The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Passage, due out June 8th, is getting a lot of pre-publication buzz. I finished an advance copy yesterday and I have to say it was pretty good. I'm usually hesitant to read books that garner this much attention. Way back in 2007 the unfinished manuscript for this novel sold to a movie studio for a nice $1.75 million (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/11/movies/11vamp.html). And there's lots of assumptions about how much Cronin sold The Passage and the two subsequent books in the series for. I have to admit though, in this case it may have been worth it.

It's almost impossible to distill this 750 page novel into a short review, but here is a bit of the story line. When a secret government experiment, titled Project NOAH, goes horribly wrong with the escape of twelve test subjects a horrific virus is set loose in the United States. The thirteenth test subject, a six-year-old girl named Amy, and the FBI agent who rescue her, flee to Oregon and take refuge in the mountains. The after effects of Project NOAH lead to a new United States which is ruled by fear and the need to survive.

The Passage was outside the range of what I normally read, but the writing is excellent and the characters and plot line so well developed I kept expecting to look up from my reading and see an entirely new world outside my living room window.

If you need a good, long summer read I highly recommend this book. Look for it June 8th!

- Angela

Publicity

Lately we have been receiving a fair amount of very nice publicity. A few weeks ago we won the McMinnville Downtown Association's Outstanding Business of 2009 Award. The News-Register did a lovely piece about us and all the other winners at that awards ceremony. Then this past weekend, News-Register writer Karl Klooster wrote about the events that we host at the bookstore. Walking through town these last few weeks, going about my regular routine, I have had many compliments about the bookstore. How deserving we were of the award. How great our events are. I just wanted to take a moment and say a few words. One: none of this would have happened without the great people who work at Third Street Books. I am very lucky to have such wonderful people working with me. Everyone brings a unique personal experience to the store that I think helps us become better booksellers for you. Two: none of this would have happened without the continued support of this community! Seriously! If you all stopped shopping here, we wouldn't be able to survive - so THANK YOU! I share all this kudos with you!

-Sylla

Barry Hannah, RIP

"Who?" you ask. While perhaps not popularly know, writer Barry Hannah was one of the great southern writers of our times. His recent death at 67 is a loss to the literary world. I have not read a lot of Barry Hannah, but I was deeply touched by his style. Yonder Stands Your Orphan is part literary mystery, part investigation in evil. The swamps of Mississippi never looked so bleak. His books are not for everyone, but if you are a fan of great writing and a dark tale, you should pick some Hannah up. Sadly, I can't even order some through our distributor right now. I am hoping that is because his death has sparked a renewed interest in this great American writer.

"One of those young writers who is brilliantly drunk with words and could at gunpoint write the life story of a telephone pole."--Jim Harrison on the late Barry Hannah. (from Shelf Awareness, Thursday, March 4th, 2010)

-Sylla

We will never do this to you . . .

In the battle of the e-readers, publishers have fallen to Amazon's mighty sword more often then they would like. Amazon has determined the price of e-books, (generally around $9.99) and wants publishers to play the game and lower their prices too. At the moment, Amazon is not making any money by selling e-books at such a low price, but if they have anything to say about it, that will soon change.

This past weekend, I was reading about deals between Amazon and Macmillan, and wondered who would prevail. It seems as if Macmillan came out on top, of only for a little while. Read this article here in today's New York Times for a bit more background. Basically, Amazon told Macmillan that if they didn't meet Amazon's price demands, Amazon would cease to sell any of their books, electronic or print editions. Starting last Friday, you could not buy anything published by Macmillan (while not the largest publisher out there, they are definitely part of the Big Six). This includes the most recent Man Booker Prize winner, "Wolf Hall" but Hilary Mantel.

After the "1984" debacle last summer you would have thought that Amazon had learned that playing big brother is not ok. But I guess if you are one of the largest retailers in the world, you get to play the game by any rules you want. At Third Street Books, we will never censor what you buy, not allow you to purchase a title because we have decided not to carry anything by that author or publisher, nor will we come into your homes and take back the book that you have already paid for.

-Sylla

iPad? Tablet? Old-fashioned book?

I am really trying not to obsess too much about e-readers. At the same time, I don't want to be hit when I am already down and not anticipate a decline in sales at least partially due to electronic media. I really want to be realistic about my little store, but sometimes that is hard too.

At meetings with other booksellers, in conversations over coffee or beer, we speak about the e-reader and the future of our stores. I am concerned about my store, but more than that, I am concerned about the future of reading. Americans (honestly, probably all nationalities) read less and less these days. Newspapers are folding, publishing houses are limiting their print runs, and bookstores are closing. Someone tried to argue with me recently saying that blogs were perhaps filling the hole where newspapers once lived. I disagree. Most blogs that I read are fun and entertaining, but the quality of writing is poor. Anyone can start a blog (pot, meet kettle). It is free, no one rewrites or vetoes your stories. You don't even have to be a very good fact checker to claim something is true, or was written by you when it was clearly cut and paste from another source.

Several months ago, I had a chance to hear Tim Egan, author of The Big Burn and opinion writer for the New York Times. He spoke passionately about his love of independent bookstores. He best quote, which I may have written about before, was "You [referencing a room of independent bookstore owners] are the flu shot to active ignorance". I liked the metaphor. Today, Mr. Egan writes an article about Apple's latest instrument of technological prowess, the iPad. You can read it here. He doesn't come out and repeat his quote, but he does posit some good questions: if a bookstore is often considered the "living room" or "third place" of a community, what happens to a community when there is no such space?

Back to technology. I am trying to not spend so much time thinking about something over which I have no control. The future holds some kind of e-reader. I don't know which one. It is likely that when all the guns are out of ammo, there will only be one (maybe two) such technologies standing. When that happens, I will get on the bandwagon and stock those alongside the technology that has lasted generations, needs no batteries, and doesn't self-destruct if you spill coffee on it.

-Sylla

Holiday Wrap Up

If I was feeling really creative, I would have made this into a rap, but alas (or perhaps luckily) my creativity is dulled by all the fat, sugar and alcohol I have imbibed these last few days.

We had a few bright spots this holiday season. Notably, we managed to keep some hot titles in stock (Rustic Fruit Desserts). We also managed to handsell all of our copies of the new Thomas Keller cookbook. Many customers were thrilled with how fast we could fill their orders. Others were thrilled that we could wrap their gifts! We had several positive comments about our extended holiday hours. And, we almost sold out of our favorite holiday gift item (see above - there are only two left!)

One dull and sour spot, that worked out ok in the end was the delivery of our orders from a major distributor. The morning of the 21st, when we realized our shipment was again going to be late, we were feeling down. I called the distributor, emailed my rep, begged, pleaded, offered my first born (they declined, thank goodness!) anything to get the books delivered that day. Low and behold, one of the heads of the warehouse decided to solve the problem. He loaded up his minivan with our six boxes, and drove them four hours to our store. I know that for many, the holiday spirit is about love, family, sharing and peace. This year, Wes from Ingram reminded me that it is also about gratitude and sometimes doing a little extra to help someone out. Thanks, Wes.

-Sylla

In the holiday spirit.

My friend Brad is a used book buyer at a Seattle bookstore. He is also a lovely man and his passion for fine literature knows no bounds. I have included here a link to him reading part of Dicken's The Pickwick Papers. He is a wonderful reader. I only wish I could see him read more Dickens in person.