Author reception: Margaret Willson

Please join us for an evening with our neighborhood author, Margaret Willson. Dance Lest We All Fall Down is a gripping first-person account of one woman’s experiences living in a Brazilian shantytown. She, a white American anthropologist, joins forces with an African-Brazilian shantytown activist to change the violence and despair they see around them. Their pledge to the residents to create a top-quality educational center for girls becomes a turbulent journey that takes us from the shantytowns of Northeastern Brazil to urban Seattle to high-society London. With the author, we experience a world of drug dealers, street urchins, and capoeiristas, English socialites, power-hungry “do-gooders,” and wise teachers. This is a true story of insight and inspiration, courage, passion, and intrigue.

Sunday, December 9th, 7pm

Virtual 360 walkabout!

Since we have so many virtual friends, we thought we should show you what our store looks like. And why it takes Dan a while to find that book for you! Enjoy the stacks!

Our Holiday Catalog!

You can browse titles and cover art here! And it's all 10% off through the holidays!


Our Open House Party will be Sunday, December 2nd, 3 pm till the cows come home.

Louis & Paul

Why I buy the salad dressings and salsa!

Reading for Pleasure…or Not

The New York Times reported today on a new study released by the National Endowment for the Arts that found, among other things, “…fewer than half of Americans over 18 read novels, short stories, plays or poetry…” The usual suspects are trotted out: books compete with the visual diversions, movies, tv, video games and the like. Poverty is probably an issue as well. The study also points to the flatness or decline in reading scores among students, and income level for adults. The more one reads the better the scores (including tests in Math and Science); the more one reads the more income one makes. Except in my case.
Of course, this study is of some concern to me inasmuch as I depend on a literate public to make my living. I’m fortunate that my customers are literate and I can conduct good conversations with them. I’d like to continue to do so.
I can’t be sure and I have no proof, but I think that there is a current group of young people who are growing up illiterate. Somehow the get by in school with the rudiments of reading ability and street smarts. But because they have been failed on some way early on, and not taught properly how to read, never discover the pleasures of the printed narrative. Or feel the tactile satisfaction of holding a book in one’s hands.
There is an elderly man who brings me the weekly local neighborhood paper. He told me some time ago, with great pride, that he was taking reading classes at the Goodwill. It’s never too late.

This Land is Your Land

Via Howie Klein at Crooks and Liars, Mojo Nixon's stirring cover of Woody.

We're #1 !!!1!

at the googles. Really! You fine people have clicked on the Tibetan Turtles so many times, we are at the top of the search for um, real, tibetan turtles. Go click it again! You know you wanta!

Other people have come here for other reasons. Liberty Lake, WA came looking for "spokane woman seeking male sex slave" We're on page 5 there. That same entry was the result of the search for "pen pal contact email of man in glober"

Another seeking googler, looked for used playboys. Yup, there we are on page 1 there also, luckily at the bottom.