Read All About It!

The Open Books store opens this Saturday!

As the store is opening so soon, all of us are spending a great deal of time downstairs shelving books. There are some authors whom I always scan bookshelves in libraries and bookstores for. It usually disappoints me not to see anything by those authors, but if I do, then I feel really, really happy and the bookstore or library goes up significantly in my estimation. One of those authors is Lindsay Davis, an author who writes historical mysteries set in Ancient Rome. Another is Teresa Edgerton, who writes very hard-to-find fantasy novels. Another is Guy Gavriel Kay, who also writes fantasy novels, my favorite being The Lions of Al-Rassan.

But the one I most look for is Georgette Heyer, the queen of Regency England. Yes, she writes romance novels, but not the trashy kind. She’s so witty. I adore her. Any bookstore that sells her books has the Aarti seal of approval.

The Open Books store, therefore, has my stamp of approval! Not only does it carry Heyer, but it has her books in hardcover! Open Books has hardcovers of Charity Girl and Lady of Quality. It also has (or had, before I squirreled it away for myself) a copy of Penhallow! Penhallow is one of Heyer’s mystery novels, and not one of the popular ones. It’s hard to find in paperback, and even harder to find in hardcover. I’ve been looking around for it in used bookstores for years. And I found it at Open Books!

The copy I found is an old edition, by Doubleday I can’t even find a picture online to show you, but it has a big, dark blue cover with an English stately home on it. It was clearly published during World War II because the back cover has this big announcement about how buying the book helps literacy and thus helps the world. And the book’s back cover also encourages you to BUY WAR BONDS in big, block capital letters. So fabulous! I love a book with a sense of history. I can’t even describe how thrilled I was to find this book for myself. And I didn’t feel bad about purchasing it as all proceeds from the sale go towards fighting illiteracy in my beloved Chicago. If that’s not a win-win situation, I don’t know what is.

Udayan has been an incredible help to Open Books in so many ways! A thoughtful writing coach at WeWrite, he is also always willing to lend a hand around the office, and is a master of getting the word out, be it at a farmers market or, say, in an article he just wrote for the Illinois Institute of Technology’s school paper! Udayan, a heartfelt thank you goes out to you from all of us at Open Books. You are, without question, an Open Books volunteer all-star! And now, a few words from the man, himself:

The 10 NEW Questions We Always Ask

If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Tandoori Chicken. (But not that old red-painted stuff they give out in Chicago-land.)

Have you ever met (or even seen) anyone famous randomly in public? Who? If not, what famous person would you like to meet?

Do I have to pick someone living? Then (at the moment) it’d be John Maxwell Coetzee.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

People refusing to use their God-given gift: intelligence.

Do you prefer Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, and why?

Starbucks. I’m a tea person and Dunkin doesn’t have any.

What was your first job ever?

Taking calls (sheesh!).

If you could instantly be good at any given thing, what talent would you choose to have?

Being an insightful Novelist and Poet.

If you were a pattern, what pattern would you be?

Mesh – lots of interlacing or inter-splicing!

Who is your favorite character from a fiction or non-fiction book?

Hmm, may I say Elizabeth Bennett?

If you could ask our president one question, what would you ask him?

Why is the US still continuing a lot of obviously failed foreign policies? Is improving the States’ image overseas only limited to delivering speeches?

Are you a dog person or a cat person?

Neither. I am more of a bear person. But if cornered, I’d pick a dog over a cat, any day.

The Open Books team gathered around a monitor, waiting with baited breath last Wednesday as a red line of light waved over a bar code, ears perked forwards and hands balmy with anticipation. And then they heard it – a short, high-pitched BEEP! It had finally happened. A book was sold, the first tome that represents a new chapter of an epic journey.

The successful transaction was the first of Open Books’ soft open on Wednesday. Wanderers, browsers and ardent book collectors meandered among the bright, fresh bookcases lined with books. The leap to going live was made after weeks of frantically inventorying, boxing, unpacking and shelving thousands of books.

Open Books’ staff and volunteers can attest to the adrenaline rush that comes from racing against the clock – I think they call it redlining. You know, when your engine is being over-revved to keep up with the power you are forcing into it and teeters on the brink of basically exploding, but you still don’t let up on the gas. We redline daily at Open Books as we race towards the grand opening. (OMG this weekend!) And that red line which registered a satisfying BEEP to burning ears is testament to the reckless racing that careens us ever nearer to finishing first.

Kevin at full throttle.

Blogosphere, it is my pleasure to present to you our most recent volunteer all-star. Jeremy is currently a stellar volunteer in not one, but TWO Open Books programs! He has been gracious enough to spend his time with us as both a VWrite mentor and a WeWrite writing coach. Thank you, Jeremy, for working double time to make our programs so successful! Now, let us all learn a bit more about Jeremy, Open Books volunteer extraordinaire!

Volunteer All-Star Stats

Name: Jeremy Jungbluth

Neighborhood: Roscoe Village

Job: Literacy Tutor

Open Books programs/events you’ve participated in: VWrite and WeWrite.

The 10 Questions We Always Ask!

1. How would you spend your last 24 hours if you knew the world would end in the morning?

I would fly home to my family in New York and do my best to get everyone in my immediate and extended family together and have a huge family reunion BBQ.

2. What was your dream job when you were 5?

I wanted to be Egon Spengler from Ghostbusters. His innovativeness and inventions inspired me. And of course, what five year-old boy would not want to go out and hunt Slimer with The Proton Pack?

3. If you could have dinner with 3 people (real or fictional), who would you invite and what would you eat?

Ghandi, The Dali Llama, and Siddhartha Gautama. I don’t know if I could eat because I would have so many questions to ask, but if we were forced, I would keep it simple and have some green tea, flatbread, hummus and green curry and tofu.

4. What was your favorite childhood toy or game?

Being pulled on a sled by my Papa’s red tractor through the woods.

5. If you had one superpower, what would it be?

I always wanted to be able to walk through walls.

6. What secret obsession do you have that no one knew about before this interview?

I always have to walk on the right side of the sidewalk.

7. What makes you laugh uncontrollably?

My cat chasing a laser pointer.

8. What book are you reading right now?

The Land of Green Plums, Herta Muller

9. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Ben and Jerry’s Half-Baked Brownie and Cooke Dough

10. What is playing on your iPod/record player these days?

Noah and the Whale

Here it is, a day to recognize the importance of bookstores! Publishers Weekly is kicking off their first annual National Bookstore Day this Saturday, November 7th to do just that, create a day devoted to celebrating the vibrant culture of bookstores.

The Examiner, an Indianapolis based website, ran a great article written by Peter Beren http://www.examiner.com/x-25786-SF-Publishing-Examiner~y2009m11d4-National-Bookstore-Day-is-November-7 promoting this event and in the article they discuss the toll that online book buying has had on bookstore culture. In the article, they state “According to estimates from the American Booksellers Association and Publishers Weekly, today independent bookstores hold less than an 8% market share whereas in the mid-nineties they held close to 30% of the market share”. That is a big decline in independent book buying and a great point that Beren makes is that it is not just a competition anymore between the national and independent bookstores, it is now just a fight to keep bookstores alive period. Bookstores mean so many different things to so many people. For me personally, whenever I have any downtime no matter where I am- whether that is waiting at the airport for my flight, finding a place to relax on my lunch break or just arriving early for a meeting needing a place to kill time, bookstores provide that solitude and peace that I need and enjoy on a weekly basis.

So go out and support your local bookstore on Saturday and lets help keep our book culture alive and a part of all of our lives!