Book Nerd Returns; Link-Mad Monday; Preview
The ALP (whom I will continue to refer to as such, since he's still my Adorably Literate Partner as well as my legally wedded spouse) and I have just returned from our honeymoon -- a blissfully lazy week of good food and drink, ocean air, and of course, reading. Here you see the Book Nerd in vacation mode, and one of the books that made the honeymoon cut.
We had a totally sweet and wonderful wedding -- our family and friends pitched in with cakes and decorations, and we danced the night away in our little Brooklyn church hall.
I'm just coming back to earth, and I feel like I'm way out of the loop on happenings in the book world. But here are a couple of exciting links I've managed to glean from my inbox, for at least a token Link-Mad Monday.
*In case you haven't noticed, it's Harry Potter Season. Along with the latest movie installation already out, the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out at midnight on Friday, July 20. The New York Times has this article about Potter Parties, and the ABA reports on party plans for indie bookstores across the country. My own bookstore's twist is the Harry Potter Party for Grownups -- referring not to academic scholarship, as in the Toronto event, but to the availability of "magic punch" for those over 21 and a very grown-up DJ. Should be fun!
* I'm so blown away by the genius of the new project of Larry Portzline, founder of the National Council on Bookstore Tourism: a 10-week tour scheduled for next April, visiting 200 bookstores in 10 weeks for a "Why Indie Bookstores Matter" tour! Publicity is already building, as you can see by the tour website, and Larry has some ingenious ideas for funding his "quixotic" project. More power to him -- can't wait to hear more about the tour as it develops, and hear about the great ideas about the importance of indies he picks up along the way. Way to go, Larry!
* I'm probably the last to link to it, but Dan Wickett's Emerging Writers Network site has posted the sixth Litblogger E-Panel -- basically a joint interview with several litbloggers, yours truly included. Several of the bloggers I admire also sound off; it's pretty fascinating to get this multi-perspective look at who's blogging and why. BEA, take note for next year's litblogging panels!
* Also interviewed this week: Megan Sullivan of Bookdwarf gives an interview to LitMinds. I have increasing respect for LitMinds interview series and online conversation boards, and it's always interesting to hear what Megan has to say.
* And more cool literary kids in the news: the already much-linked NY Times article on hipster librarians has a front-and-center picture of Jessica Pigza, the totally cool wife of Sean Concannon, our sales rep from Parson Weems. My favorite line from the article: "How did such a nerdy profession become cool — aside from the fact that a certain amount of nerdiness is now cool?" Ha! I feel totally nerdy/cool by association. And more importantly, it's so encouraging to read about another group of young people unashamed about following their passion for books, community, and changing the world.
* Now for a little preview of my preoccupations in the coming weeks and months. I am officially an entrant in the Brooklyn Business Library's Power Up! business plan competition. This awesome hometown project offers expert advice, classes, and the resources of the business library to aspiring entepreneurs hoping to start up small businesses in Brooklyn, and a $15,000 prize for the best business plan submitted by September 14. (One of my favorite -- and super successful! -- Brooklyn restaurants, Bogota, was the first winner.) I work best with a deadline, so I'll be gunning for that date to get all the mountains of information I've accumulated in working order for a viable plan for my Brooklyn independent bookstore. It's going to take up lots of time and mental space, so you may see more business-related content on the blog. I'll still review books and talk about what's going on in the industry as a whole, but I'll be focusing more on the process of preparing to open a bookstore. Hope you like reading about it.
Wednesday I'll talk about the great books I read on vacation. In the meantime, anyone have a great summer read they'd like to share?
We had a totally sweet and wonderful wedding -- our family and friends pitched in with cakes and decorations, and we danced the night away in our little Brooklyn church hall.I'm just coming back to earth, and I feel like I'm way out of the loop on happenings in the book world. But here are a couple of exciting links I've managed to glean from my inbox, for at least a token Link-Mad Monday.
*In case you haven't noticed, it's Harry Potter Season. Along with the latest movie installation already out, the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, comes out at midnight on Friday, July 20. The New York Times has this article about Potter Parties, and the ABA reports on party plans for indie bookstores across the country. My own bookstore's twist is the Harry Potter Party for Grownups -- referring not to academic scholarship, as in the Toronto event, but to the availability of "magic punch" for those over 21 and a very grown-up DJ. Should be fun!
* I'm so blown away by the genius of the new project of Larry Portzline, founder of the National Council on Bookstore Tourism: a 10-week tour scheduled for next April, visiting 200 bookstores in 10 weeks for a "Why Indie Bookstores Matter" tour! Publicity is already building, as you can see by the tour website, and Larry has some ingenious ideas for funding his "quixotic" project. More power to him -- can't wait to hear more about the tour as it develops, and hear about the great ideas about the importance of indies he picks up along the way. Way to go, Larry!
* I'm probably the last to link to it, but Dan Wickett's Emerging Writers Network site has posted the sixth Litblogger E-Panel -- basically a joint interview with several litbloggers, yours truly included. Several of the bloggers I admire also sound off; it's pretty fascinating to get this multi-perspective look at who's blogging and why. BEA, take note for next year's litblogging panels!
* Also interviewed this week: Megan Sullivan of Bookdwarf gives an interview to LitMinds. I have increasing respect for LitMinds interview series and online conversation boards, and it's always interesting to hear what Megan has to say.
* And more cool literary kids in the news: the already much-linked NY Times article on hipster librarians has a front-and-center picture of Jessica Pigza, the totally cool wife of Sean Concannon, our sales rep from Parson Weems. My favorite line from the article: "How did such a nerdy profession become cool — aside from the fact that a certain amount of nerdiness is now cool?" Ha! I feel totally nerdy/cool by association. And more importantly, it's so encouraging to read about another group of young people unashamed about following their passion for books, community, and changing the world.
* Now for a little preview of my preoccupations in the coming weeks and months. I am officially an entrant in the Brooklyn Business Library's Power Up! business plan competition. This awesome hometown project offers expert advice, classes, and the resources of the business library to aspiring entepreneurs hoping to start up small businesses in Brooklyn, and a $15,000 prize for the best business plan submitted by September 14. (One of my favorite -- and super successful! -- Brooklyn restaurants, Bogota, was the first winner.) I work best with a deadline, so I'll be gunning for that date to get all the mountains of information I've accumulated in working order for a viable plan for my Brooklyn independent bookstore. It's going to take up lots of time and mental space, so you may see more business-related content on the blog. I'll still review books and talk about what's going on in the industry as a whole, but I'll be focusing more on the process of preparing to open a bookstore. Hope you like reading about it.
Wednesday I'll talk about the great books I read on vacation. In the meantime, anyone have a great summer read they'd like to share?
Comments
It's such a sumptuous read that will put you in mind of one of those great period films starring Julianne Moore,like Far From Heaven or The Hours.
The HP Party for Grownups sounds like a lot of fun. I'm particularly interested in the conga line--in my head, the booksellers weave their way around the store, handing out books on either side on the sixth beat (da-da-da-do-da-DAH)