Stationery Show

Danielle and I had an awesome time at the National Stationery Show this week, but it was way too overwhelming. There were so many cool little companies with really unique and beautiful cards, I don’t know how I’ll ever choose. So keep your eye out for some great new merchandise arriving soon!

Finally! Our corner sign is up

Check it out! Isn’t it adorable?

Rebel Bookseller

I’m reading an interesting book right now called Rebel Bookseller by industry veteran Andrew Laties. I just came upon an interesting passage that I wanted to share because I think it’s an insightful take on owning your own business:

People get on a power trip when they start thinking about opening their own store. All that stuff about be your own boss. But the truth is, you trade one boss for thousands of bosses. The customers are in charge of your life. And if they’re not in charge, you don’t have a business.

He then goes on to talk about bookstores needing to “fill a gap” to succeed, which I think is an interesting point. I hope that I’m filling a gap here in Greenpoint in the minds of my customers. So far, so good. I don’t feel like I’m on the verge of being fired, at least not yet.

More industry buzz

Bookselling This Week, the weekly publication of the American Bookseller’s Association, has profiled the store this week as well. Read the piece here.

People have been asking…

…about my favorite books when looking for recommendations. I will try to post some of my picks here and there, hoping people with similar tastes will try something new. Here are five for now:

1) Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer: I’ve already discussed my unending adoration of this book. It’s beautiful, sad, and funny. Read it.

2) The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: This is one of those books that made me angry, wondering how someone could write something so unique and compelling. How do people write this stuff? This book is a romance at its heart, but it’s also a dark story about time travel. Try it, I hope you love it as much as I do.

3) Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami: I’m a relatively new convert to Murakami’s work. I love this book but please don’t ask me why. I’m not even sure I understood a lot of it, but it was gorgeous and I couldn’t put it down. His style is like no other.

4) The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: An epic adventure about a kid who escapes Prague during WWII and moves in with his cousin in Brooklyn. They start a comic book empire. What more can I say? It’s dense but brilliant.

5) Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: I wanted to include at least one non-fiction pick here, and this one is it. I am in general not a huge reader of non-fiction, but Larson has a great way of keeping the reader intrigued with his  dual story narration technique. He switches chapter-by-chapter between the history of the Chicago World’s Fair and a mysterious serial killer roaming the streets of Chicago at the same time. It’s so compelling that sometimes you forget it’s not a novel.

Press

The store was profiled on Shelf Awareness, a daily email that goes out to the book trade. Check it out here.

Dogs and Dog-Eared

People have been asking here and there about my old store so  I thought I’d post a picture just for fun. It was a cool store, but the new one is way better. Also, I haven’t been bringing my two mascots into work (yet) so I thought they needed some publicity. Trudy is the red one and Lila is black. They are so sweet they make your teeth hurt.

Dorky book stuff and a basement update

Last night I met with my original book club, the one that formed soon after I opened the last store and has stuck together for almost six years now. It’s an amazing group full of smart women of different ages and backgrounds and we always have lively discussions.

I found last night’s discussion especially thought-provoking because we read and compared two books, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and The History of Love by his wife, Nicole Krauss.  I adore both of these books, but Extremely Loud is one of my favorite books of the last few years. I think it’s beautiful and sad and funny and one of those books that makes me wonder how anyone could have a book like this rattling around their head.

I think everyone in the group really liked both books and our enthusiasm showed. We probably could have kept talking all night.

I am mentioning this here to encourage everyone to read these books if you haven’t already, but also to pass on my enthusiasm for book groups and how wonderful they can be. The great thing about forming a group through a bookstore is the diverse perspectives you get at each discussion. I don’t think that rings true when a group of friends, who are usually close in age and at the same place in their lives, form a book group.

I look forward to sitting in on many new book groups here at WORD, which leads me to the second part of my post…we’re hoping to get started on construction on our lower level soon, so our event space is one step closer to completion.

For those of you interested in joining a book group please email me or make sure you’re on the store mailing list so you will receive our first email newsletter.

Drills and Karaoke

Danielle (my artist-in-residence and designer of all things Modern Planet) loves power tools almost as much as she loves karaoke.

See?

The holiday I’ve been waiting for!

I think I named the store WORD just so I could do this display on Mother’s Day: