Mark Your Calendar: Saturday, April 25

 

Fleda Brown, former poet laureate of the state of Delaware, back home in Michigan now for several years, will give a reading of her new work in person in Northport on Indie Bookstore Day, Saturday, April 25! We will convene at noon, but anyone is welcome to come as early as my 11 a.m. bookshop opening to be sure of a good seat and/or to spend time browsing.

And here's another idea: A few months ago a group of women in my shop told me they had decided to make a switch from wine tasting to book shopping. They came north for a weekend to visit every bookshop in Traverse City and Leelanau County, each of them buying at least one book in each shop. Road trip with friends! What a great way to celebrate Indie Day!

Leelanau Indies: Photos by Karen Mulvahill

The last Saturday in April is always Indie Bookstore Day. For several years, I was away from my shop on that day, and the last couple of years I just didn't get on the ball soon enough to do anything special. This year, for once, I'm ahead of the curve--and pleased as punch, too, about my literary guest for the day.

Fleda Brown was my guest last May, also.

Beautiful Bargains

 

So gently used, they look and feel like new!

Closed This Friday

 

My life is taking me away from Northport on Friday. I plan to be back in the shop on Saturday for regular 11 to 3 winter hours.

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. 👍