Today, it snowed here for the first time this winter, making me think of Christmas. Although I work in retail, I have the ability to be shockingly unaware that Christmas is actually coming. I can wrap presents, recommend books, and hear people say “Two Christmas gifts taken care of!” for weeks, still apparently thinking it’s …
As I write this, it’s November 5, and it’s raining. These two things together make me think of England. I spent ten weeks in Britain in college, on a school literary trip abroad with twenty-odd other students, chaperoned by our literature professor and his wife. The purpose was to put us inside the literature we studied …
This year, my dear husband gave me a birthday gift of two L.M. Montgomery books: Anne of Avonlea, because my old copy had worn out, and Rilla of Ingleside, which I had read twice but never owned. I was thrilled, and immediately started reading Rilla of Ingleside again for the third time. Like many people, …
I just returned from a trip to Seattle, where my sister worked hard on turning me into a fan of the BBC’s newest “Sherlock” show, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. Her ploy worked—I am now waiting in suspense for the much-anticipated third season. Discussing the shows and how they follow and differ from the …
“What are you reading right now?” This is the time of year when I dread this question. Imagine my typical customer, a nice, middle-aged, middle-class, well-dressed woman who loves to read, standing in front of me, asking this question with an expectant, hopeful look on her face. She needs a new book, perhaps a read …
cheap generic propecia Perhaps it's my destiny in life to relate to books in almost every possible way. I read them. I sell them. I've helped edit them. I'm writing some of my own. And I'm in two books, too. When I was growing up, my dad, Jon Remmerde, wrote a memoir of the eight …
It started when I saw the new movie of The Hobbit. Although I was in the middle of another book at the time–a new book, adult fiction, just the kind I always think I should read to keep up with my field–I couldn’t help it; I started to re-read The Hobbit. Never mind that I’ve …
On a college trip to England, I wandered off by myself to explore a small town. I wanted to find a bookstore, and I wanted to find a very specific book. It was not a book I had ever seen, yet I thought it must exist. As I entered a secondhand and antiquarian bookstore, I …
I used to work at one of those large chain bookstores. Yes, one of those places we indies used to consider the big, bad wolf, until Amazon’s rise to power made us all realize who the wolf really is. I needed a job, it was a job in books, and I took it. I appreciated …
I grew up in Baker County, Oregon and visited the bookstore Betty’s Books on town trips. Betty’s Books sits squarely in the middle of downtown Baker City, on Main Street. It has been in operation since 1979 (when I was three) and is my original model for the magic bookshop. What is a magic bookshop? …
