My Two Years
Today is my two-year anniversary as a bookseller! Roni gave me a scrumptious, delicious, mouthwatering cake, and Stamp the Elusive Bookstore Cat hoped for a slice. Stamp can be very persuasive, especially about treats.
Sorry, kitty; all the cake is for humans!
I’ve loved sharing my voracious love for reading with the people who stroll through our double doors and look forward to continue seeing the friends I’ve made (and meeting new ones). I still get a smile when I hear people talking about how lovely the store is and how they can’t wait to share it with their friends. I want to thank all of you who’ve helped LitLife keep going through these hard times! We simply wouldn’t be able to survive without all of you making the decision, actually choosing, to buy your books and literary-themed gifts through us. After all, as Lady M. W. Montague noted, “No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.” We know there are lots of other options for book buying out there, but we all genuinely love to talk to you about YOUR reading needs.
I’ve discovered some wonderful books by chatting with you guys, like Zeitoun by Dave Eggers. What an important book and not easily forgotten! Shout out to Christian for the recommendation!
Do you have books for which you’re an advocate? I will ALWAYS share my good friend Jane with people. Jane Austen. She and I are on a first-name basis. I love her books so much and have read them so many times, that she feels like a personal chum. My favorite “Jane Book” is Persuasion, which I think is her most subtle and mature work. 
And, of course, there are bits that make me laugh out loud at how she describes human folly. Jane is brilliant! Don’t judge Jane by the movies made from her works, and don’t judge her by some misperceived impression of “preciousness;” her observations about how people conduct themselves are witty, biting and timeless.
There are just so many books I want to read that it can be overwhelming! I’ve had to buy two more bookcases for my home since I started working here; I joke that Roni shouldn’t even give me a paycheck, since most of it comes back to the store anyway (but I am just joking, Roni)! 
On my wish list right now are The Postmistress by Sarah Blake, a novel about secrets, tragedy and ethics during and after World War II;
Last Call by Daniel Okrent which is the history of Prohibition;
and Winston’s War: Churchill 1940-1945 by Sir Max Hastings which is pretty self-explanatory. What can I say; I love history! What’s on your wish list?
The last two years have been so much fun for me and I look forward to helping the store grow some more. Thanks to all of you who have already helped grow Literary Life Bookstore and please keep on helping! Books really do make great gifts; the pleasure they give outlasts the finest cashmere and silk. I’ll always look forward to the next good read and treasure my favorites from the past. Keep on reading!
- Posted by Jennifer • Thu, July 01, 2010 - 12:04 pm
Whitman’s Beard is a Cloud & Other Recent Bookstore Conjectures
Good afternoon to the literate. To the illiterate, “Shfszxcffgty!”
Since our last correspondence, we have made some startling literary discoveries, some of which, all concern you.
1. Contrary to what your desk reference dictionary (Webster or Miriam, no mind) may read, there is a term for the moment when one cannot recall the word they are searching for and when that term is lost in after-thought, this term is irony.
2. The near magical quality of Walt Whitman’s whisping beard--full, floating above collar bones, white as the highlights in over developed photos--is a cloud. Some days cumulus, unwashed cirrus; collecting morning’s dew; suspending vapors from great lakes & driveway puddles, the earth’s mulching wisdom gasps in oxygen and grasps its hydrogen, now married, look up, suddenly stratus, the circle is closed herein: as my good friend John sees the flaming beard of the Lord whisping down and swirling our senses, a painted story, Whitman’s beard grows infini. When passed the ground he combs up around his ears. The lighting in his heart strikes out sending cloud hands to shake the waving strands of God. They become confused, give up the divide, and breathe onto the trembling leaves outside your window.
3. Poetry is about following sounds, as chasing fireflies. A fluttering truth, ablaze, like sparks of heaven no Bell Jar can contain, but merely allow us to hone its incandescence, wonder its nectar, nipping at night, as our minds. Here, our eyes reflect as the sky--transient on the wings of the dayfly: a mirrored metaphor for our heaven--huddled to its warmth.
- Posted by Benjamin • Sat, April 24, 2010 - 3:06 pm
The Quality of Paper and Cloth
Sometimes, I choose a book based soley on its physical appeal. If it’s pretty, I want it. Hardcover? Deckled-edged pages? Thicker paper stock, nice and creamy, covered in a lovely font? A dustcover that almost calls out to me with its beauty? Oh, yeah.... I gotta have it. Just holding this thing of beauty in my hands is a pleasure. Opening up its covers and delving inside for its secrets is delightful.
I’ve seen people hug books they’ve just found, like they’ve discovered a treasure they don’t want taken from them. I completely understand this. In fact, I’m generally reluctant to loan out books (shameful! How selfish of me!) but will gladly borrow one from you. If it’s very pretty, I might decide you’ve given me a gift, so be wary of loaning me a book. I realize it’s very hypocritical of me, to be eager to “borrow” a book from you (permanently) but be reluctant to loan one to you.
It’s just that all books, regardless of their tactile perfection, are precious to me! They’ve all got souls and personalities and agendas; they seem to live secret lives, adventures far away. I don’t write as many letters using paper and ink as I once did, but I’ll never abandon my love for the paper and ink found in books.
- Posted by Jennifer • Wed, March 31, 2010 - 1:33 pm