Tag Archives: books

Cincinnati Tour Of Bookstores

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It’s unclear how many bookstores are actually located in the greater Cincinnati area but we did our darndest to hit as many as possible between Tuesday and Friday.

In case you’re wondering, we made it to fourteen bookstores and a Half Price Books warehouse sale in the Cincinnati area as well as another small store in Lebanon on the way home. That’s a new record for us both.

I suggested we also stop at Wheatberry in Chillicothe Friday but Adam said that might be excessive. We had to draw the line somewhere, he said. Since he’s often the grownup in the relationship and since there was no more room for books in the backseat, we agreed to save Wheatberry for someday when we’ve forgotten how many books were acquired this week. 

Every bookstore has its own vibe. A personality, if you will. While chain locations may look basically the same in terms of branding and display techniques, even they are different from location to location. 

Locally owned book shops are my favorite. The Bookery is located on a quiet street near a beautiful old church. It’s family owned, quaint and charming. We both found books we didn’t know existed and didn’t know we had to have. The owner commented on the books we bought and it was clear that she knew her stuff. It’s amazing talking to someone who is truly invested in the product they sell.  Another local store we both favored was Joseph Beth. They have locations in Cincinnati and Lexington, Ky. It’s a large store with the warmth and welcome of a home library. Again, we found things we didn’t know we couldn’t live without. I received excellent customer service from a young woman who both helped me find what I needed and seemed pleased to chat about reading and books for a few minutes after we found my book. 

There were other local shops as well as a few Half Price Books and Barnes and Noble locations in the mix. Every Barnes and Noble feels drastically different in how they choose to organize their books and some are quite odd. Yet, they always have this lovely and relaxing smell that makes you want to slow down. Half Price pays literal pennies for the books they buy back and then sell for much higher prices and this irritates me to no end. 

Yet, I will always value brick and mortar bookstores over buying from online superstores. I read both fiction and nonfiction. Adam is more of a nonfiction reader but a lot of local bookshops either have no nonfiction or a limited selection. So the larger stores are often more pleasant for us both and places like The Bookery seem even more special. 

The Half Price Books Warehouse sale was just Friday and Saturday. We were stopping in on our way out of town and ended up arriving about twenty minutes early. Just before we arrived Adam joked that there may be a line to get in. We laughed until the store came into view and found at least twenty people lined up outside the door. So we joined the line, claiming our titles of bookstore groupies, and waited our turn to join the madness. 

We both came home with a rather large collection of literary treasures so we are stocked up for a while. Not that this will stop us from braking the next time we see a bookstore!

Mercantile Mural

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Philadelphia is an interesting city to walk for its architecture, pocket parks and art. There are sculptures and murals everywhere you look.

This mural called Mercantile Library was created in 2019 by Kala Hagopian of Hagopian Arts. It is at the location of the former Mercantile Library which existed at this site between 1952 and 1989.

Look closely and you’ll find the featured books were all published during the library’s operation and some of them are about Philadelphians.

The colors are spectacular and the people are life sized. It’s gorgeous and a book lover’s dream come true!

This mural is located at 1021 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Walk by if you’re in town!

Jumping The Gun (Just A Little)

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The overnight temperature on my ridgetop dropped to 59 degrees overnight. I don’t care if it is still hot during the day: it’s time to start gathering up the fall movies and books, begin working on indoor decor for fall and to embrace pumpkin spice and everything nice.

Call it jumping the gun if you will but it is time for change.

Friends, I am tired. I’m tired of being hot. I’m sick of summer blockbusters at the movie theater. I’m over my summer wardrobe and I’ve had enough of poison ivy and bugs.

I’m over it all and ready to move forward into a season where the sun doesn’t hurt your skin and where the humidity doesn’t take your breath away. I’m ready for boots and comfy sweaters. I’ll take When Harry Met Sally with a side of potato soup and some homemade cookies, please.

Friends, I want to be cold and then I want to curl up with a soft, fuzzy blanket and be warm and happy. I want to sniff cinnamon while reading an Alice Hoffman book with her patented mystic style and beautiful prose. I want to stomp through a pile of fallen leaves.

To be clear, I understand that it’s still summer and that we will be punished by summer’s heat for a while longer (like a month and a half longer).

I understand that it’s too early for blankets and pumpkins but that’s ok because my mental health says it’s time.

If summer is your thing, I hope you go stand outside and soak in all the heat you can absorb. Treat yourself to a slushie and chase those lightning bugs. Live it up!

Meanwhile, I’ll be admiring my scarves and pulling out fall decor!

A word to the wise though. As we approach fall, please remember the infamous words of Linus in the classic cartoon It’s A Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.

Never jump in a pile of leaves with a wet sucker.

Have a great day, friends!

Book Lovers Day

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Of all the made up holidays, National Book Lovers Day is my very favorite. Sadly, I almost missed it this year. It was yesterday but I didn’t find out till the day was nearly over.

If you are a reader, odds are good that you read for a variety of reasons. It could be for the escapism that comes from getting lost in a story. It could be for learning and enrichment or for the pure joy that comes with a truly great book. 

There are as many types of readers as there are people in this world too. Some read multiple books of varying genres all at one time. Others read from a narrow catalog of one specific genre. Some prefer extremely long books. Others do audiobooks rather than traditional ones. 

Personally, I read just one book at a time. I read fiction and non-fiction in various genres and covering an array of topics. I prefer books of average length and have little patience for those that are long for the sake of being long. 

I once was an avid library supporter but found that purchasing the books I wanted to read was preferable to visiting my local library. Not to mention, it gives me an opportunity to support authors and that’s important to me. 

I did celebrate National Book Lovers Day – mainly because I live as though every day is best used to celebrate books. I read some from Patrick Dewitt’s The Librarianist and researched a bookstore I want to visit on our next foray into Dayton. I also took a few minutes to consider books I want to read this fall including a couple of Alice Hoffman novels and one about winter in the forest that I’m holding onto until January. Not to mention, I got to hear my fella talk about a biography of Leonardo Davinci that he is reading!

There are so many incredible books out there, most of which I will never have time to read. My To Be Read pile is growing seemingly by the minute and there are books I would like to revisit soon including some classics like Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird which I revisit every few years and George Orwell’s 1984 which I haven’t read in ages.

Whether you’re a bookworm or a book dragon, I hope you remember that every day is Book Lovers Day and that there’s always room for one more book. Also remember that it isn’t hoarding if it’s books and that there are worse addictions!

If you are going to get anywhere in life you have to read a lot of books.

Ronald Dahl

Finding Better Writing Conditions

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Mystery writer William Kent Krueger advises an aspiring writer to write every day. At least, this is the advice he gave to this aspiring writer as I held up the line at his book signing in Charleston, West Virginia last fall. Up until that day, I had trouble even calling myself a writer but I took his advice to heart and set about to follow it.

He said he writes first thing in the morning, every morning, no matter what. He protects that time.  He guards it as though it’s the most important part of his day because it is. When I tried that, it required me getting up at 5 a.m. so I would have time before work. 

Let me tell you something: I’m not very smart that early in the day.

I kept up that pace for about a month before deciding I needed to retool my approach. Spoiler alert. That never happened. Now, I mostly write at night when I ought to be winding down for the day. It’s rarely on special projects and usually just for this blog. 

Clearly, the world hasn’t missed out on my completion of the Great American Novel but I’m certainly not going to get there if left to my own devices. 

Most writers are masters of distraction and I know this to be true of myself. Recreational writing at home is hard because there is a ton of stuff to take my hand and lead me away from my intentions. Dishes need washed, trash needs taken and there’s a fine layer of dust on the dining room table that has peacefully existed for weeks but now requires immediate attention. The cat looks lonely. Maybe he would like to be picked up. No? I put him down and go find a bandaid because now my hand is bleeding. 

All true stories. None are exaggerated. As for the cat scratch, it happens more often than I should admit. And as Scout likes to say, he wouldn’t have to scratch me if I weren’t going around asking for it.

I recently spent some time in a waiting room and got to write recreational projects for about ninety minutes. Then I went to a public library for a little more. I put my watch and phone in my bag. The computer I use for writing is only for writing. I can’t access social media from here and have to actually remember and type in my email password. In other words, the only distractions were a handful of people coming and going as they browsed the stacks. There were other people working at tables around me but we all were quietly minding our own business.

This quiet combined with the gentle hum of an air conditioner and lovely view of nature, allowed me to sit still and concentrate long enough to string together a cohesive series of sentences into paragraphs that actually make sense. It was a gratifying, reassuring, inspiring and delightfully encouraging experience. It’s wonderful to know that I’m capable of doing more than I normally manage.

How does a gal replicate this atmosphere at home?

I really must find out!

Thanks For The Good Reads, Francine Pascal

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If you were a young girl in the eighties or nineties, odds are pretty good you read at least one book from the Sweet Valley High Series. This series followed teenage twin sisters Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield. The two girls lived in a fictional town in California called Sweet Valley and the books follow them and their friends through all kinds of drama and fun.

These books have been on my mind since reading about author Francine Pascal who died Sunday at the age of 92. She created the series and authored the first twelve books before going on to oversee ghost writers who stretched the series to a total of 181 books over twenty years.

I was already a reader when I discovered the series in the late eighties and was quickly hooked. I collected many and borrowed some from the library. Somewhere in this house there is a tote filled with these once treasures paperbacks.

The series inspired some spin offs as well as a tv show that ran for four seasons in the late nineties. I don’t recall reading any of the others and the tv show was awful but the kids at Sweet Valley High entertained me for several years before I discovered other authors and deeper stories.

I can’t be the only one who can say that these books kept me reading at an age when a lot of kids stop reading at all. I wonder if Francine Pascal had any idea what sort of influence her books would have on an entire generation of young readers. It may seem like a silly little series but what Francine Pascal achieved is so much more than the sum of 181 paperback books.

I bet there are a lot of readers out there who can thank Francine Pascal for their love of books and storytelling. I know I can.