Amazon has unveiled its Most Well-Read Cities in America list, an annual list of the leading cities with 100,000 or more residents that have the most Amazon sales of “all book, magazine and newspaper sales in both print and Kindle format.”  Is your city on the list?

1. Alexandria, Va.

2. Cambridge, Mass.

3. Berkeley, Calif.

4. Ann Arbor, Mich.

5. Boulder, Colo.

6. Miami

7. Arlington, Va.

8. Gainesville, Fla.

9. Washington, D.C.

10. Salt Lake City

11. Pittsburgh

12. Knoxville, Tenn.

13. Seattle

14. Orlando, Fla.

15. Columbia, S.C. (This is my city!!!)

16. Bellevue, Wash.

17. Cincinnati

18. St. Louis

19. Atlanta

20. Richmond, Va.

Thank you to GalleyCat for the article.

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A decade of good reading

This is a big year for Bess Long and Fran Clarkson, the “sisters” of My Sister’s Books in Pawleys Island. This fall marks the store’s tenth anniversary of providing used paperbacks and audio books to residents and visitors on the Waccamaw Neck.

“Like so many people who love to read, we’d often dreamed of owning a book store,” explains Bess. After Fran and I both retired from the Navy, we decided it was a good as time as any, so in 2002, My Sister’s Books became a reality.’

My Sister’s Books specializes in carrying used paperbacks in a variety of genres – mystery, biographies, science fiction, travel, etc. The store also has a sizeable audio book section that continues to grow.

As times and reading options have changed, Bess and Fran are eager to keep up with what their customers are looking for. Through the www.mysistersbooks.com web site, customers now can order new titles, hardbacks and e-books.

“In a time when so many small businesses are struggling,” says Fran. “We are fortunate to have weathered these last few years. Ten years is truly a milestone for a store like ours. We are grateful to all of our loyal customers who not only keep coming back, but who also help us keep our store stocked with current and diverse titles.”

Another thing readers will find at My Sister’s Books is a sizeable sampling of books by local and regional authors.

“People are very interested in reading stories from the Lowcountry and other areas of the South,” says Bess. “We enjoy meeting local authors and helping them bring their work to a broader audience. We have a lot of visitors who shop at our store and they like to buy titles they may not find anywhere else.”

My Sister’s Books is conveniently located at 13057 Ocean Hwy. in the Litchfield section of Pawleys Island. The store is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. If you want to check on a title before you come to the store, call 843.235.9618. You also can visit our Web site at www.mysistersbooks.com to learn about local reading groups and see what we’re saying about what we’re reading. Tell Bess and Fran that Lowcountry Companion sent you – and wish them happy 10^th anniversary!

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Science Fiction Novel

• Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
• 11/22/63, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton as 11.22.63)
• Embassytown, China Miéville (Del Rey; Macmillan)
• Rule 34, Charles Stross (Ace; Orbit UK)
• The Children of the Sky, Vernor Vinge (Tor)

Fantasy Novel

• A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)
• Snuff, Terry Pratchett (Harper; Doubleday UK)
• The Wise Man’s Fear, Patrick Rothfuss (DAW; Gollancz)
• Deathless, Catherynne M. Valente (Tor)
• Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)

First Novel

• Ready Player One, Ernest Cline (Crown; Century)
• God’s War, Kameron Hurley (Night Shade)
• Soft Apocalypse, Will McIntosh (Night Shade)
• The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday)
• Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti, Genevieve Valentine (Prime)

Young Adult Book

• Planesrunner, Ian McDonald (Pyr)
• Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor (Viking)
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs (Quirk)
• The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Feiwel and Friends)
• Goliath, Scott Westerfeld (Simon Pulse; Simon & Schuster UK)

Novella

• The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs, James P. Blaylock (Subterranean)
• “The Man Who Bridged the Mist”, Kij Johnson (Asimov’s 10-11/11)
• “Kiss Me Twice”, Mary Robinette Kowal (Asimov’s 6/11)
• “The Ants of Flanders”, Robert Reed (F&SF 7-8/11)
• Silently and Very Fast, Catherynne M. Valente (WSFA)

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Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon: Mapping The Wild Heart of Alaska is a memoir by Mary Albanese.  In this book, she recounts what led her to leave upstate New York and move to Alaska. Though she had never been to Alaska, she felt that it was the place for her.

Upon graduating college with a teaching degree, Albanese heard there was a teacher shortage in Alaska and applied to every school in the state. With no replies, she decided to move anyway and find a job once she arrived. Instead of finding a teaching job, she enrolls into the graduate geology program at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.

From the press announcement: Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon chronicles Albanese’s journey to Alaska and the unexpected path that led her to become an arctic geologic explorer, from mapping remote wilderness areas, to surviving the harsh life Alaska had to offer, to probing the depths of her own heart. Framed against the backdrop of Alaska’s raw beauty, Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon is the story of life lived to extremes—bold, outrageous, and dangerous. A mesmerizing tale about a world of exquisite beauty and punishing extremes, an eccentric cast of characters resplendent with human failings, and persistence in the face of hardship, Midnight Sun, Arctic Moon reveals the high price paid for life at the top of the world.

Albanese writes well, so well that the book reads like a fictional account of an adventure-seeking explorer. The memoir is not only her story but also the story of mapping Alaska’s wild and dangerous geography.

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Photo courtesy of Denali Park Resorts

Celebrate national Poem In Your Pocket Day on Thursday, April 26, 2012!

The idea is simple: select a poem you love during National Poetry Month then carry it with you to share with co-workers, family, and friends. You can also share your poem selection on Twitter by using the hashtag #pocketpoem.

Poems from pockets will be unfolded throughout the day with events in parks, libraries, schools, workplaces, and bookstores. Create your own Poem In Your Pocket Day event using ideas below or let us know how your plans, projects, and suggestions for Poem In Your Pocket Day by emailing npm@poets.org.

In this age of mechanical and digital reproduction, it’s easy to carry a poem, share a poem, or start your own PIYP day event. Here are some ideas of how you might get involved:

• Start a “poems for pockets” give-a-way in your school or workplace
• Urge local businesses to offer discounts for those carrying poems
• Post pocket-sized verses in public places
• Handwrite some lines on the back of your business cards
• Start a street team to pass out poems in your community
• Distribute bookmarks with your favorite immortal lines
• Add a poem to your email footer
• Post a poem on your blog or social networking page
• Project a poem on a wall, inside or out
• Text a poem to friends

Help us expand the list: send your ideas to npm@poets.org.

Thank you to Poets.org for this information. For more on poetry, please visit their website.

Read global poetry but buy from your local indie SIBA-member bookstore and keep more revenue in your community.

Sidney Lanier: Song of the Chattahoochee Can be found at Fountainhead Bookstore

Rudyard Kipling: Gunga Din Can be found at Undercover Books & Gifts

Pablo Neruda: A Song of Despair Can be found at Park Road Books

Dorothy Parker: August The Portable Dorothy Parker Can be found at That Bookstore in Blytheville

Ezra Pound: Before Sleep Flyleaf Books stocks The Cantos of Ezra Pound and other collected poems

Edgar Allen Poe: Annabel Lee Nightbird Books stocks The Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe

Read globally but buy from your local indie SIBA-member bookstore and keep more revenue in your community.

Louise Gluck: Early Darkness Can be found at Alabama Booksmith

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Prometheus Can be found at City Lights

Allen Ginsberg: Howl Can be found at Flyleaf Books

Alfred Edward (A.E.) Houseman: A Shropshire Lad

Victor Hugo: Poems of Victor Hugo Can be found at Octavia Books

Ben Jonson: On My First Sonne

Joyce Kilmer: Easter Week Can be found at Malaprops

Read globally but buy from your local indie SIBA-member bookstore and keep more revenue in your community.

Matthew Arnold: A Dream Can be found at The Island Bookstore

Charles Pierre Baudelaire: Le Cygne (The Swan) Can be found at Page & Palette

Bertolt Brecht: Contemplating Hell Can be found at City Lights Bookstore

William Blake: America, A Prophecy Can be found at Malaprops Bookstore

Emily Bronte: Death, that struck when I was most confiding Can be found at Park Road Books

Robert Browning: A Grammarian’s Funeral Shortly after the Revival of Learnin Can be found at Octavia Books

George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron): And Thou Art Dead, As Young and Fair Can be found at Undercover Books

Samuel Taylor Coleridge: A Christmas Carol Can be found at Parnassus Books

Emily Dickinson: A Bird Came Down Can be found at Fountain Books

John Donne: A Hymn To Christ At The Author’s Last Going Into Germany Can be found at That Bookstore in Blytheville

Federico Garcia Lorca: Ballad of the Moon Can be found at Alabama Booksmith

Read globally but buy from your local indie SIBA-member bookstore and keep more revenue in your community.

Tarrytown, NY. April 6, 2012 ABA Announces Winners for Indies Choice and E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards

After receiving a record-breaking number of independent booksellers’ nominations in March, the American Booksellers Association has announced the winners of the 2012 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards.

“After a month of voting by the owners and staff at independent bookstores across the country, we have an outstanding list of winners that reflects the types of books independent bookstores champion best,” said ABA CEO Oren Teicher. “We look forward to saluting the winners and honor recipients at the Celebration of Bookselling Author Awards Luncheon on June 5 at BEA.”

The 2012 Indies Choice Book Award winners, reflecting the spirit of independent bookstores nationwide, are:

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT FICTION
* The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT NONFICTION
* Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton (Random House)

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT DEBUT
* The Tiger’s Wife, by Téa Obreht (Random House)

BOOK OF THE YEAR – YOUNG ADULT
* Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel)

The winners of the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards, which reflect the playful, well-paced language, the engaging themes, and the universal appeal to a wide range of ages embodied by E.B. White’s collection of beloved books, are:

E.B. WHITE READ-ALOUD AWARD – MIDDLE READER

(Balloting ended in a tie between the works of sister and brother Maile Meloy and Colin Meloy.)
* The Apothecary, by Maile Meloy, Ian Schoenherr (Illus.) (Putnam Juvenile)
* Wildwood, by Colin Meloy, Carson Ellis (Illus.) (Balzer + Bray)

E.B. WHITE READ-ALOUD AWARD – PICTURE BOOK
* I Want My Hat Back, by Jon Klassen (Candlewick Press)

ABA members also chose bestselling author and fellow indie bookseller Ann Patchett as the MOST ENGAGING AUTHOR for 2012. Patchett was recognized for her exceptional involvement and responsiveness during in-store appearances and for having a strong sense of the importance of indie booksellers to their local communities.

In addition, booksellers inducted three of their all-time favorites into the Indies Choice Book Awards Picture Book Hall of Fame:

PICTURE BOOK HALL OF FAME
* Curious George, by H.A. Rey (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
* The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper (Grosset & Dunlap / Philomel)
* Miss Rumphius, by Barbara Cooney (Viking Juvenile/Puffin)

About American Booksellers Association

Founded in 1900, the American Booksellers Association is a not-for-profit trade organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members — independently owned bookstores with storefront locations — through education, information dissemination, business products and services, and advocacy. ABA exists to protect and promote the interests of independent retail book businesses, as well as to protect the First Amendment rights of every American. The association actively supports free speech, literacy, and programs that support local and independent retail shops. A board of 10 booksellers governs the Association. ABA is headquartered in Tarrytown, New York.

Thank you to ABA for the article.

Read globally but buy from your local indie SIBA-member bookstore and keep more revenue in your community.

NaPoWriMo was founded in 2003, when poet Maureen Thorson decided to take up the challenge (modeled after NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month), and challenged other poets to join her. Since then, the number of participants has gotten larger every year, and many writers’ organizations, local, national and even international, organize NaPoWriMo activities.

DAY 1  CHALLENGE

Have you ever read a triolet? These are nice, short little poems with very predictable rhyme schemes and repeated lines. They’re easy to write, but not easy to write well — all those repetitions can sound rather clanging or maudlin, if you’re not careful. But this also makes the triolet a good choice for satirical poems. If you’re in an April Fools’ Day mood, you might want to take that tack.

Anyway, a triolet has eight lines. The first, fourth, and seventh lines are identical. The second and eighth lines are also identical. The rhyme scheme is ABaAabAB.

Example:

How Great My Grief

How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee!
- Have the slow years not brought to view
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Nor memory shaped old times anew,
Nor loving-kindness helped to show thee
How great my grief, my joys how few,
Since first it was my fate to know thee?

— Thomas Hardy

Here’s an example in the satirical vein–

Triolet

I used to think all poets were Byronic–
Mad, bad and dangerous to know.
And then I met a few. Yes it’s ironic–
I used to think all poets were Byronic.
They’re mostly wicked as a ginless tonic
And wild as pension plans. Not long ago
I used to think all poets were Byronic–
Mad, bad and dangerous to know.
— Wendy Cope

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