Are you seeking a gift for a bookish type, either an avid reader or a book collector? Can’t afford that first edition Gatsby in dustjacket but still want to give a gift that will appeal to the bibliophile? If so, welcome to my second annual list of Gift Ideas for the Bookish. To repeat the reasons for such a list from last year:

The holidays are fast approaching, and perhaps you are wondering what gift is appropriate for the bibliophile in your life. Although my enthusiasm for books is known far and wide, my family is always somewhat reticent to buy me books. They worry when they select a book for me that it’s a book I already have or it’s book I won’t like. I’m assuming I am not the only bookish type to encounter such a situation. This year I’m suggesting a few bookish gifts for bibliophiles that do not force the buyer to second-guess a bibliophile friend or relative’s particular literary taste. You can click on the links to find out pricing and shipping information for each item.

Magnetic bookmarks from Victorian Trading Company

Book Lady Hanging Ornament

The Treasure Within Secret Book Box

Penelope Print

Record Book End — The Clash Combat Rock

Nancy Drew book cover postcards

A colorful book clock

Miniature Marbleized Book Jewelry

Happy gift hunting!

Sorry I haven’t written the post I promised earlier this week — the one on gifts for the bookish. It’s coming. I promise.

Why is it delayed yet again?

Basketball practice, football practice, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, a school science fair project, and Christmas preparation. ‘Tis the season, I guess. Today was a busy and crazy day, and I’ll admit it had me a bit frazzled.

Instead of letting me mope about and write a blog post this evening, Thoughtful Husband, Tom, and Huck surprised me by taking me out after dinner to select a Christmas tree. Here it is:

Back with that post about gifts soon!

I’m back from my usual Thanksgiving sojourn to the home of Thoughtful Husband’s sister and her family.

Thanksgiving was delicious.

We had turkey:

We had football:

We spent time together:

And we welcomed a brand new member of our extended family:

This is my new great-niece, the daughter of one of Thoughtful Husband’s nephews. That’s right! I am a great-aunt. All weekend, Huck kept asking me (in all seriousness) whether being a great-aunt meant I was a grandma. Sweet, but I’m nowhere near ready to be a grandma just yet. That’s me holding the darling little one and Thoughtful Husband’s mom playing with her. Since Tom and Huck are now big boys of 9 and 11, I loved holding her and feeding her and playing with her. It’s been ages since I spent a lot of time with a baby.

Today I got the added bonus of hearing that my youngest brother and his wife will travel from southern California to join us for Christmas Eve with their brand new baby girl, another niece! I can’t wait to meet her in person.

It was truly a wonderful weekend, one for which I am very thankful, and I hope your weekend was, too. Now that we are into the busy Christmas season (busy with books, baking — one of my favorite holiday hobbies, and party planning), blogging is likely to be a little light. I plan on returning a little later this week with a list of holiday gift ideas for the bookish.

See you in the stacks!

I’m sorry for the sporadic blog posts this week. Tom has had a lot of homework that he needs to type and I find that my son has commandeered my computer in the evenings this week, which significantly diminished the time I have to write a blog post. Now that I’m finally able to use my computer again, it’s to tell you that I’ll be taking a blogging break (sigh!) so I can focus on celebrating Thanksgiving with family. I’ll be back to regular posting again next Tuesday. In the meantime, a new bookish blog by one of my favorite booksellers is worth the time to read: the Between the Covers Blog Enjoy!

Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner and as I approach the end of my third (!) year in business, I find I am thankful for many things. In no particular order of importance, they are:

1) I am still in business after three years.

2) I managed to sell books at four fairs this year.

3) I was able to use a scholarship to attend Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

4) I was able to take Terry Belanger’s course Book Illustration Processes to 1900. I highly recommend it to any of you thinking of attending Rare Book School.

5) I had my first successful quote to a library for an important book. I promise I will tell you the story behind this. I need more hours in the day to do so!

6) I was able to contribute occasionally to the Fine Books and Collections blog.

7) I was invited to work on a top-secret (but I hope not for too much longer) Dante project.

8 ) I met new customers, new booksellers, and new blog readers and I had fun with customers, booksellers, and blog readers I’ve known for the past three years. I’m also especially thankful for those booksellers I know who have been willing to mentor, to critique and to praise, and to share advice.

9) I advertised my business in print for the first time.

10) I joined the Book Club of California, a great group of bibliophiles.

This year has had its peaks and valleys, and while I’ve mentioned the peaks here, the valleys haunt me. I still haven’t mailed the Dante catalogue. A book was stolen from me at a book fair this year, which was really disheartening. I still need more time each day to really optimize the business I’ve been able to cultivate, but I don’t (and won’t soon) have that extra time. There were some personal challenges along the way as well, but overall it’s been a great year and it has reinforced my love for selling antiquarian books. That’s in no small part due to you, kind readers. Thank you taking the time to read the blog of a beginning bookseller, for celebrating my triumphs, and for helping me to have a sense of humor about my failures. I wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving!

And now, a poem about pumpkin pie, one of my favorite Thanksgiving foods:

The Pumpkin
Verses 3-5
(John Greenleaf Whittier)

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South comes the pilgrim and guest;
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored;
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before;
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

Oh, fruit loved of boyhood! the old days recalling,
When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling!
When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin,
Glaring out through the dark with a candle within!
When we laughed round the corn-heap, with hearts all in tune,
Our chair a broad pumpkin,—our lantern the moon,
Telling tales of the fairy who travelled like steam
In a pumpkin-shell coach, with two rats for her team!

Then thanks for thy present! none sweeter or better
E’er smoked from an oven or circled a platter!
Fairer hands never wrought at a pastry more fine,
Brighter eyes never watched o’er its baking, than thine!
And the prayer, which my mouth is too full to express,
Swells my heart that thy shadow may never be less,
That the days of thy lot may be lengthened below,
And the fame of thy worth like a pumpkin-vine grow,
And thy life be as sweet, and its last sunset sky
Golden-tinted and fair as thy own Pumpkin pie!

I don’t know if I’ve written about it before, but I’m not much of a sports fan. I’ve just never been very interested in watching sports. As a kid, I played a few sports — soccer, basketball, and softball — but I wasn’t very good. Once, when playing 5th grade basketball, I actually scored a basket — in the other team’s basket. I have yet to live it down. Sports, it seemed, just weren’t for me. By the time I reached high school, I had migrated to activities like dance (insert “jazz hands” here) and editing the school literary magazine. With a few exceptions, I would much rather stay home and read a book than watch a sports game.

My attitude began to change when my own kids began to play sports. I once wrote of Tom and Huck: “I sometimes think that my particular boys were born to me so I would get my nose out of my books and experience life.” Nowhere is this statement more true than on the sports field. I’ve learned a lot about sports and the importance of competitive sports just from watching Tom and Huck play soccer, baseball, basketball, and now (for Huck), flag football.

Huck loves football. We’re not sure where this love came from, since none of us played football. Thoughtful Husband did play freshman year football in high school, but that’s it. And Huck wasn’t around to see it. The love Huck feels for this sport is a love sprouted from his own individual heart. He currently plays on a local flag football team for kids, the Green Bay Packers.

Over the weekend, Huck’s flag football team was invited to play an exhibition game at our local community college, College of San Mateo. CSM’s Bulldogs played the Reedley Tigers for the Northern California Championships on Saturday. For halftime entertainment, CSM invited a few of the younger kids’ flag football teams to play a short football game during halftime for the college’s game.

Huck was thrilled to play on a “real” football field. The field for kiddie flag football is much shorter than 100 yards. The CSM field is “real” alright. Overlooking beautiful San Francisco Bay, it is 100 yards of green surrounded by a running track and filled with bleachers on one side.

It was fun to watch a college football game in person, something I haven’t done since . . . well, since college. I cheered on the mighty Bulldogs from the stands.

I looked at the boys on the CSM team and tried to imagine Huck being that big some day. He’s only nine-years-old right now, so I have to admit that I can’t envision him as a big college boy just yet. I wondered: At what age will he be taller than me? What will his voice sound like? Will he still play football?

Occasionally, my gaze drifted beyond the game to the beautiful San Francisco Bay (that’s the San Mateo Bridge in the picture below). It was a clear, crisp, sunny autumn day. On days like this, with a view like this, I cannot summon the usual urge I have to move to a little farm on the mid-western prairie. On days like this, I forget the traffic, the crowds, and the high cost of living. On days like this, I like the Bay Area just fine and I want to stay forever.

Soon enough, my reverie was interrupted by half-time and the college players leaving the field.

The younger kids were lined up and ready to take the field.

They ran on like champions. I am certain I heard the theme song to “Monday Night Football” (even if I only heard it in my head). Huck is the tall boy, second from the end of the line.

At first, while the other team had the ball, Huck cheered on his team mates from the sidelines.

Then, it was his turn to play in the game. He played quarterback today, or, as he (and I’m told other football afficionados) call it, “QB”.

Here he is making a pass. Huck is wearing the green shirt (their team is the Green Bay Packers) and the football is blue.

My baby is playing QB and passing the ball on a college-sized field?!

I’ve always loved football.

If you’ll permit a bit of motherly indulgence, here’s his big pass close-up.

The boys were cheered by the CSM football team as they left the field at the end of their exhibition. Huck was on top of the world — and so was I.

One of the things I love about my kids is that sometimes I get to see the world (and sports) from their vantage point.

We are proud of our QB!

It’s only November, but it’s never too early to plan for summer. Via Beyond Little House comes word of the first-ever LauraPalooza:

Click below for more information:
LauraPalooza1

I wonder if Thoughtful Husband, Tom, and Huck will consider vacationing in Minnesota this summer?

Sorry not to get back to this sooner. It’s been a busy week. Without further adieu, here are my answers to the literary character questionnaire I posted a few days ago.

1. If you could host a party with 7 literary characters, who would they be and why?
Gatsby (who could throw a better party?), Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler (ditto), E.M. Delafield’s Provincial Lady (the after-party gossip would be hilarious), Shakespeare’s Henry V (he could give an inspiring toast), Cliff Janeway (John Dunning’s biblio-detective would have great bookish tales to tell), and Bertie Wooster.

2. Who is your literary role model?
I’m assuming this question refers to a fictional character rather than an actual author and writing style. So, in that vein, I answer with two very different people as my role models: Dante Alighieri (the pilgrim in the story) and Laura Ingalls Wilder. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, that answer will not surprise you.

3. Which literary house would you like most to live in?
Tara (the huge plantation house in Gone with the Wind), Pemberley (Mr. Darcy’s House from Pride and Prejudice — just imagine the library in that house!), or the Ingalls homestead in DeSmet, South Dakota (one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s childhood homes), or, though it’s not fictional, Hill Top, Beatrix Potter’s farm. Sorry. I can’t pick just one.

4. Which literary couple would you like most for parents?
Either Ma and Pa Ingalls or The Man with the Yellow Hat from Curious George.

5. Pick 3 literary characters you would like to have as siblings.
Tiny Tim (from A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens) — he is kind.
Laura Ingalls (from Little House on the Prairie, by Laura Ingalls Wilder) — she has spunk and self-sufficiency.
Elinor Dashwood (from Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen) — she has common sense.

6. Who is your favorite literary villain?
I don’t really have a favorite. There are lots of interesting villains in literature. There’s Nellie Olsen, tormentor of Laura Ingalls Wilder. There’s also everyone who is in Dante’s vision of Hell in the Divine Comedy. They were villainous in their lives on earth, and now they are being tormented in Hell. The literary villain who scares me most is O’Brien from Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

7. Name a character that most people dislike, but that you do not. Why do you like them?
I always liked Melanie Wilkes from Gone with the Wind. She is liked by all of the other characters in the book for being a gracious, generous, and truly kind lady. However, most people I know who have read the book think she is kind of wimpy and too sweet to be human. Most people want to be Scarlett O’Hara. I really like Melanie, though, and I think she has a hidden strength and fearlessness, demonstrated when, shortly after giving birth to her first child, she kills the Yankee who sneaks into Tara and then helps Scarlett hide his body. I first read GWTW when I was 13, and Melanie’s character made an impression on me. I like that her virtuous personality is combined with her willingness to slay dragons (or Yankees) when necessary.

8. Which minor character deserves a book all to themselves, in your opinion?
The hero’s best friend from any book is certainly someone whose back-story deserves to be told. I think we should start with Stephen Maturin, close friend of Jack Aubrey in Patrick O’Brian’s books.

9. With which character from literature do you identify most?
The Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe.

10. If you could go into a novel, which one would it be and why?
Again, I can’t choose just one. Allow me to say that when I do read a novel I like, I become engrossed enough to tune out all that is going on around me. This is not necessarily a good thing for child safety.

11. Name 3 — 7 books that you rarely see on people’s favorite book lists, that are high on your own.
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri
A Gentle Madness, by Nicholas Basbanes
Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder

12. Which is your least favorite book of those that are considered “classics”?
I don’t really like Catcher in the Rye. I know it’s supposed to be a classic portrayal of teenagers, but I worked with a lot of teenagers when I taught high school, and most were not as whiny as Holden. Just sayin’. . .

UPDATED: In #7, I got some information incorrect. Melanie did NOT kill the Yankee. Scarlett killed him and Melanie helped pick his pockets and hide his body. Then she cleaned the bloody floor. Sorry. It’s been years since I last read Gone with the Wind.

It’s been another busy weekend here — parties, sporting events, grocery shopping, cooking for the week ahead, and making plans for Thanksgiving. The work-week looks to be still busier. I’m posting a few questions from a literary character questionnaire. I’ll be back with my answers tomorrow.

1. If you could host a party with 7 literary characters, who would they be and why?

2. Who is your literary role model?

3. Which literary house would you like most to live in?

4. Which literary couple would you like most for parents?

5. Pick 3 literary characters you would like to have as siblings.

6. Who is your favorite literary villain?

7. Name a character that most people dislike, but that you do not. Why do you like them?

8. Which minor character deserves a book all to themselves, in your opinion?

9. With which character from literature do you identify most?

10. If you could go into a novel, which one would it be and why?

11. Name 3 — 7 books that you rarely see on people’s favorite book lists, that are high on your own.

12. Which is your least favorite book of those that are considered “classics”?

Feel free to leave answers to any or all of the above in the comment box. I’ll have my answers tomorrow.

No bookish posts today.

Here’s why:

We all know I’m no Martha Stewart (though I’d really like to be). Way back in July, Tom and Huck were with me at the local craft store, and, while I was shopping, they each selected some fabric from the clearance table. Tom chose a skateboard-themed fabric (2 yards for $3) and Huck chose a football-themed fabric (1 yard for $2). They wanted me, their mother, to sew pillow cases for their beds.

I don’t sew very often, and I only know how to use a sewing machine to sew straight lines.

“I don’t know, guys,” I said. “Maybe Aunt Sarah can do this for you.” (Aunt Sarah is my aunt and she is an amazing designer and seamstress who had her own clothing shop for many years. She is a professional, and everything she sews looks fantastic.)

Huck then said, “I love it when you make me homemade things.”

And my heart melted.

I bought the fabric, with that wishful and probably arrogant motherly thinking that they would each think of me every time they rested their heads on the pillows. I was determined to sew their pillowcases myself.

Just as soon as I went to Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

Just as soon as our family took our summer vacation.

Just as soon as I quoted that big book to a library.

Just as soon as school started for Tom and Huck.

Just as soon as the Santa Monica Book Fair, the Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair, and the Golden Gate Park Book Fair were finished.

Finally, I decided I had better just do it. And, there it is, pictured above. It only took me about an hour to cut, press, pin, and sew.

I need to apply this attitude — just do it regardless of other priorities — to the Dante catalogue.

Just as soon as I sew a skateboard pillowcase for Tom tomorrow.

Now here’s the little clutch purse every antiquarian bookseller should have:

How about this one?

Click here to read an interview with the designer, Olympia Le-Tan, about her inspiration for the bookish bags.

Absolutely fabulous!