Bookstore Moments

CUSTOMER: I’m looking for a children’s book called Claudia Shanked the Meatball.

ME: ...

CUSTOMER: ...

ME: Could it be Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs?

CUSTOMER: That’s it!

Hey, I wrote an article!

I had the good luck to work at Powell's Books for the holidays, and I wrote an article about it for the Oregonian. (I've also included the full text of the article below.)

Buying gifts for the holidays? Go to a bookstore and be surprised!

Photo of Point Reyes Books by John McMurtrie. 

Gotta love bookstores!

Photo by Janet Rudolph.

This Canterbury (England) bookshop puts an interesting slant on things...

Photo by M. A. Garcia.

I never thought about it that way.

Via.

Dinosaurs didn't read. Now they're extinct. Coincidence?

Animals in the News!

First, someone in the African country of Botswana got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and saw this:

And also? A turtle moved into Talking Books Plus Bookstore (Lakewood, Colorado)!

Bookstore bloodsuckers?

Via.

vampire books or the section formerly known as young adult

What ARE Teens Reading Now?

Oh. But the good news is that teen pregnancies are actually down.

Bookshop Friday!

Bookshop Window, a photo by garryknight on Flickr.

These bookshop prices are downright fictional!

Via.

"Imaginary stories 70% Off" "Free Air Guitars (While Supplies Last)"

Bad Russian Literary Humor!

Q. What do you call the President of Russia when he steps on a cracker?


A. Putin on the Ritz.

(And yes, that’s just one copy of War and Peace!)

The Chukchi live in the boondocks of Russia, so they get picked on in ethnic jokes … like the one about the Chukcha applying for membership in the Russian Writers Guild.

During his interview, the Chukcha is asked what Russian literature he’s familiar with.

"Have you read Pushkin?"

"No."

"Have you read Dostoevsky?"

"No."

"Can you read at all?"

Offended, he replies, "Chukcha not reader, Chukcha writer!"

*rimshot*

I was forced to ignore this reader recommendation.

I prefer autumn. (Via.)

This is a bookshop.

Via.

Weird Things Customers Say in Bookstores

It's a book!

See, now you're just making me sad.

Wait, I just realized something—this means all the books sold out!
("What Teens Are Reading Now Sign"—provenance unknown.)

"If you haggle in a used bookstore, you are fundamentally evil."

Attributed to Patton Oswalt. Via.

This is ALWAYS a good plan.

I get it!

Via.

French Bookstore

"la mémoire du temps" by penwren.