.
______________________________________________________

UK: Library closures declared unlawful!

Many councils in the UK have elected to reduce or close library services to contribute to the
necessary reductions in spending. But a decision which could see 21 libraries close in
Somerset and Gloucestershire has now been been ruled "unlawful". Somerset County
Council wanted to withdraw funding for 11 libraries and Gloucestershire County Council
wanted to stop funding 10 libraries. At the High Court, Judge Martin McKenna said the
closures did not comply with "public sector equality duties" owed to vulnerable social
groups.

Children's laureate Julia Donaldson welcomed yesterday's High Court as "the best news
I’ve had all year".

A bone to the dog is not charity. Charity is the bone shared with the dog, when you are just as hungry as the dog. Jack London

2011-11-14T21:49:00.001-08:00

A walla-walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the background -- when they say "walla-walla" it looks like they are actually talking

2011-11-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

On this day in history in 1851 -- Whale of a Tail!: Herman Melville's Moby-Dick — based on Mocha Dick's exploits

2011-11-14T09:17:00.001-08:00

(reportedly wrecked seven ships & 20 boats & killed 30 men) — published by Harper & Brothers, New York.

The Man Behind Dave Robicheaux James Lee Burke talks about violence, writing, littering, alcoholism, liberalism and bestsellers.

2011-11-04T23:27:00.000-07:00

An awesome article/interview from 2002 my mother dug up, thanks Ma!

___________________

June 5, 2002

James Lee Burke has seen and heard enough to fill a book. Actually, make that 22 books.

Burke is best known for his novels featuring Dave Robicheaux, an Iberia Parish detective who sees the world in black and white, a man who is haunted at times by his own alcoholism and his desire to do right in a world ruled by insanity.

At 65 years old, Burke is a demure man with small, penetrating eyes and a disarming smile. His laughter sounds as if it’s rattling itself free from his bones. There are times he laughs so hard it ends in a coughing fit.

He writes about man’s depravity and his grace, his beauty and his vulgarity. His novels have engaged millions of readers all over the world, propelling him to the top of The New York Times’ bestseller list. But for the man who lives in New Iberia, with a second home in Missoula, Mont., life hasn’t always been a gravy train. The ride to the top has been riddled with detours and unexpected delays.

The Times recently sat down with Burke at his home along the banks of Bayou Teche. He was preparing for a national book tour in support of his latest Robicheaux novel, Jolie Blon’s Bounce. In his office, bathed in sunlight filtered through an oak tree outside of his bay window, he gave some insight into the man behind Dave Robicheaux.

Before drawing any comparisons between Robicheaux and himself, Burke points out the differences between the two men. He says of Robicheaux, “The character defects are mine, none of the qualities.”

He laughs so hard he’s headed for a coughing fit.

Read More...

How to Create an Awesome Summer Reading List

2011-11-02T12:02:00.001-07:00

Or any seasonal reading list for that matter. Thanks Lifehacker!

"How to Create an Awesome Summer Reading List

The days grow longer and the weekends more leisurely as summer approaches, making it a terrific time to catch up on reading. Whether your reading goal is to stimulate your mind, get lost in an adventure or romance, or learn something new, here are a few helpful tips for curating your perfect reading list this summer.

Before you jump straight into building your list, a few quick tips and considerations." Read More...

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

2011-10-29T16:28:00.001-07:00

Come Visit Our Book Dome at the Okanogan/Tonasket Barter Faire

2011-10-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

We'll be on the North end of one of the aisles, as usual. Look for the Pirate Flag!

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED FOR 2011 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS

2011-10-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

Fiction

Andrew Krivak, The Sojourn
Bellevue Literary Press

Téa Obreht, The Tiger's Wife
(Random House)

Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic
(Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House)

Edith Pearlman, Binocular Vision
(Lookout Books, an imprint of the Department of Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington)

Jesmyn Ward, Salvage the Bones
(Bloomsbury USA)

Nonfiction

Deborah Baker, The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism
(Graywolf Press)

Mary Gabriel, Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution
(Little, Brown and Company)

Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve: How the World Became Modern
(W. W. Norton & Company)

Manning Marable, Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
(Viking Press, an imprint of Penguin Group USA)

Lauren Redniss, Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, A Tale of Love and Fallout
(It Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)

Poetry

Nikky Finney, Head Off & Split
(TriQuarterly, an imprint of Northwestern University Press)

Yusef Komunyakaa, The Chameleon Couch
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Carl Phillips, Double Shadow
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

Adrienne Rich, Tonight No Poetry Will Serve: Poems 2007-2010
(W.W. Norton & Company)

Bruce Smith, Devotions
(University of Chicago Press)

Young People's Literature

Franny Billingsley, Chime
(Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA, Inc.)

Debby Dahl Edwardson, My Name Is Not Easy
(Marshall Cavendish)

Thanhha Lai, Inside Out and Back Again
(Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)

Albert Marrin, Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy
(Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children's Books)

Lauren Myracle, Shine
(Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS)

Gary D. Schmidt, Okay for Now
(Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

The Judges for the 2011 National Book Awards (bios available here):

Fiction

Deirdre McNamer (Panel Chair), Jerome Charyn, John Crowley, Victor LaValle, Yiyun Li

Nonfiction

Alice Kaplan (Panel Chair), Yunte Huang, Jill Lepore, Barbara Savage

Poetry

Elizabeth Alexander (Panel Chair), Thomas Sayers Ellis, Amy Gerstler, Kathleen Graber, Roberto Tejada

Young People's Literature

Marc Aronson (Panel Chair), Ann Brashares, Matt de la Peña, Nikki Grimes, Will Weaver
_______________________

New York, NY (October 12, 2011) -The twenty Finalists for the 2011 National Book Awards were announced by past National Book Award Winners, Finalists, and Judges in front of a live audience at the new Literary Arts Center in Portland, Oregon as part of Oregon Public Broadcasting's morning radio program, Think Out Loud, and streamed live at www.opb.org/nationalbookawards

The Winners in Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People's Literature will be announced at the 62nd National Book Awards Benefit Dinner and Ceremony at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City on Wednesday, November 16. Actor, writer, and musician John Lithgow will host the event. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze statue; Finalists receive a bronze medal and $1,000. Poet John Ashbery will receive the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, to be presented by poet Ann Lauterbach. Mitchell Kaplan, co-founder of the Miami Book Fair International, will receive the Foundation's Literarian Award for Outstanding Contribution to the American Literary Community, to be presented by writer Walter Mosley.

The invitation-only Awards Ceremony is the culminating event of National Book Awards Week. The celebration begins on November 14 with 5 Under 35, the Foundation's sixth annual invitation-only celebration of emerging fiction writers selected by National Book Award Winners and Finalists. On November 15, for the first time, the National Book Awards Teen Press Conference will be streamed live online, from Scholastic in Soho, hosted by acclaimed young adult author and Scholastic editor David Levithan. Streaming will allow students from across the country to play the role of reporters as they direct questions to the five Finalists for the National Book Award in Young People's Literature. That evening, all twenty Finalists will read from their nominated works at the National Book Award Finalists Reading at The New School. The Finalists Reading is open to the public; tickets are $10 and are available through The New School box office by calling 212-229-5488 or by emailing boxoffice@newschool.edu.

For more information about the 2011 Finalists and upcoming National Book Awards Week events, visit www.nationalbook.org

Possessions are generally diminished by possession. --Nietzsche

2011-10-09T20:53:00.001-07:00

How to Run a Bookstore: Neatness doesn’t count, customers prefer stacks on the floor to books on the shelf - by Larry McMurtry

2011-10-02T09:31:00.000-07:00

The first essential is to have good stock. The better the books, the more people will come. We were fortunate that when we started this business in 1971, we came into the secondhand book trade just as a lot of ancient families were dying out and selling grandpa’s books, so we were able to get a respectable stock very cheaply.
For a large bookshop to survive today, you need cheap real estate, or you have to be an institution like Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., or the Tattered Cover in Denver. They have everything from lunch counters to day care to get families to spend the day at the store. We are here in Archer City, Tex., where we can get buildings for $30,000 to $50,000. If we have two customers a day, it’s like a riot. We’ve had our first significant Chinese customer, and if we stay open another 10 or 15 years, a large part of our clientele will be from overseas.
There are different kinds of bookstores. For example, there’s the high-end store, like the Heritage in Los Angeles used to be. They had one whole room in which no books were admitted unless they were over $5,000. It was a jungle, but it was an expensive jungle. When Brad Pitt finishes a movie and wants to give a director a present, it has to cost $30,000 or $40,000. They’d go to the Heritage. But there are very few places where there’s that surface money, quick money, excess money.
Now, suppose you’re in Berkeley, down the street from one of the country’s great universities. You’re not going to sell the $40,000 Huck Finn. You’re going to provide a high level of general literature and scholarly books in many fields. You are selling $25 books instead of $5,000 books, and you have to sell a lot of them.
Some people don’t like too much order in bookshops and want to feel like they’re finding something. You can have 300,000 books perfectly arranged on the shelf, and every time, people will walk in and want to look at the books stacked up on the floor. So if you really want to sell something, jumble it up and pitch it on the floor.
McMurtry is the author of Lonesome Dove and owns the bookstore Booked Up.

Nature has made us frivolous to console us for our miseries. --Voltaire

2011-10-01T23:45:00.001-07:00

A Guide to Navigating NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books

2011-10-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

www.earthlightbooks.com - 23,094 Hits and Counting! Thanks Everybody!

2011-09-27T13:54:00.001-07:00

Monsanto Will Soon Be Allowed To Police Itself

2011-09-27T01:28:00.000-07:00

Monsanto, enemy of organic farmers and anti-GMO advocates alike, will likely be allowed to conduct its own environmental studies as part of a two-year USDA experiment. But there is no good that can possibly come of an experiment where the company behind nearly every genetically modified crop in our daily diets is allowed to decide whether its products are causing any environmental harm. And Monsanto isn't the only biotech company that will be permitted to police itself.

As it stands, the USDA is responsible for assessing environmental impacts of new GMO crops. The agency has been lax about this, to say the least. In 2005, the USDA gave Monsanto the go-ahead to unleash its sugar beets before preparing an Environmental Impact Statement. This decision eventually triggered a judge to rule that Monsanto sugar beet seedlings should be ripped from the ground.

Because the USDA is so bad at doing its job on time, the agency decided to see if anyone else was prepared to do its safety testing work instead. And so it looks like the USDA will at least temporarily hand over environmental impact reporting responsibilities to the biotech companies behind GMO crops. The pilot program will allow these companies to conduct their own environmental assessments of crops or outsource the work to contractors. The USDA will still get the final say in determining the safety of crops.

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You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose. - Dr. Seuss

2011-09-26T08:42:00.001-07:00

To die for a religion is easier than to live it absolutely. --Jorge Luis Borges

2011-09-22T13:41:00.000-07:00

"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is." - Yogi Berra

2011-09-19T06:44:00.001-07:00

"The fundamental cause of trouble in the world is that the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

2011-09-19T06:42:00.001-07:00

THIS life is the crossing of a sea, where we meet in the same narrow ship. In death we reach the shore and go to our different worlds.

2011-09-16T12:14:00.001-07:00

Rabindranath Tagore, "Stray Birds"

Let's Remember ALL Victims of September 11th

2011-09-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mom, for forwarding John Desmond's letter to the editor, from the Walla Walla Union Bulletin.

On Sept. 11 the nation will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States.
We will remember and honor the victims of those attacks on New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania,
and we will rightly honor all the heroes of that day, living and dead, and their surviving families and loved ones.

At the same time, we do well also to remember the other victims who have suffered, and continue to suffer, as a consequence of our response to the 9/11 attack. I refer specifically to the thousands of non-combatant Iraqi and Afghan citizens who have been killed or maimed as a result of our pre-emptive, illegal war and the thousands of Iraqi Christians who have been killed or driven from their homeland by our fundamentalist Sunni and Shiite "partners in democracy".

We do well also to remember the countless number of American and allied families whose lives have been forever shattered by the death or injury of our servicemen and women, and the alarming increase in suicides by our military personnel forced into repeated tours of duty in these wars.

All of these broader consequences are a result of actions done in our name, and for which we share responsibility.

The retaliatory actions were started and have been continued by two presidents (and Congress)--the current president who inherited the wars and seems unable to extricate us from them, and the former president, George W. Bush, who now enjoys a leisurely retirement and seems to sleep just as peacefully as he did when he was in the White House, starting wars.

John F. Desmond, Walla Walla, WA

Earthlight Books September 2011 Newsletter, Coupons & Recent Acquisitions http://conta.cc/r5NJ5m

2011-09-05T00:06:00.001-07:00

Shelf Help: The Best Guides to Book Collecting

2011-09-03T17:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks ABE - As usual, we here at Earthlight Books would be more than happy to track down the most affordable, or the most pristine copy of any of these titles. Thanks for your continued readership and support!

by Scott Laming

ABC for Book Collectors
John Carter

At times, even the most knowledgeable collector must seek help in identifying a specific edition or completing their collection. And then there is the legion of people who love books but are baffled by the jargon of the rare book industry.

This selection of key reference books is designed to help beginners and perhaps some advanced collectors too. When it comes to learning about rare books, it is necessary to read more books. We have also included a couple of books that shed a little light on the rare book world itself and give some context to all the terminology.

The single indispensible book for the beginner collector would have to be ABC for Book Collectors by John Carter which contains over 450 terms listed alphabetically. Although ABC for Book Collectors is a reference book, Carter's personality comes through as he explains the terms and often their origins too. An old Etonian, Carter was a former managing director of Scribner's and also worked for Sotheby's. There is a well-thumbed copy of ABC in the AbeBooks' marketing department and it is our main reference tool, but we have heard of veteran booksellers who still refer to this timeless book.

The list includes contributions from rare booksellers David and Natalie Bauman and the late Matthew Bruccoli, a professor of English at the University of South Carolina and renowned F. Scott Fitzgerald expert. Although it is not a reference book, we urge everyone to read A Gentle Madness by Nicholas Basbanes – rarely has anyone described the passion for books in a more perceptive fashion.

Books About Book Collecting:

Collected Books: The Guide to Values 2011 edition

Explains how to identify first editions and also covers Americana, early printed books, literature, mysteries, sci-fi, children's books, natural history, photography, and travel.

Rare Finds: A Guide to Book Collecting
David and Natalie Bauman

A beginner's introduction to book collecting that includes numerous beautiful full color photos from the inventory found in the Baumans' rare bookshops.

Modern Book Collecting
Robert A. Wilson

A serviceable introduction to collecting modern editions – the focus is on 20th century authors.

At Home with Books: How Booklovers Live with and Care for Their Libraries
Estelle Ellis

Includes chapters on starting a collection, organizing the library, book care and other useful information on categorizing, editing, storage and space saving.

Living with Books
Alan Powers

This book offers basic do-it-yourself designs for building your own shelves, and some book care tips. It could also be a beautiful coffee table book.

Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives for the Book-Hunter in the 21st Century
Nicholas Basbanes

Renowned book collector and author Basbanes provides a compendium of information on collecting books in the Internet age. Lots of anecdotes too.

Book Finds
Ian C. Ellis

This book reveals the secrets of locating rare and valuable books including information on first editions, reading copies, auctions, catalogs, and the strategies of book scouts.

First Editions: A Guide to Identification
Edward N. Zempel

Many publishers do not readily display the edition and there are many different systems in use. This book explains the intricacies of spotting firsts from as far back as 1928.

Instant Expert: Collecting Books
Matthew Budman

A solid beginner's guide to buying and selling books, perhaps a bit general but a good place to start.

A Primer of Book-collecting
John Tracy Winterich

Winterich covers books as an investment, the mechanics of collecting, and answers the age old question: what makes a book rare?

Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions
Bill McBride

A quality guide with the added bonus of being highly portable, great for taking to book sales and book fairs.

The Care and Feeding of Books Old and New: A Simple Repair Manual for Book Lovers
Margot Rosenberg

Simple tips and tricks for caring for your books and basic repair techniques.

Miller's Collecting Modern Books
Catherine Porter

This guide to prices and quality focuses on basic categories such as English and American literature, children's books, illustrated books and more.

Out of Print & Into Profit
Giles Mandelbrote

A history of the rare and secondhand book trade in Britain in the 20th century – offers much context on the industry itself.

The Care of Fine Books
Jane Greenfield

Greenfield offers advice on storage, handling, cleaning, and repair, as well as how to handle books of value.

First Printings of American Authors: Contributions Towards Descriptive Checklists
Matthew J. Bruccoli

A five-volume set includes a compiled list of initial appearances of works by American authors in American and English editions.

How to Identify Prints: A Complete Guide to Manual and Mechanical Process from Woodcut to Ink-Jet
Bamber Gascoigne

This comprehensive reference work provides all the answers to the questions that constantly arise when trying to identify accurately any kind of print.

The Book Collector's Fact Book
Margaret Haller

A practical introduction to rare and valuable books, including the 'new antiques' - books on photography, the movies, comics - as well as modern first editions.

Bookmen's Bedlam: An Olio of Literary Oddities
Walter Hart Blumenthal

Just as the subtitle proclaims, a book about books full of weird and wonderful bindings, strange tales, and books from miniature to elephant folios.

Fifty Years of Collecting Americana for the Library of the American Antiquarian Society (1908-1958)
Clarence S. Brigham

A memoir from this famous bookman – worth reading to gain a perspective on the rare book world during the wars.

You live and learn, or you don't live long. -- Robert Heinlein

2011-09-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

Last Earth Distro August 2011 News, Deals & Titles! http://conta.cc/rhy16M

2011-08-27T17:22:00.001-07:00

"Camerado, this is no book, Who touches this, touches a man..." Walt Whitman, So Long

2011-08-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

"Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been." Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar

2011-08-20T12:25:00.000-07:00

We finally got the shipping prices fixed on Ebay for our lighter weight items, including 'zines, patches, stickers and buttons. Sorry for the delay!

2011-08-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

Of course, we'd still prefer it if y'all shopped off our website: www.earthlightbooks.com

Where, unfortunately, we have no easy way of adjusting the shipping prices for those items! Ha. Love technology. So glad it's saving us.

The Earthlight Books Website Hit Counter Just Rolled Over to 22,222!!

2011-08-06T01:13:00.000-07:00

$30M expansion for Walla Walla prison

2011-08-05T22:41:00.001-07:00

Wish I had more for ya... but this is it so far... except for a few old plans from 2008...

By JOURNAL STAFF

August 2, 2011

TUMWATER — The state Department of Corrections later this month will open bids for a $28 million to $30 million expansion at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.

Work will involve construction of two nearly identical housing units, each about 45,000 square feet with 256 beds. They will house medium-security inmates.

Top Ten Songs About Nuclear War

2011-08-05T18:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the link, Ma! It's alright, I'm only bleeding.

Dutchsinse, and other useful weather and earthquake links

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

From our guest contributor, Judith Cosby, also known as "Mom"... Thanks Mom!

I've been a dutchsinse fan since early April. I check his site at least two times every day. Also, of course, USGS (united states geologic survey) and PNSN (pacific northwest seismic network), NOAA, intellicast, wunderground & wondermap, and accuweather, along with Reality Check: Nuclear News Now (for Fukushima and Fort Calhoun and Los Alamos) --and Omaha.com/flood and also the Corps of Engineers site at www.nwo.usace.army.mil for water levels at the dams on the Missouri River. Also Arnie Gunderson's videos at fairewinds.com (the "e" is important), and of course, Democracy Now, Russia Today (RT news), Spiegel Online (Germany), NHK (Japan), BBC, Al Jazeera (AJ is strangely totally silent on Nebraska and Arizona--news blackout with them just like with MSM USA-- hmmm), Christian Science Monitor is excellent, thoughtful, and articulate, Democratic Underground, enenews, legitgov, Daily Kos, altnewsreport.wordpress.com, corbettreport.com (two Ts) . . I think that's most of the best ones. . . Japan Quake Map of course, oh, and if you don't know about it yet, check out IRIS--global earthquake graphics! And just for fun, as a break from earthquakes, rampant fires, rising rivers and disaster news, I periodically go to Cloud Appreciation Society.com--especially check out "undulous asperatus"-- the "new" clouds (actually have been around for at least the last two years) but they're also a significant "uptick" recently-- they are spectacular! Eerie, unreal, sometimes scary, but also awesome and beautiful.

Weather Channel sucks. Fox News is an absolute outrage of pablum and propaganda, misdirection & disinformation. msnbc, etc., is mostly crap and distraction and silly celebrity news. General Electric owns 49% of NBC (and thus msnbc), and Westinghouse is a major corporate presence at CBS, I believe, and guess who manufactured all these nuclear reactors???
So I guess it should be no surprise that MOST of what is going on is NOT reported anywhere on American MSM. -- It's quite the little research project I've been involved in, now for four months. I have massive notes. You'd be really proud.

Dutchsinse is right about the "uptick" -- Did you know that Thursday, July 14th, there were

39 74 earthquakes just in the Virgin Islands alone? (M 2.5 - 4.0) --And yesterday (July 15th) there were 22 significant quakes along the entire west coast of South and North America ! !

From Chile's M 6.0; to Argentina 4.3, border of Chile and Bolivia 5.3; Baja 4.1 and 3.5; Southern California M3, 2.8, 3.1, and 3.0; Los Angeles 2.5; San Francisco 3.3; Northern California 2.6 and 2.5; Oregon 2.2; Washington 3.2 & 2.2, one on top of the other about 30 miles N.E. of Everett; and then southern Alaska, central Alaska, (was northern Alaska in there? Can't remember, and I still don't know how to pull up two pages side-by-side or flip back and forth between selected pages) anyway,
Alaska & the Aleutian Islands: 3.8, 2.9, 3.1, 4.0, 2.7, 2.8, and a 3.5 ***.(That's 23, so I guess one of those Alaskan ones was after midnight--24:00 Co-ordinated Universal Time and thus the 16th) But anyway, WOW. -- Not to mention the entire other half of the Ring of Fire, which is lit up like Las Vegas on acid with even more and even bigger EQs.

About the time you get here Monday night, or maybe the next day or two (July 19/20) Typhoon Ma-On (winds 132 mph with gusts to 161 mph, and with snow in the center (in July!) may be hitting southern Japan. Poor Japan.

"May you live in interesting times" is beginning to look like the understatement of the century.

Meanwhile, in Walla Wonderland, the earth doesn't move under our feet, and we have had a beautiful (albeit late) spring, and by and large wonderful weather. Looks pretty calm and safe to me, especially compared with most everywhere else. Roses are in bloom.

Georgette Who? Meet the Author Who Outsells Rowling, Dickens & Patterson

2011-07-14T09:17:00.000-07:00

From ABE Books:

The Unknown Ajax
Georgette Heyer

Unless you are a reader of historical romance, then there is a good chance that you will be unfamiliar with Georgette Heyer. Who is she? For a start, she’s one of AbeBooks’ top 10 bestselling authors during the 15-history of this company.

Last time we looked she was behind Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, Agatha Christie and Stephen Kingbut ahead of J.K. Rowling, Charles Dickens and James Patterson.

We have sold a huge number of this English novelist’s books because 1) she is loved by people who love love stories, and 2) many of her books are out-of-print so used bookshops fulfill the demand from her legion of fans.

Heyer (1902-1974) also wrote detective fiction but her real legacy is historical romance and especially regency romance. The author conducted meticulous research to ensure accuracy of whatever period she was tackling. She had a substantial library of reference books to ensure her descriptions of clothing, customs and real-life events were correct. Even if do not know Heyer, you will have seen her covers – the handsome hero and beautiful heroine posed to embrace.

Heyer’s debut novel The Black Moth was published in 1921 when she was still a teenager. Her first commercial success was These Old Shades - released during Britain’s General Strike of 1926 - which received no adverts or promotion of any sort and yet still sold like hot cakes. The success of These Old Shades without any publicity convinced Heyer that she did not need to court reviewers or journalists in any way and she never did. Heyer’s first trip into the Regency period was Regency Buck in 1935. It’s easy to compare these novels, usually featuring wealthy upper class characters, to Jane Austen’s work.

The Conqueror, as in William, is one her best known pieces of historical fiction, which she published in 1931. A year later her first thriller, Footsteps in the Dark, was published. During the 1930s, she produced a thriller and a romance each year with the love stories paying her bills. Bear in mind, her mysteries were competing against the works of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Her romance sold well during the Great Depression and World War II when she offered escapism – dashing highwaymen, handsome dukes, beautiful maids etc - to millions of readers. Her later years were dominated by money and tax troubles. She switched publishers, sold the rights to some of her best books for a pittance, had to review books and sold her stories to magazines.

Perhaps her many imitators were the biggest indicator of her influence. These copycat writers were almost to be expected as Heyer launched the regency romance genre.

Asking prices for first editions of Heyer’s thrillers, which always had smaller print runs, can reach four figures. The most expensive Heyer book ever sold by AbeBooks was a first edition of Death in the Stocks for $2,400.

There are a several biographies about Heyer, including Georgette Heyer’s Regency England by Chris Teresa and The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge.

Here are the two Heyer novels we have listed online currently, and I am quite sure we could easily acquire others for any interested parties:

Add to Shopping Cart

1 .

Faro's Daughter; Georgette Heyer ARROW (RAND) 2004 0099465590 / 9780099465591 PAPERBACK

Very Good

0099465590 Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Clean text, tight binding, light wear to exterior. Support Pacific Northwest Independent Booksellers! 288 p.
Price: 11.35 USD

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2 .

The Foundling by Georgette Heyer; Georgette Heyer G.P. Putnam's Sons 1948 Hardcover

Good

Good. No dust jacket. ~clean text, tight binding, light wear to exterior 380 p.
Price: 13.25 USD

Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity. --G. K. Chesterton

2011-07-13T23:43:00.001-07:00

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.” -Albert Einstein

2011-07-13T20:09:00.001-07:00

Graceful 3D Trees Cut into Discarded Books

2011-07-11T21:36:00.000-07:00

Cleverly returning a hint of their paper based origins, artist Kylie Stillman takes old discarded books and carefully carves inverted bonzai tree reliefs in their pages. Her works come at a time when book art and carving are gaining in popularity, yet her works stand out as unique examples in the young trend. The Australian artist got her start at carving books in 2006 when she trimmed a bird into a discarded tome; she later gave her birds a place to sit, progressing to potted plants and now her current tree carvings. For her latest work featuring trees carved in stacks of boldly colored paper, see her website kyliestillman.com.

A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it. --Bob Hope

2011-07-01T09:46:00.001-07:00

4th of July 2011 Newsletter: Fireworks, Survival & Self-Reliance...

2011-06-30T13:15:00.000-07:00

It takes a village to raise the dead. -Firesign Theatre

2011-06-30T06:12:00.001-07:00

A man's worst difficulties begin when he is able to do as he likes. -- T. H. Huxley

2011-06-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

We make out of the quarrel with others, rhetoric, but of the quarrel with ourselves, poetry. --W. B. Yeats

2011-06-23T22:06:00.001-07:00

Unusual Bindings from ABE Books

2011-06-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Animais Peconhentos
Flavio Da Fonseca
Snakeskin & Velvet

We all know the old adage, but never mind what they say. Sometimes it's okay to judge a book by its cover.

We love to read, but it's an extra pleasure when the book is an object of beauty, craft or art, as well. These editions have all been thoughtfully bound in atypical materials, some in direct correlation to the subject matter, some for the sake of beauty or functionality. They have become not only literature, but art.

Bookbinding has been a skilled and lovingly practiced craft for centuries. It's an astonishing treat to see the range of materials and methods that go into bookbinding. Ranging from absolutely affordable to extravagantly expensive, here are some of the most unusual bindings found on AbeBooks, from eelskin and ivory to copper and gold, to rubber and fur, and much more.

Go on. Judge.

30 Unusual Bookbindings

Pony Hide

Arizona Highways Magazine 1965
Gerald A. Bergin
$125

Ivory

The Book of Common Prayer

$255

Papier Mache

Sentiments and Similes of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare & Noel Humphreys
US$ 1800

Embroidered Silk

Etrennes Mignonnes
W.H. Hudson
$3825

Different inlaid woods

Odilon Redon
Andre Mellerio
$2750

Mother of Pearl

Key of Heaven: A Collection of Approved Prayers for Catholics

$100

Cloisonné

La Guirlande D'Aphrodite
Ferdinand Herold
US$ 2750

Ivory

Personal History of David CopperfieldCharles Dickens
US$ 7651

Snakeskin

Heads and Tales
Malvina Hoffman

US$ 1400

Mother of Pearl

The Sweet O' The Year
Emily Ridgway
US$ 2125

Latex

Enzo Cucchi Scultura 1982-1988
Martin Schwander & Enzo Cucchi
$750

Celluloid

Our Prayer Book. Joy in Innocence
$88

Semi-Precious Gems

Blood Brother
Elliott Arnold

US$ 1800

Glass beads

Gesangbuch fur die Evangelische Kirche in Wurttemberg

$1250

Handmade paper

Paa Langfart Med Snarken
Jack London
$75

Silver Filigree

La Route D'Emeraude
Demolder, Eugene.
US$ 1800

Copper

1611 King James Bible

US$ 119000

Bark

Batak Bark Book

$2400

Silk Brocade

The Sermon on the Mount
Owen Jones

$1542

Perforated Rubber

Subversive Crafts
Katy Kline

$11

Plastic

De Engel Geleider in het Gebed

$145

Eelskin

The Flounder
Günter Grass

US$ 600

Varnished Wood

The Lay of the Last Minstrel

Walter Scott

$400

Velvet with Metal Crucifix

La Voie du Salut ou Prieres Journalieres
Baron de Zaiguelius
$150

Burlap

The American Coast Pilot
Edmund M. Blunt

US$ 450

Real Fur

Little Fur Family
Brown, Margaret Wise; Williams, Garth
$45 - $2200

Ivory

Petit Paroissien de la Jeunesse
$275

Olive Wood

The Holy Bible
King James Version
$88

Plastic

Andy Warhol's Index
Andy Warhol
US$ 1500

Inlaid Jewels

The Song of Hiawatha
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
$28,500

Libraries, the #1 Place Where Shhh Happens

2011-06-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

Old Baker Boyer Bank Counter Check I Found In An Old Book Today

2011-05-26T18:00:00.000-07:00

Night's darkness is a bag that bursts with the gold of the dawn. -- Rabindranath Tagore, "Stray Birds"

2011-05-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Dripread - A Drop of Knowledge Each day

2011-05-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

An interesting take on reading in an increasingly mechanized, digitized, scheduled age.

dripread (v) To break up the reading of information into bitesize installments.
Love reading but don't seem to get time to finish a book?. Dripread converts your book into a daily digest that you can read by email.

Dripread is free and simple to use:

Choose a book or upload your own.
Subscribe for free with just your email address.
Enjoy five minutes a day of reading pleasure.
Bask in the warm fuzzy feeling of completing your book.

190 Show Up @ Hanford Hearing, Including Mayor Sam Adams

2011-05-21T16:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the over 190 people who came to the hearing in Portland Thursday night to oppose the federal Energy Depatment's latest scheme to use Hanford as a national radioactive waste dump to import and bury 12,600 truckloads of extremely radioactive wastes, mostly from nuclear reactors that will be dismantled in coming decades.

Mayor Sam Adams came in person, joining represenatives from Senator Wyden and Merkley, to give a statement on behalf of all the City Commissioners opposing use of Hanford as a national radioactive waste dump, saying that trucking "nuclear waste through Oregon on its way to Hanford poses an unacceptable risk to the health of Portland citizens."

The Oregonian joined in with a very strong editorial that summarized the views of many of the people who stayed until nearly 10PM to testify:

"This is a bad idea. It runs counter to everything that Oregon and Washington, Northwest tribes and health advocates have sought to achieve in taming a Hanford nuclear beast that menaces underground water, the Columbia River, and human and wildlife populations nearby. ...
"Putting Hanford to dual, opposing purposes -- cleaning up while burying more than 12,000 truckloads of hot junk over 60 years -- is a perfect Catch-22. We'll never be done."

Our testimony included both the fact that trucking the waste will cause cancer in people along the truck route and how USDOE's own projection - buried in the EIS - is that putting this waste in landfill trenches will lead to radiation doses high enough to cause fatal cancers in 2 to 4% of the children who will use the groundwater between the dump and Columbia River.

We can stop this insanity, including the drive to make more nuclear waste from reactors which the industry wants the taxpayers to pick up the tab to dispose of - as cheaply as possible in landfill trenches or boreholes that will leak, that will contaminate water, and will cause significant numbers of cancers in the people using the water for thousands of years.

More than twice as many people came to the Portland hearing as went to any other hearing across the US on this impact statement - thanks to the organizing efforts of our wonderful volunteers and staff.

Please - use the link below to send in your own comments if you couldn't make the hearings. Our Citizens' Guide and the presentation we gave to an overflow crowd of over 80 people at our pre-hearing workshop are both available atwww.hoanw.org (just a short way down the home page in portion about the GTCC waste EIS). Please send a copy of your comments to your Senators, Congresspeople and local newspaper editors. Let us know what you send in by cc'ing office@hoanw.org. As always, we're here to help you with your comments - just email us atoffice@hoanw.org or call (206)382-1014.

Thank you for your caring support,

Gerry Pollet, JD

Executive Director,

Heart of America Northwest

"The Public's Voice for Hanford Clean-Up"

Be Heard - How to Send In Your Comments

Click here for our Citizens' Guide - Page four has suggested comments

How to send in your comments by June 27, 2011:

US Mail:

Greater-Than-Class C Low-Level Radioactive Waste EIS
Office of Technical and Regulatory Support (EM-43)
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue,SW.
Washington, DC 20585-0119

By electronic comment form:

http://www.gtcceis.anl.gov./involve/comments/index.cfm

Please send a copy to your US Senators and Representatives and a copy to us at office@hoanw.org

When Books Could Change Your Life: Why What We Pore Over At 12 May Be The Most Important Reading We Ever Do

2011-05-19T17:37:00.000-07:00

By Tim Kreider | Posted 9/24/2008

A GIRL I ONCE CAUGHT READING Fahrenheit 451 over my shoulder on the subway confessed: "You know, I'm an English lit major, but I've never loved any books like the ones I loved when I was 12 years old." I fell slightly in love with her when she said that. It was so frank and uncool, and undeniably true.

Let's all admit it: We never got over those first loves. Listen to the difference in the voices of any groups of well-read, overeducated people discussing contemporary fiction, or the greatest books they've ever read, and the voices of those same people, only two drinks later, talking about the books they loved as kids. The Betsy Tacy Books! I loved those books! The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet! I can't believe you know that! The Little House on the Prairie books! Oh, my God--did you read The Long Winter? So good. Hey--does anyone else remember The Spaceship Under the Apple Tree?

It's not just that these books, unlike adult literature, have been left unsullied by professors turning them into objects of tedious study. We love these books, dearly and uncritically, the way we love the smell of our first girlfriend's perfume, no matter how cheap or tacky it might have been. Let's be honest: We all know that Ulysses and A la recherché du temps perdu are "better" books than The Velveteen Rabbit or The Little Prince, but come on--which would you take with you on a spaceship to salvage from the dying Earth?

Let me put it another way: When was the last time a book changed your life? I don't mean offered you new insights or ideas or moved you--I mean profoundly changed the way you see the world or shaped the kind of person you are? If you're like me, it's been longer than you'd like to admit. I recently read Eli Sagan's Cannibalism: Human Aggression Cultural Form, which enabled me to see capitalism as a highly sublimated form of aggression, on the same continuum as headhunting, warfare, and slavery, and Marcus Aurelius' Meditations, which gave me a greater equanimity about the esteem of others and assuaged my fear of death. But if I ever end up holed up in my parents' farmhouse holding off the bulldozers with a machine gun while listening to Beethoven's late quartets, it'll be because of the story "And the Moon Be Still as Bright" from Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles...More...

Our Next-Door Neighbors Are Meth-Lords!

2011-05-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

DRUGS: Large meth lab found in Walla Walla motel
By Herald staff

One of the largest active methamphetamine labs in Walla Walla County history was discovered Wednesday evening when the Walla Walla SWAT team searched the Walla Walla Vineyard Inn.

Officers raided the motel 325 E. Main St. at 6 p.m. after the city drug unit developed information that a meth lab was inside one of the rooms, said a news release.

As the officers forced their way in through the front door, Clifford E. Chew, 56, allegedly tried to escape out the back door. He was caught a short distance from his room.

Lab certified officers took apart the equipment without incident and took it to a secure location.

Meth and many other items used to make and distribute the drug were seized from the room.

The SWAT Team was helped by sheriff’s deputies, city patrol officers and the city’s Special Teams Unit.

The number of meth labs in Washington state has dropped dramatically in recent years, with much of the drug coming into the country through Mexico.

Chew is a career criminal with more than 35 felony arrests and convictions for attempted murder, first-degree assault, burglary and numerous drug violations.

He is being held in the Walla Walla County Jail on investigation of manufacturing methamphetamine and several other felony drug-related charges.

Chew also has an absconding warrant out of Umatilla County, Ore., and is currently on Umatilla County’s Most Wanted list.

The motel manager, Dena R. Turner, 37, was also arrested Wednesday night after a large amount of ammonia was found in her freezer.

This is a common ingredient in making of meth. She was jailed on suspicion of complicity to manufacture methamphetamine, a class B felony.

Contamination levels at the motel are unknown at this time, said the release. It is also unknown how long Chew had been cooking meth at the motel.

One SWAT Team member suffered an injured knee during the raid.

Read more: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/05/19/1496037/drugs-large-meth-lab-found-in.html#ixzz1MqYmFUy7

Western Americana

2011-05-15T18:19:00.001-07:00

We have a rather large collection of Western Americana that we acquired from one John Brunt of Walla Walla, Washington. Brunt owned and operated a bookstore in Glendale, CA for many years before moving to Walla Walla, crafting beautiful custom slipcases for many of the books in his Western Americana collection numbering nearly a thousand titles. We have more of his books available for avid collectors!

Some of Brunt's other books are located in our Antiquarian & Collectible section.

Book featured: Keith Old Master of California by Brother Cornelius; Brother Cornelius G. P. Putnam's Sons 1942 Hardcover

Good

Two volume set in custom slipcase, clean text, tight bindings, very light wear to exterior, corners, edges and covers. We have a rather large collection of Western Americana that we acquired from one John Brunt of Walla Walla, Washington. Brunt owned and operated a bookstore in Glendale, CA for many years, crafting beautiful custom slipcases for many of the books in his Western Americana collection numbering nearly a thousand titles. We have more of his books available for avid collectors!
Price: 237.50 USD

No More Nuclear Waste @ Hanford & The End of Nuclear

2011-05-12T09:53:00.001-07:00

Hanford No Place for Nuclear Waste, Article from May of 2010 in the Spokesman Review: http://www.hoanw.org/uploads/hoanw/Apple-Waldref%20op-ed%20in%20Spokesman%20Review%205-29-10.pdf

Excerpt:

To protect the Columbia River and

public health, Washington state

should join in requiring the Department of Energy to:

• Remove the wastes from leaky

single-shell tanks as fast as possible

– and not delay emptying tanks until

2040.

• Clean up, not cap and cover up,

contamination spreading from tank

leaks and discharges.

• Clean up, not cover up, the 40

miles of unlined burial grounds

• Withdraw the decisions to use

Hanford as a national radioactive

waste dump.

The End of Nuclear - http://www.worldwatch.org/node/8069

Excerpt:

New Worldwatch Institute Report, Timed in Conjunction with Chernobyl Anniversary, Shows Nuclear Industry Was in Decline Even Before Fukushima
Washington, D.C.—Even before the disaster in Fukushima, the world’s nuclear industry was in clear decline, according to a new report from the Worldwatch Institute. The report, which Worldwatch commissioned months before the Fukushima crisis began, paints a bleak picture of an aging industry unable to keep pace with its renewable energy competitors.

Every one is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody. --Mark Twain

2011-05-07T18:55:00.001-07:00

Update on West Coast Radiation

2011-05-07T01:21:00.001-07:00

If anyone has any other news sources, or references/ideas, anything, please let me know. Thanks!

America's Atomic Time Bomb: Hanford Nuclear Waste Still Poses Serious Risks

2011-05-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

By Marc Pitzke in New York

The disaster at Fukushima has raised questions around the world about nuclear safety. But contamination is much worse in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The former plutonium plant in Hanford, Washington is one of the most contaminated places on earth, and still decades from being cleaned up.

The lambs were born without eyes or mouths. Some had legs that had grotesquely grown together; others had no legs at all. Many were stillborn. Thirty-one were lost in a single night.

On a pasture nearby, a cow was found dead, stiff and with its hooves bizarrely stretched up into the whispering wind. Down by the river, men of the Yakama tribe pulled three-eyed salmon from the Columbia. Trout were covered in cancerous ulcers.
And then the babies started getting sick... More...

GO TO THE PUBLIC HEARING IN PORTLAND ON MAY 19th:

Event: PUBLIC HEARING ON THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE DISPOSAL OF GREATER-THAN-CLASS C (GTCC) LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND GTCC-LIKE WASTE
Location: Doubletree Hotel, 1000 NE Multnomah Street
City: Portland, Oregon
Start: 5:30pm
End: 9:30pm

A public hearing on the GTCC draft EIS will be held in Portland, Oregon on May 19, 2011.
Location:
Doubletree Hotel
1000 NE Multnomah Street
Portland, Oregon

Date:
May 19, 2011

Time:
5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Contact:
Arnold Edelman
Document Manager
Office of Technical and Regulatory Support (EM-43)
U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, DC 20585–0119
Phone: 301–903–5145
Fax: 301–903–7238

http://www.hanford.gov/pageAction.cfm/calendar?&IndEventID=9219&IndEventDate=2011-05-19%2017:30:00.0&cYear=2011-05-19%2017:30:00.0

Earthlight Books May 2011 Newsletter

2011-05-05T17:45:00.000-07:00

5% Off Antiquarian & Western Americana Books!

Double Trouble: Twins in Literature

2011-05-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

From ABE:

Lottie & Lisa
Erich Kästner

It’s amazing how many novelists use twins as key characters in their books or attempt to explore the complex relationships between twins in their plots.

Romulus and Remus, Artemis and Apollo, and Castor and Pollux have long been left behind in history and mythology. In recent decades, there have been numerous novels featuring identical twins, evil twins, separated at birth twins, warring twins, twin sleuths, imprisoned twins, twins that are not twins and so on.

To novelists, twins can be very bad, very misunderstood, very mysterious and sometimes badly mistreated. In fact, it would be fair to argue that twins get a bad rap from most writers.

One thing is clear - twins are never dull in literature. Audrey Niffenegger, Wally Lamb, Pat Conroy, Arundhati Roy, V.C. Andrews and Madeleine L’Engle are just a few of the authors to have turned to twins.

This mostly dark selection of twin-themed books does not include the Bobbsey Twins and other gentle interpretations of twin life.

If you're a twin, tell us about your reading habits. Do authors represent twins fairly in literature? Do you share the same taste in books as your twin? Email us.

“By working faithfully eight hours a day you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.” - Robert Frost

2011-05-04T00:39:00.001-07:00

Legalize Books Comic

2011-05-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Dos-à-dos & Tête-bêche Bindings

2011-04-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

A fivefold dos- à-dos binding from 1736

The book collecting term ‘dos-à-dos’ refers to a style of binding where two separate books have been bound together so they share the lower board, which serves as the back cover to both books. Dos-à-dos originates from the French for back-to-back.

Rather oddly, when a dos-à-dos book is placed on a shelf the spine of one book faces outwards and the spine of the other faces inwards towards the shelf back. This style of binding was most common in the 16th and 17th century. These early examples are, as you might expect, often very expensive, but contemporary examples are very affordable.

The definition of a dos-à-dos book has been greatly loosened over the years and it now includes two books that have been bound together in such a way that the edition has two front covers. The reader finishes the first book (which ends in the middle of the volume), closes the book and flips it 180 degrees and begins reading the second book (which will also end in the middle of the volume). Technically calling these books dos-à-dos is incorrect. They actually have a tête-bêche binding (again from French meaning head-to-toe) but dos-à-dos has become a blanket phrase for when two books have been bound together.

The Ace Doubles series produced by Ace Books in the 1950s is a prime example of head-to-toe bindings. Ace was a science fiction publisher who would place two novels into a single volume. Each work had its own cover but production costs were kept to a minimum. Many authors would use this binding style to creatively tell a story from two different points of view. Ace Doubles are very affordable.

Earthlight Books has tons of Ace Doubles if anyone is interested, shoot us an e-mail, as we only have a handful listed online. Thanks!

AAUW Book Sale Today Thru Sunday!

2011-02-18T13:32:00.001-08:00

Just save some good stuff for us to scoop up on Sundays by-the-bag special.

Lots of bookhounds down here, looks like it could get ugly.

The mobile book-blogger strikes again!

Location:Marcus Whitman Hotel

Etude Geographique by Stoddard King

2010-10-23T23:21:00.000-07:00

Found this awesome old piece in an old copy of Stoddard King's book What The Queen Said & Further Facetious Fragments. Someone tucked a newspaper clipping inside the book from the Spokesman Review, dated Sunday, January 3, 1965. The article features the author, and reproduces the full text of the poem:

__________________________

Out West, they say, a man's a man; the legend still persists

That he is handy with a gun and careless with his fists.

The fact is, though, you may no hear a stronger word than "Gosh!"

From Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Walla Walla, Wash.

In western towns 'tis many years since it was the last rage

For men to earn their daily bread by hoding up a stage,

Yet story writers sti ascribe such wild and woolly bosh

To Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Walla Walla, Wash.

The gents who roam the West today are manicured and meek,

They shave their features, daily and they bathe three times a week.

They tote the tame umbrella and they wear the mild galosh.

From Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Walla Walla, Wash.

But though the West has frowned upon its old nefarious games,

It sti embellishes the map with sweet, melodious names,

Which grow is lush profusion like the apple and the squash

From Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Walla Walla, Wash.

Out of Print Clothing

2010-08-15T13:48:00.001-07:00

A bit spendy, but they're awfully cute...

NPR, Bloomberg or Fox?

2010-07-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

Not that I think too highly of NPR's bland news coverage these days, but they're a hell of a lot better than Fox. C'mon folks, send in those petitions.

Hi,

As early as Sunday, the White House Correspondents' Association will decide which news organization will be awarded Helen Thomas' former front-row center seat in the White House briefing room.

The contenders? National Public Radio, Bloomberg News - and Fox.

Yes, Fox, which we all know is actually a tool in the right-wing propaganda machine, not a legitimate news organization. They simply don't deserve the best seat in the White House briefing room.

So I just signed a petition urging the White House Correspondents' Association to award the seat to a real, public news organization: NPR. Can you join me at the link below?

http://bit.ly/b0Luxa

Thanks!

Distraught Gulf Shrimper Arrested for Pouring Oil on Herself in Senate Energy Hearing

2010-06-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

This lady is an author published by Chelsea Green, one of our favorite sustainable publishers.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/52989
and here's the Common Dream's Article as well.
______________________________________________
Diane Wilson, a fourth generation shrimper from the Gulf, poured oil on herself at today’s Senate Energy Committee hearing to protest Senator Lisa Murkowski's refusal to make BP pay for the disaster that has been devastating Wilson's shrimping community. Republican Lisa Murkowski, ranking member of the Senate Energy Committee, blocked the bill that would have lifted the oil companies' liability cap (the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act). Wilson was removed from the hearing and arrested.

Wilson traveled from Texas, where her livelihood and those of her fellow shrimpers has been ruined. She had this to say, “My name is Diane Wilson. I am a fourth generation shrimper from the Gulf. With this BP disaster, I am seeing the destruction of my community and I am outraged. I am also seeing elected representatives like Senator Lisa Murkowski blocking BP from being legally responsible to pay for this catastrophe. She stopped the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act and wants to keep the liability cap at a pitiful $75 million. This is outrageous. How dare she side with big oil over the American people who have been so devastated by this manmade disaster.”

“We want people to call Senator Murkowski’s office and tell her to stop supporting big oil and support a healthy environment and American livelihoods instead," said CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin, who was with Wilson at the hearing. "Our members from across the country have sent Murkowski thousands of emails already. We also want the Senator to call for Diane Wilson to be exonerated. BP CEO Tony Hayward should be in jail, not a distraught shrimper!”

Wilson has been working for decades fighting the polluting of the Gulf. She wrote the book An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas detailing her years long fight against oil and chemical companies in her community. She went on to say, “I have seen the oil and chemical companies destroying our air, water, our wildlife--and the government going along with it. Politicians like Murkowski take campaign money from big oil and then get in bed with the same oil and chemical corporations. This must stop. Enough is enough.” The full text of Diane's statement is here

Wilson is also a co-founder of the organization CODEPINK Women for Peace. She was in front of BP HQ in Houston, Texas two weeks ago to protest the oilspill and draw attention to BP’s legacy of negligence. Read her most recent article, “The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico” published on Grist.com.

Praise for An Unreasonable Woman: A True Story of Shrimpers, Politicos, Polluters, and the Fight for Seadrift, Texas

“A stunning achievement.”
—Molly Ivins

“...An Unreasonable Woman will stand as one of this nation's greatest works of nonfiction. I have never read a book quite like this one, and worry already that I might not yet again. This is one of the most powerful works of nonfiction I can remember reading in many years. In a cynical age, amidst such rampant loss and destruction, it's easy to regard Diane Wilson's book as simply a masterpiece, and to let it go at that. But we owe it more. This book inspires in us the courage to believe—to remember—we can still change the world.”
—Rick Bass

AE Book News for June

2010-06-03T18:22:00.001-07:00

2723 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco California 94115
Tel: (415) 823-6678,
Site: www.americanaexchange.com
Email: bmckinney@americanaexchange.com

June 1, 2010

Dear AE Monthly Reader,

Good taste but bad timing. We asked a disappointed seller, the largest buyer, and neutral observers to rate the success of a major auction conducted under trying circumstances.

A Los Angeles collector goes to court - and wins - his battle not to have to obtain a dealer's permit.

We visit an outpost of civilization, the shop of the legendary but unwell bookseller Peter Howard.

We attended the Gold Rush book fair and found things are looking up.

A manuscript and book auction coming up in July is estimated to take in $20-$30 million.

The digital age is coming to the rare book rooms, but this does not mean they aren't still buying print almost as much as ever.

One of the larger budgets for historic material today belongs to the Cherokee Nation.

A new collector tries sniping at eBay.

Borders offers a new electronic reader, but Microsoft cancels its proposed entry.

Google enters the electronic book market, with Google Editions to be offered for sale within the next few weeks.

As Google challenges Amazon and others with Google Editions, its new operating system for mobile devices takes on Apple.

Recent audits show newspaper circulation continues to tumble in freefall. How much longer can the printed word survive?

Is Sotheby's the most valuable company in the world? For a few moments, it seemed so.

Here is your link to all of these articles: AE Monthly.

This month we review 12 new bookseller catalogues.

Children's books are always the feature at Aleph-Bet.
Both modern and antiquarian French books are found at L'Ancre Aldine.
The Arader Galleries offer great maps and books.
Printing history and bibliography are the focus of Michael Thompson.
Peter Harrington offers a collection of important books.
Brian Cassidy presents a miscellany of the unexpected.
The book as art is the focus of the Kelmscott Bookshop.
Joe Rubinfine presents 18th and 19th century American documents.
Clark Rare Books takes a look at America and particularly the West.
Literature, film and mystery are always in style at James Pepper Rare Books.
Sotheran's orders up a spring miscellany.
Libreria de Antano features the Jesuits in America.

Here is your link to all of these reviews: AE REVIEWS..

Collectible Vintage Posters from ABE Books

2010-05-31T22:23:00.000-07:00

A little known secret about AbeBooks is that thousands of collectable vintage posters can be found for sale on the website. Posters offer amazing insights into popular culture, the history of art, politics (including all the fascinating aspects of propaganda), war and commerce, but they rarely survive the passage of time.

The very act of displaying a poster can signal its end when it is removed or replaced. Posters from decades past that escape undamaged are treasured. Browse our amazing selection of posters – experience Jimi Hendrix, go on the campaign trail with Winnie and Dwight, learn about the differences between German and British airships, map out Middle Earth, hop into Scorsese’s taxi, and buy war bonds with Dr Seuss. And if these vintage posters from bygone eras are out of your price range, don’t despair – we are also showcasing 20 very affordable books dedicated to some of the most memorable posters ever printed.

Step back and enjoy one of the most powerful communication mediums of the past 200 years.

Eat More Corn, Oats and Rye... WWI Poster

Public Warning of German and British Airships

WWI Recruitment poster

Dr. Seuss War bonds poster