The internet is awash with websites having to do with books, for books, and about books. I have yet to actually read a book on my iTouch because I cannot bear the thought of not having the feel and smell of a physical book in my hand. I have downloaded a few classics in case I am without a book and I’m standing in line at the grocery store. I haven’t actually made the effort to read an e-book though.

I won’t bore you, dear readers, with my paper-in-hand philosophies but I will tell you of magical places on the internet where I like to go. There are three websites that I frequent regularly that have helpful advice to support my book addiction.

The first website is http://www.Goodreads.com. This website is dedicated to helping you keep track of what you read. You can also review the books you read and invite all of your bibliophile friends to see what you’ve read. Maybe you would like to keep track of what you would like to read. Goodreads provides you with a personal queue of the hundreds of thousands of books you want to read in your lifetime. Goodreads is a magical place where book lovers can frolic in recommendations or join specific forums for topics that interest them. The website is free. There are advertisments but let me tell you that they are not obnoxious. You don’t even really notice they are there because they are book related.

The second website is http://www.LibraryThing.com. This for the hard core bibliophile who cannot ignore the urge to catalog and catergorize their entire personal library. Like Goodreads, it connects you to other people who share your similar interests in books. If you have anti-social tendencies and don’t care who shares your interest in similar books, LibaryThing can be an online resource you use store the soft copy version of your library. I live for organizing my books. All 2,518 of them. LibraryThing helps me manage this addiction. Let’s talk prices. You can store up to 200 titles for free. An annual membership is $10 per year. The lifetime membership $25and there is no limit to how many books you can add. It really is a lovely place to utilize.

Now to complete the trilogy of booklover websites. LibriVox.com is a website dedicated to bringing readers the audio version of books that have passed their copyright (pretty much anything before 1923). These recordings are available to listen to for free. These recordings are read by average people like you and me who volunteer their time and voice. Someday when my two year old allows me to have some free time I will volunteer my own voice.

I would LOVE to learn about some of the websites that our readers utilize when it comes to their reading habits. Happy reading!

Recently, I have joined a book club that reads more than one book a month, and these books follow a theme. In September, we read books that had been translated into English. They were all fantastic reads, by the way :) This month, in honor of fall and my favorite holiday (Halloween) we have chosen to re-visit some of the timeless horror novels. We have chosen to read Pet Semetary by Stephen King, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, Swan Song by Robert McCammon, and a personal choice between Darkfall or Intensity by Dean Koontz.
To be honest, I have never read any of these books, and only recently have I seen the movie versions of “The Exorcist” & “Pet Semetary”. (To go off on a tangent, “The Exorcist” scared me so bad that I slept with the light on and my phone gripped tightly in my sweaty fist just in case I had to make an police call at 4am.) Working in a bookstore, I see numerous copies of different King and Koontz books leave the store but personally I have only ever read some of Koontz’ work.
Our reasoning behind selecting these books, and not others, are just personal reasons. I wanted to read The Exorcist to see if the book is more frightening than the movie, which I think it will be and I will spend many a night with the lights on. A fellow book club member recommended Swan Song, stating it was her favorite McCammon book and that it still gives her the creeps, even though she has read it numerous times. Pet Semetary was a mutual choice, given that King is a master of horror tales and the fact that raising the dead for selfish reasons is scary. (Again, on a tangent, the little boy (Gage) in the movie version is so terrifying, to me, that I get the chills just thinking about his creepy face :)
Swing by the store during the month of October to check out our Horror section, and our Fall/Halloween display. See if you can’t find a book that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

Tonight I take my solo wings as I complete training and “officially” join the Anthology Book Company staff. Thanks to Steph, Teresa and those who worked with me over the past two weeks to bring me up to speed on procedures, etiquette and general book sense. In addition to my bookselling duties, I will plan events and handle public relations for the store. A few of my first tasks will be to familiarize myself with the local authors, poets and musicians in the Loveland area. Please feel free to contact me at Anthology should you have interest in discussing a future event with our customers.

I look forward to getting to know our loyal customers and all those who wander into this excellent independent bookstore. Thank you for your continued support. Cool autumn days are ahead…perfect for reading!

Bridget

Change is upon us here at the bookstore. Many things have happened in our small world of books. Teresa was recently promoted to manager, two of my coworkers are getting ready to welcome new additions to their loving families. Many of us are getting ready to start the next semester of college (including me). Public school has recently started. Several other things are happening in the bigger world as well. We have a new president and our nation is expecting dramatic changes in the political realm. Change is all around us.

In times of change it is important to savour what we have and who we are. I am getting ready to start my last semester of my bachelors degree. This is a huge change. Along with this change I had to make some big decisions about who I am and what I want to do with my life. Long ago I realized that I love school and I especially love college. So, I decided I would get my masters and doctorate degrees. I also do not like waiting for change. Because of these things I decided I would be going to grad school immediately after finishing my bachelors degree. However, things have recently become present that have forced me to halt my fast track in life. Because I was forced to stop and look around I realized something important about life. The best things in life are worth waiting for, working for, loving for, providing for, and hurting for. Sometimes, even when we poor our hearts into what we want so badly, we are forced to stop, look around and realize the great gift that life has provided for us. Wanting and hungering for something is beautiful. We have to live in the present moment in order to have a insatiable need for a better life.

I am making a promise to myself that I will live life consciously. I will be happy in this moment while I strive to live in the next moment more consciously than the last. I will appreciate what I have. I will remember that all of the love and pain leads to a higher consciousness that can only be attained when THIS life is lead to its capacity.

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves - slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh has written several wonderful books on Buddhism. One of my favorites is Present Moment, Wonderful Moment. This blog posting is based on the ideas in Present Moment, Wonderful Moment. Books are wonderful, they help us to supercharge our consciousness. Without this book I would not be able to appreciate the present moment.

If you are interested in purchasing this book at your local, independently owned bookstore, or borrowing it from the local library here is the ISBN number:

Present Moment, Wonderful Moment by Thich Nhat Hanh, ISBN: 9781888375619

“People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air,but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

To everyone out there I would like to say thank you, thank you, thank you for all the support that I have received since taking on the role as manager! Everyone who has stopped by has been nothing short of amazing with all the well wishes. It really makes my day, and puts a smile on my face to know that so many of our customers remember my face. I love my job for many reasons but the most important two are; my fantastic boss, Stephanie, and all the wonderful customers that walk through the door everyday at Anthology. Whether you are entering our unique bookstore for the first time, or returning for the thousandth time, all of you make my day worthwhile; so again I say thanks a million for making my day better.

I adore poetry and am always on the look out for my new inspiration of life. Of course there are always the originals: Mr. Poe, Frost and Miss Plate, but I wanted to discover someone. But desires like this don’t always come when you are looking and waiting, but when you have no desire to pick up a book of poetry.

I discovered Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s The Unicorn And Other Poems the way I usually discover books and authors I have never read: Shelving at Anthology. :) This fantastic hard cover has a dust jacket cover of magnificent character, which is what always first catches the eye. I have seen copies of this book before and also have had the opportunity to read/buy the book before, but like I said before, you cannot control when it is or isn’t the right time to experience the pages of a book.

I began to read the book last night and became completely captivated by, what is now, one of my favorite poems. The Unicorn (as refered to by the title) has an ideal thought projected and a strange reflection occured for me. The unicorn has been captured yet is free. The whole concept of attitude is what this fine poem is stitched with. There is physical and there is spiritual. It is a brilliant concept that is forgotten and sometimes forsaken in this day and age. I am grateful that it was brought to my attention and to my heart once more.

A Final Cry is another poem that I have never had the pleasure of reading before but it has forever left a mark. The poem is about life and how minuscule time really is for the human race. The last line says all and should always be remembered:

Praise life, O man,
While yet you can.

Poetry has always been a huge part of my soul and I have so much gratitude toward the Force that brings forth inspiration and creative thought into our lives. Poetry, and in particular the book The Unicorn And Other Poems by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, does it for me. What does it for you?