Am I Crazy? Not Freezing Indoors (with John and Yoko)

 It's a cold, snowy, blowy January Friday, with below-zero temperatures that should creep up to 3 above later this afternoon. I layered up. My car started. My driveway was plowed yesterday. I made it to Northport and will be here until 3 p.m. and plan to be here on Saturday, also, 11-3. 

Latest used books to come to my shop feature a collection of books by and about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Read them for nostalgia if you remember, for history if you're too young to know already. See my other blog for more rambling narrative.

Bookstore Winter Saturday

 

What will a winter Saturday in January bring to a village bookseller in Northern Michigan? Who might walk in the door, and what books might she sell? There is no way to forecast bookshop weather, but at 12:30 p.m. on January 17 I can already say I've had a wonderful day!

It was a balmy 28 degrees this morning at dog-walk time, and that was a good start. The first person through my shop door was a good friend from a third-generation township farm, and we always have a lot to talk about. More people, more good conversation, good books sold--including a copy of Liberty Hyde Bailey's Hortus. LHB is one of my Michigan heroes, so that made me happy, and the horticultural theme of the day continued when the new owners--or, as they put it, the parents of the "real" new owner--of Peninsula Perennials came shopping for books, and I reminded John that I'd been on Swede Road in the fall and talked to him about mountain ash. 

It's because of these coincidences that today's post begins with a new book I'm carrying, Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden, a reprint of the original 1917 edition, "a classic account of Hidatsa American Indian gardening techniques," and I'll have another interesting book on flora by next Saturday.

Winter Is Here

 

Winter hours have arrived. (Winter arrived earlier, but winter hours began with the new year.)

Wednesday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Thursday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Friday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Saturday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m.

I will probably not be ordering new books every week, but when I do the order will go in on Monday so that books arrive by the end of the week (if in stock at the distributor's warehouse), which means Saturday is the last day to let me know in person that you want to order a book.

The shop has lots of new books on hand already, though, both fiction and nonfiction. For example, here are some memoirs and biographies to start off your 2026 reading.

 

Update, January 14: Today was a snow day for Northport School, but I made it to town easily. What will happen by the end of the day and overnight, however, is anyone's guess. Will I get here on Thursday? If possible, yes. If not possible, no! So call first, and if I'm here between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., I'll answer the phone.

Don't worry -- I've got you covered.

 

Is time pressuring you? Don't stress out. I'll be here Monday (today), Tuesday, Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with wrapping paper, scissors and tape on hand. 👍

It's Not Too Late

 

Let me explain. It's too late to ask me to order a book you want to have by Christmas or by the end of Hanukkah, but it is not too late to come shopping for books. There are great ones in the store all the time--classics, local authors and subjects, and wonderful titles you didn't even know existed. One of my customers this week told me she has a formula for buying gifts for her children. Each child receives for the holiday:

Something they want;

Something they need;

Something to wear;

and

Something to READ!

That mother certainly had her shopping figured out.

Whether it's young ones or a partner you are looking to surprise, there's no going wrong with classics.

New books aren't the only treasures available on Waukazoo Street.

Lovingly worn...

or very gently used

or take your pick -- new or old.

There are exciting newer releases, too, nonfiction and fiction:

Finally, if the idea of sending out holiday cards has you overwhelmed and feeling too late to catch up, think postcards. "Greetings from Northport" are appropriate for New Year's and beyond.

Today is Jim Harrison's birthday.

 

Jim Harrison was born December 11, 1937, in Grayling, Michigan, and spent his boyhood in Reed City before the family moved south to Haslett. Online searches turn up a wealth of writing about Harrison's life and work, often by people who knew Jim only through his work--but then, that is the way Jim wanted to be known, and it makes sense. 

Here is an example I found this morning from a literary journal. Another thoughtful reflection turned up in a blog post. I especially appreciate the latter admirer advising people to forget the myth and read the work. 

I'll add, if you really want to know Jim Harrison, read the poetry. Todd Goddard, however, did an excellent job writing a biography of Harrison, Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, A Writer's Life.

Nothing is easier to wrap than a book!

 

Leelanau treasures

Here are just a few ideas

of the many possibilities available

at your local bookstore in Northport.

A couple books here on the table are just newly published titles from Leelanau Press. Edward Beebe’s Historic Leelanau Photographs: Leland, Suttons Bay, and North Manitou Island 1909-1915, by Jack Hobey, is much more than a coffee table picture book. The history of our county is here, along with the life of the photographer and details of his work. And the photographs themselves are magnificent! There is plenty here to lose yourself in on long winter evenings.

Frederick W. Dickinson: Sleeping Bear Dunes Pioneer Photographer, compiled by Grace Dickinson Johnson (and the copies I have are signed by her), takes us from Leland down to Glen Arbor and gives a history of our county newspaper, The Leelanau Enterprise, Leland’s Fishtown, and Glen Arbor’s Studio Art Galleries on Glen Lake—all that before the hauntingly beautiful photographs of the dunes themselves. 

Both these new books, as well as every other book on the round table, belong in every Up North home. Or, if Up North is vacationland for you, you’ll want the books wherever you live the rest of the year to learn more about your “home away from home.”

Focus on DOGS!

How it came to be --

To whet children's anticipation --