A Time To Every Purpose...Including a holiday!

I'm leaving for Detroit tomorrow to spend Passover with my family, but before I go I thought it a good time to mention one of my staff picks for this month--A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew by Jonathan Sarna, a professor of Jewish Studies at Brandeis.

I first read this last autumn, when I was home for Rosh Ha'Shanah. It was in one sitting, on the train between Detroit and Chicago, and now that I think about it I'm surprised by how many of the chapters (each based around a major Jewish holiday or event) I can still clearly remember. Professor Sarna writes in what I would call a wise-but-not-overbearing style (it's a very tricky thing!) and I felt like he was really speaking to me and the exact questions and struggles I've had about what I want to believe and how I want to live and behave as a young Jew in the 21st century--for example, questions about identity, the environment, social justice, and Israel. Stuff like this--meaty and without being didactic--is rare and welcome!

Staff Picks--Liz, Liz, and Elizabeth

More staff picks! I realized I need to go through them quickly as there are a whole new batch that will be going up in a few weeks (which means I need to decide what my next pick will be...I saw that Jennifer 8 Lee's The Fortune Cookie Chronicles just came in today which upends my shortlist).

Elizabeth recommends The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman: "This book gives new meaning to selflessness. It's the story of a family and countless others who put themselves in the face of evil to help others to stand up for what's right. Could you do the same?"

Liz E., who spends much of her time in our children's section, loves If You Were a Penguin by Wendell and Florence Minor: "I have been a fan of Wendell Minor for years -- his illustrations are wonderful, capturing the very essence of each story he helps to bring alive! This one is just wonderful -- plus, it's all about penguins! Can you toboggan on your stomach or fly underwater?"

And Liz T. suggests The Academy Awards: The Complete Unofficial History by Gail Kinn and Jim Piazza: "I love old movies and movie history. My cable box is permanently set on Turner Classic Movies. This book sits on the bookcase next to the couch for quick and easy reference. In addition to the lists of winners and nominees, there's also a lot of great trivia. Love it!"

Read more of their recommendations here, here, and here.

By the way, in case you were wondering, in addition to the Liz trio we also have Kate F., Kate R., & Katie as well as both Lisa F. and Lisa P.

Last One Standing

Sorry not to have updated last week--I've begun my buying for the summer which means I've been busier than usual. Of course it also means there's more that I want to tell you all about what's exciting coming up. I'm not sure how I'll do it, but I'll try!

I haven't made mention of it (partly because I'm never happy to see anyone losing jobs or storefronts closing, partly because I'd like to spend my time focused on us more than our competition) but recently the Barnes and Noble down the street from us shut their doors. Dana, our fearless general manager and co-owner, wrote a little something about it for Shelf Awareness that you can read here (scroll to the bottom).

In other news I was able to read Temple Grandin's Animals Make Us Human in time for our event last week (As suspected, I was working the register during her talk. I would insert a Debbie Downer wah-wah here but the popularity of the event meant we were piping audio through the whole store for those who couldn't fit downstairs so all was good. ). The book was wonderful and insightful and heartbreaking and, sadly, totally confirmed that my lifestyle is in no way conducive to owning a dog. I'm very glad that I get to pet all the dogs that come into our store and feed them biscuits or I would go crazy from doggy deprivation.

Temple Grandin's New Book Is Here Today. Temple Grandin Will Be Here Next Week!

Today we got in a ton of new titles, but the one I'm most excited to pick up is Temple Grandin's new book Animals Make Us Human. I need to get a move-on and finish The Yiddish Policemen's Union because I want to make sure to finish Ms. Grandin's book before next week when she'll be reading from it here at the Booksmith. That's right, TEMPLE GRANDIN WILL BE SPEAKING AT BROOKLINE BOOKSMITH A WEEK FROM TODAY--Tuesday, January 13th at 7:00!

(Hmm, I seem to have caught caps lock fever from Christopher Moore)

Brookline Booksmith's Bestselling Books of 2008

Happy New Year Blogsmith readers! With no further ado I present to you our list of the past year's top selling titles.

25. Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
24. Boston Restaurants 2008-2009 by Zagat
23. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
22. The Given Day by Dennis Lehane
21. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon
20. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
19. Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje
18. Better by Atul Gawande
17. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
16. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
15. Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris
14. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
13. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
12. What Is the What by David Eggers
11. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle

Our top ten...
10. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
9. The Gathering by Anne Enright
8. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
7. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
6. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
5. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson
4. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
3. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
2. Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri

and our top seller of the year...
1. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama

If you'd like to see how this compares to last year's list, you can check it out here. You'll see we have a few repeats: Three Cups of Tea, Eat, Pray, Love, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Gathering, Water for Elephants, The Yiddish Policemen's Union, The Road, and Zagat's Guide.

Of note for me this year are our triple doubles--two titles each from President-Elect Obama, Michael Pollan, and Stephenie Meyers (Why is it that New Moon, her second book, outsold Twilight, her first? Curious. Perhaps because there are multiple editions of Twilight out there? Hmm, something to check.).

Thank you so much to all of our wonderful customers and friends. Here's to another fantastic year of great books!

The Most Coveted Galley in the Store...

...is probably not what you'd think. Last week Ann, our Penguin rep, sent me the galley we have all been waiting for: Red Carpet Suicide by Perez Hilton. Actually, she sent me two galleys which is a good thing because the first one she sent mysteriously disappeared the first day I got it. Furious office cleaning and passive-aggressive notes on our bulletin board have not coughed up its return. Very curious.

So far I've read Red Carpet Suicide and passed it on to Katie who will be passing it on to Bonnie who will be passing it on to Kate. We should probably be ashamed, but we're not. If you love Perez then you'll want this book. If you have no idea who or what I'm talking about then you probably shouldn't bother. If you hate Perez then sorry if you're now thinking less of me. (But know that I'm not judging you on what you bring up to the register)

I had a blast with the book, especially the first part where we are instructed on the eleven steps of celebrity (drink! don't eat! get paid just to show up places! hire your own paparazzi!) and the third part where Perez is unexpectedly open about the ways he gets his gossip. The book can be snarky and dirty and a bit immature at points (none of this is surprising if you are a Perez fan) but I was surprised by his genuineness at the very end in a letter to Andy Warhol.

Moving from the ridiculous to the sublime, in completely unrelated news the National Book Awards are being given practically as I type!

Pick of the Week--The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8 Lee

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles is another one of those great book that I read a bit ago and have been impatiently waiting for its release--and now it's here! Here's a review written by Debra Ginsberg for Shelf Awareness (my favorite daily on the book trade) that's much better written than anything I can do:

"Every so often, an obsession can lead to a big payoff. This is certainly true of debut author Jennifer 8. Lee, a New York Times reporter and an "ABC" (American-born Chinese), whose fascination with fortune cookies led her to write this engaging and informative cultural history of Chinese restaurant food in the U.S. Lee (whose middle initial signifies "prosperity" in Chinese) began her research in 2005, when an unusually large group of Powerball winners were revealed to have gotten their lucky numbers from fortune cookies that they'd received in Chinese restaurants across the country. Finding a quirky appeal in the phenomenon, Lee decided to trace fortune cookies back to their origin and soon found herself on a quest that encompassed Chinese restaurants in 42 states and several countries.

Although the food itself is central, Lee trains her focus on the unusual blend of culture, history and custom that make up American Chinese restaurants, individually owned eateries that outnumber McDonald's, Burger King and KFC combined in the U.S. Unfolding her journey much like a Chinese menu, Lee takes several lively and enlightening sidetracks as she follows the fortune cookie trail. For example, she credits the introduction of chop suey, a dish that did not exist in China, as the beginning of American enthusiasm for this "exotic" cuisine and researches the evolution of Chinese take-out. In a similar vein, she offers a short biography of General Tso whose eponymous chicken dish is unknown in his native land and deconstructs the elements of soy sauce at the world's largest producer. In a chapter titled "Why Chow Mein is the Chosen Food of the Chosen People," Lee examines the close relationship between Jews and Chinese food, including a quick review of Jewish dietary laws and a very funny anecdote involving kosher ducks. In more serious but no less spirited sections, Lee examines questions of national identity and the immigrant experience as seen through the eyes of several Chinese restaurant workers and journeys across six continents looking for the best Chinese restaurant in the world.

Ultimately she arrives again at the fortune cookie (not, as it turns out, a Chinese invention) and realizes that her search for the meaning within it has led to a greater understanding of her own culturally mixed identity. Both witty and charming, Lee's book is also surprisingly wise--every bit the treat one finds at the bottom of those familiar take-out containers."

As for me, I really enjoyed how Ms. Lee moved between humor and serious reporting. I love when I learn about the complexities of those things around me of which I never take more than cursory notice and am entertained at the same time. My favorites were the chapters on how Chinese restaurants are bought and sold through a cross-country network run from the small Chinatown of New York City and, of course, the previously mentioned look at the close relationship between Jews and Chinese food (I can't imagine a Christmas without egg rolls!)

One final note and warning: I read this book about a month ago and have had consistent cravings for Chinese food ever since. Honestly, it's starting to annoy my friends who would prefer Thai or Indian. Sorry guys.

Winter Institute--Part Three

A number of publishers were hosting dinners on Friday night, I attended the Harper Collins dinner hosted by the indefatigable Carl Lennertz. Before we left for Louisville he wrote those of us attending the dinner to ask if we had any authors we were especially keen to sit near--I requested to be near E. Lockhart (I figured anyone who wrote such books as Fly on the Wall and The Boy Book --books I know would have been my favorite books in the world if they were around when I was 13--would be a fun dinner companion), and was glad to see that my wish was granted!

In addition to Ms. Lockhart I was seated near Elizabeth Bluemle, one of the most fun people you'll ever spend time with, and wonderful booksellers from Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis and Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, IL, both bookstores I've heard so many great things about and been wanting to visit for the longest time. This is the first time I've gotten to go to an author dinner with booksellers who focus on children and young adults, and it was a really fun change of pace.

Saturday's breakfast was without a speaker, instead it was an opportunity to chat with other booksellers about what you're reading--a great chance for me to practice my handselling skills!

After breakfast I went to a panel on the business of publishing. It focused on the P&L, or the Profit and Loss Statement, which is the set of numbers publishers run to figure out how to make a title profitable, taking into account the expenses--production costs, author costs, operating expenses, etc. I actually found it quite fascinating. As someone who is just learning what the difference is between gross and net, margins and profits, it was a very helpful crash-course in business practices and great insight into the minds of publishers and how they make decisions about book design and print run quantities based on their P&Ls (because God knows I wonder what they're thinking often enough--even a bit of clarity can be helpful!).

Another set of publisher rep picks followed, and then it was on to lunch with a panel of experts on the national movement towards shopping independent and local--Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy (a previous staff pick of Dana's), Stacy Mitchell, author of Big-Box Swindle, and Michael Shuman, author of The Small-Mart Revolution. All were incredibly upbeat about the direction of independent businesses, particularly in areas where they have been able to band together as independent business alliances (such as nearby Cambridge Local First or Local First Vermont). They observed that it has often been bookstores that have led the way in forming such alliances and that we should, as centers of ideas and culture, continue to do so--in fact, in the words of Mr. McKibben, it is our "moral obligation."

The post-lunch session can be deadly, but I actually had the most fun at a session at "Consumer Behavior Revealed--The Dating Game." This could be because they, in fact, took an unsuspecting volunteer from the audience and had her play the Dating Game! The point was to learn about what motivates consumers in their decision making processes. The fact is that books can be purchased everywhere--why do people choose one place over another (and, of course, how can we get people to choose to buy their books with us)? We reviewed Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and looked at how psychological, situational, social, and commercial influences can affect consumer choices.

Dear lord, it's time for me to go and I'm still not done talking about Winter Institute! Well, one more post tomorrow should do it--until then...

Winter Institute--Part Two

After lunch was a choice of more panels, I went to one on inventory management (a fairly dry and boring topic to blog about, but critical for buyers) and one for prospective bookstore owners with a panel of folks who have opened their stores in the past eighteen months. I'm not planning on opening my own store anytime soon, but I was curious to hear what these folks had experienced.

There was an opportunity to go to a rep picks session after that, but I was a little tired of sitting and being talked to so I decided to take a break and start blogging before it all got away from me. I brought my computer down to the second floor, as that's where the free wi-fi can be found, but I ended up doing more talking with others than blogging at that point. I'm so glad I got to meet Michele Filgate, the events coordinator at RiverRun Bookstore, and we spent the better part of an hour talking books. We actually were talking with a librarian--in a nice bit of book confluence, it turns out that there is a conference for SLA, the Special Libraries Association happening at the same hotel at the same time! I kind of feel bad for the librarians---I wonder if they know that just one floor above them is an entire room of galleys for the taking (We actually snuck our librarian friend into the author reception happening so she could meet Augusten Burroughs as he is her favorite author!)

As you may have surmised from the last sentence, there was a wonderful author reception/signing for the big evening event. My swag: The new collection of short stories from Tobias Wolff, Our Story Begins (another cat out of the bag--he's coming to the store later in the spring! Yippee! I don't know that I've ever blogged about it, but Old School was my favorite book the year it came out, and it remains a favorite. If you haven't read it, you must! There are so many reasons why you MUST read it--a killer coming-of-age story is one, but another is his portrayal of classic literary figures--Robert Frost, Ayn Rand, and Ernest Hemingway. He writes these characters just as I would have imagined them to be. I could go on and on (which I did, embarrassingly enough, when I met him last night...sigh), so instead I'll move on.

I also got Mary Roach's new book, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, which I'm eager to read. I've never read Stiff or Spook, but I've always meant to read her as I know there are lots of folks at the store (both employees and customers) who lover her and, hey, this book's got a topic I can totally get behind (oh, and by-the-by, I have a feeling she'll be coming to our store too! I tell you, Brian is ah-mazing). For the boys at the store I got a copy of Mr. Burrough's new memoir about his father, A Wolf at the Table. I'm not sure who will get it yet--I know that Carl and Chris and, one other person, I think, have his books on their Essential Reads lists, so I might just have to have a sudden-death Rock Paper Scissors tournament.

Finally, for my mom, I picked up a copy of Pocketful of History: Four Hundred Years of America One State Quarter at a Time by James Noles. It takes each state quarter and uses the iconography to talk about state history. As my mom is an avid state quarter collector (and middle school teacher) I thought she would really like it for herself and her students. By the way, in case you were wondering, she's collecting those state quarters for her future grandchildren. And she's not just collecting one set, but two. But no pressure. Sheesh, mom, thanks! I guess, though, it's better than the mom of a friend who, while we were in high school and college, would collect Disney VHS tapes when they came out for a limited time so that her future grandkids would have them. I wonder what she has done with them now that I don't know that they even still manufacture VHS players? Anyways, sorry for that digression...

It's almost time for lunch, so I think I'll sign of for now but more later about my dinner with E. Lockhart and all of today's highlights!

Winter Institute--Part One

Yesterday's travel day went off without a hitch. I had a direct flight to Louisville, and shared it with a bunch of faces I recognized from other New England bookstores. I would guess, in fact, that of the approximately 30 people on board (it was one of those little 48 seaters), at least half were en route to Winter Institute. It meant that I payed even more attention than usual to what the people around me were reading while we were waiting for takeoff.

I had a bit of downtime after checking-in, and then headed over to the Muhammad Ali Center for the opening reception. I know how important networking is, and I know I'm supposed to use the opportunities presented to me to meet other booksellers and develop connections and all that good business practices stuff, but I have to say that I was just blown away with the museum and its exhibits, and spent most of my time exploring the Center. I'm not a boxing fan, but his is a fascinating story and I was completely intrigued.

This morning we had breakfast at 8:00, followed by a presentation by Danny Meyer, the owner of Union Square Cafe and Grammercy Tavern and all those other top-ranked Zagat's restaurants, based on his book Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. I really took to heart his point that our emphasis should not necessarily be on being the best at what we do, but being our customers' favorite. THAT is success.

I know that we can't possibly stock every book that every customer wishes we did. We can't be open every hour, give every discount, or utilize every new technology. And it kills me sometimes. But there are customers, all the time, who tell me when I'm at the register that we're their favorite bookstore. I don't think I've ever really listened to them the way I should. After listening to Mr. Meyer this morning it makes me want to really pay attention to those compliments and take them to heart as much as I do the complaints (why is it so easy to remember every complaint and dismiss every compliment?). What are we doing right for these customers? How can we do it for even more people? And how can we build on those strengths?

Mr. Meyer argues that to become a favorite you have to provide more than service-you have to provide hospitality. What's the difference? Service is a one-size-fits-all method of fulfilling expectations, while hospitality is a dialogue, a one-on-one method that makes someone feel heard and recognized.

Following breakfast was a choice of a number of panel sessions, I chose to go to one on handselling, which was a perfect segue from the topics Mr. Meyer was discussing as it is the art of putting the right book in the hand of each customer who comes into your store. I am still at the apprentice stage of handselling, but if you want to know what great handselling is then ask for Lisa or Paul when you come into the store. Listening to them recommend books, it makes it impossible to not want to drop everything and immediately read whatever it is they suggest. I dare you.

Then it was off to lunch where our speaker was Gary Hirshberg, the C.E.O. of Stonyfield Farm. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting much, but his presentation was AMAZING. Like, really, truly, moved me amazing. He believes that business and the environment don't necessarily have to be at odds--in fact, doing the right thing for the environment can actually be profitable for the bottom line as well as profitable for world. And he puts his money where his mouth is. He writes about it in his book Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World, which I don't think I ever would have read without hearing him speak and now can't wait to start. Mr. Hirshberg's dedication to doing the right thing isn't a front, or good P.R., but is a way of life for him that I think not only inspired me but a lot of other booksellers in the audience. I think there might be a movement coming in the publishing and bookselling community where we really look at the industry and exernality (this is a new concept I learned today at lunch) and environmental economic effects.

(By the way, a very cool and informative website is for Climate Counts, a non-profit started by the Stonyfield Farm people that makes it easy to make consumer decisions based on company environmental policies. Check it out!)

Well kids, it is midnight, and time for me to head to sleep. But I'll try to get up a bit early to write more while it's all still fresh in my head...

Our Bestselling Titles of 2007

Happy New Year!

I thought I would add to the never-ending end-of-the-year roundups that happen right about now (What can I say? I'm a sucker for lists). So here is the Brookline Booksmith Top 25 Titles of 2007:

25. Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
(pretty impressive that this book made the list considering it has been out only three months!)
24. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
23. Intuition by Allegra Goodman
22. The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
21. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
20. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
19. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
18. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
17. How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman
16. The Gathering by Anne Enright
(by the way, you can come meet her at our event on Friday, February 15th!)
15. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
14. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
13. Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
12. The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud
11. The Road by Cormac McCarthy

And now for the top ten...
10. Boston Restaurants 2007/08 by Zagat
9. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
8. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
7. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
6. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
5. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
4. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
3. Fist Stick Knife Gun by Geoffrey Canada
2. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

And drum roll please...our bestselling book of the year...
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Here's to another awesome year of fantastic books!

This One Goes Out To...

I'm back! Hi!

Every Monday I get an email from the folks at Publisher's Marketplace with significant and/or interesting book deals from the week before. I've been behind on my email and only got to my weekly deals today, where I found one that sounds so cool that I wanted to share it with you. It's for a book called Once Again to Zelda by Marlene Wagman-Geller and it "tells the story behind the dedications of classic novels (think Jane Eyre, The Brother's Karamazov and The Thin Man) and reveals who the author dedicated the book to and why, shedding light on the author's psyche as well as his/her historical era."

A couple things that let you know a bit more about me:

• I read the acknowledgements in a book first, even if they're at the back. (The bummer of galleys is that the dedication and acknowledgements are usually still to come. Sometimes I actually find myself thinking that I should remember to check out the acknowledgements when the finished book arrives...)
• Sometimes I wonder if part of my wanting to be a research librarian was so that I could be listed in acknowledgements, too.

My current favorite dedication is "To Ayelet, bashert," the simple opening to Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. If you don't know, bashert is a Yiddish term, one that means fate, or destiny. Your bashert is your soul mate, or the person you were meant to be with. In and of itself this is lovely, but it seems an especially apt introduction to the world Chabon creates in his book. The gravy, however, is knowing that the Ayelet referred to is Mr. Chabon's wife, Ayelet Waldman, who has written about the idea of bashert in her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (not to mention the infamous writing she's done about their relationship, such as this article).

Do you have a favorite dedication or know of an author's acknowledgements that deserve their own chapter?

David Halberstam and My Favorite Weekend in Boston

It's my favorite weekend in Boston--it's Head of the Charles! There is so much I adore about Head of the Charles--I love that it's a perfect way to spend fall days outside before it gets too cold. You'll find me eating fair food (you have not had a caramel apple until you've had a fresh-dipped caramel apple from the Boy Scout troop that's at HotC every year), petting adorable dogs, and, of course, watching the crews race down the river. It is a sight both absolutely beautiful and incredbily fierce. And, I love when you can hear the coxes swearing like sailors to get their boys or girls to go harder, faster, stronger.

Folks are usually pretty surprised when they find out I'm a crew fan, but I have been for quite a while--ever since college, when I discovered a high school crush rowed for his university. Ah, the early years of internet stalking. (I'll take this moment to remind you that I went to a women's college) In my quest to find pictures of my darling dreamboat I ended up on sites like this one, and I ended up sticking around longer than was probably necessary, but it is how I learned about one of the best books on sports ever--David Halberstam's The Amateurs. It's a classic.

If, after reading The Amateurs, you want more on rowing, my suggestion would be Mind Over Water by Craig Lambert, but you'll probably realize that what you actually want is more of Mr. Halberstam. You could pick up The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War, the book he finished just before his death earlier this year, which has been getting fantastic reviews. But, in keeping with the Boston sports theme, I would suggest either The Education of a Coach, Halberstam's exploration of Patriot's coach Bill Belichick or The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship , a look at some of the greats of Boston Red Sox baseball. Happy reading!

Book Sense Picks Scent! Yay!

Last week the November Book Sense picks were announced--you can get a peek at them here. I'm excited because one of my nominations got picked--yippee! It's The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell by Rachel Herz, and it's a great read. Here's what I said:

"Since reading Scent of Desire I've noticed myself inhaling more deeply, wanting to capture the smells around me (at a restaurant or florist -- even on the bus!). This clever examination of the physiology and psychology of scent will wake you up to the world around you."

That blurb is totally true--I really have developed this odd need to inhale really deeply on the bus, which just doesn't always have a happy ending depending on who's sitting next to me (reference chapter six, "The Odor of the Other"). But I can't help it! And once there was the most delicious smell of sausage in the air and it just made me crazy to the point that I had to make a special trip to get myself some sausage to make for dinner (reference chapter seven, "Craving"). I'll just add that this is a totally fun book for fans of psychology, biology, or anyone who's just curious about what makes us the way we are.

Oh, and If you like Scent of Desire, then you must read Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses. A classic.

By the way -- the number one pick for November is 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill, which I'm bringing up just because I'm pretty excited that he'll be coming to Brookline Booksmith on October 29th (Just before Halloween! Perfect.)

Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History

Last week I read a great article from The Guardian, titled "The Books That Changed Our Lives," in which a number of young feminists write about the books that introduced them to feminism. I was particularly interested to read what Jessica Valenti and Ariel Levy wrote as they are currently the authors of my two favorite books in our women's studies section: Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters and Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture, respectively.

In case you're not familiar with women's history I highly recommend Laurel Thatcher Ulrich's new book, Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History. In it she uses three historical figures--Christine de Pizan, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Virginia Woolf--as a way to enter into the various roles women have played throughout history. Dr. Ulrich has a great way of making history more than just a straight linear narrative--in this book she breaks patterns and helps the reader see new connections between historical periods, which is something I really admire (and wish was done by historians more often).

There isn't anything really new in Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History, though I think the writing style and book structure makes the book interesting even for someone who is fairly well-read in women's history. If you do fancy yourself an ace at the subject though, then I would recommend instead picking up The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe V. Wade by Ann Fessler. As someone who considers herself well-read, I couldn't believe I had never learned about the experience of unwed mothers (especially those who were white and middle-class), the institutions they were sent to, and the way adoption worked in the mid-20th century. It's an incredibly powerful book.

I met Tedy Bruschi!

Saturday will definitely go down as a day I'll remember for a long time. In case you're curious--yes, Tedy Bruschi truly is amazingly kind, humble, considerate, and all-around-awesome. I didn't think it was possible, but I'm even more of a fan now than I was 48 hours ago.

After the official signing yesterday for his book, Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery & My Return to the NFL, while he was in our back room signing some special orders and extra stock, Mr. Bruschi chatted with some of us Brookline Booksmithies about what we had been reading recently and challenged us to come up with some recommendations for him, which was lots of fun for all of us (and hopefully for him as well!).

If you'd like to join the Tedy Bruschi book club, here are the titles we picked out (the first by yours truly) that may find their way into his carry-on luggage this season:

• Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder


• Blind Side by Michael Lewis


• Restless by William Boyd and


• London Fields by Martin Amis

And as if I couldn't be any more impressed, Mr. Bruschi also got guy bonus points for thinking to ask us for a book for his wife as well! I gave him The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart, and I hope she enjoys it--it's one of my all-time favorites.

You Can't Stop the Beat

I just recently went to see Hairspray -- the musical-based on a Broadway musical-based on a John Waters film -- and fell in love with it. It reminds me of the best parts of classic musicals--singing and dancing and costumes, yes, but also just the incredible joy of being alive (and a happy ending doesn't hurt). If you haven't seen it yet, go mama go, go, go! (If you have and you got the reference, good for you!)

I actually grew up loving musicals. Near my house was an old-fashioned movie house called The Redford Theater. It showed classics on the big screen with an organ performance and cartoon shorts before the show, an intermission when the organ played again(!), and a ceiling painted to look like the sky with little twinkling lights for stars.

On their website you can actually see a film database with the schedules from the 1970s through today, and if you want to know the movies that shaped me growing up, this is your best way to learn--just pick any year in the mid to late '80s. I was looking at the schedule for 1988, and I have no doubt that I was in the audience for West Side Story and Meet Me In St. Louis and Showboat and Oklahoma.

So, the whole point of this exercise in nostalgia is to let you know how jazzed I am that Rough Guides has come out with a new book in their series of film guides: The Rough Guide to Film Musicals by David Parkinson. It is fan-freaking-tastic for both the beginner and old pro. I learned more about musicals I thought I already knew and am glad to have added some to my needs-to-be-seen list (Love Me Tonight, how have we never met?).

Mr. Parkinson is very informed--this is not a piece of fluff, but neither is it overstuffed with film-school jargon. I also like that he is opinionated (except, of course, for when I disagree...) without being condescending towards the films or his readers.

I should note that this is part of a great series that Rough Guides does on film. I'm quite familiar with The Rough Guide to Chick Flicks by Sam Cook, but there are also books on American Independent Film, Film Noir, Westerns, and others. I'm of the opinion that they are way better than most of the film guides out there.

Speaking of musicals, the store is quite quiet for a Friday night during the summer. Me thinks it is all the kids at home watching High School Musical 2. Darn it, why aren't I?

The Best of the Bathroom

Since starting here I have become way too familiar with two very unremarkable books: What Would Jackie Do? and More Word Histories and Mysteries (I'm not even going to bother putting links). Why, if so unremarkable, do I have such familiarity? Well, dear reader, it is because galleys of them have been in our not-for-public-use bathroom since at least New Years, if not last year's Rosh Ha'Shana.

It was time for something new. But you know what? Finding a good quality bathroom read is a lot harder to come by than I thought it would be. And then a couple months ago it was like the clouds parted and the sun shining through with the arrival of a galley of The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know Is Wrong by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson, which was just published last week.

It's all you want it to be in bathroom reading: a concise question-and-answer format that provides a quick-yet-satisfying read and allows the reader to open the book to any particular page. The questions are humorous (What was odd about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? Did cannibals cook their victims whole in large pots? What's the best floor of a building to throw a cat from?) or have unexpected answers (Who is America named after? Not Amerigo Vespucci. Where does chicken tikka masala come from? Glasgow. And, most fittingly, What do we have Thomas Crapper to thank for? Not the flush toilet!).

As a testament to its quality, the galley of The Book of General Ignorance was taken less than a week after I left it in the bathroom. I was really quite peeved (dare I say I was pissed off?) however posting a note requesting the anonymous bookseller to return the galley was unsuccessful. So now we're back to Jackie O. and poorly written etymology. Sigh.

Making the Big Times (New York Times, That Is)

So, Dana, our fearless store manager and co-owner was quoted in the New York Times the other day! You can read the article here; it's a look at the phenomenal sales of the diet book Skinny Bitch. What's interesting about the sales at our store is that they all happened pretty much before the Victoria Beckham publicity. In fact, our sales of the book have gone down since May, when the picture of her carrying the book was taken.

(Of course, as I say this I just checked our inventory and we've sold out of the copies we had on hand--all those sales being yesterday and today! Must be a result of the article? Ah well, I'll try to get more on Monday.)

Now, I don't want to offend the 203 customers who have bought the book from us, but I hate it. With a passion. As a buyer I get to have some choice in what we stock; the best part of my job is getting to create an inventory of books that I think are worth my customer's time and money, but this is one of those cases where I just have to turn the other cheek.

I shouldn't really be so judgemental, having only skimmed the book, but I have a hard time just getting past the title. I've never been comfortable using the word 'bitch' casually. We have another great seller at our store called You Say I'm a Bitch Like It's a Bad Thing, another one for which I just can't understand the appeal. I'm glad if it gives you a chuckle, but it just gives me the willies. Ah well, different strokes for different folks.

By the way, if you want a great book on nutrition my recommendation is 10 Habits that Mess Up a Woman's Diet: Simple Strategies to Eat Right, Lose Weight, and Reclaim Your Health by Elizabeth Somer. This is one that actually helped me take a look at how I could change my diet without turning myself into a food-obsessed bore. Another fascinating and fun read is Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More than We Think by Brian Wansink. The book is full of clever experiments done by Mr. Wansink (a university professor with his own lab devoted to how we relate to food) and other scientists and psychologists that explore the hows and whys of eating beyond hunger. It reminds me of Malcom Gladwell's work with its quirky yet revelatory insights, and though its not really a prescriptive book I did find that it made me much more aware of how I eat.

Galley Grab!

Some galleys up for grabs...leave a comment with the title of the book you want and I'll put it on hold for you behind the register. First come, first served!

Grub: A Novel by Elise Blackwell
I know a few folks from Grub Street have visited my blog here so I thought the title might intrigue. Here's the copy from the back:

"A long overdue retelling of New Grub Street--George Gissing's classic satire of the Victorian literary marketplace--Grub chronicles the triumphs and humiliations of a group of young novelists living in and around New York City.

Eddie Renfros, on the brink of failure after his critically acclaimed first book, wants only to publish another novel and hang on to his beautiful wife, Amanda, who has her own literary ambitions and a bit of a roving eye. Among their circle are writers of every stripe--from the Machiavellian Jackson Miller to the 'experimental writer' Henry, who lives in squalor while seeking the perfect sentence. Amid an assortment of scheming agents, editors, and hangers-on, each writer must negotiate the often competing demands of success and integrity, all while grappling with inner demons and the stabs of professional and personal jealousy. The question that nags at them is this: What is it to write a novel in the twenty-first century?

Pointedly funny and compassionate, Grub reveals what the publishing industry does to writers--and what writers do to themselves for the sake of art and to each other in the pursuit of celebrity."

20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill
Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box has been a big hit here. It got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and a great review from Chuck Leddy at the Boston Globe (though not so much from Geoff Nicholson at the New York Times). 20th Century Ghosts is a collection of short stories Mr. Hill has written over the past few years. It was originally released by a niche publisher in England in 2005 but never here in the States until now (I assume that now that he's proved himself with the novel HarperCollins is hoping to ride the wave with this collection).

American Band: Music, Dreams, and Coming of Age in the Heartland
by Kristen Laine
Something for all those band geeks out there, this is the story of a year in the life of a high school band in the Midwest. Read more here.

Speaking of bands, I'm a total fan of parades. When I lived in Delaware I actually went to Atlantic City with friends to watch the Miss America "Show Us Your Shoes" Parade. That was a trip. So I'm very excited for Brookline Booksmith's Shortest Parade in History for the winner of the Jasper Fforde raffle. Didn't know Jasper Fforde was coming? Read about it here! We're really hoping to have a baton twirler. If you know a baton twirler, please, could you pass her (or his!) name along? We gotta have a baton twirler.