Little Sages Books

Light Papal Reads..

2010-09-16T15:18:00.001-04:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100916/ap_on_re_eu/eu_pope_britain

No time like the present for a little light reading like Crises in the history of the papacy!

http://www.littlesages.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=690&CLSN_3509=128466402635093c907938af68dda99a

are-e-books-worth-the-money: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

2010-08-26T18:13:00.000-04:00

are-e-books-worth-the-money: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Evolve or Devolve?

2010-08-18T19:17:00.001-04:00

clearance-sale-barnes-noble-didnt-evolve-enough: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Thoughts as a bookseller? Book buyer? Are you being innovative?

Wired for Books?

2010-08-13T16:27:00.002-04:00

There's gotta be some good gems here for the biz..

http://www.instructables.com/

Comfort first, books second.

2010-08-11T14:31:00.000-04:00

Out and about crossing school supplies off of an endless list. This and the crick in
my neck got me to thinking:

What supplies/tools are a must for you booksellers, home-office dwellers, desk-set uponers.?

Making the work environment pleasant and comfortable is important, so a favorite
mug or a radio might be a good start.. but more pressing for me today:

Physical comfort (think: ergonomic mice.. do I sound 80?)

and

Organization/utility of space

I just bought a comfort gel wrist support mousepad from ebay,
for the last month I've been resting my little wristbones on 'An Introduction to Greek'.
A sad commentary on my priorities, I realize..

A Starbucks handle bag propped up for easy sticker/schnitzel/booklint tossing.

An index card box for passwords and tips, codes and notes that I want handy.

In the next week I would like a cup FULL of sharpened pencils and new, smooth
pens, (see how easy I am to please?) and my favorite Mars Staetler white eraser
in MULTIPLES (sicpress.com here I come Joyce)

Yours?

Ephemera, anyone?

2010-07-27T12:07:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/07/27/ansel.adams.discovery/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Kindle/ipad battle? Um.. no.

2010-07-26T12:07:00.000-04:00

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/26/read-on.html

Lately I've been hearing more and more 'Kindle is the reason for the slow booksales season' .. and quite frankly it makes me want to yell. Or at least shake my head in a disapproving fashion. Bit of eye roll and all.

If you've a brick and mortar store, then yes, kindle is stomping on your popular fiction toes, but why an educated, in-the-biz online bookseller would consider kindle the reason for lackluster sales is .. a bit sad.

Change your model, change your mindset, change your inventory. Read, research and analyze this business for the short and long haul, then do whatever necessary to ensure your growth and relevance in the industry.

2010-07-20T16:50:00.000-04:00

Death and taxes, eh? If Suffering looms with certainty, does Bliss promise itself as dutifully? One can hope. The nature of life and death shall have to wait, as of now it's taxes on the forefront of this mortal's mind.

I recently heard a wise and well-known woman teach that we should be thankful for our bills, yes we should actually see them as blessings, for they are (symbolically) a sign that we can be trusted by the universe to remit payment. Hmm.. I kinda like this. Come, forces of social governing, and tax me as I smile!!

The jury is still out on the equations:

Starbucks = lunch

Costco Kettle Corn popcorn = office supplies.

Next stop, Bliss.

Read all about it..

2010-04-02T23:46:00.000-04:00

http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/201004/index.phtml

2010-03-08T11:08:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Joslin Hall books for bringing this fascinating tale to my attention:

"As newspapers shrink and other media grow trivial, documentary film is doing more of the work of public argument in American society. "

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/04/AR2010030405778.html

2010-03-07T16:44:00.000-05:00

My First/First, Fine in a Fine dj copy of (Precious) Push by Sapphire is headed to ebay this afternoon ahead of the Oscars. Abused beyond belief, she is coming back from her first 'survivors' meeting and headed for coffee..
"I have never been 'out for coffee' before. Rita put her arm around my shoulder, I order a hot chocolate 'cause that's what I like. Blond girl who is airline stewardess say, "Precious! That's a beautiful name." I'm alive inside. A bird is my heart. Mama and Daddy is not win. I'm winning. I'm drinking hot chocolate in the Village wif girls - all kind who love me. How that is so I don't know. How Mama and Daddy know me sixteen years and hate me, how a stranger meet me and love me. Must be what they already had in their pocket."-------------

Extraordinary stuff. I await Sapphire's future work.

Just a little how-to

2010-03-03T23:28:00.000-05:00

http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/making/

Olympic Hangover

2010-03-01T19:57:00.000-05:00

I may finally catch up on work and sleep now that my own Olympic Marathon is over. Bleary eyes and all I trudged through the day today, but something was missing - I'll miss falling in love with foreign anthems, dreaming about far away lands and living vicariously through very, very cold people from the coziness of my perch. Oh Canada! In child-like stupor I dream bigger dreams today.. ol' spirit of the games..

Moving in a New Direction

2009-10-10T20:59:00.001-04:00

I'm just going to cut to the chase - I love selling old books. I don't get a thrill when a glossy* moves off the shelf. I know I should. "A sale is a sale.. " or so I'm told. But it doesn't thrill me.

*Glossy =otherwise known as an easy peezy lemon squeezy book. Glossy dj, bright and crisp. Handy dandy isbn. Shoot. List. Pack.

Doesn't have to be a big sale, I just need to sell the oldies. Makes me feel 'real' somehow. Like a sweet brick and mortar with enchanting quiet and rows of dusty tomes. Rubbed edges and all, minor foxing, no matter. The thrill is there.

Gilt, vintage and faded, yes, I'm one of those oldie goldie souls. Patina, dust and rubbing tell a story, and I do love a good story - I'm a bookseller after all.

Release it or recycle it!

2009-03-20T21:51:00.000-04:00

Would anyone actually consider pitching a book into a rubbish can?

There are sensible alternatives..this book-oriented repurposing, recycling, redistributing article breaks it down:

Greening of the Books

Now that the paper pulp has dried, the presses inked, the binding sewn (or glued) for heaven's sakes let as many eyes scan the text as possible!
I only pitch 'em if they are molded or used by pests as a potty.

But I take that 'what can I do with this?' approach to most things. I /love/ repurposing!

My local children's museum gets bags of: oatmeal canisters, clean B-flute cardboard scraps, bottle caps, plastic sock 'hangers', and the like. They have an ongoing segment featuring recycle art, but even museums/art programs that don't can put it to use.

I've recently found a cooperative 'stuff' shopping bank for large deposits of this sort of trash that has a future somewhere. From metal hangers to decorator swatchbooks, packing material and produce trays, someone crafty, brilliant or both can alter the future of this plastic noise.

Along these lines, Whole Foods Market is now recycling 5's (woo-hoo!!). That's alot of yogurt cups and deli containers. Origins is now collecting shampoo and product tops, which previously had no place to call home either.

More ideas broken down here:
Recycling Guide

A few ziplocs of odd clutter until I make my rounds means that my garbage bin is lighter each week, and my footprint is softer. Now if I could just find a reasonably replacement for the plastic bag that lines the bin...

any ideas?

Paper in Boards or Sliver of Dreams and Substance?

2009-03-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

As a bookseller, do I inspire?

Am I not providing tools to each customer, tools to do with as they wish?

I invision each book

inhaled,

digested,

processed with authentic, open mind,

mused upon,

meditated with,

prayed over and

allowed to guide new thoughts.

We're not really talking about paper in boards, here. I consider books wings of the mind, gateways to freedom, slivers of dream and substance, packaged, like most things nowadays,

"To Go".

ZenHabits: Ode to Joy as an anthem for clarity

2009-03-19T20:45:00.000-04:00

My 12 yr old daughter is singing Ode To Joy in falsetto.

As a bookseller, homeschooling mom and information junkie, and like most parents, there's always something to study, observe, notate, doodle, plan, type, research or put on the "To Do" list. To Do bureau. To Do room.

Piles and stacks, ordered as they may be, keep my furniture from floating away and my mind from being bored, but today I begin here. I happened upon a clarifying spot on the web, ZenHabits, and it nudged me, as a good self-help book or intense dream/to-do list will, to just begin.

and so I shall.

Come join the conversation in my head as I pilot the waters of clarity, organization, growth and, indeed, bookselling. More on the career later. For now, check out ZenHabits for yourself. I'll be in the front yard, singing Ode To Joy.