The New York Times Notable Books 2008

Looking at the 100 Notable Books of 2008 as compiled by the New York Times, I was struck by several key omissions (of course), but also by how several of the books' authors had visited our store in the past year. Going down the list, which is presented alphabetically by author name and divided into fiction and non-fiction:

• Charles Bock, Beautiful Children, February 20
  
• Joseph O'Neill, Netherland, June 25
• Leonard Mlodinow, The Drunkard's Walk, June 11
• Helene Cooper, The House at Sugar Beach, September 22
• David Carr, The Night of the Gun, August 19
• Germain Greer, Shakespeare's Wife, April 16 (event was canceled)

In case you're wondering, I haven't read many of the books on the list (and one of those that I did, I didn't really care for). But I think that's encouraging, to know that there are still so many great books yet to be read. I'm a glass-half-full-type when it comes to that.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's been quiet around here, I know. I've got a lot going on, big things are brewing, etc. Anyway, regular dispatches from Planet Vroman's will resume after Thanksgiving. In the meantime, William S. Burroughs.



Via This Isn't Happiness.

It's Friday

Be honest -- you're groggy at work today because you went to a midnight screening of Twilight, right? I knew it. To go with your fourth cup of coffee, here are the links:

• This site is interesting. You can get a book recommendation based on your preferred level of happiness/sadness, violence/no violence, sex/no sex. I wanted something that was violent, sexy, and happy. It recommended God's Spy, by Juan Gomez Jurado.

• "...bad books can be almost as instructive as good books. They show you what fiction looks like when it's malfunctioning, when all its wiring is hanging out." Stuart Evers, quickly becoming my favorite of the Guardian book bloggers, on what bad literature has to teach us.

• Long, but worthwhile round table discussion about advertising in the age of a billion screens.

• And finally, our most recent moment in the sun:

Enjoy your weekend.

It's Thursday Afternoon

And that can mean only one thing...links!

• Via the Book People blog (one of the great indie stores in the world), comes the story of Lauren Myracle's book ttyl, which has been removed from the Round Rock, TX middle school library for being "vulgar." You know what I've just noticed, it's always the mothers who lead the charge to ban books, never the fathers. Why is that? Are the fathers just not as involved?

• n+1 on Bolano and the American practice of canonizing one foreign writer each decade (W.G. Sebald in the 90s, Bolano in the 00s).

• Finally the backlash against the stainless-steel-sub-zero-fridge-granite-counter-tops-fancy-tile-kitchen has begun. It is led by French Country Kitchens, and the NY Times takes note.

• Galleycat has excellent coverage of the National Book Awards, including video interviews with poetry winner Mark Doty and non-fiction winner Annette Gordon-Reed.

Pasadena Announces One City One Story for 2009

Pasadena has announced its choice for 2009 One City One Story. This year's book will be Luis Alberto Urrea's novel The Hummingbird's Daughter. According to Publishers Weekly:

"[Urrea] fashions an astonishing novel set against the guerrilla violence of post–Civil War southwestern border disputes and incipient revolution. His brilliant prose is saturated with the cadences and insights of Latin-American magical realism and tempered by his exacting reporter's eye and extensive historical investigation. The book is wildly romantic, sweeping in its effect, employing the techniques of Catholic hagiography, Western fairy tale, Indian legend and everyday family folklore against the gritty historical realities of war, poverty, prejudice, lawlessness, torture and genocide. Urrea effortlessly links Teresita's supernatural calling to the turmoil of the times, concealing substantial intellectual content behind effervescent storytelling and considerable humor."

I think it's nice to see the city recognize its rich Latino heritage, although I haven't read the book yet. What do people think of the choice? Has anybody read it already? Who's planning to?

According to the Pasadena Star News, Urrea will give a reading at the new Pasadena Convention Center on April 5.

How Dorky Am I?

I am at home obsessively refreshing my twitter feed as sarahw live-tweets from the National Book Award presentation ceremony. So far, the winners are:

Young People's Fiction: Judy Bundell
Poetry: Mark Doty
Non-Fiction: Annette Gordon Reed (and it's her birthday today!)

And I just found out that Peter Metthiessen has won the fiction prize for the revised version of three books he wrote and published years ago. Expect the blogosphere to explode tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, I need to get a life.

"I dig your style, MS, for real, for real."

From Kottke.org comes this utterly confounding footage of recent Vroman's guest Martha Stewart making cognac mashed potatoes with, yep, Snoop Dog. For shizzle. You will need to use your mental to understand it.

This Was a Pizza Hut, Now It's All Covered with Daisies

A few weeks back, I heard an interesting report on NPR about what happens when big box retailers like Walmart and Best Buy abandon their stores for bigger stores. In one town in Kentucky, this has happened several times (Apparently Walmart is a bit like a hermit crab, abandoning its shell for a larger one every so often), leaving the town with a couple of big ugly buildings with lots of parking.

Today on Slate, there's a fascinating slide show of how some of these buildings have been reused. For instance, this used to be a Walmart:

Equal Rights for Characters

A sign from Saturday's "No on Prop 8" rally at City Hall in Los Angeles.

Buy Books This Holiday Season!

I've said before that books make great gifts, and now there's a blog dedicated to that very notion. Some bloggers have banded together to form Books for the Holidays. At their site, you can get gift recommendations, wish list ideas, and even suggest a gift.

In the spirit of the season, I thought I'd offer up my holiday wish list (Note: My wife already surprised me with one book this year, Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which I'll be reading next).

Watchmen, by Alan Moore
Everybody says this is amazing, so I'm hoping to read it before the movie comes out.

The Devil We Know, by Robert Baer
When Robert Baer talks, I listen. His first two books, in addition to being very informative, are really entertaining. I can't wait for this one, which focuses on Iran.

Venus Drive, by Sam Lipsyte
I've written about Sam Lipsyte a bunch of times on this blog, but I've never been able to find this book. Somebody who really likes me could do much worse than find this book for me.

In the Drink, by Kate Christensen
I've been lazy in not ordering this for myself. Maybe somebody else will be more assertive than I've been for myself.

Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
Yeah, me and everybody else this year. Major anticipation for this one.

That's just a few things I'd like to get this year. What are you dying to have someone buy for you?

Great ShakeOut

After participating in the Great ShakeOut, a statewide earthquake preparedness training session, Vroman's is now prepared for a major earthquake. At ten a.m. this morning, everyone took time to imagine what they would do if a 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit the area. We know where to hide, where our emergency supplies are, where our flashlights are. Should the earthquake hit, we are ready. For my part, I practiced saying "Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod" over and over again while waving my arms like a lunatic. I've even perfected my high-pitched terrified shriek, so I'm good to go.

The best part of being in a bookstore during an earthqauke is that we have a lot of reading material. Personally, if I'm trapped under my desk for three days, I'm going to use that time to read Robert Bolano's 2666, upon which the New York Times heaped massive praise this morning. What would you like to read if you were trapped under your desk, in an elevator, or in a subway car during a massive earthquake?

Mid-Week Crisis: The Links

After the internet took the day off yesterday, it is back and full of good stuff today:

• Vroman's favorite David Benioff has a new pilot at HBO. It is an adaptation of the George R.R. Martin fantasy series Song of Ice and Fire.

• Vying for the title of hottest book this season, Malcom Gladwell's Outliers gets Boinged.
  

• The non-profit small press Dzanc Books is hosting an online write-a-thon this Saturday to raise funds. Consider supporting your favorite writer.

• A tiny bit of controversy at the National Book Awards: Can Peter Matthiessen win the award for a (3) book(s) he already published (sort of) years ago?
  

Back tomorrow with actual commentary, if I can muster the strength.

A Breakfast of Links

It was a busy weekend in the cyberworld, and Vroman's got a decent share of the attention. Interesting hypertext links follow:

• Martha Stewart was here yesterday. It was a packed event, full of enthusiastic fans. I spotted Martha as she walked into the store, and then again as she walked out. In between, I was outside with the folks waiting to get in. The event has been written up a few places, including here and here.

• Speaking of Vroman's events, here's a thoughtful post about our recent panel on independent bookselling. The panel turned into a forum on bookstores, e-books, and new media, all subjects of interest to me.

• Speaking of digital books and whatnot, much is happening on that front the past few weeks. Google has jumped into the fray, and now the New York Times is taking note. In today's LA Times, Beau Friedlander asks if we can all just get along? And this guy wouldn't have bought a Kindle if he'd already had his iPhone.

• Stuart Evers has an excellent piece on the Guardian blog called "You Don't Get to Choose Your Literary Heroes." He describes his affection for George Orwell's character Gordon Comstock: "It was enervating, and nasty and that was good. I saw nothing of Comstock's borderline monomania, but instead saw a rage and a bitterness that I wanted to share."
  

Friday Already?

This week seemed to fly by for me. Some bookish things happened. A brief breakdown follows:

• Michael Crichton passed away this week. He's remembered here and here.

• Tony Hillerman passed away last week. He was among my father's favorite authors. He's remembered here.
  

• Following in the grand tradition of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac have a new book out.

• Not at all related to books but utterly, utterly cool. Via Kottke.org.

• My Twitter feed is finally paying dividends, as Sarah Rettger tipped me off to the utter insanity that is the cover of Stephen King's new book, Just After Sunset:
  

I feel like I'm spinning when I look at that cover. Not good. Have a good weekend everybody. I'll be spending my Sunday with Martha Stewart!

The Impact of the Obama Presidency Already Felt

On our newsstand, that is. Yesterday, we sold out of every newspaper. Not every major newspaper, or every local newspaper. Every newspaper. And we weren't alone. We got a stack of yesterday's LA Times delivered this morning, so that's back in stock, but now we've got the special editions of People, Newsweek, etc. If yesterday was any indicator, they won't be around for long. Get em while they're hot!

Because There Will Be a Tomorrow

Vroman's will be hosting an event tomorrow evening. Yes, there is life after the election. We'll be screening the documentary film Paperback Dreams, a movie about two Northern California independent bookstores Cody's and Kepler's. Paperback Dreams recently aired on PBS, and we are lucky enough to have the filmmaker, Alex Beckstead, with us to discuss it.

Alex will be moderating a panel discussion on the state of independent bookselling in Los Angeles. The panel will feature Tyson Cornell of Book Soup, Emily Pullen of Skylight, and, um, me. If you're in the area, we would love to see you. Stop by the store and take part in the conversation.

Wednesday, November 5, 6 pm


Paperback Dreams Trailer from abeckstead on Vimeo.

For the Polling Lines, A Novel About a Coup

If you haven't voted yet, please do. As long lines and lengthy waits are the norm this year, I recommend you bring a book. In fact, I recommend you bring Blood Kin, by Ceridwen Dovey, a beautiful, sensual novel about a coup in a nameless country. Narrated by several nameless characters, including the deposed president's cook, his barber, and his portraitist, the novel covers the dizzying, ambiguous early days of the new regime. These three characters seem innocent, but we learn that this might not be so.

I read this a few days ago, and was floored by its lush, descriptive language, its effortless sexiness, and the subtle turns of plot. It's a fairly short novel, and if you're voting in Virginia or another hotly contested state, you might be able to finish it in the line. Plus, I think it's fitting that when we are peacefully changing governments, we read about the alternative.

Back to Books

A few book-related links, before we all descend into election mania:

• Adam Kirsh on the epic 2666 at Slate.

• A list of books that take place on a single day. I've read two of them - Seize the Day and Ulysses.

• Speaking of Seize the Day, the New York Times on Saul Bellow's neighborhood, Humboldt Park.
  

• Viewing our current recession through the lens of Depression-era literature.
  

• Bruce Weber on the late Milton Katselas, acting teacher, director, and part owner of Skylight Bookstore in Los Feliz.

By the way, if you stop by Vroman's and show your "I Voted" sticker tomorrow, you can get a nifty 10% off your purchase. See you at the polls.

Looking for Something a Little Out There This Holiday Season?

...Come to Vroman's. Yes, we are a bookstore, and yes, books make great gifts (It really says something that even though I get a big discount on books and occasionally have books sent to me for free I'm still asking for some books this Christmas), but if you think we're about nothing else, you, good reader, would be mistaken.

This holiday season, we're branching out and selling a few truly extraordinary gifts for that mysterious "person who has everything." As I think these gifts are pretty amazing, I thought I'd highlight a few of them here on the blog. For a complete list of extraordinary gifts, click here and here.

A Trip for 2 to the Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX
The Texas Book Festival attracts authors and readers from around the world and brings them together in the Capitol for a weekend of literary events, readings, and happenings. And when I say Capitol, I mean Capitol, as many of the events are held in the Texas State Capitol Building. Now that is cool.

Our package includes:

Round-trip airfare for 2 from Los Angeles to Austin, TX
Three nights at the Sheraton in Downtown Austin
All-inclusive admission to the Texas State History museum (Includes IMAX and Texas Spirit Theater)
Dinner for Two at Lambert's Restaurant (Seriously, click on that link. Does that place not look awesome?)
Admission to the Texas Book Festival is free
Price: $4,200

The Oxford English Dictionary (20 Vol. set in 5 boxes)
A few years ago, when I was working in a different independent bookstore in LA, a country music and acting star came into the store and asked if we had the Oxford English Dictionary (He called it the OED, so you knew he was serious). I showed him the little two volume set we had for sale near the back counter. "No," he said. "I want the real deal. The 20 volume set." Turns out we had one down in the basement. He shelled out the $1200 (he was buying it as a gift for an actress friend of his) pulled up around the back of the store, threw the boxes into the bed of his beat up pickup truck, and drove off.

Now you can be that country music star. The Oxford English Dictionary will stop publishing its famous multi-volume print edition, so now is the time to get one.
Price: $1195

Editing Services from Edan Lepucki
If you're a fiction writer, you know that good, honest criticism is hard to come by. That's why Vroman's is offering the critical services of Edan Lepucki, author, writing instructor, and graduate of the famed University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. For $150, Ms. Lepucki will read your short story, give you line-by-line criticism, and sit down with you for a one-on-one critique. For $1000, Edan will work with you extensively on your novel: we're talking multiple meetings and extensive written critiques. If you're looking for a gift for an aspiring writer this season, this is what you ought to get.

Trip to Book Expo America in New York City
BookExpo America is the industry's premier trade show. Held annually, this is an invaluable opportunity to get a sneak peek inside the world of bookselling at the biggest national bookselling event of the year.

Our package includes:

*Roundtrip Airfare for 2 (includes car services into the city)
*Hotel (Thurs Night to Monday Morning)
*3-Day Pass to BEA for 2 (where you'll have somebody from Vroman's showing you around)
*Tickets to attend Saturday’s Book and Author luncheon, Sunday’s Book and Author Breakfast,
and the Saturday night fundraiser
*Participate in the Algonquin Roundtable Walking tour or Greenwich Village Literary Pub Crawl
*Dinner for two at Le Bernardin & signed copy of Eric Ripert's book, On the Line.
Price: $4350

Dream Job
Spend a day behind the scenes at Vroman's Bookstore. You can sit in on a book buyer's meeting with publisher's sales rep. You can recommend books on the sales floor and write shelf talkers in praise of your favorite books. You can work an author signing or book event, hanging out with the author before the event begins, and helping to run the show once it starts. (I guess this means I'm living the dream, since I do all this stuff, and they actually pay me for it).
Price: $100

Trip to Pulitzer prize winning author Larry McMurtry’s Archer City, TX
Few places are as book-lover friendly as Archer City, TX. Home to Larry McMurtry, the town boasts two world class antiquarian bookstores, as well as the famous Royal Theater (featured in the film The Last Picture Show).

Our package includes:

* Roundtrip airfare for 2
* Two nights at the Lonesome Dove Inn (breakfast included)
* Tickets to the Late Week Lazy Boy Supper Club at the Royal Theater (dinner and show)
* Appointment at Three Dog Books (+ 20% off coupon)
Price: $3000

Space Adventure Orbital Spaceflight
Yes, you read that correctly. Vroman's Bookstore is, to my knowledge, the only bookstore in the world that can send you into space. The Orbital Spaceflight is, forgive me, an out of this world gift (I'm ducking now). For the low, low, bargain basement price of $35-45 million, we will fly you to Russia where you'll board a Soyuz rocket, fly to the International Space Station, and spend the next ten days orbiting the earth with scientists aboard the Space Station.

Again, these are just a few of the amazing gifts we're offering this holiday season. And if you don't have $3000 lying around this year, we've still got a whole lot of books, and they make pretty great gifts, too. If you'd like to purchase any of these gifts, just give us a call at (626) 449-5320. We'll be happy to fit you for your cosmonaut suit.