December Holiday Open House

[BooksAdmin]

December Holiday Open House

Come celebrate the holidays with us...
-  share some of your favorite seasonal  books, as well as those you have enjoyed this year.    Do you give books as gifts?  How do you choose the perfect gift for those on your list?

- we'll also get into that holiday spirit starting off with a very short   Christmas Cozy Mystery* - (available for free online )

*A "cozy mystery" usually takes place in a small, picturesque town or village, with characters.  Cozies don't usually involve a lot of gory details or explicit "adult situations." The guilty parties are usually not zany people, although an eccentric or two might lurk here and there.  On the whole, they are usually normal, every day characters you might have known at one time in your life."

To start, we've selected  Agatha Christie's much loved   Poirot and the Adventure of the Christmas Pudding (Just the first five short chapters from this collection)

Your thoughts?

• What sold Poirot on taking on the assignment?
• Who is Young Tibbitt?
• What is the difference between the Speckled Boar and the White Hart?
• What was special about the Christmas pudding mould that Mrs. Ross used?
• What is your favorite Poirot quirk?

Happy Holidays, everyone!

[JoanP]

December - already!  Our frigid temps should have prepared us for its coming!  Has anyone seen a snowflake yet?

How do you celebrate the holidays? Are you in the stores, or do you find gifts online? It 's warmer that way, isn't it - not quite as much fun, but less tiring!    

My list seems to get longer each year, with a mid November birthday and two mid Decembers coming up!  Books are always on the list, but getting more difficult, knowing what to choose.  How do you decide?

Son#2 -upcoming birthday, a real book collector, requested vintage set of Joseph Conrad, which would be impossible to find in local stores, hard enough to find online. (Why don't they include Heart of Darkness, I wonder?)
I'll be doing most of my book shopping on line, but admit feeling guilty about the small bookstores' survival,don't you?

Pull up a chair by the fire with your mug..let's have a chat as we wait for the temps outside to rise...

ps Have you noticed the link to Agatha Christie's Christmas cozy in the heading above?

[jane]

It is hard to believe that it's December already.  I don't have many gifts to buy, but those I do I did online this year.  For books, I give gift cards.  I don't presume to know what people have already bought or read, unless, of course, they tell me specific titles.  There are no small bookstores near me, so I'm left with B&N and Half-Price 35 miles away.  In this rural area shopping online and gift cards are delightfully easy.

Jane

[bellamarie]

December 1st, oh my how time flies!  I have all my Christmas decorations up, and am off to finish my shopping today.  I intend to spend some quiet days reading and enjoying this blessed season.  Have to order my Christmas photo cards and get them out.  Can't wait to begin our Dec. book!  

Ciao for now~

[BarbStAubrey]

Like all of you I am not ready for December 1 - All the commotion shown on TV about this weekend's shopping mayhem did not make me think Christmas - not sure what I thought - but now the season is here - The week we often have after thanksgiving sorta prepared me better for the Christmas season - like Poirot I too would like a quiet Christmas only instead of steam heat I would prefer warm temps and it appears I am getting my wish.

After over a week of frigid weather the temps are climbing back up into the 70s - overcaste yesterday and today but we are promised the Sun tomorrow.

Trying to come up with my book list for the family - some are easy like Gary a book about business and Sally likes a light story like those written by Patrick Taylor and his Irish Country Doctor Series or Fannie Flag who writes using the south for her place and sounds. Chris is into cooking so that is an easy one - Cody is newly interested in Architecture but those books are beyond my holiday budget and so he will be a challenge this year.

Not sure about Cade. He was so enthralled with learning all he could about China however, after spending the summer there he plans on continuing taking Chinese but not all the history and traditions. He was so disappointed with the food. Everything is cooked in oils with no fresh fruits or vegetables. For the first time in his life he was an a steady diet of laxatives.

Starting my Advent Calendar today and I have pulled out a bit early some of my Christmas books including my Daily Advent Meditation book - it always amazes me how each year I read these same homilies and essays but come away with a different lesson.

I wonder if there is anyone among us that could explain further the holiday we are in the middle of now - Hanukkah - I know about the daily lighting of the candles and what they represent but I am reading they also represent the light of something for followers today that I am not sure I understand - but more what do folks do to celebrate this time - there is a top and candy chocolate gold pieces - when are they used - and I have a cookbook of recipes for various Jewish holidays but when is the Hanukkah meal served or is there a special meal each day the candles are lite.

[PatH]

I'm traveling today, but the Portland airport wi fi works for me, unlike most.

It's been at least 30 years since I read this charming story, and I'm not sorry to read it again.  It has all the classic Christie elements.  What is my favorite Poirot quirk?  Hard to say, but probably his love for comfort.  Lucky for him that Mrs Lacey keeps her house a toasty 68 degrees.

[JoanP]

What would you do if invited to spend Christmas in 14th century English manor house in the country - with snow in the forecast, PatH?  If the choice was that or a cozy, heated Parisian flat?

I'm still  puzzled why Poirot agreed to take on the assignment. It seemed the last thing he wanted to do.  Surely it wasn't the promise of hot water heat!  How could you heat  those drafty old places with radiators?  But what did persuade him?  I read it twice to find out.  Was he flattered to be asked?  Or was he really interested in the idea that the missing gem was an important piece with a history of death and murder?  To tell the truth, if I was the fiancee, I wouldn't want such an engagement gift around my neck!

[JoanP]

By the way, did you see 60 minutes last night?  The piece on the Amazon czar, Jeff Bezos talking the future of small book stores?  Grim.  He was saying it isn't Amazon's fault, but rather the arrival of the Internet.  Jane, you give a compelling reason why online buying is the only way to buy.  I wonder if the only small book stores are found in big cities anymore.  There is still Barnes & Noble where you can browse, pick up the book and...experience it before you buy.

I wonder if anyone feels sad about the loss of the small book store - especially if you never had one.

[jane]

Actually, since my IPAD, the only paper books I read are from the Library.  Those are authors I'm not interested in buying, but I'd like to try their latest, after being disappointed in their earlier efforts. 

For me, the IPAD solves a lot of problems.  I can have hundreds of books with me in one small place, I don't have to add bookshelves at home to store the books or transport them somewhere to get rid of them.  I can adjust the size of the print and background color to suit my eyes.  The ebooks are inevitably less expensive than a paper book, and I can buy and have it in a minute or less while sitting in my rocker in a small town in rural Iowa.

I know there are books better suited to paper....the "coffee table" types, but for the fiction I generally read, ebooks suit me much better.

I'm afraid the "small bookstore," unless it specializes in some topic, is at the end of a run....and will disappear as have small corner mom and pop groceries, confectionaries, ice cream shops, gas stations, shade tree/corner gas station mechanics, etc.

jane

[JoanP]

You're killing me, Jane!  What else is now on the way out?

[jane]

Our local stores survive by having something not available in the megastores....be it rental equipment, being able to buy in a small quantity, having a product that's of better quality and variety...i.e., our local wonderful yarn store, our local gift and decor shops, and good customer service.  I don't think they can survive handling the same things that the big stores do...just my opinion, of course. 

Someone elsewhere said the new library in San Antonio is ALL digital. 

A Bookless Library Opens in San Antonio

The all-digital space – stocked with 10,000 e-books and 500 e-readers –resembles an Apple store. But is that really a library?



Read more: A Bookless Library Opens in San Antonio | TIME.com http://nation.time.com/2013/09/13/a-bookless-library-opens-in-san-antonio/#ixzz2mKs1hcnb

[bellamarie]

Jane, "I'm afraid the "small bookstore," unless it specializes in some topic, is at the end of a run....and will disappear as have small corner mom and pop groceries, confectionaries, ice cream shops, gas stations, shade tree/corner gas station mechanics, etc."

Luckily, my city and surrounding small towns still have all of these....for now.  An all digital library!  Oh please NO!

I absolutely love small bookstores, with cafes to sit and drink and read in.  I came across a wonderful one in Frankenmuth, Michigan, and I didn't want to leave.  One of my favorite movies of all time  is "You've Got Mail" Kathleen Kelly is trying to compete with the new HUGE Fox bookstore (Barnes & Noble) that has moved in and is taking all her customers.  I always cry when she is selling off all the things in the store, and she remembers her childhood with her Mom in the store.  Yep, the small ones are becoming a thing of the past and even the big ones are going out of business.   We had a Borders bookstore in our mall, and I loved going there for discounted books.  It closed a few years ago, and I was heartsick.  Now I have to go to Barnes & Noble across the street, or travel even farther to a Books A Million.  

I LOVE the feel of books, the smell of old ones and new ones.  I have a Nook Color and I download library books and purchase books from online onto my laptop, but nothing gives me more pleasure than to curl up on my sofa, with my favorite afghan, my Shih Tzu Sammy, and hold a book in my hands.

I really enjoyed the 5 chapters of the Christmas mystery.  I didn't realize it was so short.  I haven't read Agatha Christie in years so I had never read this before. Will we be reading more in December or is this it?

Ciao for now~

[PatH]

I'm now in the Salt Lake City airport.  After that, nothing until home.

Even in DC independant bookstores are thin on the ground.  KramerBooks survives by also being a restaurant. Politics and Prose by being P and P.  I'll hate it when they're all gone.

[BarbStAubrey]

There are still a few small bookstores but they are mostly buying and selling used books - my concern is that as schools eliminate the cost of textbooks and children grow up learning from digital they will not have the same love of handling a book - I always loved the idea of reading with several books open to help me so the table instead of a table cloth is covered with open books. Even now I am more inclined to have the book I am reading next to me as I browse the internet with several windows open including the dictionary and thesaurus.

I am thinking of the nostalgia we have when the milk man still delivered and the paper boy was a daily occurrence - when I was a kid we still had the rag man and milkman using horse drawn wagons and this time of year the bins of cotton were being taken to the Gin over in Bastrop with mule drawn wagons. There were still mules housed at Camp Mabry our State Military Forces center that was there since before the Civil War and renamed in the late nineteenth century. The 100 or so mules were only sold off in the 1970s.

As to Poirot - I am too wondering why he took the assignment - except without taking it there is no story - his comfort especially at Christmas seemed to be important although the idea of spending time celebrating with a Traditional English Christmas did not seem thrilling to him.

I will be back later - I've less than 10 minutes to get out of here - shoot I had no idea it was so late.

[JoanP]

Didn't we just read a mystery about this very same Indian ruby?  I'm talking about sometime during the last two years or so?  A great  house - on the sea, a young woman about to marry, receives the gem on her birthday? It is stolen from her room that night. A servant girl, a suspect...she drowns
. Two Indians trailing the gem.  Young man suspected of stealing it.  Oh help, someone must remember this one!  Who wrote it - and when?  Was this the same stone?

[BarbStAubrey]

Back - phew - just made it...

JoanP I believe it was the Collins' Moonstone we read sometime this past summer. But your question had me wondering if there was a run on stories about Rubies in England - we know that India was primary in their news during the end of the nineteenth and through the first half of the twentieth century - well lo and behold I found two traditional Indian stories about a large ruby. One is a real ruby that is in the Queen's jewel collection in London and the other a folk tale.

Here is the link to the Timur Ruby that includes a long history in India and Persia. It was presented to Queen Victoria by the East India Company in October 1851 and I bet caught the imagination of those who heard about the Ruby and its history.

http://www.gemselect.com/other-info/timur-ruby.php

And here is the delightful tale told as a link to a youtube type storyteller

http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resource/Indian-Tale-The-Lost-Ruby-6162855/

I wonder if any mystery about a Ruby would be what caused Poirot to take on this assignment - it seems to be a story that had the imagination of the English and as long as he was not going to be too uncomfortable, helping the representatives of an Indian prince find his ruby had caché.

[BarbStAubrey]

Pat how much fun you are providing us as you travel across country evidently visiting the airport bookstores at each layover - If the air lines finally agree that electronic devices can be accessed freely than the need for a book will decrease - for me the time twiddling my thumbs waiting to I could turn on a book reading devise would be annoying therefore, I still carry at least one or two books with me. But it is fun to see what is selling at these airport book stores.

I've been introduced to some of the best authors by other passengers who when they finish reading their book they give it to me - I just happen to be sitting nearby and I am sure they just give them to whoever they see is a reader. I read a Susan Griffith that way and was blown away as well as one of N. Scott Momaday's early books.

[BarbStAubrey]

Bellamarie - glad you enjoyed the short mystery story - I believe there is another mystery by another author for week 2 of our Open House and then like any Open House the chatter will continue as we share books that we receive or give as gifts and if we have a special holiday library - that sort of thing like an Open House at your favorite small book store that we have just mourned their gradual disappearance.

Remember when your favorite book store sent out invitations to an evening or Sunday afternoon Open House that sometimes there would be an invited reader. The newest selection of books would be arranged and a buffet table with tidbits or cookies and a big bowl of punch usually served in small paper cups. I remember when my children were pre-school the library had a special reading day. But then we had no public library and so the sad part is the children who seldom heard a story read to them were not in the reading circle. Much change since the 1950s and early 60s.

[jane]

Our small town library still has preschool and toddler reading times with stories read to them, the kids doing craft projects related to the books, etc. 

[ginny]

I wonder if anyone feels sad about the loss of the small book store - especially if you never had one

What a good question. I don't. Not the one here which we had anyway. it was very much a sort of "in" place and experience.  Nothing was arranged in any kind of order, certainly not alphabetical. It was oh here is a set of XX and here YY,  all by whim and of no design whatsoever in the stocking on the shelves.  It was very much a cliquish place run by one family and  ...well... enough said. When the B&N moved in, it was gone, even tho it was all the way across town. The B&N had things arranged by genre, and tho it's very hard to fathom their categories vis a vis non fiction, at least the fiction and some of the other titles are alphabetized.  You also can barely get IN the parking lot, too, tho they say they make more on the cafeteria than they do anything else.

Now something like Parnassus I would like to see. Run by an author who knows books, and there are some bookstores like that too, here,  where people really know their stuff, but I hate to say it but WH Smiths, formerly in airports, now all over the place  would get me in every time in the UK because you can get ANY book and I mean ANY book almost the moment it comes out at unbelievable cheap prices in a  paperback version.  The paper and presentation is cheap too, who cares? (You would on some things). Apparently the mark up on books is insane. I was just astounded at seeing their stock of brand new (hardback to us) paperback books there.

I love this Poirot story and all  Christmas mysteries, they are just good fun.

[nlhome]

I enjoyed the Poirot story, one I've read a couple of times before. I think the central heating tipped the balance toward the little mystery challenge.

We try to buy books and socks for everyone - and gift cards. Some people are easier to find books for than others. This year, two of the young women are pregnant, so buying them the usual mystery or novel just doesn't seem right. Any thoughts?

We do shop at B&N. No independent stores any closer. But real books. I read an article recently that suggested that readers retain more when they read the paper version rather than on line - and this will be studied more. I know that I enjoy doing the crossword in my daily paper more when I do it on paper.

[bellamarie]

I'm reading (mother/daughter) Mary & Carol Higgins Clark, one volume -two favorite holiday suspense novels:  Deck the Halls & The Christmas Thief. They said, "we've had  such fun working together that we've continued to write about their joint adventures in Santa Cruise and Dashing Through the Snow.  We're planning more in the future and hope you enjoy them!"

I absolutely love this mother, daughter team.

As for what made Poirot decide to go and solve the mystery of the Ruby, I think even though he was worried of the discomforts he may encounter, and was reassured he would have all the comforts and delights of a real home Christmas, he would have gone regardless.....once a sleuth always a sleuth.

PatH., Safe travels, and get home before the snow flies. 

Ciao for now~

[CubFan]

Greetings -

I guess I'm just lucky when it comes to book buying. All the adults - daughters, husbands, grandson & girlfriend - maintain Amazon wish lists so that everyone can pick titles that want to purchase as gifts based on price level and if you want to give a book on that subject. I tend towards purchasing the classics/histories/biographies they want & let others deal with the science fiction/dungeons & dragons etc. The younger grandchildren (10 &12) gave us their lists of book titles in October. Since they both enjoy reading multiple books by an author and/or book series all it takes is coordination between us so we don't duplicate titles.

When we lost our Little Professor book store which was less than 1/2 mile away I switched to ordering my books online from Barnes & Noble. Most of what i read are new publications. Since reading is my primary entertainment I decided years ago that I would buy what I want when I want it. I prefer to own nonfiction because I highlight and make notes in nearly all of them and use them later for reference. I do loan them out to anyone who wants to read them which helps with shelving. Every year I weed out a few to donate to the local university library book sale.

As soon as I finish reading a fiction book it goes to my back door neighbor, then to the across the street neighbor. When the books get back to me I keep a few (4-5) authors and the rest are passed to my daughters. When they & their friends finish with them, the books are donated to their local community center, senior center or workplace reading shelves - whichever they deem most appropriate. I can't imagine switching to online reading where there is very limited sharing possibilities. I feel that whereas reading is an individual activity the sharing of books leads to discussions and bonding. I would hate to see the sharing opportunity to disappear.

Oh boy!!!   Snow tracker is showing snow arriving within minutes. Hopefully it'll only fall on the grass!! Maybe rain on Wednesday.  Sounds icy & slippery to me. Yuk.

Happy Holidays.    Mary

[bellamarie]

nlhome, " I read an article recently that suggested that readers retain more when they read the paper version rather than on line - and this will be studied more."

Now this was very interesting to hear.  I tend to agree with this, personally, I can go right to a page where I want to find something in my book, rather than when I read on my Nook or computer, I scroll and scroll even if I highlighted it.  Although, the bookmark feature for ereading is wonderful, because I tend to want to highlight in my real books which make them a bit messy when finished.  I can look at my bookshelf and see a book title and know instantly what it was about, versus when I look through my list of books on my nook, I have a difficult time remembering.  I wonder why that is?  I actually thought it was just me.  Glad to know it's not.

Mary, how exciting to have a family who appreciates reading as much as yourself.  I love the attitude you took on very early, buying what ever, whenever you want.  Since my hubby retired a year ago, I have been purchasing him non fiction History books, since he loves anything about History. I buy my grandchildren books for presents, but none of my three adult children take the time for reading nor do their spouses.  Although, I must say my son in law does read religious books.  He and I are so similar because we both love political and religious books.  Now isn't that a strange combination?  I live in Ohio and he and my daughter live in Florida, and he will call me after reading a good faith book, or watching a political or religious program and we could talk for hours.  He goes to a different faith church and we never run out of things to talk about.  Our political views were a bit different until the past few years.  I'm not sure if I won him over, or if he is just so disappointed in the way the government has been taking the country, he changed on his own.

I agree, sharing the books you have already read with friends and family make for great discussions.  

I'm keeping an eye on the weather as well, since a cold front is heading our way with tons of snow.  We got lucky and got only about an inch on Thanksgiving day, it went more northeast.  I love snow, but hate the hazards it causes on the roads and travel.

Ciao for now~

[PatH]

Bellamarie, I agree with you about retaining more from the paper version.  In my case, it's something to do with how I process information visually.  And I'm often glancing back a page or so, something that seems less natural on line.

[PatH]

Why did Poirot take the case?  Probably in the end he couldn't resist a good challenge, and the fee was probably pretty good too, so once his fears of discomfort were put to rest he agreed.

This isn't the only time Christie has used the theme of jewels belonging to the heir of a middle eastern country.  The long mystery Cat Among the Pigeons is another.  It's a more serious mystery, involving a murder and some complicated detecting.

By the way, the Moonstone was a yellow diamond, not a ruby.

I thought you'd be amused by the airport saga.  Unfortunately I was too tired when I got home to turn on the computer and finish the story.

[mabel1015j]

I got Chiaverini's The Christmas Quilt, an early book in the Elm Creek Quilt series, at the library yesterday. I read it before, but thought i'd give it a go again this season.

I read the first Christie story. That was fun.

Jean

[JoanP]

Your mention of The Christmas Quilt reminds me of my own unfinished Christmas quilt packed away in the back of my closet, Jean.  I come across it now and then when I'm moving boxes around looking for something.  And wonder what will become of it?  About 8 squares completed.  Lots of fabric waiting for more. Thanks for reminding me about it.  Someday...

Oh, of course, Wilkie Collins...and the gem wasn't a ruby at all - it was a moonstone.  Terrible, terrible memory.  As I finished the second chapter, I tried to remember what it was that brings M.Poirot to the Lacey Manor.  He's trying to locate the stolen gem...  Was one of these young ladies the thief who disappeared with it?  The quiet one, Diana, I'm guessing.  She seems mysterious and secretive.

Did you wonder why Mrs. Lacey was hemming dishtowels?  This is a wealthy woman - with a large staff.  I liked the fact that she's performing this domestic task...makes it a "cozy" story in this big old manor house.  Still I wondered.  And the question - who is/was Mr. Tibbitts?  An old beau of this sweet white-haired grandmother.  Will he have a role in this tale?  Gran and Mr. T held most of my attention reading this chapter. (She can't remember his first name.  Do you remember your first?  I do.)  I wonder if I read this story when I was younger I'd have found her so interesting?



 

[JoanK]

Marking.

[JoanP]

Many of you order your books - and other stuff - from Amazon.  Hope you remember to use the link to Amazon that you see
way up top of each SeniorLearn page.  Also, notice the Newsline - says it all - "As you know, a portion of each sale goes  to SeniorLearn and actually keeps the website operating."
Thanks eveyone!  We need you!

As we've been talking about the small independent book stores going out of business, I wondered how Ann Patchett's book store in Nashville was doing.  Are you one of Ann's fans?  I followed the link to her bookstore - Parnassus Books - it appears to be going great guns. Would love to have such a place in my neighborhood!  Picked up this bit of information from the site -

"Okay, friends, I’ll admit it, I’m on a low limb (On a low limb, a fabulous colloquialism cribbed from my Mississippi mother-in-law, Jo VanDevender). Today is pub day for my new book This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, "  I think I'll look for this one.

[JoanP]

Back to our Christmas cozy of the week - (yes, we'll do another next week)...

I've just finished Chapter four - wondering just where Agatha Christie is taking us.  Doesn't seem as if a real murder is going to take place in the final chapter...not that kind of a story.  THen there are the young ones, planning to stage a fake murder as a prank to get Poirot going.  Will that be the murder?  I

But the Christmas pudding? Who wrote the warning to Poirot?  Is someone trying to murder the Colonel...that's the mystery isn't it?  Who put the ruby in his portion of the pudding? If we figure that out, we have the culprit.  Seems to be someone who had access to the kitchen.  But so many of the young were in there helping with the preparation.  Are the clues all here in Chapter 4? Can you out-Poirot Poirot?
 

[JoanP]

Have you ever made - or tasted a Christmas pudding?  I wonder where one could try it today?

[PatH]

I can't out-Poirot Poirot, since I've read the story before, but I'd like to point out that there would be no way of fixing things so any particular person got any particular piece of the pudding.

[PatH]

I looked up Christmas pudding, aka plum pudding in Lobscouse and Spotted Dog.  That should be traditional enough, since the recipes date from the early 1800s.

Ingredients are flour, bread crumbs, dark brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, dried currants, raisins, sultanas (a light colored raisin), lemon peel, candied orange peel, candied citron, slivered almonds, suet, eggs, and brandy.  For a six cup mold, there are four and a half cups total of fruit, peel, and nuts.  The hard sauce is creamed butter and sugar, with brandy beaten in.

Sounds delicious if you're not worried about cholesterol.

[mabel1015j]

Sounds delicious. How does it differ from fruit cake?


Jean

[PatH]

I'm guessing not very much, though it's steamed, not baked, and the fat ratio is higher--1/4 pound of suet (that would be 1/2 cup) for a cup of flour and two cups of fresh bread crumbs.

[JoanP]

...and have you ever seen a fruit cake in flames?  Someone said the ingredients are the same, but the difference is that no one regifts a Christmas pudding - because there is nothing left!

You've got to look at this delightful Christmas Pudding page!

[PatH]

That is truly a delightful page.  As it says, my recipe calls for either boiling or steaming--no 40 gallon coppers involved--and you need to steam for 5 hours, let it rest for 3 weeks, with a brandy soak, then steam again for 2 hours just before serving.

All this leads me to wonder; there are plenty of important Thanksgiving foods, but what about Christmas?  Are there any foods that have a place in your celebrations?

[JoanK]

Loved the link. I ordered a sample of the mystery they talked about for my kindle. I'll let you know how it is.

[pedln]

What a busy site here and so many interesting topics. I've been home two days, playing catch-up and shopping for an ice storm. But I'm looking forward to reading the Poirot story.

Barb, your comments about the Advent Readings sent me Amazon (actually my favorite bookstore) and I ordered a very slim volume of Advent meditations for my Kindle. We used to have an Advent Calendar every year, but not since the last child left home.  And sometimes also an advent wreath.

I'm probably the only one here who does not like Barnes and Noble, and will go there only when I need something they have immediately. It goes back a long way, trying to do business with them, and they could only do what the New York office told them to do.  The heck with Missouri.
I loved the Borders I've been in -- creativity in their layouts, good food.  B &N -- if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

I love Seattle's bookstores, especially the old Elliott Bay, and the Mystery Book Store where Mary Daheim read from a new Alpine series. And I'll be forever grateful to Joan Roberts for introducing me to The Strand in New York -- 18 miles of books.  Such fun.  PatH, did you get to Powell's when you were in Portland?  That is on my bucket list.

Bellamarie, I loved The Christmas Thief.  That was a fun read.

JoanP, I just visited the Parnassus site.  Very good, glad to know about it.