Long Live the Bookstores

Just before I went on vacation last week, I learned about the multiple store closings as a result of Borders’ decision to declare chapter 11. To say I was sad would be an understatement. 

I love books. I have since I was a little girl. And to hear of bookstores closing upsets me. Toss in the fact that one of the stores picked to close was one I worked in just a few years ago and, well, I was more than a little blue for a few days.

I read something in conjuction with the official news story on the company’s decision that likened what’s happening to today’s bookstores to what happened to the music stores of ten years ago. You remember those, right? They were every where in the mid nineties. Yet now…you’d be hard pressed to find a music-only store anywhere.

I get that people are reading e-books and that’s great. While on vacation and sitting by the pool one afternoon, I counted ten people reading. Two of those folks were using an e-reader of some kind. The rest, traditional books.

Yes, I get that the tide may be turning but, I have to tell you, that if the comment about bookstores/music stores becomes reality one day, we will miss out.

I mean, have you ever spent a few hours wandering around a bookstore? Exploring covers and reading bookjackets looking for your next great read?

I know I have.

Have you ever made a bee-line for a bookstore on the day your favorite author’s book releases, the excitement bubbling up inside your chest making the whole experience even more fun?

I know I have.

Have you ever stumbled across a small independent bookstore and yearned to curl up on a chair with the rain pitter pattering on the roof above you and simply read for hours?

I know I have.

I’m glad there are alternative reading venues out there these days. Anything that gets people reading is A-Okay in my book. But I have to tell you, there is so much wonder and joy and memories tied to books and bookstores that I hope  they never go away.

So tell me, what are some of your all-time favorite bookstores? Mine are easy–Borders in St. Peters, MO (a casualty of the company’s filing last week) thanks to the amazing folks I worked with…many of whom became dear friends, and Main Street Books in St. Charles, MO  because it’s exactly what a traditional bookstore should be.

Lose yourself in a bookstore this weekend. You won’t regret it.

~Elizabeth

When Setting Becomes Real

I just finished reading a book for a rather prestigious genre-based contest I’m judging. While I can’t talk about the book in specific terms (judging is still underway), I can say this–the book had a great sense of place. There were times when the setting was so vivid, I truly felt as if I was there…right beside the characters. At times I could even hear the sounds that were mentioned, feel the sensations that were described.

I love when that happens in a book, don’t you?

So tell  me, what are some books you remember reading where the setting was so real, so artfully described that you could see it as plainly as if you were there, too?

~Elizabeth

Fold It and Go

I’m serving as a judge for a rather prestigious genre contest at the moment. I received my box of entries the other day and I’m looking forward to the next few weeks (really, it doesn’t get much better then a box of free reading material from some great talent).

Anyway, while I’m not at liberty to discuss the books I’m judging, or even the categories I’ve been assigned, I can say I’m impressed. I’m several chapters into my first entry and I’ve already dog-earred a few pages.

Huh?

When I’m reading something I think is really good, I have a habit of turning over the top corner of the page in honor of a particular sentence or paragraph that spoke to me. It could be the way the author describes a place, the way they word an emotion, or simply a particularly funny piece of dialogue. It doesn’t really matter what it is, it just matters that it grabbed me.

Now that I think about it, I rarely do anything with the dog-earred pages once I’m done with the book. I don’t tend to revisit it, either for myself or to read aloud to someone else. But, for some reason, I feel the need to mark the page on which I smiled, or paused to ponder and/or absorb. 

Do any of you do that? Or am I just odd?

~Elizabeth

Card, Optional

I started thinking the other day about the library I used to go to as a child. It’s been years, and I mean years, since I’ve stepped foot in this particular building. But you know what? I can still hear the creak of the stairs (it was an old building), and remember snippets of the building, the shelves.

I can remember the library in the town where I lived for the second half of my childhood. I remember lots of windows and natural light, the white shelves, the carpet, and the quiet. It was a very quiet library.

And then I remember a library in North Carolina that I visited with some fellow authors two years ago. They had a children’s room that was amazing. The walls, the ceiling, the feel of the place all done to be like a treehouse. It was so very, very cool. It made me feel as if Tori Sinclair, my main character in the Sewing Circle Series, had been there, working her magic like she does in the books.

These days, my library is an old building again. With long narrow aisles, occasional squeaks, and that feeling that you’re somewhere very special.

Now tell  me about your library (or the one you most vividly remember).

~Elizabeth

Tried and True

Every once in a while, I reach past my To Be Read pile and opt, instead, to pick up a tried and true favorite. In those cases, I know exactly what’s going to happen. I know who dies. I know who did it. I know what happens in the end. Yet, I still pick them up with as much excitement and anticipation as I do any of the titles I’ve yet to crack open.

I suppose it’s a little bit about comfort–wanting something to be as you remember it. Maybe some of it is just liking what you like and needing a little dose of that once in a while.

Whatever the reason, though, I suspect we all have a few of those books just as we have a few of those movies. I don’t care how many times I’ve seen Housesitter, Overboard, Devil Wears Prada, A Few Good Men, Pretty Woman, or 27 Dresses. Sometimes I’m simply in the mood to watch one (or all) of them. And when I do, I love them as much as ever.

This week, I’m reaching past my TBR and grabbing my very favorite book. The one with the yellowed pages and tattered cover.  It’s been a long time since we’ve spent a few hours together and it’s long overdue.

So tell me, what are some of your tried and true favorites (both in movies and in books). And when was the last time you spent time together?

~Elizabeth

Under the Tree

I must know. Did you get any books for Christmas? If so, what’d you get?

I didn’t get any.

Must rectify that.

~Elizabeth

Calling In

I’m taking a day off, today.

I’ll be back tomorrow.

~Elizabeth

In Your Hands

Busy, busy, busy. That’s what I am today. So, let’s keep it simple, shall we?

What are you reading now?

~Elizabeth

P.S. For those of you looking for a clue for the Twelve Days of Bookmas Contest put on by my agency, the setting of these stories is very Thomas Kincaid-ish.

A Can’t Miss Read No Matter What Your Age

I love the holiday season. Love. It.

I love the decorations. I love the music. I love the excitement in the air. I love the overall aura of kindness.

But I also love the holiday stories…

You know, the stories of kindness and hope that have lasted for decades. I like them on the television screen (Rudolph, Miracle on 34th, etc.), and I like them in books (Little House Christmas stories–remember the mitten tree??–A Christmas Carol, etc.).

This year, though, I find myself thinking about a picture book that I used to read to my children. You Are Special isn’t a holiday book but it comes with all the hope and love of a holiday story. If you have kids (or grandkids), I give this book ten thumbs up (trust me, it’s worth borrowing a few thumbs for that rating). Read it with them, out loud. And see if it doesn’t bring tears to your eyes the way it did (and still does) mine.

It’s a story we can all use in our life, regardless of age.

So how about you? What’s your favorite holiday (or warm and fuzzy) book?

~Elizabeth

Reading Everything and Anything

Looking back, my love of reading started early.

I read the usual suspects that most kids like to read, but I also read other things–cereal boxes, billboards, signs, you name it.

When it came to cereal boxes, I loved to read them out loud…as if I was one of those voices I heard on the commercials. Billboards, I tended to read quietly. Signs depended on my mood at the time.

Today I still do the same.

I ride a subway in the city, I’m reading every add.

Buses that go by? Same.

Billboards? Ditto.

Lately, I’ve been getting a kick out of t-shirts and bumper stickers…

Last week, a former student of mine (I taught a basics in fiction writing class at a community college a few years ago) sent a picture of a t-shirt he found. It said, Be Careful Or You’ll End Up In My Novel.

Love that one.

A few days ago, while meeting blog reader Dru for lunch, I wandered into the NBC store in Rockefeller Center. I was immediately drawn to the Seinfeld t-shirts, securing the A Festivus For The Rest Of Us t-shirt for myself.

And, of course, there are the bumper stickers that make me chuckle while I’m driving…

PETA (People Eating Tasty Animals–sorry all you Vegans out there but that’s funny).

If You Can Read This, You’re Under Forty (written in small, tiny print).

Cute, huh?

So tell me, any t-shirts or bumper stickers that have made you laugh?

~Elizabeth