Archive for June, 2008
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Confessions of a negligent hop farmer
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008The last book I bought on Biblio.com was The Homebrewer’s Garden. This time of year I love nothing better than watching hops grow. I’m convinced that if I had the patience or the time I could actually see the vine moving during peak growth. A healthy plant can grow about a foot [...]
Where have all the salespeople gone? Gone for cicadas everyone?
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008So, about a month ago, Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide came out, with Biblio.com listed as the 361st largest e-commerce company in the U.S. Really not big news in and of itself, as we’ve been on the list for a few years now. The significant thing is that we barely noticed this year.
You see, [...]
Summer Reading
Tuesday, June 10th, 2008Publishers are convinced that readers want unsubstantial books for summer reading, but I’m not sure where that comes from. Sure, winter’s cloistered depths are a great time to read Kafka and Tolstoy, huddled under heavy blankets locked in cold rooms inside, but who says that warmer temperatures mean that we can’t use our brains?
Granted, [...]
Newark needs a bookstore
Monday, June 9th, 2008The New York Times reports that in 2007, Newark, NJ “ranked last among the nation’s 69 largest cities in the number of bookstores per capita, with 15 stores for 281,000 people, or 0.53 stores per 10,000 residents.” That sounds like an irresistible call to action for an enterprising independent bookstore owner hopeful or indy looking [...]
Books and Their Natural Enemies
Monday, June 9th, 2008I recently realized I didn’t know as much as I thought about caring for books. As someone with several rare books, it seemed a good idea to get better informed. While the worst enemy of books is probably humans (ahem, guilty), this discussion is about natural enemies: water, heat, light, gravity, and [...]
Books on my nightstand…
Friday, June 6th, 2008The following books are on my nightstand, all currently being read. What can I say? I like to mix things up, depending on my mood:
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Details of a Sunset and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov
Strong Opinions by Vladimir Nabokov
A+ Certification for Dummies (I might be the [...]
Who writes this stuff?
Friday, June 6th, 2008Yesterday our e-mail queues were assaulted by several e-mails which we believe to be pranks. Please see a sampling below and let us know if you have any clues about the perpetrator…
“i think you guys should have a mascot or something: BiblioMan. and he could visit classrooms and stuff, always fighting ignorance with [...]
Make your own clamshell box for books
Thursday, June 5th, 2008In answering a question from a customer recently, I stumbled across this great blog post on making your own clamshell case from a librarian / bookbinder / book artist. And, in fact, in looking about the authors site, I found a tremendous wealth of great information on do-it-yourself preservation tips for “budgety” (my wife’s [...]
Spam for breakfast
Thursday, June 5th, 2008It’s the beginning of the work day, and the first job for the day is going through the hundreds of new emails to get rid of spam. The volume of Spam email that manages to get through the spam filters is amazing. I’ve become a connoisseur of sales pitches in broken English, and a collector [...]
Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar scholarship available
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008Just a reminder that Biblio.com is still accepting applications from booksellers to receive a scholarship to attend the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar this August. Complete details are available at the previous link, but in a nutshell, we’re looking for a bookseller whose work or business “creates a positive impact in their community or the [...]
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