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The St. Johns Readers' Companion
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The irregular newsletter of St. Johns Booksellers
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April 2009
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Happy Spring!
What a long, cold winter it's been! Even the scattered days of bright weather have been gratefully welcomed at the bookstore. The sunlight in our front windows makes the whole place look more cheerful.
I want to thank all of you who have borne with the increasing chaos in the store. The winter was a tough one for our family. My mother passed away in January after a mercifully brief battle with lung cancer. Adam and I followed up this loss by having a very hard flu season, and I spent the last several weeks too ill to do much more than sit in a chair and wait for people to drop by. Without the help of Samantha, Denise, Jay, and a few kindly neighbors, I don't know how any books would have made it to the shelf! Some of you even brought me chicken soup when I felt especially miserable. Bless all your bones, as my mom would say. I am finally getting the best of the evil bug, and hope to regain a little control of the books-and-paperwork explosion.
Many of you have asked how we're doing financially in these bad times, so this is my report to you: we're doing okay. You
are out there, and you are reading. Our 1st-quarter sales are only
slightly down from last year's. Considering that one Portland
bookstore has closed in recent weeks and another nearly failed in
December, I can only see this as wild success. I have kept orders to a very bare minimum since the beginning of January, waiting to see what the economic news would mean for us. Since we are keeping it together, I have set a
budget for the 2nd quarter and am now bringing in fresh stock. I'm still being cautious, not necessarily replacing every new book as it sells. Of course, the more we sell, the more I'll order. As always, please ask for what you would like, and we'll be happy to bring it in for you! And of course, the used books have never stopped rolling in.
In a final bit of news, we are about to join the 21st century! We have converted to a wireless broadband connection with in-store wifi. Best of all, our real live, honest-to-goodness new website will go live in the first week of May! Finally! We'll offer secure online ordering with a searchable database of over 2 million titles, an events calendar, and more. If you'd like to be a beta tester (and get a sneak peek), reply to this e-mail.
Thanks for your constant support--
Nena
with Adam, Lucy, Noor, Sammi, Denise, and Jay
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Neil Gaiman's Blueberry Girl marches in!
Almost nine years ago, I had the pleasure of hearing Neil Gaiman speak on his last "Angel Tour"--an event series to benefit the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Unlike his usual book talks, which focus on his latest release, the Angel readings were freeform presentations of whatever new or older work Gaiman wished to read. On this tour, at the request of a Chicago fan, he included a poem he had written for his friend, singer Tori Amos, when she was expecting her daughter. He asked that listeners refrain from taping or copying the unpublished piece--and amazingly, it did take years for "Blueberry Girl" to reach the Internet. At the time, I didn't yet have children, but I was captivated by the haunting sweetness of the poem, a prayer to the Fates for kindly oversight of a growing girl. Now, as a mother of two daughters, I'm rediscovering it with rather misty-eyed delight. A brief excerpt: Keep her from spindles and sleeps at sixteen; Let her stay waking and wise.Nightmares at three or bad husbands at thirty,These shall not trouble her eyes.
Bowing to the pleas of his readers, Gaiman has at last published "Blueberry Girl" in picture book form, with sunny art by illustrator Charles Vess. The bright, lively daughters, mothers, and wise women that populate these pages bring Gaiman's poem to joyful life. Gaiman and Vess have many fans who will enjoy this book simply because it's a great collaboration between talented people. Beyond that circle of devotees, this book will make a beautiful gift for girls or the parents who watch over them with anxious wonder.
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Relaxing at the bookstore
Saturday evening chair massages
My parents had a weekly ritual they loved. At their local used bookstore in Texas, Mom would browse while Dad sipped a cup of coffee and then enjoyed a ten-minute neck and shoulder massage. They did this for years. So I was delighted to discover a massage therapist, new to the neighborhood, who was open to offering the same service in my little bookstore. Sheila Neumann of Poppy Massage now offers brief chair massages in the bookstore on Saturday evenings from 5 to 7 pm. At $1 per minute, you set your relaxation budget by setting your time limit. Walk-ins are welcome, but you can always call ahead and request a time if you're planning an evening in the neighborhood.
RECEIVE $5 OFF A CHAIR MASSAGE!
Write down the coupon code "RELAX ME" and your e-mail address. Turn this in with your next $25 purchase to receive $5 off an in-store massage by Sheila! Good any Saturday afternoon through May 9th. One per customer, please. Subject to Sheila's availability.
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Behind the counter:
Jane Air
That feathered critter in the window is a female cockatiel. We believe she will be 2 years old this summer. Jane is named after one of my favorite fictional characters, a young lady who was proud of her grey silk party dress. She's an opinionated bird who prefers the "people TV" outside our windows to any book. She's also a feathery lady with a past: Jane is a rescue bird. Hand-reared by a breeder, Jane had a sort of avian nervous breakdown when she was sold to a large pet supply store. The store gave her to a fosterer, who kept her in more comforting surroundings for several months. She's now thriving at St. Johns Books.
Since moving to the bookstore in August, Jane has grown back her missing flight feathers and put on a little weight. She has also become more trusting of her regular human companions. She is not hand tame. However, she does beg for treats, and sometimes will eat them from our hands. We hope that given time, she will allow us to handle her enough to safely move her between her present cage and a larger day aviary. Jane loves to show off for visitors, ringing her bell and stretching her wings. She knows when she's being admired, so please do stop and speak to her whenever you drop by.
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HAND HEWN #1
New from the creator of Cornelius
Philip Barasch, the North Portland artist whose curious graphic short story, Cornelius, attracted so much excited attention last year, now presents a new graphic fiction series. Hand Hewn #1 features a group of luminous visual short stories, all set in a single week. Beyond that, place and time are immaterial--Barasch's Daliesque imaginings pursue his characters from a woodland stream to city streets, from day to night. Future issues will include expanded chapters from Cornelius. To see more of Barasch's work, please visit Dancing Chapman Studio online. |
Enjoy the "uncertain glory" of these April days. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Nena, family, and crew
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