Shaun Bythell’s follow-up to Diary of a Bookseller is out this week. Confessions of a Bookseller picks up where Diary left off. Yes, Wigtown is still out in the ruralest of rural places in Scotland. Yes, people still don’t understand how used book stores work. Yes, Shaun still wrestles with his staff understanding where books …
Little else can match the fusion of beauty and usefulness found in a good map. Yet what if the cartographer relied upon shoddy or fabricated information? What if they had no qualms about simply making things up themselves? This handsome little volume presents a collection of maps which are lovely, historically significant, and just plain …
Did you know that Einstein’s brain saw more of the US than he did? True story. Forty years after he died, a piece of his brain took a road trip with a journalist and the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Einstein in 1955 (and kept his brain! What?). You can read about it in Driving …
Grandad, a well-dressed bulldog, can’t find a few things in his cluttered old house. Can you help him? Imagine Where’s Waldo, but illustrated by William Morris or Neo Rauch: this is the best kind of seek-and-find book, in which you and the little readers with you will be happily hunting through the gorgeous pictures for new …
I’ve mostly avoided the coloring book fad, but The Bicycle Coloring Book: Journey to the End of the World still captures my attention every time I open it. It’s fascinating and bizarre, like a tome of bicycle-themed science fiction dreamscapes, and this is a coloring book worth diving into and exploring. –Cyn Marts, Microcosm Publishing, …
Lars Mytting brought us to a deeper understanding of wood heating culture in Norway with Norwegian Wood. This work also got me thinking about vital importance of wood heating in the Pacific Northwest and the similarities and differences in approach. This book also makes a compelling case for wood heat as a green, carbon neutral …
The Christmas story features three kings; this year, King’s Books in Tacoma is releasing three holiday gift recommendation newsletters with ideas for any holiday gifting. As they put it, “We seek to bring you the most literate, quirky, smart, useful, and fun items possible for your gift-giving pleasure!’ Part One of their recommendations featured the categories …
Every leap year, Neil Gaiman’s clever note about taking writers out to dinner on February 29th circulates, and every leap year, writers rejoice. And a few of them actually get a decent meal, too. But what about booksellers? Extra Leap Year Day is already taken, and it’s sorta awkward if we try to muscle in …
Grass Roots Books & Music in Corvallis, OR has two staff recommendations for life-long learners: books to spark and satisfy curiosity. The Edge of The Sky: All You Need to Know About the All-There-Is by Roberto Trotta This delightful little book, written by an enthusiastic astrophysicist, explores the gigantic questions and huge mysteries of the universe in …
