Hello All!  It looks like I’m moving up in the world. I am the new lover and upkeeper of the film bookcase. Also dubbed the “MTV/Autobiography” section, there are many fascinating reads that are just waiting to be discovered.  Some of my personal favorites are now facing out, including Isabella Rossillini’s entertaining read, Green Porno, based on her video shorts about the mating rituals of animals. In the next few months, I hope to encourage readers and all the self-proclaimed “movie-buffs” out there by bringing you my picks.

This week, I’ve been reading Chelsea Handler’s Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang. Being an avid watcher of Chelsea Lately, her late-night talk show, I was a bit concerned about how her humor would translate to book form. And guess what! I loved it.  Taking the reader on a journey through the material fixation that was the 80s, Chelsea gives a hilarious portrayal of her childhood pursuits, ranging from getting the Cabbage Patch doll of her dreams to discovering “The Feeling” between her legs at a third grade slumber party.  It was interesting to read her present-day, formulated humor coming out of a young Chelsea.  While there was some disconnect between how that little girl would actually speak to her parents and Chelsea’s current developed humor, I enjoyed being let in on the foundational years and influences that have built her craft…of being hilarious.

Full of chapter-length anecdotes, one scene in particular struck me. After doing some necessary hazing to find the “dumbest people working on the show” at Chelsea Lately, she sends out an all-staff email regarding a gynecologist coming in to give pap smears and advice on infertility.  Seeing which staffers would sign up, she also sends the email to her boyfriend/CEO of E! Network, Ted. After much confusion and legal bills, Ted comes to his senses:  “In true Ted form, he was not in on the joke, which is basically the foundation of our relationship. No matter how much time goes by, I am still able to make him believe stories that no one who has completed high school would believe.”

A fun, fast read, I look forward to reading her other books My Horizontal Life and Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.

-Peyton

I’m going to take a break from normal blogging today to tell you about a couple of new things about LemuriaBooks.com.

Our website has been around for a long time and for years we have been featuring our events and signed first editions. And for a long time we’ve had a shopping cart on our website.

This summer we’ve updated our cart so that you can now start an account on our website. We’ve always offered house accounts in the store, but now you can register all of your information (charge and shipping) on the website, create a password, and from that time on you can speed through every transaction on our website. And if you forget your password? Just shoot us an email or give us a call and we’ll get you a new password. (and of course you can still call the store or email us an order) If you’d like to go ahead and register please click here.

We’ve also worked up a mobile version of our website so that when you’re on your smart phone at home you can go to Lemuriabooks.com and the website will be automatically formatted for your phone.

by Kelly Pickerill

Moving is painful whether you’re moving across town or across the world. I recently moved across the neighborhood, which can be the worst sort, I think, because you’re fooled into thinking you don’t have to do much preparation, just run your car back and forth a few times right? Well if you’re not organized those “few times” turn into what feels like a few hundred.

One great thing about moving for a reader, though, is that you have the opportunity to get to know your books again. Those that have been gathering dust at the back of an overflowing bookshelf are brought again to your attention, and you are reminded of what you loved so much about them. These are a few I’m (re)reading:

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. I read a few chapters of this classic of anthropological mythology when I first bought it several years ago, and looking at it again, I’m coming across the margin notes and underlines I mulled over then, fresh(er) out of college with an interest in comparative literature and religion.

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I first read this beat up paperback for a class in literary theory in college. That semester ended up being too much for me, so I withdrew from the class to take it again a year later. I may have dropped it, though, just so I’d have to read the book again. One of my favorite books of all time, it too has lots of dog ears and underlines and notes from twice poring over it already. When I came to Mississippi from Florida two years ago, I didn’t bring all my books, leaving some in boxes with my family — ones I’d read or that were for school — but though I’d read it twice, One Hundred Years came with me to Mississippi because I knew I’d likely want to read it again.

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey.  Recently longlisted for the Booker prize, I’ve had a copy for months now, and now that I’ve “found” it I’m going to get started on it right away.  That, along with Eric Metaxas’s biography Bonhoeffer, are what I’m reading now. Bonhoeffer’s biography is flying off the shelves at Lemuria, and so far it’s thoroughly readable and fascinating. I’m not too familiar with Bonhoeffer’s life, other than knowing that he was executed towards the end of WW2 for his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler. I’m glad to find out more, and will have to keep an eye out for the theologian’s books as I unpack; I know I have a copy of the Cost of Discipleship in one of my boxes.

During the move, I read One Day, the charming British sensation by David Nicholls, which Quinn blogged about weeks ago. After long days of work followed by the physical labor of moving and cleaning, it was nice to fall asleep with Em and Dex. As I continue to unpack and organize and likely acquire several more bookcases, I know I’ll come across more books I’m thrilled to be reminded I own.

I had heard that John’s daughter, Saramel, had become a partner in an art gallery in Charleston. I managed to catch up with her to see how she ended up with this beautiful little gallery. Here’s her story in her own words.

Even though my hard-working father warned me about the never-ending days in the retail world, I still became interested in the food industry–I loved the fast paced environment and the colorful people. However, even while I was immersed in this lively scene, I had one eye on the art scene. Since my parents had started an art collection for me when I was born, I was always on the lookout for new pieces to add to the collection. For several years after I moved to Charleston, the art mainly looked the same to me. Finally, about six years ago, I began to see some contemporary pieces, more modern works. This inspired me to expand the collection my parents had started.

To my further delight, two friends of mine created a contemporary gallery about a year ago on Broad Street, also known as Gallery Row, by finding artists who were doing unusual work in the local scene and expanding the palate for Charleston. Since one of the gallery owners was growing her family with a set of twins, luckily they asked me to step in as a new partner.

From my father’s love of books to a colorful time in the food industry, it seems I have found a new way to help people figure out what they need to enjoy the moment. Colleen and I are now running Scoop Studios in Charleston and would love to help you find a wonderful piece to expand you and your home.

Odd mix of books in my rotation right now:

In my continuing attempt to mirror Joe’s progression through the top ranks of mystery writers (just a few months behind), I picked up the first Lee Child novel, Killing Floor — I’m looking forward to starting a series that will keep me busy for a while — and Jack Reacher is one of the classic modern mystery protagonists. Perfect reading for sitting inside out of the 100* heat (or rain, or whatever particular piece of weather we are being assaulted with on a given summer day).

I’ve already read a lot of baseball books this year, but when I saw Doug Glanville had written his first book, I had no choice but to tear into it — and I wasn’t disappointed. Glanville was the centerfielder/leadoff hitter for the Phillies from 1998-2002, and was widely recognized as the best source for funny and insightful postgame comments. What struck me as I read his book is that he’s kind of the anti-Canseco. You won’t find steroid accusations or bizarre A-Rod/girlfriend scandals; The Game from Where I Stand is a candid, honest discussion about the pressures of being a professional athlete, particularly the struggles of being a thoughtful, self-aware athlete surrounded by people incapable of or unwilling to show weakness. Reminded me a bit of Paul Shirley’s book Can I Keep My Jersey?, and Matt McCarthy’s Odd Man Out, two books I really enjoyed.

And lastly, I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a book I ordered a couple days ago, bound to take the world by storm and rocket up the NYT nonfiction bestseller’s list: Performance Fuel Injection Systems. OK, maybe it’s not everyone’s ideal pleasure reading, but it’s a good reminder that virtually no subject or title is too obscure for us to seek out — if it’s out there, we’ll do our best to get it for you.

By societal standards, as a 20-something college graduate, I am no longer a child.  That does not, however, mean that I don’t still love to lose myself in fairy tales.  In fact, I’d say that I love them even more now that I don’t necessarily need the “happily ever after” and can truly enjoy the dark, gritty details that  have been carefully extricated from the sweet, fluffy stories we know from Disney films.

That being said, if you’re interested in whimsical, sometimes dark, sometimes magical, but always wonderful stories, here are my most recent picks.

Aimee Bender’s Willful Creatures is a lovely collection of fantastical short stories–including tales about a  boy with keys for fingers, a family of pumpkin heads (and the tragedy of their only  iron-head son), and a woman who grows to love the potato children who mysteriously appear in her life and refuse to leave.  I read this book in one evening, and I absolutely fell in love with it.   Aimee Bender comes highly recommended from the Lemuria staff.  Zita and John P., two of my coworkers, are also in love with her storytelling.  Read their posts about her most recent novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake here and here.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke is not for the faint of heart.  846 pages of magic, Victorian England,Napoleonic wars, and a bitter magic rivalry,  I’ll admit that it took me at least a month to finish (to my credit, I was still in college and at least attempting to be studious and such).  Clarke’s novel reads as if it were the nonfiction account of magical England–complete with footnotes and fables within the fable of England’s most well-known  magicians, once allies turned rivals,using their magic to fight Europe’s war–and each other.  And of course–there is plenty of fairy mischief, too.

After you finish Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell (or before if you prefer) grab a copy of Clarke’s short story collection, The Ladies of Grace Adieu in which she returns to the England of Strange and Norrell, but also visits other magical worlds like Neil Gaiman’s  Wall, which you’ll recognize from his novel Stardust.  Just as magical as her novel, Clarke’s short stories will give you a proper dose of English magic.  I particularly loved the story that the collection is named for “The Ladies of Grace Adieu” as well as “John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner,” both of which include characters that you’ll meet in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

Until next time,

your ever-faithful, grown-up, fairy-tale lover  -Kaycie

Isn’t that a cute guy? We’re putting our pouty faces on. As usual the picture has nothing to do with the blog, but I’m vainly trying to get your attention. The good news is that he looks very little like his father. Anyway, the family is out of town for a few days so suddenly I have a little time to read. If you’ve read my previous blogs you are familiar with this theme. I love those little people, but it’s hard to read as much as I want to when they are around. (of course I can read like eight hours a day – seriously – so reading enough may not be the best way to put it) At any rate, the point is that I obsess about what I get to read when I get to read. Here are a few things that I’m working on.

In a Heartbeat by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy

I’ve actually finished this one but I wanted to write about it because the last time I wrote about it I hadn’t finished reading it. So… it gets a thumbs up. I really like these people. I liked the original Blindside book – it is one of my favorite pieces of non-fiction ever. I thought the movie was ok for a movie. (I don’t really watch movies) I was worried that the curtain would go down when the story was re-told in their own words, but it really didn’t – they are the real deal. As an aside – Sean owns all of the Taco Bell’s in Jackson and a bunch of folks that work for him came out to the signing – I tried to get them to say bad things about the boss but they just wouldn’t do it.

American Assassin by Vince Flynn

I’m not actually reading this one. It’s the same deal as when I was reading Harlan Coben and Lee Child – as soon as I heard we were having Vince Flynn for a signing I started reading them back to back. I’m on my second book. High action political thrillers. I’ve officially become a junky. I used to think that I could only read literary fiction – ha, what I was missing.

What He’s Poised to Do by Ben Greenman

I’m not really sure what made me pick this up. I’d heard of Greenman from The New Yorker, but I’m not sure if I had read anything by him before. I was looking for something that I wouldn’t normally have a chance to read with the kids in town – something that I don’t absolutely have to read, but want to read. I picked it up and read the first couple of sentences, “The man is not happy at home. When he sees his wife or his son, he knows that he should be, but he is not.” I just thought this was a good sentence. I read the first two stories last night and liked them very much.

Rasputin’s Legacy by Troy Carnes

There has been a lot of blogging about this book on our blog. John and Maggie both liked it very much. To be honest with you I wasn’t planning on reading it, but one night I sat up late and read the first page and thought “wow, this is really very good”. I’m almost finished – I’ll probably finish tonight and have thoroughly enjoyed it all the way through. It’s like a historical thriller. I agree with John that fans of Greg Iles early books would like this.

The Fall of the House of Zeus by Curtis Wilkie

I wrote about this in my last “what I’m reading blog” I’m actually reading it again. Yes it’s that good. I’m also working on some more extensive blogging about this book.

Hopefully I’ll read all of these and more. I love to read about parenting and education so I’m hoping that I’ll find something in one of those areas before the week is out. I also have a few chores though so…

Since I’ve only been reading books by David Mitchell, that means I’ve only been blogging about books by David Mitchell, and I think three blogs in a row about him might be too much.  I do want to say quickly, though, that the other night I finished Black Swan Green and loved it.  I have never been so  enchanted by a narrator and it was one of those books I was a little bit sad to finish.  Anyway, I’ve passed the David Mitchell baton along to John P now; job done.

Tidying up the First Editions room a few months ago – and trying to maintain some semblance of order in there ever since –  has been interesting for me because I’ve gotten to look at every single book IN there, and there are lots of books and authors I wouldn’t have really known much about if I hadn’t done that.  For example: Barry Moser.  I knew of him, but I don’t think I realized the extent of his work until I shelved his books in the FE room. They’re all so amazing – also, for those who ever get a chance to come into the store and look around, be sure to look at the Moser prints we have hanging up in Oz – all from, appropriately!, his beautifully illustrated take on  the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

What’s remarkable to me about Moser is the scope of his work – he’s illustrated so much STUFF, all so distinctive and original and beautiful: Dracula, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Bible, Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, and – a personal favorite – Moby Dick.  Happily, we have lovely signed editions of many of these books in the First Editions room, and lots more listed online too.

Susie