Bookavore

Today, YA book group spoke with Cory Doctorow, author of Little Brother. The conversation actually ended up being as much about politics as books, but if you’re read Little Brother, that probably won’t come as much of a surprise. Below, some selected quotes from the conversation (thanks to Cory for allowing me to re-print them; I have done minimal editing for the sake of comprehension and flow):

On reading and writing YA:
“My favorite author has always been Daniel Pinkwater, whose Alan Mendelsohn, the Boy from Mars may just be the perfect YA novel (though he also has a YA novel called Young Adult Novel that gives it a run for its money). However, I started writing YA after some of my writer pals got into it and showed me how much fun it could be — and how cool it was to have young readers, who engage with text in a way that adults rarely do, using it as both a guide to how the world works and something to argue with when it doesn’t match their views and experiences. The first one to help me see this was Kathe Koja, whom I got to know when she was writing “splatterpunk” graphic horror novels like THE CIPHER. She gave it up to write YA — actually let the horror books all go out of print, which I think is a real shame — and had nothing but good things to say about the experience (plus her fiction kicked 11 kinds of ass). Then my friends Justine Larbalastier and Scott Westerfeld (they’re married) started writing YA too, and they were clearly having a high old time at it — we stayed with them in Australia while I was passing through on a lecture tour on our way to Tokyo just as Justine was finishing up her second or third book, and we had all these great talks about what made YA fic work and how it was different from writing for adults.”

When we asked how writing YA is different than writing for adults, he linked to a recent essay he wrote for Locus Magazine (very good, definitely worth reading), and quoted from it:
“Writing for young people is really exciting. As one YA writer told me, “Adolescence is a series of brave, irreversible decisions.” One day, you’re someone who’s never told a lie of consequence; the next day you have, and you can never go back. One day, you’re someone who’s never done anything noble for a friend, the next day you have, and you can never go back. Is it any wonder that young people experience a camaraderie as intense as combat-buddies? Is it any wonder that the parts of our brain that govern risk-assessment don’t fully develop until adulthood? Who would take such brave chances, such existential risks, if she or he had a fully functional risk-assessment system? So young people live in a world characterized by intense drama, by choices wise and foolish and always brave. This is a book-plotter’s dream. Once you realize that your characters are living in this state of heightened consequence, every plot-point acquires moment and import that keeps the pages turning.

And also:
“Risk-taking behavior — including ill-advised social, sexual, and substance adventures — are characteristic of youth itself, so it’s natural that anything that co-occurs with youth, like SF or TV or video games, will carry the blame for them. However, the frightened and easily offended are doing a better job than they ever have of collapsing the horizons of young people, denying them the pleasures of gathering in public or online for fear of meteor-strike-rare lurid pedophile bogeymen, or on the pretense of fighting gangs or school shootings or some other tabloid horror. Literature may be the last escape available to young people today. It’s an honor to be writing for them.”

This is a long conversation, so I’ve posted the rest of it after the jump. Read on for his thoughts on Obama, American politics, and the three crucial things teens need to do if they still want to have rights when they become adults: Read more »

My mom just sent me the a link to this recent article in PW about book-related tattoos and told me to blog about it.  And I learned long ago to ALWAYS listen to my mom.  Sooooooooooo.

If you could see me in person, my position on book-related tattoos would be clear, as during the summer, when I wear short sleeves, 3 of them are visible at all times.  I love them!  I think they’re pretty and some have meaning to me (some I just got the idea in my head and went for it).  In chronological order: I started with the alphabet in my favorite font, Zapfino (a literary tramp stamp, if you will).  “words, words, words” in a loop around my left wrist; do you know which play this comes from?  “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield” around my right bicep from “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson.  “it’s pretty, but is it Art?” on my left rib cage from “The Conundrum of the Workshops” by Rudyard Kipling.  An Old English word that my mom and I got together.  And the latest, only a few months old: Jules Feiffer’s ink drawings of Rhyme and Reason on the outsides of my breasts, and on my right rib cage, Reason’s quote, “Whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.”  Coming up in the future: a half sleeve that has nothing to do with books, and I also plan to fill in my left leg from knee to ankle with my favorite children’s picture book characters (Eloise, Mr. & Mrs. Mallard followed by Jack Kack Lack Mack Nack Ouack Pack and Quack, Grumpy Bird, something from Tim Egan, &etc &etc).  I’m working on a tattoo related to Alan Moore’s Promethea.  And there’s a few more I think about from time to time.  The only thing that ever holds me back is funds.

So yeah, I think they’re fun!  Personally, I think the best reason to get a tattoo is because you think it would be pretty–”having meaning” is good too, I think, but it is ultimately an aesthetic decision.  I get a little fussy when people talk down on tattoos that aren’t deep somehow.  There is nothing deep about the alphabet on my back.  It’s just purty, in my favorite font.  The one that my mom and I share has meaning, so I’m not saying that’s a terrible idea, just that I dislike the sentiment I hear frequently that tattoos HAVE to mean something.  That’s one of the cool things about book tattoos, because they have meaning on some level, but they’re not JUST about meaning.  If that makes any sense.  I’m rambling!  Ignore this paragraph!

The most common question I get after “did that hurt?” (which: um…….yeah!  and here’s the answer to the follow-up question, “what does it feel like?”  It feels like exactly what it is, which is a very sharp needle going into your skin over and over very quickly) is, “Don’t you think you’ll regret that someday?”  Usually said with a certain degree of smugness, as though I will suddenly realize my mistake!  and be forever grateful that FINALLY somebody pointed it out to me!  And yeah, maybe I will–although I hope to be struck down by a falling shelf of books if I ever regret inking myself with Shakespeare.  But even if I do, I hope I can remain open-minded enough to remember that these were all important to me once, and on the strength of that alone, I won’t regret it.

Another thing I like about them in general is that they keep me off the straight and narrow.  When I got the second one done (around my wrist), I knew that it would automatically disqualify me for a number of jobs–all jobs I would be miserable doing, but that I could see myself taking out of fear, confusion or a desire to please someone (a bad habit of mine).  They’re a gift from my irresponsible self, keeping my responsible self from making my life miserable.  Which is, at least somewhat, why I am a bookseller and not a–well I don’t even know what, some sort of job where you wear suits and heels and carry a Blackberry everywhere.

Lots of goings-on here in the store.  We’re gearing up to finally have a sizable manga section and expand our graphic novel section (YAY!), so I’ve been working on those opening orders piecemeal all day.  Suggestions welcome; so far my order is based around the most popular series.  This expansion is being accompanied by a big floor and shelving move in the kids’ department that will probably take the better part of the month to get completely done.  And we have a ton of great events coming up, including a midnight release for Breaking Dawn, the latest Twilight book, and a big big big children’s author in October.

On top of all this, I thought it would be a great time to start up a weekly e-newsletter from the store, to go out every Tuesday morning.  Head Buyer named it The Bookmark, which seemed overly simple to me at first, but it has since grown on me.  We’ve been shocked by the great response!  I thought people were so sick of email that we’d have half the list unsubscribe, but we’ve only had a few people drop it.  And surprisingly, we even had people ask to be added to the list.  In a personal triumph, I even got an email from a customer saying how impressed she was!  So, definitely worth losing a piece of my Monday.  I’ll gladly add you to it as well–just email my work email (stephanie at moravianbookshop dot com).

O yeah, and I think I almost understand co-op, thanks to Melissa Lion and a boatload of prompt and brilliant sales reps.  Melissa kindly provided her notes from her days in co-op, which helped settle a lot of random questions I had.  Thanks Melissa!  Then I wrote an email to all my big reps Wednesday, and by Friday I had heard from almost everybody at least once–giving me more information and ideas, answering my questions, and being excited for me that we’re finally doing it.  <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 my sales reps!

Link of the day, sent from NAIBA: an intriguing article by Nicki Leone, a former/current bookseller, on her idea of the perfect online bookstore.  Very intriguing for those of us looking to the future decades of bookselling.

In an attempt to catch up the books I’ve been reading, here are some recent lunchtime reads, one sentence each:

57. Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron (FSG, 2007).  YA fiction.  A sweet and captivating story that is as quiet as its protagonist but also just as powerful.

58. One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead (The Penguin Press, 2007).  Hahaha, this was my staff pick for my newsletter last week, so I can just cut and paste its description here: “Now that we’re in the thick of wedding season, Mead’s book makes great reading for anybody planning or attending a wedding.  She looks at how the wedding industry grew to its current size (over $160 billion a year!) and what weddings mean in modern-day America. Her writing is funny and well-researched, with fascinating information like the fact that there are occasionally rivalries between Las Vegas wedding chapels, and that the diamond engagement ring didn’t become traditional until after World War II. This might not make a good wedding present, but you could slip it to the mother of the bride or the maid of honor!”  Let me just add that if you are trying to convince somebody to elope, rather than have a wedding, this would be a good choice.

59. The Facebook Book: A Satirical Companion by Greg Atwan & Evan Lushing, illustrated by Aurora Andrews (Abrams Image, just out).  I mean, this is pretty funny if you use Facebook, which I do; not sure if it would make sense to the other 85% of the country.  But then, it’s not supposed to.  (Why, I remember when my college had to sign a petition to get ourselves on Facebook!  And then we had to walk to dinner barefoot in the snow uphill both ways!  And then we all felt silly when the whole world could get on Facebook without any trouble 18 months later!  I’m just never sure who will buy a book like this, because though it’s funny, I don’t think I’d read it again.  On the other hand, I wasn’t sure who would buy The Truth About Chuck Norris, and we’ve sold 75 copies of that since November.  So clearly I know nothing about the appeal of novelty books about the internet.)

I swear I’ll blog the rest of the great unread masses soon.  It’s just that when I get home from work, I prefer to read books, rather than write about them.  Which probably explains why I have chosen bookselling, rather than book reviewing, as a career.

I disappeared! I currently don’t have internet access at home, so I haven’t been able to update (I haven’t even been able to catch up on blogs!) But today, I brought my laptop into work so that I could update on my break, because I wanted post some links that have been sitting on my computer, and also to put up the pictures from Idlewild Books.

Okay, three quick links:

1. Another winner done on Jezebel’s Fine Lines feature: A Wrinkle in Time. Loved this, and was pleasantly surprised to see that many of the lines and scenes from the book that are burned into my brain were burned into many other brains.

2. A great article by Ma Jian on Chinese-American relations. Okay, maybe this is not immediately book-related, but I’m really looking forward to reading his new book, and it’s sort of about freedom of expression.

3. From Kash’s Book Corner, a brilliant article that starts: “Buying new books for the store, the crux of my job, can be an exercise in absurdity and futility. It’s an antiquated, inefficient system that hardly takes into account the invention of the personal computer and completely ignores the existence of the internet.” It only gets better from there. Great reading for fellow buyers and for folks who want to understand why the book business is the way it is (well, maybe not UNDERSTAND why, but at least understand the crazy).

Last Friday, I went on another Book Buddies expedition, this time to Idlewild Books. This issue of Shelf Awareness has an article about it. You might have seen an article about the store in PW, or on BoingBoing. After the cut, pictures of the store–they have great pictures on their website, as well, but I just had to take some of my own because I love the space. Also, a cat picture!

Read more »

Jennifer of Books, Inc., aka literaticat, answers the question What advice would you give to someone just starting their first job at an independent bookstore? Her answer is not only good advice for new booksellers, but a good reminder for veterans:

“I get a lot of dreamy-eyed people telling me how jealous they are that I get to work in a bookstore. ‘Imagine!’ they’ll say, ‘all that time to read!’

Um, not really, unless you are in a failing bookstore.

My advice is, don’t read at the counter, don’t stare off into space, be self-motivated and find things to do if you aren’t busy with customers (make cute displays, shelve, dust, etc) - greet customers, make an effort to figure out what the neighborhood is into. Learn at least a couple books in every category that you can handsell, even if it isn’t something you normally read - you always want to give the impression that you are intimate with every part of the store, even if that isn’t exactly true. Be confident, people like buying things from experts, you are an expert. Get used to being poor.”

I did get a picture from Debbi Michiko Florence but I am not posting it because I think I look horrendous. However, I will link to her awesome book, China: Over 40 Activities to Experience China–Past or Present. It is great!

Jay Asher, author of the fabulous Thirteen Reasons Why (which YA book group read in March, and then Jay spoke with us by IM, and then I promptly lost the entire conversation) posted about BEA on his blog, including the part where he and Jill and I had drinks. Which was cool, except for how a gin and tonic costs $10 dollars in LA.

Two more great BEA reports:

From Pub Rants, another sum-up of the graphic novel breakfast, hers much better than mine, as well as a great picture of the signing lines. She talks about an author describing them as “horse racing in reverse.” Personally, I’ve always seen them as cattle chutes.

And from Bookselling This Week, former bookseller and author of Swollen and Upstream Melissa Lion wrote the funniest BEA article I have read. I share her sentiment about the ABA bookseller lounge, which was definitely an oasis: “I arrived at BEA and felt very fancy because I got to bypass the lines for tickets and march right up to the ABA Booksellers Lounge, which will henceforth be known as the Chill Out Room because I secretly hope that by calling it that, next year it will be rechristened and indie booksellers will say things like, ‘Enough with these publicists and their new, hot books, I’m going to the Chill Out Room.’”

In an odd piece of news, I was told by a reader of this blog that co-op is actually his dream job. Booksellers are free to look as flabbergasted as I did when I heard this. I offered him a volunteer position at the store doing co-op–all the ARCs you can read!–but he already has a real job, unfortunately.

And in a final note to myself: never, NEVER schedule 2 off-site events for the week you get back from BEA. Don’t even schedule one.

So!  The big secret!  Can now be told!

It was revealed at the Celebration of Bookselling last night, where many great books, booksellers, and bookstores were honored.  And at the end, the big reveal!  BookSense, which has had an amazing 10-year run and has been crucial to the revitalization of indie bookstores, is going away, and in its place is IndieBound.  Words cannot express how excited I am about this–I think it’s just what indies need right now, and if it’s half as cool as the stuff I saw yesterday morning, it’s going to be huge.  Go poke around the website and see what you can see–I’ll be posting more about this in the coming weeks when I am not trying to a million things every day at BEA!   The logo is great, the slogans are great, the T-shirts are great, and the providing of a community not just for indie booksellers, but for people who love them, is genius.  I am so psyched!

So I am waiting in the airport for a bus to take me to Newark, at which point I will get on a plane to Los Angeles, to go to Book Expo America!  Yay!  I am incredibly excited.  And I will be sharing my excitement–I will update here at least once a day while I’m there, and I will liveblog any panel that the panelists allow me to.

I meant to blog all the books I’ve read lately before I left–the pile is getting a bit intimidating, and there’s a lot of great stuff in there–but was too busy having food poisoning this morning to blog.  So instead, two links.  Here’s an article on BEA’s attempt to go green, and here’s one bashing a stupid article that posits that the best way to change publishing would be to let Amazon print and distribute every book, ever.   (Seriously.)  You know you want to read an article that starts: “In an industry besieged by variables, there is but one reliable constant in publishing — everyone thinks they know how to make the business better (more profitable, more reliable, more efficient, or “fairer”, whatever that means in their perspective), and they are all wrong.”

Watch this space–BEA updates start tonight!  Is there anything you really want to hear about?  Let me know in the comments.

For proof of this hypothesis I offer Exhibit One: Stimulating Reading.  She’s asking people to donate part or all of their economic stimulus check to the opening of her future bookstore.  Love it!  I already spent part of my stimulus money on summer clothing at this cool store, but I’m going to be sending some money her way as well.  You should do the same!

From this article in Bookselling This Week, two bookstores I would like to highlight because they are the sort of awesome bookstores that I would wrap my arms around and give a bear hug, if my arms were long enough.

the river’s end, in Oswego, NY, is celebrating its tenth anniversary!  Hooray for them!  I love, love, love this store.  Beautiful store, awesome people, and I always find a book that I love but didn’t know about until I walked in.   Congrats, Bill and Mindy!

And Clinton Book Shop, who had the distinct honor of being on the soap opera As the World Turns Tuesday, which is just about one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard.  Congrats, Harvey and Rob!