We're back to discuss our favorite books, and more!

My apologies for having been gone so long. It's taken me a while to regroup after we closed the store at the end of March. These last few angst-filled months have been good for taking stock of where I am professionally, and where I think I might be going as we move ahead.

I'm listing books on the internet, via an Amazon account for now. We just received a large inventory of books from a secondary seller in Morton Grove, so I'll be listing those as well. They're super books-lots of art books, science and nature, philosophy, and technical journals. I can't wait to start getting them online.

I'm also doing some consulting for a product development company in the nearby town of Elgin. It's a great group, with smart, talented people. I'm looking forward to helping them build their business by bringing in some of my own.

In my spare time I've been journaling and working on a system of GTD--for those not in the know, GTD is "Getting Things Done." I guess you could say that I'm a gearhead: I love tools of all kinds, so I've been having a little love affair with researching systems, and of course, supplies. Right now my candidates for GTD are an index card system, a Filofax-like leather notebook binder with loose-leaf calendar pages, plain paper, and an address book, and finally a beautiful little rugged leather case that I bought from Renaissance Arts that contains my pocket Moleskine, a hipster PDA, a Zebra 301 compact pen, and a red gel pen.

My journal's in a large Moleskine.

While this blog will continue to focus on books and reading, it will also cover aspects of creativity, writing, art, and music. I'll look forward to our continuing dialogue.

What Makes Great Bedside Reading?

There are all kinds of readers. Some of us enjoy fiction, others mysteries (a kind of fiction, of course) or history, and some, including myself, like to read non-fiction across many categories. Nine'll getcha ten that most of us read before we go to sleep at night. Books are a kind of narcotic. It doesn't matter if they're good or bad, they'll put you to sleep every time.

I'm one of those people who usually has several books on my bedside table. Right now there's a great new book called The Rest is Noise, by Alex Ross, on the top of the stack. It's a study of modernism in music, from Richard Strauss to the Velvet Underground. Since my focus as an art history major was American and European modernism in the visual arts and architecture, I'm naturally interested in corresponding movements in literature and music. Actually, I was thinking about how well the book's cover design fits the book's theme and modernism in general. Much of modernism regards minimalism and discordance (expressed through music as atonality) as an essential aspect of its form. Think Mies van der Rohe's "Less Is More" quote. The beautifully minimalistic book cover conveys this notion both in its title and design.

The next book is a biography of R. Crumb, the counterculture cartoonist renowned for his drawing of Mr. Natural in the 1960's. Mr. Natural is an icon for an age many of us remember with great nostalgia. I talked about Crumb's influence on my art in one of my previous blogs. Iconoclastic yes, but hardly minimal, Crumb's art is richly thematic and textured.

Next down the pile is the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook, which is fascinating for the author's personal reminiscences of life in Paris during the first half of the twentieth century with Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Hemingway, and many others. I especially enjoyed reading the recipe for Haschiche Fudge!

More about bedside reading in a future blog!

Joining the Crowd at Steeplejack

Well, a new year is here. Thought I'd bring you all up to date on what's been happening at Steeplejack Books. We're taking advantage of Matt's break from Bard to put him to work helping us rearrange the store.

The Christmas decorations had to come down, which is kind of a huge project in itself. It all has to be organized and packed into a tiny storage space. Some of it is still in Marty's van, waiting to be unpacked and brought to various generous owners' homes.

We also rearranged our books. Now our classics have their own room! We moved them into the small room with the philosophy and poetry, which makes a great place to sit quietly and peruse some serious reading materials. The smell of the Lavender Cafe's freshly ground coffee permeates the room, and there's no cozier place to spend your time.

Mystery and Suspense is now separate from Fiction, and we'll be focusing more on this category in the upcoming year. We're in the early stage of planning for several authors' events. Many of these writers also specialize in the mystery/suspense/thriller category. Stay tuned to hear more about this.

Well, more to come later. In the meantime, here are some photos of Matt and Colleen during one of our festive afternoons in the shop.

Why You Want To Visit Steeplejack Books this Monday

Edgar Award-winning author Theresa Schwegel is coming to Steeplejack Books this Monday evening at 7:00 p.m. to sign copies of her most recent novel, Person of Interest. Ms. Schwegel is making her second appearance at Steeplejack, having come to our store last December to sign copies of her book, Probable Cause. Her first book, Officer Down won the Edgard Award for Best First Novel in 2005.

Anyone interested in owning or giving a copy of Ms. Schwegel's newest book won't be disappointed. Ms. Schwegel writes compellingly about the Chicago police force, and weaves plots of intricacy featuring protagonists who are both sympathetic and troubling.

Critics love her, and accolades have been plentiful. Person of Interest was recently named one of Publisher's Weekly's best books of 2007.

Entertainment Weekly just named Person of Interest a pick of the week, saying, "Theresa Schwegel, an Edgar winner for her debut, Officer Down, weaves ... three subplots together not only for quickening suspense but also to achieve something more. She creates a portrait of a family in crisis, and her vivid characterizations - stressed husband, yearning wife, floundering daughter - lift the thriller plot of Person of Interest to literary-novel status."

On December 10th, Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, "Last year Ms. Schwegel herself became a person of interest when she won the Edgar Award for best first novel (Officer Down) from the Mystery Writers of America, a group that's especially savvy in picking prizewinners. Her new book confirms that its confidence in Ms. Schwegel was well placed, [with a] terrifically vigorous plot."

Hope you can join us on Monday evening. We'll have treats on hand too!

Holiday Cheer at Steeplejack

We had a great time at Dickens in Dundee on Friday night. The store was crowded with a lot of folks who had never been in before. Marty's peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies were gone in a flash, and our gracious neighbor Lois brought some delicious sugar cookies that were snapped up during the first hour. Thank you, Lois!

June and Ollie were a hit, as always, and it seemed June had as good a time as anyone, judging from her ever-present smile in the photos I took. Jeanne, Joel, Nora, and Diana ended the evening here in the store with me. One of the photos here shows Diana and Nora studying a fun children's book called Looka-Likes". I think both of these photos tell the story of why I love Steeplejack Books so much. Our common experience here in the store often seems like we're a big extended family.

Why You Don't Want to Miss Dickens in Dundee

Tonight is the Dickens in Dundee festival in East and West Dundee. Our friends at the Lavendar Cafe will be serving wonderful holiday cookies, specially made by chef Klaudia, along with delicious hot drinks. Their sandwiches and wraps are mouth-watering, and just wait till you see the phenomenal pastry case!

Mrs. June Wolk and her dog Ollie will be in our live window this evening. Other windows in town will feature carolers and actors in various vignettes that will be great fun to watch from the sidewalk. There'll be a tree-lighting ceremony at the Village Hall next door and lots of other fun activities. In the spirit of Christmas countdowns, I'll give you 5 good reasons you don't want to miss the festivities here in Dundee:

1. Our historic downtowns, Main Street/Rt. 72 in West Dundee and North River Street in East Dundee are lovely during this time of year. Windows are lit and covered with greenery. The charm of our villages really comes to life during the holiday season.

2. It's a great time to visit with your family and friends. First together as audience to the festivities, and secondly to meet your friends and neighbors, many of whom will turn out tonight for the camaraderie and fun window decorations.

3. Scrumptious treats will be available. Emmett's Tavern, Francesca's, the Squire, and M.T. Barrels will no doubt be busy. At Steeplejack we'll have cookies, hot cider, and coffee for your enjoyment while you browse the shelves.

4. We're offering a 20% discount through Sunday for customers on our email mailing list. But if you see this blog and mention it, we'll be glad to give you the same discount throughout the weekend.

5. Santa's coming to town! Tomorrow morning at 10:00 is the annual Dickens in Dundee parade. Santa arrives on a big red fire engine. As I recall. Don't hold me to it.

Hope to see you this weekend.

Our Very Own Steeplejack Books Mug!

I wanted to show you a photo of a new Steeplejack coffee mug I ordered this week from cafepress.com. It has our logo on it, featuring our good boy, Jack. We don't have duplicates of this one-of-a-kind mug, since we'd have to order in significant quantity (complete with associated cost) to get any price breaks. This one costs $15.99, including shipping, so it's a little cost prohibitive, but we can have more made, if there's any interest.

Jack is in the hospital this week, suffering from cluster seizures. He's resting comfortably, and he'll be home this afternoon. Looks like we need to have some more testing, since his vet can't figure out exactly what's going on with him.

Also, a reminder that tonight's Dickens in Dundee. Hope to see you here for the festivities!

Behind the Scenes at Steeplejack Books

We have a back room that's rarely seen by our customers, but it's where a lot of the action happens.

Unfortunately, things happen quickly--really quickly sometimes, and before you know it, our little storage space is a disaster. Many times I've had to wade through piles of books, balancing on the side of one foot, to reach an unshelved mystery or classic.

Other times we're balancing on a wobbly stool to grab the scanner from the top shelf, so we can scan a book or another photo for Facebook, our blog, or eBay.

Two friends have been really helpful in keeping our backroom organized. The queen of all organization is Diana. And we were thrilled yesterday to have our other organizer stop in on the last day of Thanksgiving break. Matt was duly impressed by Diana's organization--the floor is book-free, our packing and shipping supplies are neatly placed into boxes (and labeled!) in our little storage cabinet, and our meager kitchen supplies are stacked nicely around the microwave and refrigerator.

In the photo you'll see some large white sheets on the bottom of a wire cart. Those are Brodart covers. One of these clear archival covers looks beautiful on a somewhat ragged dust jacket, and it will look great on a brand new book too. Some people like to keep their books pristine--count me in that category, and I love to cover the hardcovers we're keeping in our own library.

If anyone wants us to cover their new or gently used book let us know. It'll be $2.00 per book. Well worth it if you want your covers to last forever!

Got Cookbooks?

Do you have any cookbooks that you'd like to bring to Steeplejack Books for trade credit? We're looking for books with recipes, since the holidays are upon us and with them all types of holiday entertainment, which usually involves some sort of kitchen chemistry.

So, if you have any cookbooks you don't need on your shelf these days, please feel free to bring them in. We'd be thrilled to take them, as long as they're in good condition and what we'd consider to be salable. Thanks, folks!

A Little Bookshop Gives Thanks

Marty and I want thank all of our family, friends, and loyal customers who have helped make our small shop a success. As we give thanks tomorrow for all of the goodness the world offers us, our gratitude will be greater for the wonderful people we've met since we opened the store 21 months ago.

Just in case we miss any names tomorrow, though you'll be with us in spirit, thank you to Diana, Jeanne, June, Julie, Marilyn, Colleen, Chris, Julia, Brian, Sam, Chris, Mike, Jim, Brad, Nick, Brian, Emily, Monica, Allison, Tab, Keri, Josh, Jack, Jackie, Krista, Anna, Ryan, Tami, Tim, Carol, Bob, Marj, Christine, LuAnne, Larry, MaryLynne, and Janice. And many, many more who've supported us since the get-go.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Homage to Loyal Customers

Today I want to thank a few of our most loyal customers, Chris and Colleen Catania. Colleen and Chris came to the store soon after we opened and have been coming back ever since.

They have helped us immeasurably, with ideas for our blog and our website and the store. They've offered to dress as books, standing outside to help bring attention to the shop. I believe Steeplejack Books embodies the spirits of every caring customer. Chris and Colleen are the heart and soul of Steeplejack.

Here's a link to their website Click Here For Drywater Media

Thank you, kind friends.

Fall Departs, Winter Arrives at Steeplejack Books

Now that the temperature's grown more brisk, and the leaves are nearly raked, it's just about time to settle in for a cozy winter here in northern Illinois. We're getting ready for Christmas here at Steeplejack too. This week the tree is going up in one of the windows, and we're setting up a fireplace and a rocking chair for Mrs. June Wolk and her dog Ollie, who are going to appear in the store on Friday evening, November 30th, for the annual Dickens in Dundee festival.

I love this time of year. The rich colors of autumn are just about over, but there's a lovely gray haze in the air which reminds me of warm lamplight, a crackling fireplace and of course, a good book.

We have a great selection of fiction here in the store, so I hope you'll stop by soon to browse our shelves for your winter reading. Don't forget that even if we don't have a copy of the newest and most talked-about book, we're certain to have many great books that you'll enjoy just as much. Just ask us for a recommendation, and I can assure you you'll leave with something you'll enjoy. That's a promise that comes with a 100% guarantee, or your money back.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you about the hot coffee and Marty's famous peanut butter cookies. The latter are here at Steeplejack for a limited time. Unless you tell us otherwise. Don't miss them!