Who Doesn't Like to Receive an Award?

I just got an email saying I've been awarded the Liebster Award, presented by tubchairtimes at blogspot (http://tubchairtimes.blogspot.ca/2012/06/liebster-award.html)! How cool is that?

As part of receiving the award, there are questions to be answered. Fun!

Here are her questions (and my answers!):

1. Favourite place to curl up with a book?
On the couch, feet up, with something to eat. And yes, I know you're not supposed to eat and read, you're just supposed to concentrate on eating, but eating and reading is one of my favorite things.

2. What is your ultimate favorite food?
Impossible to choose just one. Steak. Salmon. Turkey with cranberry sauce. Stuffing. Ice cream from Salt and Straw (Oprah likes one of their flavors too). Chocolate. Everything Salad from Le Happy.

3. Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging as a way to be disciplined about writing and have a creative outlet. Writing about books and reading? It's the best.

4. E-books or hard copies?
Both. I love books - the look, the feel, the personalities of books (have you seen the hardcover version of THE NIGHT CIRCUS? incredible). And, sometimes I love the ease and convenience of e-reading.

5. If you could be any animal which would you be?
A dog. Or a cat. And it would have to be our dog or cat because they have pretty good lives.

6. Which superhero would you most like to chill with?
Catwoman maybe? Or the Incredible Hulk?

7. Which planet would you most like to explore?
Jupiter. It's always intrigued me...it's so huge and it's got all those moons.

8. What band/musician would you love to see live?
Fun. Adele. Young@Heart. Gotye.

9. You get one wish upon a star, what is it?
That booksellers would be paid more. And world peace.

10. If you could be a character from any book, show, or movie, who would you be?
Katniss. Or Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth.

11. Today is your last day to live, if you could do anything (anything!) how would you spend your day?
Since I can do anything, I would know enough ahead so I could travel to a fabulous island with my loved ones. And the travel would be before the last day. I want the whole last day to BE there. I'd spend it by the ocean with the people most important to me, having fun and laughing. There would be rum punch.


And 11 random facts about me:

1. I've changed my name 4 times.

2. My hair used to be straight. Now it's curly.

3. I've lived in five states.

4. My brother is one year, one month, one week, and one day younger than me. (she said "random". I think this qualifies.)

5. I've taken classes in three different languages (French, Spanish, and German). I don't speak any of them well.

6. I don't really like beer.

7. I was married for 25 years and now am infinitely happier being with a woman.

8. I've been to Africa, Indonesia, Mexico, London, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii. There are more places to visit. I love to travel.

9. I love astronomy.

10. I taught third grade.

11. I love the ocean, not just warm, tropical beaches/ocean, but also chilly northern oceans and beaches.


Thank you, lemonstar, for the award!

And thank you for stopping by the blog! You can send email to: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com. You can also "like" us on our facebook page, NOT the New York Times Book Review.

Customers 33

A young woman, maybe in her early 20's, blond hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a large sweatshirt and jeans came to the information desk.

"Can I help you find something?", I asked.

"Yes. I want anything on housewives. What they do," she said.

"Housewives?" I paused, not quite sure what it was about housewives she wanted. "So not a novel about housewives..."

She shook her head. "No." She was very serious. "What they do. What a housewife does in a day. I want to know everything about being a housewife."

"Okay. I don't think we have one book that will cover everything a housewife does in a day. We have books for different things that a housewife does like cooking, and there are some cleaning books..."

"I don't want cookbooks," she said.

During the time we were talking I was searching our database to find anything about housewives, knowing that there might have been more books like this several decades ago. Not as much now. I was pulling up lots of fiction. I pulled up a few novels with "housewife" in the title that were about "naughty" housewives. I did find one having to do with staying organized as a housewife.

"I found one that we should have here in the store about a housewife staying organized," I said.

"I'd like to see that one," she said.

At that time I got pulled away to deal with a minor emergency, so enlisted the help of another capable bookseller...

"She's looking for this book," I told her, pointing to the computer screen, "which we should have. She's looking for anything to do with being a housewife, but not fiction and not cookbooks."

I checked in later with my co-worker and asked her if the customer found what she wanted about being a housewife and she said that yes, she did. "After that, she wanted to find books about psychics."

*******************

Customers can order books from us. We call (or email) the customer when the book(s) come in. I was calling orders and in the stack was an order for two copies of the same large book. I didn't look at the title of the books, as they are usually covered with the order slip. I just called the customer and left voicemail letting her know the books had arrived. As I was putting the books back on the hold shelves, I saw looked at the title of those particular books. She'd ordered two copies of the POP-UP KAMA SUTRA

                    

Later that day I answered the phone and the woman told me her name. It was the woman who had ordered the kama sutra books.

"I got a call that my order came in?" She sounded excited. I told her that her order had indeed arrived. "So my books are there?" Her voice got higher.

"They are. We'll hold them for two weeks for you," I said.

"Oh! That's great! I'll be in today to get them! I'm so glad they came in! Thank you so much for calling!"

"You're welcome," I said.

Thanks for stopping by the blog! Clicking on the underlined title may take you to the Barnes and Noble page for the book - the BN links have been temperamental, but it's worth a try. Clicking on the book cover takes you to the Amazon page for the book. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. You can send email to us: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

More 50 Shades of Grey

At the bookstore we occasionally have clearance sales on books and gift items. They are often items that haven't sold that well. Occasionally we might find something wonderful in the selection, but most often clearance items aren't all that exciting. Clearance items are marked with a large red dot sticker.

One day last week a woman came up to the register. She had brown hair, pulled up in a ponytail and was wearing cargo shorts. She was pushing a stroller with a baby in it and two boys, maybe aged three and four, were with her. She was carrying a boxed set of the 50 SHADES OF GREY trilogy. In a kind of whiny voice, I heard the oldest of the boys say...

"But Mom, you said that if you got something, then we could get something too."

The Mom responded, "Yes, I know, but honey, remember? We like the books that have the red dots of them, and they don't have any of those right now, so you don't get anything today."

The boy said, "Yeah. I remember." His shoulders slumped.

I thought it was kind of sad.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. You can email us: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com. You can also "like" us on our facebook page, NOT the New York Times Book Review.

50 Shades of Grey

I haven't really talked about 50 SHADES OF GREY on the blog yet. Ever since it was featured on the Today show, people have come in droves to the bookstore asking for this book. It has certainly been in my awareness.

Lauded and blasted, it, along with the two subsequent books in the trilogy, 50 SHADES DARKER and 50 SHADES FREED, feature a main character who gets involved with a very charismatic and attractive man. The relationship starts out as a dominating, S & M, and very sexual relationship, and evolves into one where Ana stands up for herself and has a Hallmark ending.

                 

Evidently, that is. I haven't read it. (Okay, I read one racy part - and it was pretty racy as well as some poorly written dialogue.) One of our booksellers started it, but couldn't finish; she said she couldn't get through the poor writing. She couldn't even make it to the sex scenes. One of our managers at the store read the set ("Way to take one for the team," said another bookseller when she manager told us she'd read the entire trilogy).

What's been my favorite part of this whole 50 Shades frenzy is having people come to the bookstore asking for it. Not everyone knows what the books are about.

Here is a recent customer interaction...

A young woman, long blond hair in a braid, green zip sweatshirt and jeans, maybe in her 20's, and a woman, who might have been her mother, with wavy blond hair, an off-white sweater with a matching lacy blouse, pearls, and nice make-up came up to the register. They were buying a wedding magazine and a wedding planner.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?," I asked.

"Yes we did...oh wait!", the older woman said. There is one other book I wanted to see...50 SHADES OF GREY. Do you know about it?"

"Oh yes," I paused.

"And...you're out of it?" She looked disappointed.

"Oh no," I said. "We have hundreds of copies. Would you like me to get someone to get one for you?"

"Well, I'd like to know what it's about. Do you know anything about it?", she asked.

"I do. It's pretty sexually explicit." I paused. "It has some S&M in it."

"What?? It is??? It does???" She stammered. "The woman who told me about this, a friend of mi...well, she's really an acquaintance...she didn't tell me that."

The younger woman looked at her and said, "Do you know what S&M is?"

"Yes. I know what that is," she said, eyes wide, looking shocked.

"What did your friend tell you about the book?", I asked.

"She said that it was great and that every woman should read it and I should go get it right away and she wasn't going to tell me any more about it," she said.

"Well, lots of people are buying it, that's for sure," I said. "But it has got the S&M aspect to it and some people are calling it mommy porn. The main character gets into a relationship where she is dominated. I understand that by the end of the third book she does come out of it and is able to stand up for herself..."

"Porn? That's not what I thought the book was at all," she said.

"What did you think it was from what your friend said?", I asked.

"I thought it was some sort of helpful book, that it would give you ideas for how to improve yourself or something, tell you how to do things or something."

"It might tell you how to do certain things," I said. "Did you want to take a look at it?"

"Oh no!", she said, emphatically. "I can't believe she told me to get that book," she said. "I guess I don't know her very well. And obviously she doesn't know me very well."

Clicking on the book covers will take you to Amazon's page for each book. Clicking on the underlined book titles may take you to Barnes and Noble's page for each book. The BN links have been temperamental. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. And no one will know you bought these particular titles, even if you purchase them through the links here. Thanks for stopping by!