R.I.P. Maurice Sendak

Not much more to say on this than -- he will definitely be missed.  I know that obituaries and tributes are going around the net today so I'll leave all that to the others.

For me it wasn't only his writing and illustrating that made him stand out as an author and a person - it was the fact that he spoke his mind, and didn't talk down to children. He did scare the pants off me the first time I read Where the Wild Things Are, but frankly, I got over it just like most kids did (and do).  He didn't worry that his readers would be scarred for life or that we weren't able to handle ideas that were for adults.


Thank you, Maurice Sendak, for all that you did.


And for those geeks like me -- here's the basic Wikipedia potted biography of Maurice Sendak, just because:

Maurice Sendak

Rest in Peace (or... in a wild rumpus).

Cinco De Mayo Sale!!!!

Wow -- didn't realize it's been that long since I posted a blog entry.  It's been a weird and generally harried week though.

The good news, however is that I'm having a sale.

Here are the details:

S. Howlett-West Books is having a sale in honor of Cinco de Mayo this weekend (I suppose I'll have to buy some dos equis and churros to celebrate).

All stock on my website is 50% off today through Monday May 7th (Cinco de Mayo will last all weekend long here, so the sale will too)

the sale is through my website at : www.showlettwestbooks.com. Just use the coupon code: CINCODEMAYO during checkout to receive the discount.



If you  have any questions, please shoot me a comment, or an email, or give me a call.  Tell your friends too.

Thanks so much!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

updated the website....

Today is one of those days....

So I'm taking the update that I added to my website homepage and sticking it on the blog just because.

Honestly, I don't have any research finished on some good blog posts at the moment, and don't have the brain power (stayed up late last night reading again.... sigh) to come up with two bits of writing (one here, one on the website), so I'm cribbing today.

And here it is:

I've continued to steamroll through the old stock -- I'm up to the "CU" section now (and by the way, the letter C is one of bigger areas -- Lots of people have names that start with the letter C).
After that, it's on to the D's etc.
I've already made some space.  However, the new system I'm trying to implement, with all the areas by subject / genre is putting a kink in that new space available... and  I've realized that I have to take all the books that are on portable book shelves (these are generally my better stock -- which gets boxed up and taken to book fairs -- that's why their on the portables) and add them to my list of books to re-list as well. Then I have to find room for them.  This is indeed a long, slow process, no matter how I go about it.
However, progress is being made. I'm happy with the books that I'm keeping. I still have to find homes for all the books that are going away.  I have some idea how I'm going to accomplish that portion of this exercise,  but only a vague idea at the moment.  I'm piling up alarming numbers of boxes of give-aways in the garage at the moment.
So far, I think that the process is not only making the listings more current (as far as price, condition, and jpgs are concerned) but that it's promoting some sales.  Not great sales as of yet (the last month was April - tax month - and that's a notoriously bad month for book sales anyway)  but I'll keep plugging away anyway because it's helping clear out the cobwebs in my house, my stock, and in my head as well.


 If you'd like to wander on over to my website and poke around, here's the link:  S. Howlett-West Books

Let me know if you find anything you like.

Now it's off to figure out what to do for Son Number Two for his birthday tomorrow.  OMG - he's going to be 12!!!!!

I don't have any little one's left. As of tomorrow I will officially have a teen and a pre-teen in the same household.  (where's a wall to bang my head against!)

:)
 

Somedays it's more fun to read the book....

The Great Taos Bank Robbery And Other Indian Country Affairs- Tony Hillerman

I tucked a few books from the mystery category (actually, the portable shelf with the collectable mysteries) into  my pile of books to be reworked the other day and this title (pointing upwards) was in the pile.

I've read Tony Hillerman books before (when I had time to read) and really liked them. But I never got around to reading this particular title before. Partly because it's made up of short stories and I'm  not really that fond of short stories, and partly because I always seem to have something else to read.

BUT -- since this was in the pile -- AND because I was futzing around at the time and not really putting my nose to the grindstone the way I ought to have been, I decided to check out the first story.

The first story happens to be "The Great Taos Bank Robbery".  

I had completely forgotten how good Tony Hillerman's writing is.  This story featured the landscape of New Mexico and had a bit to do with the Indian country there, but was actually a small town humorous bit of fluff that made me snort out loud several times.

I decided, after finishing this story, that I needed to get to work -- frankly, I'm both the slave and the slave driver in this operation; if I don't force myself to get the data entry stuff done, then it just plain doesn't get done.  But I kept noticing the book out of the side of my eye.

Tony Hillerman is tempting me away from work, darn him.

So I'll make a compromise.

I won't put the book right back on the shelf.  I'll stick it in my pile of books to be read (carefully as it is a first edition) so I can enjoy it when I have time.

I have to say, this is one of the nicest bits about my work.  There are days where I come across wonderful books to read and new (or old, nearly forgotten) authors to add to my favorites.

And while this isn't relevant to anything in particular, I found out, not too long ago, that my dad actually met and worked with (well, they were both teachers at the U of NM but in two different subject areas so not buddies) Tony Hillerman back in the early1970's.  It was back before Tony Hillerman became the Tony Hillerman.    Not relevant, sure, but cool to me - in a proxy sort of way.

Maybe tonight I'll get to read another story or two.

A Cleaning, Moving, and Updating kind of day

Today is a day for cleaning shelves, Moving things around on the shelves and updating old listings.

I don't know if you remember, but I've been working on a project to go through each and every shelf of books and update the listings -- taking new photos, updating the descriptions, tossing the books that are no longer good for my stock--  that sort of thing.

Well, I've been working on the project for the last couple of weeks with a passion.  And I'm up to..... "CO". 
(here's a hint - the books are in alphabetical order by author's last name on the shelves).  For me, that's actually good progress.  I've cleared out four shelves in the last week and a half - like Speedy Gonzales.  I have bags of kids books to give to local schools (I decided that they'd go out in bags instead of my good boxes since I NEED the boxes for book fairs -- I learned this the hard way a few weeks ago when I handed over five bankers boxes of books at a local donation site... then realized I was handing away a really necessary part of my business.)

The other books that are not going back on the shelves are in boxes (of course) or piles in my work room right at the moment.  I haven't decided exactly what to do with them yet.  I could have a garage sale and overwhelm Modesto with my extras.  Or I could put on a cape and a mask and drop them off at the local donation site where the proceeds go to cancer research.  or....

At any rate, they're not going back on my shelves.

Some of the books have been sitting in my stock for 15+ years.

It's time for them to go - hopefully this will encourage NEW books (good new books) to arrive and take their place.

In the meantime, here are a few photos of books that I intend to keep around for a while longer.

The Blind Pig - Jon Jackson (yeah, it's not a CO book, sue me)

The Blank Page - K. C. Constantine

The Looking Glass War - John Le Carre (David Cornwell)

                                     

 I'm uploading them to my website now, so if you find one you'd like to take home with you (and add more space to my shelves) that's fine with me! 

Monty the Mouse -- or How did she DO that?

There's an Australian author by the name of Esta de Fossard who, in the 1970's wrote a few books about animals.

Sounds pretty normal, right?

Let me give you a hint about the types of animal books she wrote --

Monty the Mouse Looks for Adventure 

Ok -- take a close look at the photo.

There in the center of the photo, drugged by a sugar overdose, is Monty the Mouse.

Yes, Monty is a real mouse, fur and all.


Here's another peek at him -

Monty the Runaway Mouse

Turns out Monty is quite an adventurer.  He is the featured character in at least three books (though the quality control for Worldcat takes a dive for the one listing that calls Monty a Moose).   Monty gets into all sort of scrapes and out of them just as easily.

Monty is, as far as I can tell, a stuffed mouse that has articulation abilities (i.e.: his arms and legs can be moved ).  I have no basis for this assumption, but I honestly can't come up with a better answer for how the photos for this series of books was accomplished. 





The stories are fairly basic and for young readers.  The images are the main appeal of the books and they are a wild amalgam of kitsch, standard issue kids book styling and pure genius, all rolled up into a package that becomes more appealing with each read-through. 

And Monty was not the only animal that Esta de Fossard featured in her books -- but Monty is, by far the most interesting (as far as I'm concerned).

Frisk, the Unfriendly Foal

Huff the Grumbling Pigeon

Catkin, the Curious Kitten

It's been a while since I read the last three - but I believe that Huff the pigeon is a stuffed beast, just like Monty the mouse is.  The other two, I'm not so sure. And there are other books in the series as well that I have never been privileged to have in hand.

In my research regarding these books I found out that Esta de Fossard is a well respected educator and speaker.  She was, at some point, an actress in Australia.  She has written text books for educators on how to incorporate drama and independent thinking into writing and she has written at least one book on how to write for film and television.  That's pretty much all I could come up with. 

I was hoping to have some background into how she created Monty the Mouse.  I really wanted to know if Monty was alive and just  well trained for his photo-shoot.  If not, the taxidermist who stuffed Monty did a great job. 


Either way, this series of books have wormed a permanent place in my heart. 

Who would'a thunk it....

Book fairs are a good place for a book dealer (such as myself) to actually talk - at length - to customers / collectors and ask them about what it is they collect and how they started their collections.  These discussions are, to me, fascinating glimpses into the workings of other minds.    Sometimes I can completely understand and associate with the types of collections we chat about. Sometimes, I will be blown away by a collector whose thought processes are very different from mine (this is not a bad thing, mind you, it just goes to show that we all have different ways of seeing the world).

So....

About a year and a half ago, I spoke with a customer who was looking for picture books to add to her collection, but there was a twist - the books had to be by well known collectable authors who were NOT generally known as children's authors.  This customer was specifically looking for Modern Fiction Authors, but when I started to go through my stock, I found that this is an area ripe for the picking.

Today I thought I'd show a few of the books that I currently have in my picture book stock by authors you wouldn't normally expect to see. 

9 Magic Wishes by Shirley Jackson

First, a double dose --



By Shirley Jackson. She was known for her horror and supernatural fiction, including The Haunting of Hill House.

Famous Sally by Shirley Jackson

Yup - she did stuff for young people as well.



How about a bit of Vonnegut?

Sun Moon Star by Kurt Vonnegut  (and yes, I need a new jpg of this book - it will come)

Best known for Slaughterhouse-Five and Breakfast of Champions, he took some time to pen a book for younger folk as well.


Then there are the authors, who are familiar, and seeing a children's book coming from them isn't a stretch --

My Painted House, My Friendly Chicken and Me (Maya Angelou)

Maya Angelou is a poet and author and her books are for all sizes and shapes -- including children.









But what about the non-writers?

The Blue Spruce by Mario Cuomo

That's right - the Governor of New York - Mario Cuomo

The Bridge by Ralph Steadman

Ralph Steadman is an artist / illustrator, so I guess it's not too far astray from his normal work, but.... he was the preferred illustrator for Hunter S. Thompson (of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas fame)  - which is not your normal kid lit.

Swan Lake with text by Margot Fonteyn

This one makes much more sense -- the plot of a ballet interpreted by a premier ballerina.







And just for the fun of it -- one last author for today.

Me  by William Saroyan

This last book, along with one of the Shirley Jackson titles you see above, are both part of a series called Modern Masters Books for Children --  I plan on writing a blog post about this series as soon as I can gather enough information about it. 

Unfortunately, while I was hoping that I'd see the customer who collects these sorts of books at the fair last month in Sacramento, it was not to be.  In the meantime, I'll continue to hunt out more picture books that might make it into her collection.  I might even make another blog post about it if I find some really intriguing items.