The only thing worse than Ingram's website is Baker & Taylor's website.
04/30/2013
04/11/2013
Battle of the Books - Middle School
2013-2014 Middle School Books!
We will have punch cards and prizes for middle school Battle of the Books students, too. Every time you buy a BOB middle school book from us, we will punch your card. Ten or more punches wins a small prize. The prize for getting the entire card punched in middle school will be a $15.00 gift certificate.
Here are the books:
Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez
The Underneath by Kathi Appelt
Iron Thunder: The Battle Between the Monitor and the Merrimac by Avi
The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Island of the Unknowns: A Mystery by Benedict Carey
That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker
Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper
Under a War-Torn Sky by Laura Elliott
The Brooklyn Nine by Alan Gratz
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Red Scarf Girl by Ji-Li Jiang
Heaven by Angela Johnson
Cracker! The Best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata
Schooled by Gordon Korman
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Legend by Marie Lu
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Wonder by R.J. Palacio
Ghosts in the Fog by Samantha Seiple
Bomb: the Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
The Land by Mildred D. Taylor
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Crow by Barbara Wright
Seeking EXCELLENT Booksellers
We are starting to interview people for positions that will be available as soon as business picks up. (That might be July, so if you need an immediate job, this is not it.) As you can tell from our current staff, we have very high standards. Frankly, a book store cannot remain in business in this economy without extremely knowledgeable booksellers and Nordstrom-style customer service. Over the years, we have learned what it takes to be a successful bookseller at our store. There are subjective, intangible things that have to do with the atmospher of the store -- what we hope to project to customers, the chemistry between booksellers, etc. But there are a lot of tangilbles, and here they are:
(1) A passion for books. "I enjoy reading" is not enough. We need someone who feels wounded every time someone sings the praises of their kindle. A Black Bear bookseller cares about covers and deckled pages and limited editions. In other words, you need to care about the book itself, not just the words inside.
(2) A wide knowledge of books. We need you to be knowledgeable in more than one genre. Also, you must have a better than passing knowledge of the classics. This is a college town and we sell a lot of literature. Our customers expect our booksellers to be well-educated in the classics of all genres.
(3) You cannot be an introvert. At least, you cannot be a quiet introvert. This job takes a lot of interacting with a very ecclectic customer base. You have to like to talk to people.
(4) You must have a strong asthetic sense. The owner (that would be me) is a fanatic about how the store looks, so you must have enough of a design sense to know when the store looks good and when it doesn't, and know how to fix it when it doesn't. You also must be able to put a display together.
(5) We prefer college students or college graduates. This job requires such a wide range of knowledge, we need well-educated booksellers. Of course, if you are self-educated and have the required range of knowledge, that's fine, too.
(6) You don't have to be beautiful, but you must be presentable. I can't believe how many people come to a job interview in clothes that look like they were pulled out of the laundry pile. We have a dress code and we are particular about how you look when representing our store.
(7) If you know computers, knitting or graphic design, please mention it. You get extra credit for those.
(8) If you have experience as a bookseller and all of the above applies to you, run don't walk.
Hope that is helpful! You can leave your resumes at the store or email them to khw8814@gmail.com. Please include a cover letter that addresses the above list.
Thanks and may the odds be ever in your favor.
04/10/2013
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS!
The 2013-2014 Battle of the Books elementary list is out and the books will be in our store before the weekend. We will have "refrigerator ready" copies of the list for parents and students. We will also have book marks that will serve as punch cards. Every time your student buys a BOB book from us, we will punch their card. Ten or more punches wins a small prize. Get the entire card punched and win a very nice student book log. (See below.)
Don't forget to stop by this weekend to pick up your list and your punch card! Also, we will be starting a Battle of the Books Book Club soon. If you (or your child) are interested in participating, please sign the BOB email list at the store.)
Here is the 2013-2014 list:
A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Belly Up by Stuart Gibbs
Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor
The Homework Machine by Dan Gutman
Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Jake by Audrey Couloumbis
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Smells Like a Dog by Suzanne Selfors
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
The Trouble with Chickens by Doreen Cronin
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Ungifted by Gordon Korman
Woods Runner by Gary Paulsen
The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin
Zora and Me by Victoria Bond
This year's prize for punching all eighteen elementary books:
The Bookworm Journal. Every time you and your child finish a story, fill out a journal entry with the title, author and rating of the book. Then, tear off the perforated corner of each page to see the bookworm “eat” his way through t he journal.
Stay tuned for similar news about the 2013-2014 high school list.
04/03/2013
04/02/2013
Another Book Set in the High Country!
One of the most highly anticipated early summer reads is "The Yonahlossee Riding Club for Girls" by Anton DiSclafani. Here's a description, taken from the website whose name dare not be mentioned.
It is 1930, the midst of the Great Depression. After her mysterious role in a family tragedy, passionate, strong-willed Thea Atwell, age fifteen, has been cast out of her Florida home, exiled to an equestrienne boarding school for Southern debutantes. High in the Blue Ridge Mountains, with its complex social strata ordered by money, beauty, and girls’ friendships, the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is a far remove from the free-roaming, dreamlike childhood Thea shared with her twin brother on their family’s citrus farm—a world now partially shattered. As Thea grapples with her responsibility for the events of the past year that led her here, she finds herself enmeshed in a new order, one that will change her sense of what is possible for herself, her family, her country.
Weaving provocatively between home and school, the narrative powerfully unfurls the true story behind Thea’s expulsion from her family, but it isn’t long before the mystery of her past is rivaled by the question of how it will shape her future. Part scandalous love story, part heartbreaking family drama, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls is an immersive, transporting page-turner—a vivid, propulsive novel about sex, love, family, money, class, home, and horses, all set against the ominous threat of the Depression—and the major debut of an important new writer.*As with all of our spring/summer books, you will receive a 20% discount if you pre-order and pay upfront.
03/26/2013
A World Turned Over
I just finished reading "A World Turned Over" by Lorian Hemingway, who is one of the 12 grandchildren of Ernest Hemingway. She has definitely inherited his talent, although their styles could not be more different. The book is a memoir about the F-5 tornado that destroyed her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi in 1966. The first half of the book describes the tornado so vividly, I felt like I had survived it myself. The second half deals with her return to the town 30 years later to interview survivors. I didn't think the second half could be as riveting as the first, but I was wrong.
I am a self-confessed disaster junkie, and have been all my life. I don't know why. Scots have a genetic morbid streak, so I blame my ancestors. At any rate, a book like A World Turned Over is my idea of a good time. It will be living on my Staff Picks shelf as soon as I can make my way back down Clarks Creek Road!
03/21/2013
SATURDAY!!!!
The Boone Mall is the place to be this Saturday. First of all, our store has been chosen by the Watauga Democrats for the March Cash Mob! It will start at 11 a.m. and we are really looking forward to it. NOTE: The High Country Press reported that we have a free-standing coffee bar, which hasn't been true for a long time. BUT we will have free coffee and extra staff on hand to get you through the checkout lines quickly. Y'all come!
After our store, the cash mob is headed to Tucker's for lunch. This is a great way to support two local businesses and have a lot of fun in the process.
After lunch at Tuckers, you can head back to the store to meet Jane Wood, an award winning (Mom's Choice) children's author from Florida. She will be signing her books in front of the store.
Also on Saturday, the mall will be hosting the Boy Scouts' annual Pine Wood Derby at center court. AND the Easter Bunny will be there to have his picture taken with your child. The mall is pretty much THE place to be this Saturday.
Please note that we have stocked up on World War Z, American Sniper, The Host, One Second After, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Lean In (current hot sellers) and we have filled in the missing books in all our kids' series. We are ready for you!
03/17/2013
Big Spring Books - Pre-Order Now!
Spring: Warm weather, flowers blooming and great new books!
The spring book list is full of big names. If you want to make sure you have the hot new book on the day it comes out, just call us and pre-order. You will get 20% off of your book and you won't have to worry about it selling out.
Here's a preview of what is going to be in our store soon:
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls - Who else but David Sedaris could come up with that title? Release date is April 23rd.
Life After Life - Scottish writer Kate Atkinson has written a novel that sounds not unlike the movie Groundhog Day. Keep living until you get it right. Release date April 2nd.
Whiskey Beach - Nora Roberts. Release date April 16th.
Starting Now (A Blossom Street Novel) - Debbie Macomber. Release date April 2nd.
Tapestry of Fortunes - Elizabeth Berg. Release date April 9th.
Z (A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald) - Therese Fowler. Release date March 26th.
Daddy's Gone a Hunting - Mary Higgins Clark. Release date April 9th.
For history buffs:
Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941 - Lynne Olson. Release date March 26th.
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 - Christopher Clark. Release date March 19th.
The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution and the Fate of the Empire - Andrew Jackson O'Shaughnessy. Release date June 4th.
Stay tuned for children's spring releases and more.
