And the late November News Is ...

Little time remains in the 2019 Dog Ears Books season! Saturday, November 30, will be our last day of business until spring. With that in mind, you'll want to get yourselves through the bookstore door soon, because even if you don't exchange gifts with grownup friends and family, and even if you think you don't deserve much yourself but a lump of coal, surely you'll want to treat the little ones to colorful, page-turning joys of the season. But hey! As for that lump of coal? You do deserve something more than that, and we have treasures for big people, too!

I don't call the day after Thanksgiving "Black Friday" (yuck! hate that phrase!), but we will be open all day on Friday, and if you want to avoid crowds, that may be the day for you to come to Northport, because on Saturday, November 30 (remember: the last day of the bookstore season!), the entire village will be in festival mode, including an arts and crafts sale from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Santa at the village hall from 4 to 5:30, and the lighting of the village tree at 6 p.m. Pending weather and confirmation, there may also be -- fingers crossed! -- horse-drawn carriage rides, 3-7 p.m., and strolling carolers in Victorian costume 4-5:30 p.m.

So you see, maintaining a Scrooge- or Grinch-like attitude is going to be mighty difficult. I myself could not have fought against holiday joy this morning even if I'd wanted to. My heartfelt pleasure came from watching a little one-year-old booklover almost take her first independent steps in my bookstore! 

I've read about marriage proposals and weddings in bookstores, but wouldn't a baby's first steps be the most special event possible? Lure that child with a colorful board book or story book, I say! It will make the whole family happy!

Two New Novels I Highly Recommend

I have reviewed these two fine, important, and compellingly written novels on Books in Northport, Moon of the Crusted Snow here, Still Come Home here, so please take a look at those posts if you haven't already. 

Whether you look to fiction for the pleasure of beautiful written language, engaging and memorable characters, armchair travel, a greater knowledge of the world, or deeper understanding of other cultures, both these books fit all those requirements. And both, while new, are available in paper, making them budget- and space-friendly. Easy to mail, too. Think of that as December holidays come closer. 

Dog Ears will be open through Saturday, Nov. 30, and then closed for the winter.

Still Come Home, 

by Katey Schultz

Paper, 250pp

$16.99

Moon of the Crusted Snow, 

by Waubgeshig Rice

Paper, 218pp

$14.95

The Author Is Coming! The Author Is Coming (Again)!

Actually, Lynne Rae Perkins made a special trip up to Northport on Saturday, November 2, to sign a few copies of her new book for me, but she will come back for an official signing on Saturday, Nov. 16. Our official starting time for that event is 2 p.m., and we’ll see how long we can keep her here. I guarantee it will be until 3 p.m., at least.

Since she was here today (as I post this), I do have a few signed copies on hand already, for customers who can’t wait two weeks to get their new Perkins book. While here, Lynne also signed copies of her other books I had in stock, and I’ll restock those for the official mid-November signing. 

Lynne Rae Perkins is such a charming, delightful guest that she brightens the bookstore any day she walks in the door, so please join us if you can on November 16. You’ll have a good time, I promise! And we will probably have cookies, too.

Always a Treat -- Cake? In a New Book from Lynne Rae Perkins!

It’s a lot of work to bake a cake from scratch, but even more effort is involved in making amends for having misjudged someone. When Lucy realizes she has jumped to a wrong conclusion, though, she overcomes her natural feelings of foolishness by creating a beautiful gift. And, as generally happens in a story by Newbery winner Lynne Rae Perkins, adventure takes shape along the way. 

A perfect book to go under the Christmas tree — or to be read by the whole family after Thanksgiving dinner.

Wintercake

by Lynne Rae Perkins

Hardcover with dust jacket

$17.99

Some Change Is for the Better

Motorized things on wheels

This change has been begging to be made for a while, and yesterday a batch of consignment items brought it on at last. The automotive section -- motorcycles and cars -- has now been moved over one aisle. It's below planes and boats, where it belongs! 

Transportation: a concept!

Another advantage to the new arrangement is that books on home improvement and decoration, woodworking, furniture, as well as sewing, knitting, quilt books, and books on antiques now have room to breathe. I think this is going to work out well.

Home crafts

Michigan and the Civil War

Between the years 1961 and 1966 the Michigan Civil War Centennial Observance Commission issued a number of reports on Michigan’s involvement, a century earlier, in the Civil War and the effects of that war on Michigan. Report copies listed below are stapled pamphlets de-acquisitioned from the holdings of the Mark & Helen Osterlin Library at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan. Other than library stamps on top edges, light pencil on a couple of front covers, and Commission stamps on some of the lower front covers, these pamphlets are in nearly pristine condition. Most, in fact, appear unread. Crisp and clean!

I am offering a reduced price of $150 for all eleven items purchased together as a collection. Otherwise, prices below (totaling $195) are for undiscounted individual items.

1. Materials on the Civil War Recommended for Schools - $10

2. Michigan Civil War Monuments - $30

3. Effects of the Civil War on Farming in Michigan - $20

4. Effects of the Civil War on Manufacturing in Michigan - $10 

5. Civil War Tri-State Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Encampments 1889-1918 - $10

6. A Wartime Chronicle - $15

7. Michigan Women in the Civil War - $20

8. Baptists of Michigan in the Civil War - $20

9. Congregationalism, Slavery and the Civil War - $20

10. Michigan Labor & The Civil War - $30

11. Effects of the Civil War on Music in Michigan - $10

Michigan Historian to Visit This Saturday

I met Larry Massie a few decades ago, when he was Assistant Director of the Michigan Regional Archives, housed in the library of Western Michigan University, and I was a lowly, aging undergraduate research assistant. The professor for whom I worked was studying farm ownership and rental patterns in the lower tier of townships (four altogether) in Kalamazoo County. The U.S. population census and agriculture census, county tax rolls, and plat maps were the tools I learned to use, becoming familiar enough that I was able to do a little personal sleuthing relative to the Barry County farmhouse where I lived at the time. (Often my son would be with me, sitting under my desk and reading Greek tragedy. Precocious little fellow, he was!) None of that has anything to do with this weekend's book signing, but looking forward to having Larry Massie at Dog Ears Books brings back a lot of memories for me.

Back to my visiting author:

In the intervening years since those old Kalamazoo days, Larry Massie launched himself as an independent historian, making his home in Allegan County. He is the author of 20 books of Michigan history and the first-ever recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Historical Society of Michigan. His personal collection of Michigan books grew so large that he is now a bookseller -- by appointment only.

So I'm looking forward to this Saturday! An author, a bookseller, a book collector, and someone from the "old days" in Kalamazoo. I hope you will be able to join us on Saturday. Larry will be happy to sign his books when you buy them here, too.