Kittens at the Bookstore

Written by Sandy

For a lot of people--and I'm one of them--books and cats fit together. That, and a good cup of tea. It's not unusual to find a kitty curled up in some cozy spot in a bookstore; even a library might become a home for a cat. So, when Linda agreed to take in two kittens, there was some excitement at The Galaxy Bookshop about the possibility of adopting a bookstore cat. For a little while, at least, they've found a home in our bank vault, and they are the most adorable things you'd want to see.

The benefits are obvious (at least, to a cat lover): Cats are good company and, on a bad day, can be therapeutic; they attract other cat lovers; a cat would catch any stray rodents or flies that might find their way in; cats are good lap warmers (and it does get chilly in here during the winter.)

Of course, there are also draw-backs, the most obvious of which is that there are  plenty of people who are allergic to cats. We certainly don't want to make those people uncomfortable about visiting the bookstore. We really don't want to cause an unsuspecting customer to have a serious reaction, such as an asthma attack.

I have to admit, it's a bit hard to be objective when the matter at hand is a kitten--they're just SO CUTE! Just look at those tiny faces!



Despite the overwhelming cuteness, our goal is to provide a welcoming place for people to spend time browsing and buying books, and that gives a lot of weight to the "con" side of the debate. Still, I keep hoping to discover the secret to having a cat that won't irritate allergic customers. How do other stores handle that? (Besides adopting a hairless cat, that is. I have a feeling those wouldn't do well here during the winter.)

We had a number of responses to our polls about a bookstore cat, both at the store and on Facebook. If you'd like to weigh in, or have any suggestions as to how we might be able to have a cat and give all of our customers a happy bookstore experience, please share!

Wallace Stegner Weekend

Robert Gray--a bookseller at Northshire Books and columnist for Shelf Awareness--wrote a great article last week about the upcoming Wallace Stegner Centennial weekend at Highland Lodge. With his permission, we're reprinting the article here.

Vermont Foliage Season with Wallace Stegner

A sound like a big crowd a good way off, excited and shouting, getting closer. We stand up and scan the empty sky. Suddenly there they are, a wavering V headed directly over our hilltop, quite low, beating southward down the central flyway and talking as they pass. We stay quiet, suspending our human conversation until their garrulity fades and their wavering lines are invisible in the sky.

They have passed over us like an eraser over a blackboard, wiping away whatever was there before they came.

"Oh, don't you love them!" Charity says. "Sometimes when we stayed late in Vermont, or went up late for the color, we'd see and hear them like that, coming over Folsom Hill. Someday you've got to visit us there."

Maybe it’s just the time of year, but I recalled that passage from Crossing to Safety (not word-for-word, of course. I had to look it up for the exact quotation) when I heard about the upcoming Wallace Stegner Centennial. This "literary weekend" will be held during foliage season, September 25-27, at the Highland Lodge, Greensboro, Vt., a town where Stegner often summered and the model for scenes in his celebrated novel. Featured speakers include Philip L. Fradkin, author of Wallace Stegner and the American West, and Stegner's agent, Carl Brandt, of Brandt and Hochman.

Galaxy Bookshop, Hardwick, Vt., is one of the co-sponsors and will sell books at the event. Owner Linda Ramsdell notes: "Stegner's works, especially Crossing to Safety, do still sell well, and better because of the local reference points. An earlier novel, Second Growth, also has many local reference points. Wallace Stegner was a great supporter of the Galaxy Bookshop, and in an earlier iteration of community collaboration, we were fortunate to sell books at the Greensboro Public Library when they presented him with an award."

Anne T. Molleur Hanson, organizer of the celebration, explains that the genesis was "threefold." Four years ago, the inn hosted a Reading Greensboro weekend, with a focus on Crossing to Safety and the belief that "acknowledging the many writers like Wallace Stegner who have summered or spent time in Greensboro (or even live here year round, like Anne Stuart) would be a wonderful way to celebrate Greensboro's literary legacy." In addition to Stegner, John Gunther and Margaret Mead are among the noted authors who called this village of fewer than 1,000 people their Green Mountain home away from home.

"Our Crossing to Safety night was well attended, especially by folks from here," Hanson adds. "After the event, many people--several from afar--remarked on their hope that we would do another such event sometime."

About six months ago, Hanson and Willie Smith, one of the Highland Lodge innkeepers, discussed hosting another literary weekend focusing specifically on Stegner, "who is known as a Western writer, but who had a clear fondness for the northeast, particularly Greensboro, to which his and wife Mary's friends Peg and Phil Gray (portrayed as Charity and Sid Lang in Crossing to Safety) had introduced the Stegners in the late 1930s/early 1940s. My interest in hosting a Stegner event was in part due to my nearly 20-year long regret that although I grew up here, I never attended a Wallace Stegner reading, which he offered during many of the summers he was here."

The final piece of the puzzle fell into place when Hanson learned that Philip Fradkin, "who had stayed here while researching his biography on Stegner, was, like me, a graduate of Williams College. I e-mailed Philip and asked if he would join us for a literary weekend celebrating Wallace Stegner. Philip agreed. He suggested we find sponsors to help us with the event. At that point I contacted our friend, neighbor, and favorite independent bookseller Linda Ramsdell, to ask if the Galaxy Bookshop would like to co-sponsor. Linda was enthusiastic and immediately on-board."

Ramsdell adds that the "Hardwick area is becoming a model for ways that businesses and organizations work together to do things that no one entity can do alone. Attention has focused on the agricultural economy, but there are many examples outside of that sector too. Especially in this economy, the importance and benefits of collaborating are extremely tangible. The other aspect of the Galaxy area, which differs from many cities with local alliance organizations, is that it is a small place where people know each other and are friends. We have a vested interest in each other's viability and success. It is very easy to see how money stays in our area and benefits accrue when we work with each other."--Robert Gray (column archives available at Fresh Eyes Now)

Is this game tax deductible?

I think that it's safe to say that people who love books are people who love words. For all you word junkies today, some excellent free word games you can play at your desk. On your lunch break, of course.

Although, if you play Free Rice during work hours, it seems like you and/or your company should get some sort of tax write-off. After all, you're earning grains of rice to feed the hungry!

Less altruistic is Must Pop Words, which pits the player in a race against an ever increasing shower of letters.

Lexulous (the game formerly known to Facebook users as Scrabulous until Hasbro sued for copyright infringement) continues as a fair imitation of Scrabble (TM), and is still free. You need to create an account in order to play against other people online and save games, but if you'd rather not have yet another user name and password to remember, you can choose to play solitaire or against the computer in a practice game.

Of course, after realizing how popular the Scrabble-esque game was, Hasbro did launch its own, official Scrabble application for Facebook. (I have to admit, being able to play Scrabble with friends and family in other states is the real reason I joined Facebook.)

From one of the ultimate authorities on language, Merriam-Webster's website offers a number of fun, quick, and of course free word games.

Happy Spelling!

P.S. And now for a commercial announcement: The Galaxy Bookshop now carries Bananagrams! It's a portable, simple word game that people of all vocabulary levels can play together. Come by the store to play a demo game or two with one of us anytime.

Book Review: Graceling

Graceling, by Kristin Cashore

On the back cover of Graceling, you'll read a snippet of a review comparing the book to Twilight, and of course the publisher would want to appeal to the legion of Twilight fans who are hungry for something new to read, now that Stephenie Meyers' series is finished. If I were to compare this book to anything in the pop culture consciousness, however, I'd lean towards Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yes, it is a fantasy novel with a romantic vein, but this is above all a book about a young woman who is strong and independent and who wants to empower other girls to take care of themselves.

Gracelings are indentifiable by their eyes, which are of two different colors, and each Graceling has his or her own unique abilities. Some are more mundane than others--they can range from an affinity for cooking to psychic knowledge of weather patterns. Katsa's Grace manifested itself when, at eight years old, she killed an uncle who was making inappropriate advances toward her. Since then, Katsa has been employed by another uncle, King Randa of the Midlunds, as his personal assasin and enforcer. She has trained and honed her superhuman skill for killing and maiming until she can take out an army of men on her own.

Although she is forced to deliver horrible and often unfair punishments to her uncle's subjects, the injustices Katsa sees all around her lead her to form a secret Council that works to save victims of tyranny and abuses of all kinds. On one such mission, rescuing an elderly prince from the dungeons of a neighboring kingdom, Katsa meets a stranger who will change her life and everything she believes about herself and her Grace.

Prince Po of the island kingdom of Lienid is also Graced with fighting abilities, and he is searching for his grandfather--the same prince that Katsa helped to rescue from prison. Together, Po and Katsa seek to discover who kidnapped the elder Lienid prince and for what dark purpose.

I was thrilled to read this book, with a heroine whose strength and independent spirit does not give way at the entrance of a handsome, romantic young man. Though she doesn't always understand it, Katsa embraces her strength, protecting others and teaching them to protect themselves. The men she allows close to her are not intimidated by her power but respect and love her for that very strength. This is a book I am very happy to recommend to young women--and young men--looking for a story full of action, adventure, and romance, with characters they can cheer for and admire.

[Note: Graceling has just been published in paperback. Fans will be eager to read Cashore's next book, Fire, which is about different characters, but still set in Katsa's world.]

[Note, part II: Check out Kristin Cashore's website and blog for more information about the author and her books and books-in-progress!]

With my glass half-full

There are pessimists who will note, with some pride, that their view of the world ensures that they are never disappointed when things go wrong and often surprised when things go better than expected. I prefer to be optimistic, but as it turns out, a bit of pessimistic planning ahead might have been a good thing this week.

As some of you may know first (or second) hand, our anticipated event with Bernd Heinrich this past Tuesday didn't take place because the author was unfortunately unaware that he had a speaking engagement at The Galaxy Bookshop at all.

It was, certainly, an uncomfortable situation for everyone involved. For me, it was also a learning opportunity.

Lesson #1: ALWAYS re-confirm events with the author or publicist near the date of an event. The publisher may have a whole department working on author tours, and the event may be posted to the official website, but that doesn't mean that things can't slip between the cracks.

Lesson #2: Be prepared for contigencies. Within minutes after I made the announcement that Bernd would not be attending, I began thinking of ways in which I could have softened the blow and created some organization for everyone as we worked on our Plan B. Because I didn't get people's contact information, I have to hope that we will be able to reach them through our website, via our email newsletter, here, on Facebook, in advertisements, etc., in order to let them know that....

Lesson #3: Know that there is a way to rectify the situation (i.e. Don't Panic!). The happy outcome of our canceled event is that Bernd  Heinrich made a point of stopping by the following day, on his way to Maine, to sign books for us. We now have a number of signed copies of Summer World and some of Bernd's older books that we'd be happy to exchange for unsigned copies for any of the people who were here on Tuesday evening.

We are also working on rescheduling this event, which will either take place in October or in the spring, when Bernd's next book (Nesting) is published. We will let everyone know as soon as we have a date--and promise (barring emergencies) that we'll get the author to the book signing on time.

One more thing I took away from Tuesday evening--our people are good people. Though it would have been understandable for folks to get angry, annoyed, frustrated, vocal...it didn't happen. At least, they didn't show it. Instead, they were kind and understanding, voicing hopes of meeting Bernd here another time and offering sympathy for the situation we found ourselves in. Some people even helped us fold and stack chairs--a gesture that, on a hot and stuffy night, did not go unappreciated.

So, I will continue to be an optimist, but an optimist with a back-up plan.

Those "lazy" days of summer

How does the week fly by so fast? Here it is, Friday again, and August is halfway over. There's so much to do during these last weeks of summer, as we try to pack in as much activity as possible before vacation is over. On top of that, it looks like we have one of the most gorgeous weekends of the summer ahead!

Here are a few of the events you might want to enjoy, right around our community this weekend:

Circus Smirkus! Final shows of the season are in Greensboro--Saturday, August 15 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, August 16 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. (It's recommended that you get there quite early if you haven't bought tickets in advance--lines can get long.)

The Vermont Philharmonic Pops Concert at the Hardwick Town House--Saturday, August 15, at 7:30 p.m.

Catch folk musicians Rick & Bec at The Music Box in Craftsbury--Saturday, August 15, at 8 p.m.

Enjoy music on the water at Landon Lake Cottage on Caspian--Sunday, August 16, at 7:30 p.m.

And, don't forget, The Galaxy Bookshop has two events coming up next week:

Dinner and book signing with Allison Hooper of Vermont Butter & Cheese--Monday, August 17, 6 p.m. at Claire's Restaurant. Seating is limited, reserve tickets in advance at The Galaxy Bookshop.

Reading and book signing by naturalist Bernd Heinrich--Tuesday, August 18, 7 p.m. at the bookstore. Free, and no reservations necessary.

Have a great weekend!!

We've got 'em, signed!

Wow, Friday just snuck up on me--which is why this post is so late...and brief.

The wonderful Richard Russo very generously agreed to stop by The Galaxy Bookshop today to sign books for us! We have many autographed copies of his new (and very enjoyable) book, That Old Cape Magic, available now. Call (802-472-5533) or email us if you'd like to reserve a copy! We also have signed copies of some of his previous books, including Empire Falls and Bridge of Sighs.

Read an interview with Russo at the Wall Street Journal or listen to his NPR interview (and read an excerpt from the book) on  Morning Edition.

The Washington Post printed a great review of the book (I think it sums up everything I thought about it, in better words than I could have found.)