17.12.10

12 DAYS OF BOOKSELLING




On the twelfth day of bookselling, my bookseller showed me:

12 stocking stuffers




11 ancient treasures



10 Nobel winners



9 Swedish mysteries



8 fancy cookbooks


7 stellar staffers



6 greeting cards



5 MAG-A-ZINES



four squishy books



3 3-D bookmarks


Two store cats





and a Raymond Carver biography

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Vintage

13.12.10

Preschool Ideas!


Ideas, Ideas!


If your little one is ready to move up from board books, here are a few suggestions:

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" This 25th Anniversary edition is a great gift. The drawings are wonderful, and the author has spun this idea into many other stories.


Nick Jr. books. If your preschooler is fan of Nick Jr., you'll find their favorite characters here. Dora, Diego, Max and Ruby, and Kai-lan.
Activity books- We have lots of great coloring/activity books with Disney favorites, Nick Jr., and more.



Are you working on potty training? Might we suggest: "Princess Potty" and "Pirate Potty" by Samantha Berger and Amy Cartwright or "Dinosaur Vs. the Potty" by Bob Shea. these books talk about potty training in a fun way.


And finally, a recent family favorite - Small, Medium, Large - this mostly wordless book offers a very sweet story with adorable illustrations. Great for kids of all ages.

--
Debbie Buck

8.12.10

Gift ideas for very young readers 0-2


A few suggestions: "Indestructibles" These chew proof, rip proof, non-toxic, washable books are great for the little one in your life who is a hands on "reader" With beautiful bright pictures, these wordless books let you tell the story.

Indestructibles

Sandra Boynton- One of my kids' favorite authors. Her charming animal characters are sure to be a hit!


Eric Carle's classic "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in board book format.
"Who is it?" A peek-a-boo board book with babies and favorite Disney characters


"Jungle Fun" This squishy bath book comes with an elephant that can squirt water.


What more can you ask for.
These are just a few titles among many. Come in and browse!

--
Debbie Buck

4.12.10

Bird on a Wire


It's happening again. This is the third year it's happened and it continues to be very strange. At intervals, different birds come swooping into the store with Vintage Book Gift Cards clutched in their talons and spreading their holiday cheer. We thought at first it was a shameless birdy promotion of our great gift cards - advertising at its lowest - but then we realized that the birds honestly really like our gift cards and want other people to know about them. Who knew birds were so into gift cards - or for that matter that birds can read - but we stand astonished. At the very least they seem very giving, gift oriented birds, interested in making others happy and we understand and appreciate that.

Anyway, I snapped some pics of these little fellas as they circled the cash registers this morning. You should come in and see them, and maybe purchase some gift cards for your loved ones while you take in this strange and (seemingly) annual event of nature.


Red one.


Pheasanty looking one.


Red one again. There was a Bald Eagle earlier, but my camera jammed and I missed him.

GREETINGS, CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM VINTAGE BOOKS!






Thanks for shopping with us in 2010!
-from the staff at Vintage Books

1.12.10

Oh my Gluten! (Free)



Great Gluten-Free Baking: Over 80 Delicious Cakes and Bakes
by Louise Blair

I am not gluten-free, but I have many friends who are, and I end up eating many gluten-free items. Turns out I enjoy gluten-free food and after checking out Louise Blair's new book, Great Gluten-Free Baking, I would not hesitate to give Louise Blair's book to any of them for Christmas. The book is well laid out, with a picture of the baked good on one page and, on the other, a well formatted easy-to-read recipe. There are a bunch of bread and biscuit recipes, so the book isn't strictly desserts, which is nice. The Nutty Seed Loaf looks particularly good, as does the Pecan Pie - my favorite kind of pie!



And here is the seed loaf I was talking about.

-Tom

26.11.10

Cookie Dreams



So now that things are gearing up for the holidays, it's time for me to start baking. By the end of December, I'll have participated in a couple of cookie swaps, and have handed out baskets of goodies to at least 2 dozen people. Last year, my husband kept on adding people that he worked with, even in other states! I am always looking for new recipes. I have my old favorites - Grandma cookies,-a family twist on Scottish shortbread, and my hubby's favorite the good ol' chocolate chip.


"Cookie Swap", by Lauren Chattman, Workman Publishing, offers plenty of choices. There are color photographs with each recipe. I don't know about you, but I like to know what my end product is "supposed" to look like. It doesn't always turn out that way, but as long as they taste good, they work. And my family gets to eat all of the "mistakes". Biscotti, Sesame Ginger Munchies, and Lemon-Poppy Seed Cornmeal Cookies along with Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies are all just calling out my name for me to bake them.

-Debbie Buck

Sci Fi & Fantasy Sale



Friday Surprise!
Big sale on Science Fiction and Fantasy today. $1.25 a piece for the paperbacks or 5 for $5.00. We also have a large selection of books on tape - buy one get two free - to choose from.


Also, we have cats. But not for sale, for looking.

19.11.10

Crochet for CATS!!


That is Henry.

Today we are featuring a Crochet for Cats event at Vintage Books.
People are welcome to come and hang out and help make kitty blankets for the Humane Society for Southwest Washington. If you know how to crochet already, you can jump right in. If you don't, Stephaniejo--the organizer and mastermind behind the Crochet for Cats program--can teach you how to make a perfect blanket for a shelter cat.


If you would like to submit a blanket for the crochet for cats program you can email Stephaniejo (featured above) at stephaniejo333@hotmail.com.


The blankets should measure:
approx 8" x 17" Kitty Blanket 2 strands
Crochet size N or Knit size 15
Crochet: ch 20, work 19 sc for 46 r
Knit: CO 19 work garter st for 92 r

If you know what all of that means, you are way ahead of me and well on your way if you would like to submit a blanket for the animal shelter.


Thanks!
-Vintage Books

p.s. We have frequent crochet for cats events at our store. If you would like to be emailed about our events you can sign up for our newsletter. See details on our website at vintage-books.com

16.11.10

Not Horror, Ghost Story



I'm not sure whether it's the marketing I've been subjected to, or listening to King talk about writing, or because I read his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, but I have always respected King as a storyteller; the man can spin a yarn. There is an honesty to his writing earned by hard work and from experience - like the seasoned songwriter who understands his audience and eliminates the unnecessary for the compelling - that makes King easy to read. Even when King is long winded - like when a character's own mental narrative spirals out of control for pages and pages - at least he takes you somewhere. Bag of Bones takes you lots of places.

Bag of Bones is a love story, wrapped in a mystery, bundled in a ghost story. It is melancholy at times, shocking at others, and thoroughly wrapped in a wonderful gauze of eerie longing. Bestselling author Mike Noonan's love for his recently deceased wife, his intensely vivid memories of her, and his wakeful dream life, propels him into a rich narrative that extends deep in the town's unspoken history - a history of fraught race relations and a blanket of old time Yankee secretiveness. Noonan is a sweet, likable character and we feel bad that his world has fallen out from under him; we can't help but root and worry for him.
I love mysteries and I love ghost stories, and this is one of the most enjoyable, gripping books I have read in either genre. I have also listened to King read it on one of my long road trips. His wonderful "everyman" voice and delivery complements the first person narrative perfectly. Highly recommended.


The inside has lots of little words.

-Review by Tom


13.11.10

Great Playing Cards

I love these cards. Artist Viginijus Poshkus's images are light and clean. The formatting is simple and neat. I own the endangered species cards as well as the birds and trees.

The trees are my favorite.

These make great gifts and, at $6.00, a good bargain.

-Reviewed by Tom

11.11.10

No Self Help. Well...maybe one.



Life is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake up, Be mindful, and Live Intentionally, by Patti Digh

I don't read self-help books. They're endless, the whole process
is endless, I suspect. But this one was so brightly-colored, full
of collages and photos and quotations and diversions. I started it,
and couldn't put it down. Okay, and my daughter made me read it.

It's hilarious, and really insightful. You can't go through it without smiling, without getting teary-eyed. And she has this four-year old sweetie who continually steals the show (part Keystone Kop, part enlightened soul). Anyway, it all comes down to the little, everyday things, we know that. But because of this book, now whenever we see a bus, any old bus, my whole family says, WOWWWWW!!!!




(And Patti's new book, Creative is a Verb, is just out!)

- Reviewed by Pepper