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 Weekly Words about Books
 MARCH 31, 2013
WILD-ly Popular Book Can Be Now Read in Paperback
One of the last year's biggest and best books has arrived in paperback - Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed. It's a totally absorbing true story of Strayed's three-month hike - all by herself and with no wild prior experience - of more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State. The book captured the attention of everyone form national media to Oprah (who made it the first pick of her new 2.0 book club), and the hardcover version has been atop the independent bookstore bestseller lists for a solid year.

Strayed talks candidly about a four-year spiral into depression after the devastating death of her mother and end of her marriage and of the almost whim-like decision to tackle the Pacific Crest Trail. Her honest and unflinching prose captures the both the rigors of the trek and the redemptive power of the journey. It's well worth the hike to your local indie bookstore.
Book Industry News - Goodreads Sells (Out)   to Amazon
Some of you may have heard or seen the news that the popular Goodreads online book recommendation site is being acquired by Amazon. It has caused quite a furor in the bookselling world and among Goodreads members, a number of whom are worried that the independent nature of Goodreads will be compromised. With Amazon in control, will the site become a sales and marketing site for the Seattle behemoth's products and services?

Many bookstores have noted that they have already heard - and expect to be hearing more soon - from customers who might want to remove their book titles or cancel their Goodreads account. They are referring them to
the Goodreads customer account tools and the relevant links on the Goodreads site: http://www.goodreads.com/help#delete_account
and http://www.goodreads.com/review/import

If you happen to be a Goodreads member, one practical reason to consider cancelling your account is that Amazon will soon have your email address, your full reading profile, and any other information that Goodreads may have collected about you. That will leave you subject to Amazon's incessant efforts to sell you stuff, and I'm not just talking about books.

Cute Video: Maddie on Things
Maddie is a sweet-tempered coonhound who accompanied her owner, Theron Humphrey, on a yearlong, cross-country trip while he worked on a photojournalism project. In his spare time, maddie Theron took photos of Maddie doing what she does best: standing on things. The result is a new book called Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project about Dogs and Physics.

This is cute book for dog lovers, but even if it doesn't sound like your cup of tea, I think you'll find this short video fun to watch.
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BACK ISSUES
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
My name is Hut Landon. I'm a former bookstore owner who now runs the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) in San Francisco.

My goal with this newsletter is to keep readers up to date about new books hitting the shelves, share what booksellers are recommending in their stores, and pass on occasional news about the book world.

I'm not into long, wordy reviews or literary criticism; I'd like HUT'S PLACE to be a quick, fun read for book buyers.If you have any friends who you think might like receiving this column each week, simply click on "Forward this email" below and enter their email address. There is also a box in which to add a short message.

WHERE TO FIND A BOOKSTORE
Many of you already have a favorite local bookstore, but for those of you without such a relationship, this link will take you to a list of Northern California indie bookstores by region.
 
If you live or work elsewhere, you can click here to find the nearest indie bookstore by simply entering your postal code.