Sam Weller's Bookstore

Operation Book Drop

2012-01-12T12:46:00.000-07:00

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the move was our secret preparation for Operation Book Drop. The Book Drop was a conceived as a publicity campaign by the extra creative guys at Super Top Secret, our marketing firm. The idea was to gather a lot of books, create eye catching and informative jackets for them, and covertly drop them throughout the City. This would not only draw attention to our relocation and our new web site, it would proclaim our love of books and reading in a fun way that would draw in the members of our community - not preach to them. Tony has a history of guerrilla art projects and I'm a born subversive, so we loved the idea.

The amazing artists at STS created seven jackets for the projects. Each jacket embodies ideas about books that we hold dear and firmly believe: books make you smarter, books are important to individuals and the cultures in which they live, books are entertaining and pleasing in very tangible ways, booksellers still have a meaningful role in this modern world, locally owned businesses make our communities better places to live.

The second part of the project's preparation was procuring the books themselves. We approached publishers we identified as producers of quality books that are nicely packaged and staffed with people who could think outside the box. Six of them partnered with us, donating nearly 900 books to the cause. They are Alognquin, Chronicle Books, FSG, Gibbs Smith, Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, and W.W. Norton. All of them deserve kudos for believing in bricks and mortar bookstores and the people they serve -- and for backing up that belief with action.

At last we got to the real fun. Tony mapped a five mile radius around our new location in Trolley Square. Then he identified hot spots within the radius. Finally, he broke the area into zones and assigned teams of two to five people to each zone. After we closed on January 8th we had a wrapping party at the store. Eight people spent about 3 hours admiring the jackets and wrapping books. The night after we sorted the books, split into teams, and went off into the night to distribute the gift of reading to the community. It was a blast.

You can see the page on our new site devoted to the book drop here. It shows the jackets and lists the books. If you got a book, let us know. We'd love to hear what you think.

January 2nd Moving Update

2012-01-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Happy New Year everyone!

We are just about finished moving things out of 254 South Main Street, but there's plenty of work left in setting up Trolley Square. Here are a few photos of our progress.

On Main Street

This photo is slightly old already. The pictures have come down from the wall for the trip to Trolley Square.

The almost empty main floor is such an odd sight.

At Trolley Square

Books are getting shelved down on the main floor, but there are still some holes on the shelves to fill.

The science fiction section is really coming together.

I love these street lamps!

The children's sections are looking great already!

There is still a little shelving to do in rare books, but don't worry! We'll be ready to open by Friday.

We still need help! Call 801-328-2588 and ask for our volunteer coordinator, Jason, to sign up.

We're so excited about this new space. We can't wait to share it with you!

Lone Rhinoceros

2012-01-01T20:29:00.001-07:00

There's a song from the early 80's by Adrian Belew called Lone Rhinoceros. The first few lines of it have been running through my head today. I've sent the last of my crew here at the Main Street store to Trolley Square. So I'm rumbling through this old store entirely alone. I'm collecting bookends, old signage, display stands and -bizarrely - shelving books. All the while I'm singing, "I'm a lone rhinoceros. There ain't one hell of a lots of us..."

Of course Belew's melancholy song about an endangered species isn't true to our story. Ours is a story of evolution and survival. It's always been thus. Sam took over the store upon his return from World War II, when it was nearly bankrupt. When he moved the store from 200 S. to Main Street, it was because the landlord had other plans for the space. The catastrophic fire of 1972 caused another (temporary) move and a remodel of the Main Street store. The 80's and 90's brought changes to the book industry that had us computerizing the inventory system and selling our used/rare books on the Internet. Recent years have left us and many of our independent bookseller peers feeling a bit bruised. But of late, the news for us all is better and we're looking up. Now we evolve again.

It's exciting. I've always found change to be stimulating. The energy at the new store is envigorating. Our amazing staff and generous volunteers are working hard to put our plans into place. Each evening I lock up the Main Street store and drive to Trolley for a managers' recapitulation of the day and plans for the next one. What I see when I get there is always different and always exciting. As tired as I am when I arrive -- and I am tired! -- it's difficult to leave the store once I'm there.

But for now I'm a lone rhinoceros closing this world.

December 28th Moving Update

2011-12-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

Moving began yesterday with crews of employees, volunteers, and movers packing up books on Main Street, and a crew of employees and volunteers setting up bookcases at Trolley Square. Here's a peek at the progress so far.

Book on carts waiting to be taken to Trolley Square.

We've already cleared out a large portion of the main floor!

View from the top of the stairs at trolley.

From the landing at Trolley. Just a few more bookcases to go!

We still need volunteers! Join us in our move by calling 801-328-2588 and talking to Jason.

Polaroid Pictures

2011-12-22T11:07:00.001-07:00

While cleaning the office here at Sam Weller's Books in preparation for our move to Trolley Square we found a Polaroid camera and some film (best used by March 2004).

I love Polaroids. Birthday money supplemented with chore money bought my first camera, a Polaroid. It looked almost exactly like this one, except that it was a sporty red color. So I was immediately excited to start snapping photos.

Of course with film that expired seven years and nine months ago, there was no telling how they would turn out. They turned out interesting.

Catherine is channeling the moving stress of all the staff.

Tony and Joan are preparing the Rare Book Room.

Getting things done.

Frank staffing the side counter.

Hollis is holding down the fort in the office.

Jason is organizing the volunteer schedule.

If you would like to volunteer, contact him at the store.

801-328-2586 or jasonrabb@samwellers.com

Elizabeth is the returns queen.

Our friends in the Coffee Garden on Main.

Debra staffing the main floor info desk.

Stephanie is packing the office.

I don't know what caused portions not to develop. Perhaps the developing fluid had dried out. I have one cartridge (10 photos!) left. I'll use them in the move and post them in a future blog.

Worlds Collide in an Awesome Way

2011-12-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

We recently received a shipment of awesome at the bookstore. Limited edition Star Wars moleskine journals. As you can see, they come in both Republic and Empire designs, or Light Side and Dark Side of the Force, if you will.

We also received some limited edition Pac-man moleskine planners.

Come in for your dose of awesome today!

New name for a new space

2011-12-01T09:33:00.009-07:00

Catherine and I are the third generation of Wellers to serve the community's interests by selling books. My grandfather, Gustav, opened the original store at the onset of the Great Depression. It was then called Zion Bookstore. My father, Sam, took over in 1946. Sam and my mother, Lila, moved the bookstore to 254 S. Main Street in 1961. In the 1970s the name became Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore. By the 1980s we simply went by Sam Wellers.

I have worked in the family bookstore since childhood. Main Street was a vibrant place throughout my youth but beginning in the 1980's it began to decline as a shopping district due to the proliferation of new suburban malls, increasing parking costs and some poor development decisions. Sales weakened for independent booksellers in the late 1980s and the 1990s as stock funded corporate booksellers fought for dominance. A bit later the internet and ebooks gave users new ways to get information once found only in books. Today all the foregoing is exacerbated by our troubled economy.

We value the long heritage of our bookstore. Sam Weller was a gregarious, energetic bookman whose reputation was known across the country. He was a powerful man and a dedicated father who had a giant influence in my life. But his energy hasn't been strongly felt in the bookstore since he lost his eyesight in 1997. Sam passed away in 2009. For all our love and respect for the bookstore we have been on Main Street, we felt that our new store -- designed and built by Catherine, our team and me -- wouldn't be, and simply couldn't be called Sam's anymore.

When we open our store in Trolley Square on January 6th, it will be known as Weller Book Works. For months we pondered how to preserve the family name while embracing a new identity that reflects our new location, our new style of bookselling, and our changed culture. We settled on "Works" because it is an active term and we're active booksellers. I've often said we're the proletariats of the book world. Works has good connotations. This works. Books work (without batteries and for hundreds of years). It works for me. We work for you. We like the industrial association and think it fits nicely into the old trolley garages into which Trolley Square has been built.

We're excited about our new name and logo. We're also excited about the new web site that will follow shortly. We hope you'll enjoy the bookstore that makes them meaningful.

Trolley Square photos

2011-11-28T16:23:00.013-07:00

Here are a few photos of the space in progress. I'm sorry they're so dark. But the lights aren't installed yet so it's dark in there! Don't worry, they're shipping.

This is the current outside of our store. The entrances, upstairs and down, will be immediately west of the atrium off the 600 South entrance.

This was how the space looked raw. It hasn't looked like this since early October.

This is the area Tony refers to as "The Grotto." Those spaces are transforming into offices and a meeting room.

Interior framing. The Grotto is off the the left. The mezzanine is above The Grotto. Big pipes are everywhere.

Still to come: electrical/phones/data/lights, a staircase from the balcony, flooring and railings for the balcony, main floor staining & sealing, painting, installation of sales racks and counters (to seismic code specs), signage and the facade, plus myriad little things I'm forgetting right now.

Oh, and a clothes line. Yes a clothes line. You'll see.

Stuff for Sale

2011-11-11T17:21:00.004-07:00

You already know we've begun our Moving Sale. Oh, you don't? Well, used and rare books are 20% off. If you purchase 10 or more used books, or 10 or more rare books, the discount increases to 30%. The Bargain Rooms sale is still in effect, 10 or more items from there will get you 50% off.
Even better we've moved National Geographics published from the 1950's on to the Bargain Rooms. They're 25 cents a piece.

In addition to all that book goodness, we've got construction supplies for sale. We've got lumber, cinder blocks, oak doors, and enormous wood beams. Contact a manager for more details. More book cases have become available too. Come down and snag one or two today.

Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out

2011-09-14T14:50:00.001-06:00

And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell & Justin Richardson
Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Crank by Ellen Hopkins
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Lush by Natasha Friend
What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

What do these books have in common? According to the American Library Association, they are the books that were most frequently challenged in the United States in 2010. Do some of the titles on this list surprise you? A quick survey of the books challenged most frequently in the last decade would yield similar results. Literature, classics, children's books, histories, religious books including the bible... they've all been challenged at one time or another.

The reasons people challenge books are many: sexually explicit or offensive content, violence, homosexuality, inappropriateness for age groups, anti-family and anti-religious sentiments to name a few. If successful, the results of these challenges are often the same: narrowed access to ideas and information, censorship, limitations on your freedoms as a reader. Lest any of us feel too sanctimonious, challenges come from the right and the left, the religious and irreligious, any side of any political or social spectrum you'd care to identify. Often the motivation is based in an attempt to do the right thing; sometimes it is based in fear. Again, the results are the same.

As booksellers, we at Wellers are categorically against censorship. We, like nearly all booksellers and librarians, have faced objections to materials we chose to sell. I view each time I talk with customers concerned about a book stocked or on display as an opportunity. I get to hear what is disturbing to my customer. That is important, I need to hear my customers and to understand their complaints. But at the same time, it is equally important that I let them know I consider freedom of access to information to be a cornerstone in the foundation of our democracy. I also believe that controversial -- even ugly -- ideas are better kept in the light where they can be seen, discussed, and dealt with rather than kept in the dark where they can flourish unconfronted and untouched. During our conversation I also let my customer know that I practice what I preach. Every season I buy books for the store to sell that I consider offensive. Yes, every single season.

So what does one do about "banned books?" Get the word out, of course. Engage in civic dialogue and education. This year's Banned Books week is September 24th to October 1st. On Saturday, September 24, we will be participating in the Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out. In bookstores and libraries across the country people will be reading two minute selections from challenged books of their choosing. This is an opportunity to dust off your old copy of Howl or recite your favorite passage from the Bible. Wellers staff will video your reading and post it to the Virtual Read-Out YouTube channel as well as Wellers own YouTube channel. And you'll go on record as a defender of the freedom to read.

Just call us at 801-328-2586 or email catherine@samwellers.com to sign up for a time on September 24th.

If you'd like more information about Banned Books week or would like to see what books have been challenged, visit the Banned Books Week web site. If you'd like to preview the Virtual Read Out channel on YouTube, go here.

The Banned Books Week awareness campaign is sponsored by Banned Books Week is sponsored by American Booksellers Association, American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, American Library Association, American Society of Journalists and Authors,Association of American Publishers, National Association of College Stores, Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, National Coalition Against Censorship, National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center, Social Icons by Lenka.

We Speak to the Neighborhood Council

2011-09-07T09:27:00.006-06:00

Tonight Tony and I will be attending the Central City Neighborhood Council meeting to talk about our move to Trolley Square. We'll be addressing how& why we're changing and how the move is progressing. We'd love to see you there.

Central City Neighborhood Council Meeting
Wednesday, September 7th 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.

Alexandra Fuller

2011-08-24T17:20:00.000-06:00

This Friday, August 26th, we will have the pleasure of hosting Alexandra Fuller for a reading from her brand new memoir, Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. I remember reading her first memoir, Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, which looks on her childhood in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. It was an absolute delight, and it is still one of my favorite go-to reading recommendations. Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness is both a prequel and a sequel, continuing Alexandra's own story, but its main focus is on her mother, Nicola Fuller. I haven't finished it yet, but Catherine has—read her review in the current issue of BookTalk, Sam Weller's newsletter.

We hope you join us at the Salt Lake City Public Library at 7:00 PM for this wonderful reading and signing.

This event is free and open to the public.

THE ASK by Sam Lipsyte

2011-08-22T16:10:00.000-06:00

The Ask is a real treasure: with Larry David-esque timing, the pathos of a recovering sports fan, and a fire-breather's flair for language, Lipsyte writes like most of his contemporaries only dream of. His prose is alive and well. He is as funny as Gary Shteyngart, as sad as Woody Allen at his most comfortless, and his ribald wit rivals comic Louis C.K.'s. In The Ask, Lipsyte writes about Milo Burke, a down-and-out full time dad who may just have a second whack at his old job. Burke has to contend with his old college roommate, Stuart Purdy, a real schmuck who snuck up on the dot com craze with a few crazy plans of his own, and is still collecting from that. Purdy wants Milo to do an Ask for him: "An Ask could be a person , or what we wanted from that person. If they gave it to us, that was a give." Purdy enlists Milo to do one last job, think 007 without all the sword play. Burke is entering a world of hell, and it'd only be wise to join him.

New Brandon Sanderson Book signed and numbered

2011-08-16T10:27:00.013-06:00

Brandon Sanderson is the energizer bunny of authors. He just keeps going and going and going. In addition to completing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series, Brandon is still working on a number of his own projects. His newest book is a Mistborn novel and will be published November 8, 2011. It's called Alloy of Law.

For the past several years Wellers has been pleased to work with Sanderson offering signed and numbered copies of his releasing books to his legions of fans. I'm happy to write that Alloy of Law will be no exception. Pre-publication sales for signed and numbered copies begin today.

The details of the process are much as they have been in the past. Those of you who have ordered signed and numbered copies from us before may want to just give us a call or email books@samwellers.com. Those who are still interested keep reading.

For this promotion, Wellers will discount the cover price 20%, bringing the cost down to $19.99 plus shipping and handling via USPS Priority Mail. We will give you the total cost when you place your order. All orders must be pre-paid via credit card or Paypal. If you're paying by credit card, please call or email us. Those who are using Paypal should email books@samwellers.com. You may purchase up to three copies of Alloy of Law.

Numbering is split with the BYU Bookstore, where Brandon celebrates his book releases. The numbers allocated to Wellers are assigned on first come, first served basis. The sooner you order your book and pay for it, the lower your number. Since we'll be in the midst of relocating our store during the processing and shipping period, we will not offer other copies of Brandon's books. (As you can see from the photo on the left, there's a bit to do.) We will ship the books to arrive on the release date or as close to it as possible. This promotion is limited to 500 copies of Alloy of Law. Additionally, orders must be placed by October 14, 2011. We turn away a few unhappy customers each year, which is sad for us too. Once they're gone, they're gone so don't delay!

You can read all about Alloy of Law on TOR's site or on Brandon's blog.

Zach Recommends

2011-07-13T11:13:00.000-06:00

The Secret Miracle: The Novelist's Handbook
edited by Daniel Alarcón
978-0-8050-8714-7
Henry Holt
$16.00

Secrets. Miracles. Revelations. Don't have a charming redhead to propel you into creativity? Try this instead! A wide ranging collection of writers talk about what gets them going, what keeps them going, about fears, deadlines & projections — inspirations, paintings & writers they admire. If you can't track down Chris Abani, Paul Auster or Michael Chabon, settle with this.

Frank Recommends

2011-07-11T14:34:00.000-06:00

Wicked River: The Mississippi When It Last Ran Wild
by Lee Sandlin
978-0-307-37851-4
Pantheon
$26.95

A rollicking history of the Mississippi River, before Mark Twain, before it was changed and semi-tamed. Full of historical tidbits that will keep you reading!

Debra Recommends

2011-07-08T16:41:00.002-06:00

Who Fears Death
by Nnedi Okorafor
978-0-7564-0669-1
DAW
$15.00

The strong, magic-wielding young woman, Onyesonwu (who fears death?), goes up against warring genocidal African tribes in the post-apocalyptic Saharan desert. Violent, disturbing, harsh — beautiful, moving, memorable.

Our New Location

2011-06-16T12:41:00.013-06:00

Sam Weller’s Bookstore will soon be moving to a new location in Salt Lake City. It's been a little more than two years since we first made that declaration. Today I am very happy to announce that a new location for our bookstore has been secured. Tony and I have signed a lease for a site in Trolley Square.

At the beginning of this process we believed we'd complete it within ten months — well, that was naive. It's been a long, difficult two years. I don't think there is a block in the downtown area that doesn't have available property we've left unconsidered. And there have been some tempting properties with some generous and creative owners. But due to a variety of factors, we were unable to swing a deal until this week. To remind you, we determined that our next location must have the following factors: free parking, affordable occupancy rates, footage ranging from 10,000 - 15,000 square feet, close proximity to stable traffic generating entities, close proximity to a TRAX stop, and architectural character. Add in a challenging economic climate, a difficult commercial real estate market, and a changing book industry and you get a very tall order to fill!

Trolley Square was among the first property owners to approach us with available space. But Tony and I were skeptical about leasing property and about locating out of the downtown core. Over time and many hours of negotiations, our concerns were allayed. We are delighted with our space in the old movie theaters in the trolley barn that abuts Sixth South. We are thrilled to be joining such esteemed local businesses as Tabula Rasa, Cabin Fever, and the Desert Edge Brewery. And we look forward to more local businesses joining us in Trolley.

Architectural plans are currently being drawn and construction schedules finalized. So I do not have a hard opening date to share with you yet. We are estimating relocation will be complete in early Autumn. Will we still need help moving? You betcha! Please contact Jan here at the store (801-328.2586 or books@samwellers.com).

I don’t have to tell you all that the book business is evolving at a rapid pace. Some of the issues are newer, some have been with us since the early 1990’s. Salt Lake City itself has changed considerably since the 1980’s and is currently undergoing another significant transformation. Sam Wellers has sold books in Salt Lake City since 1929, moving and changing all the while. Since we intend to continue to serve your bookish needs, we will continue to evolve with the City and with the times. We look forward to showing off the new space and our new and vastly improved web site soon. In the meantime, remember we’re here, we’ve got books, we’re selling them. Don’t be strangers! Come on down.

To get things kicked off, we're having a celebratory sale this Friday, June 17th and Saturday, June 18th. Used and Rare books will be 25% off. But we want you to help us clear out. So if you purchase 10 or more used books, or 10 plus rare books, you'll receive a 33% discount. In a Bargain Book mood? Buy 20 of those for $7.00.

Here's a photo of the Wellers staff celebrating the news Wednesday night.

Best Wellers is Zazen by Vanessa Veselka

2011-06-10T15:33:00.002-06:00

Reviewed by Zach Sampinos

“It's what it's all about—can you sit still on fire? Can you be there when it's all a horrific, beautiful, comedy?” Veselka's response to her title and why she chose it. The word zazen, defined as sitting meditation, expands into something both serene and terrifying in this book. Della, the unlikely narrator, paleontology scholar, and part time waitress, has had it with her city, with its ineffective counter-culture running in circles, its box mall churches cropping up all over, and its semi-regular bombings.

The book screams the way only honest fiction can, yelling at us: Hey! You're stepping deeper into the mouth of Hell, are you sure you can't be dissuaded? Zazen pokes fun at superficiality, impish iconoclasm, and our hardwired ways of turning the other cheek and continually not reaching out. It's also a novel about family, and what it means to love and be loved.

In-between serving tofu scramble and celebrating her deceased sister's life and juggling with her own identity, Della starts calling in bomb threats. It begins innocently, with prepaid phones and dubious targets, but it quickly escalates into something a little too real. Della's plan however flawed, is one that you just can not easily ignore.

Justin Cronin Reading at the Library!

2011-06-01T17:53:00.004-06:00

Join us on Thursday, June 2nd at the Salt Lake City Library's Nancy Tessman Auditorium for a reading with Justin Cronin, author of the New York Times bestselling novel, The Passage.

The Passage became a blockbuster hit when it was published in hardcover. Cronin says of its success, “The Passage taps into a great deal of our shared anxieties about the world we live in. These are fraught times, to put it mildly, and the dangers we face, internal and external, in ourselves and in others, seem like strange new monsters to wrestle with. But at the same time, The Passage is not an unremittingly bleak story. I think we’re all wondering what will redeem us. It’s a hopeful thing to think that it could be something as simple as love for a little girl.”

The Passage is a breathtaking tale of catastrophe and survival and a mesmerizing work of sacrifice and hope. In telling this epic story of a girl given the chance to save humanity, award-winning and highly acclaimed author Justin Cronin’s ambitious vision and powerful prose combine to make The Passage this summer’s most anticipated read.

Join Us!

2011-05-27T10:22:00.003-06:00

Tonight (5/27/11) we are proud to welcome author and filmmaker John Sayles to our store! The reading of his new book, A Moment in the Sun, will begin at 7pm with a signing to follow. Please join us - no ticket is required!

Fuzzy Nation

2011-05-17T09:23:00.001-06:00

I recently finished reading John Scalzi's latest novel, Fuzzy Nation. Fuzzy Nation is a "reboot" of H. Beam Piper's classic, Little Fuzzy, which is on my reading list, but I haven't gotten to it quite yet.

Jack Holloway is an ex-lawyer turned independent contractor-prospector on the planet Zarathustra, who hits the mother-lode. His cut of the find will make him rich beyond belief. There's only one problem. When he gets home he finds he's been invaded by the cutest little alien creatures. Who seem just a bit too smart to be ignored. You see, ZaraCorp (the mining company he's contracted with) is only allowed to exploit Zarathustra and its fabulous mineral riches because it has no intelligent life, and they want to keep control at all costs.

John Scalzi will be reading from and signing Fuzzy Nation at Sam Weller's Bookstore Wednesday, May 18th at 6:00 PM. Join us!

Another Personal Mythology Bites the Dust

2011-05-12T10:49:00.001-06:00

We've been cleaning a lot of back rooms and storage areas lately. That's not a shocker. What does regularly surprise me are the stories that are churned up along with the dust. Over the years I've told myself a lot of stories about the spaces we occupy in the David Keith Building. Some of them are true; others, more fanciful.

The space we've always referred to as "the third floor" has been primarily storage for the bookstore. After the great fire of 1972, Sam remodeled our share of the third floor just as much as was necessary to store USGS materials, assorted periodicals of local interest, and large quantities of books he bought on their way to the remainder companies. Other rooms stored financial records, the old tires from Sam's cars, wood and shelving, and spare computer equipment.

That's the room I accessed most often, the computer equipment room. For years it seemed I was constantly switching out dumb terminals, dot matrix printers, and their associated parts. They were in what was, prior to the fire, an office leased to another party. Its entry was one of those beautiful wood doors with a large glass window and a transom on top. White and gold letters on the door's molding spelled out "K. D. Speciale." I was so intrigued by that name that nearly every time I went into the room, I speculated on its owner.

K.D. Speciale, I decided was a detective. He was one of those hard boiled guys who smoked a lot and had his feet on his desk even when he was meeting with a client. Of course he wore a fedora. Mr. Speciale also ate at the counter of Lambs Restaurant, where he also went for "a cup" when he was troubled by a difficult case. I won't even go into the cases I made up for him.

In March a group of Polk Directories for Utah came down from the third floor. For you web only kids, they were like the phone book with the added fun of reverse directories in the back. Also like phone books, they provide fascinating snapshots into particular places and times. One can look up addresses and see what person lived there or what business operated at that location. As I passed them on the landing to the lower level recently, I decided to look up K.D. Speciale. I wanted to see who he really was. A coworker joined me when I sat on the stairs and opened a volume. As I flipped through the pages looking for the right address, I told my coworker about my peculiar relationship with Mr. Speciale.

Alas! The business was a very legitimate advertising and printing firm. Not only that, the actual name of the firm was "K. D. Specialeties." Sigh. There go the feet on the desk. There goes the snub nosed pistol in the top drawer and the bottle of whiskey in the bottom. Goodbye K.D. I hardly knew you.

Frank Recommends

2011-05-10T15:59:00.003-06:00

Arctic Dreams
by Barry Lopez
from Vintage Books
$16.00

A wonderful book of the far north. It's been many years since I first read this books, but parts still stay with me . . . especially what polar bear milk tastes like. You'll have to read it to find out!

Katie Arnold-Ratliff event canceled

2011-05-09T11:31:00.002-06:00

I am saddened to report that our event with Katie Arnold-Ratiliff, author of Bright Before Us has been canceled.

We extend our apologies to anyone disappointed or inconvenienced by the late notice. We also extend our best wishes to Ms Arnold-Ratliff.

A Review of Tina Fey's Bossypants

2011-04-22T15:19:00.000-06:00

I finished reading Bossypants by Tina Fey in a little over a week. For a lot of readers out there, that's not really that impressive considering the book is only 275 pages and is set in a slightly bigger font, but for those of you who know my terrible reading habits this is pretty amazing. (No, seriously, I honestly can't remember the last time I finished an entire book without jumping to a new one half way through the one I was currently reading. I call this phenomenon "Reader's ADD".)

In Bossypants, Tina Fey, vaguely, reveals where the scar on her chin came from, she tells us about her time touring with the infamous Second City with Amy Poehler, when she was interviewed for a writing job on Saturday Night Live by Lorne Michaels, the time she had to tell Sylvester Stallone to enunciate during her first week at SNL, and her time on the show on camera. Fey also writes about her multiple Emmy Award winning show, 30 Rock, dealing with things celebrities have to do, like photo shoots, trying to be a champion of brown hair to her daughter, the double standard about women in comedy, and, of course, her stint as Sarah Palin on SNL after she was no longer a cast member.

Fey writes in a personal, friendly way—making you feel as though she was just telling you a story over lunch (the lunch part might just be my imagination as she is my pretend best friend). It is engaging, honest, and very funny. Needless to say, I absolutely loved it and I was sad when it ended because I wanted more.

Call to Action! Senate Will Vote on Reader Privacy Protections

2011-04-21T14:59:00.000-06:00

It didn’t make the network news, but a recent vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee was an important step forward in the 10-year battle that booksellers and librarians have been waging to restore the safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA Patriot Act.

Under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, the FBI can search any bookstore or library records that it considers “relevant” to a terrorist investigation, including the records of people who are not suspected of criminal conduct, much less terrorism.We believe that the right to read what we choose without the fear of the government looking over our shoulders is an essential freedom.So we were encouraged when the Judiciary Committee approved S. 193, a bill that limits Patriot Act searches to the records of people who are suspected of terrorism.

This is an important reform that does not threaten national security. It has the support of both Attorney General Eric Holder and Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Utah’s own Mike Lee voted in favor of the legislation when it was before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But the vote in the Judiciary is only the first step. Now the full Senate and the House must also act. It is crucial that supporters of reader privacy contact their Congressional representatives now. Please join us in urging Senators Lee and Hatch to vote for S. 193. A vote could occur in the next few weeks.

For more information, visit the Campaign for Reader Privacy, and stay tuned! We will be reporting on the progress of this battle.

Catherine and Tony Weller

Picking Poetry

2011-04-18T14:17:00.012-06:00

Today I find myself in the unusual position of having to pick a favorite poem and feeling utterly lost. At the beginning of the month Tony and I were invited to read at Salt Lake City's National Poetry Month celebration. It's scheduled for Weds. April 27, 7:00 p.m. at the Salt Lake City Public Library. Today's to-do list indicates it's time to pick a poem and begin reading it out loud.

For some reason I can't do it. My go-to poems are Ginsberg's Kaddish and cummings' pity this busy monster, manunkind, not. Kaddish is too long. And today I am dissatisfied with cummings' sassy ending. It reminds me of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I've turned to my old loves: to Brodsky, to Akhmatova, and Yevtushenko. Perhaps it's the flat gray day, but nothing I read created a spark, not even when I sang a couple of Dickinson poems to the tune of Yellow Rose of Texas. Or perhaps it's the fire raging deep within that's sucking the air out of anything I read right now. Maybe I need some new, young loves. Whatever it is, I am poemless.

Got a recommendation for me?

Catherine Recommends

2011-04-16T18:32:00.000-06:00

Learning to Die in Miami: Confessions of a Refugee Boy
by Carlos Eire
978-1-4391-8190-4
Free Press
$26.00

I loved Waiting for Snow in Havana so I was excited to find Learning to Die.... Eire's memoir of his life as an American doesn't disappoint. It is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. From his time as an 11 year old airlifted from Cuba to shocking foster homes in Miami, to his trip as an adult to countries of the former Eastern Bloc, Eire plumbs the refugee experience with grace.

2011-04-12T16:25:00.003-06:00

Dangit! I forgot to queue up a book cover of the week! Here's a picture of Neil Gaiman's awesome library instead.

(Even he has piles of books on a chair, it's not just me... !)

Books — Bringing People Together Since 1450

2011-04-04T15:12:00.001-06:00

We people — we social animals — love stories. We're fascinated by the experiences of others; we enjoy sharing our own. Be it around a campfire, in a bar, or (since approximately 1450) in books folks have a lot to share with one another.

The book has added a dimension to the sharing process that literary geeks thrive on: the connection made by a cover, a name, a place, an image, an idea contained by the physical object. We connect with people we never thought we'd know, places we never thought we'd see, experiences we never thought we'd have. Worlds not even of our making can bring us together in strange ways.

I was traveling the week after the sixth Harry Potter book was released. It was everywhere during my travels. Fellow airplane passengers nodded to each other, smiled in recognition of another member of the tribe of Potter, and compared notes careful avoid spoilers. When I found myself weeping at the death of Dumbledore, I paused my reading for a moment to surreptitiously glance around, embarrassed to be crying in public once again. But then I heard tell-tale sniffling coming from the seats behind me and knew I was not alone. Another anecdote: on our first date, my now husband Tony decided I really was a person to get to know when he looked at the books on the shelves in my apartment. Thomas Pynchon may have something to do with our marriage.

So imagine yourself at a dinner, seated at a table with an author and other booksellers. Everyone is telling stories because that's what we humans do. All of a sudden you can bear keeping your secret no longer, so you turn to the author sitting next to you and blurt out, "My Grandfather built your fire tower." The author's mouth drops open. Conversation at the table stops. You explain slowly at first, then the words rush out. And the stories — the connections — begin again. You're trading tales about the cemetery in a little town no one's heard of, an inn keeper's turkey, your grand dad and his time in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). Suddenly you've not only discovered a great new author, you've rediscovered a part of your world long buried and learned more about it from a new friend.

That happened to me last September at a dinner in Denver. I met an author whose isolated job and workplace connects with my family in so many ways it's quite remarkable and very nearly creepy. I began his book thinking I'd read a nice piece of nature writing about a part of the country with which I'm intimate. Instead, I discovered a great book by a wonderful writer who admires many of the authors I do. I reconnected with my past.

The book is Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors. Your life may have no connection with his work in a New Mexico fire tower. But I bet you'll find a connection with an extraordinary book about a life of solitude in the West. You can meet him here on Saturday, April 9th at 6 p.m.

Click here for the Salt Lake Tribune's interview with Philip.
Click here for the Deseret News article about Fire Season.

Book Cover of the Week

2011-04-04T11:11:00.000-06:00

Hearts Are Trumps
By Alexander Otis
The John McBride Co., 1909
Our price used: $15

Sexual Fluidity, Reviewed

2011-03-29T10:13:00.000-06:00

Sexual Fluidity chronicles Lisa M. Diamond's study of 100 young women over the course of 10 years to try to understand the nature of women's love and desire. If you're worried that reading this will be difficult because it's academic, do be, Diamond's writing is accessible and enjoyable to read. In Sexual Fluidity, Diamond delves into the science behind attraction and lust, love and infatuation. She reveals that biology plays as large a part in who we partner with as anything else, and that women's preferences toward one gender or another can fluctuate wildly over the span of a lifetime. Freud touched on this with his Polymorphous Perversity theory stating that children up to the age of five had no sexual preference to one gender or another until they were taught to repress sexuality into socially normal behavior creating heterosexual adults. He may have been on to something, but this was never really studied properly and it was dismissed at the time, like a good portion of Freud's work, because of its perverse nature. Now, in the age of outspoken and accepted homosexuality, a proper study has been done. The findings in Sexual Fluidity probably won't come to a surprise to most women, and it may even help some women understand that they aren't alone in their confusing attractions. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in or curious about gender studies and psychology, which happen to be the two fields Lisa M. Diamond is an Associate Professor of at the University of Utah.

On Thursday, March 31st, at 6pm, Lisa M. Diamond will be joining us in-store to discuss her book Sexual Fluidity. We hope you'll join us (it's free and open to the public!)!

Book Cover of the Week

2011-03-28T11:11:00.000-06:00

One of Our Thursdays Is Missing
By Jasper Fforde
Penguin $25.95

This cover features the amazing photography of Thomas Allen, one of my favorites.

Be $ensible Again

2011-03-25T15:46:00.003-06:00

The Be $ensible legislative wrap up is tomorrow, Saturday March 26th from 4 - 6 p.m. Join us as we host Ross Romero, Kraig Powell and perhaps some friends from the media to sensibly discuss the outcomes of the 2011 legislative session. There's so so much to talk about. Please join us.

Book Cover of the Week

2011-03-21T11:11:00.000-06:00

Spiritual Writings
By Soren Kierkegaard
Harper Perennial $15.99

Bossypants and The Pale King

2011-03-19T11:10:00.000-06:00

April is coming up and it's going to be a big month in books (for me at least). There are two books being released next month that I am really excited about. The first is Bossypants by Tina Fey, set for release on April 5th. In Bossypants, Tina Fey writes about her shows, her comedy, her stints as Sarah Palin on SNL, and the trials of motherhood. Tina Fey is one of my heroes, I can not wait to get my hands on this book even if it does have a rather creepy/hilarious cover...

The second book I'm excited about is The Pale King, the last, unfinished, novel from David Foster Wallace. Set for release on Tax Day (April 15th), The Pale King is about a new agent at the IRS in Peoria, IL where the work is so tedious that the new employees receive boredom-survival training. Wallace was working on The Pale King at the time of his death and I'm wildly curious about it being unfinished and if a masterful writer such as David Foster Wallace can make reading about working at the IRS engaging and not completely tedious and boring.

Book Cover of the Week

2011-03-14T11:11:00.000-06:00

The Jungle
By Upton Sinclair
Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, $15

Be $ensible Canceled until a Later Date

2011-03-11T16:25:00.003-07:00

Tomorrow's event, Be $ensible: A Post-Session Gathering, is canceled. We will reschedule for a later day in the month to hold our discussion of the legislative session and announce the new date in the next few days. We thank you for your patience, and we are sorry for any inconvenience the cancellation may have caused.

Fresh Living Book Club - Corrected

2011-03-09T15:31:00.005-07:00

We're excited to be doing a book club with KUTV Chanel 2's Fresh Living Show, The Fresh Living Book Club. The first pick was announced by me, in the vise-like grip of a powerful migraine headache, on February 15. You can see the video here. Our first book is Audrey Niffenegger's modern gothic novel, Her Fearful Symmetry.

The beauty of the Fresh Living Book Club is that there's no pressure. You can simply use our selections as a guide to great reading for yourself or your own book club. You can also virtually discuss the book on KUTV Fresh Living's Facebook discussion board. It's up to you how much you commit. Though I have to admit I'd love to see some comments on the FB board so I don't feel like I'm talking into the ether all of the time.

As with all book clubs Weller's sponsors, we'll be giving 20% off on the current month's selections.

On Monday, March 14 around 1:00 p.m. I'll be back on Fresh Living to wrap up Her Fearful Symmetry and announce the next selection. We've already chosen it. I'll be excited to share it with you.

Book Cover of the Week

2011-03-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Snowdrops
By A. D. Miller
Random House $24.95

Book Cover of the Week

2011-02-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Forgotten Mysteries
By R. DeWitt Miller
Cloud, 1947
Our price used: $10

The Wise Man's Fear

2011-02-26T12:50:00.001-07:00

So, the book I've been waiting for all my life (or so it feels) is finally coming out. Tuesday, March 1st is the release date for The Wise Man's Fear, second book in Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle.

Woohoo!

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-26T11:11:00.001-07:00

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
By Brian Selznick
Scholastic $24.99

After this post, 'Book Cover of the Day' will turn into 'Book Cover of the Week'. Keep an eye out!

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-25T11:11:00.000-07:00

Little Red Riding Hood
By The Brothers Grimm
Illustrated by Daniel Egneus
Harper Design $14.99

The Last One!

2011-02-25T08:36:00.012-07:00

Early last month tragedy struck in the bookstore. I dropped my beloved tea mug while I was standing at the top of the stairs leading from the Rare Book Room. It didn't fall all the way down the stairs, but it fell hard enough and far enough to break off the handle. I was crushed.

Let me explain, this isn't just any mug. It's a mug I received from Knopf in 2007 to promote their title, Well Behaved Women Seldom Make History by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Anyone who knows me knows that's a quote I can get behind. It was also an excellent book of women's history by a Pulitzer Prize winning historian whose work is well known nationally and beloved in Utah. Less well known is that Laurel Thatcher Ulrich coined the phrase "Well behaved women seldom make history." For years the mug was my constant meeting companion, it held my hot tea winter mornings, iced tea in summer, and it even held a shot of whiskey a time or two after particularly difficult days. It was permanently tea stained and frequently lipstick stained. It was the perfect mug for me.

When Ron Smith, my Random House sales representative for Knopf called on me last, I showed him my sad mug. I wanted him to see how much I had appreciated and enjoyed it over the years. I also couldn't bear to throw it away and was about to make it my new pen holder. Ron shook his head and said something to the effect that Random House doesn't really do things like that anymore. I understood, no one in the book business has the money for that kind of promotion these days. I wasn't asking for another mug, just sharing the love. Ron said he might have a couple left in his garage. He'd check. That was weeks ago.

This morning I opened a mysterious package. In it was a bubble wrapped object with a note that said, "The last one!" It was a new mug and it's made my day. Over and over again I am reminded of the generosity and love possessed by people in the book business. They freely donate books to schools, they give their personal time to community projects, they give their own scarce money to other bookstores that have suffered fires, floods, earthquakes, catastrophes of all kinds. They send tea mugs to booksellers made ridiculously happy by little things.

The Sweetest Valentine

2011-02-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Last week I got some of the best valentines I'd ever received. They were from Bennion Elementary students. Mrs. Hartman, Bennion's librarian, and her students made valentines to thank me for the book donations I delivered to their school in late January. Each valentine tells of each child's love of books and reading. They still bring tears to my eyes.

Really, they should have been sent to all of you who bought books from our holiday Angel Tree and at the January Be $ensible gathering. I donated a couple of titles I loved. But mostly I was the courier for the titles you bought for the school.

Thank you generous customers for allowing me to deliver books to kids who love and need them. You really came through.

Catherine

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-24T11:11:00.001-07:00

Open City
By Teju Cole
Random House $25

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

A Widow's Story, A Memoir
By Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco $27.99

Not only is this cover beautiful, the book is too. This book will become as a classic memoir of loss alongside Joan Didion's "Year of Magical Thinking". Highly recommended.

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Bald Coot and Screaming Loon: Adventures in the Curious, Mysterious and Remarkable World of Birds
By Niall Edworthy
Perigee $17.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Tax Revolt: The Rebellion Against an Overbearing, Bloated, Arrogant, and Abusive Government
By Phil Valentine
Nelson Current 2005
Our price used: $9

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
By Steven Johnson
Riverhead Books $26.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Fadeaway Girl
By Martha Grimes
Viking $26.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-17T15:43:00.003-07:00

Journal of a U.F.O. Investigator
By David Halperin
Viking $25.95

(Oh no, I missed a few days! Sorry, everyone!)

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Tales of the Madman Underground
By John Barnes
Penguin $9.99

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Dead Boys
By Royce Buckingham
Penguin $16.99

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Talk of the Devil: Encounters with Seven Dictators
By Riccardo Orizio
Walker 2003
Our price used: $10

Be $ensible: An Update

2011-02-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

If you missed the first Be $ensible event on January 22nd, you missed two hours (it seemed shorter!) of intelligent, non-inflammatory political discussion courtesy of Pat Shea, Rod Decker, and Paul Rolly. You also missed some dynamite bagels courtesy of Black Market Bagels and coffee courtesy of Sam Weller's and the Coffee Garden.

I'm also pleased to report that many books were bought for the Bennion Elementary School library. In fact, it looked like a plague of locusts had swept over the table displaying the books that Bennion needed. The best kind of locusts of course: the reading, giving kind. Delivering the books was the highlight of my week. The librarian went through the box ooohing and aaahing over every title. She's already got plans for many of the books. Thank you all.

Don't feel bad, dear readers, if you missed January's Be $ensible event. There are still ways to get involved. First of all, visit the Be $ensible web site and nominate your favorite legislative actions for the most sensible, least sensible, and the best alternative to legislative actions this Session. You can also nominate the Pat Bagley cartoon that best captures the 2011 Legislative Session. We will award prizes—books of course!—to the nominees whose suggestions win in their respective categories. Awards will be given at the Session wrap up.

Yes, we'll be meeting again. On Saturday, March 12th at 4:00 p.m. we'll review the General Session of the 59th Utah State Legislature with the same wonderful panelists. Come prepared to discuss, celebrate, commiserate, and do whatever it takes to put the Leg to bed. As previously mentioned, we'll award the Be $ensible prizes at that time. We'll also have another table of books for donation to the Bennion Elementary School library.

Oh and don't forget to wear your Be $ensible button to the store during the time the Legislature meets. If you do, you'll get a 10% discount when you buy a book.

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World
By Jane McGonigal
Penguin $26.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Swamplandia!
By Karen Russell
Random House $24.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

The Illumination
By Kevin Brockmeier
Random House $24.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
By Amy Chua
Penguin $25.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

IV
By Chuck Klosterman
Simon & Schuster $15.

Book Cover of the Day

2011-02-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland
By Patton Oswalt
Simon & Schuster $24.

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart
By Stephen Amidon and Thomas Amidon
Macmillan $24.99

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Empty Family
By Colm Toibin
Simon & Schuster $24.

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear
By Atiq Rahimi
Random House $15.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

No Place for Heroes
By Laura Restrepo
Random House $25.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Witch's Daughter
By Paula Brackston
Macmillan $24.99

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

Salvation City
By Sigrid Nunez
Penguin $25.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Bird Cloud
By Annie Proulx
Simon & Schuster $26.

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Love, Love, and Love
By Sandra Bernhard
Harper Collins, 1993
Our price used: $10

Be $ensible!

2011-01-21T13:00:00.004-07:00

On Saturday, January 22nd at 4 PM, Sam Weller's Bookstore will be hosting a gathering of sensible citizens to discuss the upcoming Utah state legislative session. Our discussion will be led by Paul Rolly of the Salt Lake Tribune and Rod Decker of KUTV and moderated by Patrick A. Shea. We'll hear an overview of the likely topics for legislation, and we'll highlight the importance of sensibility in political discourse and in governance.

We'll have free Be $ensible buttons (like the picture at the top of this post). When you wear this button in the store during the legislative session, Sam Weller's will give you 10% off new, used, and rare books (with just a few exceptions). That's our reward to you for helping to spread the message of sensibility.

Because sensibility begins with educational opportunity, we will be taking donations for Bennion Elementary School's library during our gathering. Bennion has given us a list of books that their library needs, and we'll be giving 20% off books from the list that are purchased for donation– and we'll deliver them.

Bennion is a Title 1 School in which 86% of the students are economically disadvantaged, but that’s not the whole story: Students at Bennion speak over 19 languages and represent cultures around the globe, and their teachers have an average of 20 years experience accompanied by a deep commitment to the academic and personal progress of each child.

Be $ensible will be conducting a contest throughout the 2011 Legislative session. Citizens will be asked to submit nominations to www.besensible.org for the most sensible and the least sensible legislative acts and statements, the best alternative, and for the best Pat Bagley cartoon which captures the 2011 session. Be $ensible will gather for a post-session review on Saturday, March 12, 2011 at Sam Weller's, when awards will be presented for the winning nominations.

So come to Weller's tomorrow and help promote sensible governance and a bright future!

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Jeanne Was Once a Player of Pianos
By Sandy Anderson
Limberlost Press, 1998
Our price used: $12

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-20T11:11:00.001-07:00

Headlock
By Adam Berlin
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2000
Our price used: $12

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-19T11:11:00.001-07:00

Sleep, My Love
By Robert Martin
Dell, 1953
Our price used: $5

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

Sourland
By Joyce Carol Oates
Harper Collins $25.99

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Role Models
By John Waters
Macmillan $25

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Silver Darlings
By Neil M. Gunn
Faber and Faber c.1969
Our price used: $5

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Ticking is the Bomb
By Nick Flynn
Norton $14.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

Secondhand Smoke
By Patty Friedmann
Counterpoint 2002
Our price used: $12

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-12T11:11:00.000-07:00

Glove Puppet
By Neal Drinnan
St. Martin's Press 1998
Our price used: $13

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

A Visit from the Goon Squad
By Jennifer Egan
Random House $25.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Sunset Limited
By Cormac McCarthy
Vintage International 2006
Our price used: $7

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Fury: A Memoir
By Koren Zailckas
Viking Press $25.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-07T11:11:00.001-07:00

Oh the Glory of it All
By Sean Wilsey
Penguin 2005
Our price used: $10

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

Terror Dream: Myth and Misogyny in an Insecure America
By Susan Faludi
Macmillan $16.00

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Map As Art
By Katherine Harmon
Chronicle Books $29.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care
By T.R. Reid
Penguin $16.00

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-03T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Beats: A Graphic History
By Harvey Pekar
Macmillan $14.95

Book Cover of the Day

2011-01-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Beautiful and the Grotesque
By Ryunosuke Akutagawa
W. W. Norton $14.95

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-31T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Convalescent
By Jessica Anthony
McSweeney's 2009
Our price used: $12

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Year of the Flood
By Margaret Atwood
Random House $15

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-29T11:11:00.000-07:00

Taroko Gorge
By Jacob Ritari
Unbridled Books $15.95

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Cut Throat Dog
By Joshua Sobol
Random House $15

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Farewell Symphony
By Edmund White
Knopf 1997
Our price used: $12

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

The Twelve Bots of Christmas
By Nathan Hale
Macmillan $14.99

Merry Christmas!

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

Sketchy Santas
By Will Zweigart
Simon & Schuster $10.00

(Click through the picture to the blog that this book is based off of. Too good to pass up!)

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Watchmen
By Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons
DC Comics $19.99

Book Cover of the Day

2010-12-22T11:11:00.000-07:00

Chronic City
By Jonathan Lethem
Random House $15.95