Customers 32

A woman came up to the counter, late 20's, dark wavy hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing jeans and a pale peachy colored sweater. She put a Justin Bieber book down on the counter.

"I'd like to return this, please," she said.

"Do you have a receipt?"

"No, I don't have a receipt. It was only about five dollars, though," she said.

"We have to have a way to track the transaction," I said. "To do a return or an exchange we have to either have a receipt or I can search the computer for the transaction if you paid with a credit card or are a member with us."

We tried several credit cards to search for the transaction and it did not come up.

She said, "So if you pay with cash, you're just out of luck?"

"Well, if you pay with cash and keep the receipt, then you're in luck," I said.

She paused for a minute. "Wow," she said. "I'm trying to return this for my daughter." She turned the book over and pointed to writing on the back that said, "Printed in China". "We don't buy products made in China. That's the only reason I wanted to return this. I was going to get a store credit and just get a Justin Bieber magazine for her. She wanted it returned. She's making her social statement here. She's five."

(She's five?) "I can check with a manager, I'm not authorized to do the return without any way to track the transaction." I take the book in the back and ask the manager. She looks up the book, which was just on clearance and is no longer in print. All of our clearance items are gone. "Tell her I can give her a dollar of store credit. With it being clearance and all the clearance gone now, that's all I can do."

With the book in my hand, I tell the mother that I can give her a dollar in store credit. I explain that it was a clearance item and that our clearance items are gone.

Her face falls. "Okay, I'll do that." She pauses. "No, never mind. I can just donate it." She pauses again. "Are there any magazines of just Justin Bieber?"

I take her over to the magazine section. "There used to be a few that were just about him. I haven't seen those for a while. Tiger Beat and Pop Quiz have him on the cover, with all the other teeny-bopper heartthrobs, but there isn't one just of Justin Bieber."

"Oh. Okay. Well, thank you."

I leave her at the magazine rack.

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An older woman, late 60's, early 70's, short dark hair, bright red lipstick, comes up to the counter.

"I have two books on hold." She gives her last name. I go get the books, two children's books about dinosaurs by Bernard Most.

          

As I bring the books back, I notice that there is a line forming behind her. There is one other cashier who is involved in a complicated transaction. I hand the books to the woman.

"Oh, these are just the best," she says, opening one. "I used these when I was teaching, years ago. They are hard to find now." She flips through the pages and reads it to herself. "These are great for teaching. They are fun, and they give information." She keeps looking at the books. Then she looks over her shoulder. "I don't want my husband to see that I'm getting these. I'm not teaching any more, but they would be great for my grandchildren. Should I get just one? Or both? They are so hard to find now!" She pauses. The line gets longer. "I just love this!" She turns the book around so that I can see the pictures. "Isn't this just great?" She reads a page aloud. To me. I smile.

"Would you like to get them both?" I ask.

"Yes. I think I will. I mean why not? I really like them."

I ring up the books and tell her the total.

"What was that again? How much was it?"

I tell her the total again.

"Oh, that's not so bad. I'm so glad to have these! You should really get these for yourself too!"

"Thanks so much," I said. "Have a good day."

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Close Encounters of the Authorish Kind

A customer placed an order with us. When books on order come in, we print a paper with the customer's last name in large block letters that we place on the spine of the ordered book. Books on hold are arranged by customers' last names.

Customer's book came in, and a hold slip was printed. Her last name is an unusual one, one shared by a famous author. (Famous Author wrote a book that might have a title that rhymes with Might Flub, and Famous Author might live in Portland. Famous Author might have written other books about potentially disturbing subjects.)

Seeing the book on hold with Customer's (and Famous Author's) last name, several booksellers wondered if Customer was any relation to Famous Author.

I placed the call to Customer.

"Hello, this is Barnes and Noble, you ordered a book with us, and it's here for you."

"Oh, right. What was the name of the book I ordered?", she asked.

"Um, let me see," I said, unwrapping the book. "It's called the HALLELUJAH DIET," I told her. "We'll have it here for two weeks; you can come and get it any time."

     

"Oh, that's right." She paused. "Oh, dear, we're leaving the state tomorrow afternoon for a trip and tonight we have Bible study...my husband might be able to pick it up after he stops off at the church tomorrow...but I don't know if he can. Darn, I really want it, too!"

"We can hold it a few days longer for you if you'd like," I said.

"Oh, that would be great! Thank you so much! God bless you!"

After the call I didn't think that Customer and Famous Author were related. (But you never know.)

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I had my coat on and had gathered my things to go at the end of my shift today. C. was gathering up all the copies of DEFENDING JACOB from the back room and putting them on a V-cart.

"Why are you getting all of those?" I asked.

"The author is here and he's signing them," C. said.

"The author of DEFENDING JACOB is here?", I asked.

"Yeah, he's at Info."

I walked out of the backroom and headed toward our Info desk. A dark haired man in a black, grey and white jacket was bending over copies of DEFENDING JACOB. Another man in a grey jacket was standing to the side of the Info Desk, talking to a bookseller.

     

I walked up to the Info desk and the dark haired man looked up. "Hi," I said, diving in. "I work here. Did you write DEFENDING JACOB?"

He smiled. "Yes, I did."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that I read it and I loved it."

His smile got bigger. "Thank you very much."

"You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by the store. It's good to meet you," I said.

"Sure!", he said. "Thanks for reading it!"

I left the store, tickled to have met William Landay.

DEFENDING JACOB is a courtroom drama, a family drama with psychological aspects. It's narrated by Andy, a prosecutor who starts out investigating the murder of a 14 year old boy. Well done.

This is one of those great books where it's good not to know too much about it before reading it. So don't read reviews! It's too easy for there to be spoilers. And just so you know? You're going to want to talk about it when you're done. Let us know what you thought of it!

Clicking on the underlined book title will take you to the Barnes and Noble page for each book. Clicking on the book cover will take you to Amazon's page for each book. Purchasing through the blog links help support the blog. Thanks for stopping by!

How do you spell "Alzheimer's"?

"How do you spell Alzheimer's?", one of the booksellers asked me as she was typing a query into our Info Desk computer.

"A-L-Z-H-E-I-M-E-R-S", I said. "With an apostrophe," I said, knowing how finicky our in store search is. "Are they looking for a specific book?"

"No, we just want to see if you have anything about Alzheimer's," said the woman. She and the man with her looked to be in their early 60's, graying hair, wearing jeans.

"We have a section," I said. "Let me take you over there."

I show them THE 36 HOUR DAY. "This is a really comprehensive book about dementia that talks about how it progresses, how it is for people caring for the patient as well as the patient itself. I found it really helpful when my mom had dementia."

     


"We just had to move my mom into a facility. She couldn't live on her own any more." They looked like they were still in shock.

"That's hard. Does she know who you are?"

"Yes, she knows us," the woman said. "But she forgets what she's doing. And there was once she didn't seem to know who my husband was."

I nodded. "Another book I wish I had when my mother was alive is this one." I show her CONTENTED DEMENTIA. "The author talks about kind of a new way to help people with dementia. What people usually do is try and make the people who have dementia understand what is going on in the here and now. The problem is, the people with dementia don't remember what's going on right here and right now. They remember the past. So they get agitated because they know they should be remembering what's going on here and now. In this book, the author recommends letting them be, in their mind, wherever it is they imagine they are. My dad was a doctor and when he had dementia it seemed as though he was remembering being in the hospital, which was a really good place for him.

     

"Oh, wow," she said, looking overwhelmed. "We'll take a look at these."

"I recommend both of them really highly. THE 36 HOUR DAY
gives a really good sense of what is happening and what will happen. CONTENTED DEMENTIA doesn't really deal with the physiological aspects of dementia, but provides some really great help on how to be with people with dementia."

"Thank you so much for your help," she said.

"You're welcome. Take care."

Clicking on the book cover takes you to the Amazon.com page for each book. Clicking on the underlined book title takes you to the Barnes and Noble page for each book. Thanks for checking out the blog!

The Grapes of Wrath...on audio

It was time to read THE GRAPES OF WRATH. I had some significant driving time coming up so got the audio version.

     

One of my co-workers really likes audio books. She says that who the reader is really important. She loves the audio version of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, read by Sissy Spacek. Years ago I heard the audio version of Anna Quindlan's BLACK AND BLUE. I don't remember who the reader was (and couldn't find it for sure when I searched just now), but her voice was raspy and haunting. It was a stunning interpretation.

Dylan Baker is the reader this time, and his reading voice is soothing and at the same time gives life to Steinbeck's writing and the Joads. I like his interpretation of the characters (Tom Joad, Jim Casy, Pa Joad, even Ma Joad).

I don't do audio books very often and have usually quite enjoyed them. It's a nice change. I didn't even get halfway through THE GRAPES OF WRATH on my recent longer drives, so am listening on my way to and from work. I look forward to getting back to the story when I get in the car. I think I may have to explore some more books on audio!

Have you heard any stunning books on audio?

Clicking on the book cover will take you to Amazon's site for the book. Clicking on the underlined titles will take you to Barnes and Noble. You can purchase books through those links, which helps the blog. You can also "like" us on our facebook page, NOT the New York Times Book Review, or subscribe directly to the blog via email on this page. Thanks for reading!