Pre- Super Bowl Flash Contest ($, poetry, FAME)

Ok, take a receipt (from us)

• write a short poem/ flash fiction on the back of it



• send it to me

Kate Robinson
279 Harvard Street
Brookline, MA 02135

The winner will get:

• a gift certificate



• a book of poetry



• their poem on our FB and blog.

You have till February 10th (postmarked) or just hand deliver it.

Go Pats!!!!!!

Kate's Holiday Tip #3..../ It feels like you are all here...in the store...right now!!!!

As if I need to exhibit any more proof of my suspect childhood...here comes Kate's second to last Holiday tip. Sigh.


Imagine everyone today....as a deer.

So- for whatever reason, when I am in large crowds, I start to imagine everyone as deer. I imagine them as the deer version of themselves...skinny jeans, glasses, baby bjorns, spandex, converse.....whatever they are wearing, they continue to wear, but as deer...deer with purses, messenger bags and helmets, deers with bags of gifts, and 20oz of hot coffee...

I have done this for as long as I can remember. When it happens- I find it soothing to think of people as my favorite spirit animal.

So during this stressful and frantic final week before gifty Mc-Gorge town....remember you can cover everyone on your list in this one store...for reals...then ...take a moment to breathe, close your weary eyes....and imagine a deer in a plaid scarf blogging at a messy desk in the back of the bustling booksmith.

Now, I'm gonna go get some free Taza chocolate from that pretty deer at the front.

Oh deer.

This Stack of Books on My Desk

We all do it. Some use shelves. Some have empty shelves but lots of books. Some have full shelves and a tidy abode. A few have stacks on the floor in front of the shelves. Some have a full shelf, stacks on the floor (sort of) and a big ol' fresh stack on their desk. I am the latter. The photo above my stack in its most recent form - though a little bit positioned to give it a sexy aura. In reality, my desk is cluttered with books. Mostly chapbooks and pamphlets. Ephemera. I prefer it that way. What's the point in trying to get work done if you can't have a little fun?

my biggest book-genre distractions are poetry, books about civil war-era generals who (debatably) went haywire, books about the building of books, and, the sweet-tooth of them all, books about carnival barkers. So here it is, This Stack of Books on My Desk:

O City by Wayne Miller
Boris By The Sea by Matvei Yankelevich
Bookbinding by Edith Diehl
The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick (ARC)
Nightmare Alley by William L Gresham (ARC)
To Hell On A Fast Horse by Mark Lee Gardner (ARC)
A Plate of Chicken by Matthew Rohrer
G-Point Almanac: Passyunk Lost by Kevin Verbone
Transcendental Studies by Keith Waldrop

All (except O City) I either got at or through Booksmith, which speaks to the diversity of our selection. Especially in the area of small presses. But that will be next week's topic.