Chaucer's Bookstore

India through Mahri's eyes

2010-04-28T04:54:00.000-07:00

Mahri Kerley, owner of Chaucer's Bookstore, spent several weeks taking photographs in India in the fall of 2008. India is a magnificent country, saturated with color and completely overwhelming for all of the senses. Mahri has chosen a dozen of her most vivid images for an exhibition at Indigo Interiors (1323 State Street). The photographs remain for viewing and purchase throughout the month of May.

Two Worlds - Two Views: Two photographic journeys by Mahri Kerley and David Hancock. Mahri Kerley captures the rich texture of life in India through her colorful portraits. David Hancock evokes the graphic beauty of streetscapes and botanicals from Europe and Taos.

Matterhorn - 2010 Literary Event

2010-03-18T04:28:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated release of Karl Marlantes' novel "Matterhorn" is Tuesday March 23rd. This new voice in American literature worked for over 30 years to bring his novel set in Vietnam during the war to readers. Karl Marlantes will visit Chaucer's on April 14th at 7pm. Everybody is strongly encouraged to attend, meet Mr. Marlantes, and pick up a signed copy of one of the most important books of the year. Shelf Awareness conducted an interesting interview with the author. "Matterhorn" is so much more than a "novel of the Vietnam war".

It is a reading experience that you will not soon forget.

Author Karl Marlantes and publisher Morgan Entrekin (great champion of world literature & national treasure) provide some background on the book.

Jason Epstein Revisited

2010-03-02T05:38:00.000-08:00

Robert McCrum presents a refreshing look at publishing in the Guardian that cites Jason Epstein's NY Review article (see below) and emphasizes the fact that reading and writing will remain what they always have been. Is it possible that new devices or delivery systems can fundamentally change that?

By the way, Robert McCrum has a new book due in May - "Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language" - described by the publisher as "a Guns, Germs, and Steel argument based on the power of the word."

Food for Thought

2010-02-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

Jason Epstein, co-founder of "On Demand Books" which sells the Espresso book machine, has written a thoughtful piece on the digital future, and the role of print in that future, in a recent New York Review of Books. The balanced article notes that it is "likely that shops offering carefully chosen inventories of new and used titles, especially books in hard covers, art books, and many kinds of childrens' books which cannot economically be printed on demand will become neighborhood meeting places, while outlets that specialize in hardcover commercial best sellers will continue to do so."

His advice is to patiently await the birth of the digital book network and an enriched world of books, where titles will be more accessible than ever before. There are many unanswered questions regarding gatekeepers, monopoly, and control, and we will be watching with great interest and anticipation. Chaucer's is marching into the future by continuing to do our best at curating a dynamic and interesting inventory, matching readers with books, and serving the community as we have for over 35 years.

Amazon tweaking Macmillan?

2010-02-09T06:24:00.000-08:00

Last Friday evening, Amazon relisted the Macmillan titles after their weeklong freeze. Evidently the new pricing awaits the arrival of the IPad in March. The kindle edition of Kristin Hannah's new "Winter Garden" is available today for $8.24 - even lower than the $9.99, which triggered Macmillan's action. The devaluation of the book continues, and Amazon continues to seek market share while appearing to be the "consumer's" best friend. Amazon's actions have demonstrated the dangers of consolidated power and hopefully the buying public is beginning to see that we need to be careful what we wish for (there may be a higher cost later for low prices now).

Amazon, Neofeudal empires, and the Violence of Financial Capitalism

2010-02-02T21:52:00.000-08:00

According to Publishers Lunch, who is doing a fantastic job of reporting - Amazon listed the new Kristin Hannah ("Winter Garden") kindle edition at $29.99 list/$16.99 selling price with a buy now button. Subsequent to this report at 3:20pm, however, the listing was removed and replaced by the "tell the publisher" you'd like to read this on kindle. There has been no explanation of this yet.

Barnes and Noble lists the e-book at $14.99. This would almost certainly have been a $9.99 for Amazon in the old days (prior to Friday evening). You can avoid all of this hooey and buy the book off of our shelves.

Speaking of books and fundamentally related to above - received new book from MIT Press that analyzes the financial crisis with an economic-philosophical bent. "The Violence of Financial Capitalism" by Christian Marazzi. He speaks of the "fictitious capital" that helped to wreak the havoc - a concept used by our old friend, K. Marx, in his third volume of "Capital". If you like critical theory, you'll like this book (and you might like it if you don't). The book is a very reasonable $12.99.

Also, while speaking of pertinent new titles - "Cornered: The New Monopoly Capitalism and the Economics of Destruction" is well worth investigating. Neofeudalist empires controlling industry and commerce - not for the faint of heart but, if knowledge is power, perhaps it can make a real difference. If nothing else, it provides strange solace. Read it and weep.

Update: Amazon laments Macmillan monopoly

2010-01-31T16:08:00.000-08:00

Amazon's "Kindle Team"released statement Sunday (1/31/10) lamenting the monopoly Macmillan has over their titles and speaks of their "mission."

Publishers Lunch (subscription edition) reports "that Macmillan CEO John Sargent has commented on what happens next between the publisher and Amazon, a first answer to the what kind of timeline "ultimately" means for the restoration of buy buttons:
'We are in discussions with Amazon on how best to resolve our differences. They are now, have been, and I suspect always will be one of our most valued customers.'"

Publishers Lunch (subscription edition) also reports: "Before Amazon posted their announcement about their intention to give in to Macmillan's new terms, we were working on this piece. Even when Amazon removed buy buttons from Macmillan's trade division titles, they kept selling books from Macmillan's Palgrave line. Primarily a scholarly publisher, in recent years Palgrave has also expanded its trade books.

Not only did the buy buttons stay active for the Palgrave trade titles, for those new releases with Kindle editions, Amazon was already selling the ebook versions for the "needlessly high" as they would put it price $15 in many cases.

As we have written many times before, while Amazon creates the impression that all new releases and hardcovers are available in ebook for $9.99 or less, about 30 percent of their offerings have consistently listed above that price point.

(Amazon's policy about Macmillan's educational lines were uneven; WH Freeman and Bedford titles we checked were not available, while some Hayden-McNeil titles were.)"

The New York Times suggests that Amazon blinked. The story is far from over.

Amazon Tantrum with Macmillan

2010-01-31T05:21:00.001-08:00

Amazon has stopped selling apparently all of Macmillan's title s since Macmillan is not acceding to its demand that they sell ebooks at whatever price they wish. Amazon is demonstrating that, when it comes to its own interests, it will deny the consumer at will, until it is satisfied somehow that its demands will be met. Hopefully nobody will be fooled into thinking that this is a consumer friendly move, and it reminds us of the value of independent business. Chaucer's has lots of Macmillan titles on its shelves, and encourages everybody to buy Macmillan from us.

Macmillan in the US is a group of publishing companies held by Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, which is based in Stuttgart, Germany. American publishers include Farrar Straus and Giroux, Henry Holt & Company, W.H. Freeman and Worth Publishers, Palgrave Macmillan, Bedford/St. Martin’s, Picador, Roaring Brook Press, St. Martin’s Press, Tor Books, and Bedford Freeman & Worth Publishing Group.

A Fine Mess and its Books

2010-01-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

The financial mess of the past few years has been a boon for books and below is a sampling of what is currently on our shelves.

Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Too Big to Fail" provides a blow-by-blow account of the crisis and reads like a thriller. Nomi Prins, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs, presents a fascinating look at the culture and practices of Wall Street and the consequences that we now live with. The book, "It Takes a Pillage", coupled with the ongoing prodigious research posted on her website, are critical to understanding and deciphering the mess. John Lanchester, a novelist, lends his talents to understanding the crisis in "IOU: Why Everyone Owes Everyone and No One Can Pay". Dwight Garner handsells the book in the New York Times.

Charles Geisst writes about the marketing of consumer debt in "Collateral Damaged". Alistair Milne takes a scholarly and instructive approach in "Fall of the House of Credit: What went wrong in banking and what can be done to repair the damage". John Gillespie and David Zweig's "Money for Nothing" focuses on corporate boards and their role in the mess.

"This Time is Different": Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff) is a comprehensive historical look at financial crises, and reminds us that short memories can wreak heavy damage.

Finally, Joseph Stiglitz weighs in with "Freefall: America, Free Markets and the Sinking of the World Economy". His analysis of the crisis and the steps taken to address it, provides interesting and important insight to the debate.

We'll be watching in the coming months as Nouriel Roubini, Richard Posner, Roger Lowenstein, Yves Smith, and Simon Johnson and James Kwak arrive on our shelves. It should be a very interesting year.

p.s. "How Markets Fail" by John Cassidy (informative and enlightening.

New Year of Books

2010-01-04T06:03:00.000-08:00

Motoko Rich of the New York Times takes a look at some of the big books due out in January.

We will begin the process of reviewing and ordering the 2010 books and be sharing some of the excitement here. The new Don Deliilo is due in early February and you may want to visit the "Point Omega Media Watch" site for more information.

A first novel - "Matterhorn" by Karl Marlantes - is a literary tour de force (late April or early May) and is copublished by El Leon Literary Arts and Grove Atlantic. It is a riveting novel and a fantastic read. Watch for it!!

Best of 2009

2009-12-04T04:46:00.000-08:00

The best of 2009 lists are appearing everywhere and a "largehearted boy" is aggregating the lists in a single place.

Also - Foreign Policy has a list of books from their top 100 "Global Thinkers".
An interesting collection of books and readers that is worth a look.

National Book Awards

2009-11-23T08:47:00.000-08:00

The National Book Awards were announced on November 18th. Gore Vidal and Dave Eggers received special recognition and Flannery O' Connor's "Complete Stories" was announced as the winner of the poll for "The Best of the National Book Awards" - celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Awards.

For those that love good writing - consider reading one of the "5 under 35" -
"All the Living" by C.E. Morgan - a favorite of 2009. It is an exquisite read.

Weekend Top 5: Best Non-Fiction Ever

2009-07-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

This week we asked Jane to choose her all-time favorite non-fiction books.

1. River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey, by Candice Millard

"I have recommended this book hundreds of times... No one has not enjoyed it! Very gripping."
—Jane

River of Doubt was a runaway bestseller the Christmas after its release, but its appeal is still fresh.

After Teddy Roosevelt lost out to Woodrow Wilson, he set out on an expedition in South America, traveling up an uncharted portion of the Amazon river, known as the "River of Doubt."

2. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

1491 reveals "the Americas before the arrival of the white man," Jane tells us. "It's about the complex and really quite sophisticated civilizations that were here."

3. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan

"The original and most interesting book on the subject,"
—Jane

This book captivated at least half of our staff when it came out, and it's still the perfect starting point for anyone who wants to know more about nutrition or the movement towards organic foods.

"A very interesting book about what we eat and how it's grown," says Jane, summing the matter up just perfectly.

4. Winter World: The Ingenuity of Animal Survival by Bernd Heinrich

"Little tree frogs freeze solid!"

Bernd Heinrich, a naturalist from Vermont, writes his observations about the world around him.

"The heart of the book is how an animal survives the winter in Vermont—they've all developed very complicated, almost magical, systems for dealing with freezing temperatures and very short days," says Jane, following with a highly intriguing factoid she learned from Winter World: "Little tree frogs freeze solid!"

How can you not need to know more about that?

P.S. If you're not quite in the mood for contemplating a harsh winter, fear not—Bernd Heinrich recently released a sequel to Winter World, this time exploring how animals live during the summer. Summer World: A Season of Bounty promises to be just as fascinating, if slighly less chilly.

5. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World by Jack Weatherford

Indian Givers, though it was released in 1989, remains an interesting and relevant read about how much the new world influenced and benefited the rest of the globe.

Jane enjoyed learning about the vital, often-unsung gifts the Americas have given to other cultures, for instance, "sunflowers are the only oil crop that grows in Russia."

4th of July Schedule

2009-07-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know, we'll be closed on Saturday, July 4th.

We'll be open as usual on Sunday, July 5th (9am to 6pm).

Have a great weekend, everyone!

P.S. Our annual Independence Day Sale will be next weekend—Friday, July 10th through Sunday, July 12th. Don't miss the chance to save 20% on your summer reading!

Friday Top 5: Must-Read New Novels

2009-06-26T09:23:00.000-07:00

When it came time to go in search of this week's Friday Top 5, we knew immediately that we must seek out Kathryn & Kerry in order to discover which of the endless number of new novels are actually good.

Here, then, are the five new novels you really ought to read as soon as possible.

1. The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton

...fans of Morton's earlier novel, The House at Riverton or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale will love The Forgotten Garden

Kate Morton is a young Australian author who writes so beautifully that we've been known to fight over who gets to choose her books on our monthly employee picks lists.

In The Forgotten Garden, a woman discovers that her beloved grandmother had a secret past—as a child, she was found abandoned on a ship from England to Australia, with no memory of her past and only a suitcase and a book of illustrated fairy tales to hint at her origins.

We won't spoil the book by telling you more, but we will say that fans of Morton's earlier novel, The House at Riverton or Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale will love The Forgotten Garden.

2. The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is a book about a book, which we always like.

In 1969 Mississippi, a young white woman decides to write—anonymously—about the world of maids & other house help. She collects true stories about the unfair treatment and complicated lives of seventeen black maids, and becomes convinced to become a social activist.

3. Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese

A wonderful saga!

In Ethiopia, a nun dies giving birth to twins, and their alleged father disappears. The orphaned boys are left to be raised by doctors at the hospital where their mother worked and died.

"A wonderful saga!" says Kerry, who also told us the novel contains plenty of intrigue and scandal.

4. Angel's Game, by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

From the author of Shadow of the Wind, this is another novel that takes place in Barcelona against the backdrop of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.

Also available on compact disc.

5. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

We had to put this charming book at the bottom of this list simply because we recommend it so often—we do try to be fair.

In the interest of not going on for pages and pages about the merits of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, we will just tell you it's new in paperback, we hope you'll read it as soon as possible.

Friday Top 5: Young Adult Fiction

2009-06-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Our children's department (located in what used to be the shop next door to Chaucer's) has its own dedicated staff: Lana, Blanca, Rose, and sometimes Jordan and Summers.

When you spend so much time around books for young people, you can't help but become a bit of an expert...

This week, Lana, our teen & young adult literature expert, has listed the very best of the new teen fiction for us.

The Reformed Vampire Support Group
by Catherine Jinks

Think vampires are romantic, sexy, and powerful? Vampires are dead. And unless they want to end up staked, they must stop fanging people, admit their addiction, and join a support group.

A refreshing, funny antidote to ~~the guilty pleasure of~~ intense, doomed romance-y, vampire-themed bestsellers.

If I Stay,
by Gayle Forman

A poignant story about a girl who, after an accident puts her into a coma, spends the down-time reliving the past few days in light of her difficult relationships with her parents and little brother. Soon, the important question becomes clear: will she stay and fight to recover her will to live, or should she let go and slip away?
"Pulls your heart-strings," says Lana.

The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins

We get a lot of people asking us what they should read when they're finished with the Twilight Saga... The Hunger Games is absolutely the right book

Suzanne Collins says the idea for this book is based on the Greek myth of the Minotaur, and the children who were shut inside the labyrinth to feed the monster each year.

Katniss Everdeen is forced to compete against a group of teenagers in a nationally-televised reality show with a twist. In the Hunger Games, contestants aren't voted off the show—they have to fight to win, and only one of them will survive the competition.

Stephenie Meyer (author of Twilight) couldn't put this book down, and neither could we. We get a lot of people asking us what they should read when they've finished the Twilight Saga—they want another addictive, compelling novel to get lost in. Well, if that sounds like you, then The Hunger Games is absolutely the right book for you.

Suzanne Collins hasn't written for teens before The Hunger Games, but her Underland Series is a favorite of the chapter-book set. First book in that series: Gregor the Overlander.

We should also mention—possibly because we've been taking turns staying up far too late to finish the advance reader copy, but we'll deny it if asked—that the sequel to The Hunger Games is due out in September. It's called Catching Fire, and it's every bit as good as the first book.

Hero
by Perry Moore

Life as a superhero is not always easy, especially when you're gay, your father's a has-been, and you haven't even found out what your super-strength is yet.
Lana chose this book, in part, because of its focus on father-son issues.

Killer Pizza,
by Greg Taylor

Mystic Pizza + Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Maybe, but Lana says this is a great book for teen boys (and we know it can be difficult to find just the right book for young men, especially if they're neither Lord of the Rings types nor into gritty modern novels), so we're ignoring the amusing title.

Saturday Top 5 from the Mystery Ladies

2009-06-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here in the store, we each have pet sections to keep up, so each of us becomes an expert in some particular genre.

We all know, for instance, that mystery fans should always be referred to Barbara or Marenda for recommendations—thus, we've dubbed them The Mystery Ladies, and asked them to come up with a list of their favorite new additions to the mystery & suspense aisles.

Top 5 New Mystery & Suspense Novels

Grave Goods, by Ariana Franklin.

Ariana Franklin's third book in the Mistress of the Art of Death series takes us to medieval England. Very gothic, with a great sleuth: Adelia Aguilar, who acts as the 12th-century version of a forensics expert.

First in this series was Mistress of the Art of Death, followed by The Serpent's Tale.

The Bellini Card, by Jason Goodwin.

Another third-in-a-series mystery, The Bellini Card follows the progress of Yashim from the Edgar-winning The Janissary Tree. Set in 1840s Istanbul, this mystery centers upon an art theft.

Aside from The Janissary Tree, Yashim also appears in the second book in this series, The Snake Stone.

Last Child, by John Hart.

This time, Marenda recommends a modern-day mystery, set in North Carolina.

By the same author: Down River (another Edgar winner), and The King of Lies.

The Memory Collector, by Meg Gardiner.

Barbara loves Meg Gardiner, but claims it has nothing to do with Ms. Gardiner hailing from Santa Barbara.

Another of Barb's favorite Meg Gardiner mysteries is The Dirty Secrets Club; for more titles by Meg Gardiner, click here.

Awakening, by S. J. Bolton.

From the cover description:

Clara Benning, a veterinary surgeon in charge of a wildlife hospital in a small English village, is young and intelligent, but nearly a recluse. Disfigured by a childhood accident, she generally prefers the company of animals to people. But when a local man dies following a supposed snakebite, Clara's expertise is needed. She's chilled to learn that the victim's postmortem shows a higher concentration of venom than could ever be found in a single snake—and that therefore the killer must be human.

Of S. J. Bolton, Barb says, "British author. Absolutely wonderful."

From Barb, this is high praise. Honestly.
More from S. J. Bolton here.

Friday Update: Mark Arax, & What Kathryn's Reading

2009-06-12T13:55:00.001-07:00

Two things to mention today...

First, Mark Arax will be at Chaucer's this weekend to sign & discuss his new book West of the West: Dreamers, Believers, Builders, and Killers in the Golden State.

That's at 4pm on Sunday (June 14th).

Second, another staff recommendation, this time from Kathryn (whose good taste is well known by our customers): The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

Next week: Guest blogger G., our returns guy (and long-time clerk).

New Staff Favorites & Bestsellers

2009-06-08T17:58:00.001-07:00

This month's Chaucer's Staff Favorites are up!

Mahri's pick for June is Old Filth,
by Jane Gardam (new in paperback).

See the rest of our recommendations...

(Our latest bestseller lists are up too—thrilling!)

RSS Feed Test

2009-06-08T13:53:00.000-07:00

We're hoping to embed a blog into our home page (much easier than coding everything by hand every time we want to add news) and Facebook... this is a test post.